An idea that started in Seattle's public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same tome.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起)the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book " project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.
In Chicago, the mayor(市长)appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.
The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致)can be achieved .Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point ,putting all their energy
And passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
Ultinatel was Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process. or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word. What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?
| A.To invite authors to guide readers. |
| B.To encourage people to read and share. |
| C.To involve people in community service. |
| D.To promote the friendship between cities. |
Why was it difficult for New Yorkers to carry out the project?
| A.They had little interest in reading. |
| B.They were too busy to read a book. |
| C.They came from many different backgrounds |
| D.They lacked support from the local government |
According to the passage, where would the project be more easily carried out?
| A.In large communities with little sense of unity |
| B.In large cities where libraries are far from home |
| C.In medium-sized cities with a diverse population |
| D.In large towns where agreement can be quickly reached |
The underlined words “shared a word” in Paragraph 5 probably mean
| A.exchanged ideas with each other |
| B.discussed the meaning of a word |
| C.gamed life experience |
| D.used the same language |
According to Nacy, the degree of students of the project is judged by
the careful selection of a proper book
the growing popularity of the writers
C. the number of people who benefit from reading.
D. the number of books that each person reads.
The Elysee Palace in France enjoys equal popularity in the world with the Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, the Kremlin in Russia as well as the White House in the U. S. It is the residence of the president of the French Republic and the symbol of the supreme authority in France.
The Elysee palace, with an area of 11,000 square metres, is at the eastern end of the Champs Elysee in the city of Paris proper and backed by a large and peaceful garden of more than twenty thousand square metres. Its main building, quite handsome and graceful, is a two-story classical stone architecture of European style, and beside it are two side buildings facing each other and with an extensive rectangular courtyard in the middle. There are altogether 369 halls and rooms of different sizes.
The Elysee Palace, built in 1718, has a ling history of close to300 years to date. This house was at first a private residence of a count named d’Evreau, so it was called Hotel d’Evreau. It had later gone through many changes and its owners had been changed for many times, but all the residents in it were distinguished persons and high officials. The house was renamed Bonaparte Mansion when it was owned by Louis X V and Louis X VI successively when they acted as emperors. Napoleon I signed his act of abdication here when he had suffered defeat in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Nopoleon III moved in the Mansion in 1848 when he was elected president, and the house became a Royal Palace when he declared himself as emperor. The Third French Republic issued a decree in 1873, appointing officially the Elysee Palace as the residence president of the French Republic. Over the hundred years since then, almost all the president of the French Republic worked and lived there. Starting from 1989, the Elysee Palace is open to the public every year in September on the French Castles Day.The number of the buildings of the Elysee Palace is ______.
| A.3 | B.4 | C.5 | D.6 |
Why does the writer mention the Buckingham Palace?
| A.To tell us it’s very famous in the world |
| B.To tell us the Elysee Palace is as large as it. |
| C.To show that the Elysee Palace is also a symbolic building. |
| D.To show that it is also the living place of the president. |
What’s the purpose of the passage?
| A.To tell us the long history of the Elyseee Palace. |
| B.To make an introduction of the Elysee Palace. |
| C.To show the political importance of the Elysee Palace. |
| D.To explain how the Elysee Palace became the residence of presidents. |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A.The time when the Elyusee Palace is open to the public. |
| B.The reason why Napoleon I signed his act of abdication. |
| C.The time when the Elysee Palace became the residence of president of the French Republic. |
| D.The reason why there’s the French Castles Day. |
A student was one day taking a walk with his teacher. As they went along, they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path. They were a poor farmer’s, who was working in the nearby field.
The student turned to the teacher, saying:“we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those trees, and wait to see what he will do”
“My young friend,” answered the teacher, “we should never make fun of the poor. Why not put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch?” The student did so and they both hid themselves behind the trees. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.
After putting on his coat, he put his foot into one of his shoes, and felt something hard. Then he bent down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Surprised, he looked at the coin, turned it around and looked at it again. He then looked around, but no person was seen. He put the money into his pocket, and continued to put on the other shoe. His surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.
He couldn’t control his feelings and fell to his knees, looked up to the sky and expressed his thanks. Then he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without food. He said the help would save them from dying.
