When someone says, "well, 1 guess I will have to face the music. It does not mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us had to "face the music", especially as children. We can all remember father's angry voice, "I want to talk to you!" and only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase "to face the music" is familiar to every American, young or old. It is at least 100 years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation comes from the American novelist James Penimore Cooper. He said in 1851 that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on stage . When they got their signal to go on, they often said, "Well, it's time to go to face the music." And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra which was just below the stage.
46. The passage mainly tells us______.
A. how the phrase “to face the music” developed in its own way
B. what the phrase “ to face the music ” means
C. when the phrase "to face the music" came into being
D. all the above
47. A person has to face the music especially as he is______.
A. a child B. a young man C. a grown-up D. a player
48.______used the phrase "to face the music" for the first time.
A. Actors B. The boss C. The director D. Cooper
49. Which of the following statements is wrong?
A. The actor stayed on the stage to enjoy the music.
B. To face the music is usually an unpleasant thing.
C. The original meaning of the phrase “to face the music ” is to face the orchestra.
D. The phrase “to face the music” has been used for more than one century.
50. According to the passage the connotation of the phrase “to face the music” is____
A. to listen to the music B. to go through something unpleasant
C. to stand in front of the stage D. to go to the concert
In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl going to Howard University, aiming at a law career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different story to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to leave college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a mix of adopted(收养)and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To put eyes on him was wonderful---and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy then followed son No.3. in 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how engaged I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each term
The hardest part was feeling sorry about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to give up, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you are looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you are in the middle of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process(过程). Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be ________ .
| A．a judge | B．a teacher |
| C．a writer | D．a doctor |
Why did the author give up school in her second year of college?
| A．She wanted to study by herself. |
| B．She fell in love and got married. |
| C．She suffered from a serious illness |
| D．She decided to look after her grandma. |
What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 4 and 5?
| A．She was busy yet happy with her family life. |
| B．She ignored her sorry feeling for her sons. |
| C．She wanted to remain a full-time housewife. |
| D．She was too confused to make a correct choice. |
What does the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?
| A．failure is the mother of success. |
| B．little by little, one goes far. |
| C．every coin has two sides. |
| D．well begun, half done |
Exploit your parking space
An unused parking space or garage can make money. If you live near a city center or an airport, you could make anything up to £200 or £300 a week. Put an advertisement（广告）for free on Letpark or Atmyhousepark.
Rent（出租）a room
Spare room? Not only will a lodger（房客）earn you an income, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax (税) on the first £4，500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis. If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money, Grashpadder can advertise your space.
Live on set
Renting your home out as a “film set” could earn you hundreds of pounds a day, depending on the film production company and how long your home is needed. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of online companies that allow you to register（注册、登记） your home for free—but you will be charged if your home gets picked.
Use your roof
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment(around￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign（签）a 25-year agreement with the supplier, which could prevent you from changing the roof.If you earn ￡5，000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on ______.
| A．￡300 | B．￡500 | C．￡4,500 | D．5,000 |
Where can you put an advertisement to rent out a room during a big event?
| A．On Letpark. | B．On Roomspare. |
| C．On Grashpadder. | D．On Roommateeasy. |
If you want to use energy free, you have to_____.
| A．sign an agreement with the government |
| B．pay around ￡14,000 for the equipment |
| C．sell the roof to some energy companies |
| D．keep the roof unchanged within 25 years |
For whom is the text most probably written?
| A．Lodgers. | B．Advertisers. |
| C．House owners. | D．Online companies |
It’s 5:00 in the morning when the alarm (闹钟) rings in my ears. I get out of bed and walk blindly through the dark into the bathroom. I turn on the light and put on my glasses. The house is still as I walk downstairs while my husband and three kids sleep peacefully. Usually I go for a long run, but today I choose my favorite exercise DVD Insanity. Sweat pours down my face and into my eyes. My heart races as I force my body to finish each movement. As I near the end of the exercise, I feel extremely tired, but a smile is on my face. It’s not a smile because the DVD is over, but a smile of success from pushing my body to its extreme limit.
Some people enjoy shopping, smoking, food, work, or even chocolate. But I need exercise to get through each day. Some shake heads when they see me run through the town. Others get hurt when I refuse to try just one bite of their grandmother’s chocolate cake. They raise their eyebrows, surprised by my “no thank you,” or by my choice to have a salad. Over the years, I have learned it’s okay to just say “no.” I shouldn’t feel sorry for refusing food that I don’t want to eat.
