While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.
The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to compete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.
I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I’m not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold – his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.
I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.
But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.
No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout “Come on, you can do it!” and he did.
A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.
Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.From the passage we can learn that the young man .
| A．made his turn to start back pitifully | B．was skillful in freestyle in the game |
| C．swam faster than the average swimmer | D．was not capable enough to win the medal |
The crowd changed their attitudes because .
| A．they felt sorry for the young man | B．they were moved by the young man’s courage |
| C．they wanted to show their sympathy | D．they meant to please the young man |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Compete for Gold! | B．Try again! | C．Break a Record! | D．Go for it! |
It is Saturday afternoon. You and your friends are planning to go to the movies and then spend the night together. Just as you start to get ready, your dad reminds you that it is your aunt's birthday and the whole family is going out to dinner to celebrate. How can this possibly end without a huge argument?
One of the greatest sources of tension (紧张情绪) between teenagers and their families is the struggle to balance personal desires with family expectations. As you are getting older, you arebecoming more independent and more interested in being with your friends.
However，at the same time，your family is trying to figure out how to deal with these changes. While you once spent most of your free time with your family, you are now often absent from home. Parents may get their feelings hurt. Or they might feel that they are losing control of their family during this period. You might feel angry that so many family demands are placed on you.
There are a few things you can try to make it a little easier to ease (缓解) the tension.
* Make your plans in advance. Ask your parents if there is anything else planned at that time.
* When something with your friends interferes (冲突) with a family event，try to figure out if there is any way you can do both.
* Suggest something you would really like to do with your family. Sometimes parents feel better just knowing their teenager wants to spend time with them.
Some of the time you won’t be happy with the outcome (结果). You might either have to disappoint your parents or have to miss out being with your friends. However, if you show consideration for the feelings of both your family and your friends，you can solve the problem in a tender way.The purpose of the first paragraph is to _________.
| A．show a disagreement of views | B．serve as a description of teenager trouble |
| C．serve as an introduction to the discussion | |
| D．show the popularity of teenager problem |
The tension between teenagers and their families is caused by the fact that____________.
| A．teenagers don’t like to take family demands |
| B．parents want to keep their family under control |
| C．parents feel unhappy that their children make so many friends |
| D．both parents and teenagers don’t pay attention to each other’s feeling much |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To inform us of parent and teenager tension. |
| B．To advise teenagers how to deal with their tension with their families. |
| C．To persuade parents to show consideration for teenagers. |
| D．To tell us about a common teenager problem. |
When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from China．
When India had not opened up its markets to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans. Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now．
Still, her answer surprised me: “Green tea.”
As long as I can remember she didn’t even drink Indian tea.．
I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story．My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses．
At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian．It was a strange country．
How things change! And how soon! Now every town of any size seems to have a “China Market”．And everyone is talking about China．The govemment of Indin has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done. A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment (投资)and such a step would “work wonders as it did for China”．
But it’s a two-way street．I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Bangalore to train in software．Meanwhile, all the Indian IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China．
No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, is expected to hit about US $15 billion for last year and US $20 billion by 2008, a goal set by both governments．
No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian(中印)century as the two countries started on January 1 the Sino-Indian Friendship Year．
But what is still a wonder to me is my mother drinking Chinese tea． The reason why the writer’s mother asked for Chinese green tea is that________.
| A．she had a son working in China | B．she believed it had a curing effect |
| C．she enjoyed Chinese products | D．she was tired of Indian tea |
The underlined part “it’s a two-way street” in Paragraph 8 probably means _______.
| A．The exchanges between Indian and China benefit both． |
| B．China and India have different traffic rules． |
| C．Tea trade works wonders in both India and China． |
| D．Chinese produces are popular in both China and India． |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______．
| A．the author was concerned for his mother’s health |
| B．the author was in favor of drinking Chinese green tea |
| C．the author was surprised at China’s recent development |
| D．the author was curious about the growth of India’s IT industry |
Summer Holiday Fun 2010 !
The summer holidays are upon us again. Here is our guide to summer holiday fun in Peterborough!
Peterborough Museum
The Age of the Dinosaurs’ is the museum’s main attraction this summer. Get up close to prehistoric creatures via some great hands—on exhibits! Watch out for monsters lurking (潜伏) around every ember! The museum is open from 10:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Saturday，and from 12:00pm to 4:00 pm on Sundays in August.
