As prices and building costs keep rising, the do-it-yourself(DIY) trend(趋势) in the U.S. continues to grow.
“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross, “And we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decide to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at time job at home as well as in a shoe-making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourselfer”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.We can learn from the text that many newly married people .
| A．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| B．have to learn to make their own furniture |
| C．take DIY courses run by the government |
| D．seldom go to a department store to buy things |
When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim .
| A．makes shoes in his home |
| B．does extra work at night |
| C．does his own car and home repairs |
| D．keeps house and looks after his children |
Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when .
| A．his car repairs cost too much |
| B．the car repair class was not helpful |
| C．he could not possibly do two jobs |
| D．he had to raise the children all by himself |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The Joy of DIY |
| B．You can DO It too! |
| C．Welcome to our DIY Course |
| D．Ross and Hat field; Believe in DIY |
Researchers have announced（宣布）the result of two studies on the health effects of the drug aspirin（阿斯匹林）. One study shows aspirin can sharply reduce the chance that a healthy, older man will suffer from a heart attack（心脏病）.
The study offered two new results from earlier findings. It said taking one aspirin pill every other day helped only healthy men over the age of fifty. It also said aspirin gave the greatest protection against heart attacks to men with low blood cholesterol（胆固醇）levels.
Earlier in the United States began a major aspirin study in the early 1980s. It included 22,000 healthy men doctors. All were between the ages of fifty and eighty-four. Almost 11,000 of the doctors took a harmless（无害的）pill that contained no drug. The men did not know which kind of pill they were taking.
The doctors who took aspirin suffered 44% fewer heart attacks than those taking the harmless pill. 139 men who took aspirin suffered from heart attacks. Ten of them died. 239 men who did not take aspirin suffered from heart attacks. Twenty-six of them died.
The researchers said the doctors’ study provided clear proof（证据）that taking aspirin could prevent a first heart attack in healthy, older men. They said, however, the result did not mean every man over the age of fifty should take aspirin. They said aspirin couldn’t help men who did not eat healthy foods, who smoked cigarettes and who were fat. The researchers said men who thought they would be helped by taking aspirin should talk with their doctors first.The passage tells us that the new use of aspirin is ______.
| A．to treat heart disease |
| B．to reduce pain while one suffers from a heart attack |
| C．to help old people to be more healthy |
| D．to reduce the chance of a heart attack in old men |
Aspirin can help those who ______.
| A．work as doctors | B．are under 40 years old |
| C．are fat and smoke cigarettes | D．are older and healthy |
At last the researchers advised us to take aspirin ______.
| A．with care | B．as much as we like |
| C．every day | D．only considering the age |
From the experiment we can know that about ______ of people who suffered from heart attacks without aspirin died.
| A．7% | B．11% | C．19% | D．44% |
One midnight, a little girl woke up to get water. She got up and down her bed by herself, walked to the bedroom door and opened it. She looked outside and walked back, for it was so dark in the living room that she feared. Her mother told her not to be afraid and take courage.
“ What is courage? Do you have courage?” She asked, running to her mother’s bed. “ Courage is the brave breath（气）. I have it.” Her mother answered. The girl held out her little hands and asked her mother to give her. After her mother blew out two mouthfuls of breath into her little cold hands, the little girl clenched her fists（握拳）nervousely, afraid that the “breath of courage” would run away. Then with her fists clenched, she walked out of the bedroom towards the bathroom with nothing to fear.
Her mother said to herself, “ It’ll be nice if someone can blow some kind of breath to me. Then I can hold it in my hands too when I feel terrified or lost.
In fact, mostly, what we are terrified of is nothing but the fear in our mind. Who we should deal with is nobody but ourselves.The girl walked back because______.
| A．the bedroom door was locked. | B．She wasn’t thirsty anymore |
| C．her mother wouldn’t go with her | D．She was too afraid of the dark |
To stop “mother’s breath ”from running away, the girl______.
| A．clenched her fists | B．held her own breath |
| C．held out her little hands | D．talk to her mother |
The writer mainly wants to tell us that______.
