Have you ever seen a horse with toes(脚趾)?Millions of years ago, horses had many toes. They had four toes on each front foot. They had three toes on each back foot. The horses were no bigger than the cats.These small horses lived in the forest. The toes helped the horses run on the soft, wet ground.
At first, it was very hot in the forest. But the weather changed. It became very cold. Many trees could not live in cold weather. The trees died and fell. Open fields took the place of forests. The sun made the ground dry and hard.
Horsed began to change, too. They began to get bigger. This took a long time. On the dry, hard land, horses needed only their middle toes for running. Their middle toes became hard. After a long time, horses had only one hard toe on each foot. Now we call this hard toe a hoof.How many toes did a horse have millions of years ago?
A.14 | B.12 | C.16 | D.13 |
What does the underlined word “hoof” mean in Chinese?
A.尾巴 | B.马鬃 | C.腿 | D.蹄子 |
What was the weather like in the forest at first?
A.Very warm | B.Very hot | C.Very cold | D.Very cool |
Which is WRONG according to the passage?
A.The horses were much bigger than the cats millions of years ago. |
B.The trees died and feel because the weather changed. |
C.On the dry, hard land, horses needed only their middle toes for running. |
D.The horses have fewer toes than before. |
The main idea of the passage is that_______________.
A.horses had three toes on each back foot. | B.horses lived in the hot forest |
C.horses changed a lot over the years | D.horses didn’t like the cold weather |
Close contacts between Japan and the rest of the world were created in the twentieth century. In the last forty years, business contacts between Japan and the West have become very important. Many foreign companies now have offices in Japan and Japanese businessmen do business around the world. Differences between Japanese and Western ways of doing business, however, often bewilder foreign businessmen and make doing business in Japan difficult for foreigners.
The American businessman, for example, wants to start talking business immediately. He does not want to wait. The Japanese businessman, on the other hand, likes to arrive at decisions after giving them serious thought. Another thing foreign businessmen have difficulty in understanding is when a Japanese means “Yes” or “No”. This is because of cultural differences between Japanese and Western society(社会), Which make it difficult for a Japanese to say “No” directly.
In the USA, it is easy to say “No” to something one does not want to do. But in Japan, it is very difficult to say “No”. To refuse an invitation or a request(请求) with “No” is felt to be impolite. It is thought to be selfish and unfriendly. So instead of saying “No” directly, the Japanese have developed many ways to avoid(避免) saying “No”. These can help them avoid hurting other people’s feelings. However, this often makes their ways of doing business rather difficult for foreigners to understand and follow.What often makes foreigners feel difficult to do business in Japan?
A.Their different ways of doing business. |
B.Their different lifestyles. |
C.The fact that the Japanese never say “No”. |
D.The fact that the Japanese are slow to take action. |
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined expression “bewilder foreign________businessmen” in Paragraph One?
A.cause foreign businessmen to change their minds. |
B.give a feeling of surprise to foreign businessmen. |
C.attract foreign businessmen’s attention. |
D.make foreign businessmen think wrongly. |
What fact does the passage lead you to believe?
A.American businessmen do things more slowly than Japanese ones. |
B.American businessmen like to say “Yes” and “No”. |
C.Americans usually say what they are thinking. |
D.Americans do not say what they think or feel clearly. |
From the passage we can infer(推断) that __________.
A.Japanese businessmen are good at business |
B.foreign businessmen should try to know Japanese ways of doing business |
C.foreign businessmen must be more polite |
D.you must learn from Japanese businessmen if you want to succeed |
Nearly eight hundred million people in this world cannot read or write, most of them in developing countries. Two-thirds are women and girls.
John Wood who started the Room to Read campaign(运动), has opened 1,650 schools and 15,000 libraries in some of the world’s poorest communities(社区). He said that from the beginning, Room to Read’s goal was to reach 10 million children around the world in the poorest countries.
In 1998, on a three-week vacation journey in Nepal, Wood met a local headmaster who invited him to visit his school in a far mountain village. The experience changed Wood’s life.
“This headmaster had 450 students at the school, but he didn’t have any books,” Wood said.” He had a library that was empty.”
Wood promised to fill the library shelves and returned to the village year later with some of his friends with 3,000 books. And that was just the start. Later, Wood used some of his personal money to start Room to Read. He believes that world change begins with educated children. Today, the programme can be found in 10 countries across Asia and Africa.
Wood believes the key to the program’s success is local support .While Room to Read gives away money and provides books, communities offer land and parents help build the school. Agnes, a Room to Read teacher in Zambia who also runs the library, is proud to say the literacy at her school has improved. Room to Read’s biggest challenge is the huge need. Hundreds of communities have asked for literacy programmes. One way of Room to Read’s success is that it will achieve Wood’s goal of reaching 10 million kids by 2015, five years earlier than it is planned.The purpose of the Room to Read campaign is to __________.
A.ask parents to read together with their children |
B.help poor children to learn to read and write |
C.tell more people the importance of reading |
D.help 10 million children to go to college |
When John Wood travelled in Nepal in 1998, he __________.
A.visited many local schools |
B.sent many books to local children |
C.started the Room to Read campaign |
D.met a man who changed his life |
The underlined part “the literacy” in the last paragraph refers to(指的是)__________.
