It's March, 2050.
Frank and Mary Smith wake up in their comfortable house in the morning and switch on the bedroom computer to get the latest news. They used to read the Times, but changed to electronic newspapers many years ago.
There is the usual news about space: another space flight has returned from Mars and scientists have discovered a new planet. Then they turn to business news: the US dollar has risen greatly in Shanghai, one of the world's leading business centres. Mary tells the computer to buy 5,000 dollars, and there is a quick response that it has been done.
As they watch the screen, Mary orders one of the household robots to make coffee for them.
Frank disappears into the study to join a video conference with his partners around the world. He is a computer engineer, working for several companies. This is his third job: he used to be in marketing and then television.
Mary has a quick look at the shopping channels - the usual selection of electric cars, household robots and cheap travel offers - before picking up the video phone to talk to her assistant. She also has a job and she is doing medical research. Both she and Frank used to have an office desk in London, but in 2014 they decided to move to the seaside and work from home.
Frank and Mary have one daughter, Louise, who also has her own workstation at home. She goes to school only one day a week, mainly to play with other students. Classrooms disappeared in 2030 because there was no longer any need for them: communications systems have made it much easier to learn at home.
Louise, now thirteen, is studying Chinese at present, which has become a world language as important as English. Louise has many Chinese friends. They communicate by computer.
According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130. Her wish is to work for a few decades (十年) and then spend her time on music and painting.Why do Frank and Mary switch on the bedroom computer in the morning?
Because they _________________________________________________ Does Mary read space news or business news?
__________________________________________________________Who makes coffee for Mary and Frank?
____________________________________________________________How does Frank work with others from home?
_____________________________________________________________What are the two world languages in 2050?
______________________________________________________________What do you think of Louise's life in 2050?
I think her life in 2050 is ____________ because ________________________
Visit Forest Zoo Come and see the Indian elephants and the new tiger from Northeast China. The beautiful birds from England are singing songs, and the monkeys from Mount Emei are happy to talk to you. Sichuan pandas can play balls. The koala bears from Australia are very cute. The giraffes from Africa are waiting for you. Tickets Opening Time Grown-ups (成人): $3 9:00a.m.---4:30p.m. Children: Over 1.4m: $2 Under 1.4m: Free 10:00a.m.---3:00p.m. on Friday Keep the zoo clean! Don’t touch or give food to the animals! |
Where is the new tiger from?
A.Australia | B.Africa | C.India | D.China |
Which of the following is the visiting time?
A.8:30 a.m. | B.9:30a.m.Friday | C.3:00p.m.Sunday | D.5:00p.m.Tuesday |
Now Mr Smith is in the zoo with his two sons,one is 1.5m and the other is 1.3m.
A.$4 | B.$7 | C.$5 | D.$3 |
Which of the following can we do in the zoo?
A.To throw things everywhere | B.To touch the monkey on the head |
C.To take a few nice photo | D.To give some food to the animals |
A girl complained to her father about her hard life.She didn't know what she had to do and wanted to give up.She felt tired of fighting and fighting.One problem had been finished but another came over.
Her father,a cook,took her into the kitchen.He poured water into three pans and boiled(煮沸) them.After boiling,in the first pan was put some carrots,the second was put some eggs and the last was put with coffee.
The girl waited impatiently (不耐烦的),confused by what her father did.About 20 minutes later,her father took out the carrots and put them in a bowl.He took the eggs and put them in a bowl.After that the coffee was poured into a cup.“My sweet heart,what do you see?” he asked.
“Carrots,eggs and coffee,” she replied.
Her father told her to close her eyes and asked her to touch the carrots.She did so and felt that the carrots were soft.After that he asked her to take the eggs and break them.After peeling (剥开) them,she got the eggs,cooked and hard.The last,the father let her smell the coffee. She asked,“What did you do this for,Father?” He explained that each had the same unlucky experience—the boiling water,but each had a different result. The strong and hard carrots had become soft and weak.The fragile eggs became hard after being cooked. The coffee was very special,they could change water.“Who are you?” asked her father.“When bad luck knocks at your door,what is your decision? Are you carrots,eggs or coffee?”The girl’s father took her to the kitchen to.
A.ask her how to boil eggs | B.show her how to make coffee |
C.teach her how to be a cook | D.tell her how to face difficulties |
After about twenty minutes,the carrots became .
A.soft | B.hard | C.salty | D.sweet |
What can we learn from the passage?
A.The girl’s father liked to eat some kinds of food. |
B.Bad luck always knocks at strong people’s doors. |
C.Boiled carrots, eggs and coffee had the same result. |
D.People should make right decisions when in trouble. |
Reading is the key to school success and,like any skill,it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly, correctly and without thinking. Educators call it “automaticity(自动性)”.
A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase. With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about the meaning of words, so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.
It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others, but also got better results in exams.
According to Rossman, the key to automaticity is the amount(数量)of time a child spends reading, not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.
You can test yourself by reading something new which is suitable for your level. If you read aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, you probably are an automatic reader. If you read brokenly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, you need more practice.“ Reading is the key to school success” means that reading______.
A.helps school develop faster |
B.is a key to a successful school |
C.helps students go to a key school |
D.can improve students’ learning results |
Children with “automaticity” can read faster because they______.
A.know how to read the words |
B.do not have to think while reading |
C.read by themselves without any help |
D.pay attention to the meaning of the text |
The underlined word “stumble” in the passage means “______” in Chinese.
A.结结巴巴地读 | B.全神贯注地读 |
C.心不在焉地读 | D.声情并茂地读 |
The best title for the passage is “______”.
A.IQ is the Key to the Automaticity |
B.TV is Bad for Children’s Reading |
C.Automaticity Depends on Practice |
D.Automatic Readers Will Be Successful |
Which of the following will help to improve your speech?
A.IELTS Listening . | B.Car and Driver. |
C.Quick & Easy Meals. | D.Designing Effective Speech Interfaces. |
Who will probably be interested in Quick & Easy Meals?
A.Car fans. | B.English speakers. |
C.Housewives. | D.Businessmen. |
How many of the four short passages are introductions of books?
A.One. | B.Two. | C.Three. | D.Four. |
Modern life is impossible without traveling. The fastest way of traveling is by plane. With a modern airliner(客机), you can travel in one day to places which needed a month or more to get to hundreds of years ago.
Traveling by train is slower than by plane, but you can see the places you are traveling through. Modern trains have comfortable seats and dining-cars. They even make the longest journey enjoyable(令人愉快的).
Some people prefer to travel by sea. You can visit many other countries or different parts of your country. Ships are not so fast as trains or planes, but traveling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday.
Many people like to travel by car. You can make your own timetable. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty or one hundred miles a day, just as you like. You can stop if there is something interesting, for example, at a good restaurant where you can enjoy a good meal, or at a hotel to spend the night. That’s why traveling by car is popular for pleasure trips, while people usually take a train or a plane when they travel on business. From the passage, we know the fastest way of traveling is________.
A.by train | B.by sea | C.by plane | D.by car |
If we travel by car, we can ________.
A.make the longest journey enjoyable |
B.travel to a very far place in a few minutes |
C.make our own timetable |
D.visit many other countries |
The underlined word “They” in the passage refers to(指的是) ________.
A.modern trains in the country |
B.the comfortable seats and dining-cars |
C.the travelers on the modern trains |
D.the slower ways of traveling |
When people travel on business, they usually take________.
A.a plane or a car | B.a car or a boat |
C.a boat or a train | D.a train or a plane |
How many ways of traveling are mentioned in the passage?
A.Four. | B.Three. | C.Two. | D.Six. |