The advertisement appeared in my e-mail—“1-800-Flowers: Mother’s Day Madness —for just $39.99！” I almost clicked on it, forgetting that those services would not be needed this year. My mother, Margaret Feiddman, died at the age of 89, and so this is my first Mother’s Day without my mom.
In my childhood, my mom appeared to be a typical suburban housewife of her generation. She sewed many of my sisters’ clothes, including both of their wedding dresses and boy’s suits for me. And on the side, she won several national bridge tournaments(桥牌锦标赛).
My mom left many indelible marks on me. The first was to never lose heart and to be independent. My dad died suddenly when I was 19. My mom worked hard for a couple of years. But in1975, I won a scholarship to study in Britain and my mom surprised us all by announcing that she decided to go with me. When I met difficulties, she always said: “You’re a man, so never lose heart, never be knocked down, and try your best to pursue(追求) your dreams.”
My mom’s other big influence on me is a sense of optimism. She had taken her knocks. But every time life knocked her down, she got up and kept on marching forward, encouraged by the saying that pessimists(悲观者) are usually right, optimists are usually wrong, but most great changes are made by optimists.
How I wish to listen to my mother’s words, and give my best regards on this Mother’s Day, but I have no chance now! My best friends, treasure(珍惜)your mother’s love!The author mentioned the advertisement to ___.
| A．show he’s tired of the advertisements |
| B．explain he missed his mother very much |
| C．make you believe that he was very kind |
| D．urge the readers to buy the present for their mothers |
What experience of the author’s mother surprised the author?
| A．That she volunteered to go to Britain with her son. |
| B．That she gained knowledge all by herself. |
| C．That she did all the housework by herself. |
| D．That she won several national bridge tournaments. |
What dose the underlined word “indelible” in the 3rd paragraph probably mean?
| A．be out of control | B．be easy to remember |
| C．be destroyed easily | D．be impossible to forget |
We can know about the author’s mother that_____.
| A．She encouraged the author to pursue his dreams |
| B．she felt very lonely in her late life |
| C．She never received a present from her children |
| D．she passed away before the author’s father |
Which can be the best title for the passage?
| A．My Great Mother | B．Mother and I |
| C．Treasure Mother’s Love | D．Mother’s Day Madness |
Another thing an astronaut has to learn about is eating in space．Food is weightless, just as men are．
Food for space has to be packed in special ways．Some of it goes into tubes that a man can squeeze into his mouth．Bite-sized cookies are packed in plastic．
There is a good reason for covering each bite．The plastic keeps pieces of food from traveling in the spaceship．On the earth very small pieces of food would simply fall to the floor．But gravity doesn’t pull them to the floor when they are out of the plastic in a spaceship．They move here and there and can get into a man’s eyes or into the spaceship’s instruments． If any of the instruments is blocked, the astronauts may have trouble getting safely home．
As astronauts travel on longer space trips, they must take time to sleep． An astronaut can fit himself to his seat with a kind of seat belt. Or, if he wants to, he can sleep in a sleeping bag which is fixed in place under his seat．But be careful he must put his hands under the belt when he goes to sleep．This is because he is really afraid that he might touch one of controls that isn’t supposed to be touched until later．Why would astronauts cover each bite of food in space？____
| A．Because small pieces of food would fall down to the floor． |
| B．Because weightless pieces of food might make trouble when they travel around． |
| C．Because they haven’t enough food for longer trips． |
| D．Because astronauts don’t want to waste food． |
In a spaceship, astronauts can ____．
| A．walk just as they do on the earth． |
| B．not eat anything because it’s dangerous． |
| C．control the spaceship when they are sleeping． |
| D．not litter small things or it will make trouble． |
Why does an astronaut put his hand under his belt when he sleeps？____
| A．Because he thinks it is comfortable to sleep in that way in space． |
| B．Because he doesn’t want to touch any controls when he sleeps． |
| C．Because the instruments of the spaceship are easily broken． |
| D．Because he is afraid that the seat will move． |
The best title of this article is ____．
| A．Eating and Sleeping in Space |
| B．How Astronauts Eat in Space |
| C．Food for Space |
| D．How Astronauts Sleep in Space |
Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy．After all, you probably sing when you are happy．
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy．However they sing most of the time for a very different reason．Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory．
Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims (声称) as its own．Only he and his family are welcome there． No other families of the same species are welcome．Your house is your territory where only your family and friends are welcome．If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout．Probably this would be enough to frighten him away．
If so, you have actually frightened the stranger away without having to fight him．A bird does the same thing．But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting (筑巢) season．So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not．This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away．Some scientists believe that most of the time bird’s singing is actually ______．
| A．an expression of happiness | B．a way of warning |
| C．an expression of anger | D．a way of greeting |
What is a bird’s “territory”?
