William Butler Yeats, a most famous Irish writer, was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. His childhood lacked the harmony that was typical of a happy family. Later, Yeats shocked his family by saying that he remembered "little of childhood but its pain". In fact, he inherited (继承) excellent taste in art from his family — both his father and his brother were painters. But he finally settled on literature, particularly drama and poetry.
Yeats had strong faith in the coming of new artistic movements. He set himself the fresh task in founding an Irish national theatre in the late 1890s. His early theatrical experiments, however, were not received favorably at the beginning. He didn't lose heart, and finally enjoyed success in his poetical drama.
Compared with his dramatic works, Yeats's poems attract much admiring notice. The subject matter includes love, nature, history, time and aging. Though Yeats generally relied on very traditional forms, he brought modern sensibility to them. As his literary life progressed, his poetry grew finer and richer, which led him to worldwide recognition.
He had not enjoyed a major public life since winning the Nobel Prize in 1923. Yet, he continued writing almost to the end of his life. Had Yeats stopped writing at age 40, he would probably now be valued as a minor poet, for there is no other example in literary history of a poet who produces his greatest works between the ages of 50 and 75. After Yeats's Death in 1939, W. H. Auden wrote, among others, the following lines:
Earth, receive an honoured guest:
William Yeats is laid to rest.
Let the Irish vessel (船) lie
Emptied of its poetry.Which of the following can describe Yeats's family?
| A．It filled Yeats's childhood with laughter. |
| B．It was shocked by Yeats's choice. |
| C．It was a typically wealthy family. |
| D．It had an artistic atmosphere. |
According to the passage, what do we know about Yeats's life?
| A．Yeats founded the first Irish theater. |
| B．Yeats stuck to modern forms in his poetry. |
| C．Yeats began to produce his best works from the 1910s. |
| D．Yeats was not favored by the public until the 1923 Noble Prize. |
What kind of feeling is expressed in W. H. Auden's lines?
| A．Envy | B．Sympathy | C．Emptiness | D．Admiration |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Yeats's literary achievements | B．Yeats's historical influence |
| C．Yeats's artistic ambition | D．Yeats's national honor |
Victor’s hobby was collecting stamps. He had stamps from many countries, like England, Canada and China. On his birthday, can you guess what people gave him? That’s right—stamps.
Victor’s favorite stamps came from France. He had almost every stamp from 1954 to 2004. He only needed one. That was a 1974 special edition*. It was very hard to find.
He looked for it everywhere. He asked his friends and relatives to help him. But nobody could find the stamp. It made Victor very sad.
“Don’t worry. Never give up,” his father said to him. “If you have enough patience, you’ll find it one day.”
“I hope so,” Victor said.
Victor also liked writing. He had a pen friend in France. They wrote to each other every month. Victor’s pen friend, Phillip, usually used new stamps to send letters. Sometimes, his mother gave him stamps to use. Once Phillip’s mother gave him a big, green stamp. It looked old. When Victor received the letter, he was very surprised. On the envelope, he looked carefully at the stamp. It was the 1974 special edition stamp. Victor was so happy. He told his sister, his mother and his father.
“You see,” his father said. “You did find your stamp. So, it’s good to have two things in life. ”
“What are they?” Victor asked.
“Friends and patience.” He answered. It was very difficult for Victor to find a special French stamp of _________.
| A．1954 | B．1974 | C．1994 | D．2004 |
Who owned the special edition stamp at the very beginning?
| A．Phillip. | B．Phillip’s mother. | C．Victor. | D．Victor’s father. |
The passage mainly tells us that ________ is（are）important to people.
| A．a happy family | B．a good hobby |
| C．relatives and friendship | D．friends and patience |
One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river. When he began crying, God appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"
The woodcutter told him that he had dropped his axe into water. God went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe.
"Is this your axe?" God asked.
The woodcutter said "No."
God again went down and came up with a silver axe." Is this your axe?" God asked.
The woodcutter said "No."
God again went down and came up with a iron axe." Is this your axe?" God asked.
The woodcutter said "Yes."
God was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all the three axes.
The woodcutter went home happily. One day while he was walking with his wife along the river, his wife fell into the river. W hen he began crying, God appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"
"My wife has fallen into water."
God went down into the water and came up with Jennifer Lopez.
"Is this your wife?" God asked him.
"Yes." he said.
God was furious(狂怒的),"YOU CHEAT !Now I am going to curse you."
The woodcutter quickly said, “Forgive me my lord. It is a misunderstanding. IF I say 'No' to Jennifer Lopez, you will come up with Catherine Zeta Jones, If I also say 'No' to her, you will finally come up
With my wife and I will say, 'Yes.' Then you will give all the three to me .I am a poor man .I will not be able to look after all the three. So that's why I've to say 'Yes' "Which of the following best describes the author's tone in telling the story?
| A．Optimistic | B．Humoristic | C．Objective | D．Critical |
The impression that the woodcutter makes on you is that he is -----
| A．foolish but honest | B．foolish and honest |
| C．smart but honest | D．smart and honest |
What can you infer about Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Zeta Jones?
| A．They are the secret lovers of the woodcutter |
| B．They look much like the woodcutter's wife. |
| C．They are both rich women with a lot of gold and silver. |
| D．They are both popular with women, much worthy than his wife |
Egypt: Bridging the Gap between School English and Real English
Teaching English in Egypt in general and in my town Damietta in particular, is mainly directed towards helping students to pass their final exams. Unfortunately, most teachers do not adopt a long -term approach that guarantees that their students will be able to use English outside the classroom. So students only concentrate on one skill which is writing. Thus their listening and speaking skills are disabled. What is important to them is to pass the exam which is primarily based on writing .Teachers are not only concentrated with providing their students with questions that are similar to those of the final exam, particularly General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC) Examination, so students spend most of their time answering typical exam questions.
