Hilary Smith belonged to a good family. But by the age of twenty, he had spent all the money the good old family had. He then had some trouble with the bank and was put in prison. He escaped from the prison and ran to Australia without delay.
Hilary did not like Australia and Australia did not like Hilary. What he could do seemed to be one of two things: die or work. The thought of neither of these gave him any pleasure. Then he remembered that he was not alone in the world. He possessed an aunt.
She was his father’s only sister, but his father used to say she brought no glory to the family. Hilary, of course, tried to discover what she had done. It seemed that she had failed to marry a nobleman. Instead, she had chosen a husband who was connected with trade. Of course as soon as she became “Mrs Parks”, her brother considered her dead. Later on, Mr. Parks died and left her a lot of money; but that did not bring her back to life in her brother’s opinion.
Hilary discovered his aunt’s address. Fortunately she remained faithful and honest to him even after she fell ill. So Hilary’s star shone again. When he was feeling honest, he could talk attractively. He frequently visited his aunt’s house; and soon he was living comfortably in the building which the profits of trade had provided.
One thing was soon clear: his aunt was seriously ill, and nothing could cure her illness. Hilary was very worried. Fate had found a home for him, and was now going to throw him out of it. There was only one thing that could save him: her will.
“Will?” she said, “yes, I have made one. That was when I was a girl and had not much money. I left all my money to some religious people.”
“Didn’t you make another will when you were married?” Hilary asked.
His aunt shook her head. “No,” she said in a low voice, “There was no need. When I finally had a lot of money I found I had no relations.”
On the next day he went to the public library and examined a book of law. It told him what he already believed. When a woman is married, an earlier will loses its value. A new will must be made. If no new will is made, the money goes to the nearest relation. Hilary knew that he was his aunt’s only relation. His future was safe.
After a few months had passed, Hilary’s problems became serious. He badly needed money. He had expensive tastes, and owed a lot of money to shopkeepers. They trusted him because his aunt was rich; but the debt was terrible.
Unfortunately his aunt did not want to discuss money matters at all. In the end they had a quarrel about the small amount of ten pounds. Hilary was now very angry. He began to wonder about a new problem. Was it kind to want his aunt to live any longer? Was it not better for her to die now? While he was considering what to do, his aunt told him that she was going to send for her lawyer. So she was going to make a new will. Hilary thought she might leave all her money to someone else. Soon he reached a clear decision．He must do a great kindness to the poor old woman.
One night when the old servant who had been nursing his aunt went off, he doubled the amount of some medicine. The total amount was too great and it could just put her to sleep forever.
“Thank you,” his aunt took the glass from his hand with a grateful look. “I want, more than anything, to sleep, and never to wake up again. Is that what you wish, Hilary? I have given you your chance. Don’t blame me if I have some doubts about what you intended to do. Sick people get these ideas, you know. One thing I ought to explain to you. Mr. Parks never married me. He already had a wife and couldn’t marry again. That made your foolish father very angry with me… Well, if I am alive tomorrow I shall make another will in your favor. If I die tonight, you’ll get nothing… No, Hilary, don’t try to take the glass away. If you do that, I shall know; and I don’t want to know. Good night, Hilary.”
Then, very carefully, she raised the glass to her mouth and drank.From the story, we learn that Hilary’s aunt was ______.
| A．bad-tempered and lonely | B．kind-hearted and wise |
| C．careless about money | D．cruel to her nephew |
Why did Hilary’s father consider his aunt dead?
| A．Because they lost contact with each other after her marriage. |
| B．Because she married a businessman. |
| C．Because she broke away from the family for a better life. |
| D．Because he thought she was a shame to the family. |
The underlined sentence “He must do a great kindness to the poor old woman” in Paragraph 11 suggests that Hilary Smith ______.
| A．was determined to put his aunt’s life to an end |
| B．decided to do his aunt a favor to call in a lawyer |
| C．made up his mind to take good care of his aunt |
| D．would help his aunt to donate all her money to religious people |
Which of the following is the focus of the story?
| A．Hilary’s aunt’s money. | B．Hilary Smith’s debts. |
| C．The intended murder. | D．Hilary’s aunt’s marriage. |
Which part of what Hilary’s aunt said finally might make Hilary frustrated?
