Robby was 11 when his mother dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer students begin at an earlier age. Robby insisted that it had always been his mother’s dream to hear him play the piano, so I took him in as a student.
Robby tried and tried while I listened and encouraged him and gave him more instructions (指导). But he just did not have any inborn ability.
I only saw his mother from a distance. She always waved and smiled but never came in. Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons. I thought about calling him but I guessed he had decided to try something else.
I was also glad that he stopped coming for the sake of my career. However, several weeks before the recital (演奏会) of my students, Robby came，telling me that he never stopped practicing and begged me to allow him to take part. I agreed but I made him perform last in the program, so I could always save his poor performance through my “curtain closer”.
I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen one piece of Mozart’s. Never had I heard a piece of Mozart’s played so well by someone at his age. When he finished, everyone was cheering.
I ran up and put my arms around Robby in joy. “I’ve never heard you play like that, Robby! How’d you do it?”
“Well, Miss Hondorf. Do you remember I told you my mom was sick? Actually she died this morning. She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she could hear me play. I wanted to make it special. I knew I could.” That night, Robby was the teacher and I was the student. He taught me so many important things about life.Why did Robby stop coming to the piano lessons suddenly?
| A．He lost heart and believed that he would never make it. |
| B．His mother was too sick to send him to the piano lessons. |
| C．He thought his teacher disliked him. |
| D．His mother died and he didn’t need to play any longer. |
Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The writer thought playing the piano shouldn’t start too late. |
| B．The writer thought that Robby had given up the piano lesson. |
| C．The writer taught Robby carefully although he hadn’t a gift for music. |
| D．No one else could play the piece of Mozart’s well. |
From the underlined sentence we can infer that _______.
| A．the writer looked down upon Robby and disliked him |
| B．the writer thought Robby a bad advertisement for his teaching |
| C．with Robby present, the other children couldn’t play well |
| D．the writer couldn’t teach so many students at a time |
What did the writer learn from Robby?
| A．The meaning of true love. |
| B．The meaning of giving up necessarily. |
| C．The meaning of being kind to teachers. |
| D．The meaning of believing in teachers. |
In order to know a foreign language completely, four things are necessary. First, we must understand the language when we hear it spoken. Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, correctly with confidence and without hesitation (犹豫). Thirdly, we must be able to write it. We must be able to make sentences that are correct in grammar. There is no short way to succeed in language learning. A good memory is a great help, but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book. It is no much use learning by heart long lists of words and their meanings, studying the dictionary and so on. We must learn by using the language. If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language. We must “Learn through use”. Practice is important. We must practise speaking and writing the language whenever we can.The most important things to learn a foreign language are .
| A．understanding and speaking |
| B．hearing, speaking, reading and writing |
| C．writing and understanding |
| D．memorizing and listening |
Someone hears and writes English very well, but he speaks it very badly. This is because.
| A．he doesn’t understand the language when he hears it spoken |
| B．he doesn’t have a good memory |
| C．he always remember lists of words and their meanings |
| D．he often hesitates to practise speaking it |
One can never learn a foreign language well only by .
| A．much practice | B．studying the dictionary |
| C．learning through use | D．using the language |
Which of the following is the most important in learning a foreign language?
| A．A good memory. | B．Speaking. |
| C．Practice. | D．Writing. |
“Learn through use” means.
| A．we use a language in order to learn it |
| B．we learn foreign language in order to use it |
| C．we can learn a language well while we are using it |
| D．both B and C |
It may be one of Britain’s most successful exports – Miss World. This 53-year-old event took place in China last week and attracted over 120 women worldwide with knockout looks in a mad struggle for the crown.
Traditional values have long kept the Chinese, especially women, from displaying beauty. But Chinese people have now changed their attitude toward beauty contest, although some men will still be shouting that the winner is no more beautiful than his wife or his former girl friend or even his mother in a sour tone. But such men are not shouting for the right reason. The question to be asked is : Why isn’t there a Mr. World Beauty Contest?
And a further question to be asked is: Does taking part in a beauty contest show a woman’s courage, wisdom and liberation or rather the opposite – a forced choice and a revolting act made under conditions of long-term discrimination?
Organizers of such beauty contests claim that the contestants are judged on qualities other than just their physical appearance. But still no answer is given to why there isn’t a Mr. Beauty or a Mr. World Contest? Or at least, why isn’t that kind of contest popular? Why is it that only women’s “qualities” need to be recognized but not men’s?
Think about who is always standing beside a fancy car on show? Is it a boy or a girl? And this is how “qualities” are judged: if the girl looks good, there is little reason why the car beside her is not of high quality.
