Three Boys and a Dad
Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home to visit her mother.Expecting a whole day to relax，he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favourite TV talk show on his first day off in months.“This will be like a walk in the park，”he’d told his wife.“I’ll look after the kids，and you can go visit your mom.”
Things started well，but just after eight o’clock，his three little “good kids”—Mike，Randy，and Alex—came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted “breakfast，daddy.”When food had not appeared within thirty seconds，Randy began using his spoon on Alex’s head as if it were a drum.Alex started to shout loudly in time to the beat(节拍)．Mike chanted “Where’s my toast，where’s my toast” in the background.Brad realised his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds.
Life became worse after breakfast.Mike wore Randy’s underwear on his head.Randy locked himself in the bathroom，while Alex shouted again because he was going to wet his pants.Nobody could find clean socks，although they were before their very eyes.Someone named “Not Me” had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes.Brad knew the talk show had already started.
By ten o’clock，things were out of control.Alex was wondering why the fish in the jar refused his bread and butter.Mike was trying to show off his talent by decorating the kitchen wall with his colour pencils.Randy，thankfully，appeared to be reading quietly in the family room，but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands.Brad realised that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible.
At exactly 11∶17，Brad called the daycare centre(日托所)．“I suddenly have to go into work and my wife’s away.Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes？”The answer was obviously “yes” because Brad was smiling.(2012·陕西，B)When his wife left home，Brad expected to________.
| A．go out for a walk in the park |
| B．watch TV talk show with his children |
| C．enjoy his first day off work |
| D．read the newspaper to his children |
Which of the following did Randy do?
| A．Drawing on the wall. | B．Eating apple jam. |
| C．Feeding the fish. | D．Reading in a room. |
Why did Brad ask the daycare centre for help?
| A．Because he wanted to clean up his house. |
| B．Because he suddenly had to go to his office. |
| C．Because he found it hard to manage his boys. |
| D．Because he had to take his wife back home. |
This text is developed________.
| A．by space | B．by comparison |
| C．by process | D．by time |
When Kate's paintings were on show in London，a poet described her paintings as “a ribbon (丝带）around a bomb”．Such comments seem to suggest Kate had a big influence on the art world of her time．Sadly，she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time．
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City，Kate suffered from polio（小儿麻痹症）at the age of seven．Her spine (脊柱)became bent as she grew older．Then，in 1925，her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident．Throughout the rest of her life，the artist had many operations，but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back．However，the accident had an unexpected side effect．While lying in her bed recovering，Kate taught herself to paint．
In 1929，she got married to Diego Rivera，another famous Mexican artist．Rivera's strong influences on Kate's style can be seen in her early works，but her later works from the 1940s，known today as her best works，show less influence from her husband．
Unfortunately，her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and1940s，even in her home country．Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953．For more than a decade after her death in 1954，Kate's works remained largely unnoticed by the world，but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last．What does the underlined phrase “a much bigger name” in paragraph 1 most probablymean?
| A．A far better artist． |
| B．A far more gifted artist． |
| C．A much stronger person． |
| D．A much more famous person． |
The terrible pain Kate suffered was caused by．
| A．polio |
| B．her bent spine |
| C．back injuries |
| D．the operations she had |
Kate's style had become increasingly independent since the．
| A．1930s |
| B．1940s |
| C．1950s |
| D．1970s |
What is author's attitude toward Kate?
| A．Devotion． |
| B．Sympathy． |
| C．Worry． |
| D．Encouragement． |
One dark and stormy night，an elderly man and his wife entered the hall of a small hotel in Philadelphia，hoping to get shelter for the night．
The clerk，a friendly man with a beautiful smile，explained that there were three conferences in town．“All of our rooms are taken，”the clerk said，“but I can't send a nice couple like you into the rain at one o'clock in the morning．Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It's not a suite，but it will be good enough to make you comfortable for the night．”The couple agreed．
As the elderly man paid the bill the next morning，he told the clerk，“You are the kind of person who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States．Maybe someday I’ll build one for you．”The clerk looked at them and smiled．The three of them had a good laugh．
Two years passed．The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the elderly man，asking the clerk to pay him a visit．The elderly man met him in New York，and led him to the corner of the Fifth Avenue and 34thStreet．He then pointed to a great new building there，a reddish stone one with watchtowers thrusting (插入) up to the sky，and told the clerk that it was the hotel he had just built for him to manage．
That wonderful building was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel．And this young clerk whose name was George C．Boldt never foresaw the return of events that would lead him into the manager of one of the world's most attractive hotels．Why did the elderly man build a hotel for the clerk?
