It was 3:12 a. m. when nine-year-old Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the crackling(爆裂声)of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two-storey house at Baldwin, Long Island. With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smoke filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, collapsed on the lawn.
The nine-year-old raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother’s room. He found it impossible to waked her up. Mrs. Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy remained calm and , as a fireman said later, “acted with all the self-control of a trained adult.”
On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr. Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother.
First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden.
He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smoke-filled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor?
Grasping firmly a ball of string(线绳) from the garage, Glenn raced back into the house and dashed upstairs to his mother’s room. Tying one end of the string to her hand, he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden.
Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan: “The string will lead you to mother.” Mrs. Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor.Why did Glenn run downstairs first?
A.He wanted to find out what was happening. |
B.He was worried about his mother’s safety. |
C.He wanted to save his sister and brother. |
D.He went to see if his father had come back from work. |
How did Glenn help the firemen to save his mother?
A.By throwing water all over her and her bed. |
B.By carrying her to safety with his brother. |
C.By push![]() |
D.By tying a string to her hand. |
What did Glenn do to protect himself?
A.He put a wet cloth around his head. |
B.He threw water all over himself. |
C.He hid himself in the bathroom. |
D.He rushed out to the lawn. |
Glenn saved his family because___________.
A.his father had taught him to do so on the phone |
B.he had learned something about first aid |
C.he had dealt with the emergency calmly and wisely |
D.he had followed his mother’s instruction |
Going green seems to be fad(时尚)for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can’t really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.
On April 22, 2011, we decided to go green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different green things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different green things to do and this was no easy task.
With the idea of going green every single day for a year, Our Green Year started. My life and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.
Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyle. We now shop at organic(有机的)stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.
Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet.What might be the best title for the passage?
A.Going Green. |
B.Protecting the Planet. |
C.Keeping Open-Minded |
D.Celebrating Our Green Year. |
It was difficult for the couple to live a green life for the whole year because_________.
A.they were expected to follow the green fad |
B.they didn’t know how to educate other people |
C.they were unwilling to reduce their energy |
D.they needed to perform unusual green tasks |
What did the couple do over the course of Our Green Year?
A.They tried to get out of their ungreen habits. |
B.They ignore others ungreen behavior. |
C.They chose better chemical cleaners. |
D.They sold their home-made food. |
What can we infer form the last paragraph?
A.The government will give support to the green people. |
B.The couple may continue their project in the future. |
C.Some people disagree with the couple’s green ideas. |
D.Our Green Year is becoming a national campaign. |
China is a land of bicycles. At least it was back in 1992 when I traveled the country. Back then everyone seemed to be riding a bicycle. Millions of them, all black. Cars were rare. Yet since my arrival in Beijing last year, I’ve found the opposite is true. There are millions of cars. However, people still use their bicycles to get around. For many, it’s the easiest and cheapest way to travel today. Bicycles also come in different colors----silver, green, red, blue, yellow, whatever you want.
It’s fun watching people biking. They rush quickly through crossroads, move skillfully through traffic, and ride even on sidewalks(人行道). Bicycles allow people the freedom to move about that cars just can’t provide.
Eager to be part of this aspect of Chinese culture, I decided to buy a bicycle. Great weather accompanied my great buy. I immediately jumped up on my bicycle seat and started home.
My first ride home was orderly (守秩序的). To be safe, I stayed with a “pack” of bikers while cars on the streets came running swiftly out of nowhere at times. I didn’t want to get hit. So I took the ride carefully.
Crossing the streets was the biggest problem. It was a lot like crossing a major highway back in the United States. The streets here were wide, so crossing took time, skill and a little bit of luck.
I finally made it home. The feeling on the bicycle was amazing. The air hitting my face and going through my hair was wonderful. I was sitting on top of the world as I passed by places and people. Biking made me feel alive.According to the author, why are bicycles still popular in China today?
A.Because they are traditional and safe. |
B.Because they are convenient and inexpensive. |
C.Because they are colorful and available. |
D.Because they are fast and environment friendly. |
The
author decided to buy a bicycle because he intended ______________.
A.to ride it for fun |
B.to use it for transport |
C.to experience local skills |
D.to improve his riding skills |
How did the author feel about his street crossing?
A.It was boring. | B.It was difficult. |
C.It was lively. | D.It was wonderful. |
Which of the following best describes the author’s biking experience?
A.The author enjoyed showing off his biking skills. |
B.The author was annoyed by the air while riding. |
C.The author was praised by the other bikers. |
D.The author took great pleasure in biking. |
Most people agree that honesty is a good thing. But does Mother Nature agree? Animals can't talk, but can they lie in other ways? Can they lie with their bodies and behavior? Animal experts may not call it lying, but they do agree that many animals, from birds to chimpanzees, behave dishonestly to fool other animals. Why? Dishonesty often helps them survive.
