Dr．SylviaEarlewantsyoutostopea-优题课

Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all times, really
did fools' experiments?
Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic that other people just thought they were foolish?
Sometimes people think they already know the answer to a question or the solution (解决办法) to a problem. Sometimes they really do know an answer or a solution, but without thinking they are important.
Charles Darwin didn’t settle for (满足于) just thinking he knew something. And, he believed all things could be important however simple they seemed to be.
Suppose you drop two sheets of paper which are exactly the same size and shape. If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way. Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other sheet. What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn't be worth anything.
But this simple experiment is important. It explains part of our present-day understanding of physics ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton. And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek physics.
Science sometimes stops to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them. Even the simplest idea, what we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations (基础) of science.
68. “Sometimes people think they already know the answer to a question.” This means that _________.
A. they are already told the answer
B. the question is so important that everyone should know the answer
C. they are already to answer such a question by others
D. the question is simple enough for them to answer
69. From the passage, we learn that Charles Darwin _________.
A. did many fools' experiments
B. enjoyed doing simple experiments
C. was not satisfied with what he knew
D. tried to prove that Galileo and Newton were sometimes wrong
70. The underlined phrase “set aside” most probably means “________”
A. throw away B. store up B. put to use D. realize
71. The author of the passage tries to ________.
A. convince(使…信服) us that Charles Darwin, Galileo and Newton are the greatest scientists in the world
B. draw the conclusion that basic sciences are simple things
C. prove that two sheets of paper, with the same size and shape, will fall at the same speed
D. draw our attention to everyday happenings around us

An epidemic (流行病) of the use of street-culture language broke out in some English exams, according to examiners.
A report said there were “a surprising number of small mistakes” in standard (标准) English. It asked teachers that they should prevent pupils from using "street language and text style", adding, “Most answers require formal expression of language.”
“Many concerns were expressed by examiners about basic errors, often appearing in the work of clearly able students,” the report continued.
It added that the use of street and text language “appeared with surprisingly regularity in the work of students who clearly desired a higher grade”.
“Most answers require formal expression but even when an informal style is appropriate--students should know the examination context and, in particular, should not use street language and text style.” it said.
There is rising concern about pupils’ writing skills, especially among boys. National test results for 11-year-old boys’ writing standards had fallen this year. Only 55 percent reached the level expected of an 1l-year-old by the time they left primary school, the results showed.
Many educationalists are now arguing that teachers should also think of ways of improving writing standards.
The report said spelling was “in general inconsistent(不一致)” and “variety of vocabulary and of sentence structure is often limited”. It went on, “Punctuation (标点符号) errors continue to be widespread.”
However, it added, “Some examiners felt that this year they had met an improvement in the whole structure of students' writing.”
64. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Street language is appearing in the standard English exams.
B. What the street-culture language is in England.
C. The English say no to the street-culture language in daily life.
D. The street-culture language is being examined in English exams.
65. The underlined word “appropriate” (in Paragraph 5) means “ _______”
A. available B. possible C. valuable D. acceptable
66. What problems concerned examiners ?
A. Small mistakes in spelling and punctuation,
B. Poor sentence structure, and errors in spelling and standard English.
C. Teachers teaching writing skills.
D. Limited vocabulary of boy pupils.
67. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. In English exams, most answers require informal expression of language.
B. When an informal style is correct, the students are allowed to use it.
C. Boys' writing skills are worse than those of girls in England.
D. There is no improvement in the whole structure of students' writing.

On the wall in my mother’s bedroom there was a photo, which showed a soldier with a gun.
Below the photo there was the word ”Speaking”.
“Who’s that soldier called Speaking?” I asked one day.
“He was Harold.” She said, ‘He was my only brother. When the Second War began, Harold was eighteen. I was twelve then, and my sisters were ten and nine.”
“Harold liked to play with us, and we often quarreled. When we quarreled, we said, ‘We’re not speaking to you.’ But before long we were all happy again, and then we said, ‘I’m speaking now. Are you speaking to me?’”
“When the war broke out, Harold joined the army. A month later, he came to see us. He brought the gun to show us. Then he went miles away to the war. We didn’t see him for three years, three long, empty years. We didn’t often hear from him. But one day in May there was a loud bang on the front door.”
“I ran to open it, it was Harold! He was an old Harold, a thinner Harold, too. He looked at me with his two green eyes and smiled. That smile was just the same as before, then he said one word “Speaking’”.
‘I didn’t. I couldn’t answer. I just fell into his arms and he dropped his gun. He stayed with us for a month. We played all our old games again. Then he went back to the war, and never came back again. So I wrote the word on the photo.”
60. When I first saw the word “Speaking” below the photo, I thought ____.
A .the soldier was calling “Speaking”
B. it was taken when the soldier was speaking
C .“Speaking” was the soldier’s name
D. Mum wished the soldier could speak to her
61. How old was the author’s mother when Harold came back for the last time?
A.Twelve B.Thirteen C. Fifteen D. Twenty-one
62. When Harold came back home, ____.
A.he changed a lot except for his eyes and smile
B.he made a shoot in front of the door
C.his sister could hardly recognize him
D.his sister had another quarrel with him
63. Harold never came back again because ____.
A.he didn’t want to speak to his sister any more
B.he died in a battle
C.his sister had not answered him when he came back
D.he went far away to the war