So what drives me to get out of bed at 5:00 a.m.? What gives me the reason to just say no to ice cream? Commitment. A commitment to change my life with a way that reduces daily worry, increases self -confidence and energy, extends (延长) life and above all improves my body shape. This is the point where a smile appears on my face as I look at myself in the mirror or try on my favorite pair of jeans that now fit just right. It’s through commitment and sweat that I can make a difference within myself inside and out.Why is there a smile on the author’s face in the morning?
| A．Because she sees her family sleeping peacefully. |
| B．Because she finishes her favorite exercise |
| C．Because she enjoys the interesting DVD |
| D．Because she feels a sense of achievement |
Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 2?
| A．She doesn’t treat others politely |
| B．She likes to make others surprised |
| C．Others don’t understand what she does |
| D．Others try to help her by offering her food |
What does the underlined word “commitment” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Good health | B．Strong belief |
| C．strong power | D．good habits |
What can we learn about the author from the text?
| A．She acts in a strange way |
| B．She wants to look different from others |
| C．She aims to develop a good body shape |
| D．She has difficulty getting along with others |
Mobile Phones in Schools
Mobile phones have become a problem for middle schools. Some middle schools in Australia have forbidden(禁止) students to carry mobile phones during school hours.
Mobile phone use among children has become a problem for the school this year. Several children have got mobile phones as Christmas gifts and more students will want them.
Mary Bluett, an official, said mobile phone use is a distraction(分心的事) to students during school hours and it also gives teachers so much trouble in their classrooms. Teachers were also saying that sometimes students might use phone messages to cheat during exams.
She said some schools had tried to forbid mobile phones to be used at school. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t get in touch with their children. Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school, but if there was a good reason, they could leave their phones at school office. They also said there were many reasons why the students should not have mobile phones at school: they were easy to lose and were a distraction from studies.
Many people say that they understood why parents would want their children to have mobile phones, but they think schools should let the students know when they can use their mobile phones.
| A．because they are students | B．when they are free |
| C．when they are at school | D．because they are children |
| A．the makers and sellers | B．the passers-by and strangers |
| C．their parents and friends | D．some mobile phone users |
| A．聊天 | B．核对 | C．查询 | D．作弊 |
| A．use their mobile phones |
| B．leave their mobile phones at school office |
| C．help the teachers with their work |
| D．get in touch with their children |
| A．students shouldn’t have mobile phones at school except for some special reasons |
| B．it is impossible to forbid students to use mobile phones at school |
| C．some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t use their phones at school |
| D．parents should teach their children how to use mobile phones during school hours |
Although computers used to be large, expensive and difficult to use, they have been made smaller, cheaper and easier to use. As a result, more people have been buying computers for their homes and businesses. They are used to record information and make difficult things easy.
Let’s look at some of the many ways computers may affect(影响) your life.
Want to get the best treatment at hospitals? Your doctors at hospitals have been greatly helped by computers to get information about patients. It is possible for doctors from different hospitals to read the records of patients, discuss them and make decisions on the best treatment. It would, at one time, take them hours and days to do so.
Want to talk to your friends both at home and abroad? Then it’s necessary to connect your computer to the Internet and set up your own e-mail letter box. You can then collect and send mails in seconds. It will be a waste of time and money to post your letters.
Want to get advice from Michael Jordan on how to play basketball like a NBA super star? Now it is possible to find out what it is on the Internet.
But if you think you have entered the information age because you have the chance to use the Internet, you are wrong. The reason is quite a simple one:over 98 percent of the information on the Internet is in English. The information on-line won’t be helpful to you unless you can use English freely.
| A．small | B．easy to use |
| C．cheap | D．dear |
| A．get information about patients |
| B．make decisions on the best treatment |
| C．talk to their friends at home and abroad |
| D．read the records of patients |
| A．use the Internet to send and receive e-mails |
| B．put up a letter box in front of the house |
| C．go to the post office to post letters |
| D．all of the above |
| A．治疗 | B．对待 | C．药品 | D．病房 |
| A．Modern Computers | B．Computers In Your Life |
| C．Learn English Well | D．Why Don’t You Buy A Computer? |