Growing up on a tobacco farm, Emma Avery was used to hard times. When she was seven, her family’s farmhouse burned to the ground. Her father made a temporary (临时的) shelter, where eight people had to sleep in two beds. As soon as Emma and her four brothers and two sisters were big enough, they were out in the fields.
Emma would find her comfort in school, even as a C student, thanks to one teacher. When she moved on to middle school, Emma was alarmingly far behind her classmates. She kept her head down, trying not to be noticed, struggling to catch up, and feeling like an outsider.
Then one day, when Emma was 16, a teacher named Mr. Potts changed everything. Looking his students in the eye, Mr. Potts said, "Being a C student does not mean you do not have a valuable contribution to make. Some of you have to work in the fields in the evening and do not have time to study. But if you do your best, you have a gift to give."
The teacher’s words made Emma believe she could do well, and she worked harder. In the end she won a scholarship to St. Paul’s College, graduated with a degree in elementary education in 1967, and got a job in the public-school system. Then, at George Washington University, she received a master’s in education in 1970, and afterwards in the same year she married Ron Smothers.
Over the next six years, Emma taught in public schools in Miami. In 1976, after saving $10,000, she opened her first restaurant in Los Angeles. Eventually Emma stopped teaching, and her business expanded (扩展) to six restaurants.
In gratitude (感激) for what she has been able to achieve, Emma donates a lot. She has no idea how much money she’s given away. She says, "Those I want to help are the C students who just need help, direction and confidence."The first paragraph serves to show that Emma ______.
| A．was poor and had no time to study |
| B．was born on a tobacco farm |
| C．was sad to lose her house |
| D．was kind enough to help support the family |
From the text we learn that Emma ______.
| A．won a scholarship to George Washington University |
| B．was unsuccessful as a businesswoman |
| C．was thankful to Mr. Potts |
| D．disliked teaching, and gave up the job |
From the second paragraph we can infer that Emma was ______.
| A．unintelligent | B．unconfident | C．hard-working | D．Considerate |
The text mainly wants to tell us ______.
| A．confidence is the first step to success |
| B．memory of the past is the teacher of the future |
| C．something attempted, something done |
| D．nothing is impossible to a willing heart |
Isn’t it cool to surf (冲浪) in summer? You catch a wave and enjoy the ride. Surfing is not only our favorite sport, though. A group of penguins (企鹅) enjoy the sport as much as we do. And they show their excitement and skills in the new animated film —Surf`s Up, which came out on June 6, in the US.
Cody loves the sport. Cody’s idol (偶像) is Big Z, a great penguin surfing king. Cody doesn’t like his brother and his mother who are not supportive. He really wants to get away. Cody believes that winning a surfing competition will bring him admiration and respect. When Mikey Abromowitz, a talent scout (侦察员), comes to Antarctica to look for talented penguins for a surfing competition, Cody’s really excited, but during his show there are no waves and he doesn’t make it. But he knows he can’t give up. He runs after Mikey’s whale and begs until Mikey agrees to take him.
There Cody meets Lani, the island’s beautiful lifeguard, as well as his main rival (对手), the surfing champion Evans. The cocky Evans shows no respect for Big Z, which makes Cody angry. For this, he challenges Evans to a surfing match, only to suffer a terrible defeat.
Lani takes Cody to the island doctor. As they spend time together, Cody realizes that this doctor is really Big Z himself. When he learns this, Cody begs him to train him and make him a better surfer.
Cody begins to find his own way. Cody improves his skills with the help of Big Z and discovers that a true winner isn’t always the one who comes in first.The passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．that winning can bring you good luck and respect |
| B．how a penguin can be a good surfer |
| C．about a new animated film —Surf`s Up |
| D．about the life of a teenage penguin called Cody |
Which of the following statements about Big Z is NOT true?
| A．He is a great penguin surfing king. |
| B．He doesn’t help Cody with surfing although Cody begs him. |
| C．He works as a doctor after he leaves surfing. |
| D．He is loved by the teenage penguin Cody. |
The underlined part “doesn’t make it” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.
| A．feels very sad | B．can’t breathe freely |
| C．is not successful | D．can’t continue surfing |
Which of the following statements about Cody is NOT true?
| A．He likes surfing and lives in Antarctica. |
| B．He thinks winning will win him the respect of others at first. |
| C．He gets along well with his brother and his mother. |
| D．He is defeated by Evans in a surfing match. |
It’s 8:30, time for John to start work. So he turns on his radio. Then he eats breakfast. As he eats, he reads his e-mail and reviews his to-do list. Then he sits on the sofa and thinks about an article he needs to write ... Wait a minute! Radio? Breakfast? Sofa? What kind of workplace is this? Well, actually it is John’s house, and he is a telecommuter — he works at home, communicating with the workplace through the Internet.
