In 1993 an unknown American called Clarence Nash went to see the filmmaker Walt Disney. He had an unusual voice and he wanted to work in Disney’s cartoon(动画片) film for children. When Walt Disney heard Nash’s voice, he said “Stop! That’s our duck!”
The duck was the now-famous Donald Duck, who first appeared in 1934 in the firm The Wise Little Hen. Donald lived in an old houseboat(水上住家) and wore his sailor jacket and hat. Later that year he became a star after an eight – minute Mickey Mouse film. The cinema audience liked him because he was lazy and greedy(贪婪的), and because he lost his temper (发脾气) very quickly. And they loved his voice when he became angry with Mickey’s eight nephews(侄子). Soon Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse himself, probably because he wasn’t a goody-goody like Mickey.
In the 1930S, 40s and 50s Donald and his friends Mickey, Goofy and Pluto made hundreds of Disney cartoons. He also made educational films about the place of the USA in the world, and safety in the home. Then in 1966 Donald Duck and his voice disappeared – there were no more new cartoons.
Clarence Nash died in February, 1985. But today’s children can still see the old cartoons on television and hear that famous voice. Who made Donald Duck film? ______
| A．Mickey Mouse. | B．Clarence Nash. |
| C．Walt Disney. | D．Pluto. |
When was the first Donald Duck film made? ______
| A．In 1933. | B．In 1934. | C．In 1966. | D．In 1930. |
Who was Clarence Nash? ______
| A．A cartoonist. | B．Donald Duck’s voice. |
| C．A film-maker. | D．A film star. |
Where do today’s children see Donald Duck ? ______
| A．In new film. | B．At the cinema. |
| C．On television. | D．At concerts. |
The underlined word “audience” in the second paragraph means______ .
| A．reads | B．formal interview |
| C．law freedom | D．the people who watch a film at a cinema |
Recordings of angry bees are enough to send big, tough African elephants running away, a new study says. Beehives (蜂窝)-either recorded or real-may even prevent elephants from damaging farmer's crops.
In 2002, scientist Lucy King and her team found that elephants avoid certain trees with bees living in them. Today, Lucy wants to see if African honeybees might discourage elephants from eating crops. But before she asked farmer to go to the trouble of setting up beehives on their farms, she needed to find out if the bees would scare elephants away.
Lucy found a wild beehive inside a tree in northern Kenya and set up a recorder. Then she threw a stone into the beehive, which burst into life. Lucy and her assistant hid in their car until the angry bees had calmed down. Next，Lucy searched out elephant families in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya and put a speaker in a close to each family.
From a distance, Lucy switched on the pre-recorded sound of angry bees while at the same time recording the elephants with a video camera. Half the elephant groups left the area within ten seconds. Out of a total of 17 groups, only one group ignored the sound of the angry bees. Lucy reported that all the young elephants immediately ran to their mothers to hide under them. When Lucy Played the sound of a waterfall (瀑布) instead of the angry bees to many of the same elephant families, the animals were undisturbed. Even after four minutes, most of the groups stayed in one place.
Lucy is now studying whether the elephants will continue to avoid the sound of angry bees after hearing it several times. She hasn't tested enough groups yet to know, but her initial (最初的) results were promising enough to begin trials with farmers. She has now begun placing speakers in the fields to see if elephants are frightened away.We know from the passage that elephants may be frightened of .
| A．loud noises | B．some crops |
| C．video cameras | D．angry bees |
As mentioned in the passage, Lucy
| A．works by herself in Africa |
| B．needs to test more elephant groups |
| C．has stopped elephants eating crops |
| D．has got farmers to set up beehives on their farms |
Why did Lucy throw a stone into a wild beehive?
| A．To record the sound of bees. |
| B．To make a video of elephants. |
| C．To see if elephants would run away. |
| D．To find out more about the behavior of bees. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Young elephants ignore African honeybees. |
| B．Waterfalls can make elephants stay in one place. |
| C．Elephants do not go near trees with bees living in them. |
| D．Farmers do not allow Lucy to conduct tests in their fields. |
Counterfeit medicines are a widespread problem in developing countries. Like other counterfeits, they look like real products. But counterfeit drugs may contain too much, too little or none of the active ingredients (原料) of the real thing.
