“It hurts me more than you” and “This is for your own good” — these are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework.
That was before we entered the permissive period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school. The schools and the educators made it easy for us. They taught that it as all right to be parents who take a let-alone policy. We stopped making our children do homework. We gave them calculators, turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation.
Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their own pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we’ve made a terrible mistake. One such teacher is Sharon Klompus who speaks of her students “so passive” and wonders what has happened. Nothing is demanded of them, she believes. Television, says Klompus, contributes to children’s passivity. “We’re talking about a generation of kids who've never been hurt or hungry. They have learned somebody will always do it for them, instead of saying 'go and look it up’, you tell them the answer. It takes greater energy to say no to a kid.”
Yes, it does. It takes energy and it takes work. It’s time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work. It's time to take the car away, to turn the TV off, to tell them it hurts you more than them but it's for their own good. It's time to start telling them no again. Children are becoming more inactive in study because _______.
| A．they watch TV too often | B．they have done too much homework |
| C．they have to fulfill too many duties | D．teachers are too strict with them |
By “permissive period in education” (L.1, Para. 2) the author means a time _______.
| A．when everything can be taught at school |
| B．when every child can be educated |
| C．when children are permitted to receive education |
| D．when children are allowed to do what they wish to |
The main idea of the passage is that _______.
| A．parents should leave their children alone |
| B．kids should have more activities at school |
| C．it's time to be more strict with our kids |
| D．parents should always set a good example to their kids |
Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction.(拍卖) I named him Cowboy.
Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason. I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was broken. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.
When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.
One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.
The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks(得意的笑) made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted. All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.
My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line. As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!
I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.
40. The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 3) most probably means ______.
A. told how to enter the arena
B. shown how to make the horse beautiful
C. removed from the competition early
D. told to enter the timed-speed events
41. When the final race finished, nobody cheered because .
A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy B. people envied the writer
C. the win was unexpected D. the writer bad run out of time
42. Why was the writer not confident of victory?
A. He was an inexperienced rider.
B. He had not practiced enough.
C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.
D. He thought his horse wasn’t as good as the others.
43. What did the writer learn from his experience?
A. Life can sometimes be unfair.
B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.
C. A positive attitude will bring success.
D. One should not make judgments based on appearance.
Life in 2060
Let us suppose it is now about A.D. 2060. Let’s make believe (假装；虚构) it is about sixty years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.
Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. The hotels are air-conditioned, naturally. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment (娱乐) of young and old.
What are people eating now? People are still eating food. They haven’t yet started to take on heir (继承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.
Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet’s surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.
Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.
People are now largely vegetarians (素食者). You see, as the number of people increases, the number of animal decreases. Therefore, the people have to be vegetarians and we are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.
Such would be our life in 2060.
36. When was the passage written?
A. In about A.D. 2060. B. In about 1960.
C. In about 2000. D. In about 2004.
37. According to the passage, what will be on the moon in about A.D. 2060?
A. Many tourists. B. Many other animals.
C. Many plants. D. A sea.
38. What will people eat then according to the passage?
A. Biscuits in pill form. B. Foods in pill form.
C. Foods in water form. D. Foods in gas form.
39. The passage tells us that in 2060, ____ on the earth than now.
A. there are fewer population B. there are more pests
C. there is less water D. the crops are getting better
A man was driving at 70 miles in a 40-mile-zone, when a police car came behind him with the flashers(警灯) on. As he pulled over and stopped, he could see a policeman getting out of his car. Right away the man started thinking of excuses to give, as this was not the first time, he had been in similar situations many times before.
As the policeman came to him, he said, “Hi, officer, I guess you caught me a little bit over the limit. I was in a rush to get home, to be with my wife and kids, you know my younger son wasn’t feeling too well, when I left home this morning.”
The policeman said, “Well, I guess so,” and started scribbling(速写) in his notebook. As minutes went by, he could see from the side view mirror, the policeman was still scribbling. The man was wondering why he hadn’t asked for his driver’s license so far. A few moments later, the policeman came to his window and handed him a folded paper, and returned back to his car without saying a single word. The man started to wonder, how much this ticket is going to be as he began to unfold the paper. He was surprised it was not a ticket as he began to read:
“I had a daughter who was killed by a speeding car at the age of six, by a speeding driver like you. He got a fine (惩罚), a few months in prison, and was free, free to hug his two other daughters. I only had one, and now I have to wait until I get to heaven before I can hug her again. I have tried to forgive that man a thousand times, and I thought I had. Maybe I really did forgive him, but I have to do it again, even right now. So pray(为……祈祷) for me, and be careful when you drive again, my son is all I have left.”
