An African-American man named John Henry was the hero of former slaves and the people who built the railroads in the US in the 19th century.
John Henry was born a slave. He was known for his strength. Many people say he represents the spirit of growth in America during that period.
John Henry grew up in a world that did not let children stay children for long. Before he was six years old, he was carrying stones for workers building a nearby railroad. By the time John Henry was a young man, he was one of the best railroad workers in the country.
John Henry was asked to lead workers on a hard project, creating a tunnel through a mountain. The project required about 1,000 laborers and lasted three years. Hundreds of men became sick as a result of the hot weather and tiredness. John Henry was the strongest and fastest man. Concerned his friends might lose their jobs, he picked up their hammers and began doing their work. He worked day and night, rarely stopping to have a rest.
One day, a salesman came to the work area with a new drilling machine powered by steam. He said it could drill holes faster than twelve men working together.
John Henry looked at the machine and saw images of the future. He saw machines taking the place of America’s best laborers. He saw himself and his friends unemployed and sanding by a road, asking for food. He decided he would never let the machine take their jobs. Therefore, a competition between a man and a machine began .At first, the steam-powered drill worked twice faster. Then, John Henry started working with a hammer in each hand. He worked faster and faster. People cheered when the machine broke down and was pulled away. But they were sad to find John Henry fall to the ground, with blood spilling all around, and still holding a hammer in one of his hands.“I beat them,”he said. Then he took his last breath.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
| A．Many children in those days starved to death. |
| B．Children at that time grew much faster. |
| C．Children in those days had to work like adults. |
| D．Children at that time couldn’t stay together. |
Why did hundreds of workers become sick?
| A．Because they had to work long hours. |
| B．Because the weather was hot and they were tired. |
| C．Because the project was too hard. |
| D．Because they didn’t have time to eat. |
John Henry helped do his friends’ work .
| A．because he was the strongest and fastest man |
| B．for fear that his friends would lose their jobs |
| C．so that they could regain their strength |
| D．in order be the hero of the railroad workers |
Which of the following best describes John Henry?
| A．Kind and determined. | B．Cautious and considerate. |
| C．Brave and strict. | D．Hardworking and stubborn. |
Mr.Bean is an internationally recognized comedy character on TV and in films.He constantly gets into awkward and absurd situations，which greatly amuses audiences regardless of their nationalities or culture.The humour is always made clear through a series of simple and funny acts that rely purely on body language，which is universal.
One of my favourite shows is that Mr.Bean has a meal in a fancy restaurant.After being seated at his table，Mr.Bean takes out a card，writes a few words on it，seals(密封) it in an envelope and places it on the table.After a moment，he looks back at the envelope but this time he looks surprised，as if he did not know it was there.He opens it to find a birthday card and delightedly puts it on the table for everyone to see.
When he looks at the menu，an astonished look swiftly appears on his face.He takes all the money out of his wallet，counts it and puts it in a saucer(茶托)．He then looks from the menu to the money with concern until he finds one thing that makes him smile.Then he orders a dish called “steak tartare”．When the dish arrives，he is shocked to discover that “steak tartare” is actually raw hamburger.He makes an attempt to eat it，but it is clear from the look on his face that he finds the taste truly disgusting.He cannot hide his feelings，except when the waiter asks if everything is all right.When this happens，he smiles and nods，indicating that everything is fine.When the waiter is not looking，however，he busies himself hiding the raw meat anywhere he can reach—the sugar bowl，the tiny flower vase，inside a bun(小圆面包) and under a plate.He becomes so desperate in the end that he even hides some inside the purse of a woman sitting near him and throws some down the trousers of the restaurant’s violinist!
