In only two decades Asian Am
ericans have become the fastest-growing US minority. As their children began moving up through the nation’s schools, it became clear that a new class of academic achievers was forming. Their achievements are reflected in the nation’s best universities, where mathematics, science and engineering departments have taken on a decidedly Asian character. This special liking for mathematics and science is partly explained by the fact that Asian-American students who began their educations abroad arrived in the US with a solid grounding in mathematics but little or no knowledge of English.They are also influenced by the promises of a good job after college. Asians feel there will be less unfair treatment in areas like mathematics and science because they will be judged more objectively. And the return on the investment in education is more immediate in something like engineering than with an arts degree.
Most Asian-American students owe their success to the influence of parents who are determined that their children take full advantage of what the American educational system has to offer. An effective measure of parental attention is homework. Asian parents spend more time with their children than American parents do, and it helps. Many researchers also believe the
re is something in Asian culture that causes success, such as ideals that stress family values and emphasize education.
Both explanations for academic success worry Asian Americans because of fears that they feed a typical racial image. Many can remember when Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants were the victims of social separation. Indeed, it was not until 1952 that laws were laid down giving all Asian immigrants the right to citizenship. While making great achievements at college, Asian-American students ________.
| A．feel they are mistreated because of limited knowledge of English |
| B．are afraid that their academic successes bear a strong Asian character |
| C．still worry about unfair treatment in academic areas |
| D．generally feel it a shame to have to depend on their parents |
What are the major factors that determine the success of Asian Americans?
| A．Solid foundation in basic mathematics and Asian culture. |
| B．Hard work and intelligence. |
| C．Hard work and a limited knowledge of English. |
| D．Asian culture and the American educational system. |
Few Asian-American students major in human sciences mainly because_________.
| A．their English is not good enough |
| B．they are afraid they might meet with unfair judgment in these areas |
| C．there is a wide difference between Asian and Western cultures |
| D．they know little about American culture and society |
The author’s tone in this passage is __________.
| A．sympathetic | B．doubtful | C．critical | D．objective |
It happened to me recently, I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President.A friend I wsa talking to agreed with me that it was,in his words,”a brilliantly written book”.However,he then went on to talk about Mr.Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his back-ground at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven't. In the World Book Day's" Report on Guilty Secrets" ,Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I'm not one to Lie too often (I'd hate to be caught out) , I'll admit here and now that I haven't read the entire top ten. But I am pleased to say that, un- like 42 percent of peoples I have read the book at number one, George Orwell's 1984. I think
it's really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens , Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven ' tread him, but haven't lied about it either) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to "impress" someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in-depth !
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella ( ah, the big sellers, in other words). Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I' lI come clean: I do thi8 and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).Which of the fokllowing is a "guilty secret" according io the world Book Day report?
| A．42% of people pretended to have read 1984. |
| B．Charles Dickens is very low on the top--tcn list. |
| C．The author admitted having read 9 books |
| D．Dreams From My Father is hardly read. |
How did the author find his friend a book liar?
| A．By mentioning a famous name. | B．By discussing the book itself |
| C．By judging his manner of speaking. | D． By looking into his background. |
By lying about reading, a person hopes to_____.
A.learn about the book
C. appear knowledgeable
B. control the conversation
D make more friendsWhat is the author's attitude to 58% of readers?
| A．Doubtiful | B．Favorable | C．Uncaring | D．Friendly |
In the sentenced I'd hate to be caught out". "catch out" can have the similqr meaning with ____.
| A．catch up | B．1ook for | C．catch at | D．find out |
The year is 2094,It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth.Most of it will miss our planet, but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of the Earth.
On 17 July, a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a massive explosion.About half of the piece is destoryed but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200times the speed of sound.The sea boils and a huge gole is made in the sea bed.Huge waves are created and spread outwards form the hole.The eall of water,a kilometer high,rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour.Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned.
Before the waves reach South America.the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina.Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Moutains.The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean. The cities of Los Angeles,San Francisco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes,Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead,but the north won’t eacape for long.Because of the explosions the sun is hidden by clouds of dust,and temperatures around the world fall to almost zero.Crops are ruined.The sun won’t be seen again for many years.Wars break out as countries fight for food.A year later,no more than 10 million remain laive.
Could it really happen?In fact,it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth.The dinesaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years,Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared.Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space. The dinosaurs couldn’t live through the cold climate that followed and they died out .Will we meet the same end ?What is mainly described in the passage ?
| A．A historic discovery | B．A research on space |
| C．A scientific adventure | D．An imaginary event |
When the first piece hits the South Atlantic,it causes_______.
| A．an earthquake | B．huge waves |
| C．damages to cities | D．an Earth explosion |
Why can’t the northern half of the earth escape ofr long?
| A．Because the land is covered with water. |
| B．because people there can not live at the temperature of zero. |
| C．Because wars break out among countries. |
| D．Because the light and heat from the sun can not reach the earth. |
By giving the example if dinosaurs,the author tries to prove________.
| A．animals could not live in the cold climate. |
| B．what happened 65 mollion years ago was an invented story. |
| C．the human beings will die out in 2094 |
| D．the Earth could be hit by other objects in space |
We may guess that the writer is_________.
| A．worried | B．full of imagination | C．practical | D．a scientist |
A jobless man applied for the position of “office boy”at Microsoft.The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.