| A．He was grateful to the clerk． |
| B．They had a bet at first． |
| C．He wanted to please the clerk． |
| D．He wanted to sell the hotel． |
Which of the statements about the story is NOT true?
| A．The story took place at about one a．m． |
| B．The old couple were too poor to afford a luxurious room． |
| C．The clerk was willing to help those in need． |
| D．The clerk received an unexpected invitation from the old man． |
According to the text，the clerk．
| A．helped the couple because he thought they were poor． |
| B．hoped that the old couple could give him a large amount of money． |
| C．didn't expect to receive things in return from the old couple． |
| D．became rich，thanks to his own efforts． |
Which of the following proverbs suits the story the best?
| A．Every little thing helps． |
| B．Make hay(干草)while the sun shines． |
| C．Accidents will happen． |
| D．One good turn deserves another． |
When we hear of dangerous diseases, cancer and heart disease are often what first comes to mind．Recently, a virus (病毒) called Ebola has reappeared in Guinea (a country in West Africa), killing 62 people so far．It leads to viral hemorrhagic fever, which is characterized by high fever and internal bleeding etc, Ebola can kill 90% of those infected, especially in underdeveloped societies like those in Africa.
Ebola is named after the Ebola River, where it was first discovered in 1976．There are five different types of the Ebola virus, each named after where they first happened: Sudan, Ivory Coast, Restoon, Bundibugyo, and Zaire．The deadliest of the five, Zaire, was responsible for the 2012 outbreak, and is believed to be attacking Guinea.
Ebola is naturally found in fruit bats (果蝠), which pass on the virus to other animals by biting or sucking on (吮吸) their blood．Humans who are suffering from the Ebola infection might have touched the bodily fluids (液体) of the infected animals．Once infected, a human becomes a carrier of the deadly virus.
Since we live in an interconnected world, where the situation in one country can affect us all, the influences of Ebola are huge: damaging trade relations, affecting foreign visitors, and weakening entire countries．Already the Guinea virus is spreading fast with a few cases spotted in Conakry — the capital of Guinea, far away from the origin of the virus．It is feared that the disease may have already reached neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, too.
Unfortunately, there are no disease-specific treatments for Ebola．Healthcare workers only supply the infected people with water to keep them in good condition．Since there have been many cases of nurses catching the disease from patients, they are forced to wear strict protective clothes, and in some cases, not even allowed to get close to the affected．The fact that there is no cure for the Ebola virus is what makes the outbreak a challenging one to control.The news of Ebola in Guinea is mentioned to ________.
| A．make a brief summary |
| B．introduce the topic of the text |
| C．compare Ebola with cancer |
| D．show the latest study of viruses |
What can we learn about Ebola?
| A．It is a newly discovered virus. |
| B．It is the most dangerous virus in the world. |
| C．It was named after where it first happened. |
| D．It could cause immediate death for anyone infected. |
What is mainly described in Paragraph 3?
| A．What the Ebola virus is. |
| B．The influences of Ebola. |
| C．The treatments for Ebola. |
| D．How the Ebola virus spreads. |
Which of the following does the author probably agree with?
| A．Ebola is a highly infectious virus. |
| B．Ebola is now very common in Guinea. |
| C．Those with a fever must be infected by Ebola. |
| D．Females are more easily to be infected by Ebola. |
We need a logo that will be the perfect symbol of our new Wheelsville Skate Park．We would like those of you who are counting the days until the opening of the park to design a proper logo.
LOGO REQUIREMENTS
▪Designs must be original and easy to recognize.
▪They should include no more than two colors in addition to black and white.
▪Artwork should be reproducible at different sizes from business cards to posters.
▪The words “Wheelsville Skate Park” must appear in the logo.
SUBMISSION (提交) DETAILS
▪Competitors are required to be 18 years old or younger.
▪There is no limit to the number of submissions.
▪The name and address of the designer must appear on the back of the logo design.
