“A lot of learning comes through play,” says Mardy McGarry, 52, who has been a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She had seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks. When she wanted to build a playground for children with special needs，she knew it wouldn’t take long to develop interest in it around the small fishing village. But she never expected that 2,800 peo
ple — a third of the town—would all be willing to make a great effort to bring her vision to life.
McGarry started doing some research into play equipment and contacting design companies and she also found a piece of land available. When the city council(市议会) agreed to set aside an area for a playground, she also asked physical and professional therapists(治疗专家) for their investment. And she turned to her friend, Sue, for help. “Neither of us is good at maths, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.
Her Kiwanis Club came through with $7,000，and that’s when the grassroots movement really got started. One woman gave $25,000 and had her company match it. Soon, smaller businesses were joining in. There was a silent effort to collect money. The local Pieper Family Foundation offered to donate half of the remaining $170,000. All McGarry needed was 500 volunteers to work six 12-hour days.
On September 16, 2008, the first day of construction, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s operated their tractors. Ten-year-olds cleared up the mess. “None of them was paid. It was truly an amazing week,” says McGarry. Only three building managers were paid. Volunteers with “building experience” became coordinators(协调人); those who could operate power tools formed a separate group. One team served meals donated from local restaurants and churches, and another organized activities for the children of volunteers.
Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular destinations in Ozaukee County. All children, including the ones with special needs, play shoulder to shoulder. “Some playgrounds have special equipment in a different section. Here, you see all the kids in the same playground, all having fun.”
It’s exactly what McGarry imagined. “People used to ask, ‘Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?” She says, “It’s only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children.” It didn’t occur to Mardy McGarry that __________.
| A．her plan would soon draw the interest of people in the small village |
| B．so many people would volunteer to help her realize her dream |
| C．she would meet with so many difficulties in raising funds |
D．the playground would be the most popular destination in O zaukee County |
We can learn from the fourth paragraph that __________.
| A．the playground was finished in September 2008 |
| B．everything was well prepared, apart from the volunteers |
| C．everyone worked unpaid, except for three building managers |
| D．the playground is so popular that it is overcrowded all the time |
It can be inferred from the text that __________.
| A．Mardy McGarry is a famous architect in the small town |
| B．Sue was forced to join in the project because of her son |
| C．people always ignore the real needs of disabled children |
| D．Mardy McGarry’s vision has been successfully accomplished at last |
What would be the best title for this text?
| A．Mardy McGarry: A Woman with Great Determination. |
| B．Cooperation: The Greatest Power in Overcoming Any Difficulty. |
| C．Show Real Concern for Poor Disabled Children. |
| D．Make it Matter to Build a Playground for Disabled Children. |
If you were to walk up to Arthur Bonner and say,"Hey,Butterfly Man,"his face would break into a smile.The title suits him.And he loves it.
Arthur Bonner works with the Palos Verdes blue butterfly(蝴蝶),once thought to have died out.Today the butterfly is coming back-thanks to him.But years ago if you'd told him this was what he'd be doing someday,he would have laughed,"You're crazy."As a boy,he used to be "a little tough guy on the streets".At age thirteen,he was caught by police for stealing.At eighteen,he landed in prison for shooting a man.
"I knew it had hurt my mom,"Bonner said after he got out of prison."So I told myself I would not put my mom through that pain again."
One day he met Professor Mattoni,who was working to rebuild the habitat(栖息地) for an endangered butterfly called EI Segundo blue.
"I saw the sign'Butterfly Habitat'and asked,'How can you have a habitat when the butterflies can just fly away?'"Bonner recalls,"Dr.Mattoni laughed and handed me a magnifying glass(放大镜),'Look at the leaves.'I could see all these caterpillars(蝴蝶的幼虫) on the plant.Dr.Mattoni explained,'Without the plant,there are no butterflies.'"
