A Book Review — The Snake-Stone by Berlie Doherty
The setting: Urban England (the cities), but also rural England (the countryside) including remote English villages.
The theme: The main theme is a teenage search of self-discovery, in this case the search for a mother from whom the hero was separated at an early age. Its other concerns are love, getting on with others, being persistent and courageous and trying to deal with doubts, troubles and worries. As the book moves to a close, James' swimming coach says to him: "You are not like a kid obeying instructions any more. You are diving like a young man who knows where he is going."
The characters: James is the hero of the story. He is a championship diver, and has a comfortable life with his foster parents (养父母). Yet he also has the qualities to take him on a long journey to find his birth mother. The other characters in The Snake-Stone, James' parents, his diving instructor, best friend, the villagers, people he meets on his journey, are pictured realistically.
The turning point: The turning point in the story comes while James' foster parents are away in London, and he wonders about the identity of his birth mother. The only clue he has is a fossil, "the snake stone" which she left behind along with a note on which she had written: "Take good care of Sammie. It was written on a torn envelope with parts of an address still there.
The journey: Instead of going to London, James decides to find his birth mother. With help from his geography teacher, James sets out for the remote country village where his mother might be found. James has painful, challenging, but also humorous and happy travels. The mother he finally meets, Anne, has a minor yet powerful voice in the novel. He comes to understand why she left him at a stranger's door fifteen years before. Although the meeting is not long, it leaves him with a feeling of completeness. As a journey of self-discovery The Snake-Stone also provides its readers with a happy ending. Its hero says, on returning to his foster parents, "I was home."What is the main theme of the novel?
| A．Life with foster parents. | B．Life in the world of diving. |
| C．A journey of self-discovery. | D．A travel around the country. |
What do the coach's words in Para. 2 suggest?
| A．James is a successful diver. | B．James is a hopeful swimmer. |
| C．James is an outgoing young man. | D．James is an independent young man. |
The snake stone in the novel is ____________.
| A．a stone with an address on it | B．a clue left by the birth mother |
| C．a gift from the swimming coach | D．a fossil left by the foster parents |
Which of the following is true about the novel?
| A．The story has a sad ending. |
| B．The story takes place in the city of London. |
| C．The characters are vividly described. |
| D．The turning point comes after the hero meets his birth mother. |
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
There is no doubt that China is a country with high moral values. It has never attacked another country, has one of the lowest rates of violent crimes and is deeply concerned with the social and economic welfare of its people.
But when it comes to animal rights, China may well fail Gandhi test. There are no laws against the killing of dogs and the sale of dog meat in China. In fact the serving of dog meat in Chinese restaurants has increased in recent years.
People who eat dog meat argue that dogs have been eaten in China for thousand of years and dog meat has “health benefits”.
There is, however, a strong argument against waiting dogs .Recently, some Chinese animal rights activists stopped a truck carrying about 500 dogs and saved the poor animals from being sold and served as food in restaurants. These people that dogs are not meant to be eaten but loved.
根据短文内容，判断以下句子的正误，正确选择 （A）错误 选择（B）。China has only one law to prevent killing and eating dogs
China has a long history of eating dogs.
More dog meat is served in Chinese restaurants in recent years.
No one believes that eating dogs is beneficial health.
Recently some people stopped a truck and saved about 500 dogs.
Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets (彗星) which other scientists had made. The orbit of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems. However, Halley had a friend named Newton, who was a brilliant (有才华的) mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse (椭圆) .
Now Halley set to work. He figured out the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearances had been 75 to 76 years apart (相隔).
This seemed very strange to Halley. The different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets, as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.
It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain enough to make a prediction of what would happen in the future. He decided that this comet would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested.
In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet has been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ______.
| A．some different comets appearing several times |
| B．three different comets appearing three times |
| C．the same comet appearing at different times |
| D．several comets appearing at the same time |
Halley made his discovery______.
| A．by doing experiments |
| B．by means of his own careful observation |
| C．by using the work of other scientists |
| D．by chance |
Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year ______.
| A．1707 | B．1706 | C．1705 | D．1704 |
This passage in general is about ______.
| A．Halley and other scientists |
| B．The orbit of a comet |
| C．Newton and Halley |
| D．Halley and his discovery |
According to the passage, which of the flowing is NOT true ?
