Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.
If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.
1 The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .
A. most people in the world speak Chinese
B. there are thousands of languages in the world today
C. man has much knowledge about languages
D. some people know several languages
2 According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .
A. will soon die out completely B. were once a relative of English
C. are no longer spoken D. come from the same family
3 According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.
A. Chinese B. English C. Spanish D. German
4 According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.
A. German B. English C. Spanish D. Chinese
5The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .
A. a special language spoken by Chinese
B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area
C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese
D. the form of a language used in one part of the country
A great loss—Shirley Temple dies at 85
February 12, 2014
BY DERRIK J. LANG, Associated Press
Shirley Temple Black, who died on February 10th at age 85, wasn’t just a child star. She was THE child star—the sweet little girl whose shining smile helped illumine some of the darkest days the US has known during the Great Depression.
It’s hard today to imagine the super star Shirley was once “America’s Little Darling”. She sang and danced her way to the top of the box office in such films as Bright Eyes, Curly Top and Heidi. By 1940, she had appeared in 43 films. Temple teamed with Bill Robison in four movies, and their dance on the stairs in The Little Colonel is still a legendary film moment.
In the 1930s, her name on a movie introduction assured (保证) a packed house. She inspired dolls, dresses, dishes—even a drink (alcohol-free, of course).
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt once famously said that “as long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.’’
Unlike so many of today’s child stars, Temple didn’t end up with her name appearing across the headlines for bad behaviors. Instead of getting her photos on front pages or struggling with drugs and alcohol, Temple went on to a second career in diplomacy (外交), including presidential appointments as ambassador to Ghana.
She surprised a lot of people who doubted her with her grace, knowledge and eagerness to serve. In fact, her career in public service (20 years) was longer than her career in movies (19). The role she valued most, however, was as wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
The world has lost a treasured Hollywood legend. But her movies will allow that little dynamic figure to continue charming audiences for a very long time.
Temple, as a child movie star, can best be described as _______.
| A．sweet and lively | B．gentle and kind |
| C．smart and knowledgeable | D．shy and attractive |
Where does this passage possibly come from?
| A．A biography. | B．A newspaper. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A poster. |
Pulling heavy suitcases all day in the summer is hard work, especially when you are a thin 14-year-old boy. That was me in 1940-the youngest and smallest baggage boy at New York City's Pennsylvania Railway Station.
After just a few days on the job, I began noticing that the other fellows were overcharging passengers. I'd like to join them, thinking, "Everyone else is doing it."
When I got home that night, I told my dad what I wanted to do. "You give an honest day's work," he said, looking at me straight in his eye. "They are paying you. If they want to do that, you let them do that."
I followed my dad's advice for the rest of that summer and have lived by his words ever since.
Of all the jobs I've had, it was my experience at Pennsylvania Railway Station that has stuck with me. Now I teach my players to have respect for other people and their possession. Being a member of a team is a totally shared experience. If one person steals, it destroys trust and hurts everyone. I can put up with many things, but not with people who steal. If one of my players were caught stealing, he'd be gone.
Whether you're on a sports team, in an office or a member of a family. if you can't trust one another, there is going to be trouble.What can be inferred about the baggage boys?
| A．They could earn much, but they had to work hard. |
| B．Many of them earned money in a dishonest way. |
| C．They were all from poor families. |
| D．They were thin, young boys. |
What does the father's advice imply?
| A．It is wrong to give more to the passengers. |
| B．Don't believe them if they are paying you more. |
| C．Don't follow others to overcharge the passengers. |
| D．It is difficult to work hard and live as an honest boy. |
The writer can't put up with stealing because he thinks that _______.
| A．it is a total shared experience |
| B．it is considered as the most dangerous |
| C．it does great harm to human relationship |
| D．it may led to the loss of his sports team. |
It can be concluded from the text that _______.