I like to watch Mr.Bean on TV，but I wouldn’t like to meet someone like him in real life and I certainly wouldn’t like to have dinner with him!From the passage we know Mr.Bean is ________.
| A．famous for directing films |
| B．famous for his spoken English |
| C．well known for making films |
| D．known for his body language and amusement in his comedies |
Why is Mr.Bean famous all over the world?
| A．He often eats in special restaurants. |
| B．He entertains the audience from different countries. |
| C．He only acts on TV. |
| D．He acts on body language and spoken language. |
What does the underlined word “disgusting” in the third paragraph mean?
| A．tasting delicious | B．smelling good |
| C．feeling sick | D．looking fine |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．Mr.Bean—A Top Humour Actor |
| B．Raw Hamburger Tastes Disgusting |
| C．Being Mannered in a Restaurant |
| D．How to Pretend to Like Something Boring |
According to one story the idea for making the first teddy bear came from a newspaper cartoon drawn in 1904. This cartoon showed President Teddy Roosevelt on a hunting trip refusing to shoot (射杀）a young bear. The young bear became a symbol for Teddy Roosevelt.
Morris Michtom owned a small candy and toy store in New York City. He and his wife made many of the toys they sold. When he saw the cartoon，he had a wonderful idea. He decided to make a toy bear with eyes and legs and arms that moved. The bear was put in the store window next to a copy of the cartoon. Mr . Michtom called it “Teddy’s Bear”.
Many of these bears were sold. The bears became so popular that Mr . Michtom thought he might need President Roosevelt' permission to use his name. He wrote to the president and sent him a “Teddy Bear”. The president answered，saying that Mr. Michtom could use his name.
Mr . Michtom borrowed money so that he could make thousands of toy bears. His company became the Ideal Toy Corporation. Today this is one of the biggest toy companies in the United States.People will remember Morris Michtom because he was_______
| A．a candy store owner |
| B．a toy store owner |
| C．the inventor of the teddy bear |
| D．Teddy Roosevelt' friend |
The idea for making the first teddy bear came from________
| A．a movie |
| B．a magazine story |
| C．a TV advertisement |
| D．a newspaper cartoon |
From this passage we can see that________
| A．many people liked Teddy Roosevelt |
| B．many people did not like Teddy Roosevelt |
| C．President Roosevelt cared only about important people |
| D．President Roosevelt did not like young bears |
Lions are opportunists. They prefer to eat without having to do too much work. When resting in the shade, they are also watching the sky to see what is flying by, and even in the heat of the day they will suddenly start up and run a mile across the plains to find out what is going on. If another animal has made a kill, they will drive it off and take the kill for themselves. A grown lion can easily eat 60 pounds of meat at a single feeding. Often they eat until it seems painful for them to lie down.
The lionesses (母狮) , being thinner and faster, are better hunters than the males (雄狮). But the males don’t mind. After the kill they move in and take the best share.
Most kills are made at night or just before daybreak. We have seen many, many daylight attempts but only ten kills. Roughly, It’s about twenty daytime attempts for one kill.
When lions are hiding for an attack by a water hole, they wait patiently and can charge at any second. The kill is the exciting moment in the day-to-day life of the lion, since these great animals spend most of their time, about 20 hours a day, sleeping and resting.
Lions are social cats, and when they are having a rest, they love to touch each other. After drinking at a water hole, a lioness rests her head on another’s back. When walking, young lions often touch faces with older ones, an act of close ties among members of the group.By describing lions as “opportunists” in the first paragraph, the author means to say that lions _____________.
| A．are cruel animals |
| B．are clever animals |
| C．like to make use of other animals |
| D．like to play with other animals |
According to the text, which of the following is true?
| A．Lions make most kills in the daytime. |
| B．Males care more about eating than active killing. |
| C．Lions are curious about things happening around them. |
| D．It doesn’t take lions too much time to make a kill. |
Lions spend most of their time, about 20 hours a day, ______________.
| A．playing and killing | B．sleeping and resting |
| C．eating and sleeping | D．playing and sleeping |
How can we know that lions are social animals?
| A．They depend on each other. |
| B．They look after each other well. |
| C．They readily share what they have. |
| D．They enjoy each other’s company陪伴. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Powerful Lions | B．Lions at Work and Play |
| C．Lions, Social Cats | D．Lions, Skilled Hunters |
As a boy, Charles Robert Darwin collected anything that caught his interest: insects, coins and interesting stones. He was not very clever, but Darwin was good at doing the things that interested him.
