In old times, man considered lightning to be one of the great mysteries(神秘事物)of nature. In fact a single flash of lightning 1. 6 kilometers long has enough electricity to light one million lamps.
The American scientist, Benjamin Franklin, was the first to suggest that lightning is in fact electricity formed between the earth and clouds high above. It happened in 1752. In the same year, he also built the first lightning rod(避雷针)to protect buildings from being struck by lightnings.
Modern science has discovered that lightning is very strong and powerful. A lightning between a cloud and the earth may be as long as 13 kilometers, and travels at a speed of 30 million meters per second. Scientists have the opinion that there are about 2, 000 million flashes of lightning per year. In the United States alone, it kills almost one person per day. The safest place to be in during an electrical storm is a closed car. Outside, one should go close to low ground for cover and not stop under a tree. Also one should stay out of water and away from metal fences. Inside a house people should keep away from open doorways and windows and not touch wires or metal things. From this passage we know lightning is_______ .
| A．one of the great mysteries of nature |
| B．electricity high above the earth |
| C．a kind of light |
| D．the sound from the clouds |
In the US _______.
| A．every person can see lightning every day |
| B．at least one person is killed by lightning every day |
| C．there are about 6 million flashes of lightning per year |
| D．about one person per day dies from lightning |
During a lightning storm, it would be best if you _______.
| A．stand under a tree | B．go outside | C．stay in a closed car | D．stop near windows |
A lightning rod can _______.
| A．prevent accidents caused by lightning |
| B．stop lightning |
| C．protect buildings from being washed away |
| D．delay the coming of lightning |
The new mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, is a man of the people, ready to listen to their problems, but only until 6 p.m. Then he has to do his homework. Michael Sessions, 18, beat former mayor Douglas Ingles, 51, by just two votes and became the new mayor of Hillsdale. He is America's youngest mayor.
As Sessions was too young to enter the election in the spring of 2005, he registered- to vote on Sept. 22, one day after his 18-year-old birthday. The day after that he started his write-in campaign, which means he should persuade voters to remember his name and write it by hand on the voting ballots（选票）.
To help get his name known, Sessions earned＄700 by selling apples over the summer. He spent the money on posters and put them on the Hillsdale's lawns.
Sessions' month-long campaign included going door to door, explaining his ideas of the town's future in the kitchens of his neighbors. "They'd look at me, and say‘How old are you again? How much experience do you have?'And I say‘I'm still in high school', "he said. Sessions promised Hillsdale's voters he would renew local economy. “I was hopeful the whole time, ”he explained. One day he spent so long out on the streets knocking on the doors that he ended up in a hospital emergency room.
Sessions said that his schoolwork will not get in the way of his job as a mayor. “From 7:50 a.m. to 2:30p.m., I'11 be a student. From 3 to 6, I'11 be the mayor of Hillsdale," he said.
“He did a very brave thing that couldn't have been easy for him to do, "said Jack Vettel, a councilman in Hillsdale, a city of 8,200 about 75 miles southwest of Detroit. "He does care about this town. He's been here all his life. ”
Sessions will receive＄3, 600 a year during his four-year term, and will work out of his bedroom since the town does not provide the mayor with an office. What is TRUE of Sessions' election campaign according to the text?
| A．Sessions launched his election campaign on Sept. 22. |
| B．Sessions worked so hard that he once tried to persuade people in a hospital. |
| C．Sessions won the election campaign by a very close outcome. |
| D．Sessions felt disappointed when asked about his age and experience. |
In order to gain more support from the voters Sessions had to do all these things EXCEPT＿.
| A．put up posters' | B．renew the economy |
| C．sell apples | D．talk to neighbors in kitchens |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．American mayors usually work from 3 p. m. to 6 p. m. |
| B．In America, young people are encouraged to get involved in politics. |
| C．All teenagers are allowed to enter political elections. |
| D．American mayors receive a salary of 3, 600 a year during their 4-year term. |
Which of the following would best summarize the text?
| A．Schoolboy becomes American's youngest mayor. |
| B．How to become a teenage mayor. |
| C．Hard work is the ticket to success. |
| D．Never too young to shake the world. |
Jealousy is a very common problem in daily life. It’s everywhere. For example, if someone does better than you, you will get annoyed because you want to be No. 1. We may become jealous of a best friend’s top marks in an exam, or of the girl in art class who is praised by the teacher all the time. We get annoyed because these good things are happening to someone else but not to us.
It’s bad to feel jealous. We should be pleased with the things we have. But we still wish we had the money of this person and the talent of that person. Instead of sharing their happiness, we just feel jealous and unhappy with ourselves. And, too often, these feelings are expressed by speaking ill of the people we envy.