| A．his father's advice helped him to decide which job to take up |
| B．working in the sports team was his most important experience |
| C．he learned much from his shared experience with his team members |
| D．his experience as a baggage boy had a great influence on his late life |
The only survivor of one of the two Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade classrooms where Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children tricked the gunman by playing dead, the girl’s pastor （牧师） said．
“She ran out of the school building covered from head to toe with blood and the first thing she said to her mom was, “Mommy, I’m OK but all my friends are dead” Pastor Jim Solomon told ABC News’ Lara Spencer this weekend．
“Somehow, at that moment, by God’s grace, she was able to act as she was already dead．” he said．
The girl, a 6-year-old whose name is not being announced for privacy （隐私） reasons, was the first student to appear from the lockdown （封锁） at Sandy Hook, Solomon said．He said the young girl described the shooter to her mom in a way that only a young child can．
“Well, she saw someone who she felt was angry and someone she felt was very mad,” Solomon said．“I think it’s impossible without the help of God．She has wisdom beyond her years, for sure’’．
Of the 20 children killed on Friday, eight were boys and l2 were girls．Six staff members, all female, were also killed．The gunman, whose mother was also killed by him before he went to the schoo1 classrooms, was found dead at the present spot．
“The mom told me — and I thought this was very insightful （有深刻见解的） — that she was suffering from what she felt was survivor’s guilt because so many of her friends no longer have their children but she has hers,” Solomon said how the girl’s mother and father are handling the trauma （伤害）．“I don’t know whether I would have the type of faith that they have if the same thing happened to me．”How did the girl manage to avoid being shot?
| A．She persuaded the shooter into not shooting her． |
| B．She hid herself under the desk． |
| C．She rushed out of the school building in time． |
| D．She pretended to be dead． |
The killing case which happened in Sandy Hook Elementary School ．
| A．ended up with the shooter being killed |
| B．was a shooting by a group of people |
| C．was due to the gunman getting angry with the pupils |
| D．was not open to the public for the moment |
Which of the following is TRUE about the girl’s mom?
| A．She was disappointed with the pastor． |
| B．She felt very dissatisfied with other parents． |
| C．She felt terribly sorry for those who had lost their children． |
| D．She strongly complained the police． |
Human beings have used tools for a very long time. In some parts of the world you can still find tools that people used more than two million years ago. They made these tools by hitting one stone against another. In this way, they broke off pieces from one of the stones. These chips of stone were usually sharp on one side. People used them for cutting meat and skin from dead animals, and also for making other tools out of wood. Human beings needed to use tools because they did not have sharp teeth like other meat eating animals, such as lions and tigers. Tools helped people to get food more easily.
Working with tools also helped to develop human intelligence. The human brain grew bigger, and human beings began to invent more and more tools and machines. The stone chip was one of the first tools that people used, and perhaps it is the most important. Some scientists say that it was the key to success of mankind.
Since 1960 a new kind of tool has appeared. This is the silicon chip (硅芯片). It is smaller than a finger nail, but it can store lots of information. It is an electronic brain. Every year these chips get cleverer, but their size gets smaller, and their cost gets less. They are used in watches, calculators and intelligent machines that we can use in many ways. In the future we will not need to work with tools in the old way. Machines will do everything for us. People will have plenty of spare time. But what will they do with it?
Human beings used stone chips for more than two million years, but human life changed very little in that time. We have used silicon chips for only a few years, but life is changing faster every day. What will life be like twenty years from now? What will the world be like two million years from now?The silicon chip is mentioned in the passage to ________.
| A．show the changes of tools |
| B．introduce a new kind of tool |
| C．give an example of using tools |
| D．compare the effects of two kinds of tools |
At the end of the passage the author seems to suggest that life in future is ________.
| A．out of order | B．less colorful |
| C．hard to predict | D．full of meanings |
A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men. The number is said as high as 60% in West Germany.
“Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men’s world,” said Dr James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study.
Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company. She also believes in “Women’ s Liberation(解放)”.
“I don’t wish that I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think many women do. But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women. At work, for example, we often do the work that men do but get paid less. There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones and open only to men. If you’re a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life. How many women pilots are there ... or engineers or scientists?”What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．60% women in West Germany wish that they were born men. |
| B．Most women in Western European countries wish that their babies were all boys. |
| C．60% Western European women wish that they were born men. |
| D．60% Western European women who wish that they were born men are from West Germany. |
“It is still men’s world.” means “______.”
| A．There’re more men than women in the world |
| B．There’re more men scientists or engineers than women scientists or engineers in the world |
| C．Women have not been given the same chance as men |
| D．Women cannot live without men |
Anne Harper considers that women should ______.
| A．be well paid | B．live a better life than men |
| C．be really liberated | D．get better jobs than men |
Which is not true about Anne Harper?
| A．Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company |
| B．she is one of the scientists who did the study. |
| C．She believes in “Women’ s Liberation.” |
| D．She doesn’t want to be a man. |