Wishing to encourage her young son to make more progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually found his way through a door marked “NO ADMITTANCE.” When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.
Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. To her horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
At that moment, the great pianist made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a melody. Together, the old master and the young beginner transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was amazed and, as it finished, they cheered.
That’s the way it is in life. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren’t exactly graceful flowing music. But when we put our trust in the hands of a Greater Power, our life’s work can be truly beautiful. Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, “Don’t quit, and keep playing.”The reason why the boy went to the piano was that ________.
| A．he was encouraged to explore |
| B．his mother forced him to have a look |
| C．he was invited by the pianist |
| D．he was exploring the concert hall |
What the famous pianist did at the beginning of the concert showed ________.
| A．what a great pianist he was |
| B．what a skilled pianist he was |
| C．what an upright man he was |
| D．what a strong man he was |
What did the author really want to tell us in the last paragraph?
| A．Not being interrupted by others is important. |
| B．Life needs one’s own effort combined with guidance and cooperation. |
| C．It is necessary for us to keep doing everything. |
| D．It is important for us to get help from a famous person. |
Apply for a Library Card
Any person who lives, works, attends school or pays property taxes in New York State is eligible to receive a New York Public Library card free of charge. Adult and teen users may either apply online or in person at any New York Public Library location. Applications for children ages 11 and under must be completed in person, and require the signature of a parent. When you apply for a card online, you will receive a 7-digit temporary barcode(条码). This allows you to set a secret code. After you receive your permanent barcode, which is required to borrow materials, search Library databases, or reserve a computer, you must renew your card.
Renew or Validate Your Card
All adult, teen and child library cards for cardholders must be renewed every three years. New library card applicants who applied for a card online must renew their card before full cardholder privileges can be extended. Cardholders can visit any New York Public Library location to present the required forms of identification in order to renew or validate their card. Cardholders may also email copies of the required forms of identification to patronaccounts@nypl.org. Alternatively, this information may be faxed to 212.621.0278.
Forget Your Secret Code?
If you forget your secret code, you can provide the library with a valid email address, and click on the link ---“Forgot Your secret code?” A link with instructions on changing your secret code will be sent to the email address on your account, giving you a brief period of time to update your information. You must select a 4 digit numeric secret code, with no repeating or obvious numbers (e.g. 1234 or 2222). If you have not provided us with a valid email address, you may visit a library location to reset your secret code.
Replace a Lost or Stolen Card
Cardholders are responsible for all items on a card, all use made of the card and all charges made against it until it is reported lost or stolen. If your card is lost or stolen, inform the library immediately. Call 917.ASK.NYPL (917.275.6975), email Ask NYPL, or visit to your nearest library to report the card lost.Who can’t apply for a New York Public Library card for free?
| A．Those who work in New York. |
| B．Those who travel in New York. |
| C．Those who live in New York. |
| D．Those who go there for further study. |
Children ages 11 and under________.
| A．are required to apply for a free library card online |
| B．must apply for a library card in person with a parent |
| C．should change their library cards every three years |
| D．can enjoy extended privileges before renewing the card |
Library cards may NOT be renewed _______.
| A．by email | B．by fax | C．by phone | D．in person |
Which of the following can be a secret code?
| A．1368 | B．5188 | C．5678 | D．8888 |
In the past decade the popularity of rock climbing has greatly increased, and so has the number of injuries. It has been estimated that rock climbing is now enjoyed by more than 9 million people in the US each year. Study findings revealed a 65% increase in the number of patients that were treated in US emergency departments for rock climbing-related injuries between 1991 and 2012.
The study, published in the online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that about 40,000 patients were treated in US emergency departments for rock climbing-related injuries between 1991 and 2012. The most common types of rock climbing –related injuries were fractures(骨折) and sprains （扭伤）。The ankle was the most common body part to be injured (40%). Climbers in the study ranged in age from 2 to 74, with an average age of 26. The study also found that women took up a quarter of the injuries.
