Many of the stories written by Mark Twain take place in Hannibal, Missouri. The small wooden house where he lived as a boy still stands there. Next to the house is a wooden fence. It is the kind described in Twain's book, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," published in1876.
In that story, Tom has been told to paint the fence. He does not want to do it. But he acts as if the job is great fun. He tricks other boys into believing this. His trick is so successful that they agree to pay him money to let them finish his work. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is considered one of the best books about an American boy's life in THE the1800s.
Tom Sawyer's good friend is Huckleberry, or "Huck," Finn. Mark Twain tells this boy's story in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Huck is a poor child, without a mother or home. His father drinks too much alcohol and beats him.
Huck's situation has freed him from the restrictions of society. He explores in the woods and goes fishing. He stays out all night and does not go to school. He smokes tobacco.
Huck runs away from home. He meets Jim, a black man who has escaped from slavery. They travel together on a raft made of wood down the Mississippi River. Huck describes the trip: "It was lovely to live on the raft. Other places seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft... Sometimes we'd have that whole river to ourselves for the longest time... We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them---. “From the second paragraph we learn Tom Sawyer is a ______ boy.
| A．kind | B．smart | C．clumsy | D．honest |
The reason why Huck runs away from home is that ______.
| A．his family is poor | B．he wants to find a friend live with |
| C．there’s no warn in his home | D．he loves nature and likes to adventure |
The underlined word “restrictions” can be replaced by _____.
| A．limits | B．prohibition | C．forces | D．rules |
Why did Huck feel comfortable living in a raft? Because _____.
| A．Huck made the raft by himself | B．Huck could eat fresh food here |
| C．Huck could have the river there | D．Huck likes to be free |
The stories of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” are probably _____.
| A．completely imaginary | B．according Mark Twain’s experiences |
| C．Mark Twain’s autobiography(自传) | D．records from his last generation |
The expression “Go for it!” is a way of encouraging someone to try something.
“Go for it!” means you should not worry about failure or be too careful. You should take a chance, be brave, and act firmly.
“Go for it!” gets name from football. Not football as it is played in most countries such as England, Egypt or Japan, but the kind of football played in the United States and Canada.
One of the most exciting times in football comes when a team has failed, after three attempts, to move the ball forward ten yards. The team must make a critical decision.
The conservative choice is to kick the ball and accept temporary defeat in order to gain a good position for your team the next time it gets the ball. The more exciting choice, however, is to try a fourth and final time to gain the remaining yards needed.
In the nineteen eighties, people began using this expression in many kinds of situations to encourage someone to act bravely.
There is no guarantee(保证) that the action you “Go for it!” will succeed. But that is the chance you take when you decide to go for it. You put your fears behind. You choose courage over safety. You hold your breath and go for it.The expression “Go for it!” comes from______.
| A．English football | B．Egyptian football | C．Japanese football | D．American football |
According to the passage, when we decide to go for it, we only consider______.
| A．safety | B．action | C．result | D．situation |
In which of the following situations should we use the expression nowadays?
| A．We decide to avoid trouble or danger for the future. |
| B．We try to improve our English for better education. |
| C．We need to make a quick decision at the last moment. |
| D．We have to make a choice between success and failure. |
Most people think the first pies were made by early Romans. They may have learned about pie making from the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in"reeds (芦苇叶)", which were used for the purpose of holding the filling (馅 ), and were not eaten.
The Romans spread the word about pies around Europe and the word"pie"became a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe (食谱) was also published by the Romans.
Pies first appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The early pies were mostly meat pies. There was actually more crust(皮)than filling. Often these pies were made from fowl ( 家禽) and the fowl's legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies were probably first made in the 1500s. It is said that Queen Elizabeth I made the first cherry pie.
Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early settlers cooked their pies in long narrow pans. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts were often not eaten, but simply used to hold the filling during baking(烘焙).
Over the years, pie has become what it is today --- "the most traditional American dessert". Pie has become so much a part of American culture that we now often use the phrase "as American as apple pie".Which people might probably first grasp the skill to make pies?
| A．The Romans. | B．The Greeks. | C．The Englishmen. | D．The Americans. |
Which of the following is NOT true about pies?
| A．English settlers brought pies to America. |
| B．Early Romans ate not only pies but also the crusts. |
| C．The Romans first published pie recipe. |
| D．The word “pie ” became popular because of the Romans` efforts. |
What can best show pies have become part of American culture?
| A．Americans use long narrow pans to cook pies. |
| B．People use "as American as apple pie" to show something about American characteristics. |
| C．Americans don't eat crusts but use them to hold the filling during baking. |
| D．Pies are the most traditional American dessert. |
The best title of this passage is "______________".
| A．The History of Pies | B．Pies, the Delicious Food |
| C．Pies, American Dessert | D．How to Make Pies |
World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is selected for World Health Day that highlights a priority area of public health concern in the world.
