Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S-shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic Ocean is rich in oceanic liveliness all the time. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.
“Storm at Sea”, a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankind’s earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic Ocean.
When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
To the east must thunder on
Where the bright tree of the sun
Is rooted in the ocean’s breast.
As the poem suggests, the Atlantic Ocean is never dead and dull. It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noise---it is forever thundering, boiling, crashing and whistling.
It is easy to imagine the Atlantic Ocean trying to draw breath----perhaps not so noticeably out in mid-ocean, but where it meets land, its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach. It imitates nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with co-living existences, too: unimaginable quantities of creatures, little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub-ocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is __________.
| A．always energetic | B．lacking in liveliness |
| C．shaped like a square | D．favored by ancient poets. |
The writer uses the poem “Storm at Sea” for the purpose of ___________.
| A．describing the movement of the waves |
| B．showing the strength of the storm |
| C．presenting the power of the ocean |
| D．proving the vastness of the sea |
In the last paragraph, the Atlantic Ocean is compared to ___________.
| A．a beautiful and poetic place | B．a person of blood and flesh |
| C．a world of interest and wonder | D．a lovely animal |
Here are some advertisements taken from a newspaper.
(1) Dear Drew Carter,
Your first year on this earth has been a pleasure ride for all of us. We love you!
Love,
Dad and Mom and many friends.
(2)Lawlis-Clarke
The Doctors Virgil and Marjorie Lawlis are pleased to announce the engagement(订婚) of their daughter Diane Susan to Mr.Robert Brent Clarke,son of Mr.and Mrs.James Clarke of Herford,Texas.
A spring wedding is planned in Houston.
(3) Isbell-Foss
Mr.and Mrs.Davis K.Isbell announce the marriage of their daughter Dang to Mr.Stanley Foss,son of Mrs.John Sipe of Ada,Minnesota.
The wedding will be early April at Abiding Love Lutheran Church.
(4) Story-Kurio
Miss Stephanie Story and Mr.Warren Kurio were married February 5,at half past seven o’clock in the evening at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas,Texas.The bride(新娘) is the daughter of Mr.and Mrs.Herbert Brule Story Jr.of Dallas.The groom(新郎)is the son of Mr.and Mrs.Gerald Stanley Kurio of Austin.What would be the best title for the first advertisement?
| A．We Love You |
| B．Happy 1st Birthday |
| C．One Year Old |
| D．Our One-Year-Old Son |
Lawlis and Clarke are going to get married_________.
| A．in a church |
| B．where Clarke’s parents live |
| C．against their parents’ will |
| D．to Lawlis’s parents’ joy |
Who got or will get married in spring?
| A．Not only Lawlis and Clarke but also Isbell and Foss. |
| B．Neither Lawlis and Clarke nor Isbell and Foss. |
| C．Either Isbell and Foss or Story and Kurio. |
| D．Neither Lawlis and Clarke nor Story and Kurio. |
Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute miles? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human Being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proved it wrong in 1954.
What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when someone, who doesn't know how to swim, falls in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learnt swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal doesn't.
Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. Most people never question it. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam（堵塞） if the operator typed too fast.
These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers command to your nervous system.
I used a snake in my workshops for children to show them how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes are slippery and slimy and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.
Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change?In the author’s opinion, if a person in deep water doesn’t know how to swim, he will drown because______.
| A．he is afraid of water. |
| B．he believes he will drown. |
| C．he hasn’t learnt to swim before. |
| D．he don’t want to live in the world. |
The author thinks that the letters organized in a particular order on your keyboard in order to ______
A. save more space
B. satisfy the operator
C.reduce one’s typing speed
D increase one’s typing speedThe author’s experiment shows that____
| A．snakes are dry and clean |
| B．snakes can be caught easily |
| C．snakes are slimy and poisonous |
| D．snakes in India aren’t poisonous |
According to the passage, we know that_____
| A．students from India have unrealistic beliefs on how to live a better life |
| B．an animal who hasn’t learnt how to swim will drown if you put it in pond. |
| C．most people don’t like the order the letters are arranged on your keyboard |
| D．Roger Banister was the first person who ran a mile in less than four minutes. |
The main idea of this passage should be that______.
| A．Beliefs are very powerful. |
| B．Beliefs make us seem stupid. |
| C．Changing your beliefs now is necessary. |
| D．People should always believe in themselves. |
John Fisher, a builder, and his wife Elizabeth wanted more living space, so they left their small flat for an old 40-meter-high castle tower. They have spent five years turning it into a beautiful home with six floors, winning three architectural prizes.
