Britain’s oldest man made his first visit to London yesterday at the age of 101. Mr John Evans had never found the time or money to make the trip from his home in Forest – fach, near Swansea. But, when British Rail offered him an all – expense – paid birthday treat to the capital he just could not refuse.
He arrived at Paddington Station and smartly turned out in his best suit, favorite Panama hat and a red rose in his buttonhole. “It’s very exciting. There’s no doubt about it,” he said.
Until yesterday he had never been far from home, except for one trip to Aberdeen. “But I’ve been on the seas to that faraway land called Ilfracombe 21 miles from home,” he joked.
Mr Evans, who spent 60 years working as a miner in South Wales, almost made the journey to London once before, at the turn of the century. “There was a trip to the White City but it was ten shillings return from Swansea – too much I thought. All my money went to the family then,” he said.
During the next two days Mr Evans will be taken on a short tour of London to see the sights. Top of his list is a visit to the House of Parliament organized by his MP, Mr Gareth Wardell.
The only arrangement he does not care for is the wheelchair provided for him if he gets tired. “I don’t like the chair – people will think I am getting old,” he said. His secret for a long and healthy life has been well publicized – no wine, no tobacco and no anger.
Before setting off from Swansea with his 76 – year – old son, Amwell, he said jokingly, “I’m glad to see they’ve given me a return ticket.”The very rea
son that Mr. Evans didn’t go to see the world is that .
A.he had already been on the seas to Ilfracombe |
B.he was too busy to go too far away from home |
C.he couldn’t afford both the time and the money |
D.he believed “East or west, home is the best” |
Mr Evans didn’t like the wheelchair simply because .
A.he was not used to traveling in it |
B.the wheelchair was of poor quality and not easy to operate |
C.he actually preferred walking to sitting in it at home |
D.he thought he was still young enough to manage the trip |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.Mr Evans had to work hard to raise his family when young. |
B.The trip to London excited Mr Evans very much. |
C.Mr Evans could not really enjoy the trip because of his age. |
D.Humor was one of Mr Evans’ characters. |
The probable explanation to Mr Evans’ long life lies in .
A.his good living habits | B.his hard working for the family |
C.his sticking to his hometown | D.his living conditions near the Swansea |
Statistics show that every year, about 4 million students fail to pass the national college entrance exam. However, as China recently publicized students’ scores for this year’s college entrance exam, it seems that schools, parents and society at large give more attention to students who succeed in the exam, few people care about those who fail, the China Education Daily reported.
Some students, after failing the exam, cannot get a timely support from their parents or teachers and begin to display some serious mental problems. How to help these students to get rid of the shadow on their mind has become a problem to be taken seriously.
First, students’ friends, parents and relatives should offer their sympathy and care to them in order to comfort their heart. At this time, parents should not blame students for their failure, otherwise they might bear more psychological (心理的) burden.
Secondly, teachers and the whole society should also offer more support to students who fail the exam.
Lastly, students themselves should also try to overcome their depressions and adjust their mood.
The newspaper urges the general public to offer their care, trust and support to these students. It also expects that students can face their failure bravely and try to start a new life happily.What can we infer from the passage?
A.After the college entrance exam, more attention is paid to students who failed the exam. |
B.Students who failed the college entrance exam may suffer from some mental problems. |
C.People have done a lot to help students who failed the college entrance exam. |
D.Students failing the college entrance exam know how to remove the shadow on their mind. |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards the students who failed the college entrance examination?
A.He looks down upon them. |
B.He expresses concern for them. |
C.He doubts about their learning ability. |
D.He feels positive about their optimism. |
What would do harm to students who failed the college entrance examination?
