For the 17 years my life was very happy. Then the first sad thing happened. My mother became very ill. Just before she died, she asked Elizabeth and me to go to her room. She said, “Victor and Elizabeth, I’m very happy because you love each other, and because one day you’ll get married. Everyone in the family loves you, Elizabeth. Will you take my place in the family, my dear? I can die happy if you look after them when I have gone.”
My mother died and we were very sad, because we loved her so much. Elizabeth was brave and helped us; her sweet smile gave us some happiness in the unhappy days after my mother’s death. The time came for me to go to university(大学). I didn’t want to leave my sad family, but we all knew that I should go. It was hard to leave, too, because the parents of my good friend Henry would not let him go to university with me. So I had gone alone.
On my first day at university I met Professor Waldman. He gave a wonderful talk to all the students. He ended his talk by saying, “Some of you will become the greatest scientists of tomorrow. You must study hard and discover everything that you can.”
After the professor’s talk, I thought very carefully. I remembered the storm when I was 15; I remembered how the lightning had destroyed the tree. From then on, I wanted to use electricity to help people, and I wanted to discover the secrets of life. I decided to work on these two things.
I started to work the next day. I worked very hard and soon Professor Waldman and I realized that I could learn to be a very good scientist.
The professor and other important scientists helped me. I was interested in my work and I did not take one day’s holiday during the next two years. After two years, I had discovered many things and I built a scientific machine that was the best in the university. My machine would help me answer the most important question of all. How does life begin? Is it possible to put life into dead things? To answer these questions about life I had to learn first about death. I had to watch bodies from the moment when they died and the warm life left them. In the hospital and in the university, I watched the dying and the dead. Day after day, month after month, I followed death, so it was a dark and terrible time.
I built a tall mast(桅杆)about 150 metres high, which is higher than the tallest building in the city, to catch lightning and send the electricity down to my machine in the lab. I believed I could use that electricity to give life to things that were dead.
Then one day, the answer came to me. Suddenly I was sure that I knew the secret of life.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Elizabeth married shortly after Victor’s mother died. |
B.Elizabeth was a brave girl who loved Victor and gave him much help. |
C.Victor’s mother was very angry when she knew he loved Elizabeth. |
D.Victor did not want to leave his family because his mother died not long before. |
Victor did all the following during his research in the university EXCEPT that ______.
A.he discovered many things and built a scientific machine |
B.he learnt much about death both in the hospital and in the university |
C.he worked hard and took only one day’s holiday during the next two years |
D.he built a tall mast to catch lightning and send the electricity down to the lab |
According to the writer, the secret of life is to _______.
A.give life to things that were dead |
B.build the best machine to learn about death |
C.use electricity to help others |
D.become the greatest scientist of tomorrow |
Which is the correct order about the life of Victor?
① Victor’s mother passed away.
② Victor got help from the professor and other scientists.
③ Victor went to university and attended the professor’s talk.
④ Victor found the answer to giving life to things that were dead.
⑤ Victor experienced a storm, seeing the lightning destroying the tree.
A.①②③④⑤ | B.⑤①②④③ |
C.①③②⑤④ | D.⑤①③②④ |
(Happy Children's Day!)
Come and see the Indian elephants and the tigers from America. The bears (熊)are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from Thailand are waiting to throw things at you. The lovely dogs from Australia are waiting to laugh at you, and the giraffes from Zambia are waiting to look down on you.
Tickets: Adults: ¥60, Children: free
Time: June1-June2 9:00 a.m.-----7:00 p. m
Keep the park clean! Do not touch, give food or go near the animals. How many kinds of animals are talked about in the poster(海报)?
A.4 | B.5 | C.6 | D.7 |
Mr. and Mrs. Brown will take their twins aged 6 to the park. How much will the tickets be together?
A.¥60 | B.¥120 | C.¥180 | D.¥24 |
Visitors can’t _____.
A.give some food to the tigers |
B.watch the bears playing games |
C.laugh at the dogs from Australia |
D.take some pictures |
From the passage we can guess the animal "giraffe" must be _____.
A.short | B.fat | C.tall | D.strong |
The poster may be made just _____.
A.on New Year's Day | B.on Christmas Day |
C.after Children's Day | D.before Children's Day |
Are people less happy or happier when they get older? If your answer is “happier”, then you are right, based on a study published five years ago. It found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age fifty. In fact, it found that by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were at eighteen.
The findings came from a Gallup survey of more than three hundred and forty thousand adults in the United States in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were the highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
Levels of happiness were the highest among the kids and those in their early seventies.
The survey also found that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men did.
So why would happiness increase with age? One theory is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Title: Relationship Between Age and
The elements of the survey |
Time: 2008 Place: in the United States Researcher: Arthur Stone and his Targets: 340,000 adults |
The |
Generally people become happier and feel The kids and those in their early Men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women feel sadder, more |
Conclusion |
Happiness |
Some of the greatest problems we face today are the destruction (破坏) of our environ
-ment. Brown clouds, polluted water, endangered wild animals…, these problems seem so huge.
So my family does what we can. We take cloth bags to stores instead of using plastic bags. We walk where we don’t have to drive.
But does it do any good? When I am the only one in line at the market with cloth bags, am I doing any good? Does my walking to stores make any real difference to the world?
I recently learned something about flamingos (火烈鸟) which like to get together in groups of a thousand or more. Every year, when the time comes for migration (迁徙), a few of them first take off from the lake. But none of the others seem to notice, so the small group returns. However, the next day they try again. This time few more fly along with them, but most of them still pay no attention, so they return again. They try for several times. Every time a few more birds join in but, since the thousands of others still take no notice, the great migration plan once more stopped.
Then one day something changes. The same small group of birds once again starts flying and a small number more join in just as before, then more. Finally, they all take flight and the migration really begins. What a spectacular sight it must be—thousands of flamingos taking off into the sky at once!
A few can make a difference. Even if you’re the one to take the first step, and continue trying, others will someday take notice and together we will solve even our greatest problems.Where would you most probably read this passage?
A.A guidebook. | B.A movie poster. |
C.A personal blog(博客). | D.A geology(地质) magazine. |
Why does the writer use cloth bags in stores?
A.Because he wants to do some good to the environment. |
B.Because he thinks plastic bags are more expensive. |
C.Because there are only cloth bags in stores. |
D.Because all the people use cloth bags in stores. |
What does the underlined word “spectacular” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?
A.Curious. | B.Surprising. |
C.Terrible. | D.Fantastic. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Even if we can walk there, we still drive over. |
B.Flamingos like to get together in groups of a thousand or more. |
C.Brown clouds and polluted water are the only problems we face today. |
D.When a few of the flamingos first take off from the lake, all the others follow at once. |
What’s the writer’s purpose of writing this article?
A.To show that the writer loves to see the migration of flamingos. |
B.To tell readers to continue trying and it can make a difference. |
C.To introduce a special kind of flamingo to readers. |
D.To show that there’re many problems in the world. |
Youth, friendship and love are the main themes of this year’s Chinese movies, such as So Young(《致青春》) and American Dreams in China(《中国合伙人》). Tiny Times(《小时代》), one of the most popular movies this summer, also has the same features.
The movie was based on author and director Guo Jingming’s novel of the same name. It tells a story about four girls who come from different backgrounds and of different personalities. Since it was shown on June 27, Tiny Times has made 483 million yuan at the box office. The sequel(续集) of it was shown on Aug 8 and it has also been a big box office hit.
Cao Yuhan, 13, a high school student at Beijing Jianhua Experimental School, is a big fan of the movie. “I’m deeply touched by their friendship,” Cao said. “When Nan Xiwang is in trouble, the other three girls try their best to help her, even running barefoot in the snow. However, not everyone has had good things to say. The people’s Daily said that the film went too far in encouraging youths to become materialistic(物质至上主义的). Film commentator Raymond Zhou wrote on his online blog that “Buying luxury goods seems as a way to express love or friendship, and the word ‘money’ is repeated over and over again. Song Kexin, 14, a high school student at Zhida Middle School in Taiyuan, Shanxi, shows a typical example of a fan’s attitude(态度). And that’s to look for the positive value. “That movie is a little far from our daily life. My friends and I are not having parties every day,” Song said, “But I admire Tang Wanru’s optimistic attitude. She’s always looking at the bright side of life. I should learn from her.” Which is NOT one of the main themes of this year’s Chinese movies?
A.Youth | B.Love |
C.War | D.Friendship |
According to the article, the movie Tiny Times ________.
A.is more popular than the other two movies |
B.was made from Guo Jingming’s novel |
C.tells about four girls with similar personalities |
D.opened in Chinese cinemas on August 8 |
What does film commentator Zhou Liming think of the movie?
A.The four girls’ friendship is touching. |
B.It encourages the young to work hard. |
C.It has many advertisements for luxury goods. |
D.It shows money expresses love or friendship. |
Song Kexin admires Tang Wanru because of Tang’s ________.
A.optimistic attitude | B.rich family background |
C.good looks | D.excellent grades at school |
The passage mainly talks about _______.
A.youth, friendship and love |
B.this year’s Chinese movies |
C.student’s attitude toward movies |
D.Tiny Times and audience’s comments |
Have you ever been sad because you failed in something? If so, please remember, for often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Here is a story to tell you why.
One day a little boy decided to dig a hole behind his house after watching a science program. As he was working, a couple of boys stopped by to watch.“What are you doing?” asked one of the visitors.“I want to dig a deep hole all the way through the earth!”the boy answered excitedly. The older boys began to laugh, telling him that it was impossible to do it. Then they left.
The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly, a few small colorful stones caught his eyes. He collected them and put them into a glass jar patiently. Humming a song, he went on digging. The jar was full soon. Then he talked to himself calmly and proudly,“Maybe I can’t finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process of digging !”
The boy’s goal was too difficult, but it did cause him to go on, in other words, to cause us to keep working!
Not every goal will be achieved. Not every job will end up with a success. Not every dream will come true.But when you can’t achieve your goal, maybe you can say,“yes, but look what I’ve found along the way! There are so many wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!”It is in the digging that life is lived. It is the unexpected joy on the journey that really has a meaning.What did the boy do after watching a program?
A.He bought a glass jar. |
B.He started to dig a hole. |
C.He played with some visitors. |
D.He went on watching the program. |
What did the older boys think of the little boy?
A.He was silly. | B.He was strict. |
C.he was strong-minded. | D.He was energetic. |
When did the boy find the stones?
A.Before he met the older boys. |
B.When he wanted to give up digging. |
C.After the older boys laughed at him. |
D.As soon as he began to dig the hole. |
What does the underlined sentence“It is in the digging that life is lived.”mean
according to the article?
A.Life is to make a big success. |
B.Life is to find the colorful stones. |
C.Life is difficult but colorful. |
D.Life is on the way to achieve the goal. |
Which is the best title for this article?
A.Enjoying the process. |
B.How to achieve goals. |
C.A journey through the earth. |
D.Dig a deep hole all the way through the earth. |