Call 01733 864663 for details
Saxon Youth Club
School holiday fun：Young people aged 13—19 will be able to produce their own music, compete in spots activities, or try their hand at cooking at Saxon Youth Club, Saxon Community Centre, Norman Road. Peterborough every Monday and Wednesday from 3：00pm. PLUS an aero ball tournament will take place on Thursday 12th August between 3:30pm and 6:30pm.
Call 01 353 720274 for details
Houghton Mill
Alice through the Looking Class—a new production of the family favorite on Monday 30, August. Bring rugs or chairs to sit on and a picnic if you wish to eat during the play. Gates open at 5:30; performance 6:30pm--8:30pm. Tea room will be open until the end of the interval. Adult￡10. Child￡7. Family ￡20.
Booking advisable on 0845 4505157．
Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey
Farmland Gaines：From Wellie Wanging to Pretend Ploughing matches，come and join the Farmland Team．Collect your sporting stickers and create a colorful rosette that is fit for a winner！No need to book，just turn up between 12:00pm and 4:00pm on Thursday 19th August. Suitable for children aged four and above，each child should be accompanied by an adult and all activities are included in the normal admission price Tickets Cost￡7 per child.
For further information, call 01223 810080.If you are interested in cooking, you can go to_______. .
| A．Peterborough Museum | B．Houghton Mill |
| C．Saxon Youth Club | D．Farmland Museum |
You want to watch the new play with your parents, so it will cost you_________.
| A．￡7 | B．￡17 | C．￡27 | D．￡20 |
Which of the following activities needs parents’ company?
| A．Playing farmland games | B．Watching a new play． |
| C．Competing in spots activities． | D．Visiting the dinosaur exhibition |
If Tom comes to Peterborough for amusement on August 19, he will have _______activities to choose from for himself．
| A．one activity | B．two activities |
| C．three activities | D．four activities |
Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect ? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized (分类) as “honor” help you create this life of good feelings．
Here’s an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item．If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk’s mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement．Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune．On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thanks us for our honesty．We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness ?
In the first case where we don’t tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen．Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief．In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect．We would also demonstrate that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends．We damage our own reputations by telling others.
In contrast bringing the error to the clerk’s attention causes different things to happen．Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable．Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased．Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions．Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions．Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence．And it’s easy to think and act honorably again when we’re happy．While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it’s started, it’s easy to continue．Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our________.
| A．self-respect | B．financial rewards |
| C．advertising ability | D．friendly relationship |
How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake ?
| A．We’ll be very excited | B．We’ll feel unfortunate |
| C．We’ll have a sense of honor | D．We’ll feel sorry for the clerk |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage ?
| A．How to Live Truthfully |
| B．Importance of Peacefulness |
| C．Ways of Gaining Self-respect |
| D．Happiness through Honorable Actions |
How should one invest a sum of money in these days of inflation(通货膨胀)? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate．Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market (股市)．Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past．Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique (古董) clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques．
I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life．“ The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound．It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands．Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people’s wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control．This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves.”
Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time．Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of day according to the beating of their own hearts．They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout the time．So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.
However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time．They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun．They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour-glasses, and invented water-clocks．Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.
Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home．After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in an antique clock and perhaps make a future profit ?According to the passage, collecting antique clocks___________.
| A．can hardly keep the value of your savings |
| B．will cost much of your savings |
| C．may increase your wealth |
| D．needs your bravery |
By quoting (引用) the remark (话) of a being from another planet, the author intends to ________________.
| A．suggest human beings are controlled by a clock |
| B．describes why clocks can rule the planet Earth |
| C．tell readers what clocks look like |
| D．compare clocks to human beings |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time ?
| A．Counting the beating of one’s own heart. |
| B．Making use of candles, sand and water. |
| C．Observing shadows cast by the sun. |
| D．Keeping all the slaves busy day and night. |
The underlinedphrase stately homes in paragraph 4 means ____.
| A．state-owned houses | B．houses in very good condition |
| C．grand houses open to the public | D．houses where statesmen meet regularly |
The purpose of the passage is ________________.
| A．to introduce the culture of antique clocks |
| B．to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks |
| C．to compare different ways to make a future profit |
| D．to explain convenient and reliable ways of telling time |