An old woman had two large pots, one on each end of a pole. She carried the pole with the pots across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full pot of water. At the end of the long walk from the well to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half-full.
For two years this happened daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection.
One day, the cracked pot spoke to the woman by the well: “I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”
The old woman smiled: “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your crack, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you water them.”
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty.”
Each of us has our own cracks. But it’s these cracks that make our lives together so interesting and meaningful.What does the underlined word “crack” mean?
| A．Very narrow space between two things or two parts of something. |
| B．Line of division where something is broken, but not into separate parts. |
| C．Fault in an idea, system, or organization. |
| D．Sudden sharp noise like the sound of a stick being broken. |
How did the cracked pot feel about itself at first?
| A．Proud. | B．Disappointed. | C．Annoyed. | D．Embarrassed. |
Where were the flowers growing?
| A．On both sides of the path. | B．In the woman’s house. |
| C．On the perfect pot’s side of the path. | D．On the cracked pot’s side of the path |
Which is the correct order of the following events?
① The woman picked the flowers and decorated the table.
② The woman told the truth to the cracked pot.
③ The cracked pot talked to the woman about its crack.
④ The woman found a crack on one pot.
⑤ The woman planted some flower seeds.
| A．④⑤①③② | B．⑤④③②① |
| C．④③①②⑤ | D．④⑤③①② |
What does the passage mainly want to tell us?
| A．Never laugh at imperfection. | B．No pains, no gains. |
| C．Imperfection makes life meaningful. | D．It’s never too late to learn. |
“The Lord of the Rings”, one of the best sellers in the new millennium（千年）, was made up of three parts——“The Fellowship of the Ring”, “Two Towers”, and “The Return of the King”. Millions upon millions of people have read it in over 25 different languages, but fewer know about the author and the history of the composition of the creative masterwork.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892. His parents died when he was a child. Living in England with his aunt, Tolkien and his cousins made up his mind to play languages, a hobby that led to Tolkien’s becoming skilled in Welsh, Greek, Gothic, Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon.
After graduating from Oxford, Tolkien served in World War I. In 1917, while recovering from trench fever, he began composing the mythology（神话） for The Rings. As a professor of Anglo-Saxon in 1930s at Oxford, Tolkien was part of an informal discussion group called the Inklings, which included several writers. The group was soon listening to chapters of Tolkien’s imaginative work “The Hobbit”.
Hobbit was a name Tolkien created for a local people that could best be described as half-sized members of the English rural（乡村的）class. Hobbits live in hillside holes. One of them, Bilbo Baggins, looks for treasures with a group of dwarves（侏儒）. On the way, he meets the twisted, pitiful creature Gollum, from whom he sees a golden ring that makes the holder invisible.
One of Tolkien’s students persuaded her employer, publisher Allen & Unwin, to look at a draft（草稿）. The chairman of the firm, Stanley Unwin, thought that the best judge for a children’s book would be his ten-year-old son. The boy earned a shilling for reporting back that the adventure was exciting, and “The Hobbit” was published in 1937.
It sold so well that Unwin asked for a continuation. Over a dozen years later, in 1954, Tolkien produced “The Lord of the Rings”, a series of books so creative that they hold readers—new and old —after their publication.What can we learn from the text?
| A．Tolkien was quite familiar with Old English. |
| B．People know better about Tolkien himself than about his works. |
| C．“The Lord of the Rings” didn’t sell well in the last millennium. |
| D．Tolkien knew very well about different kinds of local languages in Africa. |
What can we learn about “Hobbit” that Tolkien created in his works?
| A．Hobbit was a race living in English downtown areas. |
| B．Hobbit was a group of people who were mostly dwarves. |
| C．Hobbit was a social group of people who lived in old castles. |
| D．Hobbit was a local people who were very tall and strong. |
Which of the following helped most in making “The Hobbit” published?
| A．One of Tolkien’s students. | B．Allen & Unwin. |
| C．Stanley Unwin’s son. | D．Bilbo Baggins. |
What is mainly discussed in the text?
| A．a famous professor at Oxford University. |
| B．A completely new masterwork in the new millennium. |
| C．“The Lord of the Rings” and its writer. |
| D．The power of the magic ring. |
Which of the following shows the right order of Mr J.R.R.Tolkien’s life experience?
a．He had his “The Hobbit” published.
b．He became a member of the lnklings.
c．He served in World WarⅠ
d．He became an undergraduate at Oxford.
e．His work “The Lord of the Rings” came to the world.
f．He moved to England to live with his aunt.
| A．f-d-b-c-a-e | B．d-f-c-a-b-e |
| C．f-c-d-b-e-a | D．f-d-c-b-a-e |
A
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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．professor | D．experienced |
The shortest course is _____.
| A．Basic Photography |
| B．Understanding Computers |
| C．Stop Smoking |
| D．Typing |
A course which can do something good for your health will cost____.
| A．$50 | B．$30 | 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 |
I am here to announce my retirement from the game of basketball. It won't be another announcement to baseball or anything to that nature1.
