In 1933 an unknown American called Clarence Nash went to see the filmmaker Walt Disney. He had an unusual voice and he wanted to work in Disney’s cartoon film for children. When Walt Disney heard Nash’s voice, he said “Stop! That’s our duck!”
The duck was the now-famous Donald Duck, who first appeared in 1934 in the film The Wise Little Hen. Donald lived in an old houseboat(水上住家) and wore his sailor jacket and hat. Later that year he became a star after an eight-minute Mickey Mouse film. The cinema audience liked him because he was lazy and greedy, and because he lost his temper very quickly. And they loved his voice when he became angry with Mickey’s eight nephews. Soon Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse himself, probably because he wasn’t a goody-goody like Mickey.
In the 1930s, 40s and 50s Donald and his friends Mickey, Goofy and Pluto made hundreds of Disney cartoons. He also made educational films about the place of the USA in the world, and safety in the home. Then in 1966 Donald Duck and his voice disappeared---there were no more new cartoons.
Clarence Nash died in February, 1985. But today’s children can still see the old cartoons on television and hear that famous voice.Who made Donald Duck film?
| A．Mickey Mouse | B．Clarence Nash | C．Walt Disney | D．Pluto |
When did Donald Duck become popular?
| A．In 1933 | B．In 1934 | C．In 1966 | D．In 1930 |
Where do today’s children see Donald Duck?
| A．In new film | B．At the cinema | C．On television | D．At concerts |
The underlined word “goody-goody” in the second paragraph means a person who __________ .
| A．likes to appear to be faultless in behavior |
| B．likes to appear to be faulty in behavior |
| C．dislikes to appear to be faultless in behavior |
| D．dislikes to be faulty in behavior |
What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?
| A． Donald’s lovely voice. |
| B．A brief introduction of Donald. |
| C． Donald’s temper. |
| D．Donald Duck and Clarence Nash. |
As prices and building costs keep rising, the“do-it-yourself”(DIY)trend(趋势)in the U.S. continues to grow.
“We needed furniture(家具)for our living room,” says John Ross,“and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420.“I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you
want to become a “do-it-yourselfer”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.We can learn from the text that many married people_________.
| A．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| B．have to learn to make their own furniture |
| C．take DIY courses run by the government |
| D．seldom go to a department store to buy things |
When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim_________.
| A．makes shoes in his home |
| B．does extra work at night |
| C．does his own car and home repairs |
| D．keeps house and looks after his children |
Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourself when__________.
| A．his car repairs cost too much |
| B．the car repair class was not helpful |
| C．he could not possibly do two jobs |
| D．he had to raise the children all by himself |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The Joy of DIY | B．You Can Do It Too! |
| C．Welcome to Our DIY Course | D．Ross and Hatfield Believers in DIY |
Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes. However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.
Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself , each extra dollar makes less and less difference.
Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complex. In the past half-century, average income has sharply increased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.
“Dollars buy status, and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways---scientists or actors, for example—may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.
In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires—not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health—rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap. Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone. “The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income.” Says Michalos.
Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad. “Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen.
In one survey, Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotions questionnaire. She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people, but negative emotions much less often.
Why are old people happier? Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic about their goals, only setting ones that they know they can achieve. But Carstensen thinks that with time running out, older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t. “People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says. “A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.According to the passage, the feeling of happiness ________.
| A．is determined partly by genes | B．increases gradually with age |
| C．has little to do with wealth | D．is measured by desires |
Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs_____.
| A．make them feel much better | B．provide chances to make friends |
| C．improve their social position | D．satisfy their professional interests |
Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more______.
| A．optimistic | B．successful | C．practical | D．emotional |
Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if _______.
| A．the gap between reality and desire is bigger |
| B．they have a stronger desire for friendship |
| C．their income is below their expectation |
| D．the hope for good health is greater |
The south and east of the Great Lakes is famous for the huge amounts of snow it receives. When the snow starts to fall every year, people start discussing the phrase “lake-effect snow”.
Lake-effect snow which is influenced by the movement of cold air over the relatively warm water of the Great Lakes often comes in late autumn and early winter. Because of the at least 20 degrees’ difference between the lake water and the overrunning air, it’s easy to form huge amounts of snow.
As the cool air crosses the water of Great Lakes, the lowest levels of the atmosphere begin to warm and pick up moisture. This newly warmed atmosphere is lighter than the cold air above it, so it starts rising. As the changed air continues to climb higher and higher, it finally meets much colder atmosphere which changes the moisture into water drops and ice, forming clouds. After this course repeats a number of times, the clouds become heavier and heavier, and then they are changed into snow and fall down.
The most important point that decides the amount of snowfall is the direction of the wind. If the wind runs perpendicularly（垂直地）across the lake, there won’t be plenty of time for clouds to develop. However, if the wind runs in the opposite direction, clouds will form easily. The longer the cold air travels over the lake, the more moisture it is able to produce, which leads to a greater amount of snow.