“I love the space, and being private,” Elizabeth says. “You feel separated from the world. If I am in the kitchen, which is 25 meters above the ground floor, and the doorbell rings, I don’t have to answer it because visitors can’t see I am in!”
There are 142 steps to the top so if I go up and down five or six times a day, it’s very good exercise! But having to carry heavy things to the top is terrible, so I never buy more than two bags of shopping from the supermarket at a time. Except for that, it’s a brilliant place to live.
“When we first saw the place, I asked my father’s advice about buying it, because we couldn’t decide. After paying for it, we were a bit worried because it looked awful. But we really loved it, and knew how we wanted it to look.”
“Living here can be difficult—yesterday I climbed a four-meter ladder to clean the windows. But when you stand on the roof you can see all the way out to the sea on a clear day, and that’s a wonderful experience. I am really glad we moved. ”What is the writer trying to do in the text?
| A．describe how to turn an old tower into a house |
| B．recommend(推荐) a particular builder |
| C．describe what it is like to live in a tower |
| D．explain how to win prizes for building work |
Which of the following best describes Elizabeth’s feelings about the tower?
| A．She wanted it as soon as she saw it. |
| B．She likes most things about it. |
| C．She has been worried since they paid for it. |
| D．She finds it unsuitable to live in. |
What problem does Elizabeth have with living in such a tall building?
| A．Her visitors find it hard to see if she is at home. |
| B．She feels separated from others. |
| C．She cannot bring home lots of shopping at once. |
| D．It is impossible to clean any of the windows. |
How will John and Elizabeth advertise their tower if they sell it?
A． |
B． |
C． |
D． |
Parents whose children show a special interest in a particular sport feel it very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers. Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men and women? For many children it means starting school work very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place. It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing.
Another problem is of course money. In many countries money for training is available from government for the very best young sportsmen and women. If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development—and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc. can all be very expensive.
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age. Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed. Professional trainers, however, believe that it is only by training young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person. It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training.This article is most probably taken from________.
| A．a letter |
| B．an advertisement |
| C．a personal diary |
| D．a newspaper article |
According to the passage, parents whose children show a special interest in a sport_______.
| A．feel uncertain if they should let their children train to be sports men or women |
| B．try to get financial（财务的）support from the government for their children’s training |
| C．have to get medical advice from doctors about training methods |
| D．prefer their children to be trained as young as possible |
The underlined phrase“to take a second place”means_________.
| A．to repeat the activities at some other place |
| B．to become less important |
| C．all things considered, they are of poor quality |
| D．to happen again |
Strange things happen when you travel, because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones. The time difference between two zones is one hour. You can have days with more than twenty-four hours and days with fewer than twenty- four hours. You can have weeks with more than seven days and weeks with fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-trip across the Atlantic Ocean , your ship come into a different time zone every day. As you come into each zone, the time changes one hour. If you travel west, you set your watch back. If you travel east, you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you make a trip by ship across the Pacific Ocean , you cross the International Date Line. This is the point where a new day begins when you cross the line, you change one full day. If you travel east, today becomes yesterday, if you travel west it is tomorrow.Something interesting will happen to the time if you travel because .
| A．a day has always fewer than twenty-four hours |
| B．a day has always more than twenty- four hours |
| C．a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours, |
| D．some time zones are large and some time zones are small |
The time difference between two time zones is .
| A．twenty-four hours | B．one hour |
| C．two hours | D．twenty-three hours |
If we cross the Atlantic Ocean, we .
| A．change one full day | B．set our watch back |
| C．set our watch ahead | D．set our watch back or ahead |
If we travel east across the International Date Line on July 5th, the date becomes July.
| A．3rd | B．4th | C．5th | D．6th |
Which of the following sentences is true?
| A． If we travel around the world, we will get into trouble in telling the time. |
| B．If we travel west across the Atlantic Ocean, we will have twenty-three hours. |
| C． If we travel by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, we will cross the International Date Line. |
| D． If we travel across the Pacific Ocean, today becomes tomorrow. |