The beauty contests go on year after year, with winners enjoying fame which quickly disappears. While such events go on and on, what never changes is the routine practice that in every fancy car show, a girl stands beside a fancy car. What never changes is the need to hold a women’s conference every year to appeal for the promotion of respect for and improvement of women. What never changes is the fate of women as a class. So let’s put more time and resources into trying to change all this rather than holding beauty contests.Miss World Beauty Contest in Britain has a history of ______.
| A．120 years | B．about half a century |
| C．100 years | D．about half a year |
Which of the following is TRUE to the passage?
| A．Miss World Beauty Contest first began in China. |
| B．Women were not allowed to show their beauty in China. |
| C．120 women took part in Beauty Contest last week. |
| D．Miss World was 54 years old. |
According to the writer, .
| A．Chinese women are not allowed to display beauty |
| B．the winner of Miss World is not as beautiful as his wife |
| C．some men are not shouting for the right person |
| D．people can accept a beauty contest in China now |
From the passage we can know the writer thinks that _____________.
| A．contestants’ qualities are more important than their physical appearance |
| B．a Mr. World Contest should be held instead of a Miss World Contest |
| C．a boy should stand by a fancy car |
| D．women’s social status is still low |
The best title for this passage is ____________.
| A．What about a Mr. World Contest? |
| B．History of Miss World Contest. |
| C．Quality or Appearance? |
| D．A Boy Standing beside a Fancy Car. |
Still seeking a destination for your weekend break? There are some places which are probably a mere wall away from your college.
King’s Art Centre
A day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend sees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.
You could attend a class teaching you how to ‘learn from the masters’ or get more creative with paint – free of charge.
The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.
the Botanic Garden
The Garden has over 8,000 plant species; it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.
The multi-branched Torch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above blue-green leaves, and is not one to miss.
Get to the display house to see Dionaea muscipula, a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.
The Garden is also a place for wildlife-enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called ‘Hissing Sid’ is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.
Byron’s Pool
Many stories surround Lord Byron’s time as a student of Cambridge University. Arriving in 1805, he wrote a letter complaining that it was a place of “mess and drunkenness”. However, it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I’m not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his rooms. He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.
It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake, which is now known as Byron’s Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside, the pool is surrounded by the fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don’t trust me, then perhaps you’ll take it from Virginia Woolf – over a century after Byron, she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool. As mentioned in the passage, there is a small charge for ____.
| A．attending the masters’ class | B．working with local artists |
| C．learning life drawing | D．seeing an exhibition |
“Torch Aloe” and “Venus Flytrap” are ____.
| A．common insects | B．impressive plants |
| C．rarely-seen snakes | D．wildlife-enthusiasts |
We can infer from the passage that Byron seemed ____.
| A．to fear pet bears | B．to like walking |
| C．to be a heavy drinker | D．to finish university in 1805 |
In the passage Byron’s Pool is described as a lake ____.
| A．surrounded by fields | B．owned by Lord Byron |
| C．located in Grantchester | D．discovered by Virginia Woolf |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Some places for weekend break. |
| B．A way to become creative in art. |
| C．The colorful life in the countryside. |
| D．Unknown stories of Cambridge University. |
One hot night last July, when our new baby wouldn’t or couldn’t sleep, I tried everything I could think of : a warm bottle, songs gentle rocking. Nothing would settle him. Guessing that I had a long night ahead of me, I brought a portable TV into his room, figuring that watching the late movie was as good a way as any to kill of the hours till dawn. To my surprise, as soon as the TV lit up, the baby quieted right down, his little eyes focused brightly on the tube. Not to waste an opportunity for sleep, I then tiptoes out of the room, leaving him to watch the actors celebrate John Bellushi's forty-fifth birthday.
My wife and I heard none of the baby that night, and the next morning when I went into his room, I found him still watching TV himself.
I found in my baby's behavior a symbol of the new generation. My wife and I had given him some books to examine, but he merely spit upon them. When we read to him, he did not feel comfortable. And so it is in the schools. We find that our students don't read and they look down upon reading and scold those of us who teach it. All they want to do is watch TV. After this experience with the baby, however, I have reached a conclusion: “Let them watch it!” If television is that much more attractive to children than books, why should we fight about it? Let them watch it all they want! Why did the author bring a TV set into his son's room?
| A．To make his son keep quiet. |
| B．To spend the night by watching TV programs. |
| C．In order not to let his son feel lonely. |
| D．To make his son go to sleep as soon as possible. |
The baby's reaction to the TV program was _______ .
| A．unexpected | B．encouraging | C．exciting | D．nervous |
From this passage we know that the author is probably.
| A．a doctor | B．a reporter | C．an editor | D．a teacher |
According to the passage, which is true of the school children?
| A．They prefer reading to watching TV. |
| B．They like watching TV after school. |
| C．They would rather watch TV than read books. |
| D．They like their teachers who teach them reading. |
What does the underlined phrase in the last paragraph mean according to the passage?
| A．talk about | B．think about | C．quallel about | D．care about |
Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s（鳄鱼） back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodileThis passage is most likely to be found in _____.
| A．a travel guide | B．a newspaper | C．a textbook | D．a novel |
The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.
| A．swimming in the river |
| B．standing on the river bank |
| C．watching the crocodile |
| D．fishing in the water |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?
| A．Her eyes were badly poked. |
| B．She had eight wounds altogether. |
| C．One of her fingers also got hurt. |
| D．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT ______.
| A．brave | B．diligent |
| C．quick | D．humorous |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The husband should save the wife |
| B．A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s jaws |
| C．A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagine |
| D．Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes |