If you want to get the most out of the study of a language, you must also read for pleasure: novels, plays, travel books, and so on. And in reading books of this kind the important thing is to get on with the reading; to try to grasp what the writer is going to tell you in the book as a whole. This is impossible if you stop and think over the meaning of every single word which happens to be unfamiliar (不熟悉). You can not enjoy a story if you stop half a dozen times on every page in order to look up words in the dictionary. You may even prevent yourself from understanding the story as a whole by doing this.
When you are reading books of this kind, therefore, you will usually have to rely mainly on (依靠) the context (上下文) to help you. If you meet an unfamiliar word, do not let it take too much of your attention from the main thread (主线) of the story. In all probability (可能) you will meet the same word again a few pages later on in a slightly different context, and each time you see it that your understanding of it will become more exact.The phrase “to get on with reading” in the passage has the same meaning as “______”.
| A．to try to grasp the meaning of every sentence in the book |
| B．to try to catch the meaning of every word in the book |
| C．to try to understand all the writer is going to tell you |
| D．to try to understand the main idea of the book |
When you meet new words in reading such kinds of books, you’d better ______.
| A．stop and look them up in a dictionary |
| B．stop and think them over |
| C．try to guess their meanings from the context |
| D．have none of them |
From the passage the best way to read novels, plays and travel books is ______.
| A．to read very slowly |
| B．to read quickly and not too carefully |
| C．to read very carefully |
| D．to read very seriously |
The best title for this passage is “______”.
| A．Read for Pleasure | B．Get on with the Books |
| C．Reading Skills | D．The Importance of Reading |
On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of the New York railway station, playing his violin. The music was so great that many people stopped to put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next day, the young artist came to the same place, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it under his hat. Then he began to play the violin. It sounded more pleasant than ever.
Soon he was surrounded with people who were attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to claim (认领) it soon.”
After about half an hour, a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist and said, “Yes, it’s you. I knew that you were an honest man and would certainly come here.” The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr George Sang?” The man nodded. The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?” “It’s a lottery ticket,” said the man. The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang’s name was seen. “Is it?” he asked. George nodded and took the lottery ticket and kissed it, then danced with the violinist.
The violinist was a student at an arts college and had planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna. Later his classmate asked the violinist, “At that time you needed money to pay the tuition （学费）and you had to play the violin in the railway station every day to make money. Why didn’t you keep the lottery ticket for yourself?”
The violinist said, “Although I don’t have much money, I live happily. But if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever.” Through our lives, we can gain a lot and lose so much. But being honest should always be with us. What did the young artist do at the railway station on Friday?
| A．He played the violin to make some money. |
| B．He waited for the train to Vienna. |
| C．He came to buy a train ticket to Vienna. |
| D．He walked around the New York railway station. |
According to the words on the paper, which sentence below is TRUE?
| A．It asked a gentleman named George Sang to claim his hat. |
| B．It asked a gentleman named George Sang to claim his important thing. |
| C．It was a lottery ticket and he needed to find the owner. |
| D．It was a lottery ticket and the owner is unknown. |
From this article, we can learn that ____.
| A．we should share with others if we find something valuable |
| B．we should know the importance of honesty and lead a happy life |
| C．keep the lottery if you find one |
| D．playing the violin could make you feel happy |
“Hey, Jenna, do you think we’ ll still be friends when we’re eighty-two?” I asked my friend.
Losing Jenna would be like losing a very close sister.
“Of course, we’ll still be friends when we’re eighty-two,” Jenna announced loudly
The next year, in Grade Four, we met Jamie. The three of us soon became close friends. We played together almost every day. I thought even time couldn’t pull us apart, but I was sadly mistaken.
The three of us started fighting a lot. Before Christmas, We had a really big fight, and Jamie and Jenna were against me, both saying I was bossy (专横的). I felt helpless and lonely. I thought Christmas would be horrible!
I was surprised when Jenna came to my house and gave me a terrible Christmas card she had made for me. I was so sure that she was still disappointed with me.
“Wow,” I said, breaking the silence as we stood on either side of my front door. “Thanks.”
“Okay…well… I have to go,” she said softly.
“Okay. See you later then…” and I closed the door.
“Who was that at the door?” my mom asked.
“It was Jenna, my classmate.” I said.
The card started off with “Merry Christmas”, but then it said, “I am so glad we’re friends. I am sorry about what I said when we were fighting. A fight won’t stop us from being friends. Besides, we said we were going to be friends even when we’re eighty-two.”
I stopped reading and started laughing. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten what she said that day in the backyard. I couldn’t believe I had been so selfish in trying to make my friends feel sorry for me.The best title for this passage would be______________.
| A．Jenna and I |
| B．Friends Forever |
| C．Friendship is very important. |
| D．Friendship is very necessary. |
How would the author and Jenna get along with each other after Christmas?
| A．They would be close friends again. |
| B．They would not speak to each other. |
| C．They would lose touch with each other. |
| D．They would go on fighting with each other. |
What can we learn from the underlined sentences?
| A．The author was sure Jenna felt sorry for her. |
| B．The author didn’t think Jenna was still angry with her. |
| C．The author hadn’t thought Jenna would send her a Christmas card. |
| D．The author knew Jenna would come to see her and said sorry to her. |
Which of the following is the right time order according to the passage?
a. Jamie became the author’s friend.
b. The author felt lonely and unhappy.
c. Jenna, Jamie and the author fought.
d. Jenna brought the author a Christmas card.
e. The author was sorry for what she did.
f. Jenna and the author promised to be lifelong friends.
| A．f-a-b-c-e-d | B．a-c-f-b-d-e |
| C．a-b-c-f-e-d | D．f-a-c-b-d-e |
Gossip moves so quickly that few people have time to cover their ears, even if they want to.
