If you want to find out a piece of information about anything, the best place to search for it is Wikipedia. This online encyclopedia(百科全书) is written by thousands of people around the world. Anyone can add or change the information if he or she finds it not correct or not well written. In this way, people who know a lot about a certain subject can write about it even if they are not university professors.
What is more, Wikipedia includes articles written in about 235 languages. This fact makes it one of the few websites on the Internet that are truly international. It was started in 2001 by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales, as a free online English-language encyclopedia project. By April 2008 over 10 million articles had been put on Wikipedia. A quarter of the articles in English. Wikipedia is also a place where people can find the latest news.
However, Wikipedia has its own problems. There have been many complaints that some of the information on Wikipedia is not accurate and some important subjects are not included. This has led to arguments between the writers of articles. The people running Wikipedia say that the accuracy of the information is improving and that it is one of the top 20 visited websites on the Internet.
So, if you are looking for some information, why not try Wikipedia?Wikipedia is ___________.
| A．a computer game | B．an online magazine |
| C．a free university | D．a website encyclopedia |
People who write on Wikipedia__________.
| A．know much about a certain subject | B．likes writing different stories |
| C．can’t be university professors | D．are usually famous scientists |
The underlined word “accurate” means __________.
| A．错误的 | B．准确的 | C．有条理的 | D．逻辑的 |
Which is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Wikipedia includes articles written in about 253 languages. |
| B．People can find information about different subjects on Wikipedia. |
| C．Wikipedia is the only truly international website on the Internet. |
| D．Half of the articles on Wikipedia are written in English. |
Have you ever returned a book late to the library before? If so, you may pay a small fine(罚款). How much would you have to pay if the book is returned 65 years late?
A high school in Washington, Us had to deal with such a problem recently. A copy of Gone with the Wind was finally returned to its library 65 years late.
However, the school said that it would not ask Wayne to pay the fine, though that would be about $475.
The book was borrowed out of the library of the high school in 1949, and disappeared until it was found in Maine, Us by Wayne. Wayne found the book in his father’s basement(地下室) and then offered to send it back to the school.
“I feel very sorry about that,” Wayne said.
“We’re very pleased to have the book back. Wayne did the right thing,” Lori Wyborney, headmaster of the school said.The book was borrowed out of the library of the high school _____.
| A．in 1949 | B．in 1965 |
| C．in 1975 | D．in 2014 |
Gone with the Wind is the name of _____.
| A．a library | B．a school |
| C．a book | D．a magazine |
_____ offered to send the book back to the school.
| A．Wayne’s father | B．Wayne |
| C．Lori’s headmaster | D．Lori |
A.
B.
C.
D.
What’s the main subject(主题) of this writing?
| A．Making friends. | B．Learning English. |
| C．Joining school clubs. | D．Doing part-time jobs. |
Kudzu is a fast-growing vine(蔓生植物) that covers a large area in the southern United States. It is so common that one might think it is a native plant, but it is not. Kudzu was brought to the United States from Japan in 1876. Many Americans thought it was beautiful, and they began to plant it. They didn’t know it could grow up to a foot a day during the summer months. Nor did they know it would grow up and over anything in its path(路径).
In Japan, kudzu experienced cold winters and a short growing season. But in the United States, it has a very long growing season with warm and wet southern weather. It is fine weather for the vine to grow fast.
In the 1920s, people used the vine to feed farm animals. Ten years later, the government supported to plant kudzu because it kept soil(土壤) from washing away. However, by the 1950s, the government no longer wanted people to plant the vine. Twenty years after that, the government said it was a harmful plant.
The vine grows up trees and buildings, making some beautiful shapes. However, trees die after kudzu covers them because they can not get enough light. Scientists are looking for ways to kill the vine. They used poisons(毒药) to kill the vine. However, some of the poisons made it grow even better. Scientists also find it difficult to dig up Kudzu. The plant is really tough.
