Being beautiful means a lot to teenage girls. Once it did to me too. I was the vainest person in the world, but that all changed one December night.
It was a Thursday, and I was getting ready for the wrestling tournament the following day. I was so excited; it was going to be my first tournament as a cheerleader. I walked past the mirror and stopped to check my appearance. I noticed my eyebrows were a little bushy, and that’s when my vanity kicked in. The brows could be easily fixed with the waxing kit I had purchased. I put the jar of wax in the microwave. But instead of heating the wax for 30 seconds, I pressed too many zeros and heated it for three minutes. As I reached for the jar, I dropped it, spilling it all over myself.
My mother came running when she heard my screams. The hot wax was rolling down my face and arm. My mom took a wet washcloth and tried to wash the wax off my face. This proved to be a bad idea, because the wax was honey based, and it pulled my skin off with the wax.
The 15-mile drive to the emergency room seemed to take hours. When we finally arrived, the nurse didn’t waste any time. They took me straight to a doctor and gave me extra-strength painkillers, so my mind was in confusion. The doctor explained how severe my burns really were: my arm was a combination of first-, second- and third-degree burns, and needed to stay bandaged. My face was first- and second-degree burns. If the wax had gotten any closer to my right eye, I would have lost my sight. I was covered in multi-colored “goop(药膏)”, wrapped, and sent home to recover.
I got up the next morning and the first thing I wanted to do was wash off the remaining wax. I unwrapped the bandages and “degooped”, letting warm water gently remove the rest of the wax. The next step was to do a self-evaluation of the damage. I couldn’t believe how horrible I looked. A horror-movie monster stared back at me from the mirror. All I could think was, my life is over. For someone as vain as me, this was very true. I thought I was going to be horribly disfigured(毁容的)for the rest of my life! All I could do was cry.
My mom made it worse by forcing me to go out in public. She dragged me to the grocery store and wherever else she felt like taking me. Everywhere we went, people had a million questions, none of which I wanted to answer. Then my mom declared she was going to put me through even more torture—I had to go to school on Monday. School only led to more questions from more people.
Now, two years later, my wounds have healed, leaving a few scars. I still feel self-conscious if I don’t wear make-up, and I’ve discovered that three-quarter length sleeves are wonderful for covering the scars on my arm.
After spending several months adjusting to this injury, I realized how vain I was. I had made beauty important, but it never was or will ever be that important. It took this event to teach me that no matter how much you change on the outside, you’re still the same person on the inside. After the accident, the writer has come to realize that ________.
| A．teenage girls care too much about their appearance |
| B．loving beauty will necessarily make one disfigured |
| C．we can never judge a person merely by one’s looks |
| D．sometimes being beautiful can cost you something |
Which of the four statements is a fact?
| A．The severe damage to her sight and face weren’t recovered. |
| B．The mother wished the writer to face her misfortune bravely. |
| C．From the lesson we conclude that “once bitten, twice frightened”. |
| D．The severe burns were caused by her mother’s lack of first-aid. |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph is closest to ________.
| A．beauty is not everything | B．a student shall not make up |
| C．beauty is not important | D．loving beauty will spoil you |
The author develops her composition by ________.
| A．offering accurate facts | B．giving contrast and comparison |
| C．using logical arguments | D．representing own experiences |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．The Price of Vanity | B．An Unexpected Ending |
| C．A Disfigured Girl | D．Beauty Ruins Everything |
When Mr. David retired（退休）,he bought a small house in a village near the sea. He liked it and hoped to live a quiet life in it.
But to his great surprise, many tourists came to see his house in summer holidays, for it was the most interesting building in the village. From morning to night there were tourists outside the house. They kept looking into the rooms through the windows and many of them even went into Mr. David’s garden. This was too much for Mr. David. He decided to drive the visitors away. So he put a notice on the window. The notice said: “If you want to satisfy your curiosity（好奇心）, came in and look round. Price: twenty dollars.” Mr. David was sure that the visitors would stop coming, but he was wrong. More and more visitors came and Mr. David had to spend every day showing them around his house. “I came here to retire, not to work as a guide（导游）.” he said angrily. In the end, he sold the house and moved away.Mr. David’s house wasthat many tourists came to see it.
| A．so small | B．so quiet | C．so interesting | D．such interesting |
Mr. David put a notice on the window in order .
| A．to drive the visitors away |
| B．to satisfy the visitor’s curiosity |
| C．to let visitors come in and look round |
| D．to get some money out of the visitors |
The notice made the visitors .
| A．more interested in his house |
| B．lost interest in his house |
| C．angry at the unfair price |
| D．feel happy about the price |
After Mr. David put up the notice , .
| A．the visitors didn’t come any longer |
| B．fewer and fewer visitors came to see his house |
| C．more and more tourists came for a visit |
| D．no tourist would pay the money for a visit |
Roger Conner is a modern-day Horatio Alger hero. Roger started out as an unpaid worker in a small flower shop. He has become the owner of a florist company whose sales are well over $100 000 a year.
