The young people who talk of the village as being “dead” are talking nothing but nonsense, as in their hearts they must surely know.
No, the village is not dead. There is more life in it now than there ever was. But it seems that “village life” is dead. Gone for ever. It began to decline about a hundred years ago. When many girls left home to go into service in town many miles away, and men also left home in increasing numbers in search of work, and home was where work was. There are still a number of people alive today who can remember what “village life” meant in the early years of the present century. It meant knowing and being known by everybody else in the village. It meant finding your entertainment in the village of within walking distance of it. It meant housewives tied to the home all day and every day. It meant going to bed early to save lamp oil and coal.
Then came the First World War and the Second World War. After each war, new ideas, new attitudes, new trades and occupations were revealed（展现）to villagers. The long-established order of society was no longer taken for granted. Electricity and the motorcar were steadily operating to make “village life” and “town life” almost alike. Now with the highly developed science and technology and high-level social welfare（福利）for all, there is no point whatever in talking any longer about “village life.” It is just life, and a better life.
Finally, if we have any doubts about the future, or about the many changes which we have seen in our lives, we have only to look in at the school playground any mid-morning; or see the children as they walk homeward in little groups. 0bviously these children are better fed, better clothed, better educated, healthier, prettier and happier than any generation of children that ever before walked the village street.
72．By saying that village is not dead, but “village life” is dead, the writer suggests that .
A．those young people who talk of the village as being “dead” are wrong
B．the two statements are against each other
C．“village life” today is rather uninteresting
D．“village life” today is no longer like what it used to be
73．As is suggested in paragraph 2, villages in the past .
A．lived a simpler life than villagers today
B．knew fewer people than villagers today
C．found it difficult to enjoy themselves
D．like to wash themselves with cold water
74．The expression “…there is no point whatever in talking about…” in paragraph 3 means that .
A．there is no end to the talking about …
B．it is harmful to talk about …
C．it is not meaningless to talk about …
D．there is no reason for talking about …
75．What does the writer think of the “village life today”? .
A．Dead. B．Worse C．Better. D．Unclear.
Every New Year brings renewed(更新的) expectation for a change, for a better life and for a better you. That’s a wonderful thing, because this fresh start gives us a chance to reinvent our lives and ourselves. Here’s how.
Let go
Many times we are held back by our previous failures,emotions and barriers(障碍). This is all old baggage. Let everything unhappy from the past go. Let go of failures. Let go of fears you’ve built up. Let go of your ideas about what your life has to be like. Let go of long-held beliefs and habits which seem to be burdens(负担) to you.
Clear away distractions(分心)
Clear away email, your favourite blogs and news websites. Clearaway the iPhone or Blackberry, and clear away all the chores that pull at your attention. In fact, if you can, shut off the Internet for a while. You can come back to it after you take a break.
Decide what matters most today
Forget about your goals for all of this year. Instead, decide what you want to do today. What matters most to you and your life? What are you most passionate(热情的) about right now? What excites you? What gives you the most fulfillment(满足感)? Often the answer would be in creating something, making something new, helping others, becoming a better person, and working on a project that you will be proud of. But whatever your answer, have it clear in your mind at the beginning of the day.
Reinvent yourself every day
Every day, you are reborn.Reinvent yourself and your life. Do what matters most to you. It might be the same thing that mattered most yesterday, or it might not be. That isn’t important. What’s important is today---right now! Be passionate, and be happy!
You’ll have a fresh start every single day---not just on January 1 of a new year.Writing this passage, the author seems to be ________.
| A．strict | B．peaceful | C．nervous | D．confident |
The underlined word “chores” refers to ______.
| A．modern technology | B．unimportant things |
| C．online information | D．fashionable devices |
According to the passage, the writer’s suggestion is______.
| A．Stopping using hi-tech devices to avoid troubles in your life. |
| B．Seizing the moment, but not to make a plan for the far future. |
| C．Forgetting everything about and from the past |
| D．Making yourself a person reborn every day. |
which one is the most proper title for the passage ?
| A．Work Effectively in a New Year |
| B．Reduce Stress in a New Year |
| C．Freshen the Start of Every New Day |
| D．Live a Better Life in Every New Day |
As a school teacher, Inderjit Khurana used to take the train to work. And one day, at the station, she saw dozens of children who spent their days begging from train passengers rather than going to school. She learned that it was not a rare problem and that millions of children in India lived on the streets.
