The surprising experiment I am about to describe proves that air is all around you and that it proves down upon you.Air pressure is a wonderful force.When you swim underwater, you can feel water push down your body.The air all around you does the same.However, your body is so used to it that you do not notice this.The pressure is caused by a layer of air called the atmosphere.This layer surrounds the Earth, extending to about five kilometers above the Earth's surface.
The following experiment is an easy one that you can do at home.But make sure that you are supervised, because you will need to use matches.
What you need
·A hard-boiled egg without the shell
·A bottle with a neck slightly smaller than the egg
·A piece of paper
·A match
Method
1)Check that the paper will sit firmly on the neck of the bottle.
2)Tear the paper into strips and put the strips into the bottle.
3)Light the paper by dropping a burning match into the bottle.
4)Quickly sit the egg on the neck of the bottle.
Result
Astonishingly, the egg will be sucked into the bottle.Your friends will be amazed when you show them the experiment.But be careful when you handle matches.
Why it happened
As the paper burns, it needs oxygen and uses up the oxygen (air)in the bottle.The egg acts as a seal in the neck of the bottle, so no more air can get inside.This reduces the air pressure inside the bottle.The air pressure must equalize, so more air from outside must enter the bottle.The outside air presses against the egg and then the egg is pushed into the bottle! That proves that air is all around and that it is pressing down on it.
72.Why is there the need to take care when you are doing the experiment?
A.The bottle could break.
B.You need to light the paper with a match.
C.The egg needs to be shelled.
D.The egg has to be perfectly placed on the neck of the bottle.
73.In the experiment, the burning inside the bottle can__.
A.equalize the air pressure inside and outside
B.make a seal in the neck of the bottle
C.finish up the oxygen inside the bottle
D.produce more oxygen inside the bottle
74.How did the egg put into the bottle?
A.The oxygen inside the bottle sucked the egg in.
B.It became salt without the shell.
C.The neck of the bottle was wide enough.
D.The outside air pressure forced it into the bottle.
75.The experiment is carried out to prove ____.
A.water pushes on your body when you swim underwater
B.the earth is surrounded by a layer of air called the atmosphere
C.the pressure of air around us has a powerful force
D.the air pressure is not equalized around us
Chinese New Year for Kids
‘Chinese New Year for Kids’ is a full color paperback book with beautiful Chinese illustrations (插图). This is a hands-on workbook for parents and teachers, written for children from ages 3 to 12 years old, for use in the classroom or at home. Music, physical movement, art, and food all add to the atmosphere of taking an imaginary trip to China during the Chinese New Year.
| Author:Cindy Roberts |
| Date: 2002-10-01 |
| List Price: $ 9.95 |
| Price: $ 8.95 Buy it On Amazon.com |
The Polar Express
One couldn’t select a more delightful and exciting premise (前提) for a children’s book than the tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. And one couldn’t ask for a more talented artist and writer to tell the story than Chris Van Allsburg.
| Author:Chris Van Allsburg |
| Date: 1985-10-28 |
| List Price: $18.95 |
| Price: $ 12.89 Buy it On Amazon.com |
The Secret of Saying Thanks
Perhaps you’d like to know a secret, one of the happiest ones of all. You’ll discover it all on your own, maybe when you least expect. If you’ve not yet discovered the secret of saying thanks, it’s waiting for you. The secret can be found in the sunrise that offers promises for the day ahead, or in the gentle shade of a tree sheltering you from the hot rays of the sun.
| Author:Douglas Wood |
| Date: 2005-9-27 |
| List Price: $ 16.95 |
| Price: $ 11.53 Buy it On Amazon.com |
The Runaway Pumpkin
When Buck, Billy and their little sister Lily spy the biggest pumpkin they’ve ever seen, they can’t resist (抵制). Buck and Billy try to roll the pumpkin down the hill to show everyone, but it’s too big! Before they know it, it’s rolling out of control down the hillside. It knocks over Grandpa Baxter and makes him think of pumpkin soup. And when Poppa Baxter finally stops, all he can think of is pumpkin bread.
| Author:Kevin Lewis |
| Date: 2003-09-01 |
| List Price: $ 15.95 |
| Price: $ 6.38 Buy it On Amazon.com |
We can infer from the passage that Chinese New Year for Kids ________.
| A.is very popular with readers all over the world |
| B.is helpful to foreigners to travel to China. |
| C.helps readers to learn about Chinese culture |
| D.introduces a lot of outdoor activities. |
If you buy a copy of The Runaway Pumpkin on Amazon. Com, you can save ________.
| A.30% | B.60% | C.40% | D.70% |
The author wrote the passage mainly to ________.
| A.offer us some advice on shopping | B.tell us some interesting stories |
| C.introduce some children’s books | D.compare some books’ information |
A turkey named Courage gave thanks to President Obama for saving his life on the day before Thanksgiving. Honouring a 62-year-old tradition, the President pardoned the bird on Thanksgiving eve.
