To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains, But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain, Its first use was as a shade against the sun!
Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient
times . Probably the first to use it were the Chinese in the 11th century B C.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor. In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in high office.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in commonly used in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans.
During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared. Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again it was considered as a symbol of power. By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France and later in England.
By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout mostof Europe.
Umbrellas have hot changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that women’s umbrellas began to be made , in a whole variety of colors.According to this passage, the umbrella was probably first invented in ancient_______.
| A．China | B．Egypt | C．Greece | D．Rome |
Which of the following statements is not true about the umbrella?
| A．No one exactly knows who the inventor of the umbrella was |
| B．The umbrella was first invented to be used as protection against the sun. |
| C．The umbrella changed much in style in the eighteenth century |
| D．In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. |
A strange feature of the umbrella’s use is that it was used as__________.
| A．protection against rain | B．a shade against the sun |
| C．a symbol of honor and power | D．women’s decoration (装饰) |
In Europe, the umbrella was first used against the rain_______________.
A. during the Middle Ages B. by the 18th C. in Rome D .in GreeceThis passage talks mainly about_______________.
| A．when and how the umbrella was invented |
| B．why the umbrella was so popular in Europe |
| C．the development of the umbrella |
| D．The history and use of the umbrella |
“Keep your eyes on the ball.” That is good advice when you are on the playing field, and good advice for everyday life. “Keep your mind on what’s important,” is the way I’d put it. But people are funny. They think too much about the details.
I had a secretary once. She was very hardworking. I ran a school and people used to call up to enroll(登记) for courses. Berry used to get angry at the phone. “If they keep on ringing, I’ll never get my typing done!” she’d shout.
People just don’t see the big picture. One evening, after leaving work, I was sitting next to a man on the train. I was feeling tired. My eyes fell on the paper he had spread out in front of him. You know how you feel to read over someone’s shoulder?
I read the page and leaned back. I guessed I was waiting for him to turn it. After a while, I realized—he wasn’t turning the page. He just kept on reading.
Now if you knew the page he was reading, you’d know that there weren’t many words on the page to read anyway. The layout（版面） was mostly pictures. So I turned to the man and said,” You know, you really read very slowly.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “Well,” I told him, “I read the page in about a minute, and you have taken about ten. And you are still reading. You know,” I went on “If you learned to read faster, you could get more reading done.” He remained silent for a minute or two. “If I read too fast, my paper wouldn’t last me to my station.”The writer wasn’t satisfied with his secretary because ___.
| A．she didn’t put first thing first |
| B．she was too busy |
| C．she was easy to get angry |
| D．she couldn’t finish her work on time |
The man read newspaper in order to___.
| A． take in information | B． enjoy pictures |
| C． save time | D． kill time |
The writer thinks that people seem to need a sense of ___.
| A．what to read first | B．how to read fast |
| C．what is important | D．what is funny |
Fuzhou Road is famous for its book stores.
Shanghai’s City of Books (Nandong)
Address: No. 345, Nanjing Road. E. near Shandong Road N.
Tel: 6322-1557
Opening Hour: 9:30—21:30
It is a branch of Shanghai’s City of Books. It doesn’t sell any foreign language books, but you can buy CDs of computer games and software.
Traffic: Metro Line No. 2 (Nanjing Road E. Station)
Shanghai’s City of Books
Address: No. 465, Fuzhou Road
Tel: 6391-4848
Opening Hour: 9:30—20:30
This is the biggest book store in Shanghai with six floors. Each floor has different kinds of books, but most English books are for Chinese students preparing for exams.
Foreign Language Bookstore
Address: No. 390, Fuzhou Road
Tel: 6322-3200
Opening Hour: 9:00—18:00
You can find many English novels on the ground floor, as well as dictionaries. There is a corner on the ground floor for foreigners who want to learn Chinese.
On the higher floors, you can find some professional books in English. Of course, many of the books are for Chinese students.
Shanghai Culture Commercial Building
Address: No. 355, Fuzhou Road
Opening Hour: 9:00—17:30
This store has a variety of stationery (文具) and painting materials. If you major in painting or art, this is a good place to find professional materials.If you want to buy CDs of computer games, you can get off at ______.
| A．Nanjing Road E. Station | B．Shandong Road N. Station |
| C．Fuzhou Road E. Station | D．Nanjing Road N. Station |
If your foreign friends want to learn Chinese, you can suggest they go to ______.
| A．No. 345, Nanjing Road. | B．No. 465, Fuzhou Road |
| C．No. 390, Fuzhou Road | D．No. 355, Fuzhou Road |
From the introduction of the four book shops, Li Hua can buy a drawing-board as a birthday gift for her sister between ______.
| A．9:30 and 21:30 | B．9:30 and 20:30 |
| C．9:00 and 18:00 | D．9:00 and 17:30 |
Many gardeners believe that “talking” to their plants helps them grow---it turns out that they may not be crazy after all. According to the scientists from the University of Exeter, plants may keep communicating with each other through a secret “unseen” language.
For their experiment, the scientists picked a cabbage plant that is known to send out a gas when its surface is cut. In order to get video evidence of the communication, they changed the cabbage gene by adding the protein---luciderase(虫荧光素酶), which is what makes fireflies(萤火虫) glow in the dark.