A.the teaching conditions |
B.the teaching quality |
C.students’ ability to read and write |
D.the money teachers earn every month |
John Wood is a person that is ____________.
A.helpful and generous | B.honest and brave |
C.careless but active | D.strict but friendly |
In choosing a friend, one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair-weather friends. They will be with you only if you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will run away. How do I know when I have found a good friend? I look for certain qualities of characteristic, especially understanding, honesty and reliability (可靠).
Above all else, I look for understanding in a friend. A good friend tries to understand how another person is feeling. He is not quick to give his opinion. Instead, he tries to learn from others. He puts himself in the other person's place, and he tries to think of ways to be helpful. He is also a good listener.
At the same time, however, a good friend is honest. He does not look for faults (过错) in others. He notices their good points. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.
Another quality of a friend is reliability. I can always depend on (信赖) a good friend. If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, I can be sure that he will be there. If I need help, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not run away from me.
There is a fourth quality that makes a friend special. A special friend is someone with whom we can have fun. We should enjoy our lives, and we would enjoy our friendship. That is why I especially like friends who are fun to be with. A good friend likes the same things I like. We share experience (经验) and learn from each other. A good friend has a good sense of humour, too. He likes to laugh with me. That is how we share in the joy of being friends. And I know that he is looking for the same quality in me.
When I meet someone who is reliable, honest, and understanding, I know I've found a friend!Which of the following qualities the writer thinks is the most important in choosing ________a friend?
A.understanding. | B.honesty. |
C.reliability. | D.a sense of humour. |
If you have fair-weather friends, ______ .
A.they will give you all that they have when you need help |
B.you will be refused when you get into trouble |
C.you will become rich |
D.you can be sure that you get real friends |
Good friends need to ______.
A.always point out each other's mistakes |
B.be helped with money |
C.understand each other's feelings |
D.have money or luck |
This passage mainly discuss ______.
A.the qualities of a friend |
B.where to choose friends |
C.how to get along with friends |
D.the importance of having a friend |
BBC News on TV, radio and online often brings you stories from across the world. Today we can hear “Life in China”. Have you got a story about life in China today? If you do, please put your stories here.
Wu Peng, Anhui![]() |
I am a 14-year-old boy from a poor village in Anhui Province. Like many other left-behind children in China, I live with my grandparents now. My parents went to work in Shanghai several years ago. They call me twice a month to ask about my study. I really miss my parents and I hope I can go to school in Shanghai. I think every child needs parents’ love and care. |
Cindy, Shenzhen![]() |
I like traveling and I have traveled a lot around China. During the trip, I often find that a number of Chinese often break the rules in public. For example, when I traveled in Hong Kong this year, I saw a kid eating noodles on the underground, which was against the rules. However, the kid’s mother didn’t think she did wrong. Can you believe it? Let’s improve our public manners. |
Mike, Shanghai![]() |
These days, we’re asked to “clear our plates” when having our meals and say no to wasting. Some of us used to order more than what we could eat. That was a big waste of food. Now we need to finish the food we order. We should also stop wasting in some other ways. For example, we should turn off the lights when we leave the classroom. |
How does Wu Peng contact his parents according to the passage?
A.By writing letters. | B.On the telephone. |
C.On the Internet. | D.By sending text messages. |
Who thought it was not right to eat on the underground?
A.Cindy. | B.Mike. |
C.Wu Peng. | D.The kid’s mother |
What does Mike want people to do?
A.Care about left-behind children |
B.Obey the rules in public. |
C.Improve their public manners |
D.Stop wasting |
A rich man was riding along the road and saw an old man digging in his garden. There was a young tree lying on the ground. The rich man asked the old man.” what kind of tree are you planting there, my good man?”
“This is a fig(无花果)tree, sir.” He said.
“A fig tree?” The rich man was very surprised. “How old are you, may I ask?”
“I am ninety years old.”
“What!” shouted the rich man, “You're ninety years old. You are planting a very young tree now and it'll take years to give fruit. You certainly don' t hope to live long enough to get any fruit from this tree.” The old man smiled and said, “Tell me, sir, did you eat figs when you were a boy?”
“Sure” the man did not know why he asked this question.
The old man asked, “Who planted the fig trees?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“You see, sir.” The old man said slowly, “our forefathers(祖先)planted trees for us to enjoy and I am doing the same for the people after me.”
The rich man was quiet, then said, “You are right, my good man. We should do some things
for the people after us. Thank you very much.” Then he rode away.The old man was planting_ when the rich man saw him.
A.an apple tree | B.a fig tree |
C.a pear tree | D.a banana tree |
The old man was planting the tree____________.
A.to get himself some fruit to eat |
B.for the people after him |
C.to make his garden more beautiful |
D.just for fun |
The sentence in the last paragraph “The rich man was quiet” means_________.
A.he was thinking about who were his forefathers |
B.he didn't want to disturb the old man |
C.he couldn't communicate with the old man |
D.he understood why the old man planted the young tree |
What kind of personality does the old man has?
A.creative | B.brave | C.wise | D.curious |
We can express the main idea of this passage “_________” in Chinese.
A.前人栽树,后人乘凉 | B.光阴似箭,一去不返 |
C.君子爱财,取之有道 | D.财多惹祸,树大招风 |