A child survivor of the Indian Ocean tsunami and a girl from the United States who offered help met for the first time after the disaster.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed Nada Luthfiyyah’s small town in Aceh. Her parents and two brothers were among the 160,000 people who died in the disaster. Maggie Hamilton’s classmates in the state of Michigan decided to make and sell bracelets (手镯) to raise money for the victims. Maggie, who was 9 years old at the time, wrote a letter to survivors to offer help. Nada was selected from her class to respond with a letter of thanks.
Three and a half years later, the two girls met for the first time. Their meeting was arranged by the Indonesian government, and was used as a symbol of the two countries’aid relationship. Their letters were quoted by diplomats (外交官)of both countries.
Maggie, visiting the town under reconstruction, said she did not expect that her letter would draw so much attention, but, she said, the experience helped to make her more active in volunteering work. "I’ve been volunteering at a nursing home in Ohio. I just want to help people whenever I can," Maggie said.
Juanda, the spokesman for Indonesia’s tsunami reconstruction agency, says the meeting of the two girls serves as a symbol of their informal relationship. It will represent the international community’s role in Aceh’s future. "I think what we can learn from this experience is that Nada from Aceh and Maggie from the U.S. are able to share their experiences, friendship, knowledge and support," Juanda says.
Maggie says she wants to learn Indonesian and hopes to have Nada visit her home in Michigan sometime, perhaps next year.
1. Nada and Maggie first made contact with each other through ______.
A. letters B. visiting the diplomats
C. arrangements by the government D. informal visits
2. From the text we know that ______.
A. Maggie and Nada’s friendship is a symbol of the two countries’ friendship
B. 16,000 people lost their lives in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
C. Maggie volunteered to work in the reconstruction after the tsunami
D. Maggie is now a volunteer working in Nada’s hometown
3. The text mainly tells us that ______.
A. Indonesian and American girls build friendship after a tsunami
B. the Indian Ocean tsunami influenced the USA
C. letters are an advantage in building friendships
D. Indonesia is under construction after a tsunami
Thousands of years ago, birthdays were considered special days. On birthdays, the bad spirits were able to harm you and change your life. It was believed that the only way to solve the problem was to have your friends and family around you, so that good wishes and presents would keep the bad spirits away. Also, noisemakers were thought to be used at parties as a way of scaring away the evil spirits.
The custom of lighting candles was created by people believing that the gods lived in the sky. By lighting candles and torches, they were sending a signal or prayer to the gods, so they could be answered. Blowing out the candles and making a wish were thought to be another way of sending a signal or a message.
This is how the way we celebrate our birthdays came about. But different cultures celebrate in different ways.
The birthday story in the Bible（圣经） that we know best is about the birth of the Christ in Bethlehem（地名：伯利恒）. For nearly 2000 years since that day, the Christian world has been honoring this birth. The day many Englishmen celebrate is, of course, Christmas. There are other references to birthday parties. King Pharaoh celebrated his birthday by making a feast for his court followers. That was over 4000 years ago. The story of King Herod tells that on his birthday he made a supper for his lords, high captains and other special friends in Galilee (地名：加利利). According to the passage, good wishes and presents given by one’s friends and family on his birthday can _____________________.
| A．cheer him up | B．prove that he’s a popular person |
| C．bring him a big fortune | D．push bad spirits away |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The custom of lighting candles originated with the gods. |
| B．The gods celebrate their birthdays by lighting candles. |
| C．People send messages to the gods by lighting or blowing out the candles. |
| D．The gods will help people realize their dreams on their birthdays. |
The two ancient kings’ ways of celebrating their birthdays show__________________.
| A．how great the two kings were |
| B．how different cultures celebrate in different ways |
| C．the two kings’ excellent cooking skills |
| D．that their court followers were awarded the special honors |
The passage is mainly about __________________.
| A．the functions of the noises made on birthdays. |
| B．how to scare away the bad spirits on birthdays |
| C．the origin of a famous day Christmas |
| D．how birthdays came about |
Jack London is a famous American writer. His most widely known book is the Call of the Wild, the story of the adventure of a large dog in the frozen north.
Jack London was born on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco, California. His family was very poor, and Jack had to leave school to make money. He worked hard at many different jobs.
Later, Jack returned to school, but he didn’t stay. He wrote, “Life and pocket book were both too short.” In 1897, he went to Alaska to find gold. Instead, he found ideas there for his book stories. He returned home and started to write. His writings were successful, and he became rich and famous in his twenties.
Jack London was not a happy man, however. In poor health, he took his own life in 1916. He was then only 40 years old. Jack London went to Alaska to __________________.
| A．find ideas for his books | B．find gold | C．write his books and stories | D．find jobs |
Jack London left school because __________________.
| A．he had to work to help his family | B．he had completed his education |
| C．he wanted to become a writer | D．he wanted to find gold. |
From what did Jack London get ideas for his books and stories?
| A．His life in Alaska. | B．His childhood friend. |
| C．A large dog in the north. | D．His pocket book. |
What do we know about Jack London?
| A．He became famous but remained poor all his life. |
| B．Though he was poor, he was always happy. |
| C．He was not famous until he died in 1916. |
| D．He killed himself because of poor health. |
At a meeting, a well-known speaker lifted up a bill of 20 dollars before starting his speech.
