February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day, it is a custom for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals! This is what you see on Valentine’s Day, a day named after Valentine who was a priest in the third century Rome. When the emperor (皇帝) decided that single men could become better soldiers than those with wives, he didn’t allow marriage.
But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, the emperor sentenced him to death. While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Valentine died for what he believed in and so he was made a Saint (圣徒), as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic characters.
Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is also popular among Chinese young people. Some students are planning to make Valentine’s cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others want to hold parties at which they will exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine.Why did the emperor in Rome not allow marriage in his country?
| A．Because there were few women in his country at that time. |
| B．Because he thought men without wives could be better soldiers. |
| C．Because there wasn’t enough food for so many people. |
| D．Because he wanted to control the birth rate. |
Valentine was put into prison because _____.
| A．he killed one of the soldiers | B．he stole a lot of food |
| C．he didn’t obey the emperor’s order | D．he didn’t want to be a soldier |
The last paragraph mainly tells us _____.
| A．students in China send cards to their teachers |
| B．it is a good idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China |
| C．it is interesting to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China |
| D．Valentine’s Day is also popular in China now |
The best title for this passage should be _____.
| A．Valentine’s Day | B．A Brave Priest |
| C．Valentine’s Day in China | D．A Romantic Man |
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Basic Photography
This is an eight-hour course for beginners who want to learn how to use a 35mm camera. The teacher will cover such areas as kinds of film, light, and lenses(镜头). Bring your own 35mm camera to the class.
Course Charge: $150
Jan. 10, 12, 17, 19, Tues. & Thurs. 6-8p.m.
Marianne Adams is a professional photographer whose photographs appear in many magazines.
Understanding Computers
This twelve-hour course is for people who don’t know very much about computers, but who need to learn about them. You will learn what computers are, what they can and can’t do, and how to use them.
Course Charge: $75
Equipment Charge: $10
Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, Sat. 9-12 a.m.
Joseph Saimders is a professor of computer science at New Urban University. He has over twelve years of experience in the computer field.
Stop Smoking
Do you want to stop smoking? Have you already tried to stop and failed? Now it is the time to stop smoking using the latest methods. You can stop smoking, and this twelve-hour course will help you do it.
Course Charge: $30
Jan. 4, 11, 18, 25 Mon. 4-7 p.m.
Dr.John Goode is a practicing psychologist(心理学家)who has helped hundreds of people stop smoking.
Typing
This course on weekdays is for those who want to type as well as those who want to improve their typing. You are tested in the first class and practice at one of eight different skill levels. This allows you to learn at your own speed. Each program lasts 20 hours. Bring your own paper.
Course Charge: $125
Materials Charge: $25
Two hours each evening for two weeks.
This course is taught by a number of business education teachers who have successfully taught typing courses before.The word “professional” in this advertisement most probably means “_____”
| A．spiritual | B．journalist |
| C．experienced | D．professor |
The shortest course is _____.
| A．Typing | B．Understanding Computers |
| C．Stop Smoking | D．Basic Photography |
A course which can do something good for your health will cost____.
| A．$30 | B．$50 | C．$10 | D．$125 |
There are typing courses_____.
| A．on Saturdays and Sundays |
| B．from Monday to Friday |
| C．from Monday to Saturday |
| D．on each day in the week |
If you can have free time only on weekends, you should take the course _________.
| A．Basic Photography | B．Understanding Computers |
| C．Stop Smoking | D．Typing |
Many young people tell me that they want to be writers. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there is a big difference between being a writer and writing. In most cases these people are dreaming of wealth and being famous, not the long hours alone at the typewriter.
When I became a writer, I had no future. What I had was a friend called George. He found me a home. It was cold and had no bathroom. I could only afford a used typewriter. A year later, however, I still hadn’t received a break and began to doubt myself. But I knew I wanted to write. I would keep putting my dream to the test—even though it meant living with fear of failure. This is the shadow land (阴影) of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there. Then one day I got a call from a friend who asked me to be an assistant for $6,000 a year. As the dollars were dancing in my head, something brought me to my sense. “Thanks, but no,” I heard myself saying. After that, I walked around my little room and started to feel like a fool. I felt a little low.
Later, I gradually began to sell my articles. It was after 17 years of being a writer that Roots was published. At once I had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experienced. The shadows had turned into great sunlight. Before that, it was a long and slow climb out of the shadows.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.
| A．the job chance the author ever had |
| B．the difficulties before the author succeeded |
| C．the great help from the author’s friends |
| D．the important choices the author made |
The underlined word “something” in Paragraph 2 refers to _______.
| A．the author’s dream of being a writer |
| B．the author’s trouble in making money |
| C．the author’s hard life before success |
| D．the author’s wish to be successful |
How did the author feel after he refused the job offer?
| A．confident | B．angry |
| C．excited | D．Unhappy |
Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture.
For example, someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”
This guy is a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He’s really a big loser!
He didn’t say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That’s called a half-truth. Half truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.
