American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19．2003．Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which has become one of London’s main tourist attractions.
Looking thinner and darker, 30-year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames and immediately went to hospital．He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors say could be life threatening．He had been drinking only water since September 5.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s．He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends.
Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention.
In 1999, he was buried in a coffin(棺材) for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice．Last year he stood on top of a 25-meter pillar(柱子) in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes.
“I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they’re able to do what they can do,” he said．“They don’t realize we can survive．The human being is an amazing creation.” But he seems to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box．He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste.It is __________ for David Blaine to eat food after such a long starvation.
| A．pleasant | B．delicious | C．dangerous | D．important |
Having spent such a long time in the glass box, he suffered the following EXCEPT that __________.
| A．he had become blind | B．he had serious back pains |
| C．he lost his sense of taste | D．he was in weak health |
Which of the following can best describe David Blaine?
| A．Serious | B．Adventurous | C．Mad | D．Crazy |
Which of the following is NOT true of David Blaine?
| A．Blaine immediately went to hospital after he was taken out of his box. |
| B．Blaine was born and brought up in England. |
| C．In Blaine’s opinion, people can create a wonder． |
| D．Blaine didn’t have any food for 44 days. |
Most American students go to traditional public schools. There are about 88,000 public schools all over the US. Some students attend charter school.
Charter schools are self-governing. Certain companies operate（经营）some charter schools. They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools. They receiver tax money just as other public schools do. Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning. These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits（允许）them to operate.
Charter schools are different from because they do not have to obey most laws that govern traditional public schools. Each school can choose its own goals and decide what to teach and how to teach them in their own way. Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools.
The government strongly supports charter schools as a way to re-organize public schools, which are failing to educate students. But some education unions are against charter schools. One teachers’ union has just released the results of the first national study, which compared the progress of students in both traditional schools and charter schools.
The results of the study show that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests than the students in traditional public schools.
Some experts say the study is not fair because students in charter schools have more problems than students in traditional public schools. Other education experts say the study results would make charter school officials realize that they should help their students make greater progress.If a company wants to operate a charter school, it must _________ .
| A．try new methods of teaching |
| B．prove its management ability |
| C．obey the local and state laws |
| D．get the government’s permission |
What’s the government’s attitude to charter schools?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Satisfied. | D．Unclear. |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．More students choose to attend charter schools. |
| B．Charter schools are better than traditional schools. |
| C．Students in charter schools are well educated. |
| D．People have different opinions about charter schools. |
What might be the best title for the text?
| A．Charter schools in America |
| B．Public schools in America |
| C．Schools in America |
| D．Education in America |
Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia (怀旧). It’s fun to come home. It looks the same. It smells the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you. Home is where we can remember pain, love, and some other experiences; We parted here; My parents met here; I won three championships here.
If I close my eyes, I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home. I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glass-top wooden table. To the right of the living room is my first bedroom. It’s empty, but it’s where my earliest memories are.
There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays, and where I cried on Halloween— when I didn’t want to wear the skirt my mother made for me. I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong. If I sit at this table, I can see my favorite room in the house, my parents’ room. It is simple: a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side. Their bed is my safe zone. I can jump on it anytime—waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.
I’m lucky because I know my first home still exists. It exists in my mind and heart, on a physical property (住宅) on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles. It is proof I lived, I grew and I learned.
Sometimes when I feel lost, I lie down and shut my eyes, and I go home. I know it’s where I’ll find my family, my dogs, and my belongings. I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I’ll be blamed by Mom. But I don’t mind, because I want to hear her say my name, which reminds me I’m home.Why does the author call her parents’ bed her “safe zone”?
| A．It is her favorite place to play. |
| B．Her needs can be satisfied there. |
| C．Her grandparents’ photos are lined on each side. |
| D．Her parents always play together with her there. |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．The old furniture is still in the author’s first bedroom. |
| B．The author can still visit her first physical home in Los Angeles. |
| C．The author’s favorite room in her first home is the dining room. |
| D．Many people of the author’s age can still find their first physical homes. |
Sometimes when she feels lost, the author will _______.
| A．Open the window at night |
| B．lie down in bed to have a dream |
| C．try to bring back a sense of home |
| D．go to Los Angeles to visit her mom |
The passage mainly tells us _________.
| A．how much the author is attached to her home. |
| B．why the author is proud of her first house. |
| C．what the state of the author’s family is. |
| D．what good memories are in the author’s childhood. |
In the 1960s Professor Bolin predicted (预测) that the “greenhouse effect”, caused by an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, would lead to important changes in the Earth’s climate. At the time his prediction were regarded as science fiction. But it is now gradually agreed that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will double from 0.03% to 0.06% in the next 50 years and that temperatures worldwide will rise by 2°C.
