EdinburghMelaTime:25th–31stAug-优题课

How men first learned to invent words is unknown, in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters, we call words.
The power of words, then, lies in their association—the thing they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and the sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increase.
Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should, therefore, learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they make our speech silly and vulgar.
What is the origin of language?

A．It is unknown.

B．It is a matter that is unclear.

C．It is a question difficult to answer.

D．It is a problem not yet solved.

Which of the following about a real poet is NOT true?

A．He is less than a master of words.

B．His style is always charming.

C．His poem can move men to tears.

D．He can express his ideas in words that sing like music.

Where does the real power of the words come from?

A．From the words themselves.

B．From their characteristics.

C．From their peculiarity.

D．From their association.

What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The importance of choosing words.

B．Where the real power of words come from.

C．What great writers are like.

D．We should learn to choose words carefully.

George Washington Carver showed that plant life was more than just food for animals and humans. Carver’s first step was to analyze plant parts to find out what they were made of. He then combined these simpler isolated substances with other substances to create new products.
The branch of chemistry that studies and finds ways to use raw materials from farm products to make industrial products is called chemurgy. Carver was one of the first and greatest chemurgists of all time. Today the science of chemurgy is better known as the science of synthetics(合成纤维织物). Each day people depend on and use synthetics made from raw materials. All his life Carver battled against the disposal of waste materials, and warned of the growing need to develop substitutes(代用品) for the natural substances being used up by humans.
Carver never cared about getting credit for the new products he created. He never tried to patent(申请专利) his discoveries or get wealthy from them. He turned down many offers to leave Tuskegee Institute to become a scientist in private industry. Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric light, offered him a laboratory in Detroit to carry out food research. When the United States government made him a collaborator in the Mycology and Plant Disease Survey of the Department of Agriculture, he accepted the position with the understanding that he wouldn’t leave Tuskegee. An authority on plant disease—especially of the fungus(真菌) variety—Carver sent hundreds of specimens(标本) to the United States Department of Agriculture. At the peak of his career, Carver’s fame and influence were known on every continent.
What does the passage mainly tell us?

A．It mainly tells us about Gorge Washington Carver, a great chemurgist.

B．It mainly tells us about chemurgy.

C．It mainly tells us about the research made in Tuskegee.

D．It mainly tells us about the development of making synthetics.

The underlined word “disposal” in the second paragraph mean “________”.

A．control	B．throwing away
C．management	D．keeping

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Make a study of plant parts.

B．Make new products out of farm products.

C．Carver helped the United States Department of Agriculture.

D．Make a study on animal disease.

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Carver never patented what he discovered.

B．Carver refused many offers to work in private companies.

C．Carver made little money out of his discoveries.

D．Carver helped Edison invent electric light.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23—The House of Representatives, which prides itself on being “the People’s House” has been turning into a rich man’s club.
The representatives newly elected in 1984 were almost four times as wealthy as the first term lawmakers elected only six years before, according to a new study on the members’ financial reports.
Behind this remarkable swing, the study says, are two main factors: a court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns, and the enormous growth in the cost of pursuing a seat in congress. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for candidates of modest means, particularly women to amount successful challenge to entrenched office holders.
One solution, the authors contend, is a system of public financing for campaigns, but congress seems in no mood to change the political rules any time soon.
“The lower chamber is going upper class,” said Mark Green, the president of The Democracy Project, a public policy institute based in New York. “But this evolution from a House of Representatives to a House of Lords denies the diversity of our democracy. It establishes a de facto property qualification for office that increasingly says: low and middle income need not apply.
The Democracy Project produced the study in cooperation with the United States Public Interest Research Group, a similar institute situated in Washington. But their research was not entirely theoretical. In 1980 Mr Green was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 15th District, in Manhattan. The winner was Bill Green, one of the wealthiest members of Congres
What can we know from the passage?

A．The House of Representatives is poor men’s club.

B．The House of Representatives was made up of people with low and middle income.

C．The House of Representatives was rich men’s club.

D．The House of Representatives is made up of people with low and middle income.

What does “this remarkable swing” in the second paragraph refer to?

A．The House of Representatives prides itself on being “the people’s House”.

B．The new study based on the members’ financial reports.

C．A court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns.

D．The representatives elected now are much wealthier than those elected a few years ago.

Which of the following is NOT true according to the study?

A．Any honest man can become a representative of the House.

B．Women are more difficult than men to be an entrenched office holder.

C．Limits on what a candidate could give to his campaign are outlawed.