| A．She wanted to sleep and never to wake up again. |
| B．She never got married to Mr. Parks. |
| C．Mr. Parks had a wife. |
| D．She would make a new will tomorrow. |
Which detail from the story is the climax（高潮）of the story?
| A．Hilary escaped from the prison. |
| B．Hilary quarreled with his aunt about ten pounds. |
| C．Hilary’s aunt drank the medicine her nephew prepared for her. |
| D．Hilary’s aunt made a will to leave all her money to someone else. |
Blind imitation (模仿)is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth. Imitation appears attractive: to those who know their strength. Imitation is unacceptable.
In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes (菜谱) and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.
In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.
In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.
Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.
Syudy your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not server. Then you can say,” I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors” tragedies and tory, and know that they are cheering on. Imitation proves useful when you .
| A．know you are unique |
| B．lose the balance of life |
| C．begin to learn something new |
| D．get tired of routine practice |
To avoid the bad result of imitation, we should________.
| A．forget daily fear and pain |
| B．choose the right example |
| C．ask others for decisions |
| D．stay away from stars |
.Acording to the author. The world moves on because of those who are .
| A．desperate to intruence others with their knowledge |
| B．ready to turn their original ideas into reality |
| C．eager to discover what their ancestors did |
| D．willing to accept others’ ideas |
The trouble a creator faces is .
| A．the lack of strong motivation |
| B．the absence of practical ideas |
| C．how to search for more materials |
| D．how to use imagination creatively |
What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
| A．To highlight the importance of creatively. |
| B．To criticize the characters of role models. |
| C．To compare imitation with creation. |
| D．To explain the meaning of success. |
Even plant can run a fever, especially when they’re under attack by insects or disease. But unlike human, plants can have their temperature taken from 3, 000 feet away straight up. A decade ago, adopting the infrared （红外线）scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide （杀虫剂）spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don’t have pest （害虫）problems.
Even better, Paley’s Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3, 000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running“fevers”. Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley’s company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long - term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. “This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States, ” says George Oerther of Texas A & M. Ray Jackson , who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only ff Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago. Plants will emit an increased amount of heat when they are______________.
| A．sprayed with pesticides |
| B．facing an infrared scanner |
| C．in poor physical condition |
| D．exposed to excessive sun rays |
．In order to apply pesticide spraying precisely, we can use infrared scanning to____________.
| A．estimate the damage to the crops |
| B．measure the size of the affected area |
| C．draw a color-coded map |
| D．locate the problem area |
Farmers can save a considerable amount of pesticide by______________.
| A．resorting to spot-spraying |
| B．consulting infrared scanning experts |
| C．transforming poisoned rain |
| D．detecting crop problems at an early stage |
The application of infrared scanning technology to agriculture met with some difficulties
_______________.
| A．the lack of official support |
| B．its high cost |
| C．the lack of financial support |
| D．its failure to help increase production |
Infrared scanning technology may be brought back into operation because of_____________.
| A．the desire of farmers to improve the quality of their produce |
| B．growing concern about the excessive use of pesticides on crops |
| C．the forceful promotion by the Department of Agriculture |
| D．full support from agricultural experts |
An idea that started in Seattle's public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same tome.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起）the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book " project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.
In Chicago, the mayor(市长）appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.
The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致）can be achieved .Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point ,putting all their energy
And passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
Ultinatel was Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process. or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word. What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?
| A．To invite authors to guide readers. |
| B．To encourage people to read and share. |
| C．To involve people in community service. |
| D．To promote the friendship between cities. |
Why was it difficult for New Yorkers to carry out the project?
| A．They had little interest in reading. |
| B．They were too busy to read a book. |
| C．They came from many different backgrounds |
| D．They lacked support from the local government |
According to the passage, where would the project be more easily carried out?
| A．In large communities with little sense of unity |
| B．In large cities where libraries are far from home |
| C．In medium-sized cities with a diverse population |
| D．In large towns where agreement can be quickly reached |
The underlined words “shared a word” in Paragraph 5 probably mean
| A．exchanged ideas with each other |
| B．discussed the meaning of a word |
| C．gamed life experience |
| D．used the same language |
According to Nacy, the degree of students of the project is judged by
the careful selection of a proper book
the growing popularity of the writers
C. the number of people who benefit from reading.
D. the number of books that each person reads.
An idea that started in Seattle's public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same tome.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起）the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book " project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.
