A
George had stolen some money, but the police had caught him and he had been put in prison. Now his trial was about to begin, and he felt sure that he would be found guilty and sent to prison for a long time.
Then he discovered that an old friend of his was one of the members of the jury at his trial. Of course, he did not tell anybody, but he managed to see his friend secretly one day. He said to him, "Jim, I know that the jury will find me guilty of having stolen the money. I cannot hope to be found not guilty of taking it —— that would be too much to expect. But I should be grateful to you for the rest of my life if you could persuade the other members of the jury to add a strong recommendation for mercy to their statement that they consider me guilty."
“Well, George,”answered Jim. “I shall certainly try to do what I can for you as an old friend, but of course I cannot promise anything. The other eleven people on the jury look terribly strong-minded to me.”
George said that he would quite understand if Jim was not able to do anything for him, and thanked him warmly for agreeing to help.
The trial went on, and at last the time came for the jury to decide whether George was guilty or not. It took them five hours, but in the end they found George guilty, with a strong recommendation for mercy.
Of course, George was very pleased, but he did not have a chance to see Jim for some time after the trial. At last, however, Jim visited him in prison, and George thanked him warmly and asked him how he had managed to persuade the other members of the jury to recommend mercy.
"Well, George," Jim answered, "as I thought, those eleven men were very difficult to persuade, but I managed it in the end by tiring them out. Do you know, those fools had all wanted to find you not guilty!"56. We are told that George expected Jim to help _____.
| A．prove him innocent | B．him turn over a new leaf |
| C．lighten his punishment | D．him escape from prison |
57. Which of the following is true about Jim?
| A．He covered up George's guilt. |
| B．He persuaded the jury to set George free. |
| C．He told the jury that George was indeed guilty. |
| D．He recommended severe punishment to give George a lesson. |
58. The passage suggests that _____.
| A．it was due to Jim that George was found guilty |
| B．Jim did not do exactly what George asked him to do |
| C．Jim asked his colleagues to recommend mercy |
| D．Jim persuaded the jury to lighten George's punishment |
59. The title for this passage is ______.
| A．Illegal or Not? | B．Guilty or Not? |
| C．Merciful or Not? | D．Answerable or Not? |
It is not easy to reach Panjiayu, a village in the countryside around Thangshan, Hebei province. To get to the isolated village, visitors first have to take a bus ride of about an hour to the Fengrun district before taking a long-distance bus, which usually runs five times a day.
Surrounded by mountains and bathed in plentiful sunlight, Panjiayu is nicknamed “Turpan”, after the city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that is famous for its sweet grapes.
The fruit is the Panjiayuy’s main money spinner(摇钱树) ------ the courtyard of almost every home boasts at least one grape trellis(棚架), and the main road is enlaced(围绕) by vines.
Last year, about 200,000 tourists from nearby cities visited Panjiayu. Even so, the place has retained its traditional feel. When night falls, except for a few road lamps that send out a dim light, the village is shrouded(覆盖) in darkness, the silence only broken by the occasional bark of a dog.
So why does this village of just 1,500 residents attract so many visitors? Grapes are only part of the reason; most of the tourists visit to commemorate a massacre(大屠杀) that happened 73 years ago. The modern building that seems so at odds with the traditional feel of the place is a memorial to the events of Jan 25, 1941, two days before Lunar New Year, when the Japanese army carried out a frenzied(疯狂的) slaughter of unarmed villagers.
“About 1,298 of the 1,700 villagers were murdered. Of the survivors, 273 were not in the village that day, and although nearly 200 others survived, 98 of them were badly injured,” said Pan Ruishen, the leader of the Panjiayu compensation(补偿) Team for Japanese Atrocities(暴行).
Panjiayu was just one of many massacres committed by the Japanese during the occupation of China before and during World War II, however, it is now a patriotism-education base because the village is full of sites of historical interest, such as the big lotus tree, whose hollow trunk was used to hide secret files of the Eighth Route Army, and the metal doors at the village entrance, which are scarred with countless white marks left by Japanese bayonets(刺刀).Where can you most probably read the text?
| A．In a telephone book. |
| B．In a newspaper. |
| C．In a travel guide. |
| D．In a textbook. |
What does the underlined phrase “at odds” in the fifth paragraph mean?
| A．attractive | B．original |
| C．contradictory | D．conventional |
What can we know about Panjiayu from the text?
| A．It is an isolated village with a long history in Hunan province. |
| B．Many tourists visited Panjiayu last year despite the fact that the place hasn’t kept its traditional feel. |
| C．Panjiayu is viewed as a patriotism-education base in view of its historical events and many sites of historical interest . |
| D．All the residents were slaughtered by the Japanese during the occupation of China before World War II. |
It was Mother’s Day morning last year and I was doing shopping at our local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were leaving, we found that only minutes earlier an elderly woman had fallen over at the entrance and had hit her head on the concrete. Her husband was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock.
Walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very upset about what had happened to the couple. He said to me, “Mum, it’s not much fun falling over in front of everyone.”
At the front of the supermarket, a charity group had set up a stand selling cooked sausages and flowers to raise funds. Tenyson suggested that we should buy the lady a flower. “It will make her feel better,” he said. I was amazed that he’d come up with this sweet idea. So we went over to the flower seller and asked her if we could buy a flower for the lady to cheer her up. “Just take it,” he replied. “I can’t take your money for such a wonderful gesture.”
By now paramedics(急救人员) had arrived, and were attending to the injured woman. As we walked up to her, my son became intimidated by all the blood and medical equipment. He said he was just too scared to go up to her.