People do not get the medicine they need. And in some cases the counterfeits cause death. Twenty children in Bangladesh died last year after being given acetaminophen (醋氨芬). The medications contained ingredients that looked, smelled and tasted like the real thing. The medicine was produced by a local drug company that used a dangerous substitute to save money.
The problem of counterfeit medicines is especially serious in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The WHO estimates that up to thirty percent of medicines on sale in many of those countries are counterfeits. The problem is less widespread among industrialized countries. The WHO says counterfeits make up less than one percent of the illegal drug market in countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand.
But the agency also says as much as fifty percent of the medicine sold on the Internet is counterfeit.
Much is being done to fight counterfeit drugs. Several companies are developing ways to make counterfeits easier to identify (鉴定). And there are existing methods, like a machine that can quickly identify chemicals in pills to confirm if the pills are real. Other ideas include things like special tracking (跟踪) codes for drug packages. People could send a text message with the code and get a message back, which proves that what they bought is listed in a database. Some drug makers and other companies put three-dimensional images called holograms (全息图) on their products as a security device. The underlined word “counterfeits” means _______.
| A．qualified products | B．sub-standard medicines |
| C．real pills | D．false products |
Last year twenty children in Bangladesh died because of _______.
| A．unclean water | B．acetaminophen |
| C．unreal drugs | D．online medicines |
We can draw a conclusion from the passage that ______.
| A．we had better not buy medicines online |
| B．more and more people will buy products online |
| C．medicine companies don’t pay much attention to counterfeit drugs |
| D．it is very cheap and convenient to buy medicines online |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．It shows the danger of counterfeit drugs |
| B．Special tracking codes for drug packages are used to identify counterfeits. |
| C．Some measures are being taken to fight counterfeit drugs |
| D．It reveals the reasons why counterfeit drugs are widespread. |
Which of the following country may have serious problems of counterfeit medicines?
| A．France. | B．America |
| C．New Zealand | D．India |
“Josie Metz’s father won’t live long enough to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day．But thanks to photographer Lindsey Villatoro，the 11-year-old girl was able to experience what it might be like anyway．
Her father, Jim，62，had already been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when he and his wife．Grace，hired Villatoro—a photographer．Two years ago，Villatoro began offering photography sessions for people with serious illnesses to document their journeys and was hired by the Metz family．”I try to really showcase(充分展示)the person for who they are and not the illness，”she told The Huffington Post during a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon．
Villatoro went to Jim and Grace’s home for a shoot and offered to do one with their young daughter，Josie．After she left，she posted about the family on her website to get gift donations for the girl to help make her last birthday with her father memorable．But she decided to take a step further as a surprise and dreamed up the idea of a wedding for the girl—complete with，flowers，desserts，a promise ring and a dress from L．A．Fashion Week—so that her father could walk her down the aisle．”
For today，appreciate those you love．Give them lots of hugs and be grateful they are in your life．You never know what can happen．Say more“I Love Yous”and show more appreciation for all of your friends and family．Appreciate the blessings you have．I'm going to hug my husband Rich more today，call my Dad，call my friend in NC，and give lots of kitty hugs to my pets．Hugs to all of you—I appreciate you all so much and am grateful to have you in my life every single Day!Villatoro was hired by Josie’s parents to _______________．
| A．take care of them | B．treat Jim’s cancer |
| C．take photographs | D．fix Josie’s wedding |
What do we know about Josie’s father，Jim?
| A．He wants to attend Josie’s wedding． | B．He is fond of photography． |
| C．He had all idea of a wedding． | D．He suffered from cancel |
Villatoro posted about the family on her website to _____________．
| A．show her gratitude to her customers |
| B．collect birthday presents for the girl |
| C．raise money for people with illnesses |
| D．celebrate the poor girl’s last birthday |
What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．We should Treasure loved ones． | B．Blood is thicker than water． |
| C．Without love，nothing can go far． | D．Time and tide wait for no man． |
Which of the following best describes Villatoro?
| A．Talented and popular | B．Humorous and friendly |
| C．Intelligent and proud | D．Creative and helpfull |
In the early hours of March 8, a Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Its destination was Beijing. But for unknown reasons, it never arrived there.