The man was completely dumbfounded(目瞪口呆的) and could not move for the next few minutes. When finally he did, he drove slowly, even a few miles under the speed limit, praying for forgiveness.
52. Why did the policeman stop the man?
A. Because the man drove after drinking.
B. Because the man drove at a speed of 40 miles an hour.
C. Because the man drove over the speed limit
D. Because the man drove in a 40-mile-zone.
53. Which statement is TRUE according to the article?
A. It was the first time that the man had driven over the limit a little bit.
B. He was in a rush to get home because his son was not feeling well.
C. This story happened in the morning.
D. The policeman didn’t believe the excuse the man gave.
54. From what the policeman said in Paragraph 4 we know that ______.
A. he wanted to go to heaven to hug his daughter
B. he recognized the man who had driven the speeding car who killed his daughter
C. the man who had killed the policeman’s daughter was free to do anything in prison
D. the man who had killed the policeman’s daughter hugged his own daughters in prison
55. Why did the man at last drive slowly?
A. Because he was afraid to be fined again.
B. Because he heard his son was feeling well.
C. Because he was driving in a 40-mile-zone.
D. Because he got a good lesson from what the policeman had written.
Fire can help people in many ways. But it can be very dangerous. Fire can heat water, warm houses, give light and cook. But fire can burn things, too. It can burn trees, houses, animals or people. Sometimes big fire can burn forests.
Nobody knows for sure how people began to use fire. But there are many interesting stories about the first time a man or a woman started a fire. One story from Australia tells about a man very, very long time ago. He went up to the sun by a rope (绳子) and brought fire down.
Today people know how to make a fire with matches (火柴). Children sometimes like to play with them. But matches can be very dangerous. One match can burn a piece of paper, and then it might burn a house. A small fire can become a big fire very fast. Fire kills many people every year. So you must be careful with matches. You should also learn to put fires. Fires need oxygen (氧气). Without oxygen they will die. Cover a fire with water, sand or sometimes with your coat. This keeps the air away from a fire and kills it. Be careful with fire, and it will help you. Be careless with fire, and it will burn you.
49.How did people begin to use fire? _________.
A. Not everybody knows how people began to use fire
B. Nobody knows how to make a fire
C. It is an Australian who started a fire
D. We are not sure how people began to use fire
50.Children mustn’t play with matches because ________.
A. matches burn paper B. it isn’t interesting
C. they can be dangerous D. they can burn a house
51.When you are going to put out a fire, you ______,
A. must be careful B. should keep air away from it
C. must know it is dangerous D. should cover it with water
If you go into the forest with friends, stay with them always. If you don’t, you may get lost. If you really get lost, this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. Don’t try to find your friends-let them find you by staying in one place.
There is another way to help your friends or other nearby people to find you. Give
them a signal by shouting or whistling (打口哨) three times. Stop. Then shout or
whistle three times. Any signal given three times is a call for help.
Keep up the shouting or whistling always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They will give two shouts, two whistles or two gun shots (枪声). When someone gives a signal, it is an answer to a call for help.
If you don’t think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house — cover up the holes with branches(树枝) with lots of leaves. Make yourself a soft bed with leaves and grass.
What should you do if you get hungry or need drinking water? You would have to leave your little branch house to look for a river. Don’t just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back.
The most important thing to do when you are lost is — stay in one place.
46.If you got lost in the forest, you should _______.
A. stay where you are and give a signal three times
B. walk around the forest and shouted so that your friends might hear you
C. try to find your friends as soon as possible
D. try to get out of the forest and shouted for help
47.If you want to let people believe that you are not just making noise for fun you should ________.
A. shout that you are lost
B. keep up the shouting or whistling
C. shout at the top of your voice
D. shout or whistle once in a while
48.When you hear _______ shouts or whistles or gun shots, you know that _______.
A. two; people will soon come to help you
B. three; some one is asking for help
C. three; people will soon come to help you
D. two; someone is asking for help