STRANGERS parties go wild these days. The main idea of them is to never let the people know who their matches are until the last minute. These are some popular practices that are storming the world’s youth on this V-day.
Speed dating
It’s exactly what the name implies. Complete with a timer, a whistle and 50 willing singles, speed dating is not the traditional dinner and a movie type of first date. Singles pay US $35 for three minutes with more than two dozen future dates. They ask questions and try to get to know each other. At the sound of a whistle, they do the same thing all over again―25 times in all.
Lock and key party
Women are given a lock and men are given a key, upon arriving at the party. Each key and lock has several matches. One can hunt for his/her later-to-be sweetheart in various groups, and try out the key or lock. Each time a lock and key match the pair are entered into a ballot (票数） for top prizes!
Dinner in the dark
Waiters wearing night vision glasses guide the guests through the pitch-black dining room. They are seated at the table and familiarized with the wine glass and plate. Food is handled with the fingers. People will not see the food they are eating or the guests at their table until the dessert course. At that moment, dining partners will appear.
Message party
Have A Cocktail, Leave A Message! When you arrive, you get a tag with a number and a pad of post-it notes. If you see someone you like, write a message on the message board. But wait… You’ve got a message… Go and collect it! You can make new friends and win lots of gifts. The more messages you leave on the bulletin board, the more chances you have of winning prizes. What do you think the similarities of these parties are?
| A．All the parties have very strict rules for their members. |
| B．If you want to go to any of the parties, you have to buy a ticket. |
| C．All the parties are aimed at strangers who want to be lovers. |
| D．All the parties are suitable not only for the young but for the old. |
In which party does a participant have to be careful with the time?
| A．Speed dating. | B．Lock and key party. |
| C．Dinner in the dark. | D．Message party. |
If you go to the Dinner in the dark, ____________.
| A．you have to wear night vision glasses |
| B．you have to eat with your hands |
| C．guests eat all the courses in the darkness |
| D．your dining partners will help you choose the food |
How many of the parties offer gifts or prizes?
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
Successful athletes today are able to earn enormous salaries and many of them choose to share the wealth they have by donating to charities.
Perhaps the generosity displayed by these athletes will inspire others to join them in helping the less fortunate.What do we know from the passage?
| A．Donating to charities is common among famous athletes. |
| B．All the athletes mentioned in this passage are famous basketball players. |
| C．Some athletes mentioned in this passage will donate all their money in future. |
| D．Successful athletes will be scolded if they don’t donate their money to people in need. |
Who has a foundation that is named after him/ her?
| A．Ron Artest. | B．Steve Nash. |
| C．Tiger Woods. | D．Hannah Teter. |
How many athletes mentioned by the author mainly help the school children?
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
This passage was written in order to___________.
| A．tell us the successful athletes are generous |
| B．tell us there are a lot of charities in the US |
| C．inspire more and more people to help the needy |
| D．praise the successful athletes for their good deeds |
“Tell me again how you learned to ride a horse,” I would ask my father when I was a little girl in Denmark. I was no more than four years old—too little to learn to ride a horse by myself. But I liked to hear my father tell his story. And then he would begin.
“When I was a little boy, as little as you are now,” he would say, “I wanted to ride the horses. But I was too small to mount a horse. So I would slip into my father’s stables to be with the horses and admire them. Such big, powerful animals they were!
“The gentle workhorses stood quietly in their stalls, eating their hay. I would climb up the side of one of the stalls and slide over onto the horse’s back.
“Then I would hold its mane and imagine us running quickly over the grasslands, down to the shore, and even into the sea.
“When I grew tall enough to mount a horse,” he said, “my wish came true.”
“You swim with the horses now,” I said. “You even swim with Fiery. And he has spirit!”
Everybody knew about Fiery, the great black male horse with the fierce temper, and how he behaved when he first came to the stables. He raised itself on its back legs with the front legs in the air. He snorted and kicked. He rolled his eyes. And everyone was afraid of him. Everyone, except my father.