Weeks later,Bonner received a call from Dr.Mattoni,who told him there was a butterfly that needed help.That was how he met the Palos Verdes blue.Since then he's been working for four years to help bring the butterfly back.He grows astragalus,the only plant the butterfly eats.He collects butterflies and brings them into a lab to lay eggs.Then he puts new butterflies into the habitat.
The butterfly's population,once almost zero,is now up to 900.For their work,Bonner and Dr.Mattoni received lots of awards.But for Bonner,he earned something more:he turned his life around.
For six years now Bonner has kept his promise to stay out of prison.While he's bringing back the Palos Verdes blue,the butterfly has helped bring him back,too.
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When he was young,Arthur Bonner.
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| 2． |
Bonner came to know the Palos Verdes blue after he.
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| 3． |
From the last sentence of the text,we learn that raising butterflies has.
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| 4． |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
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I entered high school having read hundreds of books.But I was not a good reader.Merely bookish,I lacked a point of view when I read.Rather,I read in order to get a point of view.I searched books for good expressions and sayings,pieces of information,ideas,themes-anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated.When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a "complicated(复杂的) idea" until he had read at least two thousand books,I heard the words without recognizing either its irony(嘲讽) or its very complicated truth.I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read.Strict with myself,I included only once a title I might have read several times.(How,after all,could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length.(Could anything shorter be a book?)
There was yet another high school list I made.One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college.The article had a list of the "hundred most important books of Western Civilization.""More than anything else in my life,"the professor told the reporter with finality,"these books have made me all that I am."That was the kind of words I couldn't ignore(忽视).I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles.Most books,of course,I hardly understood.While reading Plato's The Republic,for example,I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about.However,with the special patience and superstition(迷信) of a schoolboy,I looked at every word of the text.And by me time I reached the last word,pleased,I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic,and seriously crossed Plato off my list.
| 1． |
On heating the teacher's suggestion of reading,the writer thought.
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| 2． |
While at high school,the writer.
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| 3． |
The underlined phrase "with finality" probably means.
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| 4． |
The writer's purpose in mentioning The Republic is to.
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| 5． |
The writer provides two book lists to.
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I believe that my country,Poland,is a perfect example for a place where food is particularly important.When we were little children,we began to understand how much a loaf of bread meant to our parents—to some it might sound silly but for me the custom of kissing bread before you started cutting it was simply amazing.It’s not so common nowadays to treat food that way,since you hardly ever bake your own bread.Besides,everyone would call you crazy if you tried to kiss every bread roll before you ate them!But though we no longer make our food from scratch(起点),some customs have been kept—that’s why I feel so sorry every time I have to throw any food away—even though I no longer live with my parents and nobody would blame me for this anymore!
Many people of our nation are still working as farmers,eating what they grow and harvest and therefore enjoying everything more.It’s widely known that you value more anything that needs your effort in the first place.In most homes in Poland,especially those of farmers,the whole family would try and have their meals together—extremely difficult now,but so rewarding(值得)!You can share other members’ troubles and successes,give your children some attention,or just sit down for a moment instead of rushing through life aimlessly.Furthermore,your body,and stomach in particular will be very grateful(感激) for such a time!
In Poland,a wedding,Christmas or even a birthday is celebrated with a great meal.Women in the house get together and cook,sometimes for a few days before the event,and the extremely good or unusual food will be remembered and widely talked about.
You cannot over-value the importance of food in the country.What’s more,almost everyone in Poland will be as interested in the topic as I am.When the writer was a child,he/she______.
| A．found people were crazy about bread |
| B．began to realize the importance of food |
| C．thought that cutting bread was amazing |
| D．learned people hardly baked their own bread |
The writer feels very sorry when he/she has to throw away any food because______.
| A．he/she makes food from scratch |
| B．his/her parents would blame him/her |
| C．some customs still have effect on him/her |
| D．many people are still working hard as farmers |
From the text,we can learn that,in Poland,_______.
