How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and the old wishing they were young again! Each age has its pleasure and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting any time in useless regrets.
Children is a time when there are few duties to make life hard. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after, and loved whatever he may do. It’s impossible for him to be given so much again in his life without having to do anything in return. Besides, life is always giving new things to the child. A child finds pleasure in playing in the rain, or in the snow. His first visit to the seaside makes him wild. But a child has his pains; he is not so free to do as he wishes. He is continually being told not to do this, not to do that, or being punished for what he has done wrong. His life is therefore not perfectly happy.
When the young man starts to make his own living, he becomes free from the rules of school and parents; but at the time he is forced to accept duties. He can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes and his room, but has to work for them if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry and suffer. And if he breaks the law of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison, lf, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble, and has good health, he can have the great happiness of seeing himself make steady progress in his job and of building up his own position in society and enjoy success and good reputation..
Old age has always been thought of as the worst age to be, but it is not necessary for the old to be unhappy. Old age has its own happiness. They can have the joy of seeing their children making progress in life; they can watch their grandchildren growing up around them and, perhaps, best of all, they can, if their life has been a useful one, feel the happiness of having come through the battle of life safely and of having reached a time when they can lie back and rest, leaving others to continue the fight.The main reason children wish they were grown up, and the old wish they were young again is that ______.
| A．both aren’t satisfied with the weak points at their ages |
| B．both enjoy the strong points at the other age by looking back or looking forward |
| C．the human beings should be like this |
| D．they don’t think both ages are acceptable |
“Enjoy what each age gives him without wasting time in useless regrets” means ______.
| A．Enjoy what is given to him by people at his age, feeling regrets |
| B．Enjoy himself at his own age, feeling regrets for a waste of time |
| C．Make full use of the time he is given at his age instead of regretting having no achievements |
| D．Enjoy his own age and look down on the people at other ages |
“Children is a time when there are few duties to make life hard” means “______”.
| A．Children shouldn’t be made to live a hard life |
| B．All the children won’t have to work for their own living |
| C．Children shouldn’t answer for the hard life they are leading |
| D．A child bas few duties to try hard to make a living for himself or for his seniors |
According to the passage, what is a child’s greatest dissatisfaction?
| A．He thinks he has not got the equal freedom as his seniors. |
| B．He thinks he knows less about things than the older do. |
| C．He thinks it easy for him to do something wrong. |
| D．He thinks the society doesn’t believe in him. |
Holidays
| Holiday News Vacancies(空位) now and in the school holidays at a country hotel in Devon. This comfortable, friendly home-from-home lies near the beautiful quiet countryside, but just a drive away from the sea. The food is simple but good. Children and pets are welcome. Reduced prices for low season. |
| The snowdonia Centre The Snowdonia Centre for young mountain climbers has a mountain climbing lesson. The beginners’ costs are ￡57 for a week, including food and rooms. Equipment is included except walking shoes, which can be hired at a low cost. You must be in good health and prepared to go through a period of body exercises. This could be the beginning of a lifetime of mountain climbing adventure. |
| The World Sea Trip of a Lifetime Our World Sea Trip of 2008 will be unlike any holiday you have ever been on before. Instead of one hotel after another, with all its packing and unpacking, waiting and traveling, you just go to bed in one country and wake up in another. On board the ship, you will be well taken care of. Every meal will be first-class and every cabin like your home. During the trip, you can rest on deck(甲板), enjoy yourself in the games rooms and in the evening dance to our musical team and watch our wonderful play. You will visit all the places most people only dream about — from Acapulco and Hawaii to Tokoy and Hong Kong. For a few thousand pounds, all you’ve ever hoped for can be yours. |
What can you do if you like to go on holidays with pets?
| A．Choose the holiday in Devon. | B．Go to the Snowdonia Centre. |
| C．Join the World Sea Trip of 2008. | D．Visit Acapulco and Hawaii. |
In what way is the Snowdonia Centre different from the other two holidays?
| A．It provides chances of family gatherings. |
| B．It provides customers with good food. |
| C．It offers a sports lesson. |
| D．It offers comfortable rooms. |
What is special about the World Sea Trip of 2008?
| A．You can have free meals on deck every day. |
| B．You can sleep on a ship and tour many places. |
| C．You will have chances to watch and act in a play. |
| D．You have to do your own packing and unpacking. |
The Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings, has been recreated with 3,604 cups of coffee—and 564 pints of milk. The different colors were created by adding no, little or lots of milk to each cup of black coffee.
