How many of us have heard that question, "Where was GOD when the World Trade Center(世贸中心) and the Pentagon(五角大楼) were attacked?" Well, I know where my GOD was the morning of September 11, 2001, and He was very busy!
He was trying to discourage anyone from taking these flights. Those four flights together held over 1000 passengers and there were only 266 aboard.
He was on 4 commercial flights giving frightened passengers the ability to stay calm. Not one of the family members who were called by a loved one on one of the hijacked(被劫持的) planes said that passengers were screaming in the background. On one of the flights he was giving strength to passengers to try to overtake the hijackers.
He was busy trying to create obstacles(阻碍) for employees at the World Trade Center. After all, only around 20,000 were at the towers when the first jet hit. Since the buildings held over 50,000 workers, this was a Miracle in itself. How many of the people who were employed at the World Trade Center told the media that they were late for work or they had traffic delays.
He was holding up 2-110 story buildings so that 2/3 of the workers could get out. I was so amazed that the top of the towers didn't fall when the jets crashed. And when they did fall, GOD made them fall inward, as many more lives would have been lost.
So when anyone asks, "Where was your GOD on September 11," you can say "everywhere"! And yes, although this is without a doubt the worst thing I have seen in my life, I see God's miracles in every bit of it. I can't imagine going through such a difficult time and not believing in GOD – life would be hopeless. So shines a good deed in a weary world!In what way the author tried to prove his point in the passage?
| A．By telling a story. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By answering questions. | D．By performing experiments. |
Which one of the following is TURE according to the passage?
| A．There were three planes together hijacked in the attack. |
| B．The passengers on the planes were not frightened at all. |
| C．Many people working at WTC were delayed by traffic jams on Set. 11. |
| D．Many more people were killed in the buildings than we could imagine. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “Miracle” in the context?
| A．something funny | B．something important |
| C．something reliable | D．something unbelievable |
Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage?
A. Everyone has a GOD.
B. Where was the GOD?
C. Never forget September 11.
D. September 11 – A Disaster To America.
When couples get married, they usually plan to have children. Sometimes, however, a couple can not have a child of their own. In this case, they may decide to adopt(收养) a child. In fact, adoption is very common today. There are about 60 thousand adoptions each year in the United States alone. Some people prefer to adopt infants, others adopt older children, some couples adopt children from their own countries, and others adopt children from foreign countries. In any case, they all adopt children for the same reason ---- they care about children and want to give their adopted child a happy life.
Most adopted children know that they are adopted. Psychologists（心理学家） and child-care experts generally think this is a good idea. However, many adopted children or adoptees have very little information about their biological parents. As a matter of fact, it is often very difficult for adoptees to find out about their birth parents because the birth records of most adoptees are usually sealed. The information is secret so no one can see it. Naturally, adopted children have different feelings about their birth parents. Many adoptees want to search for them, but others do not. The decision to search for birth parents is a difficult one to make. Most adoptees have mixed feelings about finding their biological parents. Even though adoptees do not know about their natural parents, they do know that their adopted parents want them, love them and will care for them.According to the passage, some couples adopt children because_________
| A．They care a lot about children. |
| B．They need looking after in their old age. |
| C．They want to enrich their life experience. |
| D．They want children to keep them company. |
Why is it difficult for adoptees to find out about their birth parents?
| A．They are usually adopted from distant places. |
| B．Their birth parents often try to conceal（隐瞒）their birth information. |
| C．Their birth information is usually kept secret. |
| D．Their adoptive parents don’t want them to know their birth parents. |
Adoptees find it hard to make the decision to search for their birth parents, because____
| A．They generally hold bad feelings towards their birth parents. |
| B．They do not want to hurt the feelings of their adoptive parents. |
| C．They are fully aware of the expenses(费用) involved in the search. |
| D．They have mixed feelings about finding their natural parents. |
What does the underlined word “infants” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean?
| A．teenagers | B．babies over 2-year old |
| C．new babies | D．persons under the age of 18 |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Early adoption makes for closer parent-child relationship. |
| B．Most people prefer to adopt children from overseas. |
| C．Understanding is the key to successful adoption. |
| D．Adoption has much to do with love. |
Parents have widely different views on the problem of pocket money. Four new fathers were asked this question and this is how they answered.
