American cities are similar to other cities around the world: American cities are changing, just as American society is changing. After World War Two, the population of most large American cities decreased; however, the population in many Sun Belt cities increase. Los Angeles and Houston are cities where population shifts (转移) to and from the city reflect the changing values of American society. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, city residents became weathier. They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy their own homes. They bought houses in the suburbs (郊区).
Now things are changing. The children of the people who left the cities in the 1950s are now adults. Many, unlike their parents, want to live in the cities. They continue to move to Sun Belt cities and older ones of the Northeast and Midwest. Many young professionals are moving back into the city. They prefer the city to the suburbs because their jobs are there; or they just enjoy the excitement and possiblilies that the city offers.
This population shift is bringing problems as well as benefits. Countless poor people must leave their apartments in the city because the owners want to sell the buildings or make apartments for sale instead of for rent. In the 1950s, many poor people did not have enough meney to move to the suburbs; now many of these same people do not have enough money to stay in the cities.
Only a few years ago, people thought that the older American cities were dying. Some city residents now see a bright, new future. Others see only problems and conflicts. One thing is sure:many dying cities are alive again.What does the author think of cities all over the world?
| A．They are alive. | B．They are hopeless. |
| C．They are similar. | D．They are different. |
Why did American city residents want to live in the suburbs after World War Two?
| A．Because older American cities were dying. |
| B．Because they were richer and needed more space. |
| C．Because cities contained the worst parts of society. |
| D．Because they could hardly afford to live in the city. |
According to the 4th paragraph, a great many poor people in American cities .
| A．are faced with housing problems | B．are forced to move to the suburbs |
| C．want to sell their buildings | D．need more money for daily expenses |
We can conclude from the text that .
| A．American cities are changing for the worse |
| B．people have different views on American cities |
| C．many people are now moving from American cities |
| D．the population is decreasing in older American cities |
Before she appeared on the reality show (真人秀) Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middleaged British woman.Now all this is going to change.
She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a tiny Scottish town.Because of learning difficulties, she doesn't have much education.But what she does have is a very good voice.As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays.For a living, she sang at local pubs.
When she took the stage on April 10th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just_one_step_up_from rags.The audience laughed at her.
But then she opened her mouth.A few bars into the song and the laughing audience went silent.A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables.Everyone was amazed.At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and applauded wildly.
Almost overnight, Susan became a household name.She won fans and millions of admirers.Her online videos have drawn over 85.2 million hits.
Susan's story proved the truth of an old saying: “Never judge the book by its cover.” Susan may look ordinary, and doesn't have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.
Susan's fans admire her courage, as much as they do her voice.She has experienced mockery and many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone's respect.According to the passage, Susan Boyle ________.
| A．is a famous young actress | B．became famous after a show |
| C．used to be a good student | D．is good at dancing and has millions of admirers |
The underlined phrase “just one step up from” in the third paragraph probably means ________.
| A．far from | B．close to | C．different from | D．the same as |
The audience jumped and applauded wildly because ________.
| A．her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags |
| B．she looked very funny |
| C．she sang so well that everyone was amazed |
| D．she made a foolish mistake in the end |
Susan Boyle has many fans now because of ________.
| A．her beautiful face | B．her knowing how to dress |
| C．her good education | D．her beautiful voice and courage |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．how to win fans | B．how to sing well |
| C．a woman's sudden success | D．a woman's simple life |
“Lizzie, there’s a letter for you!” Emily called up the stairs to her sister. Elizabeth looked down. “Is it from Harvard? They refused my application once.” Emily answered, “No, it’s from Yale.” Quickly, Elizabeth walked downstairs. She took the letter and opened it. “Rejected again,” Elizabeth said unhappily. “Who says women can’t be doctors?”
“They are fools not to accept you. You can’t let them stop you, Lizzie,” Emily said.
“I won’t. I’ll apply to (申请) Geneva Medical College,” Elizabeth told her sister. As it turned out, the professors at Geneva Medical College were not fools. They allowed Elizabeth Blackwell to study medicine.