Like John, millions of people — and their employers — are finding that telecommuting is a great way to work. Telecommuters can follow their own timetables. They work in the comfort of homes, where they can also look after young children or elderly parents. They save time and money by not traveling to work. Their employers save, too, because they need less office space and furniture. Studies show that telecommuters change jobs less often. This saves employers even more money. Telecommuting helps society, too, by reducing pollution and traffic problems.
Jobs that are suited to telecommuting include writing, design work, computer programming and accounting. If a job is related to working with information, a telecommuter can probably do it.From the passage we can learn that John does his job.
| A．by telephone | B．through the Internet |
| C．in his office | D．away from home |
One of the advantages of telecommuting is that you can.
| A．work for several employers | B．enjoy a lot of traveling |
| C．get along well with other workers | D．work on your own schedule |
Telecommuters change jobs less often, so.
| A．their employers can save money |
| B．their employers will give them a higher pay |
| C．they can get more work experience |
| D．they will have a longer paid holiday |
The underlined phrase “suited to” in the third paragraph probably means “”.
| A．acceptable for | B．bad for |
| C．difficult for | D．fit for |
Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.
Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, this story is about the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive (令人赞叹的) as the building itself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Mad in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial (纪念物) to celebrate their love.
The heartbroken Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out, and more than 20,000 workers worked nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains under the center of the building.
Later, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days, eight years, imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it until he was buried next to his wife.
Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange and sad story, people who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired its construction.The first two paragraphs were written mainly to show that ______.
| A．the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building |
| B．India has some of the most famous buildings in the world |
| C．ancient Indian emperors were cruel |
| D．construction workers led a hard life in ancient India |
The Taj Mahal was first built as ______.
| A．a memorial building | B．a tourist attraction |
| C．a prison | D．a gift to Mumtaz |
From the passage we can learn that Mumtaz probably died in ______.
| A．1626 | B．1653 | C．1632 | D．1634 |
The underlined word “happiness” in the last paragraph refers to “______”.
| A．the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal |
| B．the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal |
| C．the married happiness of the emperor and his wife |
| D．the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power |
Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in different cultural experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three typical characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness of being unclear.
Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm when things do not go as one wants them to, or as one hopes they would, or even as one was sure they would. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not.
A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in his own reaction than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to.
“The awareness of being unclear” is a more difficult concept to understand than patience and a sense of humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear as they are newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in a certain situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can’t be sure of different people’s roles in what is going on. “It’s like that I just got here from the moon,” a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said. “Things are just so different here.”The passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．about some uneasy traveling experiences in foreign countries |
| B．about the three main ways to communicate with foreigners |
| C．about some typical characteristics in different cultural experiences |
| D．how to show your characters to foreigners |
According to the passage, which characteristic should be focused on most?
| A．The ability to keep cool. | B．The sense of humor. |
| C．Patience. | D．The awareness of being unclear. |
“The awareness of being unclear” refers to “______” .
| A．not knowing what is happening in a situation |
| B．not understanding the local language well enough |
| C．being aware that the situation is unclear |
| D．not knowing how some system or organization works |
By what the Chinese graduate student said, we can learn that ______.
| A．he is not used to the culture of America |
| B．he went to the United States to study the moon |
| C．he is a person with a sense of humor |
| D．he has just returned from the moon |
The home computer industry has been growing rapidly in the United States in the last ten years. Computers used to be large, expensive machines that were very difficult to use. But scientists and technicians have been making them smaller and cheaper while at the same time they have been made easier to use. As a result, their popularity has been increasing as more people have been buying computers for their homes and businesses.
Computers have been designed to store information and compute problems that are difficult for human beings to work out. Some have voices that speak to their operators. Stores use computers to keep records of their inventories and to send bills to their customers. Offices use computers to copy letters, record business and keep in touch with other offices. People also use computers in their homes to keep track of the money they spend.
One important new use of computers is for entertainment. Many new games have been designed to be played on computers. People of all ages play these games. People also buy home computers to watch movies and listen to concerts at home. They have become very popular indeed.Compared with those of today, computers used to ______.
| A．work rapidly | B．be used for fun |
| C．be large and expensive | D．be easy to use |
In recent years, computers have become ______.
| A．more and more difficult to use | B．slower and slower |
| C．more and more expensive | D．smaller and smaller |
Home computers can be used for ______.
| A．doing business | B．writing letters |
| C．playing games | D．all of the above |
Salesmen use computers mainly to ______.
| A．talk with their friends |
| B．write letters |
| C．check the list of goods and send bills |
| D．play games for pleasure |