A well-dressed man entered a famous jewelry shop. He explained that he wished to buy a pearl for his wife’ s birthday. The price didn’t matter, since business had been very good for him that year. After examining a nice black one that costs $5, 000, he paid for the pearl in cash, shook hands with the jeweler, and left.
A few days later the man returned and said that his wife liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like it. It had to be exactly the same size and quality as she wanted a pair of earrings made. "Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl?" said the man. The jeweler regretfully replied, "I would say it’s exactly impossible to find one exactly like that pearl."
The rich man insisted that the jeweler advertise in the newspapers, offering $25,000 for the matching pearl. Many people answered the advertisement but nobody had a pearl that was just right.
Just when the jeweler had given up hope, a little old lady came into his store. To his great surprise, she pulled the perfect pearl from her purse." " I don’t like to part with it." she said sadly, I got it from my mother, and ,my mother got it from her’ s. But I really need the money.
The jeweler was quickly to pay her before she changed her mind .Then he called the rich man’s hotel to tell him the good news .The man ,however ,was nowhere to be found. The man said he wanted to buy a pearl for _____ .
| A．his wife | B．his mother-in-law | C．his own mother | D．no one |
He paid $5,000 for the black pearl without bargaining (讨价还价) because______.
| A．he was very rich. |
| B．he wanted to make the jeweler believe him |
| C．he was anxious to get it |
| D．his business had been successful |
He told the jeweler to get him another pearl that must be______.
| A．exactly the same size as the black one |
| B．exactly the same quality as the black one |
| C．worth more than $25,000 |
| D．exactly as big and nice as the black one |
Many people answer the advertisement because they wanted______.
| A．to see the perfect pearl |
| B．to buy some beautiful pearl too |
| C．to get in touch with the rich man |
| D．to sell their own pearl at a high price |
The jeweler couldn’t find the man anywhere because ______.
| A．he died suddenly |
| B．he happened to be out |
| C．he got $20,000 by cheating and had run away with the money |
| D．he wouldn’t show up until the jeweler called him a second time |
A man had seven sons, who were always quarreling. They left their studies and work, to quarrel among themselves. Some bad men were looking forward to the death of their father, to cheat them out of their property(财产) by making them quarrel about it.
The good old man, one day, called his sons around him. He laid before them seven sticks, which were tied together. He said, “I will pay a hundred dollars to the one who can break this bundle(捆).”
Each one tried their best to break the bundle. After a long but useless efforts, they all said that it could not be done.
“And yet, my boys,” said the father, “nothing is easier to do.” He then untied the bundle, and broke the sticks, one by one, with perfect ease.
“Ah!” said his sons, “It is easy enough to do it so; anybody could do it in that way.”
Their father replied, “As it is with these sticks, so it is with you, my sons. So long as you hold fast together and help each other, you will be much richer, and none can harm you.
“But if the brotherhood bundle is broken, it will happen to you just as it has to these sticks, which lie there broken on the ground.”
Home, city, country, all are property found, When they hold tightly together.How many sticks does the old man ask his sons to break?
| A．2 | B．3 | C．5 | D．7 |
Why was the old man able to break the sticks?
| A．Because his sons helped him to do so. |
| B．Because he was strong enough to do so. |
| C．Because he was wise enough to untie the bundle. |
| D．Because the sticks were no longer as strong as before. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The old man was going to die soon. |
| B．The sticks were used as a tool to teach the sons a lesson. |
| C．The sons were all too stupid to take care of their property. |
| D．some bad men might get the property away from the old man. |
It is a wonderful morning, as I write this: hot, but without being too hot. Outside my window, I can see the sunniest sky of the year reflected in a huge natural expand of water. It is the kind of sun that makes you well aware of summer's temporary nature a reminder that if I am ever to go around to book this year's holiday, time is running out.
It is now close to four years since I last took a holiday. This is because I have come to the conclusion, over the course of my adult life, that I am not very good at it. You might say this sounds like saying you are not very good at drinking tea or listening to music. What could possibly be difficult about the natural act of putting your working life on hold for a couple of weeks and going somewhere to do nothing?
