The 2012 London Olympic Games will be held on July 28th. Do you have time to go there? If you do, maybe you will meet some foreign friends. But do you know their characteristics(特征)?
The Germans are very quiet and they always keep calm. They don’t like to speak more words. They look very serious. They like different kinds of amusements. The Germans are very hard-working. They like tidiness, especially the women, who always keep their home clean.
In some ways, the Englishmen look the same as the Germans. They are very quiet and never talk too much with the strangers. They are really polite, so we often hear they say “Thank you.” or “Sorry”. The gentlemen are also the Englishmen.
The French’s holidays are very long. They like traveling and usually spend their long time staying in other countries. The Frenchmen are more outgoing than the Germans. It is very easy to make friends with them.
Compared to the Frenchmen, the Americans are more outgoing. And they are even opener than all of the Europeans. They don’t like to depend on others. So it is very common that the students do part-time jobs in their free time. And in Americans’ eyes, success is an important part in their life. What does the underlined word “tidiness” mean in Chinese?
A.整洁 B.安静 C.时尚 In the writer’s eyes, the gentlemen are__________.
A. the Americans B. the Frenchmen C. the Englishmen You can find it easy to __________ the Frenchmen.
A. depend on B. make friends with C. do part-time job with According to the passage, __________ are very quiet.
A. only the Germans B. only the Englishmen
C. Both the Germans and the Englishmen Which is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Characteristics of the foreigners are the same.
B. All of the Europeans are as outgoing as the Americans.
C. It’s important to be successful in Americans’ eyes.
A man was walking along the street when he saw a woman carrying a large box. It was half in and half out of her car. So the man went up and said, “The box looks very heavy. Let me give you a hand.”
“That’s very kind of you,” the woman said, “I’m having a lot of trouble with it. Maybe it sticks (卡住) in the car door.”
“Together we’ll soon move it,” the man said. “I’ll get in and take the other end.” And he got in the car.
“Right,” the man said. “I’m ready,” and he began to push the box hard.
For several minutes, the man and the woman tried to move the box. Soon they felt very tired.
They rested for a moment. Then the woman said, “Let’s try again. One, two, three!” They went on moving the box.
At last, when they were exhausted, the man said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think there’s any way to get it out of your car.”
“Get it out?” the woman cried. “I’m trying to get it in! You know?” Where did this story happen?
| A．At a bank. | B．In a shop. |
| C．In the street. | D．In the woman’s car. |
Who got in the car to move the box?
| A．The woman. | B．The man. |
| C．Both of them. | D．Neither of them. |
The underlined word “exhausted” means “________” in Chinese.
| A．精疲力竭的 | B．激动的 |
| C．充满希望的 | D．沮丧的 |
Which of the following is TRUE about the story?
| A．The man stuck in the car door. |
| B．The woman asked the man for help. |
| C．The man refused to help the woman. |
| D．The woman tried to get the box into the car. |
What do you think of the man?
| A．He is a helpful man. |
| B．He looks very strong. |
| C．He is funny and stupid. |
| D．He likes to play jokes on others. |
Here are some facts about homes in the United States and the people who live in them. In the early 1990s, about 50% of the Americans owned their homes and the rest rented (租) their homes. The rented homes were usually apartments (公寓).
74% of the people in the US make their homes in or around cities. 26% live in the country. Dogs live in about 40% of all homes in the US. About half that number have cats.
Families in the US are becoming smaller. On the average (平均), 2.64 people lived at home in early 1990s. In 1960, the average was 3.5.
Half of the teenagers in the US have their own bedrooms.
An American moves, on the average, twelve times in his or her life. In Japan a person moves about five times, and in England a person moves eight times.Most Americans live ________, according to the passage.
| A．in or around the cities | B．in cities |
| C．around cities | D．in the country |
How many American families own a cat?
| A．About 40%. | B．About 20%. |
| C．About 74%. | D．About 26%. |
On the average, there were ________ people in an American family in 1994.
| A．more than 3 | B．only 3.5 |
| C．less than 2 | D．about 2.64 |
________ in the US have their own bedrooms.
| A．All of the people | B．Most of the children |
| C．Half of the teenagers | D．Only some of the teenagers |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．In the early 1990s, most of the Americans owned their homes. |
| B．Families in the US are becoming bigger and bigger. |
| C．A Japanese moves more often than an American. |
| D．An American moves more often than an Englishman. |
For hundreds Of years, scientists have been trying to answer what things have an effect on people’s emotions (情感). How you feel is controlled by many things. Your emotions can be affected by your personality, by the actions of others and by events around you. Perhaps you don’t know your emotions can be influenced by the weather as well.
