The man traveling in the back of the ambulance which was running at a high speed along the streets of Baltimore that morning in 2008 had no business to be alive．By everything that was reasonable，and there were plenty of such things before，he should have been very dead indeed．But he wasn’t．As the people in the hospital pointed out after they had examined him，he was only slightly hurt．Yet he had just fallen 150 feet down a hotel lift shaft（电梯通道）!
Unknown to the man，two things had occurred which were to affect his life that day．On the thirteenth f1oor of the hotel, somebody had carelessly left the lift gate open．Down in the basement, a pipe had burst and，it had flooded the bottom of the lift shaft to a depth of two feet．
Modern lifts have all sorts of fail-safe system to prevent accidents，but this was ancient equipment unreliable，slow，dangerous，and suitable material to recycle．
The man had plenty of things to occupy his mind that morning. He had overslept. The hotel had forgotten to call him and now he was late for an important business appointment. He dressed quickly, shaved hurriedly, took hold of his briefcase and hurried off down the hotel corridor.
Good! The life gate was open. The life must be there. He need not press the button and wait while the large, clumsy life made its way upwards. Without looking or thinking, he stepped out into space. The lift cag
e was, in fact, one floor above him on the fourteenth. The would which he had walked was a narrow space of not very fresh sir, ending 150 feet below in two feet of dirty water.
The man fell, making his journey to the ground at a speed he had never dreamed of. Confused patterns, a rush of air, time enough to be afraid, split-second thoughts of death, then-crash!
Perhaps this gave him the record for some sort of high-diving act. No doubt in future he always looked before he jumped. Certainly be learnt that this was no way to save time. The experts said that those two feet of water had saved his life.
59．What do we learn about the man?
A．He fell from the 13th floor. B．He was hit by an ambulance．
C．He got caught in a serious flood． D．He made a record for high-diving.
60．By “……had no business to be alive”，the writer means that the man_______.
A．had missed his business appointment B．was alive with excitement
C．was alive and this was surprising D．didn’t do any business
61．Tile lift did not have a fail-safe system because it was____________.
A．narrow B．slow C．1arge D．old
62．Which of the following was NOT the cause of the accident?
A．A pipe burst． B．The man overslept
C．The hotel forgot to call him D．Someone left the lift door open
When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me．I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time．I know kids who have been shot or beaten up．I have friends who ended up in prison．I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr．Clark wouldn’t let that happen．
Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, the scores of our whole class rose．One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem．Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full．We did not want to let him down．
Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year．He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award．But when the time came to draw names, Mr．Clark said, “You’re all going．”
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears．We didn’t want his class to end．In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch．He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55．In 2003,
Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit the orphanages（孤儿院）．It was the most amazing experience of my life．It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds．
36．Without Mr．Clark, the writer ．
A．might have been put into prison B．might not have won the prize
C．might have joined a women’s club D．might not have moved to Atlanta
37．The Essential 55 is ．
A．a show B．a speech
C．a classroom rule D．a book
38．How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr．Clark?
A．None B．Three C．Fifty-five． D．All．
39．What can we learn in the short reading?
A．It was in Harlem that we saw The Phantom of the Opera for the first time．
B．Mr．Clark taught us not to talk with our mouths full, and we did．
C．Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year in Los Angeles．
D．In 2003, Mr．Clark moved to Atlanta, and he always kept in touch with us．
40．In the passage, the writer intends to tell us that ．
A．Mr．Clark went to South Africa because he liked travelling
B．Mr．Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs
C．a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores
D．a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students
The literal meaning of philosophy is “love of wisdom”．But this meaning does not tell us very much．Unlike the other disciplines, philosophy cannot be defined by what you study, because it si actually unlimited．Anything can be the subject matter of philosophy: are, history, law, language, literature, mathematics, and in fact, the other academic disciplines are directly related to philosophy．For this reason you get a Doctorate（博士学位）of Philosophy （Ph．D．） in biochemistry, or computer science, or psychology．
Two broad sub-fields of philosophy are logic and the history of philosophy．Logic is the science of argument and critical thinking．It provides sound methods for distinguishing good from bad reasonign．The history of philosophy involves the study of major philosophers and periods in the development of philosophy．
Of what use is philosophy? First it is useful in educational advancement．It is necessary for understanding other disciplines．Only philosophy questions the nature of the concepts used in a discipline, and its relation to other disciplines．And through the study of philosophy, one develops sound methods of research and analysis that can be applied to any field．
There are a number of general uses of philosophy．It strengthens one’s ability to solve problems, to communicate, to organize ideas and issues, to persuade, and to take what is the most important from a large quantity of data．These general uses are of great benefit in the career field, not necessarily for obtaining one’s first job after graduation, but for preparing for positions of responsibility, management and leadership later on．It is very short-sighted after all, to take a course of studies only for the purpose of getting one’s first job．The useful skills developed through the study of philosophy have significant long-term benefits in career advancement．No other discipline systematically follows the ideals of wisdom, leadership, and capacity to resolve human conflict．
31．According to paragraph 1, philosophy can best be described as the study of ．
A．social sciences B．natural sciences
C．both social and natural sciences D．the subject matter of politics
32．What does “discipline” mean in the first paragraph?
