Domestic (驯养的) horses now pull ploughs, race in the Kentucky Derby, and carry police. But early horses weren’t tame (驯服的) enough to perform these kinds of tasks. Scientists think the first interactions humans had with horses were far different from those today.
Thousands of years ago, people killed the wild horses that lived around them for food. Over time, people began to catch the animals and raise them. This was the first step in domestication.
As people began to tame and ride horses, they chose to keep those animals that had more desirable characteristics. For example, people may have chosen to keep horses that had a gentle personality so they could be ridden more easily. People who used horses to pull heavy loads would have chosen to keep stronger animals. Characteristics like strength are partly controlled by the animals’ genes. So as the domesticated horses reproduced, they passed the characteristics on to their young. Each new generation of houses would show more of these chosen characteristics.
Modern day horse breeds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This variety didn’t exist in the horse population before domestication. The Shetland horse is one of the smallest breeds—typically reaching only one meter tall. With short, strong legs, the animals were bred to pull coal out of mine shafts (矿井) with low ceilings. Huge horses like the Clydesdale came on the scene around 1700. People bred these heavy, tall horses to pull
large vehicles used for carrying heavy loads.
The domestication of horses has had great effects on societies. For example, horse were important tools in the advancement of modern agriculture. Using them to pull ploughs and carry 
heavy loads allowed people to farm more efficiently. Before they were able to ride horses, humans had to cross land on foot. Riding horses allowed people to travel far greater distance in much less time. That encouraged populations living in different areas to interact with one another. The new from of rapid transportation helped cultures spread around the world. Before domestication horses were ______.
| A．caught for sports |
| B．hunted for food |
| C．made to pull ploughs |
| D．used to carry people |
The author uses the Shetland horse as an example to show ______.
| A．it is smaller than the Clydesdale horse |
| B．horse used to have gentle personalities |
| C．some horses have better shaped than others |
| D．horses were of less variety before domestication |
Horses contributed to the spread of culture by ______.
| A．carrying heavy loads |
| B．changing farming methods |
| C．serving as a means of transport |
| D．advancing agriculture in different areas |
The passage is mainly about _______.
| A．why humans domesticated horses |
| B．how humans and horses needed each other |
| C．why horses came in different shapes and sizes |
| D．how human societies and horses influenced each other |
You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts. The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to. You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.
Life brings ups and downs, but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect.
When you communicate with positive people, your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger (匕首) of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down.
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a co-worker，or a relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person, but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to (附着) you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible. The purpose of the first paragraph is to ______.
| A．make a comparison | B．offer an evidence |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe a daily scene |
How can negative people have effect on us?
| A．By influencing our emotion. |
| B．By telling us the nature of life. |
| C．By changing our ways of thinking. |
| D．By comparing their attitudes to life with ours. |
Some negative people base their happiness on _______.
| A．other people’s pity for them | B．making other people unhappy |
| C．building up a positive attitude | D．other people’s respect for them |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us, we are advised to ______.
| A．change negative people’s attitudes to life |
| B．show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| C．make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
| D．communicate with negative people as little as possible |
What is the author’s attitude towards negative people?
| A．Favorable. | B．Critical. | C．Indifferent. | D．Supportive. |
It was the first month of winter -- an exciting day for every child but not for most teachers. Up until now, l had been able to dress myself for recess(课间休息), but today I would need some help. Miss Finlayson, my kindergarten teacher at Princess Elizabeth School near Hamilton, Ontario, had been through first snow days , many times in her long career, but I think struggled still remember this one.
I managed to get into my wool snow pants. But I struggled with my jacket because it didn’t fit well. It was a hand-me-down from my brother, and it made me wonder why I had to wear his ugly clothes. At least my hat and matching scarf were mine, and they were quite pretty. Finally it was time to have Miss Finlayson help me with my boots. In her calm, motherly voice she said, "By the end of winter, you will be able to put on own boots. “ I didn’t realize at the time that this was more a statement of hope than of confidence.