| A．Halley figured out the orbit of the comet first. |
| B．Newton figured out the orbit of the comet. |
| C．Newton gave Halley some help. |
| D．Halley died before 1758. |
A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin (顽童) was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car，Paul？” he asked．Paul answered，“Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it did cost you nothing？Boy，I wish…” He hesitated．
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly. “I wish,” the boy went on，“that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car？”
“Oh yes，I'd love that．”
After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind driving in front of my house？”
Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are？” the boy asked．
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little disabled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride. The street urchin was very surprised when ______．
| A．Paul received an expensive car |
| B．Paul told him about the car |
| C．he saw the shining car |
| D．he was walking around the car |
From the story we can see the urchin ______．
| A．wished to give his brother a car |
| B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car |
| C．wished he could have a brother like Paul's |
| D．wished Paul could be a brother like that |
The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ______．
| A．to show his neighbour’s the big car |
| B．to show he had a rich friend |
| C．to let his brother ride in the car |
| D．to tell his brother about his wish |
We can infer from the story that ______．
| A．Paul couldn't understand the urchin |
| B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother |
| C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother |
| D．the urchin's wish came true in the end |
The best name of the story is ______．
| A．A Christmas Present | B．A Street Urchin |
| C．A Brother Like That | D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride |
Life comes in a package. This package includes happiness and sorrow, failure and success, hope and despair. Life is a learning process. Experiences in life teach us new lessons and make us a better person. With each passing day we learn to handle various situations.
Love
Love plays a pivotal role on out life. Love makes you feel wanted. Without love a person could go hayward and also become cruel and ferocious. In the early stage of our life, our parents are the ones who shower us with unconditional love and care, they teach us about what is right and wrong, good and bad. But we always tend to take this for granted. It is only after marriage and having kids that a person understands and becomes sensitive to others feelings. Kids make a person responsible and mature and help us to understand life better.
Happiness and sorrow
Materialistic happiness is short-lived, but happiness achieved by bringing a smile on others face gives a certain level of fulfillment. Peace of mind is the main link to happiness. No mind is happy without peace. We realize the true worth of happiness when we are in sorrow. Sorrow is basically due to death of a loved one, failure and despair. But these things are temporary and pass away.
Failure and success
Failure is the path to success. It helps us to touch the sky, teaches us to survive and shows us a specific way. Success brings in money, fame, pride and self-respect. Here it becomes very important to keep our head on out shoulder. The only way to show our gratitude to god for bestowing success on us is by being humble, modest, courteous and respectful to the less fortunate ones.
Hope and despair
Hope is what keeps life going. Parents always hope their children will do well. Hope makes us dream. Hope builds in patience. Life teaches us not to despair even in the darkest hour, because after every night there is a day. Nothing remains the same we have only one choice keep moving on in life and be hopeful. Life teaches us not to regret over yesterday, for it has passed and is beyond our control. Tomorrow is unknown, for it could either be bright or dull. So the only alternative is work hard today, so that we will enjoy a better tomorrow.In which section can readers probably read the passage?
| A．Opinions. |
| B．Politics. |
| C．Education. |
| D．Lifestyles. |
How is the passage organized?
| A．In order of rules. |
| B．In order of frequency. |
| C．By making comparison. |
| D．In order of importance. |
What’s the general meaning of the last sentence of the whole passage?
| A．If you work hard, you’ll have a better life in the future. |
| B．When choosing between “today”and“tomorrow”,you’d better enjoy tomorrow. |
| C．What you only can choose is to work hard today rather than tomorrow. |
| D．Enjoying a better tomorrow is your only choice. |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To encourage people to love each other. |
| B．To tell people how to deal with happiness and sorrow. |
| C．To remind people of keeping having a beautiful dream. |
| D．To give readers some information about life. |
We’re trying to decide where to go on our vacation this summer. We usually go to the Lake Arrowhead for a few weeks, but we’d like to go somewhere else this year. We’re tired of doing the same thing summer after summer. Some friends of ours suggested that we go to Hawaii. That would be wonderful! I’m sure we’d enjoy a trip like that, but of course it’s out of the question. In the first place, it would be rather expensive, and in the second place, there wouldn’t be enough time. If we’re lucky enough to save some money between now and next summer, and if I’m lucky enough to get four weeks of vacation instead of two weeks, maybe we can go to Hawaii next year. As a matter of fact, if we wanted to plan a trip like that, it might be advisable to stay home this summer and not go any place. That’s one way we could begin to save some money for next year’s trip. Also, if we were to stay here, I could offer to work instead of taking two weeks off; then maybe my boss would suggest that I be given four weeks’ vacation next summer instead of two weeks.The authorto spend their vacation this year.
| A．is going to Hawaii |
| B．will go to Lake Arrowhead |
| C．has decided to go nowhere |
| D．hasn’t decided where to go |
The sentence “it’s out of the question” means “”.
| A．it is possible | B．it is a question |
| C．it is impossible | D．it is not a question |
If the author wanted to make a trip to Hawaii, he might this year.
| A．save some money |
| B．stay at home |
| C．work rather than take two weeks off |
| D．all the above |
A trip to Hawaii that to Lake Arrowhead.
| A．costs much more than | B．costs as much as |
| C．takes less time than | D．takes as much time as |