You may think that sailing is a difficult sport, but it is really not hard to learn it. You do not need to be strong. But you need to be quick. And you need to understand a few basic rules about the wind.
First, you must ask yourself, “Where is the wind coming from? Is it coming from ahead or behind or from the side?” You must think about this all the time on the boat. The wind direction tells you what to do with the sail.
Let’s start with the wind blowing from the behind. This means the wind and the boat are going in the same direction. Then you must always keep the sail outside the boat. It should be at a 90° angle (角度) to the boat. Then it will catch the wind best.
If the wind is blowing from the side, it is blowing across the boat. In this case, you must keep the sail half way outside the boat. It should be at a 45° angle to the boat. It needs to be out far enough to catch the wind, but it shouldn’t flap (摆动). It shouldn’t look like on a flagpole. If it is flapping, it is probably out too far, and the boat will slow down.
Sailing into the wind is not possible. If you try, the sail will flap and the boat will stop. You may want to go in that direction. It is possible, but you can’t go in a straight line. You must go first in one direction and then in another. This is called tacking. When you are tacking, you must always keep the sail inside the boat.What should you consider first while sailing?
| A．Sailors’ strength. | B．Wave levels. | C．Wind directions. | D．Size of sails. |
What does the word “It” underlined in Paragraph 4 refer to?
| A．The boat. | B．The wind. | C．The sail. | D．The angle. |
What do you have to do when sailing against the wind?
| A．Move in a straight line. | B．Allow the sail to flap. |
| C．Lower the sail. | D．Tack the boat. |
Where can you probably find the text?
| A．In a popular magazine. | B．In a tourist guidebook. |
| C．In a physics textbook. | D．In an official report. |
Background music may seem harmless, but it can have a powerful effect on those who hear it. Recorded background music first found its way into factories, shops and restaurants in the USA. Very soon it spread to other parts of the world. Now it is becoming difficult to go shopping or eat a meal without listening to background music.
To begin with, background music was intended simply to create a soothing (舒适的) atmosphere. Recently, however, it's becoming a big business. An American marketing expert has shown that music can boost(提升) sales or increase factory production by as much as a third.
But it has to be the light music. Lively music has no effect at all on sales. Slow music can increase receipts(收入) by 34%. This is probably because shoppers slow down and have more opportunity to spot items they would like to buy. Yet, slow music isn't always the answer. The expert found that in restaurants slow music meant customers took longer to eat their meals, which reduced overall sales. So restaurant owners might be well advised to play faster music to keep the customers moving-unless, of course, the resulting indigestion(消化不良) leads to complaints.Background music was first used ________.
| A．in the cinemas and theatres in the USA |
| B．in the offices and hospitals in the USA |
| C．in the schools and churches in the USA |
| D．in the factories, shops and restaurants in the USA |
An American marketing expert has found background music can __________.
| A．increase sales or factory production |
| B．create a soothing atmosphere |
| C．make people slow down |
| D．make people forget their worries |
Restaurant owners are advised to play ____ to increase overall sales.
| A．lively music | B．loud music |
| C．faster music | D．slower music |
People have been talking about health for a long time because people know the importance of it. People's understanding of health also becomes deeper with the progress in scientific research. Recently the term "health" has come to have a wider meaning than it used to. It no longer means just the absence of illness. Today, health means the well-being of your body, your mind and your relationship with other people. This new concept of health is closely related to another term-quality of life. Quality of life is the degree of overall satisfaction that a person gets from life.
Why has the emphasis of health shifted from the absence of disease to a broader focus on the quality of a person's life? One reason for this has to do with the length and conditions of life that people can now expect. Medical advances have made it possible for people today to live longer, healthier lives. Imagine for a moment that you were born in the year 1900. You could have expected on average to live until about the age of 47. In contrast, if you were born in the year 1999, you could expect to live to the age of 75.________ leads to people's deeper understanding of health.
| A．Common knowledge | B．Better conditions of living |
| C．Progress in scientific research | D．Quality of life |
According to the passage, to people of today, health means ________.
| A．absence of illness | B．overall satisfaction with life |
| C．good conditions of living | D．a long life |
The emphasis of health has shifted nowadays because _________.
| A．people enjoy better conditions of living and they can live longer |
| B．people pay more attention to their physical health, not their mental health |
| C．people have realized the importance of mental well-being |
| D．people are inspired by medical advances |
This passage is mainly about __________.
| A．different understandings of the term "health" |
| B．improving the quality of life |
| C．the importance of quality living |
| D．people's expectations of a long and healthy life |
Jesse Owens was born in Alabama in the USA, in 1913. There were ten children in his family. Jesse was the youngest. He went to school in the city of Cleveland. At school he showed he had a special talent for athletics (田径). He could run fast. He could jump high. He could jump far. Because he was good at athletics, Jesse became a student at Ohio State University.
