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 lonely dandelion（蒲公英） 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 I already created my gift. I 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．reading a message | D．leaving for Wyoming |
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 author made the gift 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 |
Sam, an unemployed piano tuner, said it was only the second thing he had ever won in his life. The first thing was an Afghan blanket at a church raffle when he was 25 years old. But this was much bigger: it was $120,000! He had won the Big Cube, a state lottery game. To win, a contestant must first guess which number a spinning cube will stop on. The cube has six numbers on it: 1X, 10X, 50X, 100X, 500X, and 1000X. If he is correct, the contestant must then guess which of two selected variables is going to be greater. So, just guessing which number appears on the cube does not guarantee that you will win any money. Sam correctly guessed 1000X, but he still had to choose between two variables. One variable was the number of cars that would run the stop sign at Hill Street and Lake Avenue in six hours. The other variable was the number of times that a teenage boy would change TV channels in a three-hour period. This was a tough decision.
Finally, Sam flipped a coin. It came up heads, so Sam picked the teenager. He picked right. The stop sign was run only 76 times, but the teen clicked 120 times. Sixty-year-old Sam jumped for joy, for he had just won 1000 times 120, or $120,000. Sam dreamily left the lottery studio. Talking excitedly on his cell phone while crossing the street, he got hit by a little sports car.
Sam is slowly getting better. He was in the hospital for a month. His hospital bill was $110,000. And the insurance company for the little sports car's owner sued Sam for $9,000 worth of repairs. Also, Sam still has to pay federal taxes on his winnings. Sam doesn't play the state lottery any more. He says it's better to be unlucky. When Sam won the second thing that he’d won in his life, he was ______.
| A．25 years old |
| B．six years old |
| C．76 years old |
| D．sixty years old |
To win the game, the contestants had to make ______ guesses.
| A．three | B．two | C．six | D．four |
Sam won the lottery because ______.
| A．he was lucky | B．he was good at math |
| C．he was smart | D．he was tough |
Sam’s experience shows that ______
| A．everything has its time and that time must be watched. |
| B．he who risks nothing, gains nothing. |
| C．everything comes to him who waits. |
| D．he who laughs on Friday will weep on Sunday. |
In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of a comet（彗星）. When the fragment（碎片）landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions were watched by scientists here on earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our plant, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.
On 17 July, a fragment four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.
Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth, but the north won’t escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs（恐龙）were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn’t survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author’s description of the disaster in 2094?
| A．The whole world becomes extremely cold. |
| B．All the coastal cities in African are destroyed. |
| C．The whole mankind becomes extinct. |
| D．The visit of the comet results in wars. |
Why does the author mention dinosaurs at the end of the passage?
| A．Because they could only live in the warm climate. |
| B．Because they once ruled the Earth. |
| C．Because their extinction shows future disasters. |
| D．Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age. |
In writing the passage, the author intends to_________.
| A．give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future |
| B．prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed |
| C．tell the historical development of the Earth |
| D．warn of a possible disaster in the future |
It can be concluded that the passage is most probably part of a(n)________.
| A．terror story | B．news report |
| C．research paper | D．article of popular science |
One evening after dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Tisich called a family meeting. “We’ve had to make a difficult decision,” Mr. Tisich announced. “You see, your mother has been offered a post as co-director of a television station in Chicago. Unfortunately, the station is not here. After thinking long and hard about it, we’ve concluded that the right decision is to move to Chicago.” Marc looked shocked, while his sister Rachel breathlessly started asking when they’d be moving. “It’s surprising, but exciting!” she said. Marc simply said, “We can’t go—I can’t leave all my friends. I’d rather stay here and live with Tommy Lyons!”
The Tisichs hoped that by the time they moved in August, Marc would grow more used to the idea of leaving. However, he showed no signs of accepting the news, refusing to pack his belongings. When the morning of the move arrived, Marc was nowhere to be found. His parents called Tommy Lyon’s house, but Mrs. Lyons said she hadn’t seen Marc. Mrs. Tisich became increasingly concerned, while her husband felt angry with their son for behaving so irresponsibly.
What they didn’t know was that Marc had started walking over to Tommy’s house, with a faint idea of hiding in Lyons’s attic(阁楼) for a few days. But something happened on the way as Marc walked past all the familiar landscape of the neighborhood: the fence that he and his mother painted, the tree that he and his sister used to climb, the park where he and his father often took evening walks together. How much would these mean without his family, who make them special in the first place? Marc didn’t take the time to answer that question but instead hurried back to his house, wondering if there were any moving cartons(纸板箱)the right size to hold his record collection.The conflict(冲突) in this story was caused by_________.
| A．Marc and Rachel’s different attitudes |
| B．a quarrel between Tommy Lyons and Marc |
| C．Marc’s disagreement with his parents about their move |
| D．Mr. And Mrs. Tisich’s comment of Marc’s irresponsibility |
Marc and Rachel’s reactions to the move were similar in the way that both were________.
| A．surprised | B．angry and upset |
| C．anxious for more details | D．worried about pacing |
The reason for Marc’s going home was that_________.
| A．he did not want to be left behind |
| B．he realized his family was important to him |
| C．he hoped to reach an agreement with his parents |
| D．he wished to be a more responsible person |
What would most likely happen next?
| A．Marc would bring his records over to the Lyons’s house. |
| B．Mr. and Mrs. Tisich would call the police. |
| C．Marc would join his family for house moving. |
| D．Mr. and Mrs. Tisich would start searching for Marc. |
(You may read the questions first)
In advertisement 2, the Traveler enables us to learn__________.
| A．the road conditions from London to Oxfords |
| B．all the garages along the chosen route |
| C．the time and speed of the journey in Britain |
| D．the directions from London to Paris. |
In advertisement 3, the Quizmaster_________.
| A．contains nothing but 5400 questions |
| B．can only answer challenging questions |
| C．can be bought in many shops |
| D．can be used by people of all |
All these advertisements are aimed at those_________.
| A．who like to order goods at home |
| B．who are going to travel abroad |
| C．who do market researches |
| D．who are interested in intelligence tests |
When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble – a word game – against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 10 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.
It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life: to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.
It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字处理). This proved to be a bigger challenge to her, so I gave her some homework I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.
“Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she asked.
“No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”
My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(过敏反应). For as long as I can remember, any time I called, my mother would answer. Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years.What does the author do?
| A．She is a cook. | B．She is a teacher. |
| C．She is a housewife. | D．She is a computer engineer. |
The author decided to give her mother a computer.
| A．to let her have more chances to write letters |
| B．to support her in doing her homework |
| C．to help her through the bad times |
| D．to make her life more enjoyable |
The author asked her mother to write her a letter.
| A．because her mother had stopped using the telephone |
| B．because she wanted to keep in touch with her mother |
| C．so that her mother could practice what she had learned |
| D．so that mother could be free from housework |
After the computer was brought home, the author’s father.
| A．lost interest in cooking | B．took more phone calls |
| C．played more games | D．began to use it |