July 27st, 2010 was a typical English summer’s day – it rained for 24 hours! As usual, I rushed home from work at midday to check on the house. Nothing was amiss. By the time I left work at 5pm, however, the road into our village was flooded. Our house had never been flooded but, as I opened the front door, a wave of water greeted me. Thank God the kids weren’t with me, because the house was 5 feet deep in water. We lost everything downstairs.
At first we tried to push on through. We didn’t want to move the children out of home, so we camped upstairs. We put a sheet of plastic across the floor to protect us from the damp. But after three months, we felt very sick, so we moved to a wooden house in a park. The house was small, but at first we were all just delighted to be in a new place. Unfortunately, things took longer than expected and we were there for 10 months. The life there was inconvenient. What surprised me most was how much I missed being part of a community（社区）. We had lived in a friendly village with good neighbours, and I’d never thought how much I’d miss that.
Although our situation was very had, it’s difficult to feel too sorry for yourself when you look at what’s happening elsewhere. I watched a news report about floods in Northern India and thought, “We didn’t have a straw but（茅草房）that who swept away, and our house is still standing. We’re lucky.”
We moved back home in August. With December coming, there’s still reconstruction work to be done, so it’s difficult to prepare for Christmas, But I can’t wait-I’m going to throw a party for our friends in the village to say thanks for their support. This year, I won’t need any gifts-living away from home for months has made me realize how little we actually need or miss all our possessions. Although we are replacing things, there’s really no rush-we have our home back, and that’s the main thing. What does the underlined word “amiss” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．Wrong | B．Missing | C．Right | D．Difficult |
Why does the author say that they were lucky in the third paragraph?
| A．Because they were able to move to a new place. |
| B．Because many other places were flooded. |
| C．Because their straw hut was not swept away. |
| D．Because some others suffered even more. |
It can be inferred from the text that the author .
| A．was sick of staying upstairs |
| B．cared much about her children |
| C．could not stand living in a wooden house |
| D．did not deal well with her family affairs during the flood |
What does the author mainly want to express by telling her story?
| A．She valued human feelings more than before. |
| B．She realized she almost didn’t need possessions. |
| C．She found Christmas gifts no longer badly needed. |
| D．She thought her own home was the most important. |
A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. The special tools can see how stars that are very close to black holes act differently from other ones.
Black holes can be big or small. Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain. Mass is the amount of matter, or “staff”, in an object.
Another kind of black hole is called “stellar”(星球黑洞). Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the mass of the sun. There may be many stellar mass black holes in Earth’s galaxy. Earth’s galaxy is called the Milky Way.
The largest black holes are called “supermassive”(超大质量黑洞). These black holes have masses that are more than one million suns together. Scientists have found proof that every large galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its center. The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy has a mass equal to about four million suns and would fit inside a very large ball that could hold a few million Earths.
Scientists think the smallest black holes formed when the universe began. Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or falls apart. When this happens, it exploded part of the star into space. Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time as the galaxy they are in.
A black hole can not be seen because strong gravity pulls all of the light into the middle of the black hole. But scientists can see how the strong gravity affects the stars and gas around the black hole. Scientists can study stars to find out if they are flying around, or orbiting a black hole.
When a black hole and a star are close together, high-energy light is made. This kind of light cannot be seen with human eyes. Scientists use satellites and telescopes in space to see the high-energy light.The gravity of a black hole may become so strong that light cannot get out when ____________.
| A．the star is going to die |
| B．special tools are used on it |
| C．other stars come close to it |
| D．it is seen from the space telescopes |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．A black hole can be very tiny but extremely heavy. |
| B．The gravity of a black hole holds all light in its center. |
| C．Scientists observe high-energy light through their own eyes. |
| D．Some small black holes came into being as early as the universe. |
Which can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Every galaxy must have a black hole. |
| B．A galaxy is the center of the universe. |
| C．A galaxy consists of a large group of stars and planets. |
| D．Earth’s galaxy is called the Milky Way. |
What does the last sentence in Paragraph 5 suggest?
| A．Neither the sun nor the earth is as heavy as a black hole. |
| B．There is only one supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. |
| C．The supermassive black hole had existed before the Milky Way was formed. |
| D．There is a reason why the large black holes are called “supermassive”. |
The last two paragraph mainly focus on the question of _________.
| A．what a black hole is |
| B．how black holes form |
| C．how big black holes are |
| D．how scientists know about black holes |
A primary school in UK has banned Valentine’s Day cards because of concerns that young pupils spend too much time talking about boyfriends and girlfriends.
