Ellen Parker was worried about her health. She could not walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stairs（爬楼梯）. She was soon out of breath.（气喘吁吁）
“I think I had better go to the doctor, ” she thought.
She went to the doctor and told him her problem.
“I’m not at all surprised, ”he said. “It’s obvious （明显的）what your problem is.”
He examined her and then gave her some advice.“If you don’t do what I say, Mrs. Parker,” he said. “You will have a heart attack（心脏病）. It could kill you.”
Ellen was very worried as she left the doctor’s. She knew that she had to take his advice but that would not be easy and it would take time.
The next day she went shopping. The first shop she went into was a butcher’s shop（肉店）.
“I’d like ten pounds of steak (大块肉片), please,” she said.
“Certainly, madam,” the butcher(屠夫) answered and went into the cold room and found a large piece of steak. He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and placed it on the scale(秤).
“That’s just ten pounds,” he said.
“That’s big enough,” Mrs. Parker said.
The butcher worked out(计算) the price.
“At $ 4.99 a pound that will be $ 49.90, please. Would you like me to cut it into small pieces for you?”
“Oh, I don’t want to buy the meat,” Mrs. Parker said.
“If you don’t want to buy it,” the butcher said angrily, “Why did you ask me to get it for you?”
“My doctor told me that I am overweight (超重的)and have to lose ten pounds. I wanted to see what ten pounds of flesh looked liked.”. Why did Ellen Parker visit the doctor?
| A．She had a heart attack. | B．She had a problem with her health. |
| C．She was unhappy about her weight. | D．She could not sleep well. |
. Why did she ask for ten pounds of steak?
| A．she wanted to buy some for dinner. | B．She wanted to lose weight |
| C．Her doctor had told her to eat steak. | |
| D．She wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like. |
.. What was her real problem?
| A．She ate too much steak. | B．She weighed too much. |
| C．The doctor didn’t know. | D．She could not walk very quickly. |
. What did the doctor think might happen to Ellen?
| A．she might put more on weight. | B．She might stop eating too much. |
| C．She might have a heart attack. | D．She might go to another doctor. |
Amy returned to her small apartment at midnight, tired. Her worst fears raced through her mind. Would the court tell her she couldn’t care for her family anymore? Would the kids go through the sadness once more of being split up and sent away? She was so young, almost a child herself, and yet Amy knew everything depended on her. At that moment, she wondered if she would ever find the strength to see it through.
From earliest childhood, Amy took care of her younger brothers. Jan, their mother, only added to the family disorder and confusion because of her drug addict. Sometimes they lived in apartments, sometimes in shelters.
One afternoon Amy was called to the high school, where a social worker was waiting for her. “We’re going to have to put you guys in foster（收养) care.” the social worker said. “No! Don’t spilt us up!” the girl cried out. “Can’t you just leave it the way it is?” The social worker shook his head. Amy’s voice then rose like the howl of a lion protecting her babies: “Why can’t I take them? I take care of them all the time anyway.” The social worker hesitated, and then said, “Maybe. Once you’re 18, you could apply to become their relative caretaker. Then you’d be their foster mother until we find a home where all of you can be together.” “I’ll do it,” Amy said.
One month later, Amy was named guardian of her brothers for a six-month trial period. It was a remarkable victory for an 18-year-old girl. Her brothers didn’t make her task any easier in the months ahead. However，Amy’s efforts were rewarded when the court allowed her to continue as guardian. Amy’s relief at remaining the kids’ guardian was at risk of being taken away by the pressure she always
felt to measure up. Social workers still looked regularly over her shoulder and asked the boys shameful
questions: “Does she feed you? Does she ever try to harm you?” Then one day a visiting social worker
came over. “We’d like to get the boys adopted into homes,” she said. Sensing that the family was about to be split apart yet again, Amy replied, “Fine, then. Call it adoption if you want, but they’re not going anywhere.” To her surprise, the social worker took her remark seriously. She explained that if Amy were to adopt the boys, they would become like any other family.
That night at dinner Amy told the boys about the idea. “Cool!” Joey said. He threw a piece of corn at Adam. His brother flicked it back, and pretty soon corn was flying. Amy rolled her eyes. They didn’t have far to go to be like any other family. As the proceedings（程序）ended, Amy thanked everyone. “No,” the judge responded, “Thank you. You saved three kids. Not many family members would do what you’re doing, especially for this many children. I’m very proud of you.”
