While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.
The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to complete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.
I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I'm not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold — his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.
I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.
But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.
No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout "Come on, you can do it! " and he did.
A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.
Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.
In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals feeling they have somehow been cheated out of gold, or when they act so proudly in front of their competitors, it is nice to watch an underdog.From the passage we can learn that the young man .
| A．made his turn to start back pitifully |
| B．was skillful in freestyle in the game |
| C．swam faster than the average swimmer |
| D．was not capable enough to win the medal |
The crowd changed their attitudes because ________.
| A．they felt sorry for the young man |
| B．they were moved by the young man |
| C．they wanted to show their sympathy |
| D．they meant to please the young man |
According to the passage, "it is nice to watch an underdog" probably means _______.
| A．it’s amusing to watch a man with awful swimming skills |
| B．it’s amazing to watch an ordinary man challenging himself |
| C．it’s cheerful for athletes to act proudly before their competitors |
| D．it’s brave enough for some athletes to remove the silver medals |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Compete for Gold! | B．Try again! |
| C．Break a Record! | D．Go for it! |
—I dreamed of some animals running on the moon.
—Itbe. There is no air or water on the moon，you know.
| A．can't | B．may not | C．shouldn't | D．mustn’t |
Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to perform euthanasia(安乐死)—that’s to say, doctors are permitted to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. Word that the law was passed by the vote of 15 to 10 immediately flashed on the Internet and was picked up by John, the director of the Right to Die Society of Canada, who posted it on the group’s homepage online, saying, “This isn’t merely something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”
The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law has left physicians and citizens trying to deal with its moral and practical influence. Some have breathed sighs of relief; but others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the law. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia--where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law. In the U. S. and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes (多米诺骨牌) to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death--probably by a deadly injection or pill--to end suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as incurably ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill Law means he can get on with living without the disturbing fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I' m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.According to the text, which of the following statements is TURE?
| A．Patients will ask their doctors for euthanasia if they are afraid of illness. |
| B．Australia, Canada and the US speak highly of the law of euthanasia. |
| C．All people in Australia don’t share the positive attitude to euthanasia |
| D．If a patient requests death, he should sign a certificate after 48 hours. |
The underlined sentence in Para 2, “observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.” means that observers are prepared to learn the news that .
| A．some other countries pass similar laws |
| B．Australia has to put an end to euthanasia |
| C．people begin to change attitudes to euthanasia |
| D．different effects result from the game of dominoes |
Which is NOT the reason for Australia to become the first country to pass the law of euthanasia?
| A．Australia has advanced technology of extending life. |
| B． Australians realize suffering from a terrible disease is worse than death. |
| C．Australia is faced with a growing ageing population. |
| D．Australians find it easy to deal with the moral and practical influence. |
It can be inferred from the text that .
| A．Australia passed the law of euthanasia by the vote of 15 to 10 |
| B．John and his group are in favor of the law of euthanasia in Australia. |
| C．an adult patient can request euthanasia by a deadly injection or pill |
| D．Lloyd has seen many people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen. |
What’s the author’s attitude to euthanasia?
| A．Negative | B．Critical | C．Doubtful | D．Positive |
There have been discussions about retire age limit recently. Does it make sense to make people retire at a particular age, say, 55? 60?
Some people work well into their 70s and 80s, running families, countries or corporations while other people, despite being fit and highly talented, are forced to retire in their fifties or even earlier. Here I will examine whether people should be allowed to continue working as long as they want or whether they should be encouraged to retire at a particular stage.
Some people think there are several reasons for allowing older people to continue working. Firstly, older employees are more experienced and their knowledge can be lost to his company or business if they are made to retire. Secondly, older employees are often extremely loyal and more willing to carry out company policies than younger staff. Another point is related to our society’s attitudes to the old. To force someone to retire at 50 or 60 indicates that the society does not value the contribution of these people, which may be regarded as age discrimination.
However, others believe that allowing older people to work indefinitely(无限期) is not a good policy. Age alone is no guarantee of ability. Old people are ambitious workaholics. Many young employees are more skillful than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or unit for most of their working lives. Having compulsory retirement encourages new ideas in an organization. In addition, without age limits, many people would continue to work purely because they did not have any other plans. Another reason is that older people should be rewarded by society for their life’s labor by being given generous pensions and the freedom to enjoy their leisure. We now have youngsters who can’t find jobs because old people refuse to retire. This new generation of “old people” may think they will never die due to modern advances in medicine.
