A Beautiful Mind
A mathematician who goes mad is not a subject most directors consider commercially attractive, but then Ron Howard isn't among most directors. Despite an impressive list of credits, A Beautiful Mind is his most successful work to date, combining a psychological drama with a moving love story to produce a film that is as interesting as it is entertaining.
The Oscar winning Russell Crowe has put himself in line for further honours with his acting John Nash, the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician troubled by schizophrenia (精神分裂症). A Beautiful Mind pictures Nash as an unusual hero, not just because of his academic achievements but also because of the courage he displays while battling his illness.
In 1947, Nash was one of many great young minds at Princeton. “To find a truly original idea is the only way to distinguish myself,” the proud and determined student declared. His exploration of' such an idea afforded him little time for the normal socialising. His shyness and straightforward approach brought him few friends.
After finally hitting on a revolutionary new idea, Nash's career took off and his reputation was secured. He balanced research work with teaching, which is where he met the bright and beautiful student Alicia (Jennifer Connelly). Things in his life were going well when his talent for code breaking brought him to the attention of the military who employed him during the early stages of the cold war with Russia. However, the stress of his work made Nash's illness develop.
Crowe's performance is perfect. He and Connelly ignite (make something exciting) the film's passionate love story and Connelly's wonderful performance makes the audience moved by Alicia, whose courage, strength and faith in her husband are the primary reasons for his recovery.This passage is most probably __________.
| A．a book review | B．a movie review |
| C．a movie poster | D．an advertisement |
Which can replace the underlined phrase hitting on in the fourth paragraph?
| A．come up with | B．come on |
| C．put on | D．put up with |
The following statements are true EXCEPT that ______.
| A．John Nash did not go mad totally |
| B．Ron Howard is an outstanding director |
| C．the stress of the academic work caused Nash's illness |
| D．Nash's concentration on his work and his shyness brought him few friends |
We can infer from the text that_________.
| A．without Alicia, John Nash would not have recovered from schizophrenia |
| B．John Nash gave up his career when troubled by schizophrenia |
| C．Russell Crowe won another Oscar Award after this movie |
| D．John Nash volunteered to serve in the army |
Do you think it is ever a good idea for a teenager to have a credit card?
My kids watch closely as I swipe the card through the register．They’ve seen me do it hundreds, thousands of times．Cool．They are itching to swipe it through the machine themselves． When we walk out of the store with our groceries or pet food, or whatever, it’s almost as though money has not changed hands, painless, easy．
So it shouldn’t be shocking to discover that teenagers are becoming card carrying consumers in their own right．The question is, should they?
While some argue it’s best to teach kids how to use a credit card while still living under the family roof, not everyone agrees． Dave Ramsey, financial expert says getting a credit card for your teenager is actually, “an excellent way to teach him or her to be financially irresponsible．”
Now parents are required to co-sign on credit cards for children under 21．“If their name is on the credit card, then the parent may say, ‘Hey, my name is on this．Don’t get me into trouble,” says Mary Beth Pinto, a marketing professor．“When parents were the co-obligors（共同借贷人），the children caused less debt．If the parents are the co-obligors, the tendency is that the parents were explaining how to use the cards．” Still, Pinto believes parents should start
the process much earlier．“Yes, there has to be teaching going on and it has to start when they’re younger． You’re not going to get rid of credit cards．They are here to stay． You have to have them． You can’t fight progress,” Pinto said．
Ramsey, however, disagrees．“Throwing teens into a pool of （credit）sharks is a sure way to guarantee a life-time of heartache,” he said．“You can make online purchases and rent a car with a credit card．Of course, you must have money in your bank account before you can make a purchase with a credit card．But paying for things with money is what you are supposed to do．”The author mentioned her experience in Para 2 mainly to______．
| A．prove the convenience of using credit cards |
B．tell what impression credit cards le ave on kids |
| C．give advice on using credit cards wisely |
| D．explain the pleasure credit cards bring to customers |
The underlined word in Para 2 can be replaced by __________．
| A．eager | B．afraid | C．embarrassed | D．thankful |
What’s Ramsey’s attitude towards teens’ using credit cards?