Falls were the primary reason for injury with over three-quarters of the injuries occurring as the result of a fall. The severity of fall-related injuries had a lot to do with the height of the fall. Patients who were injured after falling from a height over 20 feet were 10 times more likely to be treated than patients who were injured falling from 20 feet or lower.
“We found that the climbers who fell from heights higher than 20 feet took up 70 percent of the patients treated for a rock climbing-related injury,” explained the study author Lara McKenzie, PhD, director at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Hospital. “This trend, combined with the fact that rock climbers have a higher hospitalization rate than other sports and recreational injuries, demonstrates the need to increase injury prevention efforts for climbers.”Which body part is most likely to get injured for a climber ?
| A．The arm | B．The knee |
| C．The ankle | D．The hand |
How many women climbers in American got injured while climbing a rock between 1991 and 2012 ？
| A．About 40,000 | B．About 30,000 |
| C．About 20,000 | D．About 10,000 |
The severity of climbers’ fall-related injures is mainly related to ______.
| A．the height of the fall. |
| B．the climber’s age. |
| C．the climber’s health condition |
| D．the climber’s climbing experience. |
The underlined word “demonstrates” in the last paragraph can be replaced by ________.
| A．denies | B．proves |
| C．prevents | D．describes |
A growing number of American homes are keeping African pygmy hedgehogs(刺猬) as pets. Hers are some questions and answers about the small animals whose backs and sides are covered with about 6,000 quills. Their quills are short, but hard and sharp.
Where do they come from?
The breed is a hybrid (杂种) of the four-toed hedgehog or African white-bellied hedgehog and the Algerian hedgehog. Its natural habitat is central, eastern and southern Africa. It now breaks the law to bring them into the United States.
An adult African pygmy hedgehog is 6 to 11 inches long and weighs 1 to 2 pounds. A relaxed one is generally oval (椭圆的) , with a very short tail and short limbs that keep the body close to the ground . When threatened or frightened, it rolls into a ball and forces its quills out in all directions. Female hedgehogs are a bit larger than the male ones. The face and the underside are covered with soft and white fur.
What do they eat?
In the wild, the hedgehog feeds mainly on insects. It also eats earthworms, snails and slugs, as well as small snakes and frogs. Pet owners feed cat food to hedgehogs that are kept at home by them.
How many babies can a mother hedgehog give birth to one time?
After hedgehogs get pregnant, it just takes about 35 days for them to give birth. Hedgehogs are born in babies of 2 to 10, each having white quills that do not injure the mother during birth. The US Department of Agriculture requires anyone breeding at least three hedgehogs to get a license.Paragraph 1 shows that keeping African pygmy hedgehogs as pets____.
| A．is very exciting but dangerous for pet owners |
| B．is becoming more and more popular in the US |
| C．is causing more and more troubles for pet owners |
| D．is the most popular with people in the United States |
What do we know about African pygmy hedgehogs?
| A．They usually live in eastern and northern Africa. |
| B．They like rolling away when threatened or frightened. |
| C．They are usually 6 inches long when they are born. |
| D．They are a new breed by two kinds of hedge-hogs. |
Which of the following can be used as the second subtitle?
| A．What do they look like? |
| B．How much do they weigh? |
| C．How long are their bodies? |
| D．How do they protect themselves? |
When African pygmy hedgehogs are born, they probably____.
| A．often influence their mother’s life |
| B．have very soft white quills |
| C．can look for insects within days |
| D．often become food of small snakes |
I was born into a family of five children. As the youngest child, I didn’t have many new clothes. Though my parents worked very hard, we could hardly make ends meet. The only time we would receive new clothes was at Christmas.
The family across the street lived a much better life. They just had two daughters and they were often seen wearing new dresses. The younger girl named Anna was of my age. One afternoon, she walked on the street wearing a beautiful white dress. She looked like an angel in that dress. I, together with many little girls, followed her. We just couldn’t keep our eyes off her dress. We all wished we would have such a dress one day!