Facing 200 people, he asked, “Who wants this 20-dollar bill?” A great many hands were put up. Then he continued to say, “I intended to give it to any one of you, but allow me to do a thing before giving it to you.” Suddenly he crumpled （揉）it into a round mass. Then he asked, “Who wants it? ” Still some hands were lifted up.
He asked again, “Well, how could it be if I do it like this?” he threw the bill onto the ground, stepped on it and twisted it. As he picked it up, the bill had become not only dirty but wrinkled.
“Who still wants it?” Still a few people put up their hands.
“My dear friends, you have had a meaningful class. No matter how I treated this bill, you still want it, because it is worth 20 dollars. On your life road, you may be knocked down（击垮） or even broken into pieces by your determination or unfavorable situations. We may feel ourselves worth nothing, but, my darling, rememb
er that whatever happens in the future, you should never lose your value（价值） in the God’s heart. You’re particular ---- never forget it.”How many times did the speaker ask the people whether they wanted the bill?
| A．Once | B．Twice | C．Three times | D．Four times |
The underlined word “wrinkled” in the third paragraph probably means ________.
| A．broken | B．having small lines or folds in it | C．flat | D．having holes on it |
The speaker did this test in order to _____________.
| A．tell the audience that one should never lose one’s own value |
| B．tell the audience that God values money most |
| C．test if some of the audience were extremely interested in money |
| D．play a trick on the audience |
What would the speaker probably talk about next?
| A．How money can make people crazy. | B．How to avoid being knocked down in one’s life. |
| C．How to keep one’s value of life. | D．How to give a meaningful class |
Green-space facilities are contributing to an important extent to the quality of the urban environment. Fortunately it is no longer necessary that every lecture or every book about this subject has to start with the proof of this idea. At present it is generally accepted, although more as a self-evident statement than on the base of a closely-reasoned scientific proof. The recognition of the importance of green-spaces in the urban environment is a first step on the right way; this does not mean, however, that enough details are known about the functions of greenspaces in towns and about the way in which the inhabitants (居民) are using these spaces.
The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate (不成比例的) attention for forms of recreation far from home, whereas (但是）there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighborhood of the home. We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home. So it is obivous that recreation in the open air has to begin at the street door of the house. The urban environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory (强制性的) activities can also have a recreative aspect.
The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot of enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street door of your house is closed after you. According to the author, the importance of greenspaces in the urban environment _______.
| A．is still unknown | B．is being closely studied |
| C．is usually neglected | D．has been fully recognized |
The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation has led to _______.
| A．the disproportion of recreation facilities in the neighborhood |
| B．all of the recreation facilities far from home |
| C．relatively little attention for recreative possibilities |
| D．the improvement of recreative possibilities in the neighborhood |
The author suggests that the recreative possibilities of greenspaces should be provided _______.
| A．in special areas | B．in the suburbs |
| C．in the neighbourhood of the house | D．in gardens and parks |
The author says “more obligatory activities can also have a recreative aspect” to _______.
| A．suggest that obligatory activities don’t need to serious |
| B．show that recreation activities are very important |
| C．show how recreation activities have spread wildly |
D．sug gest how to offer recreation activities around home |
Why would someone only feel himself at home according to the last paragrap
h?
| A．One lives the very best standard of living. |
| B．There are too many distractions outside his home. |
| C．There are few recreations around his house. |
| D．One needs the street door of his house to be opened always. |
I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling. I wish it
were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own two feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching (紧握) at one another’s hands for reassurance.
They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up huddled (聚在一起) round listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon (蚕茧) into a larger cocoon.
It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.
But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once wi
th your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come — with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really counts. In this passage, the author wants to tell _______.
| A．readers to try to be popular with people around |
| B．teenagers to try to pursue their real selves |
| C．parents to try to control and guide their children |
| D．people to try to understand and respect each other |
The author disapproves of rebelling teenagers _______.
| A．growing away from their parents | B．turning to their friends for hel p |
| C．walking a new way on their own | D．following the popularity trend |
The phrase “a larger cocoon” at the end of the second paragraph refers to _______.
| A．the distractive and variable society | B．the popularity wave in the society |
| C．the parental care and love | D．the dazzling music world |
What does the author think of advertisements?
| A．Convincing. | B．Instructive. | C．Influential. | D．Authoritative. |
According to the author, what might happen when a teenager stands up against the popularity wave and follows his/her own path?
| A．He/She gains valuable popularity. | B．He/She loses good friends. |
| C．He/She faces all kinds of criticism. | D．He/She falls behind the time. |