Because kudzu is so hard to kill, some people are making the best of it. So they try to find different uses for the vine. They find the vine can be used to make paper and baskets, it can be used to feed the goats, and it can even be eaten by people. Scientists are studying it in the hope that the vine can be used as a medicine. At the very least, kudzu serves as an example of the unexpected results that can come from non-native plants. We can learn from the passage that .
| A．kudzu mostly grows in the northern America |
| B．kudzu was brought to Japan from America |
| C．kudzu grows very fast in warm and wet weather |
| D．American government has never supported to plant kudzu |
The underlined word “tough” in Paragraph 4 probably means “”.
| A． not easily broken | B．widely used |
| C．hard to grow | D．important to one’s health |
The last paragraph is mostly about .
| A． how quickly the vine grows |
| B．how people use the vine |
| C．why people want to kill the vine |
| D．why people eat the vine |
The writer uses the title “The Vine That Ate the South” most probably to .
| A．let readers know kudzu is a vine |
| B．interest readers in a way |
| C．tell readers the vine is a kind of food |
| D．get readers to realize the passage is serious |
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” The question comes from the Bible(圣经). In the Bible, Cain kills his brother Abel. When God asks Cain where Abel is, he replies, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” by which he means, “Am I responsible (有责任心的) for my brother—his safety and health?” The answer, of course, is “Yes, you are.”
This sense of responsibility for others is basic to all good societies. And also it is basic to what we call “civil(文明的) society”. China is now working on building a civil society and the high schools in Shanghai want students to take part in that through volunteering. They are supposed to do sixty class hours of volunteer work before graduation. This is something new in China, but it is not new in other countries.
In the Canadian province of Ontario, high school students are required to do forty hours of volunteering. In some American states, the volunteering requirement is one hundred hours. These students spend about an hour a week during the school year and summer vacations, helping the poor, the sick and the old. They also teach young children to read and help to clean up the environment. And studies have shown that this volunteering experience influences students a lot after graduation.
Some of you may be thinking, “Gee, sixty class hours is a lot. How can I find the time?” In fact, if you finish it in three years, you only need to do the work about three class hours a month. And the time is well spent if it helps you realize that “being your brother’s keeper” makes you a better person and makes society a better place for everyone. A Shanghai high school student should finish class hours of volunteer work before graduation.
| A．thirty | B．forty | C．sixty | D．one hundred |
The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 2 refers to “”.
| A．building a civil society | B．reading the Bible |
| C．doing the volunteer work | D．playing more sports |
According to the writer, “being your brother’s keeper” means “”.
| A．being a good school student |
| B．being responsible for others |
| C．taking good care of your brother |
| D．doing volunteer work with your brother |
The main purpose of the writing is to .
| A．tell students where to do volunteer work |
| B．give advice on how to be a good volunteer |
| C．encourage students to do more volunteer work |
| D．introduce volunteer work in different countries |
Roald Dahl was one of the most successful writers of children’s books. He sold millions of books all over the world. Many of his books have been made into films and videos. He is so famous that there is even a Roald Dahl Museum you can visit.
Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Wales, Britain. His father was rich but he died when Roald was very young. Roald and his mother lived a hard life. He had to leave school and went to Africa where he worked for an oil company.
In 1939 Roald became a pilot, but he had a bad accident. It made him limp(瘸的) for the rest of his life. After this, Roald went to America where he wrote a story about his experience as a pilot. It was so good that it was put in a magazine.
Roald married an American film star. They bought a house in England and had five children. From 1960 to 1965, : Theo, one of his children, was hit by a taxi and was seriously hurt. Olivia, one of Roald’s daughters, died of a strange illness. Soon after this, his wife also had a serious illness. It took her years to get completely better.
Gradually Roald became more and more successful. He always did his writing in an old shed(棚) at the back of his house. He always sat in the same old armchair with a wooden board on his lap.
“One of the nice things about being a writer,” he once said, “is that all you need is what you’ve got in your head and a pencil and a bit of paper.”
In 1983 Roald won a big prize for his book The BFG. During his life, Roald wrote many famous books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox.
After he died in 1990, Roald left money to help people with serious illnesses and those with problems with reading and writing.Roald Dahl was famous as a (an) .
| A．doctor | B．teacher | C．actor | D．writer |
After Roald went to America, he .
| A．lost his parents in a plane accident |
| B．wrote a story about his pilot experience |
| C．got married with an English film star |
| D．won a big prize for his book Matilda |
Which of the following is the best for the blank in Paragraph 4?
| A．they lived a happy life |
| B．three terrible things happened |
| C．he went on writing books |
| D．he created some unlucky characters |
What Roald said in Paragraph 6 mainly shows that .
| A．being a writer was a popular job at that time |
| B．one needs to practice a lot if he wants to be a writer |
| C．Roald loved writing very much and was talented in it |
| D．though he was successful, Roald lived a simple life |