When the changed cabbage plant was in full bloom, they cut a leaf off with a pair of scissors, and almost immediately, thanks to the luciderase, they could see the plant sending out “methyl jasmonate(茉莉酸甲酯)”.
While this was a known fact, what was surprising was the fact that the minute this gas began to give out, the nearby cabbage plants seemed to sense some kind of danger and started to send out a gas that they normally have to keep predators(捕食者) like caterpillars(毛虫) away.
What the scientists are not sure is whether the plants are trying to warn the other leaves or the near plants about the danger---something that will require further research However, the team, which is led by Professor Nick Smirnoff, is quite excited about the findings because this is the first time it has been proved that plants do not live a passive life, but actually move, sense and even communicate with each other.
However, before you get all concerned, they are quite sure that plants do not feel the pain when they are cut, since they do not have nerves---so go ahead and bite into that juicy carrot!What’s the best title of the passage?
| A． Plants Can Send Some Gas |
| B． Plants Can Communicate with Each Other |
| C． The “Unseen” Language of Plants |
| D． Plants Can’t Feel Pain |
What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 1 mean?
| A． Gardeners | B． Plants |
| C． Scientists | D． Fireflies |
When the plant sent out methyl jasmonate, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
| A． The nearby cabbage plants seemed to sense some kind of danger. |
| B． The nearby cabbage plants started to send out a gas. |
| C． The nearby cabbage plants tried to warn the near plants. |
| D． The nearby cabbage plants communicated through a secret language. |
According to the experiment, plants ________________.
| A． don’t live a passive life |
| B． can feel pain when they are cut |
| C． can warn the other leaves about danger |
| D． can talk with each other |
Why are so many people afraid to fail? Quite simply because we forget that failure is part of the human life and that every person has the right to fail. Every person is able to fight failure and finally succeed.
Most parents work hard at preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards(标准). When a child finishes making a table, the mother describes it as “perfect” even though it doesn’t stand still. Another way is to blame others. If John fails in science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.
There’s a problem with the two ways. It makes a child unprepared for life in the real world. Young children need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time, and that it’s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win. A child often feels terrible, of course, when he is not invited to a birthday party, or is not chosen into a football team. But parents should not say “It doesn’t matter.” quickly. The young should be allowed to experience failure and be helped to come out of it.
Failure never gives people pleasure. It hurts both adults and children. But it can be really good to your life when you learn to use it. You must learn to ask “Why did I fail?” Don’t blame anyone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong and how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about asking them. Success just repeats what has been done. It is not as good a teacher as failure. You can learn how to give a good party from an unsuccessful one. How do most parents prevent their children from failure?
| A． They give them some presents. |
| B． They don’t tell them that they have failed. |
| C． They don’t blame others. |
| D． They help them to come out of failure. |
Which of the following does a person need to learn when he fails?
| A． It’s impossible to enjoy a game if he misses it. |
| B． He is the worst of all. |
| C． It’s natural not to win a game and no one can win all the time. |
| D． His teammates are not good enough. |
Which would be the best title for the passage?[来.Com]
| A． Learning from Failure |
| B． Ways of Preventing Failure |
| C． Reasons of Failure |
| D． Getting Pleasure from Failure |
Now many young people are traveling around the world on their own, not because they have no one to travel with, but because they prefer to go alone.
Kristina Wegscheider from California first traveled alone when she was at college and believes that it is something everyone should do at least once in their life. “It opens up your mind to new things and pushes you out of your comfort zone.” Wegscheider has visited 46 countries covering all seven continents.
In foreign countries, with no one to help you read a map, look after you if you get ill, or lend you money if your wallet is stolen, it is challenging. This is what drives young people to travel alone. It is seen as character building and a chance to prove that they can make it on their own.
Chris Richardson decided to leave his sales job in Australia to go traveling last year. He set up a website, The Aussie Nomad, to document his adventures. He says he wished he had traveled alone earlier. “The people you meet, the places you visit, or the things you do, everything is up to you and it forces you to grow as a person,” said the 30-year-old man.
Richardson describes traveling alone like “a shot in the arm”, which “makes you a more confident person that is ready to deal with anything”. He said, “The feeling of having overcome something on my own is a major part of what drives me each day when I’m dealing with a difficult task. I walk around with my head up because I know deep down inside that nothing is impossible if you try.”
The great 19thcentury explorer John Muir once said, “Only by going alone in silence can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.” Which of the following will Kristina Wegscheider agree with?
| A． Traveling alone is a necessary experience for everyone. |
| B． It is more meaningful to travel in foreign countries. |
| C． It is comfortable to travel around without a friend. |
| D． Traveling abroad helps people to find new things. |
Traveling alone is challenging because ________.
| A． you have to make things on your own |
| B． it is hard for you to prove yourself to others |
| C． you can only depend on yourself whatever happens |
| D． it will finally build your character |
What can we infer about Chris Richardson?
| A． He started traveling alone at an early age. |
| B． He was once shot in the arm. |
| C． He used to work as a salesman. |
| D． His website inspires others a lot. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A． Travel Abroad | B． Travel Alone |
| C． Travel Light | D． Travel Wide and Far |