I arrived at the bus station much too early for the London bus, which was not to leave until five to twelve. I pushed through the crowds, looking for somewhere to sit down. Scores of people were standing about, or struggling along with their bags and the cases to find the right lines. There was a party of school girls. I could see teachers trying to keep them in order. But there was nowhere for me to sit.
I stepped into the station buffet. I looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. I found a seat opposite a large mirror on the wall. Just then a friend of mine called Jim came in and sat with me. "What time is your bus?" asked Jim. "Oh, there's a plenty of time yet," I answered. "Oh, I'll get some drinks then," said Jim. We talked while drinking. Then I looked at the clock again. "Good heavens! It's going backward!" I cried. "A moment ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven." "You are looking at the clock in the mirror," said Jim. I could kick myself for being so stupid. I had not realized that the marks for one and eleven on the face of the clock were the same. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. I have never liked mirror since then. The London bus left ________.
A.at five to twelve | B.before five to twelve |
C.after five to twelve | D.until five to twelve |
The writer went to the station buffet because ________.
A.he was thirsty |
B.he saw the station buffet was not so crowded |
C.it was still early for his bus and he couldn't find a place to sit at the bus station |
D.he had changed his mind; he wouldn't go to London |
The writer sat ________.
A.behind a mirror | B.facing a mirror |
C.under a mirror | D.near a mirror |
Jim came to the station buffet at about ________.
A.twenty to twelve | B.twenty past twelve |
C.half past one | D.twenty past eleven |
What time was it when the writer looked at the clock again?
It was ________.
A.half past eleven | B.twelve thirty |
C.twelve twenty | D.eleven thirty |
Guide to Stockholm University Library
Our library offers different types of studying places and provides a good studying environment.
Zones
The library is divided into different zones.The upper floor is a quiet zone with over a thousand places for silent reading,and places where you can sit and work with your own computer.The reading places consist mostly of tables and chairs.The ground floor is the zone where you can talk.Here you can find sofas and armchairs for group work.
Computers
You can use your own computer to connect to the wifi specially prepared for notebook computers;your can also use library computers;which contain the most commonly used applications,such as Microsoft Office.They are situated in the area known as the Experimental Field on the ground floor.
Groupstudy Places
If you want to discuss freely without disturbing others,you can book a study room or sit at a table on the ground floor.Some study rooms are for 23 people and others can hold up to 68 people.All rooms are marked on the library maps.
There are 40 groupstudy rooms that must be booked via the website.To book,you need an active University account and a valid University card.You can use a room three hours per day,nine hours at most per week.
Storage of Study Material
The library has lockers for students to store course literature.When you have obtained at least 40 credits (学分),you may rent a locker and pay 400 SEK for a year’s rental period.
Rules to be Followed
Mobile phone conversations are not permitted anywhere in the library.Keep your phone on silent as if you were in a lecture and exit the library if you need to receive calls.
Please note that food and fruit are forbidden in the library,but you are allowed to have drinks and sweets with you.The library’s upper floor is mainly for students to________.
A.read in a quiet place |
B.have group discussions |
C.take comfortable seats |
D.get their computers fixed |
Library computers on the ground floor________.
A.help students with their field experiments |
B.contain software essential for schoolwork |
C.are for those who want to access the wifi |
D.are mostly used for filling out application forms |
What condition should be met to book a groupstudy room?
A.A group must consist of 8 people. |
B.Threehour use per day is the minimum. |
C.One should first register at the university. |
D.Applicants must mark the room on the map. |
A student can rent a locker in the library if he________.
A.can afford the rental fee |
B.attends certain courses |
C.has nowhere to put his books |
D.has earned the required credits |
What should NOT be brought into the library?
A.Mobile phones. | B.Orange juice. |
C.Candy. | D.Sandwiches. |
Two dolphins race around in a big pool in the Ocean Park.The smaller dolphin,Grace,shows off a few of her tricks,turning around and waving hello to the crowd.The most amazing thing about her,however,is that she’s even swimming at all.She doesn’t have a tail.
Grace lost her tail as a baby when she got caught up in a fish trap.When the dolphin arrived at the Ocean Park in December 2005,she was fighting for her life.“Is she going to make it?”Her trainer,Abbey Stone,feared the worst.Grace did make it—but her tail didn’t.She ended up losing her flukes and the lower part of her peduncle.
Over the past six years,she has learned to swim without her tail.Dolphins swim by moving their flukes and peduncle up and down.Grace taught herself to move another way—like a fish! She pushed herself forward through the water by moving her peduncle from side to side.
The movements put harmful pressure on Grace’s backbone.So a company offered to create a manmade tail for her.The tail had to be strong enough to stay on Grace as she swam but soft enough that it wouldn’t hurt her.
The first time Grace wore the artificial tail,she soon shook it off and let it sink to the bottom of the pool.Now,she is still learning to use the tail.Some days she wears it for an hour at a time,others not at all.“The new tail isn’t necessary for her to feel comfortable,”says Stone,“but it helps to keep that range of motion (动作) and build muscles (肌肉).”
