Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast（盛宴）. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies（殖民地）began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed（宣布）the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated .
| A．in spring | B．summer |
| C．in autumn | D．in winter |
The first to celebrate thanksgiving were .
| A．some people from England |
| B．the American Indians |
| C．Sarah Josepha Hale |
| D．Governor Bradford |
We can infer from the passage that New England must be .
A. in the U. S. A. B. in Great Britain
C. in Canada D. on some island off the Atlantic Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest. |
| B．Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations. |
| C．Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God. |
| D．There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. |
The passage mainly tells us .
A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A.
B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places
You may know the English letters A, B and C. But do you know there are people called ABC? You may like eating bananas. But did you know there is a “banana person”? How strange! Are these people from “another Earth”? No. They are just Chinese people like you and me.
ABC mea
ns American-Born Chinese. An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States. S
ometimes, people call an ABC a “banana person”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside. So, when a person is a banana, he or she is white inside—thinking like a Westerner and yellow outside—looking like a Chinese.
Do you know why? Usually, ABCs know little about China or the Chinese language. Some of them don’t speak Chinese.
But if ABCs cannot speak Chinese, can we still call them Chinese people? Yes, of course. They are Chinese. They are overseas Chinese. These people may be citizens(公民) of another country like the US, Canada or Singapore. But they have Chinese blood. Their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were from China. They all have black eyes and black hair.
But they are not Chinese citizens. They are not the people of the People’s Republic of China. For example, we all know the famous scientist C.N. Yang(杨振宁). He got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957. The Chinese love him, but he is an American citizen.What’s the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
| A．He wants to tell us something about “ABC”. |
| B．He wants to show that Chinese are well respected in America. |
| C．He wants to tell us some knowledge about the English language. |
| D．He wants to introduce the American culture to us. |
Chinese in Western countries are called “banana persons” because ____.
| A．their bodies are white inside but yellow outside |
| B．they think like Westerners but look like Chinese |
| C．they were born in China but go to study in America |
| D．they like to eat bananas |
C.N. Yang is mentioned here to show that ____.
A. American Chinese are g
reat. B. we love American Chinese
C. The Chinese can win Nobel Prizes D. American Chinese are not Chinese citizens
“Who needs a shopping mall if you have Taobao?” says Wang Lin,28,a writer in Beijing.
Taobao,China’s largest online shopping site,has become an important part of Wang Lin’s life.She spends lots of money on Taobao.
A growing number of Chinese Internet users like Wang have found the joys of online shopping .Most online sho
ppers are students or young workers .More women shop on line than men.Clothes and home-use products are the most popular on line.
It was reported that more than 250 billion yuan was spent on online shopping last year, 80% through Taobao.
Taobao means “looking for treasure”in Chinese.People can find almost everything they need on Taobao,from clothes to books ,from candies to DVD players .
You may question the security of online shopping ,Wang Lin said, “”It’s very safe and convenient .Unless you receive the products from the sellers and are satisfied with them,the shop owner will not get the money .You can also get your money back if you want to return the products.”What are the most popular on line?
A．Cand les and DVD players |
B．Clothes and books. |
| C．Clothing and home-use products. | D．Toys for children |
Taobao is ____________.
| A．a shopping mall | B．an online shopper |
| C．an online shopping site | D．a clothes store |
What does the underlined word “security”mean?
A．质量 B安全 C 信誉 D. 数量.Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．Wang Lin’s life. | B．Online shopping in China. |
C．Sho pping on line is not safe. |
D．Shopping on line is easy |
Several years ago， a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker， another owned one of the largest companies in the world， and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.
The reporter was talking to them about being important.
“How do we know if someone is really important？” the reporter asked the banker.
The banker thought for a few moments and then said， “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President of the United States is really important.”
The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree wi
th that？” she asked.
The man shook his head， “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You‘d only be important if while you were visiting the President， there was a telephone call from the president of another country， and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it.”
The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so？”
“No， I don‘t，” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”
“Then what would make the visitor important？” the reporter and the other two men asked.
