Long long ago, a young man found a spring of delicious clean water while he was going through the desert. He brought some back to the oldest man in his village, who had been his teacher before. After a four-day journey he sent the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village happily. The next day, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It went bad because it had stayed in the old leather container(皮革容器) for so many days in such hot weather. The student asked his teacher why he pretended(假装) to like the awful water. The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for love and kindness. And nothing could be sweeter than these."
I think we understand this lesson best when we receive small gifts of love from very young kids. Whether it's a slice of bread or a piece of colored paper, the natural and right response(反应) is to show our thanks and happiness because we get love from the gift.
To show our thanks doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults only see the thing itself. They never feel the meaning of the thing. We should tell ourselves and teach our children about showing thanks and happiness to the persons who give the gifts from their hearts because gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.Where did the young man find the water?
| A．In a spring. | B．In a river. | C．In a lake. | D．In a village. |
How long did the water stay in the old leather container?
| A．Six days. | B．Five days. | C．Four days. | D．Three days. |
What does the word “replied” mean?
| A．smiled | B．cried | C．answered | D．got angry |
According to the passage, what is the right response when we get gifts from others?
| A．We eat it up at once. |
| B．We only see the thing itself. |
| C．We think about the meaning of the bread. |
| D．We usually show our thanks and happiness naturally. |
What does the writer want to tell us?
| A．We should never receive anything from others. |
| B．We should show thanks and happiness when we get the gifts from the heart. |
| C．We should pretend to love the things given by others all the time. |
| D．We should give gifts from our hearts. |
A group of frogs were travelling through the woods. Two of them, Nick and Jack, fell into a deep pit(坑). All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told Nick and Jack that they were as good as dead.
Nick and Jack ignored(不理睬) what the other frogs said and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their strength. The other frogs went on telling them to stop, and that they were as good as dead. Nick listened to them and gave up. Finally, he fell down and died.
Jack continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the frogs around the pit shouted at him to stop the pain(痛苦) and just die. Jack jumped even harder and finally got out. When he was out, the other frogs asked, “Did not you hear us?” Jack explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him all the time. Nick and Jack fell into a pit when they were __________.
| A．holding a meeting | B．taking exercise |
| C．travelling through the woods | D．sleeping in the woods |
The other frogs told Nick and Jack to stop because they thought the pit was too ______.
| A．big | B．strange | C．small | D．deep |
From the story we know _______ died in the end.
| A．Nick | B．Jack | C．Nick and Jack | D．all the frogs |
When the other frogs shouted at Jack to stop the pain and just die, he __________.
| A．stopped jumping | B．jumped harder |
| C．fell down and died | D．gave up trying |
Jack finally got out because ________.
| A．the pit wasn’t deep | B．he thought the others encouraged him |
| C．he climbed a ladder | D．his friends pulled him out |
How do you make friends? Some students are sharing their ideas with us.
 TomAlthough we are quite different, Adam and I have been close friends for 5 years. We have a lot to talk. We play basketball together after school. We go for a picnic at weekends. It’s always a pleasure to be with him. |
 YumiI spend my spare time mostly with people from other countries. When I’m with them, I really get to know what they’re like and how easy they are to get along with. They help me to improve my English. |
 AnnaI’ve made some good friends at the gym I go to. People there are very friendly. Talking to them as I take exercise is a good way for us to get to know each other. |
 PeterI can make more friends on the Internet because it keeps me in touch with the whole world. I can get worldwide stories from my friends all over the world. |
Adam is ______ friend.
| A．Tom’s | B．Yumi’s | C．Anna’s | D．Peter’s |
Anna likes to make friends who ________________.
| A．are different from each other . | B．like surfing the Internet |
| C．have the similar interest | D．speak English. |
With the help of her friends, Yumi ______.
| A．takes more exercise | B．learns English better |
| C．feels happier at picnics | D．knows more about the world |
What helps Peter make more friends?
| A．The story. | B．The sport. | C．The Internet. | D．The language. |
According to the passage, which is Not True?
| A．Peter often tells his friends funny stories. |
| B．Anna often takes exercise. |
| C．Yumi’s friends are easy to get along get with. |
| D．Adam and Tom often go for a picnic at weekends. |
China's first moon rover (月球车), Yutu, set off from the lander early on December 15, several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe (探测器) soft-landed on the moon surface.
The 140 kg six-wheeled rover touched the moon surface at 4:35 a.m., leaving deep lines on the loose moon land. This was recorded by the camera on the lander and the images were sent to the earth, according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center. After that, the rover and lander will take photos of each other and start their own science explorations.
Earlier this morning, engineers made final checks of the environment of the landing area and the situation of the probe. Yutu, reached its solar panel (光板) and started to drive slowly to the moon at 3:10 a.m.. It took Yutu nearly a whole hour to complete the simple task.
Chang'e-3 landed at the Bay of Rainbows on the moon, at 9:11 p.m. on December 14, making China the
third country in the world to carry out such a mission (执行此类任务) after the United States and Russia.
