“Everybody loves a bargain.” Is a well-known saying. One person’s useless, ugly, or broken object can be another person’s bargain. That is why so many Americans do not throw things away. They put them outside their house. They put on a "For Sale" sign. And, as simple as that, they have a yard sale.
The sellers put a paid announcement in a local newspaper. It tells when and where the yard sale will take place. These sales are very popular during weekends in spring, summer, and autumn.
Early in the morning, all the things to be sold are carried out of the house. Then they sit all day in the sunlight -- like tired guests at a party -- waiting for someone to take them home.
Just about anything can be sold at a yard sale. Sometimes, there are more clothes than anything else. Cooking equipment is also popular. So are old toys, tools, books, tables, and chairs. Then there are objects called "white elephants." A white elephant is something you think is extremely ugly or useless. It may be an electric light shaped like a fish. You feel a sharp pain whenever you look at it. To someone else, however, it might be a thing of beauty and joy.
Some people go to yard sales to find a special thing that they collect. It may be old toy trains, for example, or paintings of dogs. Experts say more Americans are collecting old things now than ever before. Most people who go to yard sales, however, are not looking for anything special. They might buy an object simply because it costs so little. They enjoy negotiating over prices, even if they really do not need the object. Later, they may hold their own yard sale to sell all the things they have bought.What kind of things will go to a yard sale?
| A．Cheap and ugly things． | B．Things people no longer use． |
| C．Things out of season． | D．Things of great value． |
A white elephant refers to ______ ．
| A．something that can cause n feeling of pain |
| B．something disliked by the owners while appreciated by others |
| C．something sold at the lowest price |
| D．a toy shaped like a fish |
Most people go to yard sales to ______ ．
| A．find Valuable paintings | B．look for something special |
| C．find a bargain | D．kill their time |
Which of the following is NOT true about a yard sale?
| A．It may not be held when the weather is very cold． |
| B．It can last for a whole day． |
| C．It is usually held with a party． |
| D．It is held outdoors． |
We can infer from the last paragraph that ______ ．
| A．people may find something of great value on a yard sale |
| B．yard sales only attract those who have a low income |
| C．things on a yard sale can cost people a lot |
| D．most people who go to yard sales want to make money |
The world is filled with many interesting sounds. Some are very pleasant to hear; others are unpleasant to our ears. In a day, you probably hear hundre
ds of different sounds.
All sounds are different. Some may be soft; others may be loud. Some sounds are high; others are low.
Some sounds are useful. Without sound we c
annot talk or listen to one another. The ringing alarm clock (闹钟)makes people wake up. The hooting of a horn (喇叭声) on the road warns careless people of danger.
We make sounds by making things move to and fro(来回地). This to-and-fro movement is called vibration (振动). It means moving up and down or forwards(向前地) and backwards(向后的) very fast. This makes sound waves(波).
We can make sounds in many ways, for example, by shouting, clapping our hands and striking the table. We can make sounds only by making things vibrate. We can talk because we can make our vocal cords (声带) vibrate. Our vocal cords are in a sound box or voice box. Two vocal cords vibrate when our lungs(肺) force the air through them. We can make sounds ______.
| A．by making things still |
| B．by making things vibrate |
| C．by making things jump up and down |
| D．by changing the positions of things |
Some sounds are useful because ______.
| A．they can wake people up |
| B．they can warn people to be careful when they are crossing the road |
| C．they make it possible for people to talk or listen to each other |
| D．all of the above |
When the air is through our vocal cords, it can make them ______.
| A．vibrate | B．breathe the air |
| C．talk to each other | D．move forward and backward |
Sounds are different because ______.
| A．different sounds have different vibrations |
| B．different sounds have different sound waves |
| C．different sounds have different vocal cords |
| D．both A and B |
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 noti
ced 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 |
Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts， so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time.
Why is more and more land becoming desert？ Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.
Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places. Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier. Plants do not let the wind blow(吹) the dirt away. When a bit of rain falls， the plants hold the water. Without plants， the land can become desert more easily. Deserts ________.
| A．never have any plants or animals in them |
| B．can all be turned into good land before long |
| C．are becoming smaller and smaller |
| D．get very little rain |
Smallgreenplantsareveryimportanttodryplaces because __________.
| A．they don’t let the sun make the earth even drier |
| B．they don’t let the wind blow the soil away |
| C．they hold water |
| D．All of the above. |
After reading this passage, we learn that __________.
| A．plants can keep dry land from becoming desert |
| B．it is good to get rid of the grass in the deserts |
| C．all places without much rain will become deserts |
| D．it is better to grow crops on dry land than to cut them |
I shall never forget the night，a few years ago，when Marion J．Douglas was a student in one of my adulteducation classes. He told us how tragedy had struck at his home，not once，but twice. The first time he had lost his fiveyearold daughter. He and his wife thought they couldn’t bear that first loss；but，as he said，“Ten months later，God gave us another little girl and she died in five days.”
