Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?
Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paperbooks (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times.
Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbook, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．TV programs are a chief provider of knowledge. |
| B．cinemas are the best choice in getting information. |
| C．reading is a cheap way of learning and having fun. |
| D．newspapers are an expensive way to enjoy oneself. |
What does the sentences “Television has not killed reading, however ” underlined in the second paragraph suggest?
| A．People only need reading, though. |
| B．Reading is still necessary today. |
| C．Reading is more fun than television. |
| D．Watching television doesn’t help reading. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Fewer and fewer people will buy books. |
| B．A good dictionary should be kept in every home. |
| C．Books with hard covers sell better than paperbooks. |
| D．More people like TV programs about famous men. |
My aunt Edith was a widow of 50, working as a secretary, when doctors discovered she had got what was then thought to be a very serious heart illness.
Aunt Edith didn’t accept defeat easily. She began studying medical reports in library and found an article in a magazine about a well-known heart doctor, Dr. Michael Debakey, of Houston, Texas. He had saved the life of someone with the same illness. The article said Dr. Debakey’s fees were very high; Aunt Edith couldn’t possibly pay them. But could he tell her of someone whose fee she could pay?
So Aunt Edith wrote to him. She simply listed her reasons for wanting to live: her three children, who would be on their own in three or four years and among them a little girl who always dreamed of traveling and seeing the world. There wasn’t a word of self-pity -- only warmth and humor and the joy of living. She mailed the letter, not really expecting an answer.
A few days later, my doorbell rang. Aunt Edith didn’t wait to come in; she stood in the hall and read aloud:
Your beautiful letter moved me very deeply. If you can come to Houston, there will be no charge for either the hospital or the operation.
Signed：Michael Debakey
That was seven years ago. Since then, Aunt Edith has been around the world. Her three children are happily married. For her age, she is one of the youngest, most alive people I know.“Aunt Edith didn’t accept defeat easily” means that .
| A．she was very beautiful | B．she was very strong |
| C．she was very brave | D．she was very warm hearted |
Why did Aunt Edith write to Dr. Debakey? Because .
| A．she had no time to visit him |
| B．she didn’t know the way to Houston |
| C．she didn’t believe in him |
| D．she wanted to get some help from him |
In fact，Aunt Edith’s letter to Dr. Debakey was full of .
| A．courage | B．illness |
| C．pity | D．sadness |
After reading Dr. Debakey’s letter，Aunt Edith felt .
| A．discouraged | B．frightened |
| C．disappointed | D．Encouraged |
When I was a child, I often dreamed of the time when I could leave home and escape to the city. We lived on a farm and, in the winter especially, we were quite cut off from the outside world. As soon as I left school, I packed my bags and moved to the capital. However, I soon discovered that city life has its problems too.
One big disadvantage is money---it costs so much to go out, not to mention basics like food and housing. Another disadvantage is pollution. I suffer from asthma(哮喘), and at times the air is so bad that I am afraid to go outside. Then there is the problem of travelling round. Although I have a car, I seldom use it because of the traffic jams. One choice is to go by bicycle, but that can be quite dangerous.
Of course there are advantages. First, there is so much to do in the city, whatever your tastes in culture or entertainment. Besides, there are wonderful jobs and greater chances of moving to a more important job or position. Finally, if you like shopping, the variety of goods is very surprising---and, what is more, shops are often only a short walk away.
Is life better then, in the city? Perhaps it is, when you are in your teens(十几岁) or twenties. However, as you get older, and especially if you have small children, the peace of the countryside may seem preferable. I certainly hope to move back there soon.What was the writer always thinking about when he was a child?
| A．Staying on the farm |
| B．Moving to the countryside |
| C．Leaving home for the city |
| D．Running away from the school |
Which of the following is true about the writer?
| A．He is very old now. |
| B．He is in good health. |
| C．He prefers driving a car. |
| D．He lives in the city now. |
In the passage, the writer tries to _______.
| A．express his opinions about way of life |
| B．describe his life in the countryside |
| C．show an interest in the outside world |
| D．persuade the reader to live in the city |
How is the passage mainly developed?
| A．By inferring | B．By comparing |
| C．By listing examples | D．By giving explanations |
Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear（鞋类）in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars.
| Room 1 The celebrity footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities' choice of footwear extremely interesting. |
Room 2 Most of our visitors are amazed and shocked by the collection of “special purpose” shoes on exhibition here at the Museum of Footwear. For example, there are Chinese shoes made of silk that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much! |
| Room 3 As well as shoes and boots the museum also exhibits shoe shaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example , there is a metal lamp that resembles a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that are like legs! |
The footwear Library People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library. Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear. |
28.Where would you find a famous singer's shoes?
