I remember a day when I was a little kid. I was making a sandwich in the kitchen when I noticed the date on one of the wine bottles.
“ Dad, dad!” I cried. “This wine is too old to drink.”
“ Son, hold on,” he said.
“ No, you can’t drink this tonight! This bottle of wine was made 10 years ago.”
“ Wait, let me tell you…”
“ Would you like me to throw it away fro you?” I asked.
“ Son, wait a second,” he said. “Son, some wines get better over time. The longer you wait to drink it, the better it will be. Although this may seem strange, it is true.”
When I was young, I didn’t have any understanding of what this meant, but now, this would have been very helpful to remember as I went through my teenage years.
In our society, we forget this simple rule: The longer you want for certain things, the better they will be. But we want the best job as quickly as possible; we want to graduate from college in as few years as possible; we even speed through our homework just to chat with friends. When we do this, we lose something of great importance.
We all want to get to the next step so quickly that perhaps we don’t get ready enough to get there. This has a negative effect on our society. When trying to go to the right college, we will do anything to get in and when we rush through our class-work, we may not study enough for the test, and end up failing. We need to be ready for whatever comes, ready for the unexpected. Wine gets better over time, so do the things in our paths of life.Why did the author tell his father not to drink the bottle of wine?
| A．Because it smelt terrible. |
| B．Because it had been kept for years. |
| C．Because it was mixed with something else. |
| D．Because his father drank too much that night. |
What the author’s father said __________.
| A．made the author puzzled when he was a little child. |
| B．was too simple a rule to be meaningful to the author. |
| C．threw the author into deep thought then. |
| D．was an excuse to drink the wine. |
In the author’s opinion, if we do things too quickly, we will __________.
| A．do it better |
| B．save much time |
| C．graduate from college more quickly |
| D．miss something useful to us in life |
Which of the following best reflects the main idea of the passage?
| A．Well begun is half done. |
| B．More haste, less speed. |
| C．Failure is the mother of success. |
| D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught in school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school. she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital, she also set up the first medical school for women.Why couldn’t Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?
| A．She couldn’t get admitted to medical school |
| B．She decided to further her education in Paris |
| C．A serious eye problem stopped her |
| D．It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United States |
What main obstacle(障碍) almost destroyed Elizabeth’s chances for becoming for a doctor?
| A．She was a woman. |
| B．She wrote too many letters. |
| C．She couldn’t graduate from medical school. |
| D．She couldn’t set up her hospital. |
How many years passed between her graduation from medical school and the opening of her hospital?
| A．Eight years | B．Ten years | C．Nineteen years | D．Thirty-six years |
According to the passage, all of the following are “firsts” in the life of Elizabeth Blacekwell,except that she ______.
| A．became the first woman physician |
| B．was the first woman doctor |
| C．and several other women founded the first hospital for women and children |
| D．set up the first medical school for women |
Eilzabeth Blackwell spent most of her lift in _______.
| A．England | B．Paris | C．the United States | D．New York City |
As we all know, language is always changing. In a society where life continues year after year with few changes, the language does not change either. The earliest known languages had difficult grammar but a small, limited vocabulary. Over the century, the grammar changed, and the vocabulary grew. For example, the English and Spanish people who came to America during the sixteenth century gave names to all the new plants and animals they found. In this way, hundreds of new words were introduced into English and Spanish vocabularies. Today life is changing very fast, and language is changing fast too.
There are several major(主要) language families in the world. Some scientists say there are nine main families, but other scientists divide them differently. The languages in each family are connected, and scientists think that they came from the same parent language. About 3 percent of the people in the world speak languages that are not in these major families.The early language had ________.
| A．a lot of problems |
| B．words and easy grammar |
| C．words but no grammar |
| D．grammar but not many words |
In the next few hundred years we can expect language to _____.
| A．stay exactly the same |
| B．change a great deal |
| C．change only a little |
| D．ask more words and drop some grammar |
What this article shows is that _____.
| A．languages change fast |
| B．languages really don't want to change |
| C．language really with changes in society |
| D．Spanish and English change |
Listening to music can help me focus better. Since I discovered it two years ago，I've used music to get through boring work or to focus creatively. I've found that it can make even the dullest jobs enjoyable and help clear mental blocks to creativity.
I first noticed the good effects of music while playing video games. It was a few days before Christmas in 2005 and I was playing online video games. My parents had just given me a new MP3，so I decided to listen to music through the headphones while I played. After a few minutes I noticed a great change in my style of play. I was playing more naturally. The music relaxed me，and，to a certain extent，distracted me from the game，allowing my subconscious(潜意识的)talent to come through. The music also helped me block out the outside world. With those headphones on I was like a machine，moving from one task to the next without unnecessary thoughts or actions.
Music can also have a great effect on mood. If I'm in a bad mood at work，I'll listen to some of Bob Marley's and get down to business. It always takes my mind off what I'm doing and makes me a happier person. The same is true for classic rock. One summer，I did a boring job collecting bottle openers by hand. Without a radio playing classic rock in the background，I would have hated life.
