My name is Chelsea Chowderhead. A chowder is a kind of soup. I was laughed at because of my last name as soon as I started school. So when my family moved to South Carolina, I asked my dad if I could change my name.
“You shouldn’t change who you are. Let people get to know you first and your name later. When you meet someone new, ask them a good question, something you’re really interested in. Once people start talking about themselves, they don’t judge(评价) you.”
Two days later I headed to my new school for the first day of class. At lunch, I noticed that there were twin brothers who were talking to each other. I remembered my dad’s advice, so I decided to try.
I noticed that their lunchboxes were identical. “What’s it like being a twin?” I asked.
They looked surprised. Then one said, “No one has ever asked us that!”
“Most of the time it’s good,” the other said. “When you’re a twin you always have someone to talk to and have lunch with.”
In no time we were laughing and talking. Then one of the brothers said, “I’m Nicholas, and this is my brother, Nathaniel. What’s your name?”
I took a deep breath and said, “I’m Chelsea Chowderhead.”
“Chowder? Like the soup?” asked Nathaniel.
“Yes,” I replied, looking down.
“Hey, cool! Do you want to come over after school and play basketball with us?” Nathaniel asked. I nodded.
And that is how I became friends with the twin brothers.Why did the writer want to change his name?
| A．People made fun of it. |
| B．He wanted to make more friends. |
| C．It was hard to remember. |
| D．He wanted to be cool in the new school. |
The writer’s father advised him to ____________.
| A．move to a new class | B．say hello to others |
| C．share his interests | D．ask good questions |
The underlined word “identical” in Paragraph 4 probably means _____________.
| A．same | B．beautiful | C．big | D．full |
When the twin brothers asked his name, the writer felt ________________.
| A．surprised | B．angry | C．nervous | D．proud |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．One can order a chowder in some restaurants. |
| B．The twins said hello to the writer first. |
| C．The twins also didn’t like the writer’s name. |
| D．At last the writer changed his name. |
It is important to learn business English if you are going to be successful in another country where English is the primary language. It will also be a great idea to practice speaking and writing in business English. If a university offers a course on business English, it will be a good idea to take the class. Reading, writing and speaking English is necessary to start a business.
Business English is different from asking where to find the nearest hotel. There are classes you can take to help you but there are things that you can learn on your own. Vocabulary and grammar are a good place to start with. You need to know what words mean. Later, try to pronounce the words and then look them up in the dictionary. Try using them in a sentence and ask someone who is good at English to help you. Once you have an understanding of English, you can use it in business English.
In business you will have to learn such things as taking messages, answering the phones with proper words and communicating with your co-workers. You may have to learn how to make travel plans. Business English is very different than spoken English. Grammar is the same but you have to learn things like expressing yourself in a proper manner or maybe making a report in your office.
If you are working in the customer service sector (客户服务部门), you really have to learn business English. Dealing with the public is sometimes more important than asking your boss for a raise (加薪). Most businesses offer training classes and some companies offer classes on how to do the job with proper business English.Why do people learn business English?
| A．They want successful communication. |
| B．They want to ask the boss for a raise. |
| C．They want to have their own company. |
| D．They will have a chance to get a better job. |
We can learn from the text that business English ______.
| A．is much more difficult than daily English |
| B．pays more attention to the forms of expressions |
| C．is required by most international companies |
| D．can give you a hand when dealing with people |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A．The development of business English. |
| B．The tips on learning business English. |
| C．The introduction to business English. |
| D．The comparison between business English and daily English. |
The following language skills are mentioned of business English EXCEPT ______.
| A．listening | B．reading |
| C．speaking | D．writing |
Two good friends, Sam and Jason, had a car accident. The next morning, Sam woke up but Jason was still unconscious (昏迷的). When Dr. Smith saw Sam awake, he smiled at him and asked, “How are you feeling today?” Sam smiled back and said, “Wonderful! Promise me you won’t tell Jason anything.” Dr. Smith was moved by Sam’s words and said, “You are a very brave man. You know I won’t do that. Trust me.”