Ashcombe Primary School in WestonSuperMare，Somerset，has told parents that cards declaring love can be“confusing” for children under the age of 11，who are still emotionally and socially developing. In this month’s newsletter(通讯)，Peter Turner，the head teacher，warned that any cards found in school would be confiscated(没收)．He wrote：“We do not wish to see any Valentine’s Day cards in school this year. Some children and parents encourage a lot of talk about boyfriends and girlfriends. We believe that such ideas should wait until children are mature enough emotionally and socially to understand the commitment involved in having or being a boyfriend or girlfriend.”Mr.Turner said any families wanting to support the Valentine’s Day idea should send cards in the post or deliver them to home addresses by hand.
His views were endorsed by Ruth Rice,46，who has twins Harriet and Olivia at the school. She said，“Children at that age shouldn’t really be thinking about Valentine’s Day，they should be concentrating on their schoolwork.”They are at an age when they are impressionable(易受影响的)and most parents including myself are with Mr.Turner. “She added that the cards cause” too much competition. If someone gets a card and another doesn’t，then someone will be disappointed.
However，Rajeev Takyar,40，who has two children Jai,11，and Aryan，five，at the school，said he was “outraged”．He said，“There are schools that have banned conkers(栗子游戏)and snowballs，and now Valentine’s Cards.”I think banning the cards stops children from having social skills. How are they going to learn about relationships otherwise？It’s ridiculous. Alec Suttenwood，father of three children，said of the ban：“It’s totally ridiculous. Young children just send the cards to each other as friends and to their parents. It’s just a bit of harmless fun. There is no difference between this and Mother’s or Father’s Day.”Which of the following is the best title?
| A．Ban on Valentine’s Day cards at school is well received. |
| B．Ban on Valentine’s Day cards at school causes argument. |
| C．British children spend too much time talking about love. |
| D．A British high school bans Valentine’s Day cards. |
The underlined word “endorsed” means________.
| A．criticized | B．quoted |
| C．disapproved | D．approved |
What do you know about Harriet and Olivia?
| A．They will send Valentine’s Day cards this year. |
| B．They are strongly against the school’s decision. |
| C．They are of the same age. |
| D．They are the children of Rajeev Takyar. |
According to Rajeev Takyar，________.
| A．sending Valentine’s Day cards helps develop children’s social skills |
| B．banning Valentine’s Day cards will benefit children |
| C．the cards cause too much competition among children |
| D．children are too young to talk about love |
The newsletter by Peter Turner probably appeared on________.
| A．February 22 | B．February 6 |
| C．March 18 | D．August 1 |
Scientists in Mexico have just begun a new study of one of the world’s biggest pyramids: the Pyramid of the Sun, north of Mexico City. They’re putting lots of small, high-tech machines under the pyramid to try to unlock some of its secrets. For thousands of years, people have tried to uncover the secrets of the pyramids.
The people who built the pyramids made lots of secret doors and rooms to stop robbers from finding the treasures inside. However, there always have been some smart thieves in history. Now, almost all of Egypt’s pyramids have been robbed, including the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which is the largest pyramid in the world. It is the only one of the ancient wonders of the world that is still standing.
In AD 820, an Arab king named Abdullah AL Manum got a group of workers to dig their way into the Great Pyramid and have a look. Inside the pyramid, they found three rooms—the Queen’s Chamber, the Grand Gallery and the King’s Chamber. But to their surprise, the men didn’t find the treasures they wanted. The Queen’s and King’s Chambers were both empty! Where were the King’s mummy and his treasures? Had someone already taken them away? The huge stone doors at the pyramid’s entrance were still closed when AL Manum’s men went inside. How had the thieves got in and out?
Since then, many people have gone inside the Great Pyramid to have a look or to try to take things. But still, no other chambers or walkways have been found.