“Oh， I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang， and the President picked up the receiver， listened and then said， ‘It’s for you.‘ ” There are _______ in this passage.
| A．two men and two women | B．three men and one woman |
| C．three women and one man | D．four women |
The banker thought _______.
A．he was really important because he was a rich banker |
B．the visitor to the White House was really important |
| C．the visitor who met the President of the United States | |
| D．the reporter was really important |
The owner of the very large company thought _______.
| A．she was really important because she owned one of the largest companies |
| B．the banker was really important |
| C．the owner of many buildings in the center of New York was really important |
| D．the visitor would be really important if while he was visiting the President， the President would not answer any telephone call |
The owner of many buildings thought _______.
| A．he was really important because he owned many buildings in the center of New York |
| B．the owner of the very large company was really important |
| C．the visitor was really important if he talking to the President and the President received a telephone call for the visitor |
| D．the person who worked in the White House was really important |
Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your address from there in a telegram (电报)," his wife said. "All right," Dick answered.
He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.
In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."
He found a taxi and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.
"Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what
am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office." Dick flew to New York because ___.
| A．he went there for a holiday |
| B．he had work there |
| C．he went there for sightseeing (观光) |
| D．his home was there |
Why did his wife want a telegram from him?
| A．Because she didn't know his address yet |
| B．Because she wanted to go to New York, too |
| C．Because she might send him another telegram |
| D．Because she couldn't leave her husband by himself in New York |
Who would send him the name and address of his hotel?
| A．The manager of his hotel. | B．The police office. |
| C．The taxi driver. | D．His wife. |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Dick stayed at a nice hotel in the center of the city. |
| B．Dick didn't work on the first night of his arrival. |
| C．Dick forgot to send his wife a telegram. |
| D．Dick wanted to go back to his hotel in a taxi. |
Three years ago I listened to a lecture on cognition (认知) that changed the way I think about intelligence. There are two types of cognition. The first is normal cognition: the ability to regain knowledge from memory. The second type of cognition is metacognition: the ability to know whether or not you know.
Does this affect intelligence? In traditional education, intelligence is measured by cognitive ability. Some people can easily produce everything they know on a test. But others are awarded with poor grades and considered inferior. But does this inability make them any less intelligent? If the question came up on a task, they could refer to a book or a quick Google search. In reality they’re just as effective as the people that ace a test. They just can’t prove it as easily.
Metacognition is more important to success than cognition. A person with poor cognitive ability, but great metacognitive ability might do poorly in school, but when faced with a challenge, they understand their abilities and take the best course of action. For example, when faced with a question, a person with strong metacognitive
ability will deal with it like this. If he knows the answer, but can’t come up with it, he can always do a bit of research. If he knows for sure that he doesn’t know, then he can start educating himself. Because he’s aware of his ignorance, he doesn’t act with foolish confidence. These people might not seem intelligent at first glance, but because they know what they know, they make better decisions and learn the most important things.
However, people with great cognitive ability but poor metacognitive ability may be considered excellent at a young age for acing every test and getting great SAT scores. Unfortunately, they’ve been ruined by poor metacognition: they think they know everything but they really don’t. They are overconfident, fail to learn from mistakes, and don’t understand the slight differences of personal relationships, showing disregard for persons with lower cognitive ability. They may make the worst decisions.
The most important mental power is the ability to know what you don’t know. The recognition of a fault is the first step to improvement. Don’t try to hide a lack of knowledge. For intelligent people this is the toughest lesson to learn.People with great cognitive ability tend to _________.
| A．do well in tests | B．be considered inferior |
| C．be more effective than others | D．do research when faced with a task |
The underlined phrase “take the best course of action” probably means _________.
| A．starting educating himself | B．taking action during the course |
| C．making the right decision | D．coming up with many ideas |
People with poor metacognition may not succeed because they_________.
| A．lack basic moral values | B．have improper self-evaluation |
| C．fail to communicate with others | D．show little respect for others |
The author probably supports the idea that _________.
| A．intelligence is measured by cognitive ability |
| B．cognition is the most important mental power |
| C．the toughest lesson is to distinguish the two types of cognition |
| D．the awareness of one’s ignorance contributes to one’s improvement |