Sarah Williams went to a boarding school. Here is one of the
letters she wrote to her parents from the school.
Wentworth Girls' School
Beachside
July 20th
Dearest Mom and Dad,
I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school principal is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer.
The trouble started last night when I was smoking in bed. This is against the rules, of course. We are not supposed to smoke at all.
As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away.
Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket, which caught fire.
There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket which caught fire, too. Soon the whole room was burning.
The principal phoned for the fire department. The school is a long way from the town and by the time the fire department arrived, the whole school was in flames. Many of the girls are in the hospital.
The principal says that the fire was all my fault and you must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.
I’m very sorry about this.
Much love,
Sarah
P. S. None of the above is true, but I have failed my exams. I just want you to know how bad things could have been!Why did Sarah write home?
| A．To tell her parents about the fire. |
| B．To ask for a lot of money. |
| C．To tell her parents she had failed her exams. |
| D．To tell her parents she had to leave school. |
Why did Sarah tell her parents the story about the fire?
| A．She wanted to worry them. |
| B．She wanted to make them laugh. |
| C．She wanted to make them less angry at the real news. |
| D．She wanted to warn them about what the principal was going to do. |
The letter before the. P. S. was .
| A．mostly true | B．partly true |
| C．completely true | D．completely untrue |
Dou Kou, a Chinese boy, is called “the youngest writer in the world”. He has written three books till now. Dou Kou was born in Jiangsu in 1994. When he was 7 months old, his parents started working in over 30 different cities, such as Xi’an and Shenzhen. This kind of life gave him things to think and write about. When he was 9 months old, he could speak and at the age of one, he could say five to six hundred words. At three, he could look up words in the dictionary. At four, his father taught him how to learn by himself. His parents like reading very much. So does he. At the age of 5, he began writing fairy tales. At the age of 6, he wrote a novel about his life in different cities with his parents. His fairy tales are all from his life. One day, he found many mice in the house. They only ate their food but also hurt his mother’s hand. So he thought, “If we give mice the stomach of cows, they will eat grass and they will be helpful to people.” This was his first fairy tales Change Stomach for Mice. Now he studies well in a middle school. He has written his third book, the novel called Eyes of Children. He says, “I am not different from other children. I just wrote several books.How many books has Dou Kou written?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five | D．Six |
Thanks to his _____, Dou Kou could write his books.
| A．mother | B．father |
| C．school life | D．life in different cities |
Dou Kou began to use a dictionary _____.
| A．when he wrote fairy tales |
| B．before his father taught him how to learn something |
| C．after he went to school |
| D．after his mother taught him how to learn something |
The underlined(划线的) sentences show us that Dou Kou _____.
| A．is different from other children |
| B．doesn’t tell the truth. |
| C．is the same as other children |
| D．likes his books |
Which is the best title?
| A．Three Books by a child |
| B．How to Write a Fairy Tales |
| C．How Clever the Boy is |
| D．Dou Kou, the Youngest Writer |
For thirty years, Johnson arrived at work at 9A.M. exactly. He never missed a day and was never late.
However, on one particular day, 9A.M. passed without Johnson’s arrival, it caused a sensation (轰动). All workers stopped and wait, and the boss himself looked at his watch and complained.
Finally, exactly at ten, Johnson turned up, clothes dusty and torn, his face hurt and bruised（挫伤）, his glasses bent. He limped painfully to the time clock, struck in with a strong fist, and said, knowing that all eyes were upon him, “I fell and rolled down two flights of stairs in the subway and nearly killed myself.”
But the boss said, “And to roll down two flights of stairs took you a whole hour?”How long did Johnson work in the company?
| A．9 years. | B．10 years. | C．20 years. | D．30 years. |
What did the other workers do when Johnson was late for work?
| A．They were waiting for Johnson. |
| B．They did their work as usual. |
| C．They complained against Johnson. |
| D．They were excited to see Johnson was late. |
What does the boss mean when he said “And to roll down two flights of stairs took you a whole hour?”?
| A．He was worried about Johnson’s health. |
| B．He was glad that Johnson was late for work. |
| C．He was surprised at Johnson’s being late for work. |
| D．He wanted to know more about the reason for Johnson’s being late for work. |
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever . He sent his camera crew（摄制组）out one evening to film the sunset for him .
The next morning he said to the men , “ Have you provided me with that sunset ? ”
“ No , sir . ” the men answered .
The director was angry . “ Why not ? ” he asked .
“ Well , sir , ” one of the men answered . “ we’re on the east coast here , and the sets in the west . We can get you a sunrise over the sea , if necessary , but not a sunset . ”
“ But I want a sunset ! ” the director shouted . “ Go to the airport . take the next flight to the west coast , and get one . ”
But then a young secretary had an idea . “ Why don’t you photograph a sunrise . ” she suggested . “ and then play it backwards ? Then it’ll look like a sunset . ”
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay（海湾）. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director . “ Here it is sir . ” they said , and gave it to him . He was very pleased .