The tradition of a turkey pardon at Thanksgiving began with President Truman in 1947. Courage comes from Ellsworth, Iowa. The name Courage was chosen by voters (投票人)who took part in a survey posted on the White House website. The lucky turkey walked on the lawn of the Rose Garden and posed for the cameras at the presidential podium(讲台).
The dinner that has become known as the First Thanksgiving was actually a harvest festival celebrated in December of 1621. That’s when English settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, gave thanks for the progress they had made after a hard winter in their new country. As America grew, Thanksgiving customs also spread and got bigger. George Washington declared that the first national Thanksgiving would be on November 26, 1789. In the decades to follow, however, people celebrated Thanksgiving locally, with no official date. President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November 1863 a national day of Thanksgiving. It stayed that way until 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it one week earlier. He wanted to lengthen the shopping period before Christmas to encourage gift-buyers and to help businesses. So Congress(议会) ruled that, after 1941, Thanksgiving would be an official federal holiday falling on the fourth Thursday of November.
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, November. Millions of Americans got together to give thanks with friends and family. The lucky turkey, Courage, was one of them. After his pardon, Courage would be sent to Disneyland Resort in California, where he would be the grand assemble of Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.That the turkey Courage was pardoned was decided by ________.
| A.George Bush | B.Congress | C.President Truman | D.the public |
The first Thanksgiving Day was held to ________.
| A.celebrate the harvest of British settlers |
| B.celebrate the progress of Americans |
| C.encourage the struggle with British settlers |
| D.celebrate the joy of all Americans after a hard winter |
In 1939, President Roosevelt put forward the national day of Thanksgiving to ________.
| A.encourage the economy | B.help the poor |
| C.please Congress | D.lengthen the summer holidays |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A.President Obama pardoned a turkey before Thanksgiving because of the economic crisis |
| B.the turkey named Courage was pardoned by President Roosevelt before Thanksgiving |
| C.the pardoned turkey walked on the lawn of the Rose Garden on Thanksgiving eve |
| D.the pardoned turkey will appear in a celebrating parade of Thanksgiving Day |
My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a surprise place for the other to find.
“Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even opened an entire roll of toilet paper to leave “shmily” on the very last sheet. Little notes with “shmily” scribbled (潦草地写) hurriedly were found on dashboards (仪表板) and car seats, or taped to steering wheels.
It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism (怀疑态度) had kept me from believing in true love — one that is pure and lasting. However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious (爱调戏的) little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on devotion and passionate love.
Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other’s sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew “how to pick ‘em.”
But there came a dark cloud into my grandparents’ life: when my grandmother got breast cancer. Gradually it took over the whole of her body. One day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.
“Shmily.” It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother’s funeral bouquet (花束). The family came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother’s casket (棺) and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and sadness, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby (催眠曲,). Shaking with my own sorrow, I would never forget that moment.
S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.The point of the article is to ________.
| A.give advice on how to keep love fresh |
| B.explain to readers the meaning of “shmily” |
| C.show the true love between the writer’s grandparents |
| D.express how much the writer loved her grandparents |
What is the function of the second paragraph?
| A.To support the first paragraph. | B.To introduce the next paragraph. |
| C.To give the main idea of the article. | D.To make the article more interesting. |
The author’s grandmother ________.
| A.used to kiss her grandfather in secret |
| B.died from breast cancer, which spread all over |
| C.played crossword puzzle daily with her grandfather |
| D.considered her grandfather old and careless |
What is the author’s attitude toward her grandparents’ love?
| A.She doubts whether it was true love. |
| B.She finds their way of expressing love strange. |
| C.She admires their romantic and passionate love. |
| D.She thinks she will never be able to love like that. |
More and more teenage addicts in Korea are refusing to leave their bedrooms and some young adults are playing fantasy games online until they literally drop dead. "He didn't adapt very easily into high school," said Chu Dong-jiu, whose son, Jae--yun, 17, cruises football websites 12 to 14 hours a day. "That was why he dropped out. Now he spends all the time he is not eating on the computer. He hasn't been out of the house for eight months."
