A student was one day taking a walk with his teacher. As they went along, they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path. They were a poor farmer’s, who was working in the nearby field.
The student turned to the teacher, saying:“we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those trees, and wait to see what he will do”
“My young friend,” answered the teacher, “we should never make fun of the poor. Why not put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch?” The student did so and they both hid themselves behind the trees. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.
After putting on his coat, he put his foot into one of his shoes, and felt something hard. Then he bent down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Surprised, he looked at the coin, turned it around and looked at it again. He then looked around, but no person was seen. He put the money into his pocket, and continued to put on the other shoe. His surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.
He couldn’t control his feelings and fell to his knees, looked up to the sky and expressed his thanks. Then he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without food. He said the help would save them from dying.
The student there deeply moved, and his eyes filled tears.“ Now,” said the teacher, “are you not much happier than if you had hidden the shoes?”When the student saw the shoes, he wanted to____.
A.steal them | B.find their owner |
C.play a joke on the owner | D.give the owner some money |
According to the passage, the teacher is______.
A.quiet and honest | B.kind and friendly |
C.patient and clever | D.strict and careful |
When the farmer saw the second coin, he___.
A.was very excited and grateful |
B.was worried and looked up at the sky |
C.was surprised and decided to find the owner |
D.spoke of his difficulties and asked for more help |
At the end of the story, the student____.
A.was very proud of himself | B.was very pleased with his life |
C.felt very sorry about his first idea | D.felt sad for not taking his teacher’s advice |
Every evening, 15-year-old Rashida returns home from school, changes out of her uniform, and rushes to a neighboring farm to help her mother harvest vegetables. Her father is disabled, so the modest profit the two of them earn must cover food, clothing and other necessities for all seven children and their parents. Despite having precious little time to study, Rashida is one of the top students at her junior secondary school. But with so much responsibility on her small shoulders, she admits that it is sometimes hard for her to imagine a more promising future.
Last year, Rashida was invited to join 155 other girls at Camfed Ghana’s first Girls’ Career Camp, a program designed to inspire girls growing up in the country’s Northern Region to dream big, and to support them to pursue those dreams. “We organized this camp because we wanted to let girls know that even if they are struggling with poverty, their lives will not be defined by limitations,” says Dolores Dickson, Camfed Ghana’s Executive Director.
Over the course of five days, the camp led the junior and secondary school students through a range of experiences and career opportunities that were entirely new to them. Dr. Agnes Apusiga, a lecturer from the University of Development Studies, ran the workshop on goal-setting and career choices, describing the universities and training colleges in Ghana that could help them achieve their dreams. Participants then visited the University for Development Studies, where they toured the medical school and science labs. Another highlight was a workshop at the computer lab at Tamale Secondary School. Many of the girls had studied information technology from a book but had never before seen a computer.
“When the girls arrived at camp, they were not ambitious, because they didn’t have any idea what the world held for them,” says Eugenia Ayagiba, Project Officer with Camfed Ghana. “Many had scarcely traveled beyond their own villages.”
“I think the most important thing that happened at the camp is that we opened a window of hope for a group of girls coming from backgrounds of poverty,” says Eugenia. For Rashida, who has been laughed at in the past by her schoolmates because of her father’s disability, the experience was important. “She told one of the camp mentors(辅导员) that when she is at school, she often feels like a misfit, and she prefers to keep to herself,” says Eugenia. “But at the camp, it was different. She made friends with girls who have similar struggles. She took part in every single activity, every single game. On the last day, she said to her mentor, ‘The camp has challenged me to study hard. Now I see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.’
How many are there in Rashida’s family?
A.Seven | B.Eight | C.Nine | D.Ten |
According to the passage, Camfed Ghana’s first Girls’ Career Camp is.
A.a program to help poor girls to have ambition |
B.a program to help poor girl students to get university education |
C.a program to help poor girls to study hard |
D.a program to help the poor families |
Why did the camp lead the students to visit universities and training colleges?