Realizing that these children would never be able to escape poor life and homelessness without education, and that it would be impossible to send these children to school, Inderjit decided to create a model program---taking the school to the most out- of-school children.
Khurana’s train platform schools aim to provide a creative school form and give children the basic levels of education. Her last goals reach far beyond the 20 platform schools she and her colleagues have created in India’s Bhubaneswar region. She is determined that her program will become a model for changing the lives of the poorest children throughout India and the world.
Khurana founded the Ruchika Social Service Organization(RSSO) in 1985. The teachers gather the children together between the stops of the train for reading, writing, maths and history taught through songs and other teaching tools.
Khurana recently comes to realize that the education of these children is impossible when the most basic needs of their families are not being met. So she also provides food and medicine for their families.
Khurana insists that every child have the right to an education and that if a child cannot come to the school, then the school must come to him or her.Khurana’s final aim is to .
| A．make the poorest children’s lives better |
| B．put an end to the problem of children’s dropout(辍学) |
| C．attract more students to her platform schools |
| D．set up 20 platform schools throughout India |
What can we learn about the RSSO?
| A．It has a history of more than 30 years. |
| B．It provides jobs for the poorest children. |
| C．It gives money to the out-of-school children. |
| D．Its work doesn’t only include free education for the street children. |
Khurana also provides free food and medicine for the children because_____.
| A．the fundamental family needs are included in her model program |
| B．she wants to draw more people’s attention to the RSSO |
| C．they are the necessities for the out-of-school children |
| D．she wishes to improve local people’s living standard |
Tang Zhou and his wife are planning to have their second child, a test-tube baby. His wife had a natural delivery when she was 34 and their first child, a boy, is now 7. The couple are now hoping to have a daughter through a surrogate mother in the US. “My wife couldn’t bear another delivery because of her heart condition and her age. Surrogacy helps avoid the risks to older mothers,” Tang said, “Moreover, our second child will be born in the US and become a citizen there. That is not a bad choice.”
The couple spent weeks researching their move, looking for a reliable agency that provides surrogacy services overseas. Surrogacy is still illegal in many countries, including China. “We will be taking much higher risks by relying on a surrogate mother in China because we are not protected by any regulation or law. You pay a lot of money but may meet with many problems,” Tang said. “You might not even get your baby back.”
Tang and his wife are part of an increasing number of Chinese couples who are turning to surrogacy services. Tang also considered surrogacy in Thailand but dropped the idea after recent reports about a baby with Down Syndrome(唐氏综合症) who was delivered through surrogacy and said to have been deserted in Thailand by the biological parents from Australia. Instead, Tang chose the California Surrogacy Center agency as his first option after reading the detailed introduction on its website. Compared with many other agencies that he could contact only via e-mail, the center has a consulting office in Beijing, Tang said.
The center is in San Diego, California, and has satellite offices in Los Angeles and Beijing. According to Liu, the center has been operating for more than eight years, and about 100 surrogate mothers live in California.“A surrogate mother” refers to a mother who _______.
| A．acts as a baby-sitter |
| B．nurses another woman’s baby |
| C．offers service to a new mother |
| D．gives birth to a baby for another woman |
Which of the following is True according to the passage?
| A．Chinese couples prefer to have a test-tube baby. |
| B．Couples face no risks in surrogacy services. |
| C．A sick test-tube baby was deserted in Thailand. |
| D．Unhealthy test-tube babies can be legally abandoned. |
Tang and his wife turned to overseas surrogacy services because _______.
| A．surrogacy remains illegal in China |
| B．they call for less money |
| C．it is more convenient to contact them |
| D．most of them are experienced |
The passage mainly tells us that ________.
| A．an old woman can take a risk of delivering a baby |
| B．more Chinese couples are turning to surrogacy |
| C．it’s not a bad choice to have a baby born overseas |
| D．biological couples may fail to get their babies back |
ACS Middle School is delighted to announce the 10-day Morocco Challenge 2015. We are planning another exciting adventure to Morocco with the support of World Challenge, a global leader in service and adventure based trips. What sets this programme apart from other middle school trips is that the students will have the opportunity to help plan and lead their own expedition(考察探险).
This experience gives ACS Middle School students an opportunity to do something really unique that will make them stand out from the crowd. The experience will provide students with a wealth of new skills which they will find invaluable in school, college, university and the world beyond.
