Robert Burns, the son of a hard-working and intelligent farmer, was the oldest of seven children. Although always hard pressed financially, their father encouraged his sons with their education. As a result, Burns not only read the Scottish poetry of Ramsay and the collections by Hailes and Herd, but also the works of Pope, Locke, and Shakespeare.
By 1781, Burns had tried his hand at several agricultural jobs without success. Although he had begun writing, and his poems were spread widely in manuscript (手稿), none were published until 1786, when Burns published Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), which was an immediate success. Later Burns brought out a second edition of his poems at Edinburgh in 1787, and for two winters he was socially active in the Scottish city. In 1788 he retired to a farm at Ellis land. By 1791 Burns had failed as a farmer, and he moved to Dumfries, where he held a position as a tax collector. He died of illness at 37.
Burns’s art is at its best in songs such as My Heart’s in the Highlands. Some of his songs, such as Auld Lang Syne and Comin’ thro’ the Rye, are among the most familiar and best-loved songs in the English language. But his talent was not limited to songs; two descriptive pieces, Tam o’ Shanter and The Jolly Beggars, are among his masterpieces.
Burns had a fine sense of humor, which was reflected in his satirical (讽刺的), descriptive, and playful poems. His great popularity with the Scots lay in his ability to describe the life of his fellow rural Scots. His use of dialect brought an energetic, much-needed freshness into English poetry. What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．Burn had a wealthy childhood. |
| B．Burns was best loved by his parents. |
| C．Burns’s father cared more about his kids’ education. |
| D．Burns wanted to be a poet when he grew up. |
Robert was not officially accepted by readers until______.
| A．1781 | B．1786 | C．1787 | D．1791 |
Robert made his best achievement in art by writing _______.
| A．songs | B．poems | C．stories | D．humors |
What was Robert’s biggest contribution to English poetry?
| A．His satirical style. | B．His descriptiveness. |
| C．His fine sense of humor. | D．His use of Scottish dialect. |
We can conclude from the passage that Robert _______.
| A．majored in agriculture when he was a student |
| B．earned a lot of money by publishing his poems |
| C．was a failure in managing farms but a success in art |
| D．showed much interest in collecting tax before he died |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light，I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff（东西） they call “books”。
I was going to have my examination the next day.“When can I go to bed？” I asked myself. I didn’t answer，In fact I dared not.
The clock struck twelve. “ Oh，dear！” I cried. “Ten more books to read before I can go to bed！” We pupils are the most wretched creatures（生物） in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite desperate（绝望的）now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed，“Oh，God，please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards，Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later，with my head on the desk，I fell asleep.The underlined word “wretched”in Paragraph 3 probably means _______ .
| A．very happy. | B．disappointed. | C．very unhappy. | D．hopeful. |
Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because.
| A．it was too late at night. |
| B．he was very tired. |
| C．his eye lids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open. |
| D．he hadn’t studied hard before the examination. |
What do you suppose happened to the author？
| A．He went to a church to pray again. |
| B．He passed the exam by sheer luck. |
| C．He failed in the exam. |
| D．He was punished by his teacher. |
The best title for the passage would be __________ .
| A．The Night Before the Examination. |
| B．Working Far into the Night. |
| C．A Slow Student. |
| D．Going Over My Lessons. |
Retirement Age
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely．The " standard" retirement age varies from country to country, but it is generally between 50 and 70, according to the latest statistics, 2011．However, for a long time, people have got into an argument about whether the age of retirement should be increased or reduced in their own countries．
There are several arguments for allowing older people to continue working as long as they are able．Many people think that older employees have a large amount of knowledge and experience which can be lost to a business or organization if they are made to retire．Besides, older employees are often extremely faithful employees to and are more willing to implement company policies than the young．A more important point is regarding the attitudes in society to old people．To force someone to resign or retire at 60 or 65 indicates that the society does not value the input of these people and that effectively their useful life is over．
Allowing old people to work indefinitely （无限地）, however, is not always a good policy．Some people took the strong view that age alone is no guarantee of ability．Many young employees have more experience or skills than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area for most of their working lives．Having compulsory retirement allows new ideas in an organization．On the other hand, older people should be rewarded by society for their life' s labor by being given generous pensions and the freedom to enjoy leisure．They can have time to do whatever they like, that is, they can have their own plans or roles and achieve their retirement goals．
With many young people unemployed or frustrated in low-level positions, there are often calls to compulsorily retire older workers．However, this can affect the older individual' s freedom—and right—to work．In my opinion, giving workers more choices over their retirement age will benefit society and the individual．According to the passage, older people should go on with work because ____.
| A．they will help the business not to fail quickly |
| B．they have grasped much practical experience |
| C．they need to have a sense of achievement |
| D．they want to learn more knowledge |
The underlined word "implement" in Paragraph 2 probably means "______".
| A．take over | B．work on | C．get rid of | D．carry out |
The third paragraph is mainly to tell us that ______．
| A．older people can' t do their work well |
| B．young people usually have new ideas |
| C．it is better for older people to retire on time |
| D．older people would like to do something else |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
I got interested in the idea of standing desks about a year ago. The health advantages of standing instead of sitting for eight hours a day are clear, so when the company Ergotron invited me to review their WorkFit C-Mod Dual Desk, I jumped out of my chair---really.
