Battle of the Books
Each year in April, the “Battle of the Books” teams from each school meet for the Semi-Battle competition. The top three teams from each division go on to the Final Battle to compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. The gold medal winners go on to compete in the Regional Championship.
Battle of the Books Rules and Goals
Goals:
Students: Have fun reading good books from a wide variety of authors and genres(体裁).
Educators: Encourage reading, foster friendly competition, and nurture the love of books in young people.
Rules:
One team of six students from grades 7 or 8 will represent each school.
1. Each team will have a spokesperson. While the team is encouraged to discuss possible answers, team answers will only be accepted from the spokesperson.
2. The Semi-Finals will consist of three rounds of play, and the Finals will have one round. Each round features a Regular Battle and a Lightning Battle.
3. Regular Battle questions will be addressed to teams alternately(轮流地), regardless of the last correct answer. There will be 12 Regular Battle questions per round. When asked a question, teams will have 20 seconds to provide the book’s title and author.
4. Five points will be given if the team correctly identifies the exact title, and three points will be awarded for correctly identifying the author’s surname. The author’s first name does not need to be identified.
5. The Lightning Battles will be featured at the end of each round. Lightning Battles consist of a 2 minutes, 30 seconds time period during which each team is asked up to 12 questions. These questions concern details of the books and will not require teams to identify titles or authors. Each correctly answered Lightning Battle question will be worth three points.
PLEASE NOTE:
A warm-up practice question will be given to each team at the beginning of its first Semi-Battle and at the beginning of the Final and Regional Final Battles.
There may be no assistance from the coordinators and audience members.
Teams will not be punished for incorrect answers.
Any team demonstrating poor sportsmanship will not be invited back. According to the text, “Battle of the Books” is an activity ______.
| A.where students are inspired to write books |
| B.where books are used as arms in the battle |
| C.where friends compete with each other |
| D.where readers are motivated to love books |
How many questions will be asked in the Semi-Finals?
| A.72 | B.24 | C.36 | D.12 |
What information can we get from the text?
| A.Teams are given 20 minutes to answer a question. |
| B.A competitor gets 18 points for 6 correct titles. |
| C.Each round ends with the Lightning Battles. |
| D.A correct first name will be given 5 points. |
If a team doesn’t compete fairly, it ______.
| A.won’t be given a warm-up practice | B.won’t get help from audience members |
| C.will be reduced in its points | D.won’t be allowed to compete next time |
The old shopkeeper led me through to the back of the shop. The room was filled with boxes and photographs of people dressed in old-fashioned clothes, holding packages in their hands.
“Who are these people?” I asked.
“Satisfied customers,” answered young Mr. Hopkins. “We have a very wide choice of items for sale. Whenever I serve a new customer,I always take their picture.” Mr. Hopkins pointed to an ancient camera standing next to one wall. “Now, how can I serve you?” he added.
By this time, I had started to trust Mr. Hopkins and had begun to appreciate the lovely items on sale. I needed to buy Christmas presents for my family and friends, and this seemed to be the perfect place to purchase them. I spent a very pleasant hour being shown the articles in Mr. Hopkins’s shop. No matter what I asked for, Mr. Hopkins found it for me. Finally, I bought an antique jewellery box, a pair of riding boots, a leather-bound edition of the Complete Works of Mark Twain, and a sewing machine.
I was very excited that I had found such a good little shop. I promised Mr. Hopkins that I would come back soon. “I will tell all my friends about your lovely place,” I told the shopkeeper.
“Please do not do that, sir”, said Mr. Hopkins. “This is a special place for special people. You must keep this shop a secret.” Then he took my photograph, and handed me the picture straight away. “That was quick!” I exclaimed. I looked at the photograph. In the picture I looked proud and excited holding the presents I had bought in Mr. Hopkins’ dusty shop.
On Christmas Day, my friend and relatives were delighted with the presents I had bought for them. For weeks, my brother begged me to show him where to find this wonderful little shop. I finally agreed to take him to London to show him.
When we arrived in London, we walked along Oxford Street, passed the department store and found…nothing. The little shop was no longer there. In its place was an empty space being used as a car park. I checked the area, again. There was the music shop, and there was the department store. In between should have been Hopkins and Son, but it wasn’t there.
As I was staring at the place where the shop should have been, an old policeman came along. “Are you looking for something, sir?” he asked. I turned and said “I am looking for a little shop called Hopkins and Son. I thought it was here.”