In 1848, a year before Elizabeth would graduate, a typhoid epidemic (伤寒流行病) broke out in New York. Elizabeth wrote to Emily. “There’s an outbreak (爆发) of typhoid, and I am going to help. It is dangerous, so if I should not survive, please do me the honor of studying medicine yourself.”
Emily replied, “Encouraged by your dream and success, I have decided to study in medical school, as well.”
Having survived the disease, Elizabeth tried to set up a private medical practice. “I graduated first in my class but no one believes a woman can be a good doctor,” she said to Emily one day. “All I hear is that doctors should be men, while women should stay home to cook and clean.”
Emily said worriedly, “I will graduate in June with my medical degree. What shall we do?” Elizabeth thought for a while and replied, “There’s a big house in the poor part of our town. We can practice medicine there for people who couldn’t afford care.”
Soon with the help of some friends, Elizabeth and Emily bought the house and opened a hospital for poor women and children. “We’ll have an all-women staff (员工),” Elizabeth said. “And later, we’ll add a medical college for women!” Emily added. At last, Elizabeth realized her dream of being a doctor. The underlined word “Rejected” in the first paragraph can be best replaced by _____.
| A．Refused | B．Praised | C．Changed | D．Accepted |
Hearing Elizabeth’s words about the letter from Yale, Emily felt _____.
| A．excited | B．calm | C．satisfied | D．angry |
In 1848, Elizabeth wrote to Emily to _____.
| A．persuade Emily to come to help the sick | B．ask Emily to study medicine if she died |
| C．warn Emily the danger of typhoid epidemic | D．tell Emily she would graduate from college |
We can learn from the text that Elizabeth _____.
| A．received strong support from her sister | B．refused to go to study at Yale University |
| C．founded a medical college after graduation | D．was finally accepted by Harvard after her efforts |
Which of the following can best be used to describe Elizabeth?
| A．Humorous. | B．Honest. | C．Determined. | D．Careful. |
Johann Gutenberg, who worked as a goldsmith (金匠), took what had already been discovered, and created a small invention that changed history. He created a machine that allowed him to move small blocks of letters in such a way that written material could be printed and mass-produced. Few people could read before Guttenberg made the invention, but once books became less expensive, more Europeans could read and write.
Block printing existed long before Gutenberg. The Chinese had been using wood blocks to print books as early as 868, but a new set of woodcuts (木刻印版) had to be made for each book. Producing one book was not easy; producing all kinds of books was more difficult.
Writing ink dates from about 2500 BC in Egypt and China. Gutenberg used an oil-based printing ink that would last longer than other inks used in his time. We don’t know much about Gutenberg because he was not famous during his lifetime. He was born in Germany about 1400. In 1448, Gutenberg developed signatures for each number, letter, and punctuation mark (标点符号). He then built the molds (模型) to hold the signatures in place. Gutenberg published the first mass-produced book: a 1,282 page Bible. To this day, more copies of the Bible have been printed than any other book.
Copies of Gutenberg’s invention spread throughout Europe, but the German goldsmith did not get rich from his invention. Some officials denounced the invention of printing because they feared that it would spread bad ideas. By 1500 there were 1,700 printing presses in Europe. The presses had already produced about 20 million volumes (册) of 40,000 different books.What happened after Johann Gutenberg’s invention?
| A．People could afford to read books. |
| B．People became interested in inventing. |
| C．It was still difficult to print all kinds of books. |
| D．Punctuation mark began to be used in printing. |
Compared with block printing in China, Johann Gutenberg’s method _____.
| A．was difficult to run |
| B．needed harder paper |
| C．used a new kind of ink |
| D．was put into use earlier |
The underlined word “denounced” in the last paragraph means _____.
| A．fought against | B．accepted |
| C．laughed at | D．supported |
What is the best title for the text?
| A．A famous 1,282 page Bible |
| B．The life of a famous inventor |
| C．An invention that changed history |
| D．The development of printing |
We do not know when man first began to use salt, but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history. Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate salted fish. Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to preserve (保存) the dead.