“I hate it when others gossip about me,” said Mandy Miraglia, 16, a high school student from California, “but to be honest, gossip about my friends makes me feel I am trusted and belong to the group.” Miraglia is not the only person feeling like that.
Gossip has long been looked down on as little more than nonsense and bad manners. But recent research has shown that gossip has many positive effects on your social life.
“There has been a trend among people to dislike gossip,” said David Sloan Wilson, Professor from the State University of New York in Binghamton, US, “but gossip appears to be a very important form of behavior in a group of friends, defining their group membership.”
For 18 months, Kevin Kniffin, from the University of Wisconsin, US, researched the behavior of 50 people. He found that gossip levels peaked when a sports team included a slacker, someone who regularly missed practices or showed up late. Other members of the team would soon start to joke about the slacker’s shortcomings behind his back, because they thought they were bad for the whole team.
Gossip about the mistakes of senior members helps newcomers rebuild their confidence after a failure.
It also helps relieve social and professional anxiety. Long-term studies show that people around the world devote from a fifth to two-thirds or more of their daily conversation to gossip, and men appear to be just as eager for gossip as women.
It is hard to judge gossip, but it is more powerful than you think. The author would probably agree that______________.
| A．gossip is bad manners |
| B．gossip has many good effects |
| C．gossip is somewhat like nonsense |
| D．gossip is more powerful than advice |
What does the underlined word “slacker” mean according to the context?
| A．Someone who values the team benefit much. |
| B．Someone who does not do what they should well. |
| C．Someone who is active in sports. |
| D．Someone who shows no much interest in sports. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Gossip is a useful way of building group membership. |
| B．Gossip can possibly make someone confident. |
| C．Generally, women are fonder of gossip than men. |
| D．Actually, everyone gossips to some degree in their daily conversation. |
| Opening week specials at Munchies Food Hall. At the corner of Green and Brown Streets in the city Monday 7th of January until Sunday.13rd of January 2008 Feast until you’re full! Come down to Monetizes time week to enjoy the special dishes on offer at all of our food outlets. Order from the following: ● Succulent chicken rice ● spicy satay beef ● Delicious noodle dishes ● plump pork chips ● seafood specialties ● crunchy vegetables
● sweet tropical fruit Halal food is available at the stall Malay Mood Heaven Win Prizes and Gifts! ● Spend $20.00 or more and win instant prizes from our lucky draw box. ● Collect a free party balloon and whistle for each young diner. ● Enjoy a free meal if you are the first customer of the day at any of our stalls. ● Win a holiday to Western Australia. A free raffle ticket is given with every receipt. Just fill in your information and place your entry in the box provided. Winner to be announced in The strait Times on the 15th of January. Join in the Fun! Between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm each evening until the 15th of January, your favorite Channel 3 television actors and singers will entertain you: ● May Lee ● Jackie Chen ● Kim Yap ● Kamal Autograph sessions will follow each performance! And who will be our extra special mystery star? Come down on Saturday at noon to find out. |
The prices at Munchies are ______.
| A．lower than usual | B．bargain prices for the opening |
| C．lower for two people | D．lower if you spend $21.00 |
Everyone who eats at Munchies well receive a ______.
| A．free raffle ticket | B．lucky draw coupon |
| C．free meal | D．balloon and whistle |
I will find out who has won the top to Western Australia when I ______.
| A．watch Channel 3 television |
| B．come down to Munchies at moon |
| C．read The Straits Times on the 15th of January |
| D．attend the lucky draw at Munchies Food Hall |
How do you feel after you've stayed up late to finish schoolwork? Or the day after a slumber party? Scientists now say that your answers to these questions may depend on your genes.
Genes are stretches of DNA that work like an instruction manual for our cells. Genes tell our bodies and brains what to do. People have about 40,000 genes, and each gene can have different forms. So, for example, certain forms of some genes make your eyes blue. Other versions of those genes make your eyes brown.
In a similar way, new research suggests that a gene called period3 affects how well you function without sleep. The discovery adds to older evidence that period3 helps determine whether you like to stay up late or get up early.
The period3 gene comes in two forms: short and long. Everyone has two copies of the gene. So, you may have two longs, two shorts, or one of each. Your particular combination depends on what your parents passed on to you.
Scientists from the University of Surrey in England studied 24 people who had either two short or two long copies of period3. Study participants had to stay awake for 40 hours straight. Then, they took tests that measured how quickly they pushed a button when numbers flashed on a screen and how well they could remember lists of numbers.
Results showed that the people with the short form of period3 performed much better on these tests than the people with the long form did. In both groups, people performed worst in the early morning. That's the time when truck drivers and other night-shift workers say they have the most trouble concentrating.
After the first round of experiments, participants were finally allowed to sleep. People in the group that performed well on the tests took about 18 minutes to nod off.
People with the long period3 gene, by contrast, fell asleep in just 8 minutes. They also spent more time in deep sleep. That suggests that people with the long form of the gene need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working at top form.We can know from the passage that genes can not ________.
| A．tell our bodies and brains what to do |
| B．make our eyes blue or brown |
| C．decide how well you work without sleep |
| D．ensure whether you’re good at driving |
Which of the following statements about the period3 is wrong?
| A．It affects whether you like to stay up late or get up early. |
B．It comes in two forms: short and long. |
C．One has either two longs or two shorts of it. |
D．Your parents determine what particular combination you have. |
People with the short form of period3__________.
| A．need to go to bed early and get up early |
B．can work better than the people with long form of period3 without sleep |
| C．take less time to fall asleep after they stay up late | |
| D．need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working at top form |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．The Period3 Gene | B．The Function of Genes |
| C．Wake up, Sleepy Gene | D．Stay up Late or Get up Early? |