In old Chinese tales, Yutu was the white pet rabbit of Chang'e’s. The name for the rover was selected following an online survey that collected several million votes from people around the world.
The rover, 1.5 meters long with its two wings folded (折叠), 1 m in width and 1.1 m in height, is a perfect robot controlled by the command center from the earth. It will face challenges including temperature differences of more than 300℃ on the moon.
Yutu will do some research and look for natural resources (资源) for three months, while the lander will conduct an exploration at the landing place for one year. Then they will have a good rest on the moon and will not be used for a long time until China’s next probe visits the moon again. Which is the best title for the passage above?
| A．The first rover on the moon | B．The tale of Chang’e |
| C．The journey to the moon | D．Yutu explores the moon |
Which is the correct order of the following events?
a. The 140 kg six-wheeled rover touched the moon surface.
b. The rover and lander will take photos of each other.
c. Yutu started to drive slowly to the moon.
d. Chang'e-3 landed at the Bay of Rainbows on the moon.
| A．a-b-c-d | B．c-d-a-b | C．d-c-a-b | D．c-a-b-d |
What does the underlined word width mean in Chinese?
| A．智力 | B．宽度 | C．重量 | D．长度 |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The moon had been visited by only two countries before 2013. |
| B．Yutu is a perfect robot under the control of its own computer. |
| C．Yutu and Chang’e will return to the earth after the one-year mission. |
| D．Chang’e-3 is 140 kg in weight. |
There will soon be a second moon rover to explore the moon. Which is its proper name?
| A．Chang’e-4 | B．Yutu-2 | C．Shenzhou-11 | D．Tiangong-2 |
7 January, 2014
A new report says more and more international students are attending colleges and universities in the United States. It also notes a large increase in the number of international students from China.
These findings are from the latest Open Doors Report. The report documents the record number of international students in the United States during 2012, 2013 school year. It says more than seven hundred sixty-four thousand four-hundred such students were attending American colleges and universities during the last two years. That represents an increase of almost six percent than one year earlier.
On the other hand, the number of Americans studying overseas (海外) increased by one percent, which reached nineteen thousand this year.
The report says one hundred ninety-four thousand students at American colleges and universities were from
China. That is an increase of more than twenty-three percent over the year before. Peggy Blumenthal, an expert(专家) of international education, described the effect of the increase in Chinese students.
"Now they have been coming for some time. But this year was the highest level ever." She says many Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children. The children mainly choose to study in America.
"We know many of them have enough income to be able to afford to send them anywhere in the world that they want to go. And for the most part, looking around the world, Chinese students still prefer to come to the United States as their choice."
Chinese students are not the only ones who want to attend American colleges and universities. After China, India sends the second largest number of students to the United States for higher education. India has about one hundred thousand students in American schools. South Korea is third with about seventy two thousand students.
Why do so many foreign students study in the United States? Peggy Blumenthal provides one reason.
"The advantage America has is that we have a huge system and a very perfect system. So there are over four thousand universities and colleges in the United States. Among them are some top ones in the world, and what that tells us is there is still a lot of room to host international students."
Foreign students represent less than four percent of the total student population in American higher education. And from Learning English, that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty. Thanks for listening.Bob Doughty seems to be ________.
| A．an exchange student from the USA |
| B．an expert of international education |
| C．a viewer of VOA |
| D．a reporter from VOA |
Which country below has the fewest students studying overseas?
| A．South Korea | B．India | C．China | D．America |
Which is NOT the reason why so many Chinese students go to the USA for further study?
A. Lots of Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children
B. The USA has a huge and a very perfect education system.
C. There is a lot of room to host international students in the USA.
D. The USA has some top universities and colleges in the world.Which of the following statement is true?
| A．China has 122,000 more students than South Korea at American colleges and universities. |
| B．The number of Americans studying overseas is becoming smaller and smaller. |
| C．The number of Asian students has an increase of 6% over the past two years. |
| D．Most of the international students in the United States are Chinese. |
This passage from VOA Special English is most likely to be ________.
| A．An advertisement | B．A radio programme | C．A science report | D．A tour guide |
Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.
The reporter was talking to them about being important.
“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.
The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”
The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.
The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”
The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”
“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”
“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.
“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”This story happened in ________.
A. U.N. B. U.S.A. C. U.K. D. P.R.C.There are________in this passage.
| A．three men | B．three women and one man |
| C．four men | D．three men and one woman |
The banker and the owner of one of the largest companies in the world ________.
| A．had similar opinions about the reporter’s question |
| B．disagreed with each other |
| C．had been invited to the White House many times |
| D．didn’t reply to the reporter |
The owner of one of the largest companies thought ________.
| A．he himself was really important because he owned one of the largest companies in the world |
| B．the President was really important because the president of another country called him |
| C．the visitor was really important if the President would rather treat him than answer an important phone call from another country |
| D．none of them was really important |
The underlined word you in the last paragraph refers to (指的是) ________.
| A．the television reporter | B．the owner of many buildings |
| C．the President | D．the visitor to the White House |