Mr. Patrick was new to the school and to us. Even though he was a great teacher, he seemed rather like a character out of a horror movie. He didn’t look that bad, but somehow, he looked extremely scary to me.
Some kids began to believe that he was a murderer or a ghost; some believed he was mad and a few believed that he might have suffered a lot in his life. I was one of those ‘few’.
One day I gathered up my courage and headed towards the school garden. He was, as usual, sitting on a bench alone. I breathed heavily a few times and then walked towards him.
“How are you?” I asked with my voice crackling.
He managed to say, “Fine.”
“Well, good to know,” I tried to be happy.
“Hmmm…” was all I heard.
“What’s up with you?” then seeing a puzzled look on his face, I tried to be more formal and respectful. “I mean, why aren’t you like all other people in the school? Why are you always so quiet and sad? Why…”
“No dear, some things are better left unsaid,” he said gloomily.
“Oh no sir, nothing is better left unsaid. If you want to share your feelings with me and reduce the pain of your heart, you are free to do so. I promise I will never ever tell anyone.”
“With you? You are just a little girl; what will you understand?”
I was somehow offended but still I managed to persuade him, “So what, Sir? You see, if you tell me your problem, you will have a light heart and you will have the feeling that someone somewhere cares about you.”
“Oh okay, that was a very nice belief indeed; let’s take a walk and I will let you know everything.”
Soon after our little talk, there was a visible change on his face. Later that day in the class, there was a smile on his face.From the text, we can know about Mr. Patrick that he .
A.once acted a character in a horror movie |
B.scared his students with his looks |
C.often punished the students for bad marks |
D.did better in teaching than others in the school |
Mr. Patrick was thought by the author to .
A.be a murderer or a ghost | B.be mad |
C.have suffered a lot | D.have a special personality |
While walking towards Mr. Patrick in the school garden, the author felt .
A.excited | B.nervous | C.worried | D.happy |
With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people, nature, and the environment.
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil.Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea.
Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious.Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material.In the end, it breaks down naturally.There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term.
Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible.In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean.If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage.Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!
We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil.Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power(太阳能), electricity, hydrogen, and so on.Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal.
If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient(高效的)— and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year.If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too.What is the passage mainly talking about?
A.Oil tanker accidents. | B.Oil spills pollution. |
C.What oil pollution is. | D.How to reduce oil pollution. |
How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?
A.By giving a description. | B.By making an argument. |
C.By giving an example. | D.By drawing a diagram. |
What does the underlined word “risk” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
A.Transportation depending more on oil. |
B.Poisonous oil breaking down naturally. |
C.Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea. |
D.More environmental damage being caused. |
Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?
A.We should develop new technologies to cut oil use |
B.Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines. |
C.We should build safer oil tankers in the near future. |
D.Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea. |
Volunteers, as an essential part of a successful world exposition, are a major channel for the public to participate in, serve and share the world exposition and a means to showcase the image of the host country and city.The following information is about the volunteer for the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai China.
I.Basic Requirements for Volunteers
Be willing to participate in voluntary services of Expo 2010;
Age limit: Expo Site volunteers must be born before April 30, 1992 and Expo City Voluntary Service Station volunteers before April 30, 1994;
Obey the laws and regulations of the PRC;
Be able to participate in training and relevant activities before the opening of Expo 2010;
Possess necessary knowledge and skills needed by the position;
Be in good health to meet the requirements of corresponding voluntary positions.
II.Further Information for Volunteers
Source
Residents of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese, and foreigners can all apply to be the volunteers.
Signup methods
Applicants may log in onto the official websites for online signup.They may also consult or connect with the Expo Volunteer Stations.
Time
May 1 – December 31, 2009
III.Volunteer Training
Volunteer training includes general training, special training and position training.General training is carried out through the Internet, while special training and position training are provided through classroom lectures and field practice.
IV.Volunteer Types
Expo Site volunteers refer to those offering voluntary services to visitors and the Organizer in the Expo Site, mainly including information, visitor flow management, reception, translation and interpretation, assistance for the disabled, and assistance in media service, event and conference organization and volunteer management.
Information booth volunteers are stationed in the Expo’s information booths at key transportation centers, commercial outlets, tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels and cultural event places outside the Expo Site.They offer services including information, translation, interpretation and even first aid.What’s the purpose of this writing?
A.To recruit(招募) the volunteers for the World Expo 2010 |
B.To give some basic information of the World Expo 2010 |
C.To praise the hard work of the volunteers |
D.To attract people to visit the World Expo 2010 |
If you were born in April 1993, where can you be a volunteer?
A.In the Expo Site. | B.In the host country. |
C.In the Expo City. | D.In Chinese mainland. |
Shopping in the United States changes a lot.About ninety years ago most people shopped in small stores that were owned by one person or a family.Women went from the bakery to the butcher’s to the grocer and on to the fruit and vegetable seller in order to get their food for the week.Then, about sixty years ago, supermarkets were born.In a supermarket, people could get all the different kinds of food they needed without going to different stores.