Eighty percent of South Koreans have broadband internet, the highest rate in the world. In Britain the figure is less than a third. This is partly the result of its intense, science-based schooling. But according to Dr. Kim Hyun-soo, chairman of the Association of Internet Addiction Psychiatrists, an "education frenzy (狂怒)" has undermined children's self-confidence and forced them to seek escape elsewhere.
Children, many tutored beyond school, enjoy little free time outside home, driving them into the solitary solace(安慰) of the computer, he said. “What children do on the Internet reflects what they want in reality,” he said. “The dreams they pursue are the dreams they would pursue in ordinary life.”
The most common obsession(迷住,困扰) is with online games in which players become fantasy figures in landscapes pitted with foes and obstacles. One 28-year-old young man collapsed and died last year after playing a game non-stop for 50 hours in an Internet cafe. Doctors said he died from exhaustion and dehydration (脱水). Studies show five percent of "gamers” are seriously addicted, with a further 15 ~ 20 percent betraying signs of an unhealthy obsession. Gamers make up 90 percent of Dr. Kim's patients, often referred to him by mental hospitals to which parents had taken their children. The other l0 percent are guilty of freakish (异想天开的)and anti-social behaviour on websites. "These people are very frustrated inside and full of anger," he said.
The government has stepped in, banning children from Internet cafes after l0 p. m. , and sending teams of psychologists to visit them.
67. This passage mainly wants to tell us that________
A. Internet cafes seriously do great harm to children's life
B. lots of students in Korea escape into Internet fantasy
C. why more and more children in Korea like Internet cafes
D. the government should take immediate actions against Internet cafes
68. Why did Jae-yun drop out of the school?
A. Because his family was too poor. B. Because he wanted to find a job earlier.
C. Because he liked searching football websites greatly.
D. Because he liked playing all kinds of computer games, especial]y football games.
69. According to the passage, we can infer that________.
A. most of Dr. Kim's patients are game lovers
B. garners make up l0 percent of Dr. Kim's patients
C. the government in Korea hasn't taken any action to control Internet cafes so far
D. more and more teenage addicts in Korea are refusing to leave their bedrooms
70. From what Dr. Kim said, we can conclude that_______.
A. children who like surfing the Internet are poor at studying
B. the Internet can help children to realize their dreams
C. most children who often go to Internet cafes hate society
D. the violence at school has something to do with the reasons why teenagers addict to the Internet
If You Make a Mistake, Don’t Worry!
Yeah, you’ll want to forget about them, but mistakes can be useful. Making a mistake doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. In real life you have to grow and mature, and with that comes some growing pains.
You know you should have studied hard but you went out with some friends instead. You know you should have put the money into the bank for a rainy day instead of spending it on all kinds of things you didn’t need.
It’s the growing pains called mistakes that most people make when they are growing up. Face them. You are going to make them. Learn from them. All of the people you wish to copy, such as all the experts in your business field, have made mistakes. They’ll continue to make mistakes for all their successes.
One of the major differences between people like them and the vast majority(大多数)of others is that they don’t let their mistakes stop them. Instead, they use their mistakes as learning tools.
At the very least, when you make a mistake, you’ll know what not to do. And you can help others by warning them of the mistakes you’ve made. Don’t let mistakes stop you from doing anything. Learn from them, don’t hide in a closet. Facing up to your mistakes now and later will mature.
What mistakes are you making right now? Take a look at anything you might be doing wrong. Take a step back and evaluate your situation, then fix whatever needs to be corrected. Then move forward.
Always remember your mistakes to remind yourself of what not to do for the future.
63. Why does the writer say mistakes can be useful?
A. Because you can get some growing pains.
B. Because experts also make mistakes.
C. Because you can mature by facing and learning from mistakes.
D. Because next time you know that money shouldn’t be wasted.
64. Which statement is true according to the writer?
A. Before you make any mistake, you had better lock the closet in your room.
B. Keep your mistakes in mind in order not to make the same mistakes again in the future.
C. Don’t go out with some of your friends any more.
D. Forget your mistakes and move forward.
65. When we make any mistake next time, we should do the followings except _ __.
A. Think about the reason why we make the mistake.
B. Try to correct the mistake.
C. Tell others not to make the same mistake as you do.
D. Be careful not to do anything.
66. From the text, we can infer that __ ___.
A. facing mistakes, some people lose heart
B. mistakes can be useful
C. mistakes can be called growing pains
D. Put away money when it is rainy