The theme for 2013 is high blood pressure. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes(中风). If left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can also cause blindness, irregularities of the heartbeat and heart failure. The risk of developing these complications is higher in the presence of other risk factors such as diabetes(糖尿病). One in three adults worldwide has high blood pressure and this increases with age, from 1 in 10 people in their 20s and 30s to 5 in 10 people in their 50s. High blood pressure is most common in some low-income countries in Africa, with over 40% of adults in many African countries thought to be affected.
However, high blood pressure is both preventable and treatable. In some developed countries, prevention and treatment of it has brought about a reduction in deaths from heart disease. The risk of developing high blood pressure can be reduced by: reducing salt intake; eating a balanced diet; avoiding harmful use of alcohol; taking regular physical activity; keeping a healthy body weight; and avoiding tobacco use.
The final and most important goal of World Health Day 2013 is to reduce heart attacks and strokes, which includes as follows:
1.to raise awareness of the causes and consequences of high blood pressure;
2.to provide information on how to prevent high blood pressure
3.to encourage adults to check their blood pressure and to follow the advice of health-care professionals.High blood pressure can cause medical problems like_____.
| A．heart diseases, strokes and blindness | B．strokes, heart failure and diabetes |
| C．heart attacks, blindness and diabetes | D．heart troubles,strokes and cancers |
Who are most likely to be affected by high blood pressure?
| A．Those who are in their 20s | B．Those who are in their 30s |
| C．Those who are in their 40s | D．Those who are in their 50s |
Which of the following can NOT reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure?
| A．Less salt intake | B．Putting on weight | C．Regular exercise | D．No smoking |
The text is mainly about______.
| A．the theme for World Health Day 2013 | B．the causes of high blood pressure |
| C．the treatment of heart attacks and strokes | D．how to reduce the risk of high blood pressure |
How could we have thought so wrongly of as banana peel that it always hits the garbage? Utility of anything seems to be in the eyes of the beholder. The banana peel hasn't been an exception.
What most of us looked at as waste was converted to a thing of utility by Prithwis Mukhopadlyay, a 14-year-old prodigy. This Bengali boy, nourished in the US, Lake Junior High in Woodbury, Minnesota, has come up with an idea to convert banana peels to biogas.(生物气).
It's well known that almost any organic waste can be converted to biogas. But why biogas from banana peel has hit the news is because it produced five times as much biogas as manure(粪), a commonly used source for producing biogas, in the experiments Prithwis conducted.
He filled two airtight containers, one with manure and the other with banana peels. Then he mixed each content with water and connected them to empty jars via pipes to collect the gas produced. He placed a heater next to each jar and measured the gas collected for 60 days. His studies proved that banana peels produced five times more biogas than manure.
This project titled 'Comparison analysis: Eco-friendly source of energy for the future,' earned him a spot in Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. This weekend, the young whiz is to showcase his research work along with 40 other finalists at Washington. "Initially, I thought of doing a project that would reduce global warming. Things changed after I visited a biogas plant in a village in India during my summer vacations. It was an amazing experience," Prithwis says.Why could Prithwis's finding receive the attention of the media?
| A．Because he is a prodigy. |
| B．Because he is of Bengali descent. |
| C．Because he used an extremely rare organic waste to produce biogas. |
| D．Because his research proved that banana peels can produce more biogas. |
Where did Prithwis derive his inspiration from?
A.Lake Junior High. B Discovery Channel.
C. India. D.His laboratory at home.This article probably appeared in a _________ magazine.
| A．gourmet | B．science | C．computer | D．fashion |
Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown. The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological（生物学的） basis to their preferences（偏爱）.
Psychologists Dr. Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants(婴儿) aged nine months to 36 months. The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys. Some were stereotypically boys' toys - a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy. The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked. Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.
Of the youngest children (nine to 14 months), girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did. Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched. There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children’s choice.
Dr Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization(社会化). Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference. But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colours such as pink, the colour of a newborn baby.”Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because__________.
| A．baby boys are much more active |
| B．baby girls like bright colours more |
| C．there is a natural difference between them |
| D．their parents treat them differently |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
| A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all. |
| B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls. |
| C．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys. |
| D．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is. |
What conclusion did Dr. Brenda Todd draw from the results of the study?
| A．Babies’ preference isn’t affected by social surroundings. |
| B．Adults purposely（故意地） influence their babies preference. |
| C．Baby boys preferring to moving toys will be good at hunting. |
| D．Baby girls preferring warmer colors will be warm-hearted. |
We may read this article in a_________ section of a newspaper.
| A．health | B．science | C．education | D．entertainment |