第三部分：阅读理解（共16小题；每小题1.5分，满分24分）
阅读下列短文，然后从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
You’ve no doubt heard people say how much they “need” a holiday, when what they really mean is that they want one. Certainly, people working under pressure feel a very strong desire to escape from work and become less tight during holidays, and experience a changed environment.
However, work for many people today is office work and mental, rather than physical tasks. These people may seek much more energy-taking activities while on holiday, rather than simply lying on a beach.
Once people become used to going on holiday, taking holidays becomes a habit. For many people the holiday is one of the last things to be given up, and indeed many workers have chosen to spend some of their last pay when being on holiday. It may give them a “lift” in facing some difficulties in life.
Most of us also enjoy showing off the lovely tans --- dark skins we get from a holiday. So many tourists are now able to afford holidays in the sun that tans have become quite common; although we join a tan together with health, it has been fully shown that too much sunshine will result in high danger of skin problems, as well as drying out one’s skin and leading to more lines on your face later in life.
56.According to the passage above, more and more people choose to have holidays because they __________.
A. love working outdoors all the time
B. want to get away from work
C. love enjoying the beauties of nature
D. become rich and want a better life
57. When office people have holidays, they often _________ .
A. lie on the beach and enjoy sunshine
B. spend more than they can afford
C. think about their work on the beach
D. choose to do more physical exercise
58 The word “lift” in the last sentence of the third paragraph may _______
A. cheer someone up
B. help someone find a job
C. be the last thing not to be given up
D. bring good luck to someone
59 At the end of the passage the writer tries to tell the reader _________.
A. the importance of getting sunshine
B. the bad effect of being on holiday
C. the result of getting sun tanned
D. the healthy look of being tanned

SINGAPORE—It seems the financial crisis isn’t all hopeless: one in four people are glad the world’s economy turned down like it did, because it helped them realize more in life, according to a global survey.
Market research firm Synovate surveyed around 11400 people across the world and found more than half had permanently changed their attitudes toward money over the last 12 months. Another 47 percent, however, said they were looking forward to being able to spend freely again.
“The psychology of global depression has changed the way many people do things,” Jenny Chang, managing director in Taiwan (China), said in a statement. “They are making life-changing decisions based on the current global depression, such as postponing marriage, having children, moving house, changing jobs or pursuing higher education. Even in a relatively effect-free economy like Taiwan’s.”
A quarter of all respondents led by Malaysians said they were glad the world had an economic crisis as it has helped them realize what’s really important in their lives.
Nearly 60 percent said they would try their best to control their spending so that it doesn’t go back to what it used to be before the downturn, and over two-thirds are more interested in increasing their savings than reducing their debt.
The majority of respondents—over 80 percent—believed their generation had a responsibility to leave their country better off for the younger generation, even if it involved dramatically changing their lifestyles.
With the relatively high unemployment in the US, Synovate’s US-based Claire Peerson Braverman said, Americans who had lost one or more incomes in the family, had to make some of the most difficult decisions concerning money each day.
62. What information did Market research firm Synovate want to get by making the survey?
A. The effects of global depression on people’s money and life attitudes.
B. The loss people suffered in the global depression.
C. The number of people who like global depression.
D. The influence of economical crisis on the US.
63. What can be inferred from the article?
A. The global depression had no effects on economy in Taiwan of China at all.
B. Global depression led some people to give up their higher education.
C. More people will spend their money more carefully after the global depression.
D. Some people felt glad about the global depression for the benefits it brought them.
64. What does the underlined world “it” in the fifth paragraph refer to?
A. Habit of spending money. B. Global depression.
C. Responsibility for the country. D. Attitude towards life.
65. What is the theme of this article?
A. The economic crisis made more people try to save more money.
B. The situation of unemployment in the US became more serious.
C. Lots of people put off some important events in their life for the economic crisis.
D. Economic crisis helped people change their ideas about money and life.