A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.
Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…”He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”
“Oh yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it …then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.
注：urchin顽童, hesitate犹豫, , crippled残疾,cent 美分The street urchin was very surprised when _______________
| A．Paul received an expensive car | B．Paul told him about the car |
| C．he saw the shining car | D．he was walking around the car |
From the story we can see the urchin _______________
| A．wished to give his brother a car |
| B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car |
| C．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s |
| D．wished Paul could be a brother like that |
The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ____________
| A．to show his neighbours the big car |
| B．to show he had a rich friend |
| C．to let his brother ride in the car |
| D．to tell his brother about his wish |
We can infer（推断） from the story that___________
| A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin |
| B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother |
| C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother |
| D．the urchin’s wish came true in the end |
The best name of the story is ____________
| A．A Christmas Present | B．A Street Urchin |
| C．A Brother Like That | D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride |
Whether we are going to school or going to work, we are all sad to leave the weekend behind and go back to our Monday morning blues (沮丧情绪). But with the tips, you can get over those blues and face Monday mornings with a smile.
Love what you do. If you love what you do, then you won't fear Monday mornings as much. Loving your job will make you look forward to the week ahead. Try to find something positive (积极的) in your workplace. It could be a friend, a partner, or the work you do in general. The important thing is to keep a positive attitude (态度) at work.
Do what gives you feelings of comfort, while remembering your responsibilities (责任) for the day. This will help you cheer yourself up for the day ahead. If the clock rings and you still feel sleepy, stay in for five minutes. However, don't stay past five minutes, as it will only make you feel even lazier for your day. When you get up, make a cup of coffee and put on some music. This will help you feel energetic.
Try to give yourself a little something extra. A good reward for Monday would be a treat you wouldn't have the rest of the week. On Fridays, plan a night out for films or dinner. This will give you a little break from the rest of the week. This way, you will know that even if you're working hard, you will have something good waiting for you at the end of the week.
On Sunday night, go to bed early. Your mind will react (反应) quickly on Monday morning. If you wake up early, you will have more time to get ready for the day. Being stressed during Monday mornings is only going to add to your blues.
Get yourself organized on Friday evening. Before you leave your workplace on Friday, you should take care of all the things you need to, so you won't be so stressed on Monday morning. This way, you can start the week right.
Follow these simple tips and you will be able to beat those Monday morning blues soon.
| Some tips on how to beat Monday morning blues |
|
| Love what you do. |
Love your Try to be positive when you are at work. |
| Do what gives you comfort. |
Stay in bed for 5 minutes extra makes you feel Make coffee and put on music when you get up, which will make you feel energetic. |
| Reward yourself. |
To help you go through Mondays, Take a break on Fridays by going out for a film or dinner. |
| Go to bed early on Sunday night. |
If you do this, you will get enough sleep and your mind will react quickly. Wake up early on Monday morning, and you will have more time to get ready for the day and stay away from |
| Be organized on Friday evening. |
Take care of |
"BANG!" the door caused a reverberation (回声). It was just standing there, with Father standing on one side, and I on the other side.
We were both in great anger. "Never set foot in this house again!" stormed Father. With tears welling up in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.
The street lights were shining, causing rather sad-feeling. I wandered aimlessly.
A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me. I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and carefree.
But now... I don't know whether it is because I have grown up or because Dad is getting old. We differ in our ways of thinking. He always puts his opinions and codes of behaviour on me. Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it. We are just like two people coming from two different worlds. It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened.
I wandered in the streets, without a destination in mind. My heart was frozen on this hot summer night. As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people on the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company. When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived, I saw that the light was still on.
I thought to myself: "Is Father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?"
In fact, it was nothing. Perhaps, Dad was throwing away some of his old stamps. Perhaps he thought they were useless. I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps. I can't stand his outrageous (蛮横的) words: "I can't throw you away, let alone these old papers?"
All the lights were off except Father's.
Dad was always like this. Maybe he didn't know how to express himself. After shouting at me, he never showed any mercy or any moments of regret. After an argument he has the habit of creeping up (悄悄来到) in my sleep and then tucking me underneath the covers.
This was how he always was. He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature.
The light was still on. "Am I wrong?" I whispered, maybe... With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been. At last, I decided to open the door. As soon as I opened the door tears ran down my cheeks. I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist (存在) at all. Love---is second to none.Decide which is the best order of the following according to what happened in the passage.
a. I opened the door and entered the house.
b. Sadly I ran out into the street.
c. I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit.
d. I thought of my father's kindness towards me.
e. I walked about in the street without any aim.
| A．b-e-d-c-a | B．b-e-c-d-a |
| C．b-e-a-c-d | D．b-e-c-a-d |
What made the writer think of his childhood?
| A．The sight of the street lights. |
| B．The sight of the empty street. |
| C．The sight of a father with a child in his arms. |
| D．The sight of light in his own house. |
Why do you think the father often shouts at his son?
| A．Perhaps the father is getting older and older. |
| B．Perhaps the son has already grown up. |
| C．Perhaps they never agree with each other. |
| D．Perhaps the father has got used to doing that. |
What conclusion can you come to after reading the passage?
| A．The father treats his son in an unfair way. |
| B．The father is actually kind to his son. |
| C．The father is neither kind nor cruel to his son. |
| D．The father is always finding fault (过错) with his son. |
All the wisdom of the times, all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries, are easily and cheaply available to all of us in books, but we must know how to make use of this treasure. The unluckiest people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.