A.Friends, parents and relatives show more concern for them. |
B.Teachers and the whole society offer more support to them. |
C.They themselves get over their depression and adopt an optimistic attitude. |
D.Parents put the blame on them for their failure. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Give more attention to students who failed the college entrance exam |
B.Adjust your mood and start a new life happily |
C.Who is to blame for their failing the college entrance exam? |
D.How to get rid of the shadow of failing the college entrance exam |
Genetically modified (转基因 ) foods have become a focus point of agriculture throughout the news today. This has an effect on many different aspects of the agriculture world. From the seed dealer, to the farmer that buys the seed, to the workers that the farmer sells to; all are affected by the new technologies that are involved in this part of production agriculture.
Genetically modified foods have come under heavy fire lately. There are some countries that are against buying these types of foods. They are being tested for safety by the best scientific experts in Europe, the US and the rest of the world. They are not for sale until they have gone through this complete safety process. Since they are a new product, and any slight problem with them could affect a whole country, these tests are very necessary.
These safety tests are carried out because of the new rules that were made with the Novel Foods Regulation. Begun in May of 1997, the Novel Foods Regulation set up an EU-wide pre-market system for all novel foods. A novel food is described as one that has not been eaten by EU consumers widely in the past. By setting up this program the EU hopes to keep its consumers safe from any possible side effects of any new food products.
There are a variety of ways in which genetic modification has helped food producers. They can improve the nutritional (营养的) value or the storage conditions of the food. Today there are only two genetically modified foods that have been allowed for use, these are GM soybean and GM maize.
Despite any safety checks, many people are still cautious about eating genetically modified foods. By providing these people with the necessary information, we can allow them to make decisions about these foods.What do we know about the novel food?
A.It’s very popular in EU. |
B.It’s bad for people’s health. |
C.It’s a new kind of food. |
D.Its story has been published. |
Genetically foods are allowed to be sold if they are.
A.tested for safety | B.of high quality |
C.more nutritional | D.grown in Europe |
From paragraph 2, we can learn that genetically modified foods .
A.do no harm to people |
B.have caused some problems |
C.are well received after being tested |
D.are criticized and attacked by many people |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards genetically modified foods?
A.We should warn people that they are too dangerous to be eaten. |
B.We should give people information about them so that they can decide whether to buy them |
C.We should encourage people to eat them because they are more nutritional. |
D.We should tell people that they are trying to fool the farmers. |
A young man approached the foreman(工头)of a logging crew (伐木队) and asked for a job. “That depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you fell (砍伐) this tree.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman said, “You can start Monday.”
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday went by — and on Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your wages on the way out today.” Shocked, the young man replied, “I thought you would pay me on Friday.”
“Normally we do,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to the last place today.”
“But I’m quite hardworking,” the young man disagreed. “I am the first to arrive and the last to leave and even have worked through my coffee breaks!”
The foreman thought for a minute and then asked “Have you sharpened your axe?”
The young man replied, “No, sir. I’ve been working too hard to take time for that!”
Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to “sharpen” the axe. In today’s world it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?
There’s nothing wrong with hard work. But we shouldn’t get so busy that we ignore the truly important things in life. We all need time to relax, to think, to learn and to grow. If we don’t take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.By telling the story, the writer wanted to tell us.
A.where there is a will, there is a way |
B.all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy |
C.hard work can make up for lack of intelligence |
D.health is over wealth |
The young man got the job by.
A.defeating others | B.giving promises |
C.showing skills | D.answering questions |
Why did the foreman pay the young man on Thursday instead of on the normal Friday?
A.He wanted the young man to have a rest. |
B.He wanted the young man to work harder. |
C.He wanted to reward the young man for his hard work. |
D.He was unsatisfied with the young man and was to fire him. |
What can we learn about the young man?
A.He is optimistic. | B.He is a little dishonest. |
C.He is intelligent. | D.He is hardworking. |
Believe it or not, there’re always some people who like staying up too late. However, sleeping early can bring us many benefits.
1. Healthy heart. Staying up late in the night is a way to hurt your body with high blood pressure and cholesterol (胆固醇). These are the risks associated with the heart.