Most students' scores are high; a lot of students get full marks. However, few students are able to communicate in English because their role plays. As a result, a lot of students complain that they are unable to understand and talk fluently with native speakers of English.
To enable students to communicate freely and spontaneously(自然地) in English, I bring features of real communication into language practice, I always ask students about their own experiences, and suggest groups of students practice what they have learned outside the classroom. This helps lower-achieving students absorb language. Furthermore, role play is a very effective way to improve speaking skills particularly if it is connected to the experience of the students.Who probably write this passage?
| A．a teacher | B．a governor | C．a student | D．a reporter |
In Egypt, the students only concentrate on ------
| A．listening skill | B．speaking skill | C．reading skill | D．writing skill |
The teachers question their students based on -------
| A．what they learn in the class |
| B．What their parents expect |
| C．The questions that are similar to those of GSEC |
| D．The ability that will be used outside the classroom |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Most of the students can't get high marks but can communicate with the native speakers of English. |
| B． Communicating skill is more important than writing skill. |
| C．Role play connected to the speaker's experience is more effective in improving his skill. |
| D．The lower--achieving students can do better in speaking skill than the upper achieving students. |
Who will responsible for the gap between school English and real English?
| A．Their parents | B．The students | C．The school | D．The education sys tem |
October 31, 2009, California
Tsien Hsue-shen, PhD'39, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, died on October 31, He was 98.
Tsien, born in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, graduated from the National Qinghua University in 1934 and in August of 1935 he left China to study at the Massachusetts Institute Technology. In 1936 he went to the California Institute of Technology to commence graduate studies .Tsien obtained his doctor degree in 1939 and would remain at Caltech for 20 years, becoming the Goddard Professor and establishing a reputation as one of the leading rocket scientists in the United States.
In 1943, Tsien and two others in the Caltech rocketry group drafted the first document to use the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory. During the Second World War, he was amongst the other scientists participated the "Manhattan Project" .After World War II he served as a consultant to the United States Army Air Force. During this time, Conlonel Tsien worked on designing an intercontinental space plane. His work would inspire the X--20Dyna-Soar which would later be the inspiration for the Space Shuttle. In1945 Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Jiang Baili--one of the Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai--shen's leading military strategists. But in 1950, the Chinese-born scientist was accused of harboring Communist sympathies and stripped of his security clearance.
In September 1955 he was permitted to leave for China, where Tsien resumed his research, founded the Institute of Mechanics, and went on to become the father of China's missile program, a trusted member of the government and Party's inner circle, and the nation's most honored scientist, Tsien retired in 1991 and has maintained a low public profile in Beijing, China. The PRC government launched its manned space program in 1992 and used Tsien's research as the basis for the Long March rocket which successfully launched the Shenzhou V mission in October of 2003.The elderly Tsien was able to watch China's first manned space mission on television from his hospital bed.
In his late years, since the 1980s, Tsien devoted himself to spirituality research, and advocated scientific investigation of traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong and "special human body functions".The underlined word "commence" in this passage probably means ____
| A．make up | B．get | C．begin | D．promise |
Tsien Hsue--shen got married at the age of ______
| A．45 | B．28 | C．24 | D．34 |
What is the right order of the events related to Tsien Hsue--shen ?
a. his later life b. return to China c. career in the U.S.A d. his early life and education
| A．a-b-c-d | B．d-c-b-a | C．d-b-c-a | D．c-b-d-a |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Tsien Hsue--shen got a doctor's degree in 1939. |
| B．Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shen. |
| C．Tsien Hsue-shen has made a contribution to the Space Shuttle. |
| D．Tsien Hsue-shen was interested in traditional Chinese medicine, qigong and "special human body functions" in his later life. |
Chinese people take their food and eat it extremely seriously .Eating is a communal (公共的),social, human experience in China .Sharing a meal is a sign of friendship，and trust , Eating plays a central role in friendship ,business ,medicine ,family and love. In short, food is life.
When eating, the rice is separated into your own personal bowl, but the dishes are placed in communal bowls in the center of the table and everybody help themselves with chopsticks .It's considered polite, and sign of respect and friendship, to encourage other people to eat plenty of the good bits, even to pick up food with your chopsticks and drop it into their rice bowls for them.
Food is an important component of weddings, funerals and almost all Chinese festivals. New Year is the time for dumplings, the Dragon Boat Festival is the time for sticky rice Zongzi wrapped in leaves, and Mid -Autumn Day is the time for Moon Cakes. The dinner table is the best for forum(公共讨论场所) to close business deals ,and it's the number one thing to do with friends.
Chinese women express their admiration for the opposite sex by cooking delicious meals of many courses, and these days it's the other way round too.
In short, if you want to get to know Chinese people, understand Chinese culture and thinking and get into Chinese life, you have to eat and appreciate Chinese food. What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Eating Food in China |
| B．How Do Chinese People Eat Food |
| C．The Importance of Chinese Food |
| D．Different Foods for Different Chinese Food |
In the first paragraph, what does the author mean by saying "food is life"?
| A．Without food, there will be no life |
| B．food is as important as life |
| C．we must take food seriously |
| D．we must eat food every day |
What is the representative food for the Dragon Boat Festival in China?
| A．Dumplings | B．Moon Cakes | C．Jiaozi | D．Zongzi |