However, envy is also a kind of compliment to others. We see that other people have styles and talents different from our own. By comparing ourselves with others, we can know what we lack. And we can turn this comparison, the envy of others, into a kind of power.
Therefore, being a bit jealous of others lets us know what we are like and what we want to be like. It can push us to become what we really want to be.
根据短文内容，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。According to the first paragraph, why do you get annoyed?
| A．Because the teacher dislikes others. |
| B．Because others do something better than you. |
| C．Because you are an annoying person. |
| D．Because you want to be No.1 in the exam and you do. |
The Chinese meaning of the underlined part “speaking ill of” probably is “_____".
| A．赞美 | B．说…的坏话 | C．憎恨 | D．说…病了 |
What should be the right attitude towards jealousy?
| A．It’s a good thing. |
| B．It’s just a bad thing. |
| C．It’s a kind of compliment to others. |
| D．It makes us know what we are like and what we want to be like. |
Some time ago , I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg ．I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended , as there were a whole lot of antique shops near my home ．So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me ．I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception．I was quite wrong ．The man wouldn’t even look at my chair ．
The second shop , though slightly more polite , was just the same , and the third, and the fourth—so I decided that my approach must be wrong ．
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind ．I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper , “ Would you like to buy a chair ?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes , not a bad chair ．How much do you want for it , sir ?” “Twenty pounds ,” I said ．“OK ,” he said , “I’ll give you twenty pounds ．” “It’s got a slightly broken leg ,”I said ．“Yes I saw that , it’s nothing ．”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited ．“What will you do with it ?” I asked ．“Oh , it will be easy to sell once the repair is done ．” “I’ll buy it ,” I said ．“ What do you mean ? You’ve just sold it to me ,” he said ． “Yes , I know but I’ve changed my mind ．I’m sorry , I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it ．” “You must be crazy ,” he said．Then suddenly the penny dropped ．“ I know what you want ．You want me to repair your chair．” “ You’re right ,” I said ．“ And what would you have done if I had walked in and said , ‘ Would you mend this chair for me’ ?” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it ,” he said ．“We don’t do repairs , not enough money in it and too much trouble ．But I’ll mend this for you , shall we say for a five?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused （感到有趣） by the whole thing ．We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ．
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ．
| A．changed his mind | B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose | D．decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay ?
| A．£5． | B．£7 | C．£20． | D．£27． |
From the text , we can learn that the writer was
| A．honest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and it’s one of the top university in the world. There is no clear date when the university started, but teaching began at Oxford in some forms in 1096 and developed quickly from 1167.
There are 39 independent(独立的) colleges at Oxford, attracting students and learned men from across the world. There are over 100 libraries for the students and learned men to use. At University of Oxford, they also provide a number of money for the best students. Of course, if you want to study here, first you have to reach a certain level of English language.
College life at Oxford is very exciting but busy. The groups of college provide a friendly and welcoming home for students while the college are strict with students about their studies. Many Chinese students are studying here. The number of Chinese students at the university has grown quickly over the past 10 years.
根据短文内容，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。（共3小题，每小题1.5分，满分4.5分）What do you have to do first if you want to ask fir studying at Oxford? You have to________.
| A．be independent |
| B．pass a certain level test of English language |
| C．study English hard |
| D．be the best students |
How’s the college life at Oxford? It’s full of ________ and has __________.
| A．excitement; much school work to do |
| B．excitement; no school work to do |
| C．attraction; no school work to do |
| D．attraction; a little school work to do |
What’s the best title for the passage?.
| A．The College Life |
| B．The Famous Learners at Oxford |
| C．The Chinese Students at Oxford |
| D．The University of Oxford |
Miss Grey lived in a small house. She was old and did not like noise at all , so she was very pleased when her noisy neighbour moved out .A young man moved in and Miss Grey thought the man seemed to be quiet.
But at three o’clock the next morning , the noise of a dog woke her up . She thought she had never heard a dog there before . It must be the young man’s dog . So she telephoned the young man , said something bad about the dog and then hung up the telephone before he could answer. Nothing more happened until three o’clock the next morning . Then Miss Grey’s telephone rang , and when she answered , a voice said ,“ You telephoned me twenty four hours ago .Now I’ve rung you up to say that I have’t a dog . ”
根据短文内容，判断以下句子的正（T）误(F)。（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10）Miss Grey felt sorry when her noisy neighbour moved out.
Miss Grey’s new neighbour was as the old one .
Some noise woke her up in the early morning .
She thought the new neighbour had brought a dog with him.
The young man rang up Miss Grey in the early morning , because he wanted to punish her.