2. Reduce stress. A peaceful sleep in the night relieves physical and mental stress. It relaxes the body and mind. With insufficient sleep you’re risking your health with heart attacks and other diseases.
3. Improve memory. Sleeping early lets your mind arrange the thoughts well. Waking up early with a fresh mind will regain all of it.
4. Protect you from diseases. By sleeping late in the night you’re only stressing yourself, which will increase the blood pressure and cholesterol levels. So sleep early and let your body keep the pressure levels constant.
5. . Breakfast is very important to start the day. Most of the time as we wake up late we miss it.
6. Positive performance. Sleeping continuously for at least 7 hours in the night is necessary. Inadequate sleep will limit your ability to think creatively, handle stress and concentrate.
7. Help metabolism (新陈代谢). Our body needs to send away all the unwanted waste. Sleeping through the day till noon will disorganise the exile (排泄). We need to eat and sleep on time to keep energy.
8. Reduce the risk of cancer. Sleep in the dark. Light in the night reduces the melatonin (褪黑激素) level which’s supposed to cause sleep and prevent the risk of cancer.
9. Increase energy. Sleeping early will let you complete your 7 hours of sleep and make you fresh the next morning. It gives you the energy to perform better.
10. Keep weight. When you sleep too late your organism is disturbed. Sleeping for less than 7 hours a day is an invitation to being overweight.What kind of sleep can relieve the physical and mental stress?
A.A peaceful sleep. | B.An insufficient sleep. |
C.A continuous sleep. | D.An inadequate sleep. |
What should be filled in the blank in Paragraph 6?
A.Breakfast is important | B.You might miss breakfast |
C.Wait for breakfast | D.Give time for breakfast |
How many hours should a man sleep at least according to the text?
A.9 hours. | B.8 hours. |
C.7 hours. | D.6 hours. |
What will happen if you sleep less than seven hours?
A.Losing weight. | B.Becoming sleepless. |
C.Becoming active | D.Becoming fat. |
There was once an old wise man living on the top of a mountain. Whenever the villagers had a problem, they would climb up the mountain and ask the old man for advice.
One day a young man arrived. “Wise man,” he asked, “What makes a man truly great?”
The old man said, “Do you sincerely want to know?”
“Yes, yes!” the young man replied.
“Well,” the wise old man said to him, “Let me tell you in the form of a story.”
There was once a Greek man who suffered from a deadly disease. Knowing that he would die soon, he was the first to join the army when his country was in a battle with the enemy. Hoping to die in battle, he would fight in the front line, risking himself without any worry for his life. Finally they won the battle and he was still alive. His general (将军) was so impressed with his bravery which contributed much to the victory.
The general decided to promote him and award him with medals of bravery and honor. On the day of presentation (授予仪式), he was looking very down and sad. Curiously, the general asked him why he was so sad on a day he should be so proud. The soldier told him of his deadly disease. “How could I let such a brave soldier die?” the general thought. So the general hired the best physician and finally cured the soldier. But from that day on, the once valiant soldier was no longer seen at the front. He would always avoid danger and tried his best to protect his life.
“Young man,” the wise man said, “if you want to be truly great, you must not be afraid of dying, you must be daring.”The reason why the young man went to see the old man was that.
A.he enjoyed the scenery of the great mountain |
B.the old man was very good at telling stories |
C.there was a difficult problem troubling him |
D.he was not sure who the greatest man was |
The general decided to award the Greek man.
A.after he realized the man’s serious illness |
B.because the man fought bravely in battle |
C.though he knew the man would die soon |
D.so that he could find the man a good doctor |
The underlined word “valiant” is closest in meaning to .
A.brave | B.polite | C.curious | D.proud |
What the old man really wanted the young man to do was .
A.trying to be kind to the people in trouble |
B.mastering the skills of telling |
C.joining the army to fight for his country |
D.learning a lesson from the Greek man |