The recreated Mona Lisa measured 20 feet long and 13 feet wide. It took a team of eight people three hours to complete the work. It was created for The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia, and seen by 130,000 people who attended the one-day coffee-lovers event.
Elaine Kelly, one of the organizers from the Sydney Harbor Foreshore Authority, was delighted with the result. She said, “Each coffee cup was filled with varying amounts of milk to create the different shades(色度) of the painting. We wanted to create an element of surprise and a sense of fun in the way we communicated with the public.”
“Once we had the idea of creating an image(像) out of coffee cups we searched for something iconic（有代表性的）to reproduce(复制).And after some time we chose the most iconic painting in history. The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee,” Kelly continued. “Besides, the idea is practical.”
“It was fantastic. It really looked like the famous painting—the Mona Lisa. It was wonderful,” said one visitor.
After much planning it was great to see it coming together so well and the 130,000 people who attended the event certainly enjoyed it and were deeply attracted by it,” said Kelly.How were the different colors of the recreated Moma Lisa created?
| A．By adding different amounts of black coffee to each cup of milk. |
| B．By adding different amounts of milk to each cup of black coffee. |
| C．By using paints of different colors |
| D．By using different kinds of coffee |
How large is the recreated Mona Lisa?
| A．20 square feet | B．260 square feet |
| C．564 square feet | D．3,604 square feet |
The people who saw the recreated Mona Lisa are all_______ lovers.
| A．Mona Lisa | B．milk | C．coffee | D．painting |
The event organizers chose to recreate the Mona Lisa for the following reasons EXCEPT that _________ .
| A．the Mona Lisa is a very iconic painting in history |
| B．the Mona Lisa has never been reproduced out of coffee |
| C．the idea can be actually carried out |
| D．it is very easy to do so |
Among the four skills in learning English ,which of these is the “Odd-Man-Out”?The answer is speaking. The other three you can do alone on your own. But you can't really speak alone! Speaking to yourself can be “dangerous” because men in white coats may come and take you away!
Where can you find people to speak English? And how can you practise speaking when you are alone?At school if you pay to go to a language school ,you should use the chance to speak .If your teacher asks you to speak in pairs or groups with other students ,try to say as much as possible. Don't worry about your mistakes. Just speak!
Conversation Clubs Many cities around the world have conversation clubs where people can exchange one language for another .Look in your local newspaper to find a conversation club near you .They are usually free although some may charge a small entrance fee.
Shopping Even if you don't want to buy anything ,you can ask questions about products that interest you in a shop.“How much does this cost?” “Can I pay by cheque?” Often you can start a real conversation—and it costs you nothing!
Cafe and Bars There are often American, Britain, Irish and Australian bars in many large cities .If you can find one, you'll probably meet many people speaking English as a first or second language.
Language is all around you Everywhere you go, you find language .Shop names, street names ,advertisements ,notices ,and car numbers....When you walk down the street ,practise reading the words and numbers that you see .Say them to yourself .It's not exactly a conversation ,but it will help you to “think” in English .But don't speak too loud!
Songs and Video Repeat the words of an English-language song singing with the music until it becomes automatic. It's good practice for your memory and for the mouth muscles that you need for English.
Above all ,speak as much as possible! Make as many mistakes as possible! When you know that you have made a mistake, you know that you have made progress!What does “Odd-Man-Out” probably mean according to the passage?
| A．Someone or something appearing different from others. |
| B．Someone or something standing out of the group. |
| C．Someone or something arranged in pairs. |
| D．Someone or something easily mistaken for another. |
What might happen if you speak to yourself loudly in public?
| A．The police will take you away and punish you. |
| B．The doctors will force you to stay in hospital. |
| C．You will have to pay to escape being punished. |
| D．You will be forbidden to be member of the club. |
Why does the writer say “Make as many mistakes as possible”?Because _______.
| A．everyone will make mistakes in learning English |
| B．everyone will meet people speaking English with some mistakes |
| C．making mistakes is a must in making progress in learning English |
| D．making mistakes can make one realize the importance of speaking |
According to the passage,which way is not likely to be accepted by English beginners?
| A．Recite poems loudly along the riverside. |
| B．Listen to some English pop songs and video. |
| C．Find an Englishman to speak English with. |
| D．Take to the TV showing programmes at home. |
Research at the University of Liverpool, UK, has found that Shakespeare’s language stimulates positive brain activity.
