Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My brother, mother and I live in a very rural district on the Big Island of Hawaii. Our farm is at least a dozen miles from the most basic of services. Consequently, we take weekly trips to COSTCO to procure fuel and supplies. About a month ago, we’d finished loading up the SUV and prepared to leave. As I settled into my seat, I glanced down at the roadside, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and read it carefully. Instantly, I was grateful I did.
The form turned out to be a receipt from the State Motor Vehicle Division, documenting the owners’ payment of their Vehicle’s Registration fees. Quickly, I put myself in their shoes and figured: no one would throw this out, especially if it was current. I also looked over the form for contact or any personal data, perhaps a license tag or telephone number. But that seemed impractical. Although the form had been born on the wind, where in the busy, crowded parking lot would I find the owners? Had it been lying there for a few minutes or a week? So I checked the date, the fees paid, noted the names of the owners and pocketed the receipt. Recalling the parable of the Good Samaritan, I concluded that the best and easiest step to take was to put the form in an envelope addressed to the couple and send it to them by post. Further, I imagined how crazy I’d be if I had misplaced my receipt. Much easier to attempt returning it than to leave them angry, upset, etc. over the loss.
By the end of the week, I received a beautiful thank-you letter from a very grateful and happy couple containing a hand written message and a gift card to use at any Starbuck’s. In her note, the wife explained how a gust of wind snatched their receipt from a pocket in her car’s passenger door. They had panicked and searched crazily for quite some time before giving up. It felt great to know I’d helped someone avoid a major loss by doing something that at first glance seemed minor or even unimportant.What did the author really mean when he said “Instantly, I was grateful I did.”?
| A．He was lucky to notice the paper on the roadside. |
| B．He was happy to do shopping in the district for it was convenient. |
| C．He was right to pick the paper up because it was important. |
| D．He was thankful to pick up the paper because he found it for a long time. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the short passage?
| A．I rode my car to COSTCO to buy supplies a month ago. |
| B．The receipt was out of date, so the owner threw it away. |
| C．I waited on the roadside for the receipt owner for half a day. |
| D．I called up the owner to take back the receipt. |
The author decided to give the paper back to the owner because ______.
| A．it was useless for him |
| B．he knew the owner was upset about losing it |
| C．the owner asked him to do so |
| D．he knew the owner would reward him for it |
Which would be the best title for this passage?
| A．How I helped the couple | B．The loss of an important receipt |
| C．The owner of the receipt | D．Little things still mean a lot |
Just before midnight, six University of Cincinnati students were watching TV in an on-campus apartment when three men burst through the door. While one of the intruders pointed a gun at the group, the other two scooped up $4,400 worth of laptops, cell phones, video games and cash. Once they had what they wanted, the trio fled into the night.
Furious, the students chased down and tackled one of the burglars -- the one with the gun. In the struggle, it went off, and a bullet grazed a student's leg. His friends piled on the gunman and held him until police showed up.
By the next day, the injured young man was back in his apartment, and the suspect was in jail, charged with burglary, felonious assault and receiving stolen property. But how did the men manage to storm into an on-campus residence that November night in the first place? Simple: Students told police the building's main doors hadn't latched properly for days.
As parents confront ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates, they are finding themselves with an even bigger, more basic problem: Which campuses are safe? Colleges seem like idyllic and secure places, and for the most part, they are. But ivy-covered walls can't keep out every bad element. This country's 6,000 colleges and universities report some 40,000 burglaries, 3,700 forcible sex offenses, 7,000 aggravated assaults and 48 murders a year. Other hazards -- fires, binge-drinking, mental-health problems -- are also on the rise.
