Few buildings on earth can compete with the legendary beauty of the Taj Mahal. Towering over the ancient Indian city of Agra, the Taj Mahal is the grandest monument (纪念碑) to love ever created.
The lovers in this story are the 17th century Indian emperor Shah Jehan and h
is wife Mumtaz Mahal. She took a leading role in advising him, which is something unusual for a woman to do for a husband who’s an emperor. Over the course of their nineteen-year marriage she gave birth to 14 children. But in 1631 while trying to deliver their fifteenth — she tragically died. He was heartbroken when she died. And after her death, he decided to build the world’s greatest monument ever built, for love.
He ordered the royal architects to design the most beautiful building the world had known and decided to name it after his beloved, Mumtaz Mahal. He called on twenty thousand workers and sent many more people to all corners of his country in search of valuable metals and jewels. And after seventeen years of hard work, Shah Jehan’s monument was completed a
nd his beloved empress was moved to her final resting place.
Everything had gone according to plan, but Shah Jehan’s luck was about to change ... In 1658, just four years after the completion of the Taj Mahal, he was thrown out of power. Unfortunately, his son, Aran Azibe imprisoned him, his own father. And he spent the last seven years of his life in prison. And he was allowed to look at the Taj Mahal through a window. His life was in ruins, but
when he died his last wish was promised. He was buried beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal.
6
8 . The Taj Mahal was built for ______.
A. Mumtaz B. Shah C. Mumtaz or Shah D. Mumtaz and Shah
69. The Taj Mahal was completed in ______.
A. 1658 B. 1662 C. 1654 D. 1665
70 . What was unusual for Mumtaz Mahal according to the passage?
A. She gave birth to 14 children for her husband.
B. She gave important advice to her husband.
C. She asked her son to imprison his father
D. She planned to build the world’s greatest monument.
71. Which of the following is TRUE about Shah Jehan?
A. He was killed by his own son.
B. He lost his power as a result of the Taj Mahal.
C. He put his own son into prison.
D. He hoped to be buried together with his wife.
Give people a chance before you judge them because you really never know what’s going on beneath the surface. I am always reminded that judging a person by what others say or my first impression is usually wrong.
It’s so easy to make assumptions (臆想)and expectations about someone, just to find out they were completely false. The shy girl turns out to be one of the funniest girls I’ve ever met; the mean girl is actually very sensitive and loving; the cocky guy is unsure of himself, etc.
I hope there is a world where we stop judging a person by what they wear, their hairstyle, their job, their car; we simply love and accept them for who they are. Someone may have untidy hair because they over slept, or their clothes don’t match because their house burned down and lost everything. All I’m saying is, “can we focus more on what’s going on inside a person rather than the outside?”
There are so many people who seem like everything is just fine on the outside, but the inside is angry or hurting. They don’t know how to just be themselves or they’re afraid to because they may be seen as the “crazy” or “strange” persons.
I truly believe everything begins with ourselves. Before we can really stop judging others by the outside, we must stop judging ourselves. We must know how to treat ourselves first. Let’s stop getting in our own way and accept ourselves and others as we are.The underlined word “cocky” in Paragraph 2 probably means______.
| A．lovely | B．clever | C．proud | D．stupid |
When we judge a person, we should pay more attention to _______.
| A．what he wears | B．what he does or has |
| C．our first feelings and thoughts | D．what’s going on inside him |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Don’t judge a book by its cover | B．Judge a person by his outside. |
| C．Learn to just be yourselves. | D．Accept what you are. |
Andy rode slowly on his way to school, day-dreaming about the fishing trip that his father had promised him. He was so busy dreaming about all the fish he would catch that he was unaware of everything else around him.
He rode along until a strange sound drew him to the present. He came to a stop and looked curiously up to the sky. What he saw shocked and terrified him. A huge swarm of bees filled the sky like a black cloud and the buzzing mass seemed to be heading angrily towards him.
With no time to waste, Andy sped off in the opposite direction, riding furiously—but without knowing how to escape the swarm. As the bees came closer, his panic increased. Andy knew that he was sensitive to bee stings(蜇). The last sting had landed him in hospital—and that was only one bee sting! Suddenly, his father’s words came to him. “When you are in a tight situation, don’t panic. Use your brain and think your way out of it.”
On a nearby hill, he could see smoke waving slowly skywards from the chimney of the Nelson family home. “Bees don’t like smoke,” he thought. “They couldn’t get into the house.” But Andy knew he could not reach the house in time. He estimated that the bees would catch up with him soon.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a small dam used by Mr. Nelson. Off his bike and into the cool water he dived, disappearing below the surface and away from the savage insects. After holding his breath for as long as he could, Andy came up for air and noticed the bees had gone. Dragging himself out of the dam, he struggled up the hilly slope and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Nelson took him inside and rang his mother.Why did Andy fail to notice the swarm of bees earlier?
| A．He was riding to school. |
| B．He was listening to a strange sound. |
| C．He was going fishing with his father. |
| D．He was lost in the thought of the fishing trip. |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the swarm of bees in the passage?
| A．They crowded like a black cloud. |
| B．They shocked and terrified Andy. |
| C．They tried to attack Andy in a mass. |
| D．They made Andy stay in hospital for two days. |
How did Andy avoid the bees in the end?
| A．He asked Mr. Nelson for help. |
| B．He hid himself under the water. |
| C．He rushed into the Nelson house. |
| D．He rode off in the opposite direction. |
Which of the following can best describe Andy’s escape from the bees?
| A．No pains, no gains. |
| B．Once bitten, twice shy. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| D．In time of danger, one’s mind works fast. |
Way of Life for Students
The Internet is way of life for US college students, with research showing them to be one of the most connected groups.