In 2002, an American team made the most recent visit to the Great Pyramid. Scientists sent a robot into the pyramid, but they only found a mysterious locked stone door.The first two paragraphs were written to show that ____.
| A．ancient Egyptian emperors were cruel |
| B．the Pyramid of the Sun is an unusual historic building |
| C．construction workers led a hard life in ancient Egypt |
| D．the secrets of the pyramids remain to be uncovered |
What is the purpose of making some secret doors to the pyramids? _______.
| A．To try to unlock some of its secrets |
| B．To stop robbers from finding the treasures inside |
| C．To refuse some visitors all over the world into it |
| D．To tell the truth to the people in the future |
Which of the following is NOT true to the Great Pyramid of Khufu?
| A．It is the largest pyramid in the world. |
| B．It is the only one of the ancient wonders that is still standing. |
| C．Abdullah AL Manum took the King’s mummy and his treasures away. |
| D．Scientists found a mysterious locked stone door to the Great Pyramid. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The Pyramid of the Sun |
| B．The Great Pyramid of Khufu |
| C．A Mysterious Locked Stone Door |
| D．Unlocking the Doors of History of the Pyramid |
Talking plants might sound like characters in a fairy tale. But recent scientific studies have shown that plants communicate with each other and with other living things in a surprising number of ways. To understand them, scientists say, we just have to learn their language. Farmers are especially interested in what plants have to say.
“Plants are able to communicate with all sorts of organisms (有机体). They can communicate with giant bacteria, with other plants and with insects. They do this chemically，” said Cahill, an Ecology Professor of the University of Alberta in Canada.
Plant scientists are just beginning to understand this chemical “language”. Cahill says studies have shown, for example, that plants can evaluate (评估) conditions in their immediate environment and take appropriate actions. Plants have an ability, for example, to signal pain or discomfort caused by anything from temperature extremes to an insect attack. Jack Schultz, a professor of chemical ecology at the University of Missouri, says when a plant senses that it's being eaten, it cannot walk away from trouble; on the contrary, it will release a chemical vapor(蒸汽) that alerts other plants nearby.
“Their language is a chemical language, and it involves chemicals that move through the air that are easy to be changeable, and most of all are smells that we are familiar with，” Schultz explained.
“All plants responded to the attack by changing their chemistry to defend themselves，” Schultz recalled. “But we were quite surprised to find that nearby plants also changed their chemistry to defend themselves, even though they were not part of the experiment.”
Studies have also shown that plants under attack release pleasant chemicals. Those chemicals attract friendly insects that attack the pests eating the plant.
In the end, plants' ability to communicate their needs—and our ability to understand them—could help farmers reduce the use of poisonous chemicals, cut operating costs and limit damage to the environment.The recent scientific studies have shown that plants can ______.
| A．communicate with other living things in a chemical way |
| B．hardly react to any sudden change in temperature |
| C．use a very special chemica1 language which is familiar to us |
| D．respond to the attack by giving off poisonous chemicals |
When being eaten by an insect, the plant will ________.
| A．walk away from trouble |
| B．change its chemistry to kill the insect |
| C．release a chemical vapor to “ask” other plants for help |
| D．give off nice chemicals to attract friendly insects killing the pest |
The underlined word “alert” most probably means “______”．
| A．warn | B．protect |
| C．threaten | D．allow |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Communication between Plants |
| B．A Chemical “Language” |
| C．Plants Can Talk |
| D．How Plants Protect Themselves |
Whether you're having problems with your homework or you’re preparing for your term paper, these student-focused websites can help you with anything you need. The key to getting the most out of these online resources is to know how they can best be used to your advantage.
♦ Facebook
Although Facebook can be one of your biggest time-wasters and distractions(干扰）when you are supposed to be getting work done, it can also be one of your most valuable resources. Most of your classmates will probably have a Facebook account, so anyone you need to connect with about a class you missed or about a problem is usually just a few clicks away.
♦ SparkNotes
With a free library of history timeline, philosophy study guides and library summaries, and essays, SparkNotes has covered just about any reading-related jam you find yourself in, just run a search for the book, play, or short summary of the material you are supposed to read.
♦ Amazon.com
Do you finish every term with many expensive textbooks you will never open again? Instead of letting the money spent go to waste, get back some of your cash by selling your books on Amazon.
♦Wikipedia
While Wikipedia isn't aimed specifically at students, it is difficult to think of another website that does more to reduce the pain of paper writing and researching. Wikipcdia gives you a quick way to find sources and get the details of almost any topic you need to research——-all without walking to the library.The passage was mainly written to _____.
| A．explain some websites for parents |
| B．compare some educational websites |
| C．introduce different parts of a website |
| D．offer some websites that may help students |
While you are taking great pains to write a research report, _____can most probably be a help.
| A．Facebook | B．SparkNotes |
| C．Amazon.coin | D．Wikipedia |
Which of the following will you most probably refer to, if you need brief ideas for class discussion in reading?
| A．Wikipedia. | B．Facebook. |
| C．SparkNotes. | D．Amazon.com. |