| A．A place where families of other species are not accepted. |
| B．A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice． |
| C．An area for which birds fight against each other． |
| D．An area which a bird considers to be its own． |
Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?
| A．Because they want to invite more friends． |
| B．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away． |
| C．Because they want to find outsiders around． |
| D．Because their singing helps get rid of their fears． |
How does the writer explain birds’ singing?
| A．By comparing birds with human beings． |
| B．By reporting experiment results． |
| C．By describing birds’ daily life． |
| D．By telling a bird’s story． |
Once upon a time, there was a lovely vegetable field, on which grew a very thick tree. Both the vegetables and the tree gave the place a wonderful appearance, which was the joy of the garden’s owner. What no one knew was that the vegetables in the field and the tree couldn’t stand each other. The vegetables hated the tree’s shadow, because it left them only just enough light to survive. The tree, on the other hand, hated the vegetables because they drank nearly all the water before it could get to him, leaving him with just enough to survive.
The situation became so extreme that the vegetables got totally fed up and decided to use up all the water in the ground so that the tree would dry up. The tree answered back by refusing to give the vegetables shadow from the hot midday sun, so they both began to dry up. Before long, the vegetables were really thin and the tree’s branches were drying up.
Neither of them thought that the gardener, on seeing his vegetable field becoming worse, would stop watering it. When he did that, both the tree and the vegetables really learned what thirst was. There seemed to be no solution, but one of the vegetables, a small courgette（小胡瓜）, understood what was going on, and decided to deal with it. Despite the little water and the unbearable heat, the little courgette did all he could to grow, grow... He managed to grow so big that the gardener started watering the field again. The gardener wanted to enter that beautiful big courgette in some gardening contest.
They should really learn how to live in harmony（和谐）with those around them, doing the best they could. So they decided to work together, and help each other instead of fighting, using both the shadow and the water in the best combination to grow good vegetables. Seeing how well they were doing, the gardener now gave the best of care to his vegetable field, watering it better than any other field for miles around.From the passage, we can learn____.
| A．the gardener was very lazy |
| B．the tree and vegetables grew very well at first |
| C．the tree and vegetables got along well with each other at first |
| D．the gardener was satisfied with his work on the garden |
The vegetables and the tree fought for____.
| A．living space | B．the gardener’s attention |
| C．attending the contest | D．their own good |
What drew the garden’s owner’s attention to the field again?
| A．Some gardening contests. |
| B．The fight between plants. |
| C．The big and beautiful courgette. |
| D．The wonderful appearance in the garden. |
What was out of the expectation of the tree and vegetables?
| A．That the gardener stopped watering them. |
| B．That the courgette understood what was happening. |
| C．That they could live together. |
| D．That they could take part in the contest. |
How can one live in harmony with others according to the passage?
| A．By working together and helping each other. |
| B．By learning to be thankful. |
| C．By respecting others and oneself. |
| D．By learning to stop being angry with others. |
Forgiving someone who has hurt you or let you down is never an easy thing. Several new studies, however, say that it could have a lot of health benefits. When you think of forgiveness, you probably don’t think of it as being a health or medical problem. Studies from Stanford University, on the other hand, show that something like anger can change your well-being.