| A．He feels it is worth a try |
| B．He is very supportive |
| C．He is strongly against it |
| D．He considers it as a pleasant experience |
Pinto will most likely agree that __________．
| A．parents should let teens own their credit cards earlier |
| B．you shouldn’t be in control of credit cards |
| C．it is never good for anyone to get a credit card |
| D．learning to use credit cards is practical |
Tuesday
October 23 11:00 am
World Tree Day; World Tree Cuisine
For World Tree Day, Snook gives out badges（徽章）to everyone who is nice to the tree, but Bob can’t think of what to do -until he comes up with a song．Also: Madge and Snook plan a party to celebrate the World Tree's birthday．
Wednesday
October 21 11:00am
The Sloth Must Be Crazy; Smarter than You Think
Bob investigates a shiny green object that fell from the sky, and, with Madge's help, figures out what it is． Also: Winslow fears that everyone else is smarter than he is．
Thursday
October 22 11:00 am
Fish out of Water; Burdette's Nest
Bob fears that Ick is stuck inside a rock, but soon learns that the rock is a fossil; Smooch and Snook help patch Burdette's nest．
Friday
October 23 11:00 am
Bones; Food and Plenty of It
After Winslow injures his arm, he refuses to slow down and winds up hurting his leg too．Also: Burdette is upset when the nuts on her favorite tree disappear．
Thursday
November 5 11:00 am
The Sting; Growing
Wartz's frog friend Greenie is frightened by Stripey the bee; Madge and Snook think about everything that's occurred at the World Tree during the past year．
Friday
November 6 11:00 am
The Big Race; You Are What You Are
Winslow, Smooch and Snook organize a relay race(接力赛) for all the animals of the World Tree．Also: Wartz wonders if fish and plants are related since they both need water to survive．The information above is most probably about _________．
| A．different science fiction films shown each day |
| B．a series of TV programmes for parents |
| C．a series of TV programmes for children |
| D．different children's films shown each day |
The theme of the song that Bob comes up with is probably about_________．
| A．protecting animals | B．birthday celebration |
| C．alien legend | D．protecting trees |
If Jane wants to know how Winslow gets injured, she will be interested in _____．
| A．The Sloth Must Be Crazy; Smarter than You Think |
| B．Bones; Food and Plenty of It |
| C．The Sting; Growing |
| D．The Big Race; You Are What You Are |
What is TRUE of Wartz?
| A．Wartz has many foolish ideas. | B．Wartz is not clever as others. |
| C．Wartz is curious and imaginative. | D．Wartz wins a relay race. |
On the morning of November 18, 1755, an earthquake shock Boston． John Winthrop, a professor at Harvard College, felt the quake and awoke. “I rose”, Winthrop wrote, “and lighted a candle, looked at my watch, and found it to be 15minutes after four.” John Winthrop hurried downstairs to the grandfather clock．It had stopped three minutes before, at 4:12．Except for stopping the clock, the quake had only thrown a key from the mantel（壁炉台）to the floor．
The clock had stopped because Winthrop had put some long glass tubes he was using for an experiment into the case for safekeeping． The quake had knocked the tubes over and blocked the pendulum（钟摆）．Winthrop, therefore, had the key on the floor． The quake had thrown it forward in the direction of the quake’s motion by a shock coming from the northwest, perhaps in Canada．What does “it” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．the floor | B．the key | C．the clock | D．the case |
The text suggests that．
| A．earthquakes are common in Boston |
| B．John Winthrop was a scientist |
| C．John Winthrop often had difficulty in sleeping |
| D．Harvard College was a center for earthquake researching |
Which of the following is true? .
| A．Some tubes were broken into pieces and stopped the old clock |
| B．The professor lit a candle because of power failure |
| C．Boston is in the southeast of Canada |
| D．The shocks were slight in one way |
John Winthrop put some tubes into this clock case because ．
| A．he wanted to do an experiment |
| B．he thought an earthquake was probably to happen soon |
| C．he thought it safe for them to be put there |
| D．he wanted to record the exam time of the earthquake． |
Oh, boy! Time for a game now． oldest brother is the seeker so k have to hide extra good because he’s smart and will find me quickly．But where? Behind the garage won’t work. The barn is too easy. Wait, I know. The door leading under the porch is perfect. No one would look for me under there.