That day, after coming back, I told my mom that I wanted a dress like that. My mom frowned(皱眉) she thought such a beautiful dress like that must cost an arm and a leg, but my mom kept that in mind. She worked five days a week at that time, but when Christmas was getting close, she worked even on every Saturday.
However, several days before Christmas, I changed my mind. It was Anna’s birthday that day and I was invited to her home with some other girls. After that party, I asked if I could try on her white dress. “Of course,” she said, “and you can take it if you like it.” I couldn’t believe my ears. How could she give such a beautiful dress to someone else? After trying it on, I knew why.
The dress looked beautiful, but it was uncomfortable to wear. As a matter of fact, my back was quite itchy(痒的) after I put it on. From that day on, I stopped admiring what others had. They may not be as good aswe think.When the writer was a little girl, she.
| A．couldn’t get whatever she liked |
| B．couldn’t see her parents at all |
| C．didn’t like new clothes |
| D．didn’t like Christmas that much |
When the other girls saw Anna’s dress, they thought it.
| A．too little | B．very cheap |
| C．very beautiful | D．very comfortable |
The writer’s mother started working on very Saturday because she.
| A．wanted to buy a new dress for herself |
| B．had to buy all her children expensive gifts |
| C．prepared herself for the busiest Christmas. |
| D．wanted to buy the dress the writer wanted |
From the passage, we learn that.
| A．there are always kind-hearted people around us |
| B．what others have may not be as good as we think |
| C．we should give what we no longer need to others |
| D．we can get what we want if we try hard enough |
For generations here in the deepest South, there had been a great taboo（禁忌）: publicly crossing the color line for love．Less than 45 years ago, marriage between blacks and whites was illegal, and it has been forbidden for much of the time since．
So when a great job about an hour’s drive north of the Gulf Coast attracted him, Jeffrey Norwood, a black college basketball coach, had reservations．He was in a serious relationship with a woman who was white and Asian．
“You’re thinking about a life in South Mississippi?” his father said in a skeptical voice, recalling days when a black man could face mortal（致命的） danger just being seen with a woman of another race, regardless of intentions．"Are you sure?"
But on visits to Hattiesburg, the younger Mr. Norwood said he liked what he saw: growing diversity．So he moved, married, and, with his wife, had a baby girl, who was counted on the last census（人口普查） as black, white and Asian．Taylor Rae Norwood, three, is one of thousands of mixed-race children who have made this state home to one of the nation's most rapidly expanding multiracial populations, up 70 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to new data from the Census Bureau．
In the first comprehensive accounting of multiracial Americans since statistics were first collected about them in 2000, reporting from the 2010 census, made public in recent days, shows that the nation’s mixed-race population is growing far more quickly than many researchers had estimated, particularly in the South and parts of the Midwest．That conclusion is based on the bureau’s analysis of 42 states; the data from the remaining eight states will be released soon．
In North Carolina, the mixed-race population doubled．In Georgia, it grew by more than 80 percent, and by nearly as much in Kentucky and Tennessee．In Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, the multiracial population increased by about 70percent．
Census officials estimated the national multiracial growth rate was about 35 percent since2000 according to the known result, when seven million people ----- 2．4 percent of the population chose more than one race．If a black man married a white woman 50years ago, the worst result was that _____．
| A．he was sentenced to death |
| B．he was considered to be immoral |
| C．he was criticized by the public |
| D．he was treated as a lawbreaker |
The underlined word “serious” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “____”．
| A．stable | B．bad | C．mixed | D．dangerous |
What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
| A．Jeffrey Norwood was born in Hattiesburg and grew up there． |
| B．Taylor Rae Norwood’s mother is a white-Asian． |
| C．70 percent of the people in Mississippi are multiracial． |
| D．Mississippi has the largest multiracial population in the US． |
Which of the following states had the fastest growth rate of mixed-race population?
| A．Georgia． | B．Tennessee． |
| C．North Carolina． | D．South Dakota． |