In many cultures white is often associated with something positive. A white-collar job, for instance, is the kind of job many people look for, working with your brain and not your hands.
White has a clean and pure image. That is why doctors, dentists, and nurses usually wear white uniforms. Babies are dressed in white at baptisms（洗礼）and brides wear white wedding gowns at weddings. White in these cases is the symbol of innocence or purity.
Sometimes white is used in expressions that are not good. “Whitewash” is one such expression. At first, “whitewash” meant to paint over something with white paint to make it look better. However, it means something different today: to hide or to cover up mistakes or failures.
A “white elephant” is another example of white used in a negative way. In ancient Thailand, a white elephant was regarded as a sacred animal, but it was very expensive to keep. The kings of those days presented a white elephant to the people they wanted to ruin. Once they received this holy, royal animal as a gift, they were not allowed to sell or kill it. Today, a “white elephant” means something that is big, useless, and unwanted. In America, when people want to get rid of their furniture or clothes, they often have a “white elephant sale”.The text is mainly about________.
| A．the meanings of white in English culture |
| B．the history of some English idioms |
| C．some interesting customs in English culture |
| D．some useful English words and expressions |
Which expression has an historical background ?
| A．White-wash. | B．White-collar. |
| C．White elephant. | D．White elephant sale. |
In which statement does “white” have a negative meaning?
| A．A boy is dressed in white at baptisms. |
| B．A bride wears a white wedding gown. |
| C．A man whitewashes his crime. |
| D．A girl finds a white collar job. |
From the text we can learn that _______.
| A．a white-elephant sale is useful to the poor |
| B．the white color is important in our daily life |
| C．a white-collar job used to be easy to get |
| D．expressions with white have different meanings |
The author develops the text mainly by ______.
| A．analyzing its cause and effect |
| B．providing typical examples |
| C．comparing different ideas |
| D．following the time order |
Man, a land animal. But he is also closely tied to the sea. Throughout history the sea has served the needs of man. The sea has provided man with food and a convenient way to travel to many parts of the world. Today, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population live within 80 kilometers of the sea coast.
In the modern technological world, the sea offers many resources to help mankind survive. Resources on land are beginning to be used up. The sea, however, still can be hoped to supply many of man’s needs.
The list of riches of the sea yet to be developed by man’s technology is big. Oil and gas explorations have been carried out for nearly 30 years. Valuable amounts of minerals exist on the ocean floor ready to be mined.
Fish farming promises to be a good way to produce large quantities of food. The culture of fish and shellfish (贝类动物) is an ancient skill practised in the past mainly by Oriental people, including people in China.
Besides oil and gas, the sea may offer new sources of energy. Experts believe that the warm temperature of the ocean can be used in a way similar to the steam in a steamship. Ocean currents and waves offer possible use as a source of energy.
Technology is enabling man to explore ever more deeply under the sea. The development of strong, new materials has made this possible.
The technology to harvest the sea continues to improve. Experts believe that by the year 2020 the problems that prevent us from exploiting（开发） fully the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea will be largely solved.Valuable amounts of minerals are ______.
| A．in the ocean water | B．in the warm ocean water |
| C．on the sea coast | D．on the ocean floor |
We can conclude from this passage that ______.
| A．the sea resources have largely been used up |
| B．the sea, in the broad sense, has not yet been developed |
| C．the problems that prevent us from using the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea have already been solved. |
| D．by the year 2020 , the technology will be good enough to exploit all the sea resources |
The underlined words “Oriental people” in the fourth paragraph probably mean ______.
| A．the people in Asia | B．African people |
| C．European people | D．American people |
The best title for this passage is ______.
| A．Sea Harvest | B．Sea Food |
| C．Technology for Exploiting the Sea | D．Man and the Sea |
"He who can have patience can have what he wants," said Benjamin Franklin. They say patience is a virtue (美德) seldom found in women and never in men. This may or may not be true, but it's fair to say that there is nobody on the earth who couldn't benefit from more patience.
Patience is necessary for success.
It is said that "all good things come to those who wait". Many of the great scientists have remarked that their scientific discoveries came only through patient perseverance (坚持). Edison said, "Genius was 99% perspiration and only 1% inspiration." Patience teaches us to value the effort and not just the success. It is a mistake to think that happiness can only be obtained through achievements.
Patience brings peace of mind.
When we desire certain outcomes (结果), we'll have no peace of mind. Even if one desire is filled, the nature of desire is that more will appear in its place. There is no end to human desires. Patience means we will work with an attitude of detachment (超然).
Patience can transform suffering into joy.
Throughout life we suffer injustice; the best healer is patience. Through being patient and accepting our situation, it's quite possible for our suffering to be transformed.
Sri Chinmoy said, "If failure has the strength to turn your life into bitterness itself, then patience has the strength to turn your life into the sweetest joy."Whose saying supports the idea that patience makes a person joyful?
| A．Franklin's | B．Edison's | C．Chinmoy's | D．Einstein's |
In the writer's opinion, _____ .
| A．human desires will easily be filled |
| B．patience is a virtue seldom found in a person |
| C．happiness can only be obtained through success |
| D．patience is the best medicine of suffering |
How is the whole passage organized?
| A．General-detail-general. | B．General-detail. |
| C．Detail-general-detail. | D．Detail-general. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．We All Need Patience | B．Patience Means Success |
| C．Benefits of Patience | D．We Should Not Be patient |
If you don’t use a dictionary. What should you do instead? The first thing you can do is trying to guess what the word means. Often the surrounding context gives a very clear idea of the meaning of the word. Even if you can’t work out the meaning exactly, you may be able to get a vague idea, enough to enable you to continue reading.