Instead, I gave the flower to the woman’s husband and told him, “My son was very upset for your wife and wanted to give her this flower to make her feel better.”
At that, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you so much, you have a wonderful son. Happy Mother’s Day to you.”
The man then bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. Though badly hurt and shaken, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with love in her eyes and gave him a little smile.1What does the author intend to tell us?
| A．One can never be too careful. |
| B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．Love begins with a little smile. |
| D．A small act of kindness brings a great joy. |
The underlined word “intimidated” in the fourth paragraph probably means “____”.
| A．astonished | B．struck |
| C．frightened | D．excited |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The elderly woman was knocked down by Tenyson. |
| B．Tenyson’s care for the elderly woman puzzled the flower seller. |
| C．Tenyson’s idea of buying a flower gained his mother’s support. |
| D．The elderly woman was moved to tears by Tenyson’s gesture. |
Which best describes the writer’s attitude in the passage?
| A．Approving | B．Hopeless |
| C．Doubtful | D．Pessimistic |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Mother’s Day |
| B．Flower Power |
| C．An Accidental Injury |
| D．An Embarrassing Moment |
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With help from a Mr. H, you can _____.
A. Stop using batteries
B. Finish your homework on time
C. Remember your teachers’ instructions
D. Get your room tidied on your way home.
A. repair your TV B. organize your homework
C. be a James Bond D. know what the weather is likeA PENGO WATCH CONTROL can help you to _____.
You can get your Mr. H for ______.
| A．$499 | B．$299 | C．$199 | D．$99 |
Where would you be most likely to find the two texts?
| A．On a notice board. |
| B．In a company brochure. |
| C．On a teenage website. |
| D．In a college newspaper. |
Last night I was driving from Harrisburg to Lewisburg, a distance of about eighty miles. It was late. Several times I got stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left, and I became increasingly impatient.
At one point along an open road, I came to a crossing with a traffic light. I was alone on the road by now, but as I drove near the light, it turned red and I made a stop. I looked left, right and behind me. Nothing. Not a car, no suggestion of car lamps, but there I sat, waiting for the light to change, the only human being for at least a mile in any direction.
I started wondering why I refused to run the light. I was not afraid of being caught, because there was clearly no policeman around, and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it.
Much later that night, the question of why I’d stopped for that light came back to me. I think I stopped because it’s part of a contract we all have with each other. It’s not only the law, but it’s an agreement we have, and we trust each other to honor it: we don’t go through red lights.
Trust is our first inclination(倾向). Doubting others does not seem to be natural to us. The whole construction of our society depends on mutual trust, not distrust. We do what we say we’ll pay. We trust each other in these matters, and we’re angry or disappointed with the person or organization that breaks the trust we have in them.
I was so proud of myself for stopping for the red light that night.Why did the author get impatient while driving?
| A．He was lonely on the road. |
| B．He was slowed down by a truck. |
| C．He got tired of driving too long. |
| D．He came across too many traffic lights. |
What was the author’s immediate action when the traffic light turned red?
| A．Stopping still. |
| B．Driving through it. |
| C．Looking around for other cars. |
| D．Checking out for traffic police. |
The event made the author strongly believe that ____.
| A．traffic rules may be unnecessary |
| B．doubting others is human nature |
| C．patience is important to drivers |
| D．a society needs mutual trust |
Even when you’re extremely busy, you aren’t using your time with 100% efficiency. There are gaps in everyone’s schedule where they aren’t doing anything important. Even if your schedule has no gaps, there is probably lots of time where you aren’t working as fast or as effectively as you possibly could.
Why aren’t you completely efficient? It’s because time isn’t the limiting factor. If it were the limiting factor, people could work non-stop without breaks or any unproductive distractions (消遣). Instead, people, even those who are highly productive, need to take breaks, occasionally procrastinate (拖延) and slow down on tasks throughout the day.
The real and most important limiting factor for productivity is your energy levels to pay attention. Energy levels limit your productivity because when you’re tired, you can have enough time and still not get everything done. Your attention ability is also limited, because even if there are a million things that need to be done, you can only focus on one or two at a time.
You might not be able to add another 4-5 hours into your schedule without making some sacrifices. But even extremely busy people can add an hour or two into their schedule without cancelling (取消) anything. The reason why it’s hard to “find time” isn’t a lack of time. It’s because you don’t have enough energy left to focus on something else that needs to fit into your day.
I first suspected time wasn’t the real problem during an extremely busy period in my life over a year ago. I was extremely busy, but at that time I still exercised regularly. I had daily to-do lists with over twenty items, and I still found time to exercise. However, after a few weeks off, due to illness, I stopped exercising. I was not busy by any standards, in fact, my schedule was incredibly light. Despite this free time, I found it hard to find time to exercise. It seemed to get pushed later and later into my schedule until it was gone. How can I explain this strange experience? I believe you have known it.If someone can’t work with 100% efficiency, the most important limiting factor is ________.
| A．a schedule without gaps |
| B．breaks and distractions |
| C．the limited time |
| D．the limited energy |
The writer gives the example of himself in the last paragraph in order to ________.
| A．prove what the real limiting factor is |
| B．show us how busily he needs to work |
| C．explain how important a healthy body is |
| D．tell us what an strange experience he has |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Do You Really Lack Time? |
| B．How Can You Work Efficiently? |
| C．What Makes Your Energy Limited? |
| D．When Should You Do Exercise? |