A recent study by Harris Interactive and 360 Youth found that 93 percent of American college students visit the Internet, and this market is expected to grow from 15.2 million in 2003 to 16.4 million in 2007. That is slow but could be the result of the already high number of college Internet users.
About 88 percent of American college students own a computer, and more than half have broadband(宽带)connections. Furthermore, 67 percent own cell phones and 36 percent use their mobile devices to visit the Internet. Study findings are that 42 percent go online mainly to communicate socially, and 72 percent of college students check emails at least once a day, with 66 percent using at least two email addresses.
The most popular online social activity is forwarding messages to friends or family, with 37 percent of college students saying they do so. The study also looked beyond the Internet surfing(冲浪)habits and into the buying habits of this group, and found them responsible for more than US $ 210 billion in sales last year alone.
College students have learned how to spend their money, with 93 percent saying low prices were important when shopping.
The study also showed that 65 percent make loan(贷款)payments; 41 percent of freshmen have a credit card; and 79 percent of seniors have a credit card. A significant number of charges on these credit cards are likely to be for entertainment and leisure expenses.College students in the US, as this passage shows,______.
| A．waste much time visiting the Internet |
| B．lead an exciting life by using the Internet |
| C．don’t have to learn their lessons in their classrooms |
| D．spend too much time, in the opinion of the writer, visiting the Internet |
To communicate with friends, nearly half of the college students use________.
| A．letters | B．telephones |
| C．text messages on mobile phones | D．emails |
I was in a strange city I didn’t know at all, and what’s more, I could not speak a word of the language. On my second day I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough, then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived, and even that I pronounced badly. I stopped to ask a newspaper-seller. He handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person I asked was a policeman. He listened to me carefully, nodded and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I nodded politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.
About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside. The only thing left for me to do was find the nearest railway station.The newspaper-seller______.
| A．didn’t know where the hotel was |
| B．didn’t understand what the writer said |
| C．could understand what the writer said |
| D．didn’t want to take the money from the writer |
From the story we know that the policeman______.
| A．was kind but didn’t understand the writer |
| B．told the writer where to take a train |
| C．knew what the writer really meant |
| D．was cold-hearted and didn’t help the writer |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The writer got close to the hotel where he stayed. |
| B．The writer got to the hotel with the policeman’s help. |
| C．The writer found he was much farther away from the hotel. |
| D．The writer found the hotel in the direction the policeman pointed. |
In your opinion, what was the writer’s real trouble?
| A．He didn’t know the city at all. |
| B．He couldn’t speak the language. |
| C．He went too far in the wrong bus. |
| D．He followed the policeman’s direction. |
David Beckham was born on 2nd May, 1975, in the suburbs of London, at a place called Leytonstone. When he was a young boy, his greatest passion was football. He played it whenever he had the chance. Sometimes he would go and watch a game with his friends. When David Beckham was 12 years old, he won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skill award. This was an important step forward for this young boy, and it led to him going for a visit to a football training camp in Spain. As a boy at secondary school he played for the schools of Essex and also for his county team.
On 8th July, 1991, he became a trainee with Manchester United. This meant that he could practice football as much as he wanted to and play for the highly successful Manchester United Youth Cup team and Under- 21 team. On 2nd April, 1995, he played his first major football league game against Leeds United. During 1995 and 1996, David became a regular member of the team and Manchester United won in both seasons , with David scoring many goals.
His goals made him a household name. In the first game of the 1997/7 season, he scored an amazing goal from beyond the halfway line. Seeing the goalkeeper a little way out of his goal, David sent the ball over the goalkeepers head and into the goal. It was a wonderful goal and Beckham became famous overnight. He continued to score astonishing goals, especially from free-kicks. The speed of one of his shots was timed at 157kph. He also had the ability to make the ball curl from left to right, or right to left, whenever he chose. He could made it glide high through the air, or dive down steeply. Goalkeepers were never sure where the ball was going, and it regularly ended up in the goal.Which word can take the place of the underlined word “passion” in Paragraph 1?
| A．success | B．Interest | C．Prize | D．skill |
The unusually surprising way that he scored goals______.
| A．helped him to gain many prizes for Essex |
| B．kept him playing for Leeds United |
| C．offered him the chance to join the national team |
| D．made him popular in many British homes |
Which of the following shows the right order of what Beckham experienced?
a. Beckham played his first football league game.
b. Beckham won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills award.
c. Beckham played for Manchester United Youth Cup team.
d. Beckham went to Spain to join a football training camp.
e. Beckham played for the schools of Essex.
| A．e, d, a, c, b | B．b, e, d, a, c |
| C．e, b, a, d, c | D．b, d, e, c, a |
The passage is mainly talking about______________.
| A．how Beckham became a successful football player |
| B．what abilities Beckham had to score so many goals |
| C．when Beckham became famous all over Britain |
| D．why Beckham could win in football league games |