Ashish Khanna: Although many argue that pocket money helps develop children’s sense of value, I don’t agree. I wouldn’t give my child any pocket money. First of all, I never got pocket money and I seem to have a good value for money. If my child ever needed something and I felt it was a reasonable（合理）request , I would buy it for him .
Sharad Sanghi: No, I wouldn’t give my child pocket money because I don’t want to create the perception（观念） of “ her ” money and “ my ” money . Besides, if I refuse to buy her something that I think is bad for her, she may buy it with her pocket money on the sly. In this way, I would lose control over my child’s requests. I feel it also encourages children to care more about money than anything else. I don’t want my child to start judging(评判) other children by the amount of money or pocket money they have.
Rakesh Shah: Yes, I would give my child pocket money. I feel that children should learn to spend money intelligently and not go overboard spending. They will learn what their limitations（限制）are and feel the difficulty when they have to pay for something that is over their own pockets .
Rajiv Patel: Yes, I would give my child pocket money because it is important that she learns to manage money. I will give her a fixed amount every month and if she spends the money before the month is over, then she will learn a lesson and not spend money so freely.
Vikram Desai: Yes, I would certainly give my child pocket money. But I would not give it to him on a weekly or monthly basis. He would have to earn it. If he helped me finish some of my jobs or helped his mother with housework, I would reward him. This helps him realize that “money does not grow on trees” and it requires hard work to earn money.Ashish Khanna may agree that ____________.
| A．he was given too much pocket money when young |
| B．he can take much control of his child by money |
| C．he will buy anything he thinks his child really needs |
| D．pocket money helps children develop a good value for money |
The underlined phrase “on the sly” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ___.
| A．for free | B．at a lower price |
| C．happily | D．secretly |
What do Rakesh Shah and Rajiv Patel have in common?
| A．They want their children to learn to manage money. |
| B．They ask their children to get pocket money by working. |
| C．They teach their children the difficulty of making money. |
| D．They allow their children to spend money freely. |
According to Vikram Desai, children’s earning money by themselves makes them know that ____.
| A．money is not easy to get |
| B．money can be gotten from the trees |
| C．one can get lots of money if he / she works hard |
| D．money is not so important for people nowadays |
Who would give his child pocket money every month ?
| A．Ashish Khanna | B．Sharad Sanghi |
| C．Rakesh Shah | D．Rajiv Patel |
Dear friend,
For the past 17 years, you have been my best friend. I remember that you told me you were called Cigarette because of your features. You have seen me through difficult times, happy times and just about every stage of my life. You have always been here when I need you. Some of my family and friends didn’t like you so much, but I’ve always been on your side. I thought you were a great friend, and I counted on you at all times, especially when I was not very happy.
It’s hard for me to tell you this, but in the past few months, I have been seriously thinking about ending our relationship. I think that I‘ve just been too dependent on you, and I feel that at the age of 35 I should start being more independent. I thought about just maybe seeing you once in a while, but I don’t think that would work. Eventually, I’d start relying on you all the time again. I feel the only way to end our relationship is to end it forever.
I’ve always included you in everything I’ve done. But next week, I’m going on a trip, and I’ve decided not to take you along. I feel this would be a good time to break up. I will be gone for a whole week without you and if I can make it on my own for that week, I know I can make it forever.
