Lee Ann Laraway has polio (小儿麻痹症) and is not able to move very much. Most things are out of reach for her. Jeannie, a Labrador retriever, acts as her arms and legs. Jeannie understands 72 or more different commands. On a shopping trip, she can get money for Lee Ann at the bank or candies at the store. She can pay the cashier (收银员) and get change back. Jeannie brings things to Lee Ann and puts them in her lap.
Jeannie was trained at a place called Canine Companions for Independence, located on twelve acres of land in Santa Rosa (California). The land was donated (捐赠) by the cartoonist Charles Shultz. “We train four different types of dogs here,” said Ken Kirsh, a dog trainer there. “Hearing dogs, service dogs, skilled companion dogs, and facility dogs.”
Trainers work with Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers for hours a day, but not every dog is good enough to be a working dog.
The work is a serious business. Hearing dogs warn their owners of sounds like ringing telephones and doorbells. Other dogs work with disabled patients like eight-year-old Noah Habib who communicates with a special computer. He likes it when people come to ask him about his dog. His father says, “People are really interested in the dog and will come over and ask to pet her and play with her, and ask about what she does, and these are people that normally might not approach us and want to talk to Noah.”
When Lee Ann Laraway comes home with Jeannie and her goods, Jeannie helps her open the door. “You can train a dog to do a lot of things.” said Lee Ann.According to this passage, we can know that Jeannie is Lee Ann’s .
| A．servant | B．daughter | C．dog | D．mother |
Jeannie can help Lee Ann do all the following things EXCEPT___________.
| A．go to the bank to get money |
| B．pay for what Lee Ann buys in the shop |
| C．bring things home |
| D．do some cooking at home |
People want to talk to Noah mainly because .
| A．he is good at training dogs |
| B．he is not only honest but also lovely |
| C．they want to play with his dog |
| D．they want to ask him for help |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．Dogs are helpful to people | B．Four kinds of dogs |
| C．Jeannie, a very clever dog | D．How to train working dogs |
What kind of dogs are not trained in the center?
| A．Dogs that warn their owners of sounds like doorbells. |
| B．Dogs that help their blind owners cross over a road. |
| C．Dogs that open the door for their owners. |
| D．Dogs that work with children who have polio. |
Alexandra Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester，Connecticut on January 18， 1996，the second of four children. Shortly before her first birthday，Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma，a type of childhood cancer.
On her first birthday， the doctors informed Alex’s parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later，Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents’ request to kick. This was the first indication that she would turn out to be a courageous and confident child with big dreams and big accomplishments.
By her second birthday，Alex was able to stand up with leg braces (支架）.She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be overcoming the difficulties， until the shocking discovery within the next year that her tumors (肿瘤)had started growing again. In the year 2000，the day after her fourth birthday，Alex received a stem cell transplant (干细胞移植）and informed her mother，“When I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand. ” She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to “help other kids，like they helped me.，，True to her word， she held her first lemonade stand later that year with the help of her older brother and raised an amazing $ 2，000 for “her hospital,
People from all over the world，moved by her story，held their own lemonade stands and donated the earnings to Alex and her cause. In August of 2004，Alex passed away at the age of 8，knowing that，with the help of others，she had raised more than $ 1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex’s family—including brothers Patrick，Eddie，and Joey—and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring cause through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (基金会）.It can be learned from the text that Alex .
| A．couldn’t walk until she was four |
| B．was the only daughter of the Scotts |
| C．held her first lemonade stand in 2001 |
| D．was born with cancer |
Why was Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation founded?
| A．To promote her lemonade. |
| B．To set up a children’s hospital. |
| C．To attract public attention to her disease. |
| D．To collect money to help children with cancer. |
What did the public do to support Alex and her cause?
| A．They helped her sell lemonade. |
| B．They provided free stands for her. |
| C．They donated money to her foundation. |
| D．They donated stem cells for her operation. |
Which of the following can best describe Alex?
| A．Stubborn. | B．Determined. | C．Innocent. | D．Energetic. |
Reading is a great way to improve your English. You'll learn new words, revise previously-taught structures and absorb thousands of useful expressions and phrases... without any effort. By reading, you are receiving valuable language input. And this is how you learn! Remember, language learning is a combination of input + practice. As you're reading, you're taking in language naturally, and you're seeing how it all fits together. This is crucial to your learning.