The student there deeply moved, and his eyes filled tears.“ Now,” said the teacher, “are you not much happier than if you had hidden the shoes?”When the student saw the shoes, he wanted to____.
| A.steal them | B.find their owner |
| C.play a joke on the owner | D.give the owner some money |
According to the passage, the teacher is______.
| A.quiet and honest | B.kind and friendly |
| C.patient and clever | D.strict and careful |
When the farmer saw the second coin, he___.
| A.was very excited and grateful |
| B.was worried and looked up at the sky |
| C.was surprised and decided to find the owner |
| D.spoke of his difficulties and asked for more help |
At the end of the story, the student____.
| A.was very proud of himself | B.was very pleased with his life |
| C.felt very sorry about his first idea | D.felt sad for not taking his teacher’s advice |
Sometimes people add to what they say even when they don’t talk. Gestures are the “silent language” of every culture. We point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to say.It is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood.
In the United States,people greet each other with a handshake in a formal introduction.The handshake must be firm.If the handshake is weak,it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness.Friends may place a hand on the other’s arm or shoulder.Some people,usually women,greet a friend with a hug(拥抱).
Space is important to Americans.When two people talk to each other,they usually stand about two and a half feet away and at an angle,so they are not facing each other directly.Americans get uncomfortable when a person stands too close.They will move back to have their space.If Americans touch another person by accident,they say “Pardon me” or “Excuse me”.
Americans like to look at the other person in the eyes when they are talking.If you don’t do so,it means you are bored,hiding something,or are not interested.But when you stare at someone,it is not polite.
For Americans,thumbs-up means yes,very good,or well done.Thumbs-down means the opposite.To call a waiter,raise one hand to head level or above.To show you want the check,make a movement with your hands as if you are signing a piece of paper.It is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger(食指).Americans shake their index finger at children when they scold them and pat them on the head when they admire them.
Learning a culture’s body language is sometimes confusing(使糊涂的).If you don’t know what to do,the safest thing to do is to smile.From the first paragraph we can learn that ________.
| A.gestures don’t mean anything while talking |
| B.gestures can help us to express ourselves |
| C.we can learn a language well without body language |
| D.only American people can use gestures |
If you are introduced to a stranger from the USA,you should _______.
| A.greet him with a hug |
| B.place a hand on his shoulder |
| C.shake his hand firmly |
| D.shake his hand weakly |
In the United States,people often ________.
| A.show their friendship by touching each other |
| B.show their friendship by glancing at each other |
| C.say “Pardon me” to each other when they are talking |
| D.get uncomfortable when you stand close to them |
If you talk with an American friend,it’s polite to ________.
| A.look up and down at your friend |
| B.look at the other person in the eyes |
| C.hide your opinion |
| D.look at your watch now and then |
Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how language first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about three thousand languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 years ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even die out completely. About 1,000 years ago English was a little -known relative of German spoken on one of the borders(边界)of Europe.
If a language has a lot of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China cannot understand speakers from other parts.The first paragraph mainly tells us that_______.
| A.most people in the world speak Chinese |
| B.there are thousands of languages in the world today |
| C.man has much knowledge about languages |
| D.some people know several languages |
Many European and Indian languages ______.
| A.will soon die out completely |
| B.were once a relative of English |
| C.are the same as before |
| D.come from the same family |
____ seems to have changed a lot
| A.Chinese | B.English | C.Spanish | D.German |
The best title of this passage is .
| A.English | B.Changes of English |
| C.Chinese | D.Knowledge of Language |
Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services.People use money to buy food, furniture,books,bicycles and hundreds of other things they need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money.
Most of the money today is made of metal(金属) or paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells.
Shells were not the only things used as money. In China , cloth and knives were used. In the Phillipine Islands, rice was used as money for a long time. Elephant tusks,monkey tails and salt were used as money in parts of Africa.
The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the centre.People strung(串联)them together and carried them from place to place.
Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money. The first coins in England were made of tin(锡).Sweden and Russia used copper(铜)to make their money. Later some countries began to make coins of gold and silver.
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money. The first paper money looked more like note from one person to another than the paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money until today.The main use of money is that _________.
| A.people use it to buy things to eat |
| B.people accept money only in exchange for clothes |
| C.people accept money in exchange for goods and service |
| D.people will accept money for giving our goods to others |
What did the first Chinese metal coins look like?
| A.They had square hole in the centre. |
| B.They were just like shells. |
| C.They were round like the moon. |
| D.They were round with a square hole in the centre. |
Who thought of a way to use paper money first?
| A.The Chinese | B.The Russian |
| C.The Sweden | D.The English men |
The best title of this passage should be ________.
| A.The Chinese money | B.The history of money |
| C.Some things about money | D.What is money |