| A．most meals can be interesting topics for a long time |
| B．the whole family often have meals together nowadays |
| C．it’s common for women to get together to cook for a few days |
| D．family members can know more about each other by having meals together |
I entered high school having read hundreds of books.But I was not a good reader.Merely bookish,I lacked a point of view when I read.Rather,I read in order to get a point of view.I searched books for good expressions and sayings,pieces of information,ideas,themes—anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated.When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a “complicated(复杂的) idea” until he had read at least two thousand books,I heard the words without recognizing either its irony(嘲讽) or its very complicated truth.I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read.Strict with myself,I included only once a title I might have read several times.(How,after all,could one read a book more than once?)And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length.(Could anything shorter be a book?)
There was yet another high school list I made.One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college.The article had a list of the “hundred most important books of Western Civilization.”“More than anything else in my life,”the professor told the reporter with finality,“these books have made me all that I am.”That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore(忽视).I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles.Most books,of course,I hardly understood.While reading Plato’s The Republic,for example,I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about.However,with the special patience and superstition(迷信) of a schoolboy,I looked at every word of the text.And by me time I reached the last word,pleased,I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic,and seriously crossed Plato off my list.On heating the teacher’s suggestion of reading,the writer thought______.
| A．one must read as many books as possible |
| B．a student should not have a complicated idea |
| C．it was impossible for one to read two thousand books |
| D．students ought to make a list of the books they had read |
While at high school,the writer______.
| A．had plans for reading |
| B．learned to educate himself |
| C．only read books over 100 pages |
| D．read only one book several times |
The underlined phrase “with finality” probably means______.
| A．firmly | B．clearly |
| C．proudly | D．pleasantly |
The writer’s purpose in mentioning The Republic is to______.
| A．explain why it was included in the list |
| B．describe why he seriously crossed it off the list |
| C．show that he read the books blindly though they were hard to understand |
| D．prove that he understood most of it because he had looked at every word |
The writer provides two book lists to______.
| A．show how he developed his point of view |
| B．tell his reading experience at high school |
| C．introduce the two persons’ reading methods |
| D．explain that he read many books at high school |
Sorry to say,our brains naturally start slowing down at the Cruelty young age of 30.It used to be thought that this couldn’t be helped,but new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to work faster.“Your brain is a learning machine,”saying University of California scientist Dr. Michael Merzenich.Given the right tools,we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger.All that’s required is the practice designed just for the purpose:a few exercises for the mind.
Merzenich has developed a computer-based training method to speed up the process(过程) in which the brain deals with information (positscience.com).Since much of the data we receive comes through speech,the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to better speed and accuracy(准确性).
Over the course of training,the program starts asking you to distinguish(辨别) sounds (between“dog”and“bog”,for example) at an increasingly faster speed.It’s a bit like tennis instructor,says Merzenich,hitting balls at you—faster and faster to keep you challenged(受到挑战).You may start out slow,but before long you’re pretty quick.
The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly plastic.If you ask your brain to learn,it will learn.And it may even speed up while in the process.
To keep your brain young and plastic you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you:playing table tennis or bridge,doing crossword puzzles,learning a language...“When it comes to preventing ageing,you really do ‘use it or lose it’,”says Barbara Sahakian,professor at Cambridge University.Dr.Merzenich’s training method mainly depends on______.
| A．speech training |
| B．computer languages |
| C．the activities one joins in |
| D．the information being dealt with |
By saying “the brain at any age is highly plastic”,the writer probably means the brain can be______.
| A．used | B．mastered |
| C．developed | D．researched |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Practice makes a quick mind. |
| B．Brain research started ten years ago. |
| C．Dr. Merzenich is a scientist in computer. |
| D．People believed nothing could stop the brain slowing down. |
Which of the following agrees with the writer’s idea?
| A．The training methods work better for the old. |
| B．People should use the brain to stop it from ageing. |
| C．The training of the brain should start at an early age. |
| D．It’s necessary to take part in as many activities as possible. |