Henry Edwards Huntington was born in 1850 in Oneonta, New York. In 1872 he went to work for his uncle, one of the owners of the Central Pacific Railroad. Twenty years later, Huntington moved to San Francisco at his uncle’s request to share management of the Southern Pacific Railroad. On the way to San Francisco, he visited San Marino, and later bought it, which is home to his collections today.
In 1902, Huntington moved his business operations to Los Angeles, where he developed the street railway system that created the structure of the Los Angeles area. He greatly expanded the existing electric railway lines, creating an extensive inter-urban system providing the transportation necessary. Huntington’s business interests continued to grow particularly in the areas of water, power, and land development; at one time he served on as many as 60 corporate boards throughout the United States.
At the age of 60, he announced his decision to retire in order to devote time to his book and art collections and the landscaping of the 600-acre farm. In 1911 the large Beaux Arts building, in the charge of the architect Myron Hunt, was completed.
In 1913, Huntington married Arabella Duval Huntington. She shared his interests in collecting. As one of the most important art collectors of her generation, she was highly influential in the development of the art collection now shown in the former building.
In 1919, Henry and Arabella Huntington signed the agreement that conveyed their San Marino property and collections to a nonprofit educational trust, creating the Huntington, one of the world’s great cultural, research, and educational centers.
Henry E. Huntington died in 1927, leaving his great treasures the Huntington, including the world-famous Huntington Library, Art Gallery, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California to the public, which hosts more than 500,000 visitors each year. What can you learn about Huntington from the first two paragraphs?
| A．He worked in many fields before he came to Los Angeles. |
| B．He built a house to store his art collection in San Marino. |
| C．He did a lot to the USA railway development. |
| D．He founded the Central Pacific Railroad. |
What did Huntington do after his retirement?
| A．He devoted himself to his personal interests. |
| B．He worked part time for non-profit business. |
| C．He was in charge of an educational center. |
| D．He shared his wife’s interests with her. |
Which of the following can best describe Huntington?
| A．An excellent artist. | B．A talented architect. |
| C．An ambitious educator. | D．A successful businessman. |
This article is most probably taken from_______.
| A．a science fiction | B．a newspaper report | C．a novel | D．a biography |
An explosion on Thursday killed one and injured 21 in a busy street in Tongren, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province.
The bomb was hidden in a rubbish bin in the city’s commercial hub（商业中心），where lots of shops and restaurants are concentrated.
The ear-splitting blast was heard around 12∶50 p.m.，said a local newspaper, citing witnesses. The power of the blast（爆炸）shattered nearby shop windows and ripped the stainless（不生锈的）steel rubbish can to pieces.
One passer-by，identified（确认）only as Zhang，said she was shocked by the noise and saw a lot of pedestrians lying on the ground when she got to the scene.
Thirteen of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the explosion. A doctor there said five were in serious condition but already out of danger after emergency treatment. The others were just slightly hurt.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, said an officer with the Tongren police, but refused to speculate as to the cause.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．All the injured were taken to a hospital |
| B．8 of the injured were not taken to a hospital |
| C．The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a restaurant |
| D．The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a shop |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．One passer- by, saw a man throwing a bomb into a bin. |
| B．Some customers in restaurants were injured. |
| C．The writer didn’t get to the scene. |
| D．All customers in shops got hurt. |
In the last paragraph the underlined word“ speculate” probably means ________.
| A．tell | B．guess | C．discuss | D．talk |
What of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Bomb Hidden in a Rubbish Bin |
| B．The Cause of the Explosion |
| C．A Terrible Thing |
| D．Market Blast Kills 1 ,Injures 21 |
The passage probably comes from________.
| A．a newspaper | B．a diary |
| C．a story book | D．a survey |
Utopia is a perfect place. It is a place without war, hunger, poverty, or crime. It is a place where the people work together and share. There is no money in Utopia because the people do not need money. They do not have personal possessions because everything belongs to everyone. All of the people are equal in Utopia, and the laws are all fair.
Utopia is not a new place. Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, described a perfect society in his famous dialogue The Republic. In Plato’s Republic, philosophers were the kings, and every person had a place in the society. In 1516, Sir Thomas More wrote about an island in the Pacific Ocean where everything was perfect. He named the island
“ Utopia”. In 1602, Tommaso Campanella wrote The City in the Sun about a perfect community on the island of Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka ) ; and in 1872, Samuel Butler wrote a novel about a perfect country which he named “ Erewhon”. “ Utopia” is a Greek word that means “ not a place”, and “Erewhon” is the English word “ nowhere” spelled backwards.
Utopia is a perfect place, but it is not a real place. Most ‘real’ Utopias last only a short time. This is because everyone wants to live in it, but no one knows how to make it work. As a result, when we say something is ‘ Utopia’ today, we mean that it is a good idea, but it is not realistic.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．A place without war | B．A Good Idea |
| C．A Perfect Place | D．The Utopian Community |
The reason why there are no personal possessions in Utopia is that ______.
| A．everything belongs to everyone |
| B．the people don’t need money |
| C．all of the people are created equal |
| D．the laws are reasonable |
The idea of a perfect society was first suggested by ________.
| A．Plato | B．Tommaso Campanella |
| C．Samuel Butler and | D．Sir Thomas More |
“Utopia”is a word which came from _________
| A．English | B．Greek | C．French | D．Chinese |
According to the passage, most ‘real’ Utopias last only a short time because _______.
| A．no one wants to be a leader |
| B．no one knows how to make a perfect society |
| C．it is difficult to collect money |
| D．everyone wants to live in Utopia |
They should be Britain’s gilded (镀金的) youth, enjoying opportunities to study, travel and start exciting careers in a way older generations could only dream about. But instead they are the “Ipod” generation —“Insecure, Pressured, Over-taxed and Debt-ridden”—according to a study by a group of experts who provide advice and ideas on social issues.