When cartoon book characters like the Incredible Hulk get angry, they change colours and often gain special power. In the real world, anger is less obvious and may be more dangerous. That’s why Professor Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good, says holding on to anger and hatred can harm your physical and mental health. Two new studies seem to show the same idea.
The studies find that people who are able to forgive feel less stress, less back pain, and less depression(抑郁). They also have fewer headaches, lower blood pressure, and fewer problems on sleeping.
So it doesn’t matter if your anger is caused by the traffic or other things. Learning to let it go is important. Techniques such as deep breath or thought can help. Or just ask yourself if it’s worth hurting yourself by staying angry with someone else.
Forgiveness does not mean that you simply accept what happened and say it’s OK. Instead, it’s a way of making peace with yourself about what happened in the past. The author of the passage tries to make his viewpoint clear__________.
| A．by raising his own examples |
| B．based on his own experience |
| C．by mentioning some studies |
| D．by mentioning some typical patients |
The example of the cartoon book characters is taken in the passage to__________.
| A．support the viewpoint that anger and hatred harm physical and mental health |
| B．introduce a famous expert |
| C．let the reader know the different colours of cartoon faces |
| D．show how to control one’s temper |
The underlined phrase“holding on to”in this passage possibly means“__________”.
| A．removing | B．keeping up | C．getting rid of | D．learning about |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in this passage?
| A．People who are able to forgive feel less stress. |
| B．People who are able to forgive feel less depression. |
| C．People who are able to forgive have fewer problems on sleeping. |
| D．People who are able to forgive feel less tired. |
The best title for this passage is probably__________.
| A．Forgiveness | B．Forgiveness Is Good for Health |
| C．A Secret to Keeping Health | D．Anger Is Bad for Health |
My first visit to Angkor Wat(吴哥窟) was in 1980. The country had been at war for many years and the temple was deserted and falling to pieces. Plants were growing out of the roofs, and trees were growing in the courtyards.
Today, the temple is the scene of a busy repair program. A team of 15 Indian experts are organizing a workforce of 400 Cambodians, most of them women, who are cleaning, repairing and rebuilding parts of this temple.
As I walked through the courtyards, I noticed the Cambodian women devote hours to cleaning carefully a tiny area of stone. Boards are laid down to protect the precious painted stones while the repair work is going on. There are very few machines and little heavy equipment. Workers carry building materials in buckets at the end of long poles. Piles of stones lie in a corner of the courtyard, waiting to be replaced.
The work of cleaning the stones is watched over by three Indian chemists. It is a very slow task. First they clean the stones with brushes using buckets of a weak chemical. Then gaps between the stones are filled in. Finally another material is painted onto the stones which will protect them from water forever.
Work starts every day at 7 a. m. and goes on until late afternoon six days a week, with a break at midday.
Evening is the best time to visit the temple, after the tour groups have left. As the sun sinks lower, shadows spread across the courtyard. After sunset, the sky turns pink. The grey stone towers take on a golden color before turning pink. Nowhere else in the world can there be such a quiet, beautiful place.This passage mainly tells ________.
| A．the poor look of the temple Angkor Wat in 1980 |
| B．the history of the temple Angkor Wat |
| C．the repair work being done to the temple Angkor Wat |
| D．the difficulty in the repair work |
According to the author, which of the following plays the LEAST important role in the repair work?
| A．The women workers. | B．The Indian workers |
| C．Machines | D．Skilled workers |
The underlined sentence “the temple was deserted” possibly means that _______.
| A．there was no one in the temple and it was in a poor state |
| B．the temple was built on desert and nobody noticed it |
| C．the temple was very old with a long history |
| D．the temple was repaired by the Cambodians, most of whom women |
To clean the stone, how many steps should be followed?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |
Which work needs a lot of time to do?
| A．To get rid of certain types of plants. |
| B．To carry the building materials. |
| C．To replace the stones. |
| D．To clean the stones. |