It was one of the happiest times of my life. I was 29 and had just received my bachelor’s degree, graduating with honors despite working two jobs and being a wife and mother. My parents and five-year-old son were in the audience when I walked onto the stage at Ashland University to get my diploma. I was so excited and proud to be starting a teaching career and contributing more to my family’s well-being.
But when I got home that evening, there was a note from my husband written on the back of an envelope. It basically said he had come to get his clothes and wouldn’t be back. We’d been having trouble, but the finality of that note still came as a shock. He had emptied our bank account. We were horribly in debt. I had quit my previous jobs in expectation of interviewing for a teaching position. Plus, I was eight months pregnant.
I had my son, and I was about to bring a new life into the world, so despite my deep sadness, I had to go on. The next morning, I woke up, put my feet on the floor, took a deep breath, fixed breakfast, and basically did everything I always did. I used my routine to keep me moving. After being in the military for six years, I guess you can say I relied on my training, like all good soldiers do in tough situations. One small step after one small step was the way I bounced back(恢复原状).
And in the seven years since, I’ve continued moving forward. I got a job as a kindergarten teacher, earned a master’s degree in education, and watched my babies grow to twelve and seven. I certainly would never have chosen to put them through this, but looking back, I’m glad it happened to me when it did. It helped me find my voice and myself a lot sooner. It helped me grow independent, confident, and strong—things I’m hopefully instilling(灌输) now in my children.After getting her bachelor’s degree, the author expected to ________.
| A．become a teacher | B．be a wife and mother |
| C．work two jobs | D．get divorced |
What do we know about the author from Paragraph 2?
| A．Her husband wrote a note to congratulate her on her graduation. |
| B．She had just been to a job interview when her husband left her. |
| C．Her husband paid off all the debts from the bank. |
| D．She was going to have another baby soon. |
The author’s hardships in life made her ________.
| A．become confident and independent |
| B．work harder in the kindergarten |
| C．use her routine to move forward |
| D．feel pleased with what happened to her |
It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
| A．The author’s parents helped her a lot |
| B．The author received further education later |
| C．The author earned a master’s degree when she was 29 |
| D．The author didn’t know how to deal with marriage |
What helped the author to pull through her hard time?
| A．The divorce with her husband. |
| B．Her fellow soldiers in the army. |
| C．Her decision to find a new job. |
| D．A strong mind and love for her kids. |
We know that many animals do not stay in one place.Birds,fish and other animals move from one place to another at a certain time.They move for different reasons:most of them move to find food more easily,but others move to get away from places that are too crowded.
When cold weather comes,many birds move to warmer places to find food.Some fishes give birth in warm water and move to cold water to feed.The most famous migration（迁移）is probably the migration of fish,which is called “Salmon”.This fish is born in fresh water but it travels many miles to salt water.There it spends its life.When it is old,it returns to its birthplace in fresh water.Then it gives birth and dies there.In northern Europe,there is a kind of mouse.They leave their mountain homes when they become too crowded.They move down to the low land.Sometimes they move all the way to the seaside,and many of them are killed when they fall into the sea.
Recently,scientists have studied the migration of a kind of lobster（龙虾）.Every year,when the season of bad weather arrives,the lobsters get into a long time and start to walk across the floor of the ocean.Nobody knows why they do this,and nobody knows where they go.
So,sometimes we know why humans and animals move from one place to another,but at other times we don’t.Maybe living things just like to travel.Most animals move from one place to another at a certain time to _________.
| A．give birth | B．enjoy warmer water |
| C．find food more easily | D．find beautiful places |
The mice in northern Europe move when _________.
| A．they give birth | B．the weather is bad |
| C．the place gets too crowded | D．they haven’t enough food |
The lobsters move _________.