This double bereavement was almost too much to bear. “I couldn’t take it，” this father told us，“I couldn’t sleep，eat，rest or relax. My nerves were entirely shaken and my confidence gone. ”At last he went to doctors；one recommended sleeping pills and another recommended a trip，but neither helped. He said，“My body felt as if it was surrounded in a vice (大钳子)，and the jaws of the vice were being drawn tighter and tighter.” The tension of grief (悲伤)—if you have ever been paralyzed (使瘫痪) by sorrow，you know what he meant.
“But thank God，I had one child left—a fouryearold son. He gave me the solution to my problem. One afternoon as I sat around feeling sorry for myself，he asked，‘Daddy，will you build a boat for me？’ I was in no mood to build a boat；in fact，I was in no mood to do anything. But my son is a persistent little fellow！I had to give in. Building that toy boat took me about three hours. By the time it was finished，I realized that those three hours spent building that boat were first hours of mental relaxation and peace that I had had in months！I realized that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking. In my case，building the boat had knocked worry out of the ring. So I determined to keep busy.”
“The following night，I made a list of jobs that ought to be done. Scores of items needed to be repaired. Amazingly，I had made a list of 242 items that needed attention. During the last two years I have completed most of them. I am busy so that I have no time for worry.”
No time for worry！That is exactly what Winston Church ill said when he was working eighteen hours a day at the height of the war. When he was asked if he worried about his huge responsibilities，he said，“I am too busy. I have no time for worry.”The underlined word “bereavement” in the second paragraph refers to________.
| A．having lost a loved one |
| B．having lost a valuable article |
| C．having lost a profitmaking business |
| D．having lost a wellpaid job |
Marion felt his body as if it was caught in a vice because________.
| A．he couldn’t earn enough money to support his family |
| B．he was suffering from sleeplessness disease |
| C．he couldn’t get out of mental pressure |
| D．he felt tired of adulteducation classes |
Marion made a list of over 200 items that needed to be repaired because________.
| A．he hadn’t been able to spare time to mend them |
| B．he wanted to kill his free time by repairing them |
| C．the items had actually been broken and needed attention |
| D．repairing the items helped crowd wor ry out of his mind |
At the end of the passage，the author wrote about Winston Churchill in order to________.
| A．prove that he followed Churchill’s example |
| B．support his student’s solution to his problem |
| C．show that he was successful in his career |
| D．clarify how his conclusion was reached |
The first field season is now over at the hut village of the workmen who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. However，the archaeologists working on the excavation(挖掘)have found that they still have a great deal to do. The sun, the wind and tourists have left their mark on the village, originally discovered by Bernard Bruyhre in 1935．
“From our modern perspective，it is upsetting to see how the village was first excavated and then left to be destroyed. Passers-by have used the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms,”says Jaana Toivari—Viitala, a teacher at the University of Helsinki.“Fortunately, while we still have some surface cleaning to do, conservation are off to a good start.”
The hut village offers rare insight into everyday life in ancient Egypt.
“In the early twentieth century，archaeologists were only interested in the tombs of kings. The workmen’s huts they discovered were seen as a neces
sary evil in the quest for the real treasures.”
“Now several international research groups on different excavations are examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. This seems to be a trend in archaeology right now.” Toivari-Viitala says．
Her research group wants to find out why the hut village was built on the slope of a mountain，halfway between the construction site and Deir-el-Medina. They are also interested in how many workers lived in the village at a time, when they lived there, and what their role was in the construction work.
“Comparing the names found in the village and in Deir-el-Medina provides useful information．Judging from the construction methods，settlement in the village can be divided into two separate periods: the initial settlement and a later one.”
For the time being，much is up to guessing, but Toivari-Viitala believes that the coming four field seasons, three months each, will see results.
“The working conditions are not nearly as difficult as I thought they would be. The cool winds in the mountains nicely alleviate the heat.”
The research group working on the “Workmen’s huts in the Theban mountains” project is planning to return to the Valley of the Kings in October..
What does the passage mainly talk about? ________
| A．The hut village in the Valley of the Kings. |
| B．The excavation of the tombs in the Valley. |
| C．The archaeologists working on the excavation. |
| D．Everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. |
.
Which of the following is NOT true of the hut village according to the passage? _______
| A．It has been damaged a lot. | B．It can tell us something about ancient Egypt. |
| C．It has attracted archaeologists’ attention. | D．It has a lot of real treasures somewhere in it. |
.
What’s the new trend in archaeology right now acco
rding to Toivari-Viitala?
| A．Being interested in the tombs of kings． |
| B．Examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. |
| C．Using the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms． |
| D．Guessing what the result will be beforehand． |
We can infer from the passage that__________.
| A．people know little about the hut village by now |
| B．the workmen’s huts were not discovered until very recently |
C．the research group wor king on the workmen’s huts will suffer a lot |
| D．the hut village is much more valued by archaeologists than the tombs |