Of course, that's not what parents and students see on America's serene campuses. There's a false sense of security, says Harry Nolan, a safety consultant in New York City. "Students see guards patrolling at night or a video camera monitoring the dorm entrance and think, nothing bad can happen to me," he explains. "People don't know that safety controls are often very lax."What did the students do after the burglars fled into the night?
| A．They stood there in surprise. |
| B．They ran after the burglars at once. |
| C．They waited for the police. |
| D．They phoned their teacher. |
What does the underlined word “latched” in the third paragraph probably mean?
| A．watched | B．fixed | C．locked | D．kept |
What worries parents most except ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates?
| A．Their children’s grades in the universities or colleges. |
| B．Their children’s safety in the universities or colleges. |
| C．Their children’s behavior in the universities or colleges. |
| D．Their children’s relationship with classmates in the universities or colleges. |
Which is right according to the passage?
| A．Their children’s grades in are high. |
| B．Their children’s safety in the universities or colleges will be mornitored well. |
| C．The universities or colleges don’t pay much attention to the children. |
| D．The universities or colleges are not key educational departments in the local area. |
Hundreds of secondary schools are using a controversial reward scheme which “bribes” (贿赂)pupils with iPods and DVD players to turn up in classes and do homework.
Almost one million schoolchildren have been issued with supermarket-style reward cards which allow them to collect good-behavior “points” and cash them in for prizes.
Schools taking part in the “Vivo Miles” scheme are spending several thousand pounds a year in an attempt to cut truancy (逃学) and promote achievements. The prizes are ultimately funded by the taxpayer, through school budgets. Nearly 500 secondary schools, one in six, have decided to take part in the scheme, which is intended to replace old-style rewards such as stickers and golden stars.
But the extent of rewards being offered in schools brought a warning that a generation of children is growing up expecting to be rewarded at every stage. Many youngsters are collecting points for ordinary achievements such as remembering to bring their PE kit and wearing the correct uniform.
Under the scheme, teachers award Vivo points—worth 1 penny each—according to the school’s policy. Schools typically spend￡4 to￡6 on prizes per pupil each year, although some commit considerably more. Most pupils accumulate between 400 and 600 Vivos a year. Vivo Miles insists it is “pretty rare” for a pupil to accumulate enough points to buy an iPod, which requires 3,100 Vivos.
But Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said the scheme amounted to “bribery”. “It misleads children into thinking anything which requires effort has to have a special reward,” he said. “This ‘all must have prizes’ view is damaging to children in the long-term.” The scheme amounted to an “admission of failure” by schools. He said. “It shows a school has failed to convince children education is important.”The “Vivo Miles” scheme is aimed at ______________.
| A．increasing the income of the school |
| B．encouraging students to perform well at school |
| C．inviting more students to attend the school nearby |
| D．encouraging parents to donate to the school |
Those who oppose the “Vivo Miles” scheme think ______________.
| A．it helps control the problem of truancy |
| B．it teaches children the importance of saving |
| C．it will mislead children about efforts and rewards |
| D．it’s not easy to get more than 600 Vivos a year |
What’s the writer’s attitude towards the scheme?
| A．Supportive. | B．Opposed. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Objective. |
Winning the lottery (彩票) is not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for many past winners. Sad stories do exist in large numbers for the past lottery winners and that's why some financial experts say "70 percent of lottery winners will squander away (乱花) winning within a few years." Some end up losing all within two years, family relationships destroyed or even worse.
Wayne Schenk was an old soldier diagnosed with lung cancer. When he won a million dollars in a lottery he thought his troubles were over and he would get the advanced medical treatment that might save his life. But Lottery officials refused to pay him the total sum in a single payment and they said they could not make an exception to the regulations. When Schenk died in 2007, he'd only received one payment of $34,000.
Another lottery winner, Billy Bob Harrell, Jr. killed himself two years after winning 31 million dollars in the Texas lottery in 1997.He'd spent large amounts of money and given large amounts away, but he didn't end me expected peace that should have come with the freedom of money.
Other lottery winners have ended up in prison for crimes. Many suffer bankruptcy (破产) after the big jackpot (头奖) is spent and given away, including some of the eight people who won the 365 million Powerball in 2006.