| A．to the fresh water | B．to the deeper sea |
| C．at a certain time | D．to find more food |
Watch a baby between six and nine months old,and you will observe the basic idea of geometry（几何学）being learned.Once the baby has mastered the idea that space is three dimensional（空间的）,it reaches out and begins grasping various things,that the ideas of sets and numbers are formed.So far,so good.But now an ominous development takes place.The nerver fibers in the brain separate themselves in such a way that the baby begins to hear sounds very exactly.Soon it picks up language.And it is then brought into direct communication with grown-ups.From this point on,it is usually downhill all the way for mathematics,because the child now becomes exposed to all the rubbish words and beliefs of the born.Nature,having done very well by the child to this point,having permitted it the luxury（奢侈）of thinking for itself for eighteen months,now gives it up to the unreasonable conventions（惯例）and beliefs of society.But at least the child knows something of geometry and peaceful days,no matter what vicissitudes（兴衰变迁）it may suffer later on.The main reservoir of mathematical ability in any society is thus possessed by children who are about two years old,children who have just learned to speak freely.What does the passage mainly discuss?
| A．The impact（影响）of language on mathematics. |
| B．Children’s ability to learn languages. |
| C．How basic ideas of physics are learned? |
| D．Maths-learning strategies（策略）for babies. |
According to the passage,which of the following activities would teach a baby about geometry?
| A．Picking up a wooden block. | B．Recognizing the number 2. |
| C．Saying a rubbish word. | D．Looking at a distant word. |
Which of the following conclusions is true according to the writer?
| A．The language ideas used in early education interrupt mathematical reasoning. |
| B．It is hopeless to try to teach children mathematics after the age of two. |
| C．Language teaching should join some mathematical formulas（公式）. |
| D．Preschool education should emphasize society’s beliefs and conventions. |
Healthy knees aren’t the main consideration in choosing high heels,but new research says chunky heels are just as bad for the knees as spindly stilettos（细高跟鞋）.“It takes a long time to feel the effects of knee osteoarthritis（骨关节炎）—and once you do it,it is too late,”said Dr.Casey Kerrigan,leading researcher of the study and associate professor at Harvard Medical School’s department of physical medicine.“I compare it to smoking—one cigarette is not painful,but over a lifetime it is.Wide-heeled shoes feel comfortable,so women wear them all day long,”Kerrigan said.“They are better for your feet than stiletto heels,but just as bad for your knees.”
In the study,researchers had twenty women wear two pairs of shoes with three-inch heels,one with a narrow heel and the other with a thick one.The scientists compared how much pressure was put on the women’s knees by both types of shoes.The women also walked bare-foot to test normal pressure.The scientists found that both types of shoes applied equal amounts of pressure to the knees.Compared with walking barefoot,the heels increased pressure on the inside of the knee by 26 percent.Increased pressure on the knee eventually leads to arthritis,experts say.
The idea that high heels are bad for your health isn’t new—scientists have warned women for years that they contribute to problems ranging from corns to hammer toes,tendonitis,knee pain,sprained(扭伤)ankles and back problems.But in 1998,Kerrigan and a team of Harvard researchers were the first to link high heels and knee osteoarthritis,a painful joint disease that destroys cartilage(软骨)surrounding the knee.The first study looked only at stiletto heels,and Kerrigan said she wanted to study the chunky high-heeled shoes she noticed many women wearing.“This study confirms what we all intuitively（直觉地）know that high-heeled shoes of any kind are not good for our health,”said Dr.Glem Pfeffer,a San Francisco doctor and member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons who was not connected to the study.We learn from the passage that women choose chunky heels because _________.
| A．they want to walk comfortably |
| B．chunky heeled shoes are cheaper than stiletto heeled pairs |
| C．chunky heels do less harm to knees |
| D．chunky heels are not painful at all |
The study mentioned in the second paragraph found that _________.
| A．pressure on the foot is caused by high heels |
| B．the pressure is abnormal while walking barefoot |
| C．arthritis is always caused by pressure on the knees |
| D．both types of shoes have the same harm to the knees |
It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
| A．people got to know the high heels are bad for health recently |
| B．people have known the high heels are bad for health for years |
| C．people haven’t known the high heels are bad for health yet |
| D．people will be warned that the high heels are bad for health soon |
Kerrigan’s late study looked at the chunky high-heeled shoes because _________.
| A．they feel more comfortable |
| B．they are related to knee osteoarthritis |
| C．they are worn by many women |
| D．they are different from stiletto heels |
The best title for the passage may be _________.
| A．Talking Healthy Knees into Consideration |
| B．High-heels Do Harm to Knees |
| C．Chunky Heels and Stiletto Heels |
| D．When Wearing High-heels |
More than 12 300 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless after a powerful undersea earthquake unleashed giant tsunami waves that crashed into the coasts of south and southeast Asia.