I handed her my boots and stuck out my foot. Like most children, I expected the adult to do the work. After much wiggling and pushing, she managed to get first one into place and then, with a sigh, worked the second one on too.
I announced，“They’re on the wrong feet．”With the grace that only experience can bring，she struggled to get the boots off and went through the joyless task of putting them on again．Then I said，“These aren’t my boots．you know．”As she pulled the offending boots from my feet，she still managed to look both helpful and interested．Once they were off．I said，“They are my brother’s boots．My mother makes me wear them，and I hate them!” Somehow，from long years of practice，she managed to act as though I wasn’t an annoying little girl．She pushed and shoved less gently this time，and the boots were returned to their proper place on my feet．With a great sigh of relief，seeing the end of her struggle with me，she asked，“Now，where are your gloves?’’
I looked into her eyes and said．“I didn’t want to lose them．so I put them into the toes of my boots．”According to the passage，the little girl gotfrom her brother．
| A．the wool snow pants and the jacket | B．the jacket and the boots |
| C．the jacket and the hat | D．the boots and the gloves |
What made it so hard for the teacher to help the little girl put her boots on?
| A．The gloves in the toes of the boots． | B．The slowness of the teacher． |
| C．The wrong size of the boots． | D．The unwillingness of the girl． |
It can be inferred that before the little girl finally went out to enjoy the first snow of winter，the teacher had to help her put on her boots．
| A．once | B．twice | C．three times | D．four times |
Which of the following sentences from the text BEST indicates that the teacher is very considerate?
| A．In her calm，motherly voice she said，“By the end of winter，”(Paragraph 2) |
| B．With the grace that only experience can bring，she struggled to(Paragraph 4) |
| C．She still managed to look both helpful and interested．(Paragraph 4) |
| D．She managed to act as though I wasn’t an annoying little girl.(Paragraph 4) |
Transport Guide
The Brisbane City Council (BCC) is responsible for bus and ferry services with in the city limits and suburbs. Most buses will either arrive at the city or an interchange where connecting buses can be caught．BCC buses operate from 5:30 am to 11:00 pm Monday to Thursday and 5:30 am to 12:00 a m on Fridays. On weekends and public holidays buses operate less frequently Pre-paid bus tickets can be purchased from the QUT (Queensland University of Technology)bookshop, the campus news agency, most other news agencies and general stores, and any BCC Customer Service Centre. Short-term students at QUT cannot use their ID cards to gain a discount fare on BCC public transport. You will need to buy an adult ticket to travel. Bus fares are dependent on the number of zones you have to travel. There are several types of ticket:
| Zone |
Cost (AUD) |
|||||
| Single |
Daily |
Off-peak Daily |
Ten-Trip Saver |
Weekly |
Monthly |
|
| 1 |
2.50 |
4.20 |
3.50 |
16.80 |
16.80 |
67.20 |
| 2 |
2.90 |
5.00 |
4.10 |
20.00 |
20.00 |
80.00 |
| 3 |
3.30 |
5.80 |
4.70 |
23.20 |
23.20 |
92.80 |
Single: one way ticket to reach your destination, including transfers within 2 hours.
Daily: unlimited travel within the zones.
Off-peak Daily: discounted unlimited travel between 9:00 am and 3:30 pm and after
7:00 pm Monday to Friday, and all day on weekends and public holidays.
Weekly: unlimited travel within the zones for one week from the date of issue.
Monthly: unlimited travel within the zones for one calendar month from the date of issue.
Ten-trip Saver: 10 trips at any time within the zones on buses and ferries only.