In Chicago, the mayor(市长）appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.
The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致）can be achieved .Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point ,putting all their energy
And passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
Ultinatel was Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process. or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word. What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?
| A．To invite authors to guide readers. |
| B．To encourage people to read and share. |
| C．To involve people in community service. |
| D．To promote the friendship between cities. |
.Why was it difficult for New Yorkers to carry out the project?
| A．They had little interest in reading. |
| B．They were too busy to read a book. |
| C．They came from many different backgrounds |
| D．They lacked support from the local government |
According to the passage, where would the project be more easily carried out?
| A．In large communities with little sense of unity |
| B．In large cities where libraries are far from home |
| C．In medium-sized cities with a diverse population |
| D．In large towns where agreement can be quickly reached |
The underlined words “shared a word” in Paragraph 5 probably mean
| A．exchanged ideas with each other |
| B．discussed the meaning of a word |
| C．gamed life experience |
| D．used the same language |
According to Nacy, the degree of students of the project is judged by
the careful selection of a proper book
the growing popularity of the writers
C. the number of people who benefit from reading.
D. the number of books that each person reads.
Development of a widely accepted chronology for the arrival of humans has been equally difficult, and it was only with the development of optically stimulated luminescence dating that a human presence in Australia was confirmed at 53,000 to 60,000 years ago. Older dates for a human presence in Australia have now been shown to be erroneous .
The importance of Australia as a separate natural laboratory in which to test extinction theories lies in the fact that humans arrived there much earlier than they arrived in the other continental areas (the Americas and northern Eurasia) that experienced substantial megafaunal extinction. What Miller et al. have shown is that the extinction of Genyornis occurred simultaneously across southeastern Australia (indeed probably right across the continent) about 50,000 years ago. This is very close to the presently accepted time of arrival of humans in Australia. It was also a period of modest climate change, well before the dramatic climatic fluctuations of the terminal Pleistocene. The data of Miller et al., therefore, support those who see human hunting rather than climate as causing the extinction of the megafauna.
Genyornis was a ponderous bird, around 80 to 100 kg in weight, about twice as heavy as the living emu and cassowary. It was an inhabitant of Australias inland plains and some coastal regions, but its legs were relatively short and thick, suggestion that it was a slower runner than the emu. Proponents of humancaused extinction suggest that it is just such characteristics that made the megafauna vulnerable to human hunting.
A new school of thought has recently established itself in the extinction debate. It advocates the idea that a combination of human impact and climate change was responsible for the extinction of the worlds megafauna. The new Genyornis data also weaken that argument, for the following reason. Fifty thousand years ago, Australia was experiencing mild cooling; 11,000 to 12,000 years ago, the Americas were experiencing rapid warming. These disparate climatic conditions, all coincident with megafaunal extinction, suggest that whatever was happening with climate, it was bad for the big animals. Under these conditions, the hybrid model becomes indistinguishable from the humancaused extinction model for the influence of climate becomes extremely weak, and only the arrival of humans is important in predicting extinction. The last word “megafauna” in Paragraph 2 most probably means
A birds. B plants.
C big animals. D small animals. Genyornis was vulnerable to human hunting because it was
A a delicacy. B very weak.
C very small in size. D clumsy. How many models have been put forward for the extinction of Genyoris?
A One. B Two.
C Three. D Four. That Australia experienced mild cooling and the Americas rapid warming suggests that
A the climatic conditions were unfit for Genyornis to live.
B Genyornis were highly adaptable to different climatic conditions.
C The two climatic conditions were both bad for Genyornis.
D The climatic conditions had nothing to do with the extinction of Genyoris. The selection is mainly about
A the debate over the time of the human presence in Australia.
B the relationship between the human presence and magafaunal extinction.
C the relationship between human activities and climatic changes.
D the debate over factors causing megafaunal extinction.