Mentally, I'm exhausted; I don't feel I have a challenge. Physically, I feel great. The last time in 1993 I had other agendas. I felt that I wanted to play baseball and I felt that at my age, it was a good opportunity and time to do it. And with the death of my father, and I was basically trying to deal with that.
Actually I talked to Jerry last year once the season ended and I told Jerry at that time, mentally, I was a little exhausted. I didn't know if I would play next year. I wanted to put him on awareness so that he could possibly prepare going into next season. And Jerry, once we had our conversation, wanted me to take time as I did in 1993 to make sure that it was the right decision because it was going to be the final decision. I retired the first time when Phil Jackson was the coach. And I think that even with Phil being the coach I would have had a tough time, mentally finding the challenge for myself. Although he can somehow present challenges for me. I don't know if he could have presented the challenge for me to continue on to this season. Even though middle way of this season I wanted to continue to play a couple more years, but at the end of this season I was mentally drained and tired. So I can't say that he would have restored that. I will support the Chicago Bulls. I think the game itself is a lot bigger than Michael Jordan.The underlined sentence tells us Michael Jordan will retire from any games.
Michael Jordan once made an announcement of his retirement.
Michael Jordan isn’t strong enough to continue his games.
Michael Jordan thinks the game itself is more important than the player.
The main reason for Michael Jordan’s retirement is that the coach have had him suffered a tough time.
Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that men and animals possess, if they are properly used. If fire did not hurt when it burnt, children would play with it until their hands were burnt away. Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn’t, a child would burn himself or herself again and again, because fear would not warn himself or herself to keep away from the fire that had burnt himself or herself before. A really fearless soldier—and some do exist, is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army. Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which men and animals might soon die out.
In our first sentence we suggested that fear should be properly used. If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much. Even in your house you are not absolutely safe: an aeroplane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the beams in your roof so that the latter falls on you, or you may get cancer!
The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead to use fear as your servant and guide. Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take.
In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger. For example, you see a car coming straight towards you. Fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well.
In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger. For example, you can’t prevent an aeroplane crashing onto your house. In this case, fear has given you its warning; you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of this particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it.Children would play with fire until their hands were burnt away if _________.
| A．they were given no warning beforehand |
| B．they had never burnt themselves |
| C．they had no sense of pain |
| D．they were fearful of the fire |
A really fearless soldier _____________.
| A．is of great use to the army |
| B．is not a real soldier |
| C．is nothing but a dead soldier |
| D．easily gets killed in a battle |
People sometimes succeed in timely avoiding the danger because _________.
| A．they have gained experience |
| B．they jump out of the way in time |
| C．they are calm in the face of danger |
| D．they are warned of the danger by fear and take quick action |
What's the writer's suggestion when the danger can't be avoided?
| A．You have to try to overcome it． |
| B．Fear can really help you to run away. |
| C．Fear always helps you stay safe． |
| D．Fear is of great use to you. |
London—Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the most clever animals. British scientists said last Wednesday humans may have underestimated the woolly creature. They could be much smarter than we think.
Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern England, have shown that the animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces—which they think is a sure sign of intelligence.
Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish 25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes （电极） to measure their brain activity , which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years .
“If they can do that with faces, they have to have reasonable intelligence; otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?” Kendrick said in an interview.
So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all.
Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb （unable to speak, unintelligent） animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything.
“All animals, including humans, once they are frightened, don’t tend to show signs of intelligent action,” he explained.
In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain which allows them to distinguish between many different faces which look extremely similar.
“The most important finding （of the study） is that they are able , both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized , to remember a large number of individuals for a very long time,” said Kendrick. “It is a very strange system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans.”From the first paragraph we can find that______. .
| A．people used to think sheep are smarter than the other animals |
| B．people used to raise sheep in a wrong way |
| C．people don’t consider sheep as clever animals |
| D．people have done a lot of research on sheep |
From what Kendrick said in the interview we learn that_____. .
| A．scientists have learned everything about sheep’s intelligence |
| B．scientists have learned a little about sheep’s intelligence |
| C．scientists can’t do anything more about sheep’s memory |
| D．scientists do not have to research animals’ memory |
As is known in the passage,__________.
| A．sheep are among the week animals |
| B．it is not right for people to raise sheep in groups |
| C．when sheep eat grass in the field their minds may be active |
| D．if people feel frightened, they may become braver |