A.To show they are better than their schools |
B.To encourage them to get good education. |
C.To show them what they are like |
D.To get them to touch the advanced equipment there |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.Rashida has become friends with her mentors |
B.Rashida’s ment![]() |
C.Rashida was sad because of her father’s disability. |
D.Rashida has had her new dream since the camp |
The best title of the passage is ___________.
A.Poor Girls in Ghana | B.Girls’ Career Camp |
C.Camfed Ghana | D.Students in Ghana Dream Big |
Could a grizzly bear move to your neighborhood? If you live in the U.S. West, the answer may be yes. People and grizzly bears are living closer together now.
The grizzly bear is one of the largest meat-eating land animals in North America. In the early 1800s, about 50,000 grizzly bears lived there. Today there’re far fewer bears. Settlers built cities and roads where bears lived. Many bears were hunted and killed. Now only 1,200 to 1,400 grizzly bears have remained.
In and around Yellowstone National Park, grizzly bears have been making a comeback because of people’s efforts to protect them. Some bears are moving to areas where people live. People are also moving into grizzly countries.
People there have to learn how to live with their new, furry (毛皮的) neighbors peacefully. If someone leaves their barbecue grill(烤肉架)out overnight, or leaves their pet food or rubbish where a bear can get it, the bear will learn to come to their house for food. Grizzly bears that learn to eat people’s food can become dangerous, and they often have to be killed or moved. Also, it’s important not to surprise a grizzly. Besides, if you are hiking in a grizzly country, you should go with others and make a noise to make bears hear your coming and get out of the way. You may not want to invite grizzly bears to your next neighborhood party, but with a little effort, grizzly bears and people can live together peacefully. Why does the number of grizzly bears get smaller, according to the text?
A.Settlers’ buildings break the balance of their living environment. |
B.Land for them to live on is limited and they are hunted in large numbers. |
C.Yellowstone National Park wants to control the number of them. |
D.Living closer to humans makes them die from serious diseases. |
How many suggestions are made for people to live with bears peacefully?
A.One. | B.Two. | C.Three. | D.Four. |
Compared with the early 1800s, the number of grizzly bears has got smaller by ______.
A.exactly 26﹪ | B.over 36﹪ | C.nearly 64﹪ | D.about 96﹪ |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Grizzly bears are always friendly to the people living in grizzly countries. |
B.It is certain that grizzly bears and people can live together peacefully. |
C.Grizzly bears are protected only in and around Yellowstone National Park. |
D.The grizzly bear is one of the largest meat-eating animals in North America. |
What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
A.How to protect yourself from grizzly bears. |
B.How to get grizzly bears out of your way. |
C.How to invite grizzly bears to your party. |
D.How to live with gr![]() |
Schedules (timetables), as the 21st century people know, simply did not exist in the 17th and 18th centuries. We are upset if a plane arrives an hour late. Our ancestors weren’t upset if an April ship didn’t show up until June. They began to worry in July and were often happy when it showed up in August. When a long-distance ship finally did get to the port, the whole city became busy and excited. Businessmen hurried down to check the goods they had ordered. The ship would probably stay in port for at least three days, often a week, to take on businessmen, give the sailors a rest, find out about the latest news, weather conditions, and so on.
Travel time could only be approximate (近似的). One never knew when the winds would be good. So even though “average(平均的) sailing time” was given, time could change considerably, shortening the voyage (travel by sea) by up to 25% or putting it off by up to 500% or more! The average run from England to Boston was about a month and a half, but there were also voyages of three months. One voyage in 1640 lasted six months!
Travel time is not the same in both directions, due to the winds and currents. This is especially true in the Caribbean, where winds are from the southeast the entire year. Ships sailing west across the Atlantic spend longer than ships sailing east, and the contrary (opposite) winds can prevent a ship from actually making it to the harbor even if it gets close. One ship was held off the North Carolina coast for 17 days before being able to land!