So what is my problem? On the surface, I'm probably a bit of homebody. And I just find the pressure of being on holiday too severe: it always feels like having a gun held to my head and being forced to have fun. Somehow, packing a carefully itemized （详细列举的 ）list of possessions and meeting a scheduled flight has none of the excitement of suddenly deciding to take a day off and driving somewhere for the fun of it.
Thankfully, I am not alone. This summer, most of my friends have decided not to have a break. And a recent survey highlighted the downside（负面）of holidays, with the results showing that nearly two thirds of people found that the calming effects of a holiday wore off within 24 hours, as stress levels returned to normal. And this year's the Idler magazine published its book, Awful Holidays. Here you will find a list of the five most
ecologically-damaging vacations it's possible to take, along with 50 horrible holidays experiences voted for on the idler website. Over the last decade, The Idler has become well known for promoting the idea of an easy, lazy life. The leisure（休闲）industry might seem an unlikely target of its criticism, but Dan Kienan, the book’s editor, says that he was flooded with entries from readers for his list of awful holidays.According to the first paragraph we can know that the writer.
| A．has a strong desire to book a holiday |
| B．wishes that the weather would change |
| C．finds it is too late to enjoy the sunshine |
| D．realizes it's time to decide whether to go on a holiday |
The reason why the writer dislikes going on holidays is that.
| A．it usually costs too much money |
| B．he is tired of making preparations too much for holidays |
| C．it is far less enjoyable than breaks planned in advance |
| D．he feels embarrassed when other people are having fun but he isn't |
We can learn from the survey that .
| A．most people pretend to enjoy their holiday |
| B．all people fail to relax while they are on holiday |
| C．a lot of people feel that the benefits of going on holidays are limited |
| D．many people have made the same decision as the writer and most of his friends |
The writer takes the book of Awful Holidays as an example to.
| A．damage the reputation of the magazine |
| B．prove the idea of living an easy, lazy life to be wrong |
| C．indicate that his dislike of holidays is widely shared |
| D．focus entirely on bad personal experiences of holidays |
The English test will be removed from China’s college entrance exam by 2020, according to the Ministry of Education. The national college entrance exam, known as the “Gaokao” has been used to evaluate Chinese students for three decades. The Ministry of Education has worked out a plan for reforming exams and enrollment. Tests will be held several times a year to allow students to choose when and how often they sit the exam so as to reduce study pressure and change China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system.
The decision has aroused a heated discussion among Shanghai educators and parents who doubted the reform would reduce the burden of learning English or if the substitute test could reflect a student’s English skills and help students learn English better.
“As far as I see, the reform doesn’t mean English is no longer important for Chinese students after it will be excluded from the unified college entrance exam,” Yu said. “In a way, English is even more important than before since the test would only serve as reference, while every college and university, even every major, can have different requirements of a student’s English skills under a diverse evaluation system. ”
Yu said some students will have their study pressure reduced if the major they choose doesn’t need excellent English while others still need to study hard if they want to be among the best students.
The education ministry said the reform would not affect students attending the college entrance exam over the next three years.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．English will become less and less important in the stage of compulsory education. |
| B．It has been 30 years since English became one subject of national college entrance exam. |
| C．China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system is unacceptable at all. |
| D．The system that tests are held several times does more good than once-in-a-lifetime exam system. |
According to the passage, Shanghai educators and parents argue that _____.
| A．the new exam and admission system will make no difference |
| B．English shouldn’t be removed from China’s college entrance exam |
| C．the reform may accomplish the very opposite |
| D．Western educational system does not apply to China |
What does the passage try to express in the underlined sentence?
| A．Students needn’t lay a good foundation during the period of high school. |
| B．Whether students should study English hard may depend on their major. |
| C．Students can constantly strive for perfection only in their major. |
| D．English must be close to full mark. |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A．To advise students not to devote themselves to English. |
| B．To call on Education Department to remove English from “Gaokao”. |
| C．To support the act of Ministry of Education. |
| D．To encourage students to do as they have planned. |
Woman Uses Daughter's Key to "Steal" Car
Charlie Vansant, a college student of Athens, Ohio who reported that his car was stolen, got a surprise when he learned a woman had mistaken it for her daughter's car and taken it--using her key.