A．subject B．science C．literature D．occupation
33．With the study of philosophy, you can ．
A．become a great leader
B．succeed in everything
C．find a good job soon after graduation
D．make progress in your career development
34．According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Philosophy is an independent discipline．
B．Logic helps you to become a better thinker．
C．The study of philosophy brings you immediate benefits．
D．The meaning of philosophy is too limited to define．
35．From the passage, we can conclude ．
A．not all the subjects have to do with philosophy
B．a person will get a Ph． D．if he/she studies philosophy
C．philosophy can be helpful for the study of any other subjects
D．philosophy is the only solution to all the problems in the world
When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me．I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time．I know kids who have been shot or beaten up．I have friends who ended up in prison．I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr．Clark wouldn’t let that happen．
Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, the scores of our whole class rose．One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem．Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full．We did not want to let him down．
Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year．He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award．But when the time came to draw names, Mr．Clark said, “You’re all going．”
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears．We didn’t want his class to end．In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch．He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55．In 2003,
Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit the orphanages（孤儿院）．It was the most amazing experience of my life．It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds．
26．Without Mr．Clark, the writer ．
A．might have been put into prison B．might not have won the prize
C．might have joined a women’s club D．might not have moved to Atlanta
27．The Essential 55 is ．
A．a show B．a speech
C．a classroom rule D．a book
28．How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr．Clark?
A．None B．Three C．Fifty-five． D．All．
29．What can we learn in the short reading?
A．It was in Harlem that we saw The Phantom of the Opera for the first time．
B．Mr．Clark taught us not to talk with our mouths full, and we did．
C．Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year in Los Angeles．
D．In 2003, Mr．Clark moved to Atlanta, and he always kept in touch with us．
30．In the passage, the writer intends to tell us that ．
A．Mr．Clark went to South Africa because he liked travelling
B．Mr．Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs
C．a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores
D．a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students
I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant , and ancient for a sportsman, Fifty is
a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me．Fifty is supposed to be my father’s age．but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means．
A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying, “ Fifty is what forty used to be ．”He had made an
inspirational point, Am I over the hill ?People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling them that he high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now．
“ Your are not getting older, you are getting better ．” says Dr．Joyce Brothers ．This, however, is the kind
of doctor who inspires a second opinion．
And so．as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net．I am moves to share some thoughts on aging with you．I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally．Getting older．of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies(悼词)．In fact , a poet named Robert Browning considered it the best change of all :
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to me．
Whether or not Browning was right , most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for
what is ahead being as good as what has gone by．I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend ( 混合) of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher(哲学家) was right when he said ．”Old is always fifteen years from now．”
5．The author seems to tell us in Paragraph I that
A．time alone will tell B．time goes by quickly
C．time will show what is right D．time makes one forget the past
6．When the author turned fifty , people around him
A．tried to comfort him B．got inspiration with him
C．were friendlier with him D．found him more talkative
7．The author considers his fifty years of life
A peaceful B．ordinary C．satisfactory D．regretful
8．We can infer from the passage that
A．the old should led a simple life B．the old should face the fact of aging
C．the old should take more exercise D．the old should fill themselves with curiosity
Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar （美洲狮） saw Jeb and his son, Tom, before they saw it．Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar．It worked．The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too．
Jeb let go of his jacket, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross．Now the cougar’s enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb．
“Tom, no!” shouted his father．
But Tom broke and ran and that’s the last thing you do with a cougar．The second Tom broke free, Jeb threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock．They hit each other in mid-air and both fell．The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, forgetting about Tom, which was what Jeb wanted．
Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance, even with just his fists．As the cougar’s claws（爪子）got into his left shoulder, Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit, hard．The animal howled（吼叫）and put its head back．Jeb followed up with his other fist．Then out of the comer of his eye, Jeb saw Tom．The boy was running back to help his father．
“Knife, Tom,” shouted Jeb．
The boy ran to his father’s bag, while Jeb started shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar’s attention away from Tom．Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb．The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms．Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar’s back．It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains．
The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds．
1．Why did Jeb pull his jacket open when he saw the cougar?
A．To get ready to fight． B．To frighten it away．
C．To protect the boy． D．To cool down．
2．What do we know about cougars?
A．They are afraid of noises． B．They hesitate before they hit．
C．They are bigger than we think． D．They like to attack running people．
3．How did Jeb try to hold the cougar’s attention?
A．By keeping shouting and hitting． B．By making a wall out of his arms．
C．By throwing himself on the cougar． D．By swinging his fists at the cougar’s eyes．
4．Which of the following happened first?
A．The cougar jumped from the rock． B．Tom struggled free of his father．
C．Jeb asked Tom to get the knife． D．Jeb held Tom across his body．