Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Frequently it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Bras Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay(马来语). Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent (月牙) because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again.We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.
| A．the government is usually the first to name a place |
| B．many places tend to have more than one name |
| C．a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
| D．people prefer the place names given by the government |
What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．Change suddenly. | B．Change significantly. | C．Disappear mysteriously. | D．Disappear very slowly. |
Which of the following places is named after a person? ______________.
| A．Raffles Place. | B．Selector Airbase. | C．Piccadilly Circus. | D．Paya Lebar Crescent. |
Bras Basah Road is named _______.
| A．after a person | B．after a place | C．after an activity | D．by its shape |
What can be inferred from the passage? ______________.
| A．Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain. |
| B．Some places in Singapore are named for military purposes. |
| C．The way Singaporeans name their places is unique. |
| D．Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers. |
Last week, while visiting my dad with my daughter, we went to a restaurant for dinner. When we were seated, my dad asked the waitress if there were any soldiers eating at the restaurant. Then waitress said there was a soldier having dinner with his friend. My dad told the waitress to tell the soldier and his friend that their dinner was paid for! He also said that he did not want to be known as the benefactor(施主).
Then waitress later commented on my dad’s thoughtful behavior saying that she had never seen anything like this before. At a local college, she had studied opera and so she used this to thank my dad by performing a piece from The Pearl Fisherman. Her voice brought me to tears because it sounded perfect!
After a while, the soldier appeared at our table (I don’t know how he knew my dad paid the bill for him.) and said that he would be sent to the front the next morning and that he could not leave this country without saying “thanks” to my dad. My dad replied that it was he who wanted to say “thanks”. They shook hands as the soldier left.
Before we left, the waitress came by again. She did a magic show as another way to show her
“thanks” to my dad. Her show was really great. My dad left her a note with email address asking for her next performance time in addition to a $ 50 tip.
Everyone witnessed something exemplary(可作榜样的) in the human spirit that night. I can only hope to see more of this in the future.
68．What did the soldier do in response to the author’s father’s kindness?
A．He gave something to author’s dad.
B．He gave a big tip to the waitress.
C．He said thanks to the author’s dad in person.
D．He did a magic show for the author and her father.
69．The author considered her father’s action to be ____.
A．funny B．understandable C．worthless D．honorable
70．Their passage mainly tells us that we should ____.
A．learn to be grateful to others B．find ways to thank others
C．try to learn from each other D．respect soldiers and waitresses
A small piece of fish each day may keep the heart doctor away．That's the finding of a scientific study of Dutch men in which deaths from heart disease were more than 50 percent lower among those who consumed at least an ounce（盎司）of salt water fish per day than those who never ate fish.
The Dutch research is one of three human studies that hold the belief that eating fish can provide health benefits, particularly to the heart. Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, with more than 550,000 deaths occurring from heart attacks each year．But researchers previously have noticed that the incidence （发生率） of heart disease is lower in cultures that consume more fish than Americans do．There are fewer heart disease deaths, for example, among the Eskimos of Greenland, who consume about 14 ounces of fish a day, and among the Japanese, whose daily fish consumption averages more than 3 ounces.
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For 20 years, the Dutch study followed 852 middle-aged men, 20 percent of whom ate no fish.
At the start of the study, the average fish consumption was about two-thirds of an ounce each day with more men eating thin fish than fatty fish.Contrary to the impression that grandmothers are delighted to help their grown daughters and care for their grandchildren, a study of multigenerational families shows that many older women hate the frequent demands that the younger generations make on their time and energy．
“Young women with children are under a lot of pressure these days, and they expect their mothers to help them pick up the pieces,” noted Dr．Bertram J．Cohler, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago．“This is often the strongest source of complaint on the part of Grandmother, who has finished with child caring and now has her own life to live．Grandmothers like to see their children and grandchildren, but on their own time．”
Dr．Cohler is director of a study, sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, of 150 workingclass families that live in a Midwestern suburb．He and Dr．Henry U．Gruebaum of Harvard Medical School, have already completed their study of four such families in New England．
Dr．Cohler tells of a middle-aged Boston woman who works as a cook all week and for her parish（教区） on Sundays．Every Saturday, her one day off, her daughter and family visit, expecting mother to make lunch, shop, and visit．“That's not how she wants to grow old,” said Dr．Cohler, who was told by the older woman, “My daughter would never speak to me if she knew how angry and unhappy I get．”
In all the four New England families studied, the older women disliked the numerous phone calls and visits from their grown daughters, who often turned to the mothers for advice, physical resources, love, and companionship as well as baby-sitting services．“American society keeps increasing the burdens for older people, particularly those in their 50s and 60s,” Dr．Cohler said in an interview here．“They're still working and they're taking care of their grown children and maybe also their aged parents．Sometimes life gets to be too much．”
67．Which of the following is closest in meaning to the expression “pick up the pieces” in the second paragraph?
