When I was 12, all I wanted was a signet (图章) ring. They were the "in" thing and it seemed every girl except me had one. On my 13th birthday, my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials(姓名首字母) carved into it. I was in heaven.
What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn't being "replaced". We'd been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything-so most of the " new" stuff (东西) we got was really just to replace what we'd lost. But not my ring. My ring was new.
Then, only one month later, I lost it. I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning. I was sad and searched everywhere for it. But it seemed to have disappeared. Eventually, I gave up and stopped looking for it. And two years later, we sold the house and moved away.
Years passed, and a couple of moves later, I was visiting my parents' when Mum told me that she had something for me. It wasn't my birthday, nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other gift-giving occasion. Mum noticed my questioning look. " You'll recognize this one," she said, smiling.
Then she handed me a small ring box. I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside. The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations, which included replacing the carpets. When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom, they found the ring. As it had my initials carved into it, they realized who owned the ring. They'd had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother. And it still fits me.
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The underlined word "in" in the first paragraph probably means "".
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When she got the ring back, the writer was about.
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Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
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What would be the best title for the passage?
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The most common use of intelligence test scores is to predict degree of academic success. Such scores are used in some communities as bases for admitting able children to schools at ages younger than normal, and they are very generally used to determine admissions to schools beyond public secondary school. Another use common in elementary schools involves comparing such scores with performances in various subjects to identify children who are working below capacity.
The greatest problem in using intelligence tests for the purpose of prediction is that no dependable criterion of their accuracy exists. The ideal criteria would be objective and reliable achievement tests following instruction in each subject, but there are few such tests, especially at the college level. Studies have shown that correlations(相关性) between intelligence tests and achievement tests in various subjects through secondary school range roughly from 0.5 to 0.8. Such correlations are fairly high, but they do not suggest anywhere near complete agreement.
At the college level there are two major tests used as criteria of admission. By far the more important is the College Entrance Examination, constructed by the Educational Testing Service authorized by the College Entrance Examination Board. These tests are returned to the Educational Testing Service for scoring, and the results are then made available to the various colleges authorized by the students to receive them. The second test of this type is the American College Test, which operates in essentially the same fashion.
Both tests constitute measures of certain skills, abilities, and knowledge that have been found to be related to success in college. Their correlations with academic success are limited for three outstanding reasons. First, measures of achievement in college are themselves perhaps no more reliable than those in elementary and secondary schools. Second, intellectual factors do not alone determine academic success, especially at the college level. Many students drop out of schools because they are inadequately motivated or because they dislike the instructional programme. Third, correlations are lowered because the use of such tests for denying admission to some students means that the range of scores for those admitted is restricted, and such restriction tend to reduce correlation.The intelligence scores can be used in the following way EXCEPT_____.
| A．telling in advance the degree of academic success |
| B．admitting intelligent children to school at the age younger than ordinary |
| C．finding out children with lower ability in primary schools |
| D．selecting pupils by public secondary schools |
The ideal criteria in using intelligence tests for prediction should be _____.
| A．accurate college tests |
| B．objective and reliable achievement tests |
| C．objective and reliable intelligence tests |
| D．a series of objective multiple choices |
What can be inferred from the second paragraph?
| A．Ideal criteria for objective and reliable achievement tests in college courses are hard to find. |
| B．Intelligence test scores can accurately predict the degree of academic success. |
| C．The correlations between intelligence tests and achievement tests are lowest in college courses. |
| D．The high correlations between intelligence tests and achievement tests in secondary school gain universal recognition. |
The results of the College Entrance Examination will be _____.
| A．sent to the college that the students chose |
| B．more important to the students than the American College Test |
| C．decided by the College Entrance Examination Board |
| D．used as criteria of the American College Test |
The correlations between two college admission tests and academic success in college are limited for the reason that _____.
| A．many students drop out of schools |
| B．students are not adequately motivated |
| C．intellectual factors are more important for students than when they were in primary and middle schools |
| D．measures of college achievement are unreliable like those in primary and middle schools. |
Derek Wayne has obtained a 30-year, fixed-rate home loan of $ 100,000 with an annual interest rate of 7.5 percent. Because the loan extends for such a lengthy period, the mortgage(抵押) company calculates a monthly payment that ensures it will get most of its interest back first. Thus in the beginning months, Wayne’s principal payment—the amount he pays toward his actual loan—increases extremely slowly.