“We thought that each generation would be better off than its predecessors (前辈),” said Professor Nick Bosanquet of Imperial College London, one of its authors. “But young people today have more duties and it is much more difficult for them to raise their incomes and create wealth. This really is a very big issue for the country.”
According to the report, today’s youth don’t have enough confidence and ability to build on the economic foundations created by post-war baby boomers (生育高峰期出生的人) . Because they are in debt, they are also reluctant to take risks. Levels of entrepreneurship (企业家精神) among Britain’s youth are lower than in America, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and have fallen over the past decade. Many choose the jobs which offer a good amount of money after they retire. Others have to take any job that is available to try to pay off their debts.
“I borrowed a lot of money from the bank to pay for my education at university, which is the biggest chain around my neck now,” said Phil Grech, 22, from Cumbria, who has a degree in maths from the University of Reading. “I’m only doing a temporary job at the moment to pay the mounting bills. I haven’t really thought about the long term. Many people think that when you leave university you can get a good job, but it’s no longer like that.”
While older generations enjoyed higher education funded by taxpayers, young people today face university tuition fees and a decreasing “return” in the salary advantage they will get from their degrees.What is the text mainly about?
| A．Britain’s gilded youth. |
| B．The “Ipod” generation in Britain. |
| C．The challenges faced by the British today. |
| D．The career choices Britain’s youth have. |
What’s the biggest problem in Phil Grech’s life?
| A．Low income. |
| B．The debt. |
| C．Not having a good college degree. |
| D．Not having job opportunities. |
We can infer from the text that the “Ipod” generation __________.
| A．doesn’t have much determination |
| B．doesn’t want to have a full-time job |
| C．lives a harder life than the older generations |
| D．hasn’t realized the importance of saving money |
Which of the following words can best take the place of the word “reluctant” in the third paragraph?
| A．Unwilling. | B．Foolish. |
| C．Quick. | D．Sorry. |
Owning a smart phone may not be as smart as you think. They may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and snap photos wherever you are... but they also turn you into a workaholic (工作狂). A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the all-singing, all-dancing mobile phone adds as much as two hours to your working day.
Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles. The study by technology retailer Pixmania, shows the average UK working day is between nine and ten hours, but a further two hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls. Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers confess (坦白) they are on call almost 24 hours a day, with nine out of ten saying they take work emails and calls outside their normal working hours. Nearly two-thirds say they often check work emails just before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up, while over a third have replied to one in the middle of the night.
Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said, “The ability to access millions of apps, keep in contact via social networks and take photos and video as well as text and call has made smart phones valuable for many people. However, there are drawbacks. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smart phones mean that people cannot get away from work. The more constantly in contact we become, the more is expected of us in a work capacity (容量).”The text is probably taken from __________.
| A．a scientific report | B．a financial report |
| C．a newspaper | D．a travel journal |
The underlined word “drawbacks” in the last paragraph probably means __________.
| A．disagreements | B．disadvantages |
| C．mistakes | D．features |
Ghadi may agree that __________.
| A．employees are supposed to be on call 24 hours a day |
| B．the ability to access many apps made smart phones worthless |
| C．smart phones might turn a person into a workaholic |
| D．people cannot get away from work without smart phones |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Smart phones are lengthening working hours. |
| B．Smart phones are becoming valuable for many people. |
| C．Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average. |
| D．Smart phones are more beneficial to our life than we think. |
There is a story about a man who lost his legs and left arm in an accident. After the accident, only a finger and thumb on his right hand remained.
He was a brilliant, creative, and educated man. He had gained a lot of experience while traveling around the world, so he became very depressed after his accident. He was afraid that he would spend the rest of his life suffering and would no longer be able to spend his life in a meaningful way. Then, he realized that he still had partial function of his right hand and could still write even though it was very difficult. An idea occurred to him, “Why not write to other people who need encouragement?”
He wrote to the prison ministry about sending letters to the prisoners. The prison minister replied, “Writing to the prisoners is acceptable, but your letters will not be answered.”
Filled with excitement, the man knew he could write his letters. He began sending one-way messages of God’s love, hope, strength, and encouragement. He wrote twice a week, testing his strength and ability to the limit. He poured his heart and soul into his words and shared his experience, sense of humor, optimism, and faith.
It was difficult to write those letters, especially without hope of a reply. One day he received a letter from the prison ministry. It was a short note from the officer who monitored and checked the prison mail.
The letter said, “Please write on the best paper you can afford. Your letters are passed from room to room until they fall to pieces!”
No matter what circumstances life may present, we all have unique experiences, abilities, and God-given talents. We can discover ways to reach others who desperately need messages of encouragement and strength.Before the man had the accident, he __________.
| A．had toured around the world |
| B．had visited local prisons |
| C．had tried doing exercise to recover himself |
| D．had been friends with the prison minister |
In order to live in a meaningful way, the man began to ________.
| A．receive the school education |
| B．write to other people who needed encouragement |
| C．meet the people who were depressed |
| D．help other people who lost arms and legs |
From the officer’s short note we are told that __________.
| A．the man would be offered free paper to write letters on |
| B．some of the prisoners were not satisfied with his letters |
| C．the prisoners eagerly wanted to write back to the man |
| D．his letters were very popular among the prisoners |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Stories about a Humorous Person |
| B．Popularity of Special Letters |
| C．Special Letters of Encouragement |
| D．Relationship between Writers and Prisoners |