Plants are very important living things. Life could not go if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. So animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.
If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants.
Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit.
Most non-flowering plants don’t grow from seeds. They grow from spores. Spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as he seeds. When these spores fall on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.The main idea of the passage is that .
| A．plants are important for life | B．plants cannot grow without air |
| C．there are many plants around us | D．we cannot live without water |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE?
| A．Plants can be divided into main types: flowering plants and non-flowering plants. |
| B．All fruits have seeds in them. |
| C．Seeds are protected by the fruits. |
| D．Some plants grow from spores. |
The underlined word "non-flowering" means .
| A．开花的 | B．有花的 | C．多花的 | D．不开花的 |
In “shady places” there is .
| A．a lot of sunshine | B．a lot of water | C．no water | D．little sunshine |
Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.
Given that I teach students who are training to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.
“Surgery(外科手术)”, one replied. I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job. One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows, you can get at least 5cm taller!”
At that point, I was shocked. I am short, I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of agony(痛苦) just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall! It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.
No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost. In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.We can know from the passage that the author works as ______.
| A．a doctor | B．a model | C．a teacher | D．a reporter |
Many graduates today turn to cosmetic surgery to______.
| A．marry a better man\woman |
| B．become a model |
| C．get an advantage over others in job-hunt |
| D．attract more admirers |
According to the passage, the author believes that ______.
| A．everyone should purchase perfection, whatever the cost |
| B．it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs |
| C．media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery |
| D．it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career |
What does the author think of his height?
| A．He hates to be called a short man. |
| B．He tries to increase his height through surgery. |
| C．He always wears shoes with thick soles to hide the fact. |
| D．He just accepts it as it is |
Eating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease. But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately: the air you breathe.
Previous studies have linked high exposure (暴露）to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problem, but two analyses now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke (中风）within as little as a few hours after exposure. In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants (污染物）were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure. A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers to be of “moderate” (良好）quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.
The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices. So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.The text mainly discusses the relationship between ______ .
| A．heart problems and air quality | B．heart problems and exercising |
| C．heart problems and smoking | D．heart problems and fatty food |
The underlined word “modest” in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______ .
| A．relatively high | B．extremely low |
| C．relatively low | D．extremely high |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart. |
| B．The EPA conducted many studies on air quality. |
| C．Moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking. |
| D．Stricter regulations on pollutants should be made. |
The author’s purpose of writing the text is most likely to _______.
| A．inform | B．persuade | C．describe | D．entertain |
When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can't take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We'd take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the train, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn't like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom's friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just lightrail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestrut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where's the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I'm writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn't try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me. According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?
| A．Building confidence in herself. |
| B．Reducing her use of private cars. |
| C．Developing her sense of direction. |
| D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles. |
The underlined word “paralyzed”(in Para.5) is closest in meaning to “________”．
| A．displayed | B．justified | C．ignored | D．ruined |
Which means of transportation does the writer probably disapprove of?
| A．Airplane. | B．Subway. | C．Train. | D．Car. |
On a hill 600 feet above the surrounding land, we watch the lines of rain move across the scene, the moon rise over the hills, and the stars appear in the sky. The views invite a long look from a comfortable chair in front of the wooden house.
Every window in our wooden house has a view, and the forest and lakes seldom look the same as the hour before. Each look reminds us where we are.
There is space for our three boys to play outside, to shoot arrows, collect tree seeds, build earth houses and climb trees.
Our kids have learned the names of the trees, and with the names have come familiarity and appreciation. As they tell all who show even a passing interest, maple（枫树）makes the best fighting sticks and white pines are the best climbing trees.
The air is clean and fresh. The water from the well has a pleasant taste, and it is perhaps the healthiest water our kids will ever drink. Though they have one glass a day of juice and the rest is water, they never say anything against that.
The seasons change just outside the door. We watch the maples turn every shade of yellow and red in the fall and note the poplars（杨树）putting out the first green leaves of spring. The rainbow smelt fills the local steam as the ice gradually disappears, and the wood frogs start to sing in pools after being frozen for the winter. A family of birds rules our skies and flies over the lake. What can be learned from Paragraph 2?
| A．The scenes are colorful and changeable. |
| B．There are many windows in the wooden house. |
| C．The views remind us that we are in a wooden house. |
| D．The lakes outside the windows are quite different in color. |
By mentioning the names of the trees, the author aims to show that ______ .
| A．the kids like playing in trees |
| B．the kids are very familiar with trees |
| C．the kids have learned much knowledge |
| D．the kids find trees useful learning tools |
What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
| A．The change of seasons is easily felt. |
| B．The seasons make the scenes change. |
| C．The weather often changes in the forest. |
| D．The door is a good position to enjoy changing seasons. |
What is the main purpose of the author writing the text?
| A．To describe the beauty of the scene around the house. |
| B．To introduce her children’s happy life in the forest. |
| C．To show that living in the forest is healthful. |
| D．To share the joy of living in the nature. |
“Hey, Jenna, do you think we’ll still be friends when we’re eighty-two?” I asked my friend．It was clear that she was wondering where I had come up with such a question．Losing Jenna would be like losing a very close sister．We hung out together．We gave each other advice．
“Of course, we’ll still be friends when we’re eighty-two.” Jenna announced loudly．
The next year, in the fourth grade, we met Jamie．The three of us soon became close friends．We played together almost every day．I thought even time couldn’t pull us apart, but I was sadly mistaken．
The three of us started fighting a lot．Before Christmas, we had a really big fight, and Jamie and Jenna were against me, both saying I was bossy．I felt helpless and lonely．I thought Christmas would be horrible!
I was surprised when Jenna came to my house and gave me an awesome Christmas card she had made for me．I was so sure that she was still disappointed with me．
“Wow, ” I said, breaking the silence as we stood on either side of my front door．“Thanks．”
“Okay…well…I have to go,” she said softly．
“Okay．See you later then…” and I closed the door．
“Who was that at the door?” my mum asked．
The card started off with “Merry Christmas”, but then it said, “I am so glad we’re friends．I am sorry about what I said when we were fighting．A fight won’t stop us from being friends．Besides, we said we were going to be friends even when we’re eight-two．”
I stopped reading and started laughing．I couldn’t believe I had forgotten what she said that day in her backyard．I couldn’t believe I had been so selfish in making my friends feel sorry for me that I had forgotten about real friendship．How would the author and Jenna get along with each other after Christmas?
| A．They would be close friends again． |
| B．They would not speak to each other． |
| C．They would lose touch with each other． |
| D．They would go on fighting with each other． |
The underlined sentence “I was bossy” in the fourth paragraph means “_________”．
| A．I looked like a boss | B．I acted as a boss |
| C．I was fond of giving orders | D．I was fond of fighting |
Which of the following is the right time order according to the passage?
a．Jamie became our friend．
b．I felt lonely and unhappy．
c．Jenna, Jamie and I fought a lot．
d．Jenna brought me a Christmas card．
e．I was sorry for what I did to her．
f．Jenna and I promised to be lifelong friends．
| A．f a b c e d | B．a c f b d e | C．a b c f e d | D．f a c b d e |
The author was delighted when she read the card from Jenna because _________．
| A．what Jenna wrote was funny |
| B．Jenna would be her friend again |
| C．she was happy about the coming Christmas |
| D．she was happy to receive a Christmas card |