Although a temperature rise of 2° may not seem significant, the local effects may be much greater: in polar regions a rise of 10° by 2025 is expected and in Northern Europe a rise of 4°. Indeed the first effects were expected to be felt before the end of the 20th century.
But how does the “greenhouse effect” operate and why should such a tiny proportion (比例) of CO2 have such a harmful effect? When living creatures breathe out or when things are burned, CO2 enters the atmosphere. Until recently all of this was absorbed by plants, which converted (转化) it back into oxygen.
However, the balance of nature has been disturbed. In power stations, in factories and in our cars, we are burning more and more fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and this produces huge quantities of CO2—18 billion tons of it enter the atmosphere every year. Added to this, the destruction of forests means that less CO2 can be converted into oxygen by plants. So, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing every year.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Only a small portion of the atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide. |
| B．Professor Bolin’s predictions were taken seriously in the first place. |
| C．No changes in climate will become noticeable for 50 years or more. |
| D．The rise in temperature will probably be 2 degrees in every part of the world. |
The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing every year because.
| A．Carbon dioxide is produced when we breathe. |
| B．Carbon dioxide is produced when we burn things. |
| C．More forests are destroyed and more fossil fuels are burned. |
| D．The global temperature keeps rising. |
The underlined word “operate” in the third paragraph most probably means “”.
| A．play | B．move |
| C．manage | D．function |
My father tried to teach me the importance of hard work and devotion to a career. However, there are also the things he taught me unintentionally.
My father, a self-employed sales trainer, was that sick, that tired. Still, he insisted on traveling to give a lecture. He probably earned a lot of money that day, and he paid the price. He returned to the hospital soon after and was dead within three months, at age 58.
It’s been 10 years since I saw my father come home that night, and since then, I’ve thought a lot about work. My dad once told me that he was unable to just gaze at a sunset; he had to be doing something as he looked at it—writing, reading or playing chess. You could say he was a success: he was a published author, an accomplished musician, fluent in German and American Sign Language. That’s an impressive list, but here’s the thing: I want to gaze at the sunsets. This raises the question: if I leave work at five o’clock to watch the sunset, what are the results? Do I risk not reaching the top of my profession? Maybe, because honestly, knocking off (收工) after eight hours probably won’t earn me a promotion.
But, leaving work at five o’clock means I eat dinner with my family. I get to hop on my bike and pedal through the streets of my hometown as the shadows lengthen and the traffic thins. And I get to see a lot of sunsets. That’s got to be worth something. The author’s father can be best described as .
| A．confident and positive |
| B．hard-working and ambitious |
| C．gentle and kind |
| D．sensitive and bad-tempered |
Her father’s death made the author.
| A．realize that life is very short |
| B．understand the importance of living happily |
| C．realize that one should balance work and life. |
| D．doubt the value of success in career |
What’s the purpose of this passage?
| A．To honor her dear father |
| B．To express her idea about life |
| C．To express her love for work |
| D．To show her love for her family |
Mr.Lang worked in a factory.As a driver, he was busy but he was paid much.His wife was an able woman and did all the housework.When he came back, she took good care of him and he never did anything at home.So he had enough time when he had a holiday.A few friends of his liked gambling(赌博) and he learned it soon.So he was interested in it and hardly forgot anything except gambling.He lost all his money and later he began to sell the television, watches and so on.His wife told him not to do it but he didn't listen to her.She had to tell the police.He and his friends were punished for it.And he was hardly sent away.After he came out of lockup(拘留所), he hated her very much and the woman had to leave him.
It was New Year's Day.Mr.Lang didn't go to work.He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again.He called his friends and they came soon.But they were afraid the police would come.He told his fiveyearold son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside.They waited for a long time and didn't think the police would come and began to gamble.Suddenly opened the door and in came a few policemen.
“I saw there weren't any policemen outside, daddy，” said the boy, “so I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”Mr. Lang was paid much because__________.
| A．he was a driver |
| B．he had a lot of work to do |
| C．he worked in a factory |
| D．he had worked there for a long time |
Mrs. Lang did all housework because__________.
| A．she couldn't find any work |
| B．her husband spent all time in gambling |
| C．she thought her husband was tired |
| D．she wouldn't stop her husband gambling |
__________， so he was put into lockup.
| A．Mr.Lang was late for work |
| B．Mr.Lang often gambled |
| C．Mr.Lang didn't help his wife at home |
| D．Mr.Lang wasn't polite to the police |
The woman had to leave Mr.Lang because__________.
| A．he was hardly sent away by the factory |
| B．he wouldn't stop gambling |
| C．he had been put into lockup |
| D．he didn't love her any longer |
Which of the following is right?
| A．The boy thought his father needed some policemen. |
| B．The boy hoped his father to be put into lockup again. |
| C．The boy hoped his father to stop gambling soon. |
| D．The boy hoped his mother to come back. |