“Oh yes,” said the policeman. “There was a shop here once called Hopkins and Son. It sold all sorts of things, but it was knocked down over 30 years ago.”
I looked again at the place where the shop had been. Then I reached into my pocket and took out the photograph that Mr. Hopkins had taken of me holding my presents in the little shop.
“How strange!” I exclaimed.
61. The photos in the back of the shop showed.
A.the items that Mr. Hopkins had sold B.Mr. Hopkins’ family members
C.Mr. Hopkins’ former customers D.the antique paintings.
62. How did the writer like the shop?
A. He found it a modern big shop.
B. He thought it a wonderful shop for old books.
C. He liked the ancient camera in the shop most.
D. He found it a dusty, old but friendly and lovely little shop.
63. Which of the following is true about shop?
A. It was a very famous little shop in London.
B. It was a popular bookshop in Oxford.
C. It was between a music shop and a department store.
D. It sold Christmas presents only.
64. The word “the articles” in the 4th paragraph means .
A.the goods in the shop B.the writer’s works
C.Mr. Hopkins’ writings D.some writings by old customers
65. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A. Christmas Shopping B. Hopkins and Son
C. The articles D. A Little shop
三.阅读(共两节,满分40分)
第一节:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
When Han Duan started her professional career at 16, China’s national women’s football team was defeated in the final of the World Cup by the US. While she was asked to play in her first World Cup in 2003, she largely remained on the bench after the first match.
But things have changed. Now, Han is one of the most important players in China’s team. “I can’t wait to play. Life is short. You must make the most out of it,” Han always says like that.
Han wants every possible honor that a football player can get — an Asian Cup, a World Cup and an Olympic medal. She has always been good at sports, especially swimming and horizontal bars. At school, she was the fastest in the 60m and 100m.
But the reason she picked football was that she wanted to get more compliments (称赞). “Football is for boys. But I feel more fulfilled when I can do better than them and win more compliments,” she said. Later, when she entered a football school, the coach always asked Han to show others what to do.
However, nobody can be good at everything. Han described her singing as “howling” and the only school subject she was good at was Chinese. “I was very happy every time my essay was posted on the wall for my schoolmates to read.” But Han still has some regrets about her school years. Her handwriting was terrible at school. She ever wanted to improve her handwriting but didn’t achieve much.
“My fans ask for my signature (签名), so I’d better practice and practice. It’s not too late,” she says.
56. In the World Cup in 2003, Han Duan was a(n) ______.
A. member of the audience
B. unimportant player
C. team captain
D. fan of a sports star
57. What does the underlined part in the second paragraph imply?
A. Han Duan siezes every chance to learn more to fulfill herself.
B. Han Duan never wastes any of her practicing time.
C. Han Duan seizes every chance to take part in matches.
D. Han Duan has become ill and she will die quite soon.
58. According to the passage, we know that Han Duan ________.
A. has won an Asian Cup, a World Cup and an Olympic medal
B. was good at sports when she was at school
C. did very well in singing and Chinese when she was at school
D. often gets compliments because of her beautiful handwriting
59. From the fourth paragraph, it can be inferred that Han Duan most probably ________.
A. felt sad as the boys laughed at her
B. felt proud as she got compliments from others
C. felt sad as she was too strong as a girl
D. hated herself as she couldn’t do anything else well
60. What’s the best title of this passage?
A. Growth of a sports star. B. The World Cup.
C. Honor of a football player. D. Star of tomorrow.
Anyone for rocket salad? The Chinese are now growing huge vegetables from seeds they sent into space.
If you’re the type who worries about the air miles traveled by fruits and vegetables, these beauties aren’t for you. It’s because they have traveled a little further than most.
The seeds from which they grew were fired into space, where they orbited the earth for two weeks. Once they returned they were grown in hothouses, producing the monster kinds seen here.
China, which is behind these space fruits and vegetables, says they could be the answer to the world’s food crisis.
The 21-pound tomatoes, nine-inch chilies, 15-stone pumpkins and large watermelons growing at the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ hothouses can feed many more than their smaller cousins, and may have more nutrients, the scientists say.
Researcher Lo Zhigang said, “Traditional agricultural development has taken us as far as we can go and demand for food from a growing population is endless. Space seeds offer the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables bigger and faster.”