I wanted to hear more. “Now tell me how you made Fiery your friend,” I begged. This was my favorite story.
“Well, little Else,” my father went on, “I just talked to him. I talked as a friend. You must talk to a horse like Fiery.
“I’d say, ‘No, little horse. No, my friend. You can’t run free. You must learn to let me ride you.’
“And soon Fiery began to listen. He knew from my voice that I would be his friend.”
So Fiery let my father teach him to carry a rider. Then Fiery would take my father across the soft green grasslands or even into the lively waters of the northern sea. I loved to see Father riding Fiery without a saddle(马鞍) into the sea. There they swam, Father and Fiery, out in the cold, clear water.
Often I would watch them from the shore, holding tight to my mother’s hand. They swam so bravely. I was so proud of them!
Then Father and Fiery would come splashing out of the water and run along the shore toward us. They made a fine stop—just in time!
Fiery towered over us. He tossed his head and shook sea water from his shining black coat.
Father was laughing and patting Fiery’s neck.
And I was making a wish.
I wished that someday I could have a horse, too . . . but a smaller one!What is Fiery like when he first comes to the stables?
| A．He is quiet and lazy. |
| B．He is wild and full of spirit. |
| C．He makes friends with everyone. |
| D．He only lets Else’s father ride him. |
Where does Else most like to watch her father ride Fiery?
| A．At the seashore. | B．On the farm. |
| C．In the grasslands. | D．In the stables. |
In the passage, the underlined word “mount” means___________.
| A．feed with | B．talk about | C．fasten to | D．climb onto |
How does Else feel about horses after watching her father ride Fiery?
| A．She wants a horse just like Fiery. |
| B．She has no interest in riding horses. |
| C．She would like to have a smaller horse. |
| D．She thinks horses should not go into the sea. |
What does Else learn from her father’s story?
| A．How to train a workhorse. |
| B．How to swim with a horse. |
| C．How to make friends with a horse. |
| D．How to ride a horse without a saddle. |
Many of our favorite travel destinations are in danger of being changed badly by increased temperatures and rising seas. The following are some of the places that may be in danger and some that are already experiencing the effects of global warming.
The Everglades, Florida: Perhaps no region of the country is as unprotected to climate change as Florida. Even a slight increase in temperature and water level could devastate popular destinations like the Everglades, Miami Beach and the Keys.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef: One of the most impressive natural habitats in the world, the Great Barrier Reef could be killed by increased water temperatures and the resulting coral bleaching (漂白法). Australia is particularly easily damaged by global warming because of its large number of fragile (脆弱的) ecosystems, uncertain water sources and a large group of people gathering on the coast.
Dalian, China: Fast-growing China, shown here during a heat wave last year, is opening about one coal factory every day this year. Along with the U.S., China is one of the world's leading contributors to the greenhouse gases , which can lead to the increase in the Earth's temperature.
Venice, Italy: No stranger to flooding, Venice has invested $4.5 billion in a floodgate system that is due to open in 2012. But the frequent changing ocean levels have made people question the floodgates' ability to hold out the rising waters.
London, England: Designed to protect London from storms and extremely high tides, the Thames Barrier was opened in 1984. Some analysts fear that rising oceans will create conditions beyond the capabilities the barrier was designed to meet.The word “devastate” in paragraph 2 means “_____________”.
| A．protect | B．destroy | C．swallow | D．enlarge |
What can endanger Great Barrier Reef directly?
| A．Fragile ecosystem |
| B．Uncertain water sources. |
| C．The large group of people. |
| D．Increased water temperatures and the coral bleaching |
The underlined sentence means “____________”.
| A．flooding is common in Venice |
| B．everyone is familiar with flooding |
| C．it is strange for Venice to experience flooding |
| D．there is no flooding in Venice |
The subject discussed in the text is that ____________.
| A．the dangerous destinations |
| B．the most popular destinations |
| C．the fascinating destinations |
| D．the endangered destinations |
Last summer, when Amanda R of Anaheim Hills, California, was running on a cross-country course with her team, she blacked out. “I got really dizzy,” she says. “I was out for a few minutes.” At first, Amanda thought she was just tired and didn’t think she had a health problem. She did go to the emergency room, where she was fine after tests, but she fainted (昏厥) again several days later as she was talking with her coach. Another doctor guessed that Amanda had blacked out “because we were in heat so much with not enough water and not enough of the right kind of foods”.