There were 239 people on the Malaysia Airlines flight, including 154 Chinese. As of March 13, 12 different countries, including Malaysia, China, Vietnam and the US, were searching for the plane.
The disappearance is an “aviation (航空) mystery”, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the head of Malaysia’s Civil Aviation Authority, said on March 10.There was no clear sign of a crash by March 13.
Between 1-2 hours after takeoff, the plane suddenly lost contact with people on the ground. The weather was clear, and the pilots didn’t make any calls . No evidence was found in the area where the flight last made contact. People are also talking about a possible hijacking (劫机).
International police agency Interpol confirmed on March 9 that at least two passengers on the flight had used stolen passports to get on board. “We are looking at all possibilities,” said Malaysian Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein. The incident is now being called simply a “plane disappearance”.
So, what are some possible causes of a plane disappearance? An AP story provided a summary.
1. A failure of the plane’s body or its engines. However, even if both engines stopped working, the plane could still glide (滑翔) for up to 20 minutes, giving pilots time to make an emergency call.
2. Bad weather. Planes are designed to fly through most severe storms. However, in June 2009, an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed during a bad storm over the Atlantic Ocean.
3. A bomb. Throughout history, several planes have been brought down by bombs.
4. An accidental shoot-down by some country’s military. In July 1988, the US Navy accidentally shot down an Iran Air flight. In September 1983, a Korean Air Lines flight was shot down by a Russian fighter jet.
No matter how unlikely a situation, it’s too early to determine what really happened to MH370. It could take months, if not years, to rule out any possibilities, say experts.. How many cities are mentioned in this passage?
| A．Four cities. | B．five cities. | C．Six cities. | D．Seven cities. |
What could the underlined phrase “rule out” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．cross out | B．get rid of | C．take out | D．take the place of |
What could be the best title of the passage?
| A．An Air Crash | B．The Causes of the Disappearance |
| C．The Disappearance of MH 370 | D．An Aviation Mystery |
When us teenager Jake Olson isn’t playing football or golf for his high school, he’s often offering inspiration through his new book about his own life.
These activities might be too much for the average 16-year-old to deal with, but Jake is blind. When people ask him how he can possibly play golf without being able to see the ball, he says he is thankful for his father’s guidance.
It seems apparent that his early experience playing sports as a person with sight and muscle memory— repeating behaviors over and over until they become second nature — have also enabled Jake to hit the ball quite well.
Jake was born with a rare kind of eye cancer that took away the vision from his left eye when he was an infant and eventually his right eye, in 2009, when he was 12 years old. Rather than letting the disease hold him back, Jake used his loss of sight and his faith as sources of motivation .
“If I was going to sit on the couch all day feeling sorry for myself, I wasn’t going to do anything. I decided right then and there that I wasn’t going to let it stop me and that I was going to go out and persevere (坚持不懈),” he said.
It was with that mind-set that the student from Orange Lutheran High School in California was able to write his first book, Open Your Eyes: 10 Uncommon Lessons to Discover a Happier Life. “It’s about opening the readers’ eyes to their true potential in life and making sure that they use all the abilities that they have,” Jake said.
Jake’s father, Brian Olson, said the family is impressed with what he has done with his life, including showing people that they can get through hardships. “Your darkest hour can soon become your brightest, and with every setback, there’s a setup,” Jake said. “In every one of us, there’s more potential than we can ever imagine, and it really is a choice.” We can learn from the article that Jake Olson ______.
| A．was born a blind child | B．could have been a golf master |
| C．has great muscle memory | D．is trying to find the cure for his disease |
According to the article, Jake’s family members ______.
| A．pity him deeply | B．once gave up hope on him |
| C．encouraged him to write the book | D．admire his efforts and determination |
The purpose of the book Open Your Eyes: 10 Uncommon Lessons to Discover a Happier Life is to ______.
| A．promote good approaches to getting along with disabled people |
| B．inspire people to discover and use their hidden abilities |
| C．help people come up with better life goals |
| D．explain different definitions of “a happier life” |
The underlined word “setback” is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．fight | B．failure | C．opportunity | D．success |