It smells unpleasant under this porch． Wish I had picked another place to hide． Smelly cats! Too late now, I can hear brother seeking everyone out. I’ll just sit here quiet as a mouse. Hah hah hah! I can hear you out by the barn! You’ll never find me over t
here!
It’s been a while and he hasn’t found me yet. What’s that I hear? Now all my brothers are looking for me. They’ve all been caught, but not me. They’ll never trick me into coming out to catch me. Wait, is that Dad I hear calling my name? Oh no, now I hear someone going to call Grandpa to help look for me. I’m not coming out now because I’m in really big trouble.
What to do? If I come out and say I heard them calling me, I’ll be in big trouble. Think, think! How do I get out of trouble? I know what to do! I’ll tell them I fell asleep while waiting. Is that Grandpa’s voice? Heh heh heh! Now’s my chance. I’ll crawl out slowly and rub my eyes. Now that I see Grandpa go towards me quickly, I say. “I feel asleep.”
“Oh! You had us all worried!” says Grandpa. “You little devil, I’m just glad you’re all right, but next time try not to fall asleep and scare us like that, okay?” says Dad. Whew! I pulled it off (成功). Now to keep my mo
uth shut. And I did, for over 42 years. Once in a while, a kid pulls the wool over people’s eyes. So that’s one of my little secrets I’ve never revealed before. Don’t tell anyone now!The place where the boy was hiding smelt terrible because it .
| A．was too wet there | B．was used as a barn |
| C．was dirtied by animals | D．was just under the garage |
Which of the following correctly shows the boy’s emotional changes when he was under the porch?
| A．Happy – excited – nervous. | B．Regretted – happy – anxious. |
| C．Excited – nervous – disappointed. | D．Happy – nervous – regretted. |
By saying “a kid pulls the wool over people’s eyes”, what does the writer mean?
| A．Children can win others’ trust more easily than adults. |
| B．Children can tell a lie that others believe to be true. |
| C．Children can be easily fooled by adults. |
| D．Children are good at telling lies. |
The story is most probably written by .
| A．a teenager | B．a naughty boy child |
| C．a young adult | D．a middle – aged man |
Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask．But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history．Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history．
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past．I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures．However, as the unfortunately true statement goes "the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to learn from history". Perhaps at least in teaching history, to my children I can do a small part in changing this．
A second major reason for studying history is th
at it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context．We can’t even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less （更不必说） try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be．
I teach my children history, for one more reason．I purchased a set of historical audio （录音机） tapes for our children．My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over．It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himsel
f．I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr．if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished．I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for．What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 ?
| A．Many people aren't clever enough to learn well from the past． |
| B．Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes． |
| C．Many people feel it hard to understand history． |
| D．Many people have no interest in studying history． |
In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because _______________．
| A．It makes the current political situation go smoothly |
| B．It helps us realize the importance of historical events |
| C．It helps us understand why things are the way they are |
| D．It helps people accept the present situation where they live |
Some historical figures are mentioned in the last paragraph to show ______________．
| A．People can be inspired to do good, while also learning to fight against evil |
| B．People may also learn from bad historical figures |
| C．More celebrations should be held to honor their achievements |
| D．Today’s people can also achieve what they achieved |
What would be talked about in the following paragraph?
| A．How to teach history effectively． |
| B．Some negative reasons for studying history． |
C．Ho w to get more people to study history． |
| D．Some bad historical figures． |
The main purpose of this passage is to ____________．
| A．inspire the parents to teach their children history |
| B．show the importance of history in politics |
| C．explain the reasons why children study history |
| D．introduce the writer' s own way of teaching history |