What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?
This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming, and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.
I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that l already created my gift. 1 sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; My dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood, I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.
Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad's face as he unwrapped those swirling black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was________________.
| A． doing shopping | B． having a debate |
| C． leaving for Wyoming | D． reading a message |
The author's inspiration for the gift came from __________.
| A． a photo of a flower |
| B． a story about a kid |
| C． a call from the mother |
| D． a text about Christmas |
The underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refers to a poem by ______ .
| A．the father | B．the author |
| C．Edgar Allan Poe | D． William Blake |
The author made thegift by __________.
| A． searching for the poems online |
| B． drawing the background by hand |
| C． painting the letters in three colors |
| D． matching the words with pictures |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A． To show how to design images for gifts. |
| B． To suggest making gifts from one's heart. |
| C． To explain how computers help create gifts. |
| D． To describe the gifts the author has received. |
Anyone who wants to buy a gun in California will have to wait for 2 weeks. Four people waited for 15 days to buy guns. Then they robbed a store and shot 3 people .
Congress(国会) is now trying to pass a law that will make everyone wait to buy a gun. Many people do not want this law. Others are glad it might happen. California is one of the longest waiting times for someone to buy a gun. A gun dealer said that this waiting time does not seems to do much good．He has not seen crime(犯罪) go away because of it.
One good thing that has happened with the waiting time to buy a gun is a smaller number of suicide (自杀) . a lot of suicides are with a gun. In California, there are less suicides by gun than in other places. One reason to make people wait to buy a gun is to make sure the guns are not sold to criminals(罪犯). Last year, this check stopped 2,400 guns from being sold to criminals. This check does not stop anyone else from buying a gun.
Many criminals buy guns on the street and not in a store… some people think that a law like this will not do any good．But other people think that if only one person is stopped from getting a gun, then this law is worth it.A long waiting time to buy in California has led to ___.
| A．a good gun control | B．less suicides by gun |
| C．less shop robbery | D．a sharp fall of gun sales |
If congress passed the law, ____.
| A．no one could kill himself |
| B．there would be no gun deals |
| C．one would see more crimes go away |
| D．criminals couldn’t easily get guns in a store |
From the passage we can infer that ___.
| A．California is the only state to have a waiting time to buy guns |
| B．Congress will surely fail to pass the law to have a waiting time to buy guns |
| C．Different states can have some different laws in the United States |
| D．No laws can cover all the states in the United States of America |
One of the most successful singers of the twentieth century , Ella Fitzgerald, has made several different styles of her own. She was born in Virginia but was brought up in Yonkers, New York. Chick Webb noticed her in a competition when she was sixteen. He asked her to sing with his band(乐队) , and when he died in 1939, she took over.
Unlike Besie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald taught herself the sentimental music so popular in the 1930’s—songs like “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”—- and her recordings became best sellers. During the 1940’s she developed her own “scat singing”, for songs like “Flying Home” and “Lady Be good”.
Ella Fitzgerald was the perfect musical partner for her friend, the trumpets(号手) Louis Armstrong, matching him in warmth and artistry. “ I just like music,” she has said．“To me, it’s a story. There is only one thing better than singing… it’s singing.” Where did Fitzgerald spend most of her childhood?
| A．Virginia | B．Yonkers |
| C．New York City | D．Louisian. |
Who was the first to discover Ella Fitzgerald’s talent?
| A．Fitzgerald’s father. | B．Louis Armstrong. |
| C．Bessie Smith. | D．Chick Webb. |
When Fitzgerald was sixteen, Chick Webb asked her to ____.
| A．marry him. | B．hire him. |
| C．take over his band． | D．perform with band. |
What does the passage imply about Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstorng?
| A．They were the inventors of “scat singing.” |
| B．They played the same musical instruments. |
| C．They performed well together. |
| D．They were a married couple. |
The “friend” in the last paragraph referred to ____.
| A．Ella Fitzgerald | B．Louis Armstrong |
| C．Bessie Webb | D．Chick Webb． |
I might be letting my young son watch too much television. I am certainly watching too many of his programs. They can really be difficult to understand as they force you to think hard about the mysteries of life. For example, when Franklin (the turtle(乌龟))wanted a pet, his parents didn’t want it to be a frog. They felt that frogs belong in a pond．Isn’t that where turtles belong?
And why is it that Little Bear’s animal friends can all talk and behave like people, but his friend Emily has a dog that can only bark? Tell me that isn’t a mystery(神秘的事物)!
Dog lovers can be reassured(安心的) by Kipper and his friends. These dogs are very human. However, the only time they wear clothes is when they put on bathing suits to go swimming. I don’t understand! Speaking of dogs, could Pluto ever be Goofy ’s pet? I don’t get it! What did the great Mr.. Disney have in mind? And this is gross (恶心的)!The other day we watched a very nice little pig setting up a picnic．One of the foods was a big ham. Could it have been a soy (大豆) ham? Is there such a thing? I hope so!
