When I was an education official in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our school board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim had great difficulty in school. He was classified as educationally disabled and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents acknowledged his academic difficulties, but always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.
Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed instantly in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known when I talked to him last that it would be the last time. If I had only known I would have said, “Jim, I love you and I’m very proud of you.”
I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he brought to the lives of the many who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, the sound of his laughter, his genuine love of people.
When you put all the good qualities on the scale and try to balance all the irritating phenomena such as the radio which was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., your angry feelings won’t amount to much.
I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, you do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if you knew it would be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the day he died. He called me to say, “Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. Got to go to work. Bye.” He gave me something to treasure forever.
If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate more of life and to have people, especially family members, take the time to let each other know just how much we care. According to the passage, we know that ________.
| A．Jim kept to himself |
| B．Jim did very well in his studies |
| C．Jim’s parents were patient with him |
| D．Jim failed to finish his high school. |
The underlined word “irritating” in Paragraph 4 means _________.
| A．annoying | B．aggressive | C．impatient | D．thrilling |
By writing the letter printed in the Palo Alto Times, the mother intends to ______________.
| A．mourn her son’s sudden death in a traffic accident |
| B．remind people to be cautious of motorcycles |
| C．advise people to take the chance to express their love in time |
| D．appreciate more of life than ever before |
What can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Love your Family | B．Do it Today |
| C．Walk with Pride | D．Appreciate Smiles |
Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership—a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” —two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.Why did the author plan to stop at Oklahoma City?
(No more than 5 words) (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
(No more than 10 words) (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________Why was the battery of the author’s car dead?
(No more than 10 words) (3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________What does the author tries to show by telling his own experiences?
(No more than 12 words) (3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________
We are well aware of the role of modern transportation in our lives. Not too long ago, people suffered great hardship in order to make a long journey. Moving heavy goods from one town to another involved hard labor. Today, we enjoy the convenience of various kinds of vehicles including ships, planes, trains, and automobiles, which allow us to go wherever we choose and make our workload much lighter.
But modern transportation, along with convenience has brought some problems. With more drivers on the road, there has been an increase in traffic jams and accidents. The exhaust from automobiles has added to our air pollution, aside from additional noise caused by trucks and cars on the road.
Like everything else, modern transportation has more than one face. Here in China, we look to our government experts to solve these problems. Scientists are working on developing modern fuel (燃料) that produces less pollution. However, we can all help reduce air pollution from automobiles by only driving when it is necessary and using public transportation when available.
Title: 1
| Convenience |
● allowing us to go anywhere ● reducing 2 |
| 3 |
● traffic jams and accidents increasing ● the exhaust 4air pollution ● 5caused by vehicles |
| 6 |
● 7solving the problems ● scientists8 ● poeple helping 9by only driving when necessary and using public transportation when10 |
A camera and a computer can “see” something that perhaps millions of pairs of eyes failed to see for 480 years: the Mona Lisa’s necklace. The discovery about the famous painting was made by an American physicist.
The Mona Lisa, painted by the Italian, Leonardo da Vinci, has been on show for many years in Paris. Now a row of white spots on the neck have been “seen”. They are said to be the remains (痕迹) of a necklace which the artist later painted over.
The painting will be examined further by using infrared scanning (红外线扫描) techniques. Laser (激光) technology can be used to show what lies directly under the surface of the finished work, too. This will help us to understand how the artist drew the picture: Did he begin with a quick-made drawing or have second thoughts as he painted the picture?
This kind of knowledge will show us the famous artist at work. It may also help to explain Mona Lisa’s smile, which has puzzled art lovers for centuries. This passage is mainly about ______.
| A．the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci |
| B．an American physicist’s discovery |
| C．further researches on the Mona Lisa |
| D．The uses of modern technology |
The Mona Lisa is ______.
| A．a famous artist | B．a famous painting |
| C．a smiling woman | D．a lost necklace |
In this passage, “the Mona Lisa’s lost necklace” suggests that ______.
| A．Mona Lisa once wore a necklace |
| B．someone stole the necklace from the Mona Lisa |
| C．the artist did not keep the necklace he had painted on the neck |
| D．the artist had a necklace stolen while working on the painting |
According to the passage, the white spots on Mona Lisa’s neck ______.
| A．are still invisible to visitors |
| B．have turned into a necklace |
| C．have already appeared before visitors |
| D．are looking more and more like a necklace |
The painting will be examined further so that people may know more about ______.
| A．Mona Lisa and her smile |
| B．the time when it was finished |
| C．infrared scanning and laser |
| D．this art work and the artist |
Though he wore his whiskers (颊须) only four years, today we can hardly think of Abraham Lincoln without them. He often talked about the little girl in Westfield, New York, who suggested in a letter that he grow the famous whiskers. And he would add, “Sometimes a small thing can change our lives!”