Kate Anderson became an accidental car thief when picking up her daughter's car near an Ohio University building last week. Anderson spotted the Toyota Camry（丰田凯美瑞）and used her daughter's key to unlock the car, start the engine and drive home-without realizing that the car wasn't her daughter's.
When Charlie Vansant left class a short time later, he found only an empty parking spot. He first assumed the car had been towed, but when the police couldn't find a record of it, they took a theft report.
The morning after Anderson took the car, her daughter discovered the Camry in the driveway wasn't hers. Anderson said she was able to find Vansant's name on paperwork in the glove compartment and look up his phone number on the website of the university.
When Anderson told Charlie the car was in her driveway, "It sounded real suspicious at first, as she wanted to hold the thing for ransom（赎金）,” said Vansant. He eventually went to the house with a police officer, where he was reunited with his car. According to the police report, the case was closed "because of mistaken car identity", Anderson wasn't charged.
Vansant seemed to blame the car company more than the "thief". "Her key fit not only my lock, but my ignition（点火装置） as well-so high-five for Toyota. I guess." he said.What does the underlined word "towed" mean in paragraph 3?
| A．removed. | B．damaged. |
| C．stolen. | D．sold. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Mrs. Anderson's daughter discovered the car her mother drove was not hers. |
| B．Mrs. Anderson stole Charlie's car at the request of her daughter. |
| C．Charlie had thought he had to give Anderson money to get his car back. |
| D．Mrs. Anderson used her daughter's key to unlock Charlie's car and drive home. |
What does Charlie mean by "high-five for Toyota"?
| A．He is blaming Toyota for the poor quality of car keys. |
| B．He should thank Toyota for returning his car. |
| C．He wants to celebrate with Toyota for getting his car back. |
| D．He thinks highly of Toyota for producing large quantities of cars. |
What is likely to happen next according to the passage?
| A．Mrs. Anderson was charged with stealing a car. |
| B．Charlie blamed Mrs. Anderson for mistakenly taking his car. |
| C．Charlie would ask the Toyota Company to give him an explanation. |
| D．The Toyota Company would give Charlie a new car as compensation. |
Last year, I was on a plane with my friend, waiting for it to take off. The pilot’s voice was heard throughout the plane: “Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen. Our engines don’t work. We are going to jump-start them. Once we get them going, we’ll get up in the air and see what happens.”
That was all he said. “See what happens?” Shouldn’t we have had a better plan than that? At that point. I could only laugh nervously. One woman started crying, “Oh no! We are going to crash!’’ There were sighs of hopelessness and anxiety, and we hadn’t even taken off yet.
The pilot even seemed unhappy. He told us our one engine was working double time, and his plan was to get up in the air and see what happens! Then we did. We got up in the air, and what happened? Nothing. We arrived in Norfolk, and no sooner had the wheels touched down than applause burst out as everyone on the airplane breathed a sigh of relief.
All too often, people stop trying to achieve their goals just because they don’t have a guaranteed (有保证的) result. But success will never be guaranteed. The best thing that you can do is just get up in the air, and see what happens. While I do prefer planning better than “see what happens” when it comes to flying, it really isn’t such a bad idea for life.
If your effort is to build a business then get up in the air and see what happens! Don’t give yourself all the reasons why you can’t. Do not wait until you have everything you need. You never will!
If your goal is to start a friendship, say “Hello”, get up in the air and see what happens! The results could be very rewarding. If your goal is to learn a new skill, get up in the air and see what happens! It might not be as difficult as your think. It could be fun!How did the author feel when the pilot said the engines didn’t work?
| A．Disappointed. | B．Anxious. |
| C．Curious. | D．Relieved. |
The underlined sentence in the first paragraph means .
| A．to think carefully before you make friends |
| B．to start to fly first to see what will happen in the sky |
| C．to make an effort even if the result is uncertain |
| D．to get up from the chair and greet somebody |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．We Will See What Happens |
| B．I Survived an Adventurous Flight |
| C．The Pilot Risked Our Lives |
| D．Making Plans Is Better Than Taking Chances |