Transport routes, timetables and fare information are available from:
Public Transport Information Centre
69 Ann Street (corner of George St)
Brisbane City
Phone l3 12 30(Transport Information Service) The transport guide above is most likely provided by．
| A．Public Transport Information Centre | B．the Brisbane City Council |
| C．Queensland University of Technology． | D．BCC Customer Service Centres |
We can learn from the passage that．
| A．buses are scheduled as usual on weekends and public holidays |
| B．regular students at QUT need to buy adult tickets |
| C．Pre-paid tickets can be bought from the Public Transport Information Centre |
| D．Ten-trip Savers can be used at off-peak time |
An exchange student staying at QUT for five days has to travel between zones every day．What type of ticket would he probably buy?
| A．Single． | B．Weekly． | C．Off-peak Daily． | D．Ten-trip Saver． |
A company advertised in the newspaper for a sales position. Details of the requirements, salary and benefits were given. It was also clearly stated that applicants needed to take an aptitude test (能力倾向测试) and an interview. However, looking at the whole advertisement, one could not find any contact information of the company.
Most interested applicants thought that it was the company’s HR department’s carelessness or a printing error. They therefore waited patiently for the newspaper to publish an amendment(订正). But instead of waiting for the newspaper to publish the company details, another three applicants took the initiative(主动性) to find out the company’s contact information themselves.
Tim did a search on the Internet. By typing the company’s name, he easily obtained all the information including its contact number. Lisa called up the local telephone number search service and found out the company’s office number. She called up the office and got the required contact information. Donna put in a greater effort in her search. She remembered seeing a poster by the same company in the city so she drove all the way down and made a few rounds to search for it. She finally found it together with the company’s contact information.
Three days after that advertisement was published in the newspaper, most interested applicants were still waiting eagerly for an amendment. On the other hand, the application letters and resumes of Tim, Lisa and Donna had already reached the hands of the company’s HR manager. They were then called up for an interview. During the interview, all went well and immediately they were hired. The three of them were a little surprised at how fast things went on. They were expecting for an aptitude test as stated in the advertisement. The HR director answered them, smiling, “Our test is hidden in the advertisement itself. To be a good salesperson in this age, he or she has to be broad-minded and very importantly, does not follow rigid (死板的) steps or rules. You are all clever. In a short time, you’ve managed to find ways of contacting us. It shows clearly that you have passed the test with flying colors!”
The fools sit around waiting for their chances whereas the wise actively take actions with great initiative.According to the passage the company wanted to test the applicants’ ______.
| A．sales skills | B．carefulness | C．attitude | D．initiative |
Whose search skill is the easiest of all?
| A．Tim’s. | B．Lisa’s. | C．Donna’s. | D．None. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The HR manager of the company made a mistake. |
| B．The company meant to omit (遗漏) its contact information. |
| C．The HR manager of the company was unfit for his / her job. |
| D．A printing error occurred in the advertisement in the newspaper. |
Which of the statements is NOT correct according to the passage?
| A．Many applicants thought the company made a mistake. |
| B．The advertisement was very special to many applicants. |
| C．Whoever found the company’s contact information didn’t need to have an interview. |
| D．The company needed broad-minded and clever salespersons. |
The writer wants to tell us through this passage that ______.
| A．no contact information seen in an advertisement might not be the company’s mistake |
| B．applicants should be careful not to be fooled by the company’s advertisement |
| C．opportunity always belongs to whoever is active and broad-minded |
| D．there are many successful chances to be found in this age |
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding |
| B．pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
| C．great and important; common |
| D．hopeful and helpful; careless |
According to the context we can guess that a genius is ________ while an idiot is ________.
| A．a normal person; a funny person |
| B．a strong person; a weak person |
| C．a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person |
| D．a famous person; an ordinary person |
A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
| A．whose parents are clever |
| B．often thinking about difficult problems |
| C．often helped by his parents and teachers |
| D．born with a good brain and putting it into active use |
It is better for parents ________.
| A．to praise and encourage their children more often |
| B．to be hard on their children |
| C．to leave their children alone with nothing to do |
| D．to give their children as much help as possible |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．Parents play an important part in their children’s growth. |
| B．The less you use your mind the duller you may become. |
| C．Intelligence is obviously the result of where and how you live. |
| D．What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion. |