In May, 1935 in Michigan, USA, he broke the world record for the long jump. This was his first world record. On the 25th May Jesse did something unusual. In 45 minutes he broke six world records. Some people think that this was the greatest athletics achievement ever.
In 1936 Jesse went to the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. There were only nineteen black athletes in the USA team. He won gold medals in the 100 meters race, the 200 meters race, the long jump and the relay race.
Jesse was not a professional athlete. This meant that he could not get money for running. Later, he became a professional athlete. To make money he had to appear in strange races. Sometimes he had to race against horses.
In 1960 somebody broke Jesse's last world record. In 1980 Jesse died.Jesse Owens was born in _____in the USA.
A. AlabamaB. ClevelandC. OhioD. MichiganJesse showed he was very good at ______ when he was at school.
| A．basketball | B．swimming | C．athletics | D．shooting |
Jesse's first world record was for the ______.
| A．running | B．relay race | C．high jump | D．long jump |
He won ______ gold medals in 1936 in the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.
| A．two | B．four | C．six | D．eight |
I was in a strange city I didn’t know at all, and what’s more, I could not speak a word of the language. On my second day I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough, then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived, and even that I pronounced badly. I stopped to ask a newspaper-seller. He handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person.I asked was a policeman. He listened to me carefully, nodded and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I nodded politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.
About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside. The only thing left for me to do was find the nearest railway station.The writer preferred to walk back to his hotel because.
| A．he had no money to buy a ticket |
| B．he wanted to lose himself in the city |
| C．he tried to know the city in this way |
| D．it was late and there were no buses passing by |
The newspaper-seller______.
| A．didn’t know where the hotel was |
| B．didn’t understand what the writer said |
| C．could understand what the writer said |
| D．didn’t want to take the money from the writer |
From the story we know that the policeman______.
| A．was kind but didn’t understand the writer |
| B．told the writer where to take a train |
| C．knew what the writer really meant |
| D．was cold-hearted and didn’t help the writer |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The writer got close to the hotel where he stayed. |
| B．The writer got to the hotel with the policeman’s help. |
| C．The writer found he was much farther away from the hotel. |
| D．The writer found the hotel in the direction the policeman pointed. |
根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
The Importance of Accessibility Awareness
At a recent Teen Leadership of Jewish Family Services meeting, people with disabilities talked about their lives. However, what amazed me most was the great importance of education about handicap accommodations (残疾人便利设施).
One school-teacher who is blind, and a woman who has used a wheelchair all her life are two important members of the National Group for Disabled Persons, devoted to raising awareness about disabilities. These include handicap parking spots, handrails, and wheelchair ramps. One big concern is the people who take advantage of aids, such as handicap parking spaces.
And the meeting focused on educating the public.
Some handicap spots have extra room next to them, marked with the “No Parking” signs. “As long as I'm not in the spot, I can take the no-parking area next to it,” some people say. However, the woman who uses a wheelchair disagrees to this. The space exists to allow someone in a wheelchair to have room to get in or out of their car.
Some walkways have handrails next to them to help those who require extra assistance. Whether it is a blind person seeking guidance or an elderly person seeking support, the rail is there for walking. Sometimes the rail is blocked, by a parked bicycle for instance, and consequently made useless. People who are informed of the rail’s use would be less likely to mistake it for a bike rack.
Meeting some of the people who are affected by the lack of education about accommodations made me see that there is work to be done. If more people were educated about the proper uses of accommodations, there would be fewer challenges for people with physical disabilities.
| A．Accommodations will vary according to the needs of the disabled. |
| B．As with the parking spot, this is more likely a case of lack of education. |
| C．They educate about all the accommodations for people with disabilities. |
| D．Improvement must be made so that disabled people can fully participate. |
E. If there is a car in that space, the handicap parking spot is no longer useful.
F. So people without disabilities need to be educated about these accommodations.
G. I was amazed to hear about the challenges faced by people with physical disabilities.