Teens often don’t want to stop and take a break or don’t notice when they start to feel bad, doctors say. However, paying attention if you’re not feeling well is important, as Amanda learned.
As a result, Amanda has changed her habits. “I drink a lot more water,” she says. “And put more salt in my diet. I’m eating more balanced meals.” Amanda advises teen athletes to trust their coaches and speak up when they’re not feeling well. “And recognize the difference between when you’re tired and when there’s something really wrong.”
Some people － up to 3 percent of the population － sweat too much, even in cold weather. The condition, called hyperhidrosis (多汗), can affect many parts and it often runs in families － hands down from generation to generation. Too much sweating over the whole body could be a symptom of another medical condition. Doctors aren’t sure what causes hyperhidrosis, but using special medications or other treatments can help.What caused the happening mentioned in the passage during Amanda’s running?
| A．She couldn’t breathe in enough air in the race. |
| B．She didn’t eat anything before the race. |
| C．She had been running all summer without a rest. |
| D．She neither drank enough water nor ate enough of the right kind of foods. |
What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
| A．There is no need to worry when sweating too much, even in cold weather. |
| B．Hyperhidrosis may have a bad effect on your health. |
| C．Doctors have discovered why people get hyperhidrosis. |
| D．Hyperhidrosis is a serious disease and no treatment can help. |
The purpose of writing this passage is to____________.
| A．tell teens the proper ways to take exercise in summer. |
| B．tell teens not to run in hot summer. |
| C．tell teens to pay attention to hyperhidrosis in the summer exercise |
| D．tell teens how to keep healthy. |
A man who failed to return more than 700 children’s books to five different libraries in the county was put into prison. Yesterday he was set free after a book publisher agreed to post his bond (担保金) of $1,000. The publisher said, “There’s a story here. This is a man who loves books. He just can’t let go of them. He hasn’t stolen a single book. So what’s the crime? We think that Mr. Brush has a story to tell. We plan to publish his story.”
When asked why he didn’t return the books, Mr. Brush said, “Well, how could I? They became family to me. I was afraid to return them, because I knew that kids or dogs would get hold of these books and chew them up, throw them around, rip the pages, spill soda on them, get jam and jelly on them, and drown them in the toilet.”
He continued, “Books are people, too! They talk to you, they take care of you, and they enrich you with wisdom and humor and love. A book is my guest in my home. How could I kick it out? I repaired torn pages. I dusted them with a soft clean cloth. I turned their pages so they could breathe and get some fresh air.
“Every week I reorganized them on their shelves so they could meet new friends. My books were HAPPY books. You could tell just by looking at them. Now they’re all back in the library, on the lower shelves, on the floors, at the mercy of all those runny-nosed kids. I can hear them calling me! I need to rescue them. Excuse me. I have to go now.”Why was the man put into prison?
| A．Because the book publisher persuaded the police to do so. |
| B．Because he stole 700 children's books from the five different libraries. |
| C．Because he refused to return the books that he had borrowed. |
| D．Because he wanted to publish his story. |
How did the man treat books?
| A．He treated them as real people. |
| B．He treated them as his own children. |
| C．He treated them as his furniture. |
| D．He treated them as his job. |
From the passage we can learn that the man is _____.
| A．a thief | B．crazy about books | C．a writer | D．unfortunate |
What might happen after the man was set free?
| A．He might stop borrowing books. |
| B．He might start a library of his own. |
| C．He might return all his books |
| D．He might go on borrowing books from libraries. |