| Payment Number |
Total Monthly Payment |
Principal Portion of Payment |
Interest Portion of Payment |
Current Balance |
| 1 |
$699.21 |
$ 74.21 |
$ 625.00 |
$99,925.79 |
| 2 |
$699.21 |
$74.68 |
$624.54 |
$99,854.11 |
| 359 |
$699.21 |
$690.56 |
$8.66 |
$694.87 |
| 360 |
$699.21 |
$694.87 |
$4.34 |
$0.00 |
Let’s analyze Wayne’s early payments. Imagine that on December 15 the Mauritanian Mortgage Corporation gives Wayne $100,000, and on January 15 his initial payment is due. Throughout this first month, interest accumulates on the entire $ 100,000. On a yearly interest rate of 7.5%, Wayne’s monthly rate is 0.625% or 7.5%divided by 12. Multiplying $100,000 by 0.625% yields $625, the portion of Wayne’s first monthly payment that is interest. So Wayne now owes $ 99,925.79 ( $100,625－$699.21). His February interest payment will be 0.625% of $ 99,925.79.
By the time Wayne makes his last few payments, his monthly interest payment has decreased considerably. His balance following his 359th payment is $ 694.87, and 0.625% of that is about $ 4.34, his final interest payment. What was the total amount of interest Wayne paid? Multiplying 360 months by $699.21 equals $ 251,715.60, and subtracting $100,000(the loan amount) leaves $151,715.60—over 1.5 times what he actually borrowed!This passage is mainly concerned with_________________.
| A．Derek Wayne |
| B．the Mauritanian Mortgage Corporation |
| C．how interest payments on a loan change |
| D．calculating the number of payments Wayne made |
The monthly interest rate on Wayne’s loan was____________.
| A．7.5% | B．6.5% |
| C．0.625% | D．$625 |
We can conclude that Wayne’s total monthly payment was always___________.
| A．$699.21 | B．$100,000 |
| C．$360 | D．$151,715.60 |
The table in the passage helps the readers see_____________.
| A．Wayne’s down payment before he took out the loan |
| B．Wayne’s first and last payments |
| C．how much his interest payments increased |
| D．at what point the interest and principal payments were just about equal. |
Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: that international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sport encourages international brotherhood. Not only was the Olympics the scene of a tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests.
One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were convinced that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was in a rage when he said: “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension(禁赛) of the team for at least three years.
The American basketball team announced that they would not yield first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their contest. The game had ended in disturbance. It was thought at first that the United States had won by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the basket. It was the first time the U.S.A. had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.
Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism.According to the author, recent Olympic Games have ________.
| A．created goodwill between the nations |
| B．bred only false national pride |
| C．barely showed any international friendship |
| D．led to more and more misunderstanding and hatred |
What did the manager mean by saying “Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished”?
| A．His team would no longer take part in international games. |
| B．Hockey and the Federation are both ruined by the unfair decisions. |
| C．There should be no more hockey matches organized by the Federation. |
| D．The International Hockey Federation should be ended. |
The basketball example implied that ________.
| A．too much patriotism was shown in the incident |
| B．the announcement to let the match continue was wrong |
| C．the appeal jury took too long in making the decision |
| D．the American team was right in rejecting the silver medals |
The author gives the two examples in Paragraphs 2 and 3 to show ________.
| A．how national pride led to undesirable incidents in international games |
| B．that sportsmen are more obedient than they used to be |
| C．that competitiveness in the games discourages international friendship |
| D．that unfair decisions are common in the Olympic Games |
What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
| A．The organization of the Olympic Games must be improved. |
| B．Athletes should compete as individuals in the Olympic Games. |
| C．Sport should be played competitively rather than for the love of the game. |
| D．International contests can lead to misunderstanding between nations. |
Years ago, I drove into a service station to get some gas. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling great. As I walked into the station to __ the gas, the owner said to me, “How do you feel?” That seemed like a __ question, but I felt fine and told him __ .