Many kinds of birds are very successful at fooling other animals. For example, a bird called the plover sometimes pretends to be hurt in order to protect its young. When a predator(猎食动物)gets close to its nest, the plover leads the predator away from the nest. How? It pretends to have a broken wing. The predator follows the "hurt" adult, leaving the baby birds safe in the nest.
Another kind of bird, the scrub jay, buries its food so it always has something to eat. Scrub jays are also thieves. They watch where others bury their food and steal it. But clever scrub jays seem to know when a thief is watching them. So they go back later, unbury the food, and bury it again somewhere else.
Birds called cuckoos have found a way to have babies without doing much work. How? They don't make nests. Instead, they get into other birds' nests secretly. Then they lay their eggs and fly away. When the baby birds come out, their adoptive parents feed them.
Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky. After a fight, the losing chimp will give its hand to the other. When the winning chimp puts out its hand, too, the chimps are friendly again. But an animal expert once saw a losing chimp take the winner's hand and start fighting again.
Chimps are sneaky in other ways, too. When chimps find food that they love, such as bananas, it is natural for them to cry out. Then other chimps come running. But some clever chimps learn to cry very softly when they find food. That way, other chimps don't hear them, and they don't need to share their food.
As is mentioned above, animals behave dishonestly for survival. Is it OK to lie for us human?The writer uses the three questions at the beginning of the passage to _________.
A.ask the readers to answer the questions |
B.draw the readers’ attention to the topic |
C.seek answers to the questions |
D.show he is at a loss about the question. |
Which of the following is not an example of animal’s dishonest behaviors?
A.A plover pretended to have a broken wing to protect its baby birds. |
B.A scrub jay dug out its buried food and reburied it somewhere else. |
C.The adoptive parents feed their baby birds of cuckoos. |
D.A losing chimp starts fighting again after taking the winner’s hand. |
The underlined word “sneaky” in paragraph 5 most probably means______.
A.selfish | B.friendly |
C.entertaining | D.dishonest |
What is the common reaction of most chimps when they find their favorite food?
A.They let out a loud cry |
B.They cry in a very low voice |
C.They hide their food immediately |
D.They share their food with other chimps. |
When Jeff Sparkman draws his cartoon superheroes with colored pencils, he often has to ask other people to tell him what color his masked men turned out to be because he's color-blind. Now, a new smart phone application (app) can help him figure out what colors he's using and how the picture looks to most everyone else.
The DanKam app, available for iPhone and Android for $2.99, is an application that turns the vague colors that one percent of the population with color-blindness sees into the "true" colors as everyone else sees them. In America, an estimated 32 million color-blind Americans---95% are males---can soon have their life improved.
"DanKam takes the stream of data coming in through the phone's camera and changes the colors slightly so they fall within the range that people who are color-blind see," developer Dan Kaminsky told CNET. He came up with the idea after watching the 2009 film Star Trek with a color-blind friend.
It was then that he got to know more about colorblindness like its varying types and degrees. A vast majority, for instance, have trouble seeing red or green due to a genetic defect(遗传缺陷). Blue-yellow colorblindness, however, is rarer and develops later in life because of aging, illness or head injuries, etc. He started experimenting with one of the most common representations of points in the RGB color model. What the DanKam app attempts to do is to clean up the color space of the image or video signal so that colors can be visible to those suffering from viewing problems. “You can adjust the app to fit your needs. There is a range and not everyone who is color-blind sees things the same.” Says Kaminsky.
Sparkman, a copy editor at CNET, tried out the app and was pleased with the results. "It would be useful for dressing for a job interview," he said. But using it for his art is “the most practical application." It worked well on LED and other lights on electronic gadgets, which means Sparkman can now identify the power light on his computer display as green.According to the first two paragraphs, we can know that DanKam ___________.
A.appeared in the movie Star Trek |
B.can turn vague colors into real ones |
C.is a phone used to help drawing pictures |
D.is designed to help people with colorblindness |
How does DanKam’s app work?
A.It puts LED and other lights on electronic gadgets. |
B.It changes the colors so that color-blind people can see them. |
C.It checks color-blind people’s types of degrees of colorblindness. |
D.It shows common representations of points in the RGB color model |
It can be inferred from the passage that colorblindness __________.
A.cannot be cured by any methods |
B.is more commonly seen in women |
C.is not necessarily inborn disease |
D.makes people unable to tell any colors |
Which of the following is NOT included in the things that DanKam helps Sparkman with?
A.Choosing clothes. |
B.Drawing his pictures. |
C.Playing computer games |
D.Handling electronic gadgets. |
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What information CAN’T we get from the advertisement about Quickeats?
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Which of the following can be heated before eating according to the ads?
A.Pasta Salad | B.Dried Fruit |
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What can we learn from the advertisement?
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