His father was a doctor, so Darwin was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, and was planned to follow a medical career. But Charles found the lectures boring. Then his father sent him to Cambridge University to study to be a priest. While at Cambridge, Darwin’s interest in zoology and geography grew. Later he got a letter from Robert FitzRoy who was planning to make a voyage around the world on a ship, the Beagle. He wanted a naturalist to join the ship, and Darwin was recommended(推荐). That voyage was the start of Darwin’s great life.
As the Beagle sailed around the world, Darwin began to wonder how life had developed on earth. He began to observe everything. After he was home, he set to work, getting his collection in order. His first great work The Zoology of the Beagle was well received, but he was slow to make public his ideas on the origin of life.
Later Darwin and Wallace, another naturalist who had the same opinions as Darwin, produced a paper together. Darwin’s great book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (《物种起源》) appeared. It attracted a storm. People thought that Darwin was saying they were descended from monkeys. What a shameful idea! Although most scientists agreed that Darwin was right, the Church was still so strong that Darwin never received any honors for his work.
Afterwards, he published another great work, The Descent of Man. His health grew worse, but he still worked. “When I have to give up observation, I shall die,” he said. He was still working on 17, April, 1882. He was dead two days later.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Charles Darwin’s ideas |
| B．Charles Darwin’s works |
| C．Father of modern biology: Charles Darwin |
| D．The greatest scientist: Charles Darwin |
Darwin’s father sent him to Edinburgh to _____.
| A．make him like natural history |
| B．make him become a doctor |
| C．let him change his hobbies |
| D．have him give up his collection |
According to the passage, Charles Darwin’s whole life was changed by _____.
| A．his study at Cambridge University |
| B．his collection of coins |
| C．the naturalists at Cambridge |
| D．the voyage of the Beagle |
The underlined part “they were descended from monkeys” probably means “_____”.
| A．they gave monkeys life |
| B．they were different from monkeys |
| C．they were developed from monkeys |
| D．they had to live with monkeys |
Which is the right order about Charles Darwin according to the passage?
a. He published another great work, The Descent of Man.
b. His father sent him to Cambridge University to study to be a priest.
c. His first great work The Zoology of the Beagle was well received,
d. He got a letter from Robert FitzRoy who was planning to make a voyage around the world on a ship.
| A．acbd | B．bdca | C．bcda | D．abdc |
Football is, I believe, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to one of the important matches to see this. Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting for their teams. One of the most surprising things about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams. He has pictures of them and knows the results of large numbers of matches. He will tell you who he thinks will win such a match, and his opinion is usually as good as that of men three or four times of his age.
Most schools in England take football seriously（认真地）— much more seriously than nearly all European schools, where lessons are all very important and games are left for the children themselves. In England it is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boy’s mind with facts in the classroom; education also means the training of character by means of games, especially team games, where the boy or girl has to learn to work with others for his or her team instead of working for himself or herself alone. Therefore the school plans games and matches for its students. Football is a good team game. It is good both for the body and the mind. That is why it is every school’s game in England.Football games are very popular in England among _____________.
| A．all the people | B．grown-ups |
| C．boys only | D．boys and girls |
In England, a boy’s opinion of a match is often______________ .
| A．three or four times better than that of a man |
| B．worse than that of a man |
| C．as good as that of a man |
| D．worth thinking three or four times |
In England, education means _________________ .
| A．filling a boy’s mind with stories |
| B．more than the teaching of knowledge |
| C．the teaching of knowledge only |
| D．training character by means of football games |
We can use_______ instead of the underlined word “therefore”
| A．however | B．as a result |
| C．why | D．at that place |
From the passage, we learn that _______________.
| A．schools in England make use of football games for the training of character |
| B．England is better than all the European countries |
| C．football is more important than lessons |
| D．only some schools in England have football game |