A．Save a bad situation． B．Put children's toys in their proper places．
C．Gather up pieces of clothing． D．Keep the room in good order．
68．The middle-aged Boston woman ______．
A．expects her mother to cook lunch for her
B．enjoys the room in good order
C．visits an older woman every Saturday
D．works six days a week
69．The passage is mainly about ______．
A．young women's inability to look after their children
B．Grandmothers' attitudes toward helping their grown daughters
C．average American women's family life
D．grandmother should give more help to their daughters
70．From Dr．Cohler's study we may reach the conclusion that ______．
A．daughters should be independent of their old grandmothers
B．grandmother should give more help to their daughters
C．mothers and daughters should support each other
D．daughters should be more considerate toward their mothers
It is natural that children are curious 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 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 sky．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 65 or 75 times a minute．Your heart is a pump 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．
63．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．People of different ages are interested in different things．
D．Men and women are curious about different things．
64．Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____．
A．the earth , the oceans and the sky B．plants and animals
C．man-made things D．ocean water
65．A rock cracks _____．
A．in wet regions B．in dry regions
C．when salty water falls in D．at very high or very low temperatures
66．People are always curious because _____ ．
A．they know little about the world B．they know nothing about the world
C．they can not explain many things D．they want to be scientists
Just at that time, a telegram arrived from his brother．Mr．Jameson opened it quickly．It said, “Come home at once．Your wife is ill and in a critical condition．West End Hospital．”Mr．Jameson began to think．Since the work at the mine was going well, he decided to go home at once．He just told himself again and again that he couldn’t lose his wife, or his life would be meaningless．
At about 6 the next morning, he and one of his assistants reached Lamesa, where they were going to Chicago at 6:30．There was still half an hour left before the train started, so Mr．Jameson decided to telephone to Chicago to ask about his wife．And after that, if still enough time was left he could see a doctor and have the piece of coal or the piece of metal removed out of his eye．His eye and his whole head ached now．
After he sent his assistant to the railway station to buy tickets for the train, he went to make the phone call．When the operator put through his call, he sat down and waited．His eye felt like a piece of hot iron．And he was worried about his sick wife．The phone rang．Soon Mr．Jameson talked with the hospital in Chicago．A voice said, “Yes, sir! Your wife is here．She is much better．There is no danger now．You don’t have to return．”
Everything was all right．His wife was going to live．He would not lose his wife．Quite excited, Mr．Jameson began to cry like a little child and could not stop．Big tears rolled out of his eyes and down his cheeks．Soon his eye felt better．He touched his eye and felt something in the corner of his eye．That was a small piece of coal．His tears had washed it out of his eye!
59．What happened to Mr．Jameson before setting off?
A．He was hurt and couldn’t walk．
B．His eye was suffering from a certain disease．
C．A small piece of coal stuck him in the eye．
D．A piece of metal got into his eye．
60．The writer doesn’t mention but we can infer that Mr．Jameson probably _____．
A．worked in a factory in Chicago
B．worked as a mining engineer in a company
C．was worried about his work on the way to Chicago
D．sold coal in a faraway village
61．How was the coal removed out of Mr．Jameson’s eye?
A．It was taken out by a doctor．
B．A good rest helped it out．
C．He rubbed his eyes slightly．
D．It was washed out by his tears．
62．How can we describe the feeling of Mr．Jameson?
A．Worried ---relaxed B．Excited ---dull
C．Anger---calm．D．Depressed ---nervous．