They all went into the studio（摄影棚）. “ All right . ” the director explained . “ now our hero and heroine are going to say good-bye . Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘ sunset behind them . ’ ”
The “ sunset ” began , but after a quarter of a minute , the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop .
The birds in the film were flying backwards . and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach .One evening, the director sent his camera crew out .
| A．to watch a beautiful sunset |
| B．to find an actor and an actress |
| C．to film a sunset scene on the sea |
| D．to meet the audience |
Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast ?
| A．Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset . |
| B．Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset . |
| C．Because it was his secretary’s suggestion . |
| D．Because he was angry with his crew . |
Which of the following is NOT true ?
| A．The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice . |
| B．If you want to see a sunrise , the east coast is the place to go to . |
| C．The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day . |
| D．The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “ sunset ” . |
The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because .
| A．it went well with the separation of the hero and the heroine |
| B．when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening |
| C．it was more moving than a sunrise |
| D．the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset |
After the “ sunset ” began , the director suddenly put his face in his hands .
| A．because he was moved to tears |
| B．as he saw everything in the film moving backwards |
| C．as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined |
| D．because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine |
A lot of teachers hate doodlers(乱写乱画的人)during classes．“Pay attention!”Teachers will often warn doodling students，sure that they must be daydreaming．
However, according to a recent study, doodling while listening to a boring lecture helps concentrate the attention：
Andrade，a psychology professor in England asked participants(参加者)to listen to a boring lecture． Half the participants were told to color in squares and circles freely on a piece of paper while listening to the lecture．The other half weren’t given a task．After it was over, the participants were asked to retell the lecture．
Those given the doodling task(color in squares and circles)remembered 29 percent more information than the non-doodlers．Andrade said．
“If someone is doing a boring task，like listening to a dull conversation，they may start daydream，”said Professor Andrade．
“Daydreaming distracts(使分心)them from the task，resulting in poorer performance．A simple task，like doodling，can stop them from daydreaming without affecting their performance at the task，”he said．
So the next time you’re doodling during a class，and you hear“pay attention”，you can tell the teacher with confidence that you’ve been paying attention to every word．Teachers hate doodlers because they thought．
| A．doodlers are not good at study |
| B．doodlers are doing no task |
| C．doodlers pay no attention in class |
| D．doodlers are not polite to them |
According to the text，it is helpful to doodle when．
| A．a boring lecture is given |
| B．an interesting story is told |
| C．watching a long TV programme |
| D．having a conversation with the teacher |
Professor Andrade thinks．
| A．those given the doodling task can remember less information |
| B．if you have daydream during classes you’ll have a good memory |
| C．daydreaming is better than doodling |
| D．doodling can stop us from daydreaming |
Win $ 50 in the Coolest Gadget of the Week
Look at what’s the coolest gadget (vote for a chance to win $ 50).
Cryo S: A Cool Netbook Cooler
Like the other devices of NZXT, the Cryo S was designed to provide a competitive advantage at PC gaming. It has two adjustable 120mm fans that provide powerful cooling.
The full post can be found onTrends Updates.
Starry Night Bed
Are you having trouble getting that good nights sleep that you’re needing? Well, not any more. Why not take a look at the Starry Night Bed? The Starry Night Bed is a great new invention which will revolutionize the way in which you sleep. Not only is this bed fashionable and comfortable but it’s also a gadget heaven. With this bed you get many added gadgets including anti-snore technology, movie projector with speakers, temperature control and many more.
The full post can be found onTech Styling.
Fugoo—talking gadgets
Fugoo gets all your appliances(装置，设备) talking to each other so your alarm clock could first wake you up and then tell the coffee machine to start working while checking traffic conditions online to tell you how long it will take you to get to work.
The full post can be found onDecide What to Buy.
Vote What is this week's coolest gadget?
〇 A Cool Netbook Cooler
〇 Starry Night Bed
〇 Fugoo—talking gadgetsWhere can you find the full post of the “Cryo S”?
| A．Tech Styling. | B．Super Cool Pets. |
| C．Decide What to Buy. | D．Trends Updates. |
If you buy a Starry Night Bed, you can get all the following gadgets EXCEPT ___________.
| A．temperature control | B．movie projector |
| C．adjustable fans | D．anti-snore technology |
From this passage, we learn that Fugoo can_________.
| A．check traffic conditions | B．wake you up |
| C．take you to work | D．make coffee |
Where does this advertisement probably come from?
| A．A magazine. | B．A website. | C．A newspaper. | D．A textbook. |