▪Competitors need to include a one-page written explanation describing the key features of the design.
▪All submissions sent to Wheelsville Skate Park will not be returned.
▪All works must be sent to skateman4x@comlink.com no later than May 15.
▪Files (文件) should be .jpg, .gif, .png, .pict, or Photoshop files.
▪The winning design will be posted on our website at www.wheelsville.skatepark.com on May 20, one week before the opening celebration.
PRIZES
▪First Prize: Digital camera, one-year pass to Wheelsville Skate Park, and two T-shirts with the prize-winning logo.
▪Second Prize: Six-month pass to Wheelsville Skate Park and a T-shirt with the prize-winning logo.
▪Honorable Mention: One free ticket to Wheelsville Skate Park and a T-shirt with the prize-winning logo to two competitors from grades 6–8, and two from grades 9–12.
JUDGES
▪Among the judges are a professional designer, two technology teachers, four local skaters, and three members of Wheelsville Skate Park Board of Directors.
▪The judges’ decisions are final.In Paragraph 1, the underlined part “counting the days” suggests a feeling of ________.
| A．nervousness |
| B．amusement |
| C．excitement |
| D．uncertainty |
Why does the following logo design show a misunderstanding of the rules?
| A．It does not use the full park name. |
| B．It is not as big as it is expected. |
| C．It does not use three colors. |
| D．It just shows a skateboard. |
As the top winner of the activity, you may ________.
| A．win a camera and a free ticket to the park |
| B．get a T-shirt with your own photo on it |
| C．visit the park free of charge for one year |
| D．receive a half-a-year pass to the park |
The text is probably a(n) ________.
| A．news report |
| B．advertisement |
| C．lesson plan |
| D．travel guide |
Harry potter and The Hunger Games haven’t been big hits for nothing．Lots of teens still read quite a lot．But a study shows a clear decrease over time．Nearly half of 17-year-olds say they read for pleasure no more than one or two times a year．That’s way down from ten years ago.
The digital revolution (革命) means there are more platforms (平台) than ever to read on．Jim Steyer has been studying the effect of technology on children．He has four kids and has seen the trend most with his 16-year-old．“I start to see it in our 10-year-old as well, because he is reading less and less, and more and more attracted to some of the digital media platforms that he has access to, and that he didn’t have access to when he was 6 or 7 years old,” he says.
The studies don’t say that kids are reading less because they’re spending more time online．But Steyer is convinced that’s at least part of the answer.
“First of all, most children now have access to e-readers, or other smart electronic devices like phones and tablets (平板电脑),” he says．“And they’re spending time on that．Many reports show the increasing use of new technology platforms by kids．It just strikes me as extremely logical that that’s a big reason.
Researchers want to know more about how teens are spending their time in the digital age．But Kathryn Zickuhr of the Pew Research Center says it’s tricky．If a kid is looking at a book, you may think he or she is reading．But when it comes to looking at a smartphone or tablet, who knows?
“We’ve heard from middle and high school teachers that sometimes the Internet is wonderful for enthusiastic students to do deep research,” says Zickuhr．“But on the other side, obviously there are many distractions on the Internet.”
However, Jim Steyer says, “Kids with parents who read, who buy or take books out of the library for their kids, and who then set time aside in their kids’ daily schedule for reading, tend to read the most — whether it’s on a book, an e-book or some other devices.”What did Jim Steyer see in his four kids?
| A．They tend to read more on electronic devices. |
| B．They created their own digital media platform. |
| C．They improved their reading on electronic devices. |
| D．They have become more addicted to digital media. |
What statement may Kathryn Zickuhr agree to?
| A．Kids are easily distracted on the Internet. |
| B．Most kids pretend to be doing online reading. |
| C．Most kids like to read on a smartphone or tablet. |
| D．Kids rarely use the Internet to do serious research. |
The last paragraph suggests that ________.
| A．parents need to spare time to read for kids |
| B．parents should make a reading plan for kids |
| C．parents can do a lot to encourage more reading |
| D．parents working in a library tend to read the most |
What is the main idea of the text?
| A．What books do teens like to read the most? |
| B．Why aren’t teens reading like they used to? |
| C．How can teens read on electronic platforms? |
| D．When will teens turn to books for fun again? |