With many young people unemployed or frustrated in low-level positions, older workers are expected to retire. However, this can affect their right to work. I feel that giving workers more flexibility and choice over their retirement age will benefit both society and the individual.All the following statements are reasons for allowing old people to continue working EXCEPT that _______.
| A．their contributions should be valued |
| B．their experience should be appreciated |
| C．they can be ambitious workaholics |
| D．they are extremely loyal employees |
The underlined sentence in the fourth passage suggests that _______.
| A．retired people support the young to be creative |
| B．more fresh employees mean more fresh ideas |
| C．retired people are unwilling to praise new ideas |
| D．young employees are forced to be creative |
The structure of the passage is arranged as __________
The author is likely to agree that ________’
| A．it’s not wise to suggest lengthening the retirement age |
| B．it does make sense to set a particular retirement age |
| C．having different retirement age sounds unreasonable |
| D．when to retire should depend on the employees themselves |
| School is over and it’s time for the family to get your children moving and have fun. Choose a suitable one from the following family activities. |
| Gymnastics Gymnastics helps to improve flexibility, strength, and teaches self-discipline. Although Olympic-level gymnastics take years of practice to master, more simple moves are easy to learn in a day and can be practiced at home. Suitable for: 4+ Cost: £6 an hour Contact: British Gymnastics; 084 512 97129; www.british-gymnastics.org |
| Surfing What is required to learn the art of surfing is to combine balance, coordination and patience, which means that it’s not easy to learning that, but the excitement of jumping to your feet on the board for the first time and riding a wave into the shore is an excellent experience. Suitable for: 8+ Cost: £30 an hour Contact: www.nationalsurfingcentre.com, 016 378 50737 |
| Sailing Sailing is beneficial for developing confidence and provides a pure mental and physical challenge from the beginning. It can be done alone, and picking up the basics is not difficult. Suitable for: 8+ Cost: Free Contact: Royal Yachting Association; 084 534 50400; www.rya.org.uk |
| Diving This is a great way to make swimming even more fun. High board diving needs muscle control. Lessons begin at the poolside, where you will learn some basic skills before moving on to the boards, Try a saltwater pool, on warmer days, and enjoy the fresh air, high boards and water games. Suitable for: 13+ Cost: The first lesson, which lasts one hour, is usually free if you decide to carry on. £10/£20 an hour. Contact: Find your local swimming pool at www. britishswimming.org; 015 096 18700 |
If you have a child of seven, you would like to choose ______ for him/her.
| A．Diving | B．Sailing | C．Surfing | D．Gymnastics |
Taking a 10-hour course in diving needs at least .
| A．£200 | B．£100 | C．£90 | D．£30 |
In order to build up your children’s confidence, you can call .
| A．015 096 18700 |
| B．084 534 50400 |
| C．016 378 50737 |
| D．084 512 97129 |
According to the passage, we know that .
| A．it is very difficult to learn basic sailing skills. |
| B．it is impossible to practice gymnastics at home |
| C．self-discipline is needed to do high board diving |
| D．surfing needs qualities of patience and balance |
I do desire to help my Chinese students to find a better way of learning. I once divided my Chinese MBA students into six groups and set them an assignment: brainstorming on “two-hour business plans”, for example: a restaurant chain. Originality would be valued most. As a result, five groups proposed projects for restaurant chains. The sixth showed a catering service. I couldn’t help expressing my disappointment, though the time limit had been rather challenging.
Those middle managers and financial analysts from state-owned enterprises and global companies were not untalented or without opinions, but they had been accustomed to an educational system that rarely rewarded critical thinking or Originality. Papers were often copied from the Internet and the Harvard Business Review. Students insisted that copying was a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating.
In China, you can see almost all kinds of products you can imagine have been made and sold, but so few well developed marketing and management minds have been produced that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand!
Partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established so as to solve the problem mentioned above. And there’s also the “thousand talent scheme”: this new government program is designed to improve technological modernization by inviting top foreign trained scientists to the mainland with large sums of money. But there are concerns about China’s research environment, which is known for lacking in encouraging independent thinking and inventiveness, and even high salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this.
If China wants to become a major world creator, it is no good just seeking partnerships with top Western universities or gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It’s time to establish a rich learning environment for young minds. Yes, new way of learning is the key!The author feels disappointed when the students hand in their plans because_____
| A．there’s one group presenting a catering service. |
| B．all groups followed his idea of restaurant chains. |
| C．the students’ ideas were lacking in creativeness. |
| D．the time limit had been rather challenging. |
Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．China can make and sell all kinds of product all over the world |
| B．High pay can solve the problem of China’s research environment |
| C．Foreign trained scientists are expected to invent a Chinese brand |
| D．The new government program is aimed at encouraging imagination |
Which can serve as the best title of the passage?
| A．Look for a New Way of Learning |
| B．Develop MBA Students’ Creative Thinking |
| C．Help China to Become a Creator |
| D．Improve China’s Research Environment |