The examples given paint a sad picture of what can happen if you win a big lottery jackpot, but fortunately, these examples don't tell the stories of all jackpot winners.What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．Most lottery winners use up money quickly. |
| B．Most lottery winners don't really end up well. |
| C．Winning lottery means relationships destroyed. |
| D．Financial experts are against the lottery industry. |
Why did lottery officials refuse to give Wayne Schenk the million dollars in one payment?
| A．He was diagnosed with lung cancer. |
| B．He was unwilling to give away his money. |
| C．They had to observe the official rules. |
| D．They didn't want to disturb his peace. |
The author supports his main idea by ____.
| A．giving examples | B．making comparisons |
| C．listing numbers | D．listing reasons |
In the following paragraph, the author will probably talk about_____.
| A．advice given by financial experts |
| B．happy stories of the lottery winners |
| C．conclusion drawn by the author |
| D．regulations about lottery winning |
There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external（外部的） result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language--- all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.
By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they go through new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.
In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to be faced with the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow.
These feelings of insecurity and self – doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we do not face and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when______..
| A．he has given up his smoking habit |
| B．he has made great efforts in his work |
| C．he is interested in making anything new |
| D．he has tried to determine where he is on his journey |
In the author’s eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would______.
| A．judge his ability to grow from his own achievements |
| B．succeed in climbing up the social ladder |
| C．face difficulties and take up challenges |
| D．aim high and reach his goal each time |
When the author says “a new way of being” (para. 3), he is referring to _____.
| A．a new way of taking risks |
| B．a new approach to experiencing the world |
| C．a new system of adapting to change |
| D．a new method of finding ourselves |
For personal growth, the author may not support __________.
| A．curiosity and more chances |
| B．being quick in self – adaptation |
| C．open – minded to new experiences |
| D．avoidance of internal fears and doubts |
The New York Aquarium (水族馆) offers a diverse collection and nice viewing experience for all our guests. Whether you’re observing penguins on their rocky coastline home or swimming underwater, looking at a coral reef (珊瑚礁) under the water, or cheering on California sea lions at the theater, you’ll find plenty to see and do during your visit. Your underwater adventure is waiting for you! This summer, head out to Coney Island to learn about the underwater world at the New York Aquarium.
Just off the Coney Island in Brooklyn, the New York Aquarium features more than 300 marine (海洋的) species, such as dolphins and seals. Meet some of our mammals and fish, and learn about their natural history, biology, and cultural roles.
| Hours |
|
| Summer hours May 28 – Sept. 5 |
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. , Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. , Weekends & Holidays |
| Fall hours Sept. 6 – Nov. 6 |
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. , Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. , Weekends & Holidays |
| Winter hours Nov. 7 – Mar. 31 |
10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. , Daily |
| Spring hours Apr. 1– May 27 |
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. , Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. , Weekends & Holidays |
Total Experience Ticket
Adult $18.00
Child (Ages 3-12) $14.00
Senior (65+) $15.00
Groups (at least ten visitors) $8.00
﹡Includes admission to our 4-D Theater Plus General Admission.
﹡Children under 3 years old are free!
﹡To receive the group rate, you must make a reservation at least two weeks in advance of your group’s visit. Please call 718-741-1818.
Friday Afternoon Special
Admission on Fridays beginning at 3:00 p.m. is by donation. Suggested donation is $13 for adults, $9 for children, and $10 for seniors. Every dollar you give supports our work in caring for animals at the aquarium.
Aquarium Parking
Car $13.00
Bus $13.00
Please note:
﹡Due to rising costs, the Wildlife Conservation Society reserves the right to change all fees without notice.
﹡All Aquarium buildings and exhibits are wheelchair-accessible.
﹡For further information, please call 718-265-3454.Which animal can’t visitors probably see at the New York Aquarium?
| A．Penguins. | B．Pandas. | C．Dolphins. | D．Seals. |
Six adults (including a man of 68) and two children (aged 2 and 10) are going to visit the New York Aquarium on Sunday. They will have to pay ______________ at least.
| A．$144 | B．$133 | C．$64 | D．$119 |
The donation is used to ______________.
| A．help the poor people |
| B．help to save the endangered animals in the wild |
| C．care for animals at the aquarium |
| D．help the disabled visitors |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．You can visit the New York Aquarium at 5:30 p.m. on Christmas. |
| B．A visitor in a wheelchair can get around at the New York Aquarium. |
| C．Visitors can enjoy free parking service on Friday. |
| D．To enjoy the group rate, visitors must make a reservation at least two weeks in advance by sending an e-mail. |