What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A.No sailor was allowed to have fun when the ship reached land. |
B.People in ancient times didn’t care about other people’s safety. |
C.The ship would leave for a voyage when all of the preparations were made. |
D.A long-distance ship would create a lot of excitement in the place where it landed. |
According to the passage, travel time can’t be fixed due to _____.
A.the people at the port | B.average sailing time |
C.the changeable climate | D.the businessmen and the sailors |
The underlined word “currents” in the third paragraph means ______.
A.the movement of water | B.the movement of winds |
C.direction of the traveling ship | D.travel time of ships |
What is the difference between a modern voyage timetable and the one from the 17th or 18th century?
A.There were no exact timetables for traveling both in ancient and modern times. |
B.Travel time was the same in both directions in ancient times while the modern one was not. |
C.The modern voyage timetable is more exact than the ancient one. |
D.The modern voyage timetable is only approximate while the ancient one was not. |
Why did the ships sailing west spend longer than ships sailing east in Caribbean?
A.Because of the southeast winds the entire year. |
B.Because sailors didn’t know when the winds blew. |
C.Because travel time was not affected by wind. |
D.Because sometimes the ship was held off by the wind. |
Robert Altman’s films were different from the usual methods of Hollywood movie storytelling. In the 1940s, he started his film career directing industrial movies in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. Later, he moved to Hollywood, California, to make television shows.
His first major film, MASH, was released in 1970. It tells about a group of American medical workers in an army hospital in Korea during the Korean War in the 1950s. The movie was a great success. It questioned the rules of the military in a way that was sharply funny and clever.
Robert Altman continued to make movies with strong political and social points. His next major movie, Nashville, came out in 1975. This movie provides a complex (not simple) look at changes in the country music industry.
Robert Altman’s movies have a very special style. Often, his actors speak so naturally that it is hard to believe they are performing. Altman liked his actors to be free to make up their own lines. Altman wanted to copy the way people talked and acted in real life. And he was willing to fight with movie studio businessmen to make sure that he had total creative (有创造力的) control over his work.
Even as an old man, Robert Altman continued to make movies. Many of his 33 films were nominated (提名) for Academy Awards, including The Player and Gosford Park. Robert Altman died in November in Los Angeles, California. He was 81 years old. According to the passage, Altman was ______.
A.a writer | B.an actor | C.a director | D.a soldier |
Robert Altman began to make films ______.
A.in the 1940s | B.in the 1950s | C.in 1970 | D.in 1975 |
What is special about Altman’s films is that ______.
A. they were all industrial films
B. they were true to life
C. they were films with strong political points
D. many of them were nominated for Academy AwardsThe passage mainly tells us that ______.
A.the Korean War took place in the 1950s |
B.Robert Altman made his first major film in 1970 |
C.Robert Altman’s films have a different style |
D.Robert Altman received many Academy Awards |
The best title for this passage should be ______.
A.Robert Altman - Director of Special Style Movie |
B.Some Famous Films from Hollywood |
C.How Robert Altman Directed His Films |
D.Actors in the Films of Robert Altman |
Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men's hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women's longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age.
"We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20--25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,”said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
"Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70,one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,”said Goldspink. "This is part of the ageing process."
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A
healthy 70-year-old woman's heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one's.
"This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,”said Goldspink.
They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80,focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.
The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.
The underlined word“longevity" in the second paragraph probably refers to ______.
A.health | B.long life | C.ageing | D.effect |
The text mainly talks about ______.
A.men's heart cells | B.women's ageing process、 |
C.the gender difference | D.hearts and long life |
According to the text, the UK scientists have known that
A.women have more cells than men when they are born |
B.women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat |
C.the female heart loses few of the cells with age |
D.women never lose their pumping power with age |
If you want to live longer, you should
A.enable your heart to beat much faster |
B.find out the reason for ageing |
C.exercise regularly to keep your heart healthy |
D.prevent your cells from being lost |
We can know from the passage that
A.the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out |
B.scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells |
C.the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss |
D.women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20 |