On a lazy spring day, in a modest suburban neighborhood, Amy stood in front of a neatly kept one-story house. She watched her brothers playing basketball, and heard the playful bark of their dog, Tahoe. The young lady had made good on her promise: they had rented a home, a real home, and the boys had gotten their dog. Amy continues to raise her family alone, but has begun taking courses in business management at a nearby community college. Eventually, she hopes to become a child psychologist. Which of the following best describes Amy?
| A．Crazy and tough | B．Firm and stubborn |
| C．Enthusiastic and generous | D．Abnormal and aggressive. |
From Paragraph 3, we can learn that __________.
| A．The social worker gave in to Amy. |
| B．The social worker tried to adopt Amy’s brothers. |
| C．Amy tried to apply for the guardian of the brothers |
| D．Amy had no idea how to face her family being separated up. |
By saying “They didn’t have far to go to be like any other family”, the writer means________.
| A．they will live in the same area as other families |
| B．they made a deep impression on the neighborhood |
| C．Amy is able to take good care of the family |
| D．Amy and her brothers would be already just like a family |
The best title for this text would be___________.
| A．Standing On Two Feet | B．Growing Up Alone |
| C．A Lifelong Fight | D．A Teen Hero |
What does the underlined word guardian in paragraph 4 mean?
| A．保护者 | B．监护人 | C．收养人 | D．引导人 |
Scientists have proved that sleeping and learning go hand in hand. Even a short nap can boost our memory and sharpen our thinking. But the relationship goes deeper than that.
“The brain is not passive while you sleep,” scientist Anat Arzi said. “It’s quite active. You can do many things while you are asleep.”
Arzi and her coworkers didn’t try to teach the sleeping volunteers any complex information, like new words or facts. Instead, the scientists taught volunteers to make new connections between smells and sounds.
When we smell something good, like a flower, we take deep breaths. When we smell something bad, we take short breaths. Arzi and her co-workers based their experiment on these reactions.
Once the volunteers fell asleep in the lab, the scientists went to work. They gave them a whiff of something pleasant and meanwhile played a particular musical note. They didn’t wake up, but they heard—and sniffed(吸气) deeply. Then the scientists gave the volunteers a whiff of something terrible and played a different musical note. Again, the volunteers heard and smelled—a short snort this
time—but didn’t wake up. The researchers repeated the experiment.
After just four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their paired smells. When the scientists played the musical tone that went with good smells, the sleepers breathed deeply. And when the scientists played the musical tone that went with bad smells, the sleepers breathed briefly—despite there being no bad smell.
The next day, the volunteers woke up with the sound-smell connection. They breathed deeply when hearing one tone and cut their breaths short when hearing the other, which must have been unusual for them. Imagine walking down the street and taking a deep breath upon hearing a particular sound!In the study, the volunteers were taught _______.
| A．to become active during sleep |
| B．to tell the difference between smell |
| C．to learn new words and scientific facts |
| D．to make sound-smell connections |
How did the volunteers react when smelling something nice and hearing musical notes?
| A．They took a deep breath. | B．They had a wonderful dream. |
| C．They woke up at once. | D．They took a short breath. |
When the volunteers woke up the next day, they_______.
| A．learned how to play to musical tones |
| B．forgot what happened during their sleep |
| C．continued with the sound-smell connection |
| D．changed their reaction when hearing. |
The passage mainly tell us______
| A．special smells and sounds can improve our memory. |
| B．our brain can actually learn something new during the sleep. |
| C．the volunteers will always hear similar sounds in the street. |
| D．our brain can tell the difference between smells during the sleep. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．A short sleep can improve our memory and sharpen our thinking. |
| B．Arzi and her coworkers didn’t try to teach the sleeping volunteer some simple information. |
| C．When the volunteer smelt something terrible, they didn’t wake up. |
| D．After four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their pared smells. |
Michael Jordan told me not to mention this until the season was over and I promised him at that time. Now I think it’s time.
Early last season, I wrote a column about an act of kindness I had seen Jordan do to a disabled child outside the Stadium. After it ran ,I got a call from a man in the western suburbs. He said, “I read what you wrote about Jordan, but I thought I should tell you another thing I saw.” Here it comes, I thought. It always does. Write something nice about a person, and people call you up to say that the person is not so nice.
A few weeks later Jordan and I were talking about something else before a game, and I brought up what the man had said. Was the man right? Has Jordan really been talking to those two boys in that poor and dirty neighborhood?
“Not two boys,” Jordan said, “but four.”
And he named them. He said four names.
And what did they talk about?
“Everything,” Jordan said. “I’ve asked to see their grades so that I can check whether they’re paying attention to their schoolwork. If it turns out one or two of them may need teaching, I make sure they get it.”