D．One must spend much money getting a seat in the Congress.

What is the United States Public Interest Research Group like?

A．The House of Representatives.

B．A public policy institute based in New York.

C．A public policy institute based in Washington.

D．The House of lords.

To Chinese immigrants, in the mid-1800s, California was “The Land of the Golden Mountain.” In their homeland they had heard the words, “There’s gold in California.” They sailed 7,000miles to join the gold rush and strike it rich. Between 1849 and 1882, more than 30,000 Chinese came to California. Most were men. They had been farmers in China. They came here to be miners and laborers. They ended up doing many other jobs, too.
Like many other immigrants, they did not plan to stay in America. They came because of their ties to their homeland and their families. They planned to return to China with their fortunes and help their families.
Only a few Chinese gold miners struck it rich. Most picked over the areas that had been mined already. But still, white miners resented the Chinese. Slowly, they drove the “yellow peril” from the mining camps.
By the end of the 1850s, many Chinese returned home. Those who stayed found other jobs.
Few women had come west in the gold rush. The Chinese saw a good business opportunity. They began doing the jobs women would have done. Many became house servants. Many more opened laundries.
The Chinese opened restaurants. Chop suey and show mein are popular Chinese-American dishes. The Chinese probably created these dishes to serve to the white miners.
Other Chinese became fishermen, farmers, and even cigar makers.
Why did Chinese go to America in the mid-1800s?

A．Because they could find good jobs there.

B．Because they had found gold there.

C．Because they could open laundries and restaurants there.

D．Because they heard there was gold there.

The underlined word “resented” mean “________”.

A．liked

B．helped

C．hated

D．served

of the following was NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Some Chinese became drivers.

B．Many Chinese opened shops to help wash clothes.

C．Many Chinese picked gold around the old mines.

D．Many Chinese returned to China by the end of the 1850s.

should be the title of the passage?

A．Early Chinese immigrants in America

B．Dream to strike it rich

C．The difference between men and women

D．Gold miners in America

The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space showed it as a solid ball covered by brown land masses and blue-green oceans. We had never seen the Earth from that distance before. To us, it appeared as though the Earth had always looked that way and always would. Scientists now know, however, that the surface of the Earth is not as permanent as we had thought.
Scientists explain that the surface of our planet is always moving. Continents moves about the Earth like huge ships at sea. They float on pieces of the Earth’s outer skin. New outer skin is created as melted rock pushed up from below the ocean floor. Old outer skin is destroyed as it rolls down into the hot area and melts again.
Only since the 1960s have scientists really began to understand that the planet Earth is a great living machine. Some experts have said this new understanding is one of the most important revolutions in scientific thought. The revolution is based on the work of scientists who study the movement of the continents—a science called plate tectonics.
The modern story of plate tectonics begins with the German scientist Alfred Wegener. Before World War One, Wegener argued that the continents had moved and were still moving. He said the idea first occurred to him when he observed that the coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. He proposed that the two continents might have been one and then split apart.
Wegener was not the first person to wonder about the shape of the continents. About 500 years ago, explorers thought about it when they made the first maps of Americas. The explorers noted the east coast of North America and South America would fit almost exactly into the west coast of Europe and south Africa. What the explorers did not do, but Wegener did, was to investigate the idea that the continents move.
What does the writer mainly tell us in the passage?

A．The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space.

B．Human’s recognition of the earth’s surface.

C．The German scientist Alfred Wegener.

D．The early explorers’ discovery.

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．We didn’t see the Earth from far away until we saw the picture taken in the space.

B．Our ancient thought that the surface of the earth is still.

C．Alfred Wegener was not the first person to investigate the idea that the continents move.

D．The coastline of India and Africa fit together.

The last word of the third paragraph “tectonics” mean “________”.

A．study of construction

B．study of architecture

C．earth surface

D．structural geology

What did the explorers find?

A．The coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together.

B．The coastlines of North America and Africa could fit together.

C．The east coastlines of North America and the west coast of Europe could fit together.

D．The coastlines of North America and India could fit together.

A．are all about arts	B．all happen in 2008 only
C．are all celebrated in Edinburgh	D．are all mainly for children

A．It is deeply rooted in Edinburgh.	B．It is a place to buy and sell things.
C．It shows kinds of cultures in Scotland.	D．It offers a chance for you to buy books.

A．0131 557 5588	B．0131 558 7666
C．+ 44 (0) 131 473 2000	D．0131 557 1400