The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra early on Sunday was the biggest in 40 years.It triggered waves that reared up into walls of water as high as 10 meters(30 feet) as they hit coastlines in Indonesia,Sri Lanka,India and Thailand.
Aid agencies rushed staff,equipment and money to the region,warning that bodies rotting in the water were already beginning to threaten the water supply for survivors.
Rescue workers also spoke of bodies still caught up on trees after being flung inland by the waves.
“I just couldn’t believe what was happening before my eyes,”Boree Carlson said from a hotel in the Thai resort of Phuket.
“As I was standing there,a car actually floated into the lobby and overturned because the current was so strong,”said the 45-year-old Swede.
“I heard an eerie sound that I have never heard before.It was a high pitched sound followed by a deafening roar,”said a 55-year-old Indian fisherman who gave his name as Chellappa.
“I told everyone to run for their life.”
In Indonesia,an archipelago of 17 000 islands,one official said nearly 4500 people had died.The worst affected area was Bands Aceh,the capital of Aceh Province,where 3000 were killed.More than 200 prisoners escaped from a jail when the tsunami knocked down its walls.In Sri Lanka（斯里兰卡）,the death toll also reached 4500 and 1 million people,or 5 percent of its population,were affected.It was the worst natural disaster to hit Sri Lanka.Hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans sheltered in schools and temples overnight,and officials expected the death toll to rise further once rescuers resumed searches after daybreak.In southern India,where at least 3000 were estimated to have died,beaches were littered with submerged cars and wrecked boats.Shanties on the coast were under water.
Thai government officials said at least 392 bodies had been retrieved and they expected the final toll to approach 1000.
The earthquake,of magnitude 8.9 as measured by the U.S. Geological Survery (news-web sites),struck at 7:59 a.m.(1959EST).It was the world’s biggest since 1964,said Julie Martinez at the USGS(news-web sites).
The tsunami was so powerful it smashed boast and flooded areas along the east African coast,3728 miles away.What does the underlined word “tsunami” probably mean?
| A．Tidal wave. | B．Wave. |
| C．Earthquake. | D．A man who kills many persons. |
What does the passage mainly talk about？
| A．Asian tsunami kills many people,and many more become homeless. |
| B．An earthquake happens. |
| C．The tsunami was so powerful that it smashed boats and people. |
| D．It was the biggest earthquake in 40 years. |
The sea waves hit coastlines in _________.
| A．Indonesia | B．Sri Lanka | C．India and Thailand | D．All of above |
Picasso,the famous Spanish painter,was born in 1881.His father was an art teacher.Picasso began to paint very early.He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Art at the age of 15.After 1900,he spent much time in Paris,living there to 1947,then he moved to the south of France.
Throughout his career,Picasso moved from style to style with ease.He practised sculpture illustrated books and also showed great interest in pottery design and other fields of art.
Picasso produced a great number of drawngs in his life.No later artist of the school of Paris has replaced him in international influence.
Picasso is generally considered to be the foremost figure in the 20th century French art.His paintings are now exhibited in leading European and American galleries.The main idea of the passage is_________.
| A．Picasso is considered to be the foremost figure in the 20th century French art |
| B．Picasso is a famous Spanish painter |
| C．Picasso spent much time in Paris,living there from 1940 to 1947 |
| D．Picasso’s life and art |
How long did he stay in Spain and France?
| A．15 years in Spain and 43 years in Paris. |
| B．15 years in Spain and the rest of life in Paris. |
| C．Over 19 years in Spain and the rest of life in Paris. |
| D．He didn’t stay so long in Paris. |
Picasso moved from style to style with ease.It seems _________.
| A．he did not like only one style |
| B．he changed his style without difficulty |
| C．he not only liked sculpture,but also liked pottery design |
| D．he showed great interest in other fields of art |
His paintings are now exhibited in leading European and American galleries,because _________.
| A．he was a Spanish artist |
| B．he was a French artist |
| C．he was famous in French art |
| D．he produced a great many wonderful drawings in different styles |