| A．children learn to be brave quickly. |
| B．the fear in one’s mind is the real problem. |
| C．adults are always brave enough. |
| D．the mother can deal with anything with breath. |
Harry Potter is a set of popular books created by J.K.Rowling in Britain. The books tell us somestories about a talented wizard (天才魔法师), Harry Potter. When he was eleven years old, he had anunhappy life. However, a strange letter changed everything. It said he was accepted by Hogwart's magic school which was closed to the common people. All kinds of adventures (冒险) happened toHarry from then on. He met Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger on his way to school. They becamegood friends later. Harry did well in his lessons and worked hard to play magic. Harry always had apositive attitude(态度)when he faced the difficulties. With the help of his friends, he tried his best to beatthe enemies. Finally, the world peace came back. Smile appeared on everyone's face. If someone wantsto know what takes place in the magical world, he will have to read the set of books by himself!
| The information about Harry Potter |
|
| The time when he had an unhappy life |
At the |
| The feature of Hogwart'smagic school |
Not |
| The place where he |
On his way to school |
| The end of his adventures |
The world peace |
| The way someone knows the magical world |
Reading the set of books by |
Gregg Bleakney’s dream was to travel the Americas from top to bottom. He got the idea after he finished a long bike ride. Gregg’s friend, Brooks Allen, also liked riding a bike. The two friends talked and made a plan: they would travel from Alaska to Argentina – by bike.
To pay for the trip, Gregg and Brooks worked to save money for a long time. Once they were on the road, they often camped outdoors and ate cheaply. In many places, local people opened their doors to the two friends and gave them food.
On their way, they passed deserts, rainforests and mountains. They visited modern cities and ancient ruins (遗迹) such as Machu Picchu in Peru. And they made many friends from all over the world.
In May 2007 – two years, twelve countries, and over 30,500 kilometres later – Gregg finally reached Ushuaia, Argentina. (Near Guatemala, Brooks had to go back and Gregg continued without him.)
The trip taught both men a lot about traveling. What did they learn? Here is some of Gregg’s advice:
Travel light. You should carry many things with you.
Be flexible (灵活). Don’t plan everything. Then you’ll be more relaxed, especially if there are problems.
Be polite. One traveler told Gregg, “Nobody wants to fight or cheat a nice man.” It’s true.
根据文章内容填写5个空处，每空不限一词。每题1分Gregg Bleakney’s dream was to _______________________.
Before traveling, the two friends _____________________ to pay for the trip.
___________ got to Ushuaia, Argentina in May 2007.
According to the passage, if you don’t plan everything for a trip, ___________________.
One traveler told Gregg that nobody wants to __________________________.
DearDisney,
Lastweekend,thefourmembersofmyfamilyspentanenjoyableholidayattheMagic Kingdom - Disneyland. And one event made our visit seem truly magical.
WegottothefrontofthelineatSpaceMountain,onlytofindoutthatourlittledaughterGloria
couldn’ttakeherice-cream on the ride. We were so excited that we all forgot ice-cream was not allowed on the ride.
Gloriabrokeintotearsandweallhadnoideawhattodo.ThenMurphy,oneofthestaff(员工) members, came over. She bent down and told Gloria that she would hold the ice-cream for her and give it to her when she finished the ride. Gloria said, "Promise?" Then she gave Murphy her ice-cream, and she completely enjoyed the ride.
Sureenough,aswewalkedouttheexit,therewasGloria’snewfriendwith"her"ice-cream.
Now you and I both know what happened, because we know that an ice-cream won’t last twenty minutes on a summer afternoon in Florida. Murphy knew what time we would get off the ride. she went to the nearest shop and bought a brand-new ice-cream thirty seconds before we walked out the exit. Gloria said, "Thank you," but I’m sure she thought it was the same ice-cream.
Weknowthatsomeonetriedhardtomakeourvisitspecial.Thankssomuchforgoing above and beyond!
Yourfan,
CarmenRivera Thefamily’svisittotheMagicKingdomwas________.
| A．helpful | B．awful | C．frightening | D．enjoyable |
Beforetheride,Gloriacriedbecause_________.
| A．shecouldn’tfindherparentsintheline |
| B．shewastoolittletotaketheride |
| C．shecouldn’ttakeherice-creamontheride |
| D．shehadtowaitfortwentyminutes |
MurphywaswaitingforGloria___________aftertheride.
| A．intheice-creamshop | B．attheexit |
| C．inthefrontoftheline | D．attheentrance |
Inordertokeepthepromise,Murphy__________.
| A．tookGloriatothenearestshop |
| B．askedhernewfriendtohelpGloria |
| C．helpedGloriagetofftheride |
| D．boughtanewice-creamforGloria |
Theunderlinedword"someone"inthelastparagraphrefersto(指的是) _________.
| A．Murphy | B．Disney | C．Gloria | D．Carmen |