Sometimes It is impossible to guess the meaning of a word from the context and then you will have to decide whether the word is important enough to make it worthwhile stopping and looking it up in a dictionary or whether you can just pass it by.
Many times in your reading, you will come across words which you don’t know, but which do not prevent you from understanding all the main points of the text. You can made your dictionary use much more efficient if you only look up the words which are necessary to understand the text. and this means that you must develop the skill to decide whether the words are worth looking up.The passage mainly tells us in our reading what we would do.
| A．without knowledge of English |
| B．when we look up words in a dictionary |
| C．when we are guessing new words |
| D．without using a dictionary |
What does the underlined word “vague” mean?
| A．Mysterious. | B．Not clear. | C．Exact. | D．Important. |
In our reading some words we don’t know.
| A．help us to understand the text well |
| B．don’t prevent us from understanding the main points of the text |
| C．will be remembered forever |
| D．are borrowed from other languages |
In this passage the writer.
| A．advised us to use the dictionary as much as possible |
| B．told us not to be discouraged by the sight of a dictionary |
| C．gave us some advice on how to deal with these unknown words |
| D．introduced some ways to take notes in the course of reading |
I shall never forget the day when the earthquake took place. The time was about 5 o’clock in the afternoon and I was driving along the road to take my daughter from school. Our plan was to go swimming together. I had finished my work at 4 o’clock and then gone to the Post Office. Then I’d stopped off at a shop in order to get some fresh fruit. We like to have some fruit to eat after our swim.
I was driving along a high road on my way to my daughter’s school. Over my road was another road which was built like a bridge for cars coming to the other way. I was hungry so I put the bag of apples in the seat beside me and started to eat one.
Suddenly I saw the cars in front of me start to move from side to side. Then my car started to shake! I didn’t know what was happening. Perhaps something had gone wrong with my car. I drove a little more slowly and then I stopped the car and at the same moment the road fell onto the cars in front of me.
I found myself in the dark. I couldn’t move. The bottom parts of both of my legs and my feet were hurting badly and I couldn’t move them. All around me was quiet. But above me I could hear shouts and a lot of noise. Then I memorized (记起) what had happened. I had been in an earthquake.
For about two hours nobody came. Luckily I could reach the bag of apples, so at least I had plenty to eat. Then I heard people climbing towards me. A team of people had come to see if anyone was under the broken road. I called out. “I’m here!” I heard a shout. Soon a stranger climbed to the side of the road near my car. “How are you doing?” he asked.
“Not too bad,” I said, “but my feet and leg feel as if they’re broken.” “We’ll have you out of there just as soon as we can.” They didn’t get me out until the next morning. I had been in my car for fourteen hours.When the earthquake took place, the writer was ______.
| A．on his way to the Post Office | B．stopping off a shop |
| C．doing some shopping | D．under a road built like a bridge |
The writer’s car began to move from side to side because ________.
| A．there was something wrong with his car |
| B．he ate apples as he drove |
| C．an earthquake began to happen |
| D．he drove too fast |
Which is the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．When the earthquake happened, the writer was with his daughter together. |
| B．The writer’s leg and feet were badly wounded in the earthquake. |
| C．The writer was saved as soon as the stranger climbed up the road. |
| D．The writer was frightened that he forgot everything that happened around. |
In the past, going to a piano teacher was the most popular way to learn how to play the piano. You could get one-to-one teaching and have the opportunity to learn as much as the teacher knew. If you didn’t have private lessons, you could still learn the piano, but you would have to teach yourself. This was easy for some, but very difficult for most. However, with technology developing today, there is at last another way that you can take piano lessons. You can take an online course.
An online course is much cheaper than a private lesson. If a private lesson costs 30-40 dollars per week, just think about how quickly that adds up. You can take a whole online course in piano for just a fraction(小部分) of the money that you would spend on weeks of private lessons. Also, private lessons are usually only one hour per week. So you would have to wait for your next lesson to continue your learning. However, online piano courses are quite different.
With an online piano course, you can work at your own pace. You can also take as many lessons per week as you want, or go back and listen to your last lesson if you have forgotten anything. Most adults who want to learn how to play the piano enjoy being able to go back and listen to the lessons again.
Of course if you need someone to sit beside you and offer you immediate feedback(反馈) as you are playing, you might not get that from an online piano course. However, the lessons online can be viewed（观看） at any time, or as often as you’d like, which means that you can get your own type of feedback from an online piano course.This passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．the disadvantages of the traditional ways of learning to play the piano |
| B．the differences between traditional piano courses and online courses |
| C．why people prefer online piano courses to traditional piano courses |
| D．the advantages of learning to play the piano through an online course |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 want to tell us?
| A．That private piano lessons shouldn’t be that expensive. |
| B．That taking private piano lessons really costs a lot. |
| C．That not everyone can afford to take piano lessons. |
| D．That the price for private piano lessons has increased greatly. |
How did the writer make his points clear?
| A．By giving detailed data. | B．By giving many examples |
| C．By writing about his own experiences | D．By comparing with the old ways. |