The great thing about reading is that learning takes place subconsciously. There are no exercises to do, no grammar rules to learn, no tasks to complete... it's all natural. The language flows in through your eyes, and gets recorded in your brain. What could be easier?
The key to effective reading is to read things that you want to read. There are millions of books, magazines and websites out there. You couldn't possibly read them all. So, the important thing is to find things that you like reading. Then, you'll be motivated to read. And then the reading won't be difficult. It'll be easy! And then you'll learn. It's simple.
Remember: read what you want to read. What you like reading. What motivates and inspires you. But where can you start? Well, you could read a book that you've already read in your own language. Simply find a translated version of a book that you have read and enjoyed. This will make processing the content in the target language much easier as you’ll already know what the book is about! You could also read the news. This is great as you can read the news in your own language first, then in English. You'll see that it won't be too difficult as you'll be familiar with the topics and stories. Magazines are also great. Find one that covers a topic you're interested in: business, clothing, guns, horses, houses, housekeeping, stocks and shares, sports, computers, electronics, designing, cooking... you name it, they'll have it. If not, look for information on the internet. There are also websites for every topic under the sun! Why not join a forum? They're a great source of English input as the language is often written in a simple, spoken style. Go to Google Groups, which has discussion groups based on common interests. Just type in the topic that interests you and join the chat.
Finally, how you read is also important. The best thing is to read without using a dictionary. Let the words flow over you. Just skip the parts you don't understand. If you make your reading feel too much like work, it'll stop being fun. Of course, you could make a note of any new words and phrases that you like or see repeated frequently, but try not to break your concentration too much. Also, set yourself mini-objectives. For example, if you're reading a novel, read 20 pages a day. Very soon, you'll have been exposed to thousands of useful phrases and words. Have fun reading! You'll learn so much!The underlined word “crucial” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
| A．easy | B．important |
| C．difficult | D．suitable |
The key to effective reading is _______.
| A．to read millions of books | B．not to learn grammar rules |
| C．to be motivated to read | D．to read easy things |
You can start to read by ____.
| A．reading a book that you've already read in English |
| B．reading the news in English first |
| C．going to Google Groups to practice spoken English |
| D．reading magazines containing topics you are interested in |
From the passage we can learn that ______.
| A．when you read you needn’t look up every new word in the dictionary |
| B．the great thing about reading is that you can read without any effort |
| C．to read is as much fun as to work |
| D．you should make notes of every new word and phrase while reading |
Dad was lying in the hospital weakly, but his smile was as sure as ever . It was another attack of lung illness. My husband and I stayed with him for the weekend but had to return to our jobs on Monday. Local relatives would help Dad get home from hospital and look after him. But I longed to be able to let him know that we cared about him too, even when we weren't with him.
Then I remembered a family tradition when our children were small. When leaving our grandparents’ home after a visit, each child would write a love note to their grandparents. We hid notes in a box, under a hairbrush or next to the phone or even in the microwave oven. For days, our grandparents would smile as they discovered these reminders of our love.
So as I tidied Dad’s kitchen and made up a bed for him downstairs in the living room, I wrote some notes. Some were practical, "Dad, I put the food in the fridge so it wouldn't spoil". Some expressed my love, “Dad, I hope you will sleep well in your new bed.” Most notes were downstairs where he would stay for several weeks until he recovered strength, but one note I hid upstairs under his pillow, "Dad, if you have found this note, you must be feeling better. We are so glad!"
Just like his medicine strengthened him physically, these "emotional vitamins" would improve his spiritual health. Several weeks later, in one of our regular phone calls, I asked Dad how he was doing. He said, "Pretty good. I just found your note under my pillow upstairs!"We can infer from the text that the writer's father_______.
| A．had suffered from the same illness before. |
| B．lived with his relatives |
| C．asked her to return to work |
| D．got home from hospital alone |
The children hid notes in their grandparents' home in order to_______
| A．follow a family tradition |
| B．play jokes on their grandparents |
| C．show their gifts to their grandparents |
| D．make their grandparents feel pleasantly surprised |
Follow the family tradition, the author .
| A．She called her father regularly. |
| B．She wrote some notes to her father . |
| C．She bought all kinds of vitamins to her father. |
| D．She hid some notes upstairs under her father's pillow. |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．The writer believed that a family tradition was not good. |
| B．The writer enjoyed talking with her father. |
| C．The writer tried to comfort her father with love. |
| D．The writer thanked her children for looking after her father. |
Traveling should be easy and enjoyable, and one of the ways to make sure your trip remains fun is to know exactly how to keep your valuables safe.