He admitted he and his colleagues could not explain why time in orbit caused the seeds to change genetic structure. But they guessed exposure to the cosmic(宇宙的) radiation that attacked the spacecraft in orbit, as well as the near zero gravity conditions, microgravity, could play a part.
“We don’t think there’s any threat to human health because the genes themselves do not change; just their order changes,” he said. “With genetically-modified(GM) crops you have seen environmental problems because they have added genes that can damage other organisms. But with space seeds they don’t gain genes; they can only lose them.”
He also claimed the Vitamin C content in some space vegetables was nearly three times higher than in common vegetables, while levels of zinc are also increased.
Western scientists are doubtful. NASA researchers who have experimented with seeds in space say there is not enough benefit to show the cost is reasonable.
72. What do the underlined words “these beauties” in paragraph 2 probably refer to?
A. Beautiful views along the air routes. B. Traveling experiences in space.
C. Seeds fired into space. D. Giant vegetables.
73. We can infer from Lo’s words in paragraph 6 that .
A. our conventional agriculture has developed too slowly
B. we are asking too much from nature
C. space seeds may help meet our demand for food
D. we’ll grow crops in space in the future
74. Why the seeds changed their genetic structure .
A. remains to be proved
B. is discovered by Lo Zhigang
C. has something to do with die conditions in hothouses
D. is due to the radiation that attacked them directly
75. Comparing Gm crops and space crops, we can see that .
A. space crops grow faster
B. space crops are more environmentally friendly
C. GM crops are less a threat to human health
D. GM crops have fewer nutrients
Your cellphone holds secrets about you. Besides the names and numbers that you’ve programmed into it, traces of your DNA remain on it, according to a new study.
DNA is genetic material that appears in every cell. Like your fingerprint, your DNA is unique to you-unless you have an identical twin. Scientists today usually analyze DNA in blood, saliva(唾液), or hair left behind at the scene of a crime. The results often help detectives identify criminals and victims.
Meghan J. McFadden, a biologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, heard about a crime in which the suspect bled onto a cellphone and later dropped it. This made her wonder whether traces of DNA remained on cellphones-even when no blood was involved. To find out, she and a colleague collected flip-style(翻盖式) phones from 10 volunteers. They collected invisible traces of the users from two parts of the phone: the outside, where the user holds it, and the speaker, which is placed at the user’s ear.
The scientists cleaned the phones using a liquid mixture made mostly of alcohol. The aim of washing was to remove all delectable traces of DNA. The owners got their phones back for another week. Then they returned the phones and the researchers collected traces on each phone once more. They discovered DNA that belonged to the phone’s owner on each of the phones.
Surprisingly, DNA was even picked up immediately after the phones were cleaned. That suggests that washing won’t remove all traces of evidence from a criminal’s cellphone. So cellphones can be added to the list of clue the can settle a crime-scene investigation.
68. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. The cellphone means most secrets of its owner.
B. McFadden is famous for her secrets of its owner.
C. The investigation of a crime is a hard job.
D. DNA can be available on the user’s cellphone.
69. In a crime-scene investigation, now experts are likely to turn to .
A. the criminal’s fingerprint B. the DNA analysis of physical items
C. the detectives D. the criminal’s cellphone
70. According to the passage, McFadden was inspired by .
A. the secrets stored in people’s cellphones B. the special characters of DNA
C. a cellphone-involved case D. the challenging job of detectives
71. According to the passage, the potential application of the new study would be .
A. identifying criminals B. designing new cellphones
C. protecting individual privacy D. preventing cellphone-involved crime
There are tow types of people in the world. Although they
have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although it fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and so
metimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.
63. People who are unhappy .
A. always consider things differently form others
B. usually are affected by the results of certain things
C. usually misunderstand what others think or say
D. always discover the unpleasant side of certain things
64. The underlined phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “ ”.
A. have a good taste with social life B. make others unhappy
C. tend to scold others openly D. enjoy the pleasure of life
65. We can conclude from the passage that .
A. we should pity all such unhappy people
B. such unhappy people are dangerous to social life
C. people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness
D. unhappy people can not understand happy persons
66. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should .
A. prevent and communication with them
B. show no respect and politeness to them
C. persuade them to recognize the bad effects
D. quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes
67. In this passage, the writer mainly
.
A. describes two types of people B. laughs at the unhappy people
C. suggests ways to help the unhappy D. tells people how to be happy in life