One day when Roger was only twelve, he stopped at a local flower shop. He asked the owner if he could work for him, without pay, in order to learn the business. Roger started working every day after school and on weekends. After two years on the job, he finally asked for a small salary. The owners told him he “wasn't good enough to be paid.” So he quit, and found a paying job at another local flower shop. He worked hard there, but after six months they laid him off because business was slow.
Not discouraged, Roger decided to do it alone and started his own flower store in a basement in his town. He started his business with only sixty-five dollars. He bought old refrigerators at garage sales and knocked the shelves out. This turned them into coolers for his fresh-cut flowers. His business grew rapidly as he built up a reputation for top quality and fine service.
In 1977, Roger bought out the flower store where he had worked without pay for over two years. The people who said he “wasn’t good enough to be paid” were astonished to find that they were being taken over by a teenager. He had plans to renovate (振兴) the whole store.
One of the reasons the owners sold out to Roger was that the store wasn't doing well. But after Roger took over ownership and redid the store, business started booming. In fact, business was so good that after one year, he celebrated by buying out the other store where he had worked. Roger then combined both stores and moved to a location in the center of his town.
The new store has 2 000 square feet and seven employees. And he did it all before he reached the age of twenty.The author is wants to show us that people who want to succeed in business should ________.
| A．work without pay |
| B．own a flower shop |
| C．work hard and never give up |
| D．work as teenagers |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．He worked for two years without pay. |
| B．He needed luck to be successful. |
| C．He opened his first flower business in a basement. |
| D．He became successful before the age of twenty. |
The passage may be a ________.
| A．newspaper report | B．humorous story |
| C．television play | D．scientific story |
The underlined part in Paragraph 2 probably means ________.
| A．employed him |
| B．didn’t let him work there |
| C．paid him money |
| D．were proud of him |
From the passage, a “Horatio Alger hero” may be the kind of person who________.
| A．works hard in the flower business |
| B．was born into a rich family |
| C．starts out poor and becomes rich |
| D．becomes famous as a result of good luck |
Electronic books have changed the way many people read for pleasure. Now online textbooks are changing the way some students learn and some teachers teach.
More than one hundred seventy-five thousand students attend the public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington. Last year, the school system used digital books in fifteen schools. This school year, middle schools and high schools changed from printed to electronic textbooks in their social studies classes.
Luke Rosa is a history teacher at Falls Church High School. His students work on laptop computers at school. He explains the idea to them this way. “I mean, it’s just like a regular textbook, except it’s got it all online.”
Peter Noonan, an assistant superintendent (助理监督) of schools, said, “The world’s changing. And the online textbooks can change right along with the events that are happening.” Digital books also cost less than printed textbooks, he said.
A student named Melanie Reuter said, “I don’t have to carry a textbook around, so that’s nice.”
But another student said, “I don’t like it because the Internet sometimes doesn’t work.”
Students also need access to the Internet when they are not at school. About ten percent of students in Fairfax Country do not have a computer or online access at home. Public libraries in the country have free Internet. There are also after-school computer labs as well as computer clubhouse supported by the country. Middle school student Slieman Hakim is happy about that. He said, “My family only has one computer; my sister and I both do our homework on it. So I come here to do my homework. It’s good.”
Other school systems in the area are also considering online textbooks. Which of the following is /are NOT used when students have social studies classes?
| A．Paper textbooks. | B．The Internet. |
| C．Computers. | D．Electronic textbooks. |
According to the passage, one of the disadvantages of digital textbooks is that_________.
| A．they are more expensive |
| B．they can’t be used if the computer is offline |
| C．they’re soon out of date |
| D．reading online does harm to the students’ eyes |
Why does Slieman Hakim feel happy?
| A．He is offered a free computer to do his homework. |
| B．He doesn’t have to do his homework at home. |
| C．He has access to the Internet to study at any place. |
| D．He needn’t share a computer with his sister to do homework. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The lessons online are completely different from those in paper textbooks. |
| B．Digital textbooks are more beautiful than paper textbooks. |
| C．All students like digital textbooks because they are new. |
| D．Students can do their homework in the computer clubhouses. |
The passage aims to ________.
| A．report the use of electronic textbooks in school |
| B．show how to use electronic textbooks |
| C．encourage more schools to use electronic textbooks |
| D．tell readers electronic textbooks will replace regular textbooks |
I have always really loved receiving my monthly pocket money form my dad. After getting the money I would be very excited and would rush off to my friend’s place where after much consideration we would decide what to do with it and where to spend it. Mostly it would go for the ice cream treats（请客；款待） or jam sessions with our favorite people around. Girls will manage to find some way of budgeting so the money we save can be used for other purposes.