Listening to music with relaxing rhythms and a positive message helps you forget your work and think happy thoughts. But the results you see will depend heavily on your personal tastes. Experiment with the types of music you listen to during certain tasks. By trial and error you'll finally discover your best choice.
I'm always looking for new concentration aids，so I'd love to know what type of music works best for me. We can infer that the passage was written in ________.
| A．2005 | B．2006 | C．2007 | D．2008 |
The author first discovered the effects of music ________.
| A．from his parents | B．by chance | C．at work | D．when he was a child |
The author mentions the experience of collecting bottle openers in Paragraph 3 to ________.
| A．tell us that life is dull | B．prove that music affects mood |
| C．tell us how to seek happiness | D．tell us bad mood can affect work |
Generations of Americans have been brought up to believe that a good breakfast is essential to one's life. Eating breakfast at the start of the day, we have been told, and told again, is as necessary as putting gasoline in the family car before starting a trip.
But for many people, the thought of food as the first thing in the morning is never a pleasure. So in spite of all the efforts, they still take no breakfast. Between 1977 and 1983, the latest year for which figures could be obtained, the number of people who didn’t have breakfast increased by 33%—from 8.8 million to 11.7 million—according to the Chicago-based Market Research Corporation of America.
For those who dislike eating breakfast, however, there is some good news. Several studies in the last few years have shown that, for grown-ups especially, there may be nothing wrong with omitting breakfast. “Going without breakfast does not affect work,” said Arnold E. Bender, former professor of nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College in London, “nor does giving people breakfast improve work.”
Scientific evidence linking breakfast to better health or better work is surprisingly inadequate, and most of the recent work involves children, not grown-ups. “The literature,” says one researcher, Dr Earnest Polite at the University of Texas, “is poor.”The main idea of the passage is that _______.
| A．breakfast has nothing to do with people's health |
| B．a good breakfast used to be important to us |
| C．breakfast is not as important to us as gasoline to a car |
| D．breakfast is not as important as we thought before |
For those who do not take breakfast, the good news is that _______.
| A．several studies have been done in the past few years |
| B．the omission of breakfast has little effect on one’s work |
| C．grown-ups have especially made studies in this field |
| D．eating little in the morning is good for health |
The underlined part “nor does giving people breakfast improve work” means _______.
| A．people without breakfast can improve their work |
| B．not giving people breakfast improves work |
| C．having breakfast does not improve work, either |
| D．people having breakfast do improve their work, too |
The word "literature" in the last sentence refers to _______.
| A．stories, poems, play, etc |
| B．written works on a particular subject |
| C．newspaper articles |
| D．the modern literature of America |
What is implied but not stated by the author is that _______.
| A．breakfast does not affect work |
| B．Dr Polite works at an institution of higher learning |
| C．not eating breakfast might affect the health of children |
| D．Professor Bender once taught college courses in nutrition in London |
Dear Volunteers，
The service you will provide to elderly individuals in Abilene as a Meals on Wheels volunteer is deeply appreciated. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the many miles you will travel and all of the hours you will contribute to help make this one of the best programs in the entire state.
We have our staff members make a home visit before adding each person to the program and try to visit everyone at least once every year. That is hardly enough, and we depend on your contact a great deal! It is important that you report back when you do not get an answer to your knock on the door. The person inside may be hurt or ill. They may be in hospital or out of town and fail to inform us. If they are frequently absent, we may need to determine if they still need meals.
If you find someone with a medical emergency, please call 911 to request medical assistance, and then call the Meals on Wheels office. If you find someone who needs assistance other than for a medical emergency, please call the Meals on Wheels office at 6725050, and we will try to find the appropriate agency or individual to call.
Let us know when a certain person needs extra food. We have a food preparation room of shelf stable items to share with them. Please feel free to take a few magazines when you deliver meals. Many of those we serve cannot afford magazines and enjoy reading. If someone is interested in getting books from the Abilene Public Library, let us know. We can sign them up for the Books on Wheels program. Call if you smell gas strongly when you deliver meals, or if someone needs a space heater, a blanket, or an electric fan. Please convey all needs to us, and we will try to see that they are met. Some of the elderly people who we offer our service may have cancers, liver diseases, AIDS, etc. If you do not want to deliver meals to the people with certain types of health problems, such as these, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Betty L. Bradley, LBSW,
Executive DirectorWhy does the author write this letter?
| A．To express great thanks to volunteers. |
| B．To explain how the old people get help. |
| C．To tell volunteers what they are tasked with. |
| D．To describe the life situation of the old people. |
What can we learn about the volunteers from the passage?
| A．They order books for needy people. |
| B．They design programs to help people. |
| C．They offer medical help to sick people. |
| D．They deliver food to the elderly people. |
How does the author learn about the needs of the people served?
| A．The volunteers report back the information to him. |
| B．His staff members call them to get the information. |
| C．He visits them now and then to get the information. |
| D．The family members send the information to his office. |