Surtsey was born in 1963.Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's(船长)feet. He noticed a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano(火山)was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom(底部)of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November.
Scientists flew there to watch. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967.It was 175 meters high and 2 kilometers long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came. Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.
Surtsey is ______.
A.an island not far from Iceland | B.a new volcano |
C.a fishing boat | D.a place in Iceland |
When did scientist fly there to watch?
A.Before the volcano broke out. | B.As soon as the volcano broke out. |
C.About four days after the volcano broke out. | |
D.After the volcano stopped rushing up. |
Put the following sentences in correct order.
a. The captain found the boat was moving. b. A new island appeared in the sea.
c. Fire, smoke and rocks were seen rushing up. d. A fishing boat was near Iceland.
e. The island grew quickly.
A.d-a-c-b-e | B.a-b-c-d-e | C.a-b-e-c-d | D.b-e-d-a-c |
When was Surtsey born?
A.1964 | B.1963 | C.1962 | D.1965 |
They like using the Internet.They have lots of pocket money to spend.And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us.Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy-games, CDs and clothing-are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards.Most have to use a parent’s card.They want a facility that allows them to spend money.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic.If successful, these products can stimulate online sales.
In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and £20bn annually in the UK.Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school-88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK.According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online-mainly CDs and books.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children.Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street.They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.
One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cybercast is through prepaid cards such as Internet Cash in the US and Smart cards in the UK.Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as£20 or $50 with a concealed 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A.Sellers. | B.Buyers. | C.Teenagers. | D.Parents. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access. |
B.Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards. |
C.Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online. |
D.Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop. |
A new way to help teenagers shop online is to use ______.
A.a new machine | B.special coins and notes |
C.prepaid cards | D.pay-as-you-go mobile phones |
What is the passage mainly about?
A.Online shopping traps. | B.Internet users in the US and the UK. |
C.New credit cards for parents. | D.The arrival of cyber pocket money. |
Dec. 24, 1848
Dear Johnston,
Your request for eighty dollars, I do not think it best to satisfy now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said to me, “We can get along very well again,” but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. Now this can only happen by some fault in your behavior. What that fault is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an idler(游手好闲). I doubt whether since I saw you, you have done a good whole day’s work, in any other day. You do not very much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it does not seem to you that you could get much for it.
This habit of uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty; it is vastly important to you, and still more so to your children, that you should break this habit. It is more important to them, because they have longer to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it, easier than they can get out after they are in.
You are now in need of some ready money; and what I suggest is, that you shall go to work hard, for somebody who will give you money for it.
Let father and your boys take charge of your things at home-prepare for a crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best money wages, or to pay back any debt you owe. And to secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you that for every dollar you will, between this and the first of May, get for your own labor, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your work.
Now if you will do this, you will soon be out of debt, and what is better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. But if I should now clear you out, next year you will be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in Heaven for $ 70 or $80. Then you value your place in Heaven cheaply, for I am sure you can with the offer I make you get the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months’ work. You say if I furnish you the money you will deed(抵押) me the land, and if you don’t pay the money back, you will deliver possession-Nonsense! If you can’t now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not now mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eight time eighty dollars to you.
Affectionately
Your brother
A. Lincoln Abraham Lincoln wrote the letter to Johnston mainly to ________.
A.show his concern for him | B.recommend him to save money |
C.decline his request and motivate him | D.introduce him a new job |
What’s the problem with Johnston, according to Lincoln?
A.He was very lazy. | B.He wasted time a lot. |
C.He couldn’t get much from work. | D.He disliked working. |
In the letter Lincoln suggested that Johnston should ________.
A.keep himself from getting into trouble | B.go to work hard for somebody |
C.manage well the things at home | D.keep the children out of the idle habit |
If Johnston got one dollar for his work, Lincoln promised to _________.
A.reward him with labor | B.pay off his debt |
C.hire him at 10 dollars a month | D.give him another dollar |
In order to get 80 dollars from Lincoln, Johnston promised to ________.
A.take away his place in Heaven | B.deed Lincoln the land |
C.live without the land | D.do good work every day |
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon –an English musician who rose to fame as one of the founding members of Liverpool pop band The Beatles – was shot dead outside his New York apartment.