Now,the dolphin is about to get an even happier ending.This month,Grace will star in Dolphin Tale,a film that focuses on her rescue and recovery.Her progress has inspired more than just a new movie.Many people travel from near and far to meet her.Seeing Grace swim with her manmade tail gives people so much courage.When Grace first arrived at the Ocean Park,her trainer worried about her________.
A.physical build |
B.potential ability |
C.chance of survival |
D.adaptation to the surroundings. |
A manmade tail is created for Grace to________.
A.let her recover faster |
B.make her comfortable |
C.adjust her way of swimming |
D.help her perform better tricks |
The story of Grace inspires people to________.
A.stick to their dreams |
B.treat animals friendly |
C.treasure what they have |
D.face difficulties bravely |
In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of music,dance and theatre in Edinburgh.The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.
It quickly attracted famous names such as Alec Guinness,Richard Burton,Dame Margot Fonteyn and Marlene Dietrich as well as the big symphony orchestras(交响乐团).It became a fixed event every August and now attracts 400,000 people yearly.
At the same time,the “Fringe” appeared as a challenge to the official festival.Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947,in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform,and they did so in a public house disused for years.
Soon,groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University,and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge,Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by littleknown writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.
Today the“Fringe”,once less recognized,has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre,music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts.And yet as early as 1959,with only 19 theatre groups performing,some said it was getting too big.
A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971,and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself.In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries.More than 1.25 million tickets were sold.What was the purpose of Edinburgh Festival at the beginning?
A.To bring Europe together again. |
B.To honor heroes of World War Ⅱ. |
C.To introduce young theatre groups. |
D.To attract great artists from Europe. |
Why did some uninvited theatre groups come to Edinburgh in 1947?
A.They owned a public house there. |
B.They came to take up a challenge. |
C.They thought they were also famous. |
D.They wanted to take part in the festival. |
Who joined the“Fringe”after it appeared?
A.Popular writers. |
B.University students. |
C.Artists from around the world. |
D.Performers of music and dance. |
We may learn from the text that Edinburgh Festival________.
A.has become a nonofficial event |
B.has gone beyond an art festival |
C.gives shows all year round |
D.keeps growing rapidly |
(2013·高考新课标全国卷Ⅰ,B)The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital.She is quiet but alert (警觉).Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it.She stares at it carefully.A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another,this time with the spots differently spaced.As the cards change from one to the other,her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus—until a third,with three black spots,is presented.Her gaze returns:she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card.Can she tell that the number two is different from three,just 24 hours after coming into the world?
Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment,but with three spots shown before two,shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes.Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb,a key,an orange and so on),changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves.Could it be the pattern that two things make,as opposed to three? No again.Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three,or three to two.The effect even crosses between senses.Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two;likewise (同样地) when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby’s________.
A.sense of hearing | B.sense of sight |
C.sense of touch | D.sense of smell |
Babies are sensitive to the change in________.
A.the size of cards | B.the colour of pictures |
C.the shape of patterns | D.the number of objects |
Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats?
A.To reduce the difficulty of the experiment. |
B.To see how babies recognize sounds. |
C.To carry their experiment further. |
D.To keep the babies’ interest. |
Where does this text probably come from?
A.Science fiction. |
B.Children’s literature. |
C.An advertisement. |
D.A science report. |
There was once a lonely girl who longed so much for love.One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving songbirds.She took them home and put them in a small cage,caring them with love.Luckily,the birds grew strong little by little.Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song.The girl felt great love for the birds.
One day the girl left the door to the cage open accidentally.The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage.The girl was so frightened that he would fly away so as he flew close,she grasped him wildly.Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him.Suddenly,she felt the bird go limp,so she opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird.It was her desperate love that had killed him.
She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage.She could feel his strong desire-needing to fly into the clear,blue sky.Unwillingly,she lifted him from the cage and tossed him softly into the air.The lucky bird circled once,twice,three times.
The girl watched delightedly at the bird.Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss.What she wanted to see was that the bird could fly happily.Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder.It sang the sweetest tune that she had ever heard.
Remember,the fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight;the best way to keep love is to give it wings!After the girl found the two birds,she________.
A.became delighted at once |
B.treated them for a long time |
C.took them to their home |
D.fed them and raised them |
Why did the girl grasp the stronger bird wildly?
A.Because the girl disliked the bird any longer. |
B.Because the bird wanted to fly alone. |
C.Because the girl loved the bird deeply. |
D.Because the bird intended to found some food. |
The underlined word “tossed” in the passage means________.
A.throw someting with slightly force |
B.give up something happily |
C.hold something fast |
D.cast something without patient |
What can we learn from the passage?
A.Catch what you can catch on your way to success. |
B.Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. |
C.The best things come when you least expect them to. |
D.A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |