Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won the Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects.
Located on the shore of Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one damaged by Hurricane Hugo years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state.
Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina’s shoreline were poorly constructed, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. Now all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan’s Island should be strong enough not to be damaged by a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometres per hour.
At first sight, the house on Sullivan’s Island looks anything but(根本不) hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it look like “a large party lantern” at night. But looks can be deceiving. The house’s wooden frame is strengthened with long steel rods(杆) to give it extra strength.
To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings(木桩) buried deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also raise the house above storm waves. The pilings allow the waves to run under the house instead of running into it. “The waves of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.
Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed(隐藏) by the house’s ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with its legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of storm, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.After Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along South Carolina’s shore line are required
to .
| A．be easily pulled down | B．look smarter in design |
| C．meet stricter building standards | D．be designed to be cube-shaped |
The award-winning beach house is quite strong because .
| A．it is strengthened by steel rods | B．it is made of redwood |
| C．it is in the shape of a shell | D．it is built with timber and concrete |
Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to .
| A．avoid peak winds of about 200 km/h |
| B．bury stronger pilings deep in the sand |
| C．break huge sea waves into smaller ones |
| D．prevent the waves from running into it |
It can be inferred from the passage that the house’s shell should be .
| A．smooth | B．waterproof | C．easily broken | D．extremely hard |
The Mother Goose Stories, so well known to children all over the word, are co
mmonly said to have been written by a little old woman for her grandchildren. According to some people, she lived in Boston, and her real name was Elizabeth Vergoose. Her son-in-law, a printer named Thomas Fleet, was supposed to have published the famous stories and poems for small children in 1719. However, no copy of this book has ever been found, and most sc
holars doubt the truth of this story—and doubt, moreover, that Mother Goose was ever a real person. They point out that the name is a direct translation of the French “Mere I’ Oye.” In 1697 the Frenchman Charles Perrault published the first book in which this name was used. The collection contains eight tales, including “Sleeping Beauty,”“Cinderella,” and “Puss in Boots.” But Perrault did not originate these stories; they were already quite popular in his day, and he only collected them.
In 1729 there appeared an English translation of Perrault’s collection,Robert Samber’s Histories or Tales of Past times, Told by MotherGoose(London,1729), which introduced “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red-hood”, “Puss in Boots”,”Cinderella” and other Perrault’s tales to English-speaking audiences. These were fairy tales(童话)。 John Newbery published a book of English rhymes，Mother Goose’s Melody, or Sonnets for the Cradle( London, undated,1765), which switched the focus from fairy tale to nursery rhymes, and in English this was until recently the primary meaning for Mother Goose.A book of poems for children entitled Mother Goose’s Melody was published in England in1781, and the name “Mother Goose” has been associated with children’s poetry ever since.What is supposed to have happened in 1719?
| A．Elizabeth Vergoose wrote the first Mother Goose Stories. |
B．The Mo ther Goose Stories were translated into French. |
| C．Thomas Fleet published the Mother Goose Stories. |
| D．Charles Perrault published the first Mother Goose Stories. |
Most scholars consider Mother Goose to be _________.
| A．a real person | B．a translation from French |
| C．a collection by Elizabeth Vergoose | D．a book written by a little old woman |
When Perrault published the first book in 1679, _______.
| A．no story of the book had been known to people |
| B．some stories of the book were already well known |
| C．few people were interested in the stories of the book |
| D．stories like “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” became popular |
The name used in the first book published in 1679 is supposed to have been _______.
| A．Mother Goose | B．Charles Perrault | C．Elizabeth Vergoose | D．Mere I’ Oye |
When people talk about Mother Goo
se, they refer to,___________
| A．a printer of Boston | B．a kind of animal |
| C． children’s poetry | D．the French “Mere L’oye |
Send us your old jeans and other denim (牛仔布)!
What Are We Going to Do with All This Denim?
All the denim will be donated to COTTON FROM BLUE TO GREEN.®. This denim drive is a call-to-action to donate denim and give it "new life" by changing it into UltraTouchtm Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation (纤维隔热材料), which is used to help build houses in places that have been damaged by hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. Your jeans will help set a record, keep clothes out of landfills (垃圾场), and build houses for families to live in! UltraTouchtm is made of 85% recycled fibers and is an environmentally safe, natural cotton fiber insolation(隔离).
It's a Fact
It takes about 500 pairs of jeans to recycle enough denim to insulate one average-size U.S. house. So send us lots!
Here's How You Can Get Involved!
1. Get a par
ent's permission and select as many denim clothes as you like. (Any denim clothing is OK.)
2. The denim must be used.
3. The denim can be any brand.
4. The denim can be of any color or size but must have been worn by a human (no doll clothes!).
5. Please print out this form and include it with each package!
6. Send as many jeans or denim items as you wish to:
NG Kids P.O. Box 98001 Washington, D.C. 20090-8001
Jeans must be received by June 30, 2009! The activity organizer asks you to send denim clothes to ________.
| A．turn them into new clothes for sale | B．prevent them from being thrown away |
| C．provide clothes for the homeless | D．collect old clothes for being reused |
The denim clothes that you intend to send_______.
A. can be of any shape or color B. can be either new or second-hand
C. must be a certain brand D. Can be worn by dollsWe can infer that UltraTouchtm may be the name of_________.
| A．a brand of jeans | B．a building material | C．an organization | D．a kind of cloth |
This activity is probably ________
| A．a charity(慈善) act | B．a school's homework |
| C．an environmental act | D．a building company' s task |
Banks are not ordinarily prepared to pay out all accounts(账，账户); they rely on depositors (储户) not to deman
d payment all at the same time. If depositors should come to fear that a bank is not safe, that it cannot pay off all its depositors, then that fear might cause all the depositors to appear on the same day. If they did, the bank could not pay all accounts. However, if they did not all appear at once, then there would always be enough money to pay those who wanted their money when they wanted it. M
rs. Elsie Vaught has told us of a terrifying bank run that she experienced. One day in December of 1925 several banks failed to
open i
n a city where Mrs. Vaught lived. The other banks expected a run the next day, and so the officers of the bank in which Mrs Vaught worked as a teller had enough money on hand to pay off their depositors. The officers simply told the tellers to pay on demand. The next morning a crowd gathered in the bank and on the sidewalk outside. The length of the line made many think that the bank could not possibly pay off everyone. People began to push and then to fight for places near the tellers’ windows. The power of the panic atm
osphere was such that two tellers, though they knew that the bank was quite all right and could pay all depositors, drew their own money from the bank. Mrs Vaught says that she had difficulty keeping herself from doing the same.A bank run happens when _______.
| A．too many depositors try to draw out their money at one time | |
| B．a bank is closed for one or more days |
C．there is enough money to pay all its depositors at one time |
| D．tellers of a bank take their own money from the bank |
The tellers in Mrs. Vaught’s bank were told to ________.
| A．explain why they could not pay out all accounts |
| B．pay out accounts as requested |
| C．make the depositors believe that the bank was stand |
| D．pay out money as slowly as possible |
According to the passage, the actions of the depositors of Mrs. Vaught’s bank were affectedmainly by the _______.
| A．ease with which they could get their money |
B．confidence  that Mrs. Vaught showed |
| C．confidence shown by other depositors of the bank |
| D．failure of several other banks to open |
Japanese students work very hard but many are unhappy．They feel heavy pressures from their parents to do well in school．Most students are always being told by their parents to study harder so that they can have a wonderful life．Though this may be good ideas for those very bright students，it can have very bad results for many students who are not quick enough at learning．
Unfortunately，a number of students killed themselves．Others are after co
mfort in using drugs．Some do bad things with trouble-makers and turn to crime．Many of them have tried very hard 
at school but have failed in the exams and have disappointed their parents．Such students feel that they are less important and leave school before they have finished their study．
It is surprising that though most Japanese parents are worried about their children, they do not help them in any way．Many parents feel that they are not able to help their children and that it is the teachers' work to help their children．To make matters worse, a lot of parents send their children to special school called juku-cram schools．These schools are open during the evening and on weekends, and their only purpose is to prepare students to pass exams, they do not try to educate students in any real sense of the real world. It thus comes as a shock to realize that almost three quarters of the junior or high school population attend these cram schools．
Ordinary Japanese schools usually have rules about everything from the students' hair to their clothes and things in their school bag．Child psychologists now think that such strict rules often lead to a feeling of being unsafe and being unable to fit into society．They regard the rules as being harmful to the development of each student．They believe that no sense of moral values is developed and that students are gi
ven neither guidance nor training in becoming good citizens．A lot of Japanese students are unhappy at school because
| A．they work very hard | B．they find they can't do well at school |
| C．they feel unimportant | D．they are under too much pressure |
Because of their failure at school, some students take drugs to
| A．kill themselves | B．seek comfort |
| C．disappoint their parents | D．make trouble |
What should be the best title of the passage?
| A．Students' Pressure |
| B．Students' Problems |
| C．The Negative Impact(影响) of Japanese Education |
| D．The Trouble in Japanese Schools |
In juku-cram schools students．
| A．are taken good care of by the teachers | B．feel no pressure |
| C．are trained to pass exams | D．can learn a lot of useful things |
In ordinary Japanese schools，．
| A．there are strict rules | B．students feel safe |
| C．students can do anything | D．learning is not important |
When I was small and my grandmother died I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.
So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that crying does so, too.
Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional (情感的) health, and crying seems to be helpful. Study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.
Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and more friendly and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don’t even know we’re very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.
Just as crying can be healthy, not crying — holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering — can be bad for physical health. Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don’t fight it. It’s a natural — and healthy — emotional response (反应). Why didn’t the author cry when her grandmother died?
| A．Because her father did not want her to feel too sad. |
| B．Because she did not love her grandmother. |
| C．Because she was too shy to cry at that time. |
| D．The author doesn’t give the explanation. |
It can be inferred from the text that ______.
| A．there are two ways to keep healthy |
| B．crying does more good to health than laughing |
| C．crying and laughing play the same roles |
| D．emotional health has a close relationship to physical health |
According to the author, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Crying is the best way to get help from others. |
| B．Fighting back tears may cause some health problems. |
| C．We will never know our deep feelings unless we cry. |
| D．We must cry if we want to reduce pressure. |
What might be the most suitable title for the text?
| A．Power of Tears | B．How to Keep Healthy |
| C．Why Do We Cry | D．A New Scientific Discovery |