Months later Jason recovered. He stopped hanging out with(与…出去玩)Sam. He felt unhappy to spend time with a disabled person like Sam. Sam was lonely and heartbroken. One day Sam died in despair (失望). When Jason was on his burial (葬礼), Dr. Smith gave Sam’s letter to him.
The letter read, “Dear Jason, I have kept my promise to give you my eyes if anything had happened to them. Now there is nothing more that I can do. You will see through my eyes that you will always be my best friend ... Sam.”
When he finished reading, Dr. Smith added, “I had promised Sam to keep it a secret.” Jason stood there with tears on his face. In the first paragraph, Dr. Smith promised Sam to ______.
| A．make friends with him | B．take good care of Jason |
| C．give Jason the letter | D．keep a secret from Jason |
Why did Jason stop hanging out with Sam?
| A．He recovered but still couldn’t move freely. |
| B．He felt upset to be with a disabled man like Sam. |
| C．He just found another friend. |
| D．He didn’t know what had happened to Sam. |
When Jason finished reading the letter, he felt so ______.
| A．heart-broken | B．worried |
| C．discouraged | D．calm |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Leave your friend when he is in trouble. |
| B．Trust a friend when he has changed. |
| C．Brave people are the best friends. |
| D．Be faithful to your friend forever. |
I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could have never passed botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a week in a laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could never once see a cell through a microscope. This used to make my professor angry. He would wander around the laboratory pleased with the progress all the students were making in drawing the structure of flower cells, until he came to me. I would just be standing there. “I can’t see anything,” I would say. He would begin patiently enough, explaining how anybody can see through a microscope, but he would always end up angrily, claiming that I could too see through a microscope but just pretended that I couldn’t. “It takes away from the beauty of flowers anyway.” I used to tell him. “We are not concerned with beauty in this course,” he would say. “We are concerned with the structure of flowers.” “Well,” I’d say. “I can’t see anything.” “Try it just once again,” he’d say, and I would put my eye to the microscope and see nothing at all, except now and again something unclear and milky. “You were supposed to see a clear, moving plant cells shaped like clocks.” “I see what looks like a lot of milk.” I would tell him. This, he claimed, was the result of my not having adjusted the microscope properly, so he would readjust it for me, or rather, for himself. And I would look again and see milk.
I failed to pass botany that year, and had to wait a year and try again, or I couldn’t graduate. The next term the same professor was eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes. “Well,” he said to me, happily, “we’re going to see cells this time, aren’t we?” “Yes, sir,” I said. Students to the right of me and to the left of me and in front of me were seeing cells; what’s more, they were . Of course, I didn’t see anything.
So the professor and I tried with every adjustment of the microscope known to man. With only once did I see anything but blackness or the familiar milk, and that time I saw, to my pleasure and amazement, something like stars. These I hurriedly drew. The professor, noting my activity, came to me, a smile on his lips and his eyebrows high in hope. He looked at my cell drawing. “What’s that?” he asked. “That’s what I saw,” I said. “You didn’t, you didn’t, you didn’t!” he screamed, losing control of himself immediately, and he bent over and looked into the microscope. He raised his head suddenly. “That’s your eye!” he shouted. “You’ve adjusted the microscope so that it reflects! You’ve drawn your eye!”Why couldn’t the writer see the flower cells through the microscope?
| A．Because he had poor eyesight. |
| B．Because the microscope didn’t work properly. |
| C．Because he was not able to adjust the microscope properly. |
| D．Because he was just playing jokes on his professor by pretending not to have seen it. |
What does the writer mean by “his eyebrows high in hope” in the last paragraph?
| A．His professor expected him to have seen the cells and drawn the picture of them. |
| B．His professor hoped he could perform his task with attention. |
| C．His professor wished him to learn how to draw pictures. |
| D．His professor looked forward to seeing all his students finish their drawings. |
What is the thing like stars that the writer saw in the last paragraph?