In the 1960s and 70s, Lennon was one of the most iconic(偶像的)men on the planet. Some 30 years ago on from his death, he is still respected by many people in the West.
The Beatles, formed in 1960 in Liverpool, were one of the most commercial successful acts on the history of pop music, with, according to some estimates, global record sales over 1.1 billion.
The band conveyed the progressive ideals in which many young people of the time believed.
In the 1960s and 70s, widespread tension developed in both British and American society, regarding issues such as women’s rights and the Vietnam War.
Lennon in particular became known for his message of peace and for his opposition to the war in Vietnam. This led to an attempt by former US president Richard Nixon to drive him away from the US. Lennon’s second-wife Yoko Ono was also politically active.
Lennon was also hugely admired for his musical abilities. Along with fellow-Beatle Paul, Lennon and McCartney were the Beatle’s song-writing team.
After Lennon was shot by crazy fan Mark Chapman,one of his most iconic songs, Imagine, became a humanist anthem(颂歌).
Lennon’s legacy survived his death and continued till this day. In 2008, he was ranked the fifth greater singer of all time in US-based Rolling Stone magazine.
Former possessions of Lennon or furnishings from his homes continue to be sold for vast sums.
In an auction(拍卖) to be held next week in London, lines written by Lennon on the back of a demand for an outstanding bill are expected to sell for £350,000(3.7 million yuan).
In August, a bathroom from his last home in Britain, was auctioned for £9,500. And in 2009, a British film describing his early years before the Beatles began, was one of the most successful films of the years in the UK.
But do Lennon and his music continue to resonate(共鸣) with the young people of today? The passage is written here to show that Lennon has _______.
A.lasting appeal | B.long history | C.exciting records | D.great success |
Which of the following is right about the Beatles according to the passage?
A.It was founded in the 1960s in London. |
B.It had 1.1 billion sales in Britain. |
C.It was commercially successful. |
D.Many of today’s young people believe its ideals. |
Lennon was forced to leave the US as a result of ________.
A.the tension between Britain and America | B.his wife’s political activity |
C.his struggle for women’s rights | D.his opposition to the war in Vietnam |
We can guess that the rest of the passage will tell us ________.
A.why Lennon and his music are still popular with today’s young people |
B.why Lennon and his music spoil today’s generations of young people |
C.that today’s generations of young people don’t like Lennon’s songs |
D.that today’s generations of young people like Lennon’s songs better |
Scientists who try to predict earthquakes have gotten some new helpers recently—animals.
That’s right, animals. Scientists have begun to understand what farmers have known for thousands of years. Animals often seem to know in advance that an earthquake is coming, and they show their fear by acting in strange ways. Before a Chinese quake in 1975, snakes awoke from their winter sleep early only to freeze to death in the cold air. Cows broke their halters (缰绳) and tried to escape. Chickens refused to enter their cage. All of this unusual behavior, as well as physical changes in the earth, warned Chinese scientists of the coming quake. They moved people away from the danger zone and saved thousands of lives.
One task for scientists today is to learn exactly which types of animal behavior predict quakes. It’s not an easy job. First of all not every animal reacts to the danger of an earthquake. Just before a California quake in 1977, for example, an Arabian horse became very nervous and tried to break out of his enclosure. The Australian horse next to him, however, remained perfectly calm. It’s also difficult at times to tell the difference between normal animal restlessness and “earthquake nerves”. A zoo keeper once called earthquake researchers to say that his cougar had been acting strangely. It turned out that the cat had an upset stomach.
A second task for scientists is to find out exactly what kind of warnings the animals receive. They know that animals sense far more of the world than humans do. Many animals can see, hear, and smell things that people do not even notice. Some can sense tiny changes in air pressure, gravity, or the magnetism of Earth. This extra sense probably helps animals predict quakes.
A good example of this occurred with a group of dogs. They were shut in an area that was being shaken by a series of tiny earthquakes. (Several small quakes often come before or after a large one.) Before each quake a low booming sound was heard. Each boom caused the dogs to bark wildly. Then the dogs began to bark during a silent period. A scientist who was recording quakes looked at his machine. It was acting as though there were a loud noise too. The scientist realized that the dogs had reacted to a booming noise. They also sensed the tiny quake that followed it. The machine recorded both, though humans felt and heard nothing.