“You are employed.”he said.”Give me our e-mail address and I’ll send you the application to fill in ,as well as date when you may start.”
The man replied,”But Idon’t have a computer,neither an e-mail.”
“I’m sorry,”said the HR manager,”If you don’t have an e-mail,that means you do not exist.And who doesn’t exist cannot have the job.”
The man left with no hope at all.He didn’t know what to do, with only ten dollars in his pocket.He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10kg tomatoes.He then sold the tomatoes from door to door.In less than two hours,he succeded to double his capital,He repeated the operation three times,and returned home happily with 60 dollars.
The man realized that he can survive in this way,and started to go every day earlier,and return late,Thus,his money doubled or tripled every day.Shortly,he bought a cart,then a truck,and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.Five years later,the man is one of the biggest food retailers in the US.
He started to plan his family’s future and decided to have a life insurance He called an insurance broker and chose a protection plan.
When the conversation was concluded the broker asked him his e-mail,The man replied,”I don’t have an e-mail.”
The broker answered curiously,”You don’t have an e-mail,and yet have succeeded to build an empire.Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?”The man thought for a while and replied,”Yes,I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”Why can’t the man have the job at Microsoft?
| A．Because he didn’t have an e-mail |
| B．B Because he was lazy. |
| C．Because he didn’t pass the test |
| D．Because he didn’t have a computer |
The underlined word “triple”can be replaced by_______.
| A．become 3 times | B．become large | C．increase quickly | D．decrease quickly |
According to the passage,which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The man is one of the biggest food retailers in the world. |
| B．The man didn’t give up though he failed the interview. |
| C．He started his career by selling tomatoes in the supermarket. |
| D．Those who have e-mails can work at Microsoft. |
The man can be described as ______.
| A．helpful and considerate | B．smart and hardworking |
| C．positive and generous | D．stubborn and unselfish |
Which proverb can best describe the story?
| A．Where there is a will,there is a way. | B．Accidents will happen. |
| C．Misfortune may be an actual blessing. | D．No pains,no gains. |
The sun had gone behind a cloud. I was very tired and wanted nothing in the world so much as to be at home. At last I got to the gate of Hide Park. But this was worse than ever; there were buses there—high and terribly red cars, taxis and still more buses in an endless line. Everywhere there were people hurrying past or waiting to get into the buses, while I stood lost in the middle of them.
I was ready to cry. In despair, I crossed the street on to an “island”, where I found a policeman. I took my last bit of courage in both hands and said, “Please, sir, where is Addison Road?” He began to explain, but when he saw that I couldn’t understand he became helpless, too. “Are you French at school?” A few minutes later, he smiled and raised his hand. How wonderful! The traffic stopped. Even the red buses stood still and waited until I had crossed the road.Thatis the most probable reason why she was tired out.
| A．it had been very hot by then |
| B．the writer had been standing lost for a long time |
| C．the writer had been completely lost |
| D．the writer had been wandering in the park for a long time |
Because the writer was made so worn out,.
| A．she wanted nothing on earth but her home |
| B．she thought it perfect to stay at home |
| C．she would never leave her home at all |
| D．she didn't get to the park on time. |
In this passage “island” means.
| A．a piece of land surrounded by water |
| B．a raised place in a busy street where people may be safe from traffic |
| C．a safe place that can only be used by policemen |
| D．a safe place that nobody can use without permission |
Why did the traffic stop? Because.
| A．all the drivers could understand French |
| B．perhaps a certain driver had broken the traffic rules |
| C．all the drivers knew the policeman very well |
| D．the policeman was directing the traffic |
In which country do you think the story happened?
| A．Switzerland. | B．France. | C．England. | D．A certain non-English speaking country. |
There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters(匪徒)in return for “protection”. If the money was not paid immediately, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Getting “protection money” is not a modern means. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawkwood, made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
Then Sir John Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a group of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other, Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to those who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and, after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money with this method. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero .When he died at eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had his picture painted, which was in memory of “this bravest man”.What protection did Chicago gangsters give to those who paid them?
| A．They saved those people’s businesses from destruction. |
| B．They left those people’s business unharmed much. |
| C．They sent soldiers to serve them no matter what help they needed willingly. |
| D．They didn’t take those people’s lives |
Sir John Hawkwook's Italian name “Giovanni Acuto” was one which.
| A．he gave himself in order to become better known to the Italians |
| B．he earned through his sharp practice of selling his ‘protection’ |
| C．he needed so as to hire his soldiers to Italians |
| D．was given him in telling his services to the others’ |
The Italians regarded Hawkwood as a sort of hero.
| A．because they couldn’t help admiring his bravery and boldness(胆大) |
| B．as he aided the citizens in peacetime when business was bad for them |
| C．he had played an important role in their daily life |
| D．for he lived so long and was given a state funeral by the Florentines |
From the passage, we can guess the gangsters were those.
| A．who were of great importance to the poor |
| B．who made the businessmen do whatever they were in need of |
| C．who were always ready to be sent abroad |
| D．who did harm to others |
According to the writer, Hawkwood was.
| A．a sort of national hero | B．an experienced leader | C．a brave soldier | D．a noble gangster |