Stealing salt was considered a major crime (罪行) during some periods of history. In the eighteenth century, for example, if a person was caught stealing salt, he could be put in prison and his ears could be cut off.
In the Roman Empire, one of the most important roads was the one that carried salt from the salt mines to Rome. Guards were stationed along the route to protect against salt thieves, and they received their pay in salt, thus bringing the English word, salary. Any guard who fell asleep while on duty was thought to be “not worth his salt”, and as a result he would get a little less salt on his next payday. The expression, “not worth his salt”, is still used today in English.
In the modern world salt has many uses beyond the dining table. It is used in making glass and airplane parts, in the growing of crops, and in the killing of weeds (杂草). It is also used to make water soft, to melt (融化) ice on roads and highways, to make soap, and to fix colors in cloth.
Salt can be got in various ways besides being taken from mines underground. Salt water from the ocean, salt water lakes or small seas can be used to make salt. Yet, no matter where it comes from, salt will continue to play an important role in the lives of people everywhere.According to the text, salt can be used in the following EXCEPT _____.
| A．keeping dead bodies |
| B．punishing thieves |
| C．protecting crops |
| D．making industrial products |
In the Roman Empire many people were employed as guards to _____.
| A．protect the city of Rome |
| B．watch people carrying salt |
| C．prevent thieves from stealing salt |
| D．carry salt from the mines to Rome |
The expression “not worth his salt” used today refers to the one who _____.
| A．fails to do his work well |
| B．should not be paid in salt |
| C．doesn’t want to work at all |
| D．should use less salt |
The main purpose of the text is to tell readers _____.
| A．how salt was found and got |
| B．salt is important in people’s life |
| C．salt was difficult to get in the past |
| D．what salt brings to the English language |
I was eleven years old, waiting for my exam at Saraswati Vidyalaya, my school in Nagpur. “No. 12, please come forward.” Kirti, a very fat girl from my class, stepped ahead. I heard my classmates laughing and so I tried to stop them with my eyes. But my good intentions were mistaken. The next morning, my teacher, Mrs. Kamble, told me, “Ashwini, I’ve received a complaint about you.” I was shocked. The girl I was protecting thought I’d been laughing at her.
I tried to explain but the teacher refused to hear me out. She punished me by making me stand by the door. I knew I was right. Such punishment to a class topper was simply unheard of. But, slowly, my pride disappeared. Instead of being angry, I understood the other students who have been punished at times. For the first time, I felt humbled (谦逊的).
Three years later, I was in the math class. Mr. Prabhuraman, wrote an equation (方程式) — one he’d taught us the day before — on the blackboard. “Anyone who doesn’t know how to solve this,” he said, “please leave the class at once.” I knew I could solve only the first two steps. But my pride made me stay there. Unfortunately, the one who was asked to solve it was me. I just stood there, chalk in hand, trying not to look foolish. I prepared myself for a good talking-to (斥责), but Mr. Prabhuraman told me kindly, “Go back to your seat.”
Today, two decades later, those incidents have made me think. One teacher punished me for something I didn’t do; the other forgave me for something I did wrong. Both experiences had an effect on me. They remind me that no matter what you accomplish (完成), you must always be humble.When the very fat girl appeared, Ashwini _____.
| A．took no notice of her | B．laughed at her |
| C．said hello to her | D．tried to stop others making fun of her |
After receiving a complaint, Mrs. Kamble _____.
| A．said nothing about it | B．was disappointed |
| C．felt very angry | D．tried to find out the truth |
Why did Ashwini refuse to leave the class?
| A．He felt it would make him lose face. |
| B．He could work out the equation. |
| C．His teacher believed in his ability. |
| D．His teacher never asked him any questions. |
The text is a story about _____.
| A．how to communicate with others |
| B．how to get along with teachers |
| C．the ways to protect others |
| D．the danger of pride |