We invite you to join us for an informative parents’ presentation, given by World Challenge, where you will have the opportunity to hear all about the amazing challenges that your son or your daughter will have the chance to experience.
Initial Information Evening for interested students and parents:
Date: MONDAY, September 22nd, 2014
Time: 4:00 pm
Location: ACS Middle School
The presentation will be an informative and interactive presentation with plenty of opportunities for questions, along with videos and images of the expeditions and what it will be like to take part. There will be lots of information on how the students will fundraise to take part in this expedition, what they will do while overseas, the safety and back-up on the expedition and the benefits they will obtain from taking part.
We hope you and your son(daughter) are able to attend the Parents’ Presentation. We are sure you will find it interesting and see why ACS values the outcomes of this programme so highly. If you are unable to attend then your son or your daughter can attend on your behalf and collect the information needed.
Email enquiries to: cobmsclubz@acs-schools.com Subject: Morocco Challenge 2015
According to the passage, the Morocco Challenge 2015 _______.
| A．is the first adventure by World Challenge |
| B．was announced about 10 days ago |
| C．will start on 22nd September 2014 |
| D．differs from other middle school trips |
The passage is most probably found in_______in a newspaper.
| A．tour | B．sport |
| C．economy | D．education |
According to the passage, which of the following is True?
| A．The informative Presentation will be given by World Challenge. |
| B．For more information, you can send email to World Challenge. |
| C．Students cannot be allowed to attend the Parents’ Presentation. |
| D．Parents are not allowed to go on the expedition along with their children. |
The passage is written to _______.
| A．advertise World Challenge and appeal to more volunteers. |
| B．inform students how to fundraise to join in this expedition. |
| C．invite parents to attend an interactive Parents’ Presentation. |
| D．guide students to organize their own expedition. |
Here is some information for you if you want to make a visit to Xi’an.
| Admission Fee: |
CNY150 (March 1 - end of November) CNY120 (December 1 - end of February) The fare is for the Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum Site Park Through Ticket including the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Lishan Garden and shuttle buses inside the scenic area. |
| Guide Services: |
The exhibits are so well explained in both Chinese and English. However, visitors can also enjoy the guide services. It costs around CNY 100 to hire a guide. |
| Ticket Selling Hours: |
Sell tickets from 08:30 to 17:00 (March 16-Nov.15), stop check-in at 18:35; Sell tickets from 08:30 to 16:30 (Nov.16-March 15), stop check-in at 18:05 |
| Transportation: |
From Xi’an Xianyang International Airport: Visitors can take Airport Shuttle Line 2 to Xi’an Railway Station. The bus departs every hour from 10:15 to 19:15 at 1F of T2 and the ticket costs CNY 25. Visitors can also hire a taxi from the airport and the fare is about CNY 200. From downtown Xi’an: Take tourism bus No.306 from the east square of Xi’an Railway Station or 307 from the south gate of Tang Paradise. The whole journey takes about one hour. The bus fare is CNY7 per person. |
| Getting Around: |
Battery-powered motor vehicles and ancient-style carriages are available for visitors to tour around the mausoleum. 30 free shuttle buses are traveling between the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum and the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses for tourists’ convenience. One can take them by showing the entrance ticket. |
| Recommended Time for a Visit: |
The museum is crowded in the morning because there are too many group visitors. Therefore, independent visitors may visit the museum in the early afternoon to avoid the crowds. However, they should not miss the last bus that returns from the museum to Xi’an at 19:00. |
A couple who want to visit the Museum in January should pay at least _______.
| A．CNY 120 | B．CNY 150 | C．CNY 240 | D．CNY 300 |
It can be learned from the passage that _______.
| A．guide services are free of charge |
| B．there are more visitors in the morning |
| C．most guides speak in more than two languages |
| D．visitors can get around by free motor cars |
Which of the following is false according to the passage?
| A．Visitors with through tickets cannot take free shuttle buses. |
| B．The last bus returns from the Museum at 19:00. |
| C．Visitors had better enter the Museum with a ticket in the early afternoon. |
| D．Bus No. 307 starts from the south of Xi’an Railway Station. |
The passage is written to_______.
| A．introduce the history of Xi’an |
| B．give some detailed information to visitors to Xi’an |
| C．recommend transportation to tour around Xi’an |
| D．offer the guide services in Xi’an |