I think that the best way to enjoy your pocket money would be to enjoy those treats that come occasionally. Since just mere pocket money would be not enough, many girls are doing a part time job of some form so that a larger amount of money can be collected. The best use of pocket money is to spend it in such a way that it involves lots of fun with your closest friends. Those treats are no fun if done alone. Company, especially good company can work wonders for providing you the best relaxation that you need. It is also best to spend your pocket money on things that otherwise parents end up refusing. When you use your pocket money to get this sense of achievement you will just feel so crazily happy.
I remember the time when a friend and I were just so tired of our everyday monotonous life that we decided to go out, have some great food and then head out to the beach and have those lovely grape and mango ice-creams. And we did exactly that. That day has just been one of the most refreshing days of my life. I think the true meaning of pocket money is to be able to maximize your fun at a minimal cost!The writer thinks he can get greatest fun from pocket money by ________,.
| A．spending it alone | B．treating good friends |
| C．travelling for fun | D．buying ice creams |
We can tell from Paragraph 1 that ________.
| A．the writer didn’t know where to spend his pocket money |
| B．girls used pocket money to buy ice creams |
| C．the writer got pocket money from his dad yearly |
| D．boys and girls may spend pocket money in different ways |
What does the underlined phrase “monotonous” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．exciting. | B．Boring. | C．Wonderful. | D．Colorful. |
We can know from the passage that ________.
| A．children can’t spend our pocket money wisely |
| B．there would be no fun without pocket money |
| C．childhood happiness mainly comes from pocket money |
| D．we can enjoy ourselves with a little pocket money |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．How to get much pocket money |
| B．Save pocket money as much as possible |
| C．Pocket money brings great fun |
| D．Pocket money means everything |
French novelist Jules Verne (1828—1905) is often called the father of science fiction. Although he was not a great traveler himself, his characters travelled to the moon (in From the Earth to the Moon), under the sea (in Twenty thousand leagues under the sea), into a volcano (in A journey to the centre of the earth), around the world (in Around the World in Eighty Days) and to many other places.
Jules Verne was born in the French city of Nantes in 1828. When he was a boy he ran away from home to work on a ship. However, his father soon found him and brought him home. After that he decided that any future travel he did would be in books. In 1847 his father sent Jules to Paris to study to be a lawyer. Even though he was busy writing, Verne passed his exams in 1849 with high marks.
When Jules told his father he did not want to be a lawyer, his father was very angry. He stopped sending his son any money, so Jules had to earn a living by his writing. Over the next few years he wrote many stories and plays, which brought him only a little money. Then, in 1856, he met Honorine de Viane, a rich, young widow with two children. The couple married the next year.
After his marriage, Verne worked as a businessman in Paris. However, he was not very successful at his job and spent most of his time writing books and doing research for the next one. In 1863 he published his novel Five Weeks in a balloon and the following year he published A Journey to the centre of the earth which made him famous. His books became so popular and earned him so much money that he was able to leave his job and work full time on his writing.
In his Lifetime, Jules Verne wrote more than 50 books and he became a rich man. Many of this imaginative novels have been turned into films. When Jules Verne was brought home by his father, he decided that ________.
| A．he would devote himself to writing |
| B．he would go on more travels in the future |
| C．he would stop writing about future travels |
| D．he would do what his father required |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．He was not good at his schoolwork. |
| B．He went to Paris because he wanted to be a lawyer. |
| C．His early stories and plays didn’t bring in much money. |
| D．He got married in 1856. |
Jules Verne became rich mainly because of his ________.
| A．family | B．marriage | C．business | D．writing |
Which book can be considered as a turning point in Jules Verne’s life?
A. From the Earth to the Moon.
B. Five Weeks in a Balloon.
C. A Journey to the Center of the Earth.
D. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.Which can we infer from the passage?
| A．Jules Verne’s stories and plays were liked by film makers. |
| B．Jules Verne was not clever enough to learn law. |
| C．Jules Verne’s wife helped him a lot in his writing career. |
| D．Jules Verne’s stories and plays made him famous in the 1850s. |