If you are traveling alone, distribute your money through your luggage. Place most of it in your main suitcase or bag. Make a rough estimate of how much money you will spend on the journey, till you reach your destination. Place this money in a different wallet and carry this in your pocket. Spend from this pocket till you get to your destination. If you are travelling with someone, distribute the money among yourselves.
Instead of wearing your jewels, you can put your jewels at the bottom of your suitcase or bag. DO NOT carry in your purse, just in case it is stolen; or in case you misplace your purse. In addition, if you are going to be frequently opening your purse for things like tickets and phone numbers, what if you accidently just drop them.
Have you ever seen a mini backpack purse? It looks really fashionable and is very smart. Plus, It’s really convenient to use. The best thing to do is to hang the mini backpack purse in the front, like a baby carrier. There are two big advantages to do this; one, your hands remain free to carry your luggage and other things; and two, your purse is always monitored, and is just under your nose!
Credit cards are very useful in many ways. But if you misplace your credit card, it is quite easy for someone else to find it and use it to his/ her maximum benefit before you even realize you have lost it! If you lose cash, you lose only that much cash as you are carrying. But a lost credit card means the money in your bank account is lost. So always try to use cash instead of credit card while travelingWhich of the following statement does the author probably disagree with?
| A．Putting your money in different wallets. |
| B．Putting your jewels in your wallet. |
| C．Carrying a mini backpack purse. |
| D．Using cash instead of credit card. |
Carrying a mini backpack can help you because
| A．it is convenient to carry and monitor. |
| B．it is easier to carry your baby. |
| C．it reduce the burden on your back. |
| D．it can use to carry more things. |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．You shouldn’t spend money until you reach your destination. |
| B．putting jewels at the bottom of your bag is safer. |
| C．one must carry a fashionable backpack purse while traveling. |
| D．credit card are more convenient than cash while traveling. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Ways to make traveling fun and enjoyable. |
| B．Tips on carrying valuables safely while traveling. |
| C．Advice on traveler’s personal safety while traveling. |
| D．Things to consider before traveling. |
Mobile communications and the IP phone business have gradually replaced traditional long-distance calls. Mobile communications account for 28.5 percent of the total long-distance communications business. IP phones have 41.4 percent, while traditional long-distance calls are down to 30.1 percent.
China Mobile, the country's largest mobile communication operator, has accounted for nearly 40 percent of taxes in the domestic telecom market. That puts it at the top of the six major telecom operators in the nation, according to the latest official statistics. The other five are: China Telecom, 31.1 percent; China Netcom, 16.6 percent; China Unicom, 13.4 percent; China Satellite Communications Corp and China Railcom, 1.5 percent.
China Mobile is being chased by smaller rivals China Unicom and China Telecom, both of which are making significant 3G subscriber gains. That’s aided in no small part by deals to offer the iPhone. However, as of March, China Mobile did have 15 million iPhone users on its network.
In another ranking, Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo, vivo and OPPO came in as the top five mobile phone sellers in China by April, 2015, according to IHS Technology. The report also says that during this period, China produced 82 million handsets. (手机) (including GSM, GPRS and CDMA phones) and sold 80 million. Of the phones sold, 37 million were exported to other countries. Analysts point out that China's lack of core technologies and its heavy reliance on overseas technologies have proved to be an obstacle for development of domestic phone makers.Nowadays, mobile communications have gradually taken the place of________ .
| A．IP phone service |
| B．telecom operators |
| C．traditional telephones |
| D．traditional long-distance calls |
The underlined word "obstacle" means________ .
| A．advantage | B．puzzle | C．difficulty | D．factor |
We can infer from the text that __ .
| A．most phones are sold in foreign countries |
| B．most long-distance calls are made through mobile phone today |
| C．China had the most mobile phone users |
| D．China Telecom brings in more taxes of all the companies |