Shakespeare uses a linguistic（语言的）technique known as functional change that involves, for example, using a noun to serve as a verb．Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence．This process causes a sudden peak in brain activity and forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to say.
Professor Philip Davis, from the university’s School of English, said: “The brain reacts to reading a phrase such as ‘he godded me’ from the tragedy of Coriolanus, in a similar way to putting a jigsaw puzzle（拼图玩具）together．If it is easy to see which pieces fit together you become bored of the game．But if the pieces don’t appear to fit, when we know they should, the brain becomes excited．By throwing irregular words into seemingly normal sentences, Shakespeare surprises the brain in a manner that produces a sudden burst of activity — a sense of drama created out of the simplest of things.”
Experts believe that this heightened brain activity may be one of the reasons why Shakespeare’s plays have such a dramatic impact on their readers.
Professor Neil Roberts, from the university’s Magnetic Resonance and Image Analysis Research Center, and Professor Davis, together with Dr Guillaune Thierry, from the University of Wales, UK, monitored 20 participants using an electroencephalogram (EEG) as they read selected lines from Shakespeare’s plays.
“The brain signal is relatively stable when we understand the meaning of a word but when the word changes the grammar of the whole sentence, brain readings suddenly peak．The brain is then forced to retrace its thinking process in order to understand what it is supposed to make of this unusual word,” explains Professor Roberts.The research conducted by the professors has showed that ___________.
| A．Shakespeare uses functional change to mislead readers |
| B．Shakespeare’s language excites positive brain activity. |
| C．Shakespeare’s plays have a dramatic effect on their readers. |
| D．Shakespeare’s language makes the brain signal relatively stable |
Which of the following words can replace the underlined pronoun “it” in the 2nd paragraph?
A．technique B．word C．brain C．sentenceIn the 3rd paragraph, the example of a jigsaw puzzle is used here to state___________.
| A．the function of Shakespeare’s linguistic technique |
| B．a sense of drama created by playing the game |
| C．the Shakespeare’s thinking process |
| D．the brain’s reaction to reading a book |
Based on the research, Shakespeare’s plays have a great effect on their reader lies in_______.
| A．language used in plays |
| B．characters showed in works |
| C．brain activity increased in reading |
| D．thinking process when writing |
It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why．
First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things． It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing． If you never try anything new, how can you improve? How can you expand? The simple answer is “You can’t”． Look around you． With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new．
Another good thing about mistakes is this: When you are making mistakes, you are learning． Consider this: Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb． When asked how it felt to fail that many times, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times, but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn’t work．
Finally, when you make a mistake you are much closer to success． Why?
Because when all is said and done, you will have tried some number of things before you succeeded． Every time you make a mistake you eliminate one of those things and are one step closer．
But this all doesn’t mean that you should go ahead without considering the consequences of a mistake． Quite the contrary, when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, you will be in a position to try again．
We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem． Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate （分配） these resources appropriately so you can learn, make corrections, and try it again． Only by accepting and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career．
There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough．”
So go forth and make mistakes． And learn． And grow． And prosper（成功）．From the second paragraph, we can conclude that _______．
| A．mistakes are unnecessary for development |
| B．we are afraid of trying new thing |
| C．it’s common for people to make mistakes |
| D．mistakes are better than not trying |
The underlined word “eliminate” means _______．
| A．avoid | B．remove | C．accept | D．solve |
According to the article, one thing you should pay attention to about making mistakes is．
| A．avoiding making the same mistakes |
| B．accepting the punishment willingly |
| C．taking consequences into account |
| D．trying things out one by one |
What would the writer probably suggest we say to ourselves when we make a mistake?
| A．Never mind, I can always try again． |
| B．I’d better stay out of trouble． |
| C．Ok! Now I can learn something． |
| D．Look at this mess． Anyone would be upset． |