In this case there was a machine to monitor what the dogs were sensing. Many times, however, our machines record nothing extraordinary, even though animals know a quake is coming. The animals might be sensing something we measure but do not recognize as a warning. Discovering what animals sense, and learning how they know it is a danger signal, is a job for future scientists.Through the passage the writer hopes to explore __________.
A.why animals send a danger signal before an earthquake |
B.how animals know when an earthquake is coming |
C.why animals not men have good sense of danger |
D.how much animals know about an earthquake |
During an earthquake in China in 1975, _________.
A.chickens refused to go out of their cage |
B.snakes were frozen to death in their caves |
C.snakes awoke from their winter sleep earlier |
D.cows broke their halters and escaped from their sheds |
Which of the following is one of earthquake nerves according to the passage?
A.An Arabian horse tried to escape from his enclosure. |
B.A cougar had an upset stomach unexpectedly. |
C.An Australian horse was perfectly calm. |
D.A cat acted very strangely in a zoo. |
The scientists did an experiment with a group of dogs to _________.
A.find out that the machine could record unusual happenings |
B.compare the reactions of animals and those of humans |
C.prove that animals could sense more than humans |
D.find out what exact warnings animals sent |
There was once, in a little market-town not far from Upsala (瑞典一城市), a peasant who lived there with his family, digging the earth during the week and singing in the choir on Sundays. This peasant had a little daughter to whom he taught the musical alphabet before she knew how to read. Daae was a great musician, perhaps without knowing it. Not a violinist in Scandinavia played as he did. His reputation was widespread and he was always invited to set the couples dancing at weddings and other festivals. His wife died when Christine was entering upon her sixth year. Then the father, who cared only for his daughter and his music, sold his land and went to Upsala in search of fame and fortune. He found nothing but poverty.
He returned to the country, wandering from fair to fair, playing his Scandinavian music pieces, while his child, who never left his side, listened to him in delight or sang to his playing. One day, at Ljimby Fair, Professor Valerius heard them and took them to Gothenburg. He insisted that the father was the first violinist in the world and that the daughter had the making of a great artist. Her education and instruction were provided for. She made rapid progress and charmed everybody with her prettiness, her grace of manner and her real eagerness to please.
When Valerius and his wife went to settle in France, they took Daae and Christine with them. "Mamma" Valerius treated Christine as her daughter. As for Daae, he became ill with homesickness. He never went out of doors in Paris, but lived in a sort of dream which he kept up with his violin. For hours at a time, he remained locked up in his bedroom with his daughter, playing and singing, very, very softly.
Daae seemed not to recover his strength until the summer, when the whole family went to stay at Perros-Guirec, in a far-away corner of Brittany, where the sea was of the same color as in his own country. Often he would play his saddest tunes on the beach and pretend that the sea stopped its roaring to listen to them. And then he persuaded Mamma Valerius to allow him to leave for a while. At the time of the "pardons," the village festivals and dances, he went off with his violin, as in the old days, and was allowed to take his daughter with him for a week. They gave the smallest villages music to last them for a year and slept at night in a barn, refusing a bed at the inn, lying close together on the straw, as when they were so poor in Sweden. At the same time, they were very neatly dressed, refused the halfpence offered to them; and the people around could not understand the behaviour of this country violinist, who walked heavily on the roads with that pretty child who sang like an angel from Heaven. They followed them from village to village. When he was in the countryside, Daae did NOT __________.
A.work on his land | B.sing in the choir on Sundays |
C.make a fortune at weddings and festivals | D.teach his daughter how to sing |
The 3rd sentence “He insisted …” in the 2nd paragraph showed Professor Valerius’ ______.
A.hope for Daae and Christine | B.appreciation of Daae and Christine |
C.sympathy for Daae and Christine | D.love for Daae and Christine |
While Daae was in Paris, he never went out of doors because he was ________.
A.always sleepy | B.so homesick that he fell ill |
C.too busy teaching his daughter | D.willing to be locked up with his daughter |
What made people curious about the father and daughter was that _______.
A.the father made very good music |
B.the daughter sang like an angel from Heaven |
C.the father walked strangely with his daughter |
D.they appeared to be badly off but refused money offered |