COnMay8,lastThursdaymorning,th-优题课

Early in the 16th century men were trying to reach Asia by traveling west from Europe. In order to find Asia they had to find a way past South America. The man who finally found the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific was Ferdinand Magellan (麦哲伦). Magellan sailed from Seville in August, 1519 with five ships and about 280 men. Fourteen months later, after spending the cold winter on the coast of Patagonia, he discovered the channel which is now called Magellan Strait (海峡). In November, 1520, after many months of dangers from rocks and storms, the three remaining ships entered the ocean on the other side of South America. They then continued, hoping to reach Asia. But they did not see any land until they reached the islands off the coast of Asia. Before they arrived at these islands, later known as the Philippines (菲律宾), men were dying of starvation (饥饿). While they were staying in the Philippines, Magellan was killed in battle. The remaining officers then had to get back to Spain. They decided to sail round Africa. After many difficulties, one ship with eighteen men sailed into Seville three years after leaving. They were all that remained of Magellan’s expedition. However, their achievement was great. They were the first men to sail round the world.
The purpose of Magellan’s expedition was to ________.
A. find a seaway from the Atlantic to the Pacific B. sail round the world
C. carry men to Philippines D. make a voyage to Asia
How long did Magellan and his sailors spend before they reach Magellan Strait?
A. 280 B. 1519 C. 1520 D. Fourteen months
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage concerning the expedition?
A. Cold winter in Patagonia. B. Lack of equipment.
C. The death of Magellan. D. Dangers from rocks and storms.
The number of the ships lost on the whole expedition was ________.
A. two B. three C. four D. five
The best title for this passage is ________.
A. The First Expedition to sail round the world
B. The Most Dangerous Expedition
C. The Discovery of the Philippines
D. The Discovery of Magellan’s Strait

When nature is left alone, a balance is reached among the animals and plants living in one area. But when man starts his work in nature, the balance is likely to be destroyed. He grows a crop and takes it away to eat; then there are no dead leaves to fall on the ground, holding water while it sinks into the surface, or decaying (腐烂) and adding humus (腐殖质) to the soil. Unless a farmer acts with knowledge and skill, he is therefore most likely to make the land poorer. To take the place of the useful matter in the crops that he removes, he uses some kind of fertilizer. Chemical fertilizers are of great help, but the waste products of animals and decaying remains of plants should also be put on the land. In some places, it is a habit to burn waste material lying about, but such burning destroys the useful matter in the dead plants. Although the ashes that are left are valuable when put on the land, a better practice is to bury the waste so that it decays and increases the humus in the soil.
In the past, when the world population was much lower than it is now, a man had little difficulty in ordinary times in growing the food that was needed. When a field had been used some years and had become tired, the farmer could move to another place. The tired land then slowly recovered. Gradually grasses and other plants would appear on it and its productive power would slowly return to normal through their decay. But nature, left alone, would take a long time to bring back the land to its former state; the length of time required would depend on local conditions, but it might well be ten years.
It is a bad practice to grow the same crop in a field year after year. If the crop is changed, the land will suffer less because it is treated and used in a different way. Different plants have different effects on the soil. Therefore, a change of crop will do less harm than the growing of the same crop year after year and a regular change to grass will do good to the soil. Much will therefore be gained if different crops are grown one after another, a method known as the rotation (轮作) of crops.
According to the passage, the land will become poorer________.

A．if all the dead leaves are cleared away

B．if the humus is increased after the harvest

C．if dead leaves decay in the soil by themselves

D．if waste plant material lying about is buried

We can learn from the passage that the tired land has gradually recovered_______.

A．when grasses and other plants appear again

B．when the treatment is given by nature alone

C．after new grasses and other plants have decayed again

D．after nature has been left alone for several months

A modern farmer can hardly move to another place as he did before because_______.

A．the productive power of a new field isn't higher than that of an old one

B．there are few free fields left for him to do farming

C．it takes a farmer more than ten years to start farming in a new field

D．there will be too many grasses in a new field to grow crops

It is most likely that the author will go on to ______ in the paragraph following the passage above.