| A．Real stars | B．His own eye |
| C．Something unknown | D．Milk |
In what writing style did the writer write the passage?
| A．Realistic | B．Romantic |
| C．Serious | D．Humorous |
Some say college is wasted on the young. So many of us look back at our own college years and realize what we could have done differently to make the most of them. While we can’t go back, we certainly can offer our sons and daughters our best advice to help them make the right choices in college. Hopefully, they will have fewer regrets than we do. Following are five guidelines parents can share with their college-bound kids to put the whole experience in perspective.
EDUCATION IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY
As soon as you arrive on campus, there will be competing interests. Feel free to check them out but always remember that you are there first and foremost for your education. Go to class prepared and on time. Be engaged during class. Make sure your professor knows you and realizes that you care.
BE RESPONSIBLE
There are many layers of responsibility. Do what you say you will do and, if you can’t, confess it early and communicate clearly. But being responsible isn’t just about meeting your commitments; it is also about taking care of you, your body, and your friends. For example, more than 1800 college students die annually from alcohol-related injuries. Look out for yourself and other people. Make moderate, sensible decisions so you aren’t reeling from(受…影响) the consequences later.
TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY
Incredible opportunities will present themselves: studying abroad, interning at a unique place, trying new things. Don’t let fear prevent you from taking advantage of them. There may never be so much time or as many resources devoted to your betterment again in your life. Say yes to opportunities that will help you grow.
FIND AND BE A MENTOR
Some of the best lessons available to us can come outside of the classroom in the form of a mentor(良师益友). One of the most powerful growth opportunities is being a mentor. Early on, find someone on campus who you feel can help you grow and develop a relationship with him or her. Also find someone for you to mentor. You will reinforce and enrich your own learning experience by teaching someone else.
GET THE JOB DONE
It is natural to occasionally feel you want to quit, when it makes more sense to you to go find a full-time job. Resist that urge. As Jocelyn Negron-Rios, a mother of two, who is currently completing her degree, advises, “No matter how difficult it seems, keep at it because however insurmountable（不可克服的） it feels now multiply that by 10,000 and that is how it feels when you are in your thirties with a full-time job and a family and are trying to pursue a degree.”According to the passage, the most important thing for college students is ______.
| A．taking part in different activities |
| B．working hard to get a degree |
| C．seizing every chance to try new things |
| D．improving themselves by learning from the others |
Which of the following about college life is true?
| A．Passing on what you’ve learned in college can help you enrich your learning experience. |
| B．Make sure that you are responsible for yourself rather than others. |
| C．Professors will not assess your performances in class but the grades you get in exams. |
| D．You can make full use of the opportunity whenever you want. |
What can we infer from the words said by Jocelyn in the last paragraph?
| A．Persistence is the key to success when you meet with difficulties in your learning process. |
| B．It is better if you gain more working experience before you finish your education. |
| C．As long as you work hard, you can gain a degree even when you are in your thirties. |
| D．Youth is the best time to learn since you have less burden. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To give some rules for the college students. |
| B．To call on the students to make full use of college years. |
| C．To summarize some tips for parents to share with their children. |
| D．To analyze the benefits and difficulties of college life. |
Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime（消遣）, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food．What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steering them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.According to the text, what kind of children may eat more unhealthy food?
| A．Those who often take exercise. |
| B．Those who often watch television. |
| C．Those who often have meals at home. |
| D．Those who often walk to school. |
The author thinks that children are becoming overweight because .
| A．their parents often cook meals for them |
| B．they are too busy to go out and play |
| C．they can' t choose what to eat |
| D．there are too many fast food shops around |
The word "steering" underlined in the last sentence most probably means _______.
| A．forcing | B．guiding |
| C．driving | D．moving |
The main purpose of the text is to _________.
| A．tell a story | B．provide facts |
| C．give advice | D．compare opinions |