Some politicians often use this trick. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents says, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true. However, an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs.’’
Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths. It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, “Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache.” It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.
This kind of deception happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.We may infer that the author believes people should ________.
| A．buy lottery tickets if possible |
| B．make use of half-truths |
| C．be careful about what they are told |
| D．not trust the Yucky Company |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Using half truths is against the law. |
| B．Technically, half truths are in fact lies. |
| C．Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache. |
| D．Governor Smith did a good job during her last term. |
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．He’s really a big loser! |
| B．Sometimes the truth can lie as well. |
| C．Advertisers will sometimes use half truths. |
| D．It’s against the law to make false statements. |
Fort Scott High School English teacher Emily Rountree has been working this semester to raise money for Charity Water, a nonprofit organization , which uses 100 percent of public donations to help fund water projects in places without access to clean drinking water. Her goal was to motivate her students to use their writing in class to make a real world difference. Twelve students got top grades on the project and their articles will be published in the Tribune and online. The money from their writing is of great help.
"Did you know that there are many countries around the world that don't have access to safe drinking water? Just think, that could be your someone in your family. in my English three classes, we are trying to .raise money for Charity Water. Charity 'Water is 3n organization that helps people get water in countries where there is no safe drinking water" , said Tanner Johnson, a student attending Fort Scott High School. clean drinking water. In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hour every year just walking for water .Women and children are the ones that mainly do the walking. They could he attacked, or get hurt. Whenever they get home the water that they have brought home is unsafe water that. 'has been in swamps, ponds, or rivers .if they had safe drinking water they wouldn’t have that to worry about and they wouldn't be wasting hours of their day. Unsafe drinking water causes many different kinds ofdiseases that could lead to death.
You could help save someone's life by donating $ 20 so you could help get them some safe drinking water. You can easily donate online at, mycharitywater. org/fshsenglish, or you can send a check payable to Fort Scott High School to Emily Rountree .if you don't help these people then who will?Emily Rountree is working for Charity water ____
| A．to set up a nonprofit organization about water |
| B．to help discover where clean drinking water is |
| C．to find access to using the public donations |
| D．to encourage her students to help those in need |
How can the students bring differences to the world?
| A．By donating all their pocket money. |
| B．By collecting money in their spare time. |
| C．By giving away their money from writing. |
| D．By conducting themselves well in class. |
What does the third paragraph imply?
| A．Africa is lacking in water resources. |
| B．Women do nothing but getting water. |
| C．People in Africa live a hard life. |
| D．Rivers in Africa have been polluted. |
1t can he inferred from the last paragraph that _
| A．only a few people participate in the donation |
| B．it is easy to lend a hand to those in need |
| C．staff at the website will collect money |
| D．it is convenient to pay off your check |
You may have heard that a young man named Abner Doubleday invented the game known as baseball in Cooperstown, New York, during the summer of 1839. Doubleday then went on to become a Civil War hero, while baseball became America's beloved national pastime. Not only is that story untrue, it's not even in the ballpark( place for baseball).Doubleday was still at West Point in 1839, and he never claimed to have anything to do with baseball.
In 1907, a special commission(委员会) created by the sporting goods merchant and former major league player A. J. Spalding used weak evidence-namely the claims of one man, mining engineer Abner Graves-to come up with the Doubleday origin story. Cooperstown businessmen and major league officials would rely on the myth's lasting power in the 1930s, when they established the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in the village.
As it turns out, the real history of baseball is a little more complicated than the Doubleday legend. References to games resembling(相似) baseball in the United States date hack to the 18th century .its most direct ancestors appear to be two English games: rounder a( a children's game brought to New England by the earliest colonists) and cricket. By the time of the American Revolution, variations(演变) of such games were being played on schoolyards and college campuses across the country. They became even more popular in newly industrialized cities where men sought work in the mid-19th century-.In September 1845, a group of New York City men founded the New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club .One of them would make a new set of rules that would form the basis for modern baseball.
Cartwright's changes made the game faster-paced and more challenging from older games like cricket. In 1846, the Knickerbockers : played the first official game of baseball against a team of cricket players, beginning a new, uniquely American tradition.What can we know according to the first paragraph?
A. Baseball was really invented by Abner Doubleday.
B, Abner Doubleday fought against slaves in the Civil War.
C. Doubleday stayed at West Point for some reason.
D. Doubleday said he had much to do with baseball.Why did the Doubleday origin story come up?
| A．Because a special commission was founded. |
| B．Because Doubleday provided false evidence. |
| C．Because Abner Craves told a Doubleday story. |
| D．Because Abner Craves worked with Doubleday. |
The real history of baseball is _____
| A．much simpler than the Doubleday legend |
| B．that baseball comes from two English games |
| C．that a children’s game came from New England |
| D．more interesting than rounder and cricket |
It can be inferred from the passage that____
| A．Doubleday is the most respected in the USA |
| B．Doubleday must have been an army officer |
| C．Doubleday in fact came from Britain |
| D．Doubleday invented rounder and cricket |