It is a little sad for me knowing that I won’t be able to rely on you any more, but I think I will be a better person in the end.By writing the letter, the author wants to ______.
| A．say goodbye to his girlfriend |
| B．tell his friendship with Cigarette |
| C．tell his travelling plan |
| D．give up smoking |
The underlined phrase “counted on” in the first paragraph can be replaced by “_______”.
| A．worried about | B．cared for |
| C．depended on | D．got along well with |
According to the passage, the “letter-receiver” _______.
| A．is the author’s girlfriend |
| B．has done harm to the author for years |
| C．will feel sad when reading the letter |
| D．will never leave the author |
The author decided to take a trip to ______.
| A．get away from his best friend |
| B．relax himself for a while |
| C．reduce his sorrow for the break |
| D．show that he is independent |
Why does the author want to end his relationship with Cigarette?
| A．Because he wants to be more healthy. |
| B．Because they are going through difficult times. |
| C．Because his family and friends no longer like him. |
| D．Because he is going on a trip. |
Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors, cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic(天主教的) school.
After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead，he went to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time，day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.
Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise，little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns(修女)? ”
Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ”
“Well then,” she asked again，“WHAT was it?”
Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed(钉) to the plus sign, I knew they weren’t joking. ”Tommy’s mother felt surprised that his son____.
| A．was still the same as usual |
| B．ate so much at dinner |
| C．kissed her hello after school |
| D．worked hard but said little |
The underlined phrase “hitting the books” means “_______” in Chinese.
| A．用功 | B．捶书 | C．发泄 | D．振作 |
The last sentence in the passage shows that____.
| A．Tommy felt sorry for the man |
| B．Tommy was afraid of being nailed |
| C．Tommy didn’t like the plus sign |
| D．Tommy liked playing jokes on others |
From the passage, we can infer that____.
| A．teachers should be strict with their students |
| B．mistakes might do good sometimes |
| C．a catholic school is much better than other ones |
| D．nuns are good at helping children with their math |
“Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren’t joking.” We know that “the man” here is_____________
| A．one of Tommy’s classmates | B．a nun |
| C．Jesus Christ (耶稣基督) | D．a teacher |
This is not a typical summer camp. Michelle Pawlaw and eight other teenage girls are participating in the three—day camp offered by the Arlington County Fire Department located just outside Washington. Firefighter Clare Burley is in charge of the program, who said the purpose is to try to get young women interested in considering the fire service as a career.
The free-of-charge, overnight camp is designed to let the girls experience what firefighters do to protect the community. That includes some rigorous activities such as moving a fire victim. “I didn’t think I could pull that 170 pound body with a friend, but I was actually able to do it.” she said.
They take classes and learn how to climb the ladder on a fire truck, operate emergency tools and rescue an injured person. They also do their share of cleaning the firehouse and the equipment.
“Every week without fail on a Saturday, the job is to wash all the equipment. And we wanted the girls to see this is what we do. This is a typical day in a firehouse,” she said.
Firefighting is still a male-dominated service, but Burley says with 22 women on its force of 320 the Arlington County Fire Department is above the national average of 4.5 percent. She joined the department seven years ago.
“We do everything that the guys do to the same standard. We are tested to the same standard. We are expected to operate at the same standard,” she said.
Most of the girls say they had never thought about becoming a firefighter. but the camp was a great learning experience.” I think it is definitely not a job that only men can do. Women can do it just as well as men can,” said Michelle Pawlaw.What’s the purpose of the summer camp?
| A．To tell the girls how to put firefighting knowledge into practice. |
| B．To teach the girls what to do when caught in fire. |
| C．To provide the girls with a typical summer camp. |
| D．To attract more girls to take firefighting as a career. |
What can we infer from Paragraph 5?
| A．Arlington County Fire Department is in the lead in employing women firefighters. |
| B．Arlington County Fire Department is the first to employ women firefighters. |
| C．More and more women are ready to join the fire department. |
| D．No women ever want to perform the firefighting service. |
What can we infer from Michelle’s words in the last paragraph?
| A．She has determined to join the firefighters in the future. |
| B．She will persuade her fellow students to join in the camp. |
| C．She realizes that women can also be good firefighters. |
| D．She decides that she’ll join in the camp again later. |
What can we learn about the summer camp according to the passage?
| A．American fire departments often hold such events. |
| B．It is offered by Arlington County Fire Department. |
| C．The girls spent their night in the summer camp, which lasted 3 days. |
| D．It is very popular among American girl students. |