People often say they feel good when the sun is shining and sad when it is cloudy. In fact, sunlight makes us feel good. When sunlight hits our skins, our bodies produce a vitamin. Vitamins are natural chemicals (化学物质) which we all need to stay healthy. Sunlight helps our bodies produce vitamin D. Vitamin D helps our bodies make a special chemical. This special chemical affects our brains (大脑) and makes us feel happy. For example, there are long, dark winters of little sunlight in Sweden and Norway, so many people in these countries often feel sad. Without much sunlight, their bodies produce less vitamin D. Without enough vitamin D, their bodies make less of this special chemical which makes them feel good. To help the people in these countries feel better, special “sunrooms” with artificial (人造的) lights have been built. People can go there and get “sunlight” for an hour or two!
The weather can also affect people’s emotions in other ways. Hot weather can make people angry because people feel uncomfortable when they are hot. In the same way, rain can make people angry because being wet can be unpleasant. As you can see, the weather can have an effect on the chemicals which control our brains. Through these ways, the weather can influence our emotions. Sadly, while the weather can change us, we can hardly change the weather. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a factor (因素) that can affect one’s emotions?
| A．Weather. | B．Actions of others. |
| C．Personality. | D．Age. |
Which of the following is true about vitamin D according to the passage?
| A．It is a kind of artificial chemical. |
| B．It makes us worried by affecting our brains. |
| C．It is needed by us all to keep fit. |
| D．It is in the sunlight. |
What can we infer (推断) from the passage?
| A．We feel good when we are in the bright cool weather. |
| B．We will be happy when we are caught in the rain. |
| C．All people in Norway and Sweden feel sad in winter. |
| D．The more vitamin D you have, the happier you’ll be. |
What may be the best title for this passage?
| A．Why Do We Feel Sad? |
| B．The Weather Influences People’s Emotions |
| C．People Need More Vitamin D |
| D．We Can Hardly Change the Weather |
Have successful people ever felt sad? Do they have any “secrets” to success? The answers to these questions can be found in US president Barack Obama’s “back to school” speech. Here is an excerpt(摘录) from his speech.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work—that your ticket to success is through rapping (饶舌音乐) or basketball or being a TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. Not all the homework will seem completely important to your life right this minute. And you may not succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was turned down 12 times before it finally came out. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots (投篮) during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures beat you—you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.
No one’s born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit(承认) when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged (泄气), and you feel like other people have given up on you—don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.Why does Barack Obama mention (提到) JK Rowling and Michael Jordan in the fourth paragraph?
| A．To compare these two famous persons. |
| B．To explain that writing and sports are difficult skills. |
| C．To show that the two persons were treated unfairly. |
| D．To prove that failure is the mother of success. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．No one can be successful without working hard. |
| B．Failure can be good if you treat it in a right way. |
| C．Those who believe in themselves shouldn’t ask others for help. |
| D．One should try his best to make his dream come true. |
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
| A．One should change his mind when others give honest advice to him. |
| B．One should believe in himself no matter what difficulty he is faced with. |
| C．One doesn’t have to work hard when he has failed several times. |
| D．One doesn’t have to take others’ advice when they get away from him. |
Cats are the most popular pets among Americans. So it is not surprising that there are a lot of expressions about cats. Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries (金丝雀). If someone looks very proud and satisfied with himself, we say “he looks like the cat that ate the canary.”
Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches. So if you “play cat and mouse” with someone, it means that you change between different kinds of behavior when dealing with another person. For example, a girl might offer something sweet to her little brother and then take it away when he reaches for it.
Americans might say that something is “the cat’s miaow” or “the cat’s pajamas(睡衣)” to describe something that is the best or finest. “A copycat” is someone who acts just like someone else or copies another person’s work. “A fat cat” is a person with a lot of money.
If you tell about something that is supposed to be a secret, we say you “let the cat out of the bag”. If you are not able to speak or answer a question, someone might ask you if “the cat has got your tongue(舌头)”
Have you ever watched children in a classroom when their teacher leaves for a few minutes? “When the cat’s away, the mice will play” means people sometimes act badly when there is no supervision (监管).
You may have heard the expression “curiosity killed the cat”. This means caring too much about things that are not your business might cause problems.
If you have ever had cats as pets, you know it is difficult to train them or to get them to do something. Cats are not like Sheep or cows that can be moved in a group. So we say a difficult or impossible job is like “herding (放牧) cats “ What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The expression “a fat cat” is used to describe someone who is very fat. |
| B．The expression “play cat and mouse” usually means “play tricks on others”. |
| C．It is more difficult to keep sheep or cows than cats. |
| D．There are more expressions about cats than those about dogs. |
In which of the following situations do we most probably use the expression “curiosity killed the cat”?
| A．Someone always asked a lady her age or weight and it made her angry. |
| B．Someone promised to keep a secret but he failed to do so. |
| C．Someone won the first prize in an English singing competition and he felt very excited. |
| D．Someone tried to swim across the Yangtze River with his newly broken legs. |
Where can you most probably find the passage?
| A．In a scientific research paper about cats. |
| B．On a website telling people how to keep cats. |
| C．In a magazine telling various jokes and funny stories. |
| D．In a language book that teaches students how to use American slang. |