I'm very interested in people and finding out something about them. Some of the most amazing people I've met could only be found in a writer's imagination, then in his book, and then, again, in my imagination. I've found in books new friends and new worlds.
Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the writer's or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions (结论), and your ideas develop as you understand his.
Every book stands by itself, like a one-family house, but books in a library are like houses in a city. Although they are separate, in some way they are connected with each other. The same ideas, or related (相关的) ones, appear in different places; the human problems that repeat themselves in life repeat themselves in books, but with different solutions (解决方法) according to different writings at different times. Books influence each other. They connect the past, the present and the future and have their own generations (age groups), like families. Wherever you start reading, you connect yourself with one of the families of ideas, and in the end, you not only find out about the world and the people in it, you find out about yourself, too.
Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on (专注于) books somebody tells you "ought" to read, you probably won't have fun. But if you put down a book you don't like and try another till you find one that means something to you, and then relax with it, you will almost certainly have a good time--- and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more gentle, you won't suffer during the process.Which of the following ideas may the writer of this article agree with?
| A．You will never meet amazing people in your life unless you read. |
| B．You think actively instead of getting facts passively (被动地) when reading. |
| C．You will get much delight (欣喜) from any book that you are told to read. |
| D．You can relax yourself by reading because it needs little thinking. |
What can we learn from Paragraph 4?
| A．We can often find something connected with ourselves in books. |
| B．Different writings at different times share the same characteristics. |
| C．The same problems will appear in different books with similar solutions. |
| D．Reading books which are written for your generation is more helpful to you. |
What's the writer's purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To advise us to enjoy ourselves by reading. |
| B．To encourage us to make full use of libraries. |
| C．To encourage us to find out solutions in books. |
| D．To advise us to discuss books with other people. |
Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The programme works because everyone's eyes are different. Therefore, in the future you won't have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You'll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are.
The eye-recognition programme has already been tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Soon this technology will take the place of all other ways of finding out who people are.
However, scientists are also working on other systems. Machines will soon be able to know you from the shape of your face or hand or even your smell! We already have machines that can tell who you are from your voice or the mark made by your finger.
Eye-recognition is better than other kinds because your eyes don't change as you get older, and don't get dirty like hands or fingers, and even twins have different eyes. The eye-recognition programme can be up to 94% correct, depending on how good the technology is. However, some other programmes may only be 51% correct at present. In Britain, it was found that 91% of people who had tried it said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition.
In the future your computer will be looking at you in the eye. So smile!Where has the eye-recognition programme already been tested in a few countries?
| A．In shops and banks. | B．In shops and schools. |
| C．In banks and schools. | D．In schools and hospitals. |
We already have machines that can tell who you are from________.
| A．your eyes or your smell |
| B．your voice or the mark by your finger |
| C．your face or your voice |
| D．your face or your hand |
Which of the following doesn't belong to the advantages of the eye-recognition programme?
| A．Your eyes don't change as you get older. |
| B．Eyes don't get dirty like hands or fingers. |
| C．Everyone's eyes are different, even twins have different eyes. |
| D．We can't see anything without eyes. |
If you want to see a thing well, touching can help you to "see" it better.
Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass ball is. When you learn all these about the ball, you really see it well.
With your skin, you can feel better. For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two different coins in your pocket. You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too. You can even feel sounds against your skin. Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music.
All children soon learn what "Don't touch!" means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up. In shops, we touch things that we might buy. To see something well, we have to touch it. The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too. You know this when you walk on warm sand, cool grass or a hard floor. All feel different under your feet.
Most museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things to touch. Their signs say, "Do touch!" There you can feel everything on show.
There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin.
If you want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you will really see!The underlined word "these" in Paragraph 2 refers to________.
| A．a glass ball is round |
| B．a glass ball is smooth and cool |
| C．a glass ball is smooth, cool and heavy |
| D．a glass ball is round, smooth, cool and heavy |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People don't have to learn to feel. |
| B．Our skin may help us enjoy music. |
| C．By touching things, we can learn more about them. |
| D．We have to touch something in order to see it well. |
________ can be the best title of the passage.
| A．Feeling by Seeing | B．To See or to Feel |
| C．To See Better---Touch | D．Ways of Touching |