The next big change in shopping in the United States was the shopping mall.A shopping mall is a group of stores under one roof.Because malls allowed people to shop without worrying about the weather, they soon became very popular.The mall became a place for people to socialize in addition to shopping.If you walk through a mall, you will see older people sitting, chatting and drinking coffee.Malls are places for teenagers to hang out.Many teens will often just “go to the mall” and spend time with their friends.
The recent change in American shopping was the superstore.Large chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Office Depot and Toys “R” Us have been built all across the United States.Because they are so large, they can buy goods at a great discount and sell them much cheaper than smaller stores.Sometimes, when they are built near small towns, many of the small town stores have to close.They just cannot compete with their giant neighbors.
And now, online shopping is becoming more and more popular all over the States.People are too busy to go to the physical stores, so they go shopping over the Internet.Online shopping has lots of advantages.For instance, online stores are usually available 24 hours a day.Searching or browsing online shops can be faster than browsing the physical stores.While, online shopping also has its disadvantages.People are at higher risk of being cheated on the part of the merchant than in a physical store.And privacy of personal information may be let out.Which of the following shows the right order of shopping development in the United States?
①small stores②superstores③shopping malls④shopping online ⑤supermarkets
A.①②③④⑤ | B.①⑤③②④ | C.②③④①⑤ | D.①⑤②③④ |
Which is the place for people to spend time with others according to the passage?
A.Small stores. | B.Supermarkets. | C.Shopping malls | D.Superstores. |
Why can the superstores sell products at much lower prices?
A.Because they can buy goods at a reduction in price. |
B.Because they are across the United States. |
C.Because they sell all kinds of products people need. |
D.Because they are built near small towns. |
What’s the disadvantage of online shopping according to the passage?
A.Wasting time. | B.Fixed prices. |
C.No chance to do physical activities. | D.Leaking personal information. |
根据短文内容,从短文后的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。
Holidays are often associated with no work and all play. People seek to enjoy their holidays in different ways. Vacation packages (一揽子交易) have been in existence for a long time. ----- So now people can choose from the different packages according to their own tastes.
Sky diving, hiking and many other extreme sports are packaged with hotel tours to attract the younger generation. Tour service providers enjoy the benefits of the increase in bookings from hotel tours. Holiday-makers enjoy the exciting experiences without making efforts to look for hotels. -----
----- These holiday-makers enjoy student discount and packages while learning about history and culture of different places.
Summer vacation packages have never fallen down the rankings. ----- Having a warm sunny day at the beach is one of the fast selling vacation packages in the leisure industry.
Safari (游猎) adventures have always attracted some of the modern adventurers. The animals of Africa continue to amaze crowds that have only seen these creatures on educational channels. Many activities like outdoor camping, safari day tours and hiking in protected parks are always welcomed by holiday-makers.
----- Alaways try something new or fun to do and your days of relaxation will be always exciting.
A.Picking out a vacation package can keep yourself from boring vacations. |
B.Everyone is in a winning situation. |
C.You can’t miss vacation packages if you want to have a good vacation. |
D.Educational vacation packages are quite suitable for students. |
E.They are one of the favorite choices for most holiday-makers who like sunny beaches.
F.They are continually being improved to meet people’s demands.
G. Vacation needs your plan.
Learning to play a musical instrument can change your brain, with a US review finding musical training can lead to improved speech and foreign language skills.
Although it was suggested in the past that listening to Mozart’s music or other classical music could make you smarter, there has been little evidence to show that music can boost(使增长) brain power.
But a data-driven review by Northwestern University has pulled reaserch together that links musical training to learning that spills over into (波及) skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocal emotion.
Researcher Nina Kraus said the data strongly suggested that the nervous connections made during musical training also prepared the brain for other aspects of human communication.
“ The effect of musical training suggests that, like physical exercise and its effect on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development, ” the researchers said in their study.
Kraus said learning musical sounds could improve the brain’s ability to adapt and change and also enable the nervous system to provide constructing patterns that are important to learning.
The study, published in Nature Review Neuroscience , looked at the explosion of research in recent years focusing on the effect of musical training on the nervous system which could have impacts for education.
The study found that playing an instrument prepares the brain to choose what is related in a complex process that may involve reading or remembering a score, timing issues and coordination with other musicians.What is the text mainly about ?
A.The effect of physical exercise. | B.The researcher named Kraus. |
C.The benefit of musical training. | D.Musicians’ improved skills. |
The underlined word “ auditory ” in Paragraph 5 probably means “ __________”.
A.of the body | B.connected with seeing |
C.of the mind | D.connected with hearing |
It was believed but not proved that listening to classical music could __________.
A.add to your intelligence | B.improve your speech |
C.boost your memory | D.make you think faster |
According to Kraus, musical training contributes to the following EXCEPT __________.
A.body fitness | B.the way to speak |
C.langugage learning | D.mental concentration |