It’s just one more part of Michael Jordan’s life, one more thing that no one knows about, one more thing Jordan does right. The NBA season is over now, and those boys have their memories. So do I! When the expert reviewers begin to turn against Jordan, as they surely will, I’ll think about those boys under the streetlight, waiting for the man they know to come, for someone they can depend on.That man called after reading about what Jordan did to a disabled child because he wanted to ____.
| A．become famous himself |
| B．know why Jordan appeared in a poor area |
| C．let the author know that Jordan was not that nice |
| D．offer another example to show that Jordan was a nice man |
What can we learn from this passage?
| A．Jordan is not such a great person. |
| B．Jordan deserves the admiration he had from others. |
| C．Jordan is always ready to make friends with young people. |
| D．Jordan is always misunderstood by expert reviewers. |
What does the underlined word “ran” probably mean?
| A．Published. | B．Finished. | C．Disappeared. | D．Drove |
Which of the following is NOT the reason why the author wrote this passage?
| A．He would like to keep the promise he had made. |
| B．He thought it was time to help the disabled children. |
| C．He hated to see Jordan become someone else’s target. |
| D．He was impressed by Jordan’s deeds for the ordinary poor. |
What’s the purpose of the writer writing the passage?
| A．to show us the life of Jordan |
| B．to tell us everybody will make mistakes including Jordan |
| C．to criticize Jordan |
| D．to defend Jordan against attack |
She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful brown haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. Outside, it was pouring so heavily.
We all stood there just inside the door of the Wal-Mart. We waited, some patiently, others annoyed because nature messed up their hurried day. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world.
Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance (昏昏欲睡) we were all caught in. “Mom, let’s run through the rain,” she said.
“ No, honey. We’ll wait until it slows down a bit.” Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated, “Mom, let’s run through the rain. ”
“We’ll get soaked if we do,” Mom said.
“ No, we won’t, Mom. That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said as she tore at her Mom’s arm.
“This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”
“Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!”
The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I dare say you couldn’t hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.
Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child’s lifetime when innocent trust can be developed so that it will bloom into faith. “Honey , you are absolutely right. Let’s run through the rain. If get wet, well maybe we just need washing.” Mom said. Then off they ran.
We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they rushed past the cars and they held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, l did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.
You may lose your material possessions, your money and even your health, but no one can ever take away your precious memories. So don’t forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “affirmation”?
| A．happiness | B．love | C．disagreement | D．approval |
What do we know about the mother in the story?
| A．Her husband was cured of his cancer. |
| B．She was strong-willed and considerate. |
| C．She was in despair and pretended to forget what she said. |
| D．Her daughter completely understood the situation her family was in. |
Which of the following may the author agree with?
| A．The mother should not tell her child about the family misfortune. |
| B．Parents should act more bravely than their children. |
| C．Parents should grasp every opportunity to influence their children to grow well. |
| D．Children should learn to show gratitude and understanding to their parents. |
The best title for the passage might be _______.
| A．Be a Determined Mother | B．Wait in the Rain |
| C．Have a wonderful experience | D．Run Through the Rain |
Your smartphone can do a lot of things. It can call people. It connects to the Internet. It enables you to play fun games. But there is a dark side to this smart little equipment of yours----- it might also spread disease.
“People are just likely to get sick from their phones as from handles of the bathroom, ” Jeffrey Cain, the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians , told The Wall Street Journal.
This may be hard to believe, but scientists reached this conclusion after they tested eight cell phones from an office in Chicago. All the tested phones showed high numbers of coliforms (大肠菌), a kind of bacteria found in human waste , with about 2700 to 4200 units of the bacteria on each phone. The bacteria can cause flu, pinkeye and other diseases . That is right --- your phone is covered in our human waste.
Although computers, keys and pens carry germs (细菌) , our phones get far dirtier. They touch a lot of things, including our hands and the inside of our pocket or purse. We take them almost everywhere: the bus, the subway and who hasn’t played Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja while sitting on the toilet?
“Some things that we think are personal are actually more public than we imagine,” Cain said. What is even worse is that after the phone returns from its dirty trip, it then spends most of its time cozying up to our faces. You don’t think about how often you touch your phone to your face, do you? Our noses, mouths and ears are all warm and rich in grease (油脂) , an environment that germs really like.
So how do you keep your phone clean? Alcohol is effective when used to kill germs from the back and side of your phone. But it might harm the screen. There is one simple and reliable way you can reduce the germs on your phone’s surface: wash your hands regularly.The underlined word “dark” in the first paragraph means _______
| A．black | B．hopeless | C．unpleasant | D．unclear |
Which of the following best describe the tone of the third paragraph?
| A．Terrified | B．concerned | C．Satisfying | D．Threatening |
By saying “Some things we think are personal are actually more public than we imagine,” Cain means that ________.
| A．people love to share their phones more than they realize |
| B．our personal items could be as risky to our health as public items |
| C．phones are used in public places more than people realize |
| D．Most people don’t know how dirty their cell phones are |
What is the article mainly about?
| A．Tips on the use of phones |
| B．Health problems caused by the use of phones |
| C．The danger of coliforms infection |
| D．The influence that phone have on our life |