“You don’t look well,” he replied. This __ me completely by surprise. A little less __ , I told him that I had never felt better. Without __ , he continued to tell me how bad I looked and that my skin appeared __ .
By the time I left the service station, I was feeling a little __ . About a block away, I __ to the side of the road to look at my face in the mirror. How did I feel? Was I sick? Was everything all right? By the time I got home, I was beginning to feel a little ill. Did I have hepatitis (肝炎)? Had I __ some rare disease?
The next time I went into that gas station, feeling fine again, I __ what had happened. The place had recently been painted a bright yellow, and the light __ off the walls made everyone inside look as though they had hepatitis! I wondered how many other folks had __ the way I did. I had let one short conversation with a total stranger change my __ for an entire day. He told me I looked sick, and before long, I was __ feeling sick. That single _ _observation had a strong effect on the way I felt and __ .
A little while later I saw how __ the incident was, although on that day when the man had told me how ill I looked, I was __ frightened. I wonder how many other people that man had told they were ill __ he realized that the service station had had a paint job!
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Humans have sewn by hand for thousands of years. It was said that the first thread was made from animal muscle and sinew (腱). And the earliest needles were made from bones. Since those early days, many people have been involved in the process of developing a machine that could do the same thing more quickly and with greater efficiency.
Charles Wiesenthal, who was born in Germany, designed and received a patent on a double-pointed needle that eliminated the need to turn the needle around with each stitch (缝合) in England in 1755. Other inventors of that time tried to develop a functional sewing machine, but each design had at least one serious imperfection. Frenchman Barthelemy Thimonnier finally engineered a machine that really worked. However, he was nearly killed by a group of angry tailors when they burned down his garment factory. They feared that they would lose their jobs to the machine.
American inventor Elias Howe, born on July 9, 1819, was awarded a patent for a method of sewing that used thread from two different sources. Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point, and it used the two threads to make a special stitch called a lockstitch. However, Howe faced difficulty in finding buyers for his machines in America. In frustration, he traveled to England to try to sell his invention there. When he finally returned home, he found that dozens of manufacturers were adapting his discovery for use in their own sewing machines.
Isaac Singer, another American inventor, was also a manufacturer who made improvements to the design of sewing machines. He invented an up-and-down-motion mechanism that replaced the side-to-side machines. He also developed a foot treadle(脚踏板) to power his machine. This improvement left the sewer’s hands free. Undoubtedly, it was a huge improvement of the hand-cranked machine of the past. Soon the Singer sewing machine achieved more fame than the others for it was more practical, it could be adapted to home use and it could be bought on hire-purchase. The Singer sewing machine became the first home appliance, and the Singer company became one of the first American multinationals.
However, Singer used the same method to create a lockstitch that Howe had already patented. As a result, Howe accused him of patent infringement（侵犯）. Of course, Elias Howe won the court case, and Singer was ordered to pay Howe royalties（版税）. In the end, Howe became a millionaire, not by manufacturing the sewing machine, but by receiving royalty payments for his invention.Barthelemy Thimonnier’s garment factory was burned down because _____________.
| A．people did not know how to put out the fire |
| B．Elias Howe thought Thimonnier had stolen his invention |
| C．the sewing machines was couldn’t work finally |
| D．workers who feared the loss of their jobs to a machine set fire |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Singer is an American inventor and manufacturer. |
| B．The Singer sewing company became more practical. |
| C．The foot treadle helped to make the sewer’s hands free. |
| D．Singer made improvements to the design of sewing machines. |
Why did the court force Isaac Singer to pay Elisa Howe a lifetime of royalties?
| A．Because the judge was against Singer for his surly attitude. |
| B．Because Howe had already patented the lockstitch used by Singer. |
| C．Because Singer had borrowed money from Howe and never repaid it. |
| D．Because Singer and Howe had both invented the same machine. |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．A Stitch in Time Saves Nine |
| B．The Case between Howe and Singer |
| C．Patent Laws on the Sewing Machine |
| D．The Early History of the Sewing Machine |