Grace Bedell sat in her room looking at a picture of Lincoln. Her little lamp threw shadows on the picture. A frame (框) of small shadows lay around the thin face and covered the hollow cheeks (面颊). “Whiskers!” she thought.
“How nice!” she said to herself. “There will be more people to elect him President if he lets his whiskers grow. Somebody ought to tell him.” She reached for a pen and began to write the letter.
On February 16 of the following year a special train carried the newly elected President Lincoln to the White House. The train stopped briefly at a station near Grace’s town. At the station Lincoln was speaking to a large crowd, among whom were the Bedell family.
Lincoln continued his speech, “I have a little friend in this place,” he said. “That little lady told me how to improve my appearance, and I want to thank her. If she is present, I would like to speak to her. Her name is Grace Bedell.”
Grace’s father led her forward to Lincoln. She looked and laughed happily, for up there on his face were the whiskers.
If you visit Springfield, Illinois, today you will see the house in which Abraham Lincoln used to live. On the wall of a room hangs a piece of paper covered with a child’s handwriting: “Dear sir...” Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
| A．Why Lincoln Grew Whiskers |
| B．A Little Girl’s Letter to Lincoln |
| C．How Lincoln Becamse President of the U. S. |
| D．Lincoln’s Great Kindness to Children |
Grace suggested Lincoln growing whiskers because she supposed ______.
| A．he looked terrible without whiskers around his face |
| B．he would look better with whiskers around his thin face |
| C．no one would elect him President if he had no whiskers |
| D．he would be famous with whiskers around his thin face |
Grace’s idea that Lincoln should grow whiskers came from ______.
| A．the lamp | B．Lincoln’s hollow cheeks |
| C．the picture of Lincoln | D．the shadows on the picture |
When Lincoln said “Sometimes a small thing can change our lives”, what he really meant was that ______.
| A．his whiskers had helped him to become President of the U. S. |
| B．one should pay attention to small things in one’s life |
| C．a little child’s advice had helped to improve his appearance |
| D．a child could play an important part in politics |
Which of the following did Grace most likely tell Lincoln in her letter?
| A．Her school. | B．Her problems. | C．Her age. | D．Her friends. |
The flying fox is not a fox at all. It is an extra large bat that has got a fox’s head, and that feeds on fruit. Like all bats, flying foxes hang themselves by their toes (趾) when at rest, and travel in great crowds when out flying. A group will live in one place for years. Sometimes several hundreds of them occupy a single tree. As they return to the tree towards sunrise, they quarrel among themselves and fight for the best places until long after daylight.
Flying foxes have babies once a year, giving birth to only one at a time. At first the mother has to carry the baby on her chest wherever she goes. Later she leaves it hanging up, and brings back food for it to eat. Sometimes a baby bat falls to the ground. Then the older ones fly down and try to pick it up. If they fail to do so, it will die. Often hundreds of baby bats can be found lying on the ground at the foot of the tree. The passage tells us that there is no difference between the flying fox and the ordinary bat in ______.
| A．their size | B．their appearance |
| C．the kind of food they eat | D．the way they rest |
Flying foxes ______.
| A．double their number every year |
| B．fight and kill a lot of themselves |
| C．move from place to place very often |
| D．lose a lot of their young |
At daybreak every day flying foxes begin to ______.
| A．fly out toward the sun |
| B．look for a new resting place |
| C．come back to their home |
| D．go out and look for food |
Flying foxes have fights ______.
| A．to occupy the best resting places |
| B．only when it is dark |
| C．to protect their homes from outsiders |
| D．when there is not enough food |
How do flying foxes care for their young?
| A．They only care for their own babies. |
| B．They share the feeding of their young. |
| C．They help when a baby bat is in danger. |
| D．They often leave home and forget their young. |