I had made up my mind a long time ago that I would not give a homeless person money, because I could never be sure what that money would be used for. Instead, I decided, I would buy them a sandwich, a cold drink on a hot day, a cup of coffee, whatever I could manage.
I was out recently and saw a homeless man outside of a Starbucks. I decided I would buy this man lunch. I bought a sandwich and soda.
Just as I was leaving the store, two policemen were approaching the man. Obviously the shop owners had complained of his wandering and the police were there to draw him away from the storefronts. Just as they were about to wake him, I asked one of the officers if it was all right if I just gave the man something before he went. I was not sure why I asked the permission but the policeman said sure and I just left the bag in the man’s cart, got in my car and drove off.
As I was driving off I remember thinking “I hope people saw that”. Then I had to seriously ask myself why I hoped people had seen me give the man a sandwich from Starbucks. Was it because I wanted people to think, “She’s such a nice person!”? Why did I hope others had seen me do it? I continued to wonder this all evening.
The next morning, it came to me that I wanted people to have witnessed that small act of kindness not so that I would receive credit and praise but so that they might be inspired to do the same and in so doing that others still would witness their acts of kindness. Thus the whole spirit of pity and giving would be lasting.The underlined word “Starbucks” in the second paragraph is the name of a _________.
| A．shop | B．bookstore | C．bank | D．man |
When the author saw the homeless man, he was __________.
| A．begging outside | B．buying goods |
| C．staying awake | D．falling asleep |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To show the author is great. |
| B．To encourage people to help others. |
| C．To introduce an experience that changed the author. |
| D．To call on people not to give money to a homeless man. |
The author can be best described as __________.
| A．bad-tempered | B．hard-working |
| C．kind-hearted | D．self-confident |
Our world natural park is one of the most famous parks in the world. Millions of visitors from different countries visit this park each year. In order to protect it, please do as follows:
◆Protect the natural and cultural heritage. Don’t damage or deface any buildings, displays and other facilities. Take care of all plants. Put rubbish in the bins provided.
◆Take care when you are going up and down steps or stairs and when you are walking nearby the waters.
◆Please buy tickets before entering the scenic spot. One ticket is only for one person.
Adult：＄60 per ticket.
Children over 6 and under 18: half price.
People over 60 and children under 6: free.
◆If you are going into the wooded and hilly lands，for your own safety，please go with three people at least and don’t take any tinder(易燃物）along with you. The hill is steep, so please take care of yourself.
◆This scenic spot is the reserve of water source: No fishing，swimming，washing and any behaviors that are harmful to the water source. Meanwhile, please follow the management rules of the scenic spot conscientiously.
◆Opening time：
From Monday to Friday: 8:00 a. m.～18:00 p.m.
From Saturday to Sunday: 6:00 a. m. ～24:00 p. m.
◆Small animals such as rabbits，peacocks，squirrels，frogs must be taken care of. None of them shall be killed.
If you have any trouble in visiting our world natural park, please call 477-866-7044．
Our staff will do our best to help you.How much will be paid for a 65-year-old man with his 8-year-old grandson?
| A．＄30. | B．Free. | C．＄60. | D．＄120. |
On weekends，the opening time ishours longer than weekdays.
| A．4 | B．6 | C．10 | D．8 |
Which of the following can you do in the natural park?
| A．taking some tinder | B．hiking |
| C．damaging some facilities | D．littering |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？
| A．Tourists can have a swim in the water. |
| B．Tourists can hike alone in the hilly lands. |
| C．Small animals are under protection in the park. |
| D．Children can play with small animals and take some away. |
Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S-shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic Ocean is rich in oceanic liveliness all the time. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.
“Storm at Sea”, a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankind’s earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic Ocean.
When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
To the east must thunder on
Where the bright tree of the sun
Is rooted in the ocean’s breast.
As the poem suggests, the Atlantic Ocean is never dead and dull. It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noise---it is forever thundering, boiling, crashing and whistling.
It is easy to imagine the Atlantic Ocean trying to draw breath----perhaps not so noticeably out in mid-ocean, but where it meets land, its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach. It imitates nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with co-living existences, too: unimaginable quantities of creatures, little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub-ocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is __________.
| A．always energetic |
| B．lacking in liveliness |
| C．shaped like a square |
| D．favored by ancient poets. |
The writer uses the poem “Storm at Sea” for the purpose of ___________.
| A．describing the movement of the waves |
| B．showing the strength of the storm |
| C．presenting the power of the ocean |
| D．proving the vastness of the sea |
In the last paragraph, the Atlantic Ocean is compared to ___________.
| A．a beautiful and poetic place |
| B．a person of blood and flesh |
| C．a world of interest and wonder |
| D．a lovely animal |
The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.
Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher’s instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job.
But there was a big surprise. Each child received a normal job. But Rita’s job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest.
Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger.
One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, “Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rain forest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant.”
That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks.What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．Each child got an important job. |
| B．Each child got an interesting job. |
| C．The perfect student got the job of everyone’s preference. |
| D．The most responsible student got the job of least interest. |
What is Rita’s attitude to her father’s suggestion?
| A．Negative. | B．Uncertain. |
| C．Totally positive. | D．Acceptive. |
We can infer that the man who made the declaration is a _________.
| A．hunter | B．director |
| C．biologist | D．principal |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Never complain about life. |
| B．Small tasks can lead to fortunes. |
| C．Men are best known by their friends. |
| D．Responsibility and intelligence bring good luck. |
When Flora Kahlo’s paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as “a ribbon around a bomb”. Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City, Kahlo suffered from polio(小儿麻痹症 )at the age of seven. Her spine(脊柱) became bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera’s strong influences on Kahlo’s style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and 1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953. For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo’s works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last.What does the phrase “a much bigger name” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean? ______
| A．a far better artist |
| B．a much more famous person |
| C．a much stronger person |
| D．a far more gifted artist |
The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by ______.
| A．back injuries | B．her bent spine |
| C．polio | D．the operations she had |
Kahlo’s style had become increasingly independent since the _________.
| A．1930s | B．1970s |
| C．1950s | D．1940s |
What is the author’s attitude toward Kahlo? ______
| A．Devotion | B．Encouragement |
| C．Ironic | D．Sympathy |
In her new book, “The Smartest Kids in the World,” Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Warsaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students’ test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored(超过……分数) American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Warsaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind.
That American high schools waste more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities. This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment(PISA) results are announced, it’s safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers.
Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader—a mother with three children in the school—was asked about the school’s flaws(暇疵). When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned. “Really?” one of them asked worriedly, “What do you mean?”One of the ironies(讽刺) of the situation is that sports reveal what is possible. American kids’ performance on the field shows just how well they can do when expection are high. It’s too bad that their test scores show the same thing.Tom decides to spend his senior year in Poland because _______.
| A．there are striking differences between the 2 countries |
| B．Polish kids are better at learning |
| C．he intends to improve his scores |
| D．sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg |
According to Paragraph 2, we know that _______.
| A．little time is spent on sports in Japanese schools |
| B．too much importance is placed on sports in America |
| C．American high schools complain about sports time |
| D．PISA plays a very important role in America |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means _______.
| A．American students’ academic performance worries their parents a lot |
| B．high expectations push up American students’ academic performance |
| C．lacking practice contributes to American students’ average performance |
| D．low expectations result in American students’ poor PISA performance |
The purpose of this article is to _______.
| A．draw public attention to a weakness in American school tradition |
| B．call on American schools to learn from the Polish model |
| C．compare Polish schools with those in America |
| D．explain what is wrong with American schools and provide solutions |