F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24, 1896, an American novelist, was once a student of St. Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her.
His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary: “My own happiness in the past often approached such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary.”
This side of paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920. Encouraged by its success, Fitzgerald began to devote more time to his writing. Then he continued with the novel the Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Thales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, which quickly brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men.
However, Fitzgerald’s problems with his wife Zelda affected his writing. During the 1920s he tried to reorder his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night in 1934 and The love of the last Tycoon in 1940. While his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism.How many novels written by Fitzgerald are mentioned in the passage?
A.5 | B.6 | C.7 | D.8 |
Which of the following is the correct order to describe Fitzgerald’s life according to the passage?
a. He became addicted to drinking.
b. He studied at St. Paul Academy.
c. He published his first novel This Side of Paradise.
d. The Great Gatsby won high praise.
e. He failed to reorder his life.
f. He joined the army and met Zelda.
A.f-c-e-a-b-d | B.b-e-a-f-c-d | C.f-d-e-c-b-a | D.b-f-c-d-e-a |
We can infer from the passage that Fitzgerald .
A.had made some money when he met Zelda in Alabama. |
B.was well educated and well off before he served in the army |
C.would have completed more works if his wife hadn’t broken down |
D.helped his friend get rid of drinking while his wife was in hospital |
The passage is probably followed by a concluding paragraph about _______.
A.Zelda’s personal life |
B.Zelda’s illness and treatment |
C.Fitzgerald’s friendship with Graham |
D.Fitzgerald’s contributions to the literary world |
It is natural that children are curious (好奇的) about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.
As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.
Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world. Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry .
These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world. For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.
Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.
We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A.People are curious in the same way. |
B.People in different countries are interested in different things. |
C.Men and women are curious about different things. |
D.People of different ages are interested in different things |
Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.
A.the earth , the oceans and the sky | B.man-made things |
C.plants and animals | D.ocean water |
When you run, your muscles need ____.
A.more nutrition and oxygen | B.more signals |
C.more salt | D.water |
A rock cracks _____.
A.in wet regions | B.in dry regions |
C.at very high or very low temperatures | D.when salty water falls in |
People are always curious because ____.
A.they cannot explain many things | B.they know nothing about the world |
C.they know little about the world | D.they want to be scientists |
Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea.People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea.Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added.She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess (公爵夫人) found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born.
Which of the following is true of the introduction of tea into Britain?
A.The Britons got expensive tea from India. |
B.Tea reached Britain from Holland. |
C.The Bri![]() |
D.It was not until the 17th century that the Britons had tea. |
This passage mainly discusses_____________.
A.the history of tea drinking in Britain |
B.how tea became a popular drink in Br![]() |
C.how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea |
D.how tea-time was born |
Tea became a popular drink in Britain.
A.in eighteenth century | B.in sixteenth century |
C.in seventeenth century | D.in the late seventeenth century |
People in Europe began to drink tea with milk because.
A.it tasted like milk
B.it tasted more pleasant
C.it became a popular drink
D.people tried to copy the way Madame de Servinge drank tea
60.We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain mostly resulted from the influence of ________.
A.a famous French lady B.the ancient Chinese
C.the upper social class D.people in Holland
Everyone has got two personalities—the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you are awake because you can control your behavior, but when you are asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their positions. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don’t like to displease people. So you never express your real feelings. You’re quite shy and you aren’t quite sure of yourself.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person. You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset. You always stick to your own opinions or judgment, but you don’t raise your hope too much. You usually live for today not tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up, you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often defensive. You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people. You prefer to on your own. You’re easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well—balanced personality. You know your strengths and weakness. You’re usually careful. You believe in yourself. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get sad. You always say what you think even if it makes people rather angry.According to the passage, a person, who is not willing to change his mind and hard to deal with, probably sleeps ___.
A.on his side | B.on his back | C.curled up | D.on his stomach |
If a person prefers to sleep curled up rather than on his back, he may be well content to ____.
A.do things personally. | B.stay alone | C.keep things secret | D.trust others easily |
Which of the following people, in the author’s opinion, most likely have personalities opposite to each other ?
A.The people sleeping on their stomach and those sleeping on his backs. |
B.The people sleeping on their sides and those sleeping curled up. |
C.The people sleeping on their backs and those sleeping on their sides. |
D.The people sleeping curled up and those sleeping on their stomach. |
What the author mainly intends to tell us is that _______.
A.one’s sleeping position has something to do with (与……联系)one’s character. |
B.everyone has got both real and secret personalities. |
C.the position in which one goes to sleep is the most important one. |
D.when awake, one does not show one’s secret personality. |
There are three branches of medicine. One is called “doctor medicine” or “scientific medicine”. Scientific doctors try to observe sickness, look for logical pattern, and then find out how the human body works. From there they figure out what treatments may work. This kind of medicine is believed to date from the 4th century BC. Although nowadays it is successful, in the ancient this approach(方法) probably did not cure many patients.
The second kind of medicine is called “natural cures” or “folk medicine”, in which less educated people try to cure sickness with various herbs. These folk healers also use observation and logic, but they are not so aware of it. They try things until they find something that seems to work, and then they keep doing that. Folk medicine flourished(兴起) long before the development of scientific medicine and was more successful in ancient times.
The third kind is called “health spas(水疗)” or “faith healing”. Sometimes this may be as simple as touching the holy man and being immediately healed. Other times, a magician may make you a magic charm, or say a spell(咒语), to cure you. Some religious groups organize healing shrines(圣坛) for the sick. In these places people rest, get plenty of sleep, eat healthy food, drink water instead of wine, and exercise in various ways. They also talk to the priests(牧师) and pray to the gods. If you are feeling depressed or you have been working too hard, going to these places may be just the right thing to make you feel better.Doctor medicine _________.
A.Magic power | B.Various herbs | C.Religious faith | D.A healthy life style |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food? Some people go to fast-food restaurants for these reasons. In the past, people usually went to diners (小饭馆 )for these reasons, too. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.
A man named Walter Scott had the first "diner" in 1872. It wasn't really a diner. It was only a food cart. People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late- night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late-night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools, and people sat down while they ate.
Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in a diner at any time. Diners changed in other way, too. The original menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels.
Diners today look similar to the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually building with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters with stools, booths, tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern diner.
Today, many people eat in fast-food restaurants such as Mc Donald's and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today.What kind of meal did the first "diner" serve?
A.Only breakfast. | B.Only lunch. | C.Only supper. | D.All of the above. |
According to Paragraph 3, diners changed in .
A.two ways | B.three ways | C.four ways | D.five ways |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.Diners existed before fast-food restaurants. |
B.The menu included more food than sandwiches and coffee. |
C.Burger King is a fast-food restaurant. |
D.Sandwiches became bigger. |
The main idea of the passage is that .
A.the diner is a traditional, popular place to eat in the United States |
B.Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside |
C.American diners serve many types of food 24 hours a day to their customers |
D.diners are different from fast food restaurants in many ways. |