After several hours putting the desk together, I finally got to try it out. The standing desk had a desktop that I could use for writing.
At first I absolutely loved it. Standing during the day instead of sitting was fantastic. Although I felt more tired after all that standing during the day, I knew the health benefits were worth the slight discomfort. However, after the initial novelty (新奇)of the desk wore off, I realized that I could not use it in the long term.
It was just not practical. While using the desk for a month , I could definitely foresee problems arising from using it full time.
I enjoy having a lot of things on my desk. The standing desk just did not have enough room for all of my things.
I can easily foresee awkward situations when I put that desk in an office space. When someone comes into your office, does your guest have to stand as well? If you office is big enough, maybe you have room for two chairs for you and a visitor, which is great. Yet for the ordinary worker in a small office, the standing desk creates a very awkward situation.
Additionally, the amount of money I would have to spend to replace my current workspace with a standing desk was another issue. The desks I have looked at were highly expensive.
Yes, spending the day standing can offset(抵消) many of the negative effects of too much sitting, but we humans are designed for movement. Through activity changes like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, you can easily increase the time you spend on your feet. Best of all, those options are completely free.When the author was asked to try the standing desk out, he was ____.
| A．excited | B．surprised | C．unhappy | D．uninterested |
When first using the standing desk, the author ___.
| A．thought it was boring | B．thought it was wonderful |
| C．felt less tired than usual | D．felt quite uncomfortable |
According to the author, a standing desk ____.
| A．takes up too much space | B．is suitable for long-term use |
| C．is cheaper than traditional desks | D．is impractical though good for health |
What does the author mainly tell us in the text?
| A．How to use the standing desk. | B．What he does during the workday. |
| C．His opinion on the standing desk. | D．The advantage of the standing desk. |
| HIGHFIELD COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL SCHOOL REPORT Form Teacher:G. Baker Pupil’s Name: Simon Watkins Term:Summer 2012 Form:Ⅳ B
FORM TEACHER’S REMARKS HEADMASTER |
According to the comments of the Physical Education teacher, Simon_______.
| A．is too talkative in the class |
| B．likes to work with his classmates |
| C．doesn’t exercise his body at the right time |
| D．becomes weak because he doesn’t exercise at all |
Which of Simon’s subjects will attract the headmaster’s attention in future?
| A．Biology and Maths. | B．History and French. |
| C．English and Chemistry. | D．Physics and Physical Education. |
Which of the following statements best describes Simon?
| A．He has made great progress in language classes. |
| B．His potential has been fully reflected in science classes. |
| C．His grade in maths makes him a born scientist. |
| D．He needs to improve his attitude on certain subjects. |
Based on the school report, which of the following statements is true?
| A．Simon didn’t bother his teacher to revise French. |
| B．Basically, Simon did a good job in science. |
| C．Simon is a determined learner in English. |
| D．Simon is able to pay attention to history for long. |
People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions about the word“mouth”. But some of them are not so nice. For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say “Do not bad mouth me.” Sometimes, people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that people’s feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to. The speaker might say: “I really put my foot in my mouth this time”. If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth, In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
Information is often spread through word of mouth. This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other.” How did you hear about that new movie?” someone might ask,” Oh, by word of mouth.” A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. This is an official spokesperson. Government –run media could also be called a mouthpiece.
Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. When this happens, the friend might say: “You took the words right out of my mouth!” Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person. He might say that experience “left a bad taste in my mouth”. Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog. He might say : “ I had my heart in my mouth.”The underlined words “ down in the mouth” in Paragraph One can be best replaced by _______.
| A．ashamed | B．regretful | C．satisfied | D．excited |
Which could be used to describe one’s fear?
| A．By word of mouth | B．Put one ‘s foot in one’s mouth |
| C．Take the words right out one’s mouth. | D．Have one’s heart in one’s mouth. |
The second paragraph of the passage mainly tells us _____.
| A．the meaning of two expressions | B．information from folk communication |
| C．information from official-run media | D．two different ways to get information |
The author writes the passage in order to _____.
| A．introduce some expressions | B．enjoy learning English |
| C．learn about English culture | D．use words correctly |