Another thing that bothers me: What if Elmo isn’t real? He can’t be a mere puppet! He’s got a better attitude than most people. I just keep wondering.
I think we’ll turn off the TV and go out for a walk. Maybe we’ll run into that mouse who dresses well but certainly doesn’t speak as clearly as the average bear.What does the underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refer to?
| A．Children. |
| B．TV programs. |
| C．People in the TV programs |
| D．Reasons why children like watching TV. |
Why does the writer put the word “the turtle” in parenthesis (括号) Para-graph 2?
| A．To avoid misunderstanding. |
| B．To show how much he dislikes it. |
| C．To show how stupid the programs are to have turtles in them. |
| D．To show his son likes watching programs with animals in them. |
What does the underlined sentence “ Isn’t that where turtles belong?” mean ?
| A．Turtles should live in ponds. |
| B．TV companies should not make cartoons with characters of pond animals. |
| C．He is angry with the turtle parents not letting Franklin pick his own pet. |
| D．Turtles live in a pond, too. |
Why does the author ask many questions?
| A．Because the programs are too hard for him to understand． |
| B．Because he wants to show his strong feelings about the programs. |
| C．From the passage we can tell this is his style of writing. |
| D．They might be the questions his son asked him. |
The author thinks it’s “gross” because ______
| A．a pig cannot really have a picnic |
| B．a pig does not eat soy beans when that is whey really eat |
| C．a pig should not eat expensive food like ham |
| D．a pig should not eat something made from itself |
A
| Populations and Land (1987) |
||||
| Area in |
Percent |
Population |
Percent |
|
| Square miles |
Cultivated |
In millions |
forested |
|
| United States |
3615104 |
20 |
243.8 |
28 |
| Canada |
3851792 |
5 |
25.9 |
33 |
| United Kingdom |
94525 |
29 |
56.8 |
9 |
| Australia |
2967896 |
6 |
16.2 |
14 |
| India |
1269340 |
51 |
800.3 |
21 |
| China |
3705390 |
11 |
1062.0 |
14 |
Which two countries are the closest to each other in area?
| A．The US and Canada | B．China and Canada |
| C．The US and China | D．India and China |
_____ has the highest population density(密度), and _____ has the second highest.
| A．China, India | B．India, China |
| C．India , the US | D．China, the US |
Which two countries have the closest percentage of cultivated land?
| A．The US and the United Kingdom. |
| B．The US and China |
| C．Australia and Canada． |
| D．Australia and China |
There are _____ countries whose cultivated land percentage is larger than the forest percentage.
| A．2 | B．3 | C．4 | D．5 |
One day while walking along the bank of a river, a rabbit couple saw a wounded(受伤的) ant lying unconsciously(没有直觉地) on the grass. The rabbit couple gently put the ant on the leaf of a nearby plant. She soon recovered(恢复) and saw the rabbit couple sitting beside her.
The ant remembered that she had found herself under the foot of a cat by chance and fainted(晕倒). She asked how she reached the leaf top. The rabbit couple told her what had happened. The ant thanked them and said she would help them when they needed help.
The rabbit couple went further up the river to enjoy the bright sun. They had been there many times and would spend many hours playing and relaxing in the sun.
One fine day, the couple were again on their way to the river while the ant was playing on the leaf of a tree. She saw the rabbit couple walking towards the river. A few hours later she saw them sleeping peacefully on the soft grass by the river. Suddenly she saw a lion moving towards the grass where the rabbit couple were sleeping. The loin saw the rabbits sleeping, and started walking quietly to attack them.
Realizing the hazard getting close to the rabbits, the ant jumped from the leaf to the lion’s shoulder and bit(咬) the lion’s back. The lion cried out in pain, waking the rabbit couple. The rabbits ran away quickly and the ant jumped off the lion’s back into the grass.
A white pigeon(鸽子) who watched this event cheered at the courage(勇气) of the ant and told the whole story to the rabbits. The rabbit couple were moved and thanked the ant. They became best friends.The underlined word “hazard” in the fifth paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．reality | B．warning |
| C．experience | D．danger |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The ant was hurt by the lion. |
| B．The ant was small but clever. |
| C．The white pigeon was as brave as the ant. |
| D．The lion wanted to play a joke on the rabbit couple. |
According to the passage, which is the correct order of the following events?
a. The ant jumped into the grass to hide.
b. The ant bit the lion’s back.
c. The lion moved towards the rabbit couple.
d. The rabbit couple saved the ant.
e .The ant saw the rabbit couple sleeping on the grass.
| A．d ,c, e ,a, b | B． d, e, c, b, a |
| C．e, c, b, a ,d | D．c, d, e, b, a |
From the first three paragraphs, we can learn that _____.
| A．the rabbit couple put the ant on the leaf of a plant to hide her |
| B．the ant was wounded after fighting with a cat |
| C．the rabbit couple and the ant knew each other very well before |
| D．the rabbit couple often went to the river |