A．introduce other methods of planting crops

B．deal with how to prevent land getting tired

C．start another topic of how to make use of land

D．explain what the rotation of crops is

One of Britain’s bravest women told yesterday how she helped to catch suspected (可疑的) police killer David Bieber — and was thanked with flowers by the police. It was also said that she could be in line for a share of up to ￡30,000 reward money.
Vicki Brown, 30, played a very important role in ending the nationwide hunt. Vicki, who has worked at the Royal Hotel for four years, told of her terrible experience when she had to walk silently into Bieber’s bedroom and to watch him secretly. Then she waited alone for three hours while armed police prepared to storm the building.
She said: “I was very nervous. But when I opened the hotel door and saw 20 armed policemen lined up in the car park I was so glad they were there.”
The alarm had been raised because Vicki became suspicious (怀疑) of the guest who came at 3 pm the day before New Year’s Eve with little luggage and wearing sunglasses and a hat pulled down over his face. She said: “He didn't seem to want to talk too much and make any eye contact .” Vicki, the only employee on duty, called her bosses Margaret, 64, and husband Stan McKale, 65, who phoned the police at 11 pm.
Officers from Northumbria Police called Vicki at the hotel in Dunston, Gateshead, at about 11:30 pm to make sure that this was the wanted man. Then they kept in touch by phoning Vicki every 15 minutes.
“It was about ten past two in the morning when the phone went again and a policeman said ‘Would you go and make yourself known to the armed officers outside?’. My heart missed a beat.”
Vicki quietly showed eight armed officers through passages and staircases to the top floor room and handed over the key.
“I realized that my bedroom window overlooks that part of the hotel, so I went to watch. I could not see into the man’s room, but I could see the passage. The police kept shouting at the man to come out with his hands showing. Then suddenly he must have come out because they shouted for him to lie down while he was handcuffed (戴上手铐).”
The underlined phrase “be in line for” (paragraph 1) means________.

A．get

B．be paid

C．ask for

D．own

Vicki's heart missed a beat because ________.

A．the phone went again	B．she would be famous
C．the policemen had already arrived	D．she saw 20 policemen in the car park

David Bieber was most probably handcuffed in ________.

A．the passage	B．the man's room
C．Vicki's bedroom	D．the top floor room

The whole event probably lasted about ________ hours from the moment Bieber came to the hotel to the arrival of some armed officers.

A．6

B．8

C．11

D．14

Animation(动画) means making things which are lifeless come alive and move.
Since earliest times, people have always been surprised by movement. But not until this century have we managed to take control of movement, to record it, and in the case of animation, to retranslate it and recreate it. To do all this, we use a movie camera and a projector.
In the world of cartoon animation, nothing is impossible. You can make the characters do exactly what you want them to do.
A famous early cartoon character was Felix the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan in America in the early nineteen twenties. Felix was a wonderful cat. He could do all sorts of things no natural cat could do like taking off his tail, using it as a handle and then putting it back.
Most of the great early animators lived and worked in America, the home of the moving picture industry. The famous Walt Disney cartoon characters came to life after 1928. Popeye the Sailor and his girl friend Olive Oyo were born at Max Ficischer in 1933.
But to be an animator, you don’t have to be a professional. It is possible for anyone to make a simple animated film without using a camera at all. All you have to do is to draw directly on to an empty film and then run the film through a projector.
Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．People were unable to cause the movement to last or record it in the last century.

B．Pat Sullivan was a famous early cartoon character.

C．It is impossible to make cartoon characters do what they are designed to do.

D．In ancient times people were surprised by movement.

According to the passage, Felix the Cat________.

A．was created by the American cartoonist Felix

B．was designed by Pat Sullivan in the early twentieth century

C．was unable to do what natural cats could not do

D．was created in the United States in the nineteenth century

It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．Walt Disney’s cartoon characters were born earlier that Pat Sullivan’s

B．only professionals can create cartoon characters

C．Popeye the Sailor and Olive Oyo were famous cartoonists

D．the cartoon industry started in the United States

Which of the following statements best describes the author’s attitude towards cartoon making?

A．Cartoon making is an easy job. Anyone can do it.

B．Only trained people can be employed in cartoon making industry.

C．Anyone can make cartoons under the instructions of professionals.

D．Cartoon making is no easy job. You have to spend much time drawing onto the empty film.

I was telling my boy Sonny the story of the hare (兔子) and the tortoise (乌龟). At the end I said. “Son, remember: Slow and steady (稳固的) wins the race. Don’t you think there’s something to learn from the tortoise?”
Sonny opened his eyes wide, “Do you mean next time when I’m participating in the 60-metre race I should wish that Billy and Tony and Sandy would all fall asleep halfway?”
I was shocked, “But the tortoise didn’t wish that the hare would fall asleep on the way!”
“He must have wished that,” Sonny said. “Otherwise how could he be so stupid as to race with the hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than he himself did.”
“He didn’t have such a wish,” I insisted, “He won the race by perseverance , by pushing on steadily.”
Sonny thought a while. “That’s a lie,” he said. “He won it because he was lucky. If the hare hadn’t happened to fall asleep, the tortoise would never have won the race. He could be as steady as you like, or a hundred times steadier, but he’d never have won the race. That’s for sure.”
I gave up. Today’s children are not like what we used to be. They’re just hopeless.
Sonny believed that the tortoise ________.

A．won the race by his own effort

B．took a risk by agreeing to race

C．was not given a fair chance in the race

D．in fact did not win the race

Billy, Tony and Sandy must be ________.

A．boys who were unknown to Sonny’s father

B．boys Sonny had run races with before

C．boys Sonny had never raced with before

D．boys Sonny did not expect to race with again

The writer thinks that his generation (代) ________.

A．were more clever than Sonny’s generation

B．had the same ideas about life as Sonny’s generation

C．were more hopeful than Sonny’s generation

D．had different ideas about life from Sonny’s generation