| A．Room 1. | B．Room 2. |
| C．Room 3. | D．The Footwear Library |
All exhibits in each room .
| A．share the same theme |
| B．have the same shape |
| C．are made of the same material |
| D．belong to the same social class |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．The oldest exhibits in Room 1 were made in the 1950s. |
| B．Room 2 is the most visited place in the museum. |
| C．Room 3 has a richer variety of exhibits than the other two. |
| D．Researchers come to the Footwear Library for data. |
The purpose of the text is to get more people to ____________.
| A．do research | B．design shoes |
| C．visit the museum | D．follow celebrities |
Hurricane Sandy was a hurricane that destroyed parts of the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States during late October 2012, with minor impacts in the Southeastern and Midwestern states and Eastern Canada. Sandy, classified as the eighteenth named storm and tenth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, was a Category 2 storm at its peak intensity. While it was a Category 1 storm off the coast of the Northeastern United States, the storm became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record. Previous estimates of losses due to damage and business interruption are estimated at $65.6 billion, which would make it the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane, behind only Hurricane Katrina. At least 253 people were killed along the path of the storm in eight countries.
Sandy developed from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, quickly strengthened, and was upgraded to Tropical Storm six hours later. Sandy moved slowly northward toward the Greater Antilles and gradually becoming stronger. On October 24, Sandy became a hurricane, made landfall near Kingston, Jamaica, a few hours later, entered into the Caribbean Sea again and strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane. On October 25, Sandy hit Cuba, and then weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. Early on October 26, Sandy moved through the Bahamas. On October 27, Sandy briefly weakened to a tropical storm and then restrengthened to a Category 1 hurricane. Early on October 29, Sandy turned from north to northwest and then moved a shore near Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds.
In the United States, Hurricane Sandy affected 24 states, including the entire eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine and west across the Appalachian Mountains to Michigan and Wisconsin, with particularly severe damage in New Jersey and New York. Its storm hit New York City on October 29, flooding streets, tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city. Damage in the US is estimated at over $63 billion.According to the passage, which of the following wind forms is the strongest?
| A．Tropical wave. | B．Tropical storm. |
| C．Category 1 hurricane. | D．Category 2 hurricane. |
We can learn from the passage that_______.
A. Sandy caused 253 deaths totally in the USA.
B. Sandy reached its strongest in the Caribbean Sea.
C. Sandy resulted in great loss in most states in the USA.
D. Sandy is the second largest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded.Which of the following graph shows the development of Sandy?
What is the writer’s purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To tell us how terrible Sandy is. |
| B．To teach us what to do in face of hurricanes. |
| C．To inform readers of Sandy and its damage. |
| D．To warn readers of the dangers caused by hurricanes. |
A man enters a store to buy milk. He walks out of the store with milk, That’s all-- milk. At the same time, a woman enters the same store and also buys milk. Besides, she buys chicken to make dinner that night. Then she gets coffee for breakfast and remembers stamps to mail the bills.
And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a store. Generally speaking, men do one thing at a time while women do many. Doing many things at one time is often called multi-tasking a very popular word these days.
Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains. A recent study has proved what we have known all along—men and women think differently.
Last year, some scientists studied brain images of 949 people aged from 8 to 22 years old They found that male brains have more connections only on one side of the brain. In the female brain, they found more activities and connections between the right and left sides of the brain The left side of the brain is known as the side of “reason”. The right one is known as the “creative” side.
Regina Verma, a professor in the brain study, says when women are asked to do something difficult they might use different parts of the brain. Men, she adds, generally use just one side of the brain.
As a result, men generally deal directly with a problem. In fact, there is a strong connection between the “understandings and the “action” parts of men’s brains. Women, however, might include other parts of the brain, like the part connected with reason and the part connected with sensitivity (敏感性) when solving a problem. They take a less direct path to find a solution.In paragraph 1, the writer is trying to____ .
| A．introduce the topic of the passage |
| B．describe how shopping is going on |
| C．compare behaviors of men and women |
| D．tell us that women buy more than men |
What’s the finding of the study?
| A．Women can find a solution to a problem directly. |
| B．Men use different parts of the brains to solve a problem. |
| C．Men and women think differently when solving problems. |
| D．A female brain has more connections on one side of the brain |
In which section of a newspaper are we more likely to read this article?
| A．Science. | B．Business. |
| C．Education. | D．Life. |