The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.
The most widespread fallacy(谬误) of all is that colds caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos(爱斯基摩人) to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter？Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms(症状). The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．3 |
Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
| A．The Eskimos（爱斯基摩人） do not suffer from colds all the time. |
| B．Colds are not caused by cold. |
| C．People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors. |
| D．A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one. |
Arctic explorers may catch colds when _______.
| A．they are working in the isolated arctic regions |
| B．they are writing reports in terribly cold weather |
| C．they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions |
| D．they are coming into touch again with the outside world |
Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit ______.
| A．suffered a lot | B．never caught colds |
| C．often caught colds | D．became very strong |
The passage mainly discusses _______.
| A．the experiments on the common cold |
| B．the cures about the common cold |
| C．the reason and the way people catch colds |
| D．the continued spread of common colds |
Paracutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9, 000 feet high. Today Paracutin is asleep.
What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano(火山) in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paracutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano.
Large quantities of stone and lava(岩浆) broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes(灰烬) were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the village was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed. Then Paracutin went to sleep. Paracutin was once the name of ________.
| A．a peasant | B．a village | C．an old mountain | D．a Mexican |
What was destroyed in the growing up of the volcano?
| A．The little hill of stone. | B．The villagers living close by. |
| C．The forests and fields round Paracutin. | D．The Mexican peasant and his wife. |
In this passage the writer is trying to ________.
| A．tell us an interesting happening | B．explain a scientific theory |
| C．make us believe something | D．make up an interesting story |
What can we learn about volcanoes from this passage？
| A．New volcanoes may appear in places where people do not expect them to be. |
| B．Volcanoes are always growing. |
| C．Volcanoes are active from time to time. |
| D．New volcanoes are active for only ten years. |
The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.
| A．his special tricks and supernatural power | B．his unusual ability and a skeleton key |
| C．his magic tricks and supernatural powers | D．his wisdom and magic tricks |
In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.
| A．his first prison escape | B．the year 1898 |
| C．the publicity | D．Harry Houdini’s success |
It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.
| A．in 1894 | B．before he married |
| C．at the age of 17 | D．when he was about 24 |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Skeleton Key | B．A Man of Many Secrets |
| C．World-wild Fame | D．Great Escape |
“You’ll have to take care of the baby today,” a woman told her husband . “ I’m not feeling well.”
“Then you must stay in bed and rest, dear. “ her husband said. “I’ll be pleased to look after our baby. “
“Thank you. I’ll have a quiet day and I’ll soon get better. “ his wife told him.
“Shall I do the shopping for you as well?” her husband asked.
She was very pleased and said, “That will help me very much. I’ll give you a list of things to buy. “
She wrote out the list and gave it to him.
“You can get all these things at the supermarket,” she said.
“You can put the baby in the shopping cart, then you won’t have to leave him outside.”
The man took the baby to the supermarket and put him in the shopping cart. Then he pushed the shopping cart along the rows of things to buy and looked for those that were on his list.
At first all was well, but then the baby began to cry.
Then he started to scream.
And scream!
And SCREAM!
“Keep calm ,George, ” the man said. “Don’t get excited. Don’t shout, George. Don’t lose your temper, George.”
A woman in the supermarket heard him saying these things. She walked up to him.
“I think you are wonderful ,”she said. “You are so patient with your little George. ”
“Madam, ”" the man said, “I’m George. He’s Edward.” Why did the man take care of the baby?
| A．it was his turn. | B．His wife was not well. |
| C．His wife was not at home. | D．He always looked after it. |
Why did the man take the baby to the supermarket?
| A．He had to go shopping. |
| B．He wanted to show the baby to his friend. |
| C．He wanted to give the baby a ride in a shopping cart. |
| D．The baby liked going to the supermarket. |
What did the baby do in the supermarket?
| A．pushed the shopping cart | B．lost its temper |
| C．made a lot of noise | D．helped his father |
Finally we can infer from the story that_____ .
| A．the man was very calm when the baby was crying |
| B．the woman was very pleased to see the man |
| C．the woman mistook George for the baby, while in fact the man was named George |
| D．the man was very busy in shopping, but he couldn’t find all the goods on the list |
Americans have contributed (做贡献) to many art forms, and jazz, a type of music, is one of the art forms started in the United States. Black Americans, who sang and played the music of their homeland, created jazz.
Jazz is a mixture of the music of Africa, the work songs the slaves sang, and religious(宗教) music. Improvisation (即兴表演) is an important part of jazz. This is why a jazz song sounds a little different each time it is played.
Jazz bands formed in the late 1800s. They played in bars and clubs in many towns and cities of the South, especially New Orleans. New Orleans is an international seaport, and people from all over the world come to New Orleans to hear jazz.
Jazz became more and more popular. By the 1920s, jazz was popular all over the United States. By the 1940s, you could hear jazz not only in clubs and bars, but in concert halls as well. Today, people from all over the world play jazz. Jazz musicians from the United States, Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe meet and share their music at festivals on every continent. In this way, jazz continues to grow and change. What can be the best title of the passage?
| A．American Art Forms | B．The Development of Jazz |
| C．The Music of Black Americans | D．The Birthplace of Jazz |
From the text we can learn that ______.
| A．New Orleans is the place where jazz was very popular |
| B．the American people are all jazz lovers |
| C．jazz is merrily sung by black people when working |
| D．jazz may become less popular as time goes on |
It took about______ years to make jazz popular in the United States.
| A．200 | B．120 | C．80 | D．40 |
I’m sure you know the song “Happy Birthday”. But do you know who wrote the song and for whom it was written?
The retired professor, Archibald A. Hill in Lucasville, USA could tell us the story. Ninety-seven years ago, two of Mr. Archibald Hill’s aunts, Miss Patty Hill and Miss Mildred Hill were asked to write some songs for a book called “Song Storied for the Sunday Morning”. Miss Patty Hill and Miss Mildred Hill were both kindergarten teachers then. They loved children very much and wrote many beautiful songs for the book. One of them was the famous “Good Morning to You.” The song said, “Good morning to you, good morning to you, children, good morning to all.” This song was very popular at that time among kindergarten children. But not many grown-ups knew it. A few years later little Archibald was born. As his aunt, Miss Patty Hill sang the song “Happy Birthday” to the melody(曲调) of “Good Morning to you” to her little nephew(侄子). She sang the song like this: Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Archie! Happy birthday to you!
Miss Patty Hill and her sister had never expected that this song would become so popular, but it really did. People all over the world like the song because of its simplicity in tune(曲调简单) and friendliness in words.Archibald A. Hill was _______.
A. English B. American C. Russian D. Australian Professor Archibald A. Hill was Miss Mildred Hill’s ______.
A. son B. student C. brother D. nephewThe song “Happy Birthday” has a history of _______ years.
| A．97 | B．more than 90 | C．less than 90 | D．about 90 |
The sentence “it really did” means _______.
| A．The song really became popular |
| B．Their wish would really come true |
| C．People all over the world like to listen to the song |
| D．Yes, but the song didn’t become popular |