The largest amount of the lake-effect snow was found across the U.P. of Michigan, the northwestern Pennsylvania and the far southwestern and northwestern New York, which are all along the south or east of the Great Lakes. It has been over 100 inches of snowfall in a winter season.The level of the snowfall depends on ________.
| A．the size of the lake |
| B．the direction of the wind |
| C．the temperature of the lake |
| D．the strength of the wind |
From the passage, we can learn that ________.
| A．clouds are easy to produce with the help of the perpendicular wind |
| B．cold air always falls down and picks up moisture to form clouds |
| C．the temperature of the lake water is the same as the overrunning air’s above it |
| D．the longer journey of the cold atmosphere can make a grater amount of snow |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．the influences of the lake-effect snow for local people |
| B．the weight between moisture and atmosphere |
| C．how the phrase “lake-effect snow” comes in New York |
| D．how the lake-effect snow forms around the Great Lakes |
One morning Mrs Smith was driving home after she had done shopping. When she drove near a rubbish dump, she noticed a microwave oven(微波炉) not far from the side of the road.“John is a good electrician!”she said to herself.“Perhaps he can repair this. I'll take it home and let him try.”She picked up the oven and put it in the boot of her car. Then she drove on happily. A few kilometers later, she heard the siren (警报器)of a police car behind her. She looked in the driving mirror and saw a policeman waving to her to tell her to pull over and stop.
Mrs Smith was very puzzled. She slowed down at the side of the road. A traffic policeman got out of the police car and walked up to her.
“Can I see your driving license and insurance certificate(保险证)，please? ”he asked her. He copied down details of her name, address and the number of the car.“What's wrong, officer?” Mrs Smith asked. The policeman did not reply. He looked in the car and then at the back.“Open the boot, please.”he said to Mrs Smith.
Mrs Smith was still puzzled. She opened the boot and pointed to the microwave oven. "I found this old microwave oven a few minutes ago," she said. "I'm just taking it home to see if my husband can repair it." The policeman stared at her for a moment to see if she was telling the truth. "That's not a microwave oven." he said at last. "That's our radar set(雷达装置). It was the start of a speed trap. Do you mind if we have it back?" Mrs Smith's face turned red. "Oh", she said," I'm very sorry. I wouldn't have touched it if I'd known what it was." Why did Mrs Smith pick up the police's radar set and want to take it home?
| A．She had no microwave oven and wanted one. |
| B．She took it for a waste microwave oven. |
| C．She saw nobody was looking. |
| D．She just wanted to steal it. |
The underlined word "boot" in the third paragraph means_____ .
| A．the outer covering for the foot |
| B．the outer covering for the car |
| C．the place for luggage at the back of a car |
| D．the place for metal equipment for protection |
Choose the right order of the events(事件) given in the passage.
a. The policeman wrote down Mrs Smith's name, address and the car number.
b. Mrs Smith picked up a radar set and put it in the boot of her car.
c. The policeman took back the radar set.
d. Mrs Smith went shopping.
e. A policeman signed Mrs Smith to stop her car.
f. The policeman found the radar set in the boot of Mrs Smith's car.
| A．b,d,e,f,c,a | B．d,b,e,f,c,a | C．b,d,e,a,f,c | D．d,b,e,a,f,c |
Along the seashore(海边)，the tall coconut(椰子)trees waved in he wind. The sand was white in the bright sun, and the ocean was dark blue. The houses in the town near the shore, were painted white. The boats had been pulled up on the shore. Usually they would all be in the water with hard-working fishermen. But today was a holiday, and everyone was preparing for the celebration that was going to take place that evening.
In the distance, men could be seen climbing the coconut trees. They were singing as they worked. There were monkeys in the trees, too. The monkeys were jumping up and down and screaming angrily.The climbers just laughed at the monkeys and continued to pick the fruits. What is this passage about?
| A．It tells us a story of the monkeys. |
| B．It describes the scene on the seashore. |
| C．It talks about the life of the fishermen. |
| D．It is about how the people celebrated a holiday. |
The boats had been pulled up on the shore because_________.
| A．it was a holiday |
| B．the weather was too hot |
| C．there was going to be a storm |
| D．it was not the season for fishing |
The men climbed the coconut trees to_________.
| A．pick the coconuts |
| B．catch the monkeys |
| C．look at the ocean far away |
| D．see who could climb high and fast |
The word "screaming" in Paragraph Two probably means _______.
| A．singing and working |
| B．jumping up and down |
| C．running here and there |
| D．shouting in a high voice |
The monkeys were angry because________.
| A．the men were trying to catch them |
| B．the men wanted to drive them away |
| C．the men got the coconuts , which were their food |
| D．the men climbed higher and faster than they did |