A HALF - EMPTY BASKET
Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to(属于) a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed(服从) and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting.
"I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he said.
"But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man asked.
"I met your children outside, and they stole(偷) some of the apples."Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man? Because
| A．his farm belonged to the rich man | B．he liked the rich man |
| C．he was poor | D．the rich man’s children liked apples |
What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps?
| A．They jumped and jumped. | B．They played. |
| C．They ate some of the apples. | D．They ran away. |
The monkeys left the basket because
| A．they had thrown apples on the ground |
| B．the farmer had politely asked them to get off |
| C．they were afraid of the hat |
| D．the farmer was angry wit h them |
How did the rich man feel when he saw the basket? He felt .
| A．pleased | B．unhappy | C．excited | D．moved |
Earn Money Online
You can earn money online without any investment or without anytime limit. I have many useful and easy methods for earning easy money while we all spend our useful time on the Internet by surfing, chatting, downloading and other work. There is no need to stop any other work. We can earn with or without our daily routine. Here I tell you the complete method for online earning.
First Method
Earn money with “Bux. to”. You can earn money through “Bux.to” by clicking （敲打）on ads on “Bux. to” site. First you need to open an account at “Bux. to”.
“Bux. To” is a new international and FREE English based service that allows advertisers to reach thousands of potential customers by displaying their ads on our “Surf Ads” page. An exact calculated percentage of all advertising income is paid to our members. “Bux. to” makes money through advertising.
How you make money
You view websites in 30 seconds through the “Surf Ads” page. Once the 30 seconds is up, you’ll either get a green tick sign or a red “x”. The green tick sign means you’ve earned $0.01and the “x” means you have not earned money for the visit. You’ll get red x’s when you have more than one websites from the “Surf Ads” page open. When this happens, you get no credit.
Earnings example
You click 10 ads per day =$0.10
20 referrals(转送) click 10 ads per day =$2.00
Your daily earnings =$2.10
Your weekly earnings =$14.70
Your monthly earnings =$63.00
How to get paid
If you have at least $10.00 accumulated, you can click on your account balance within your states area and it will meet your request. At present, it only makes payments through “AlertPay”. It will soon be using other methods of payment.
AlertPay is the payment processing solution that we use to pay members. Your AlertPay address is the e-mail address you use to register with AlertPay. You can get a free AlertPay account at http:// alertpay. com.
Method 2 will publish soon…What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To tell an interesting story. |
| B．To introduce a surprising way to earn money. |
| C．To present an exciting research. |
| D．To solve a puzzling problem. |
You can earn money by ________.
| A．advertising some products |
| B．choosing green ticks or x’s |
| C．chatting online |
| D．clicking on advertisement |
The underlined word “accumulated” can be replaced by “_________”.
| A．lost | B．gathered | C．wasted | D．spent |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．You’ll earn $0.10 if you click 1 ad. |
| B．Your AlertPay account is not for free. |
| C．You can get your payments through AlertPay. |
| D．You’ll get many green ticks if you have many websites open. |
A new research of 8,000 young people in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily, it is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love (早恋) may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression . The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all.
The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”. According to the study, even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic relationship”, this “loss of self” is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won’t tell that to their parents.
Dr Marian Kaufman, an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.
Parents should watch for signs of depression—eating or mood changes —and if they see signs from their daughters or sons, they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age. Love will always make us feel young, but only maturity gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.Which of the following is more likely to have depression?
| A．Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions. |
| B．Careless parents whose children are deep in love. |
| C．Young people who have a strong sense of selfishness. |
| D．Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Early love makes young people keep close to their friends and parents. |
| B．Parents should help their children to be aware of the signs of depression. |
| C．Lacking love can lead young people to grow up more quickly. |
| D．The older a woman is，the less likely she seems to lose herself in romance. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards puppy love?
| A．Scared | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Confused | D．Disinterested. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．.Romance is a two edged sword for adults. |
| B．.Romance is good for young people. |
| C．Parents should forbid their children’s love |
| D．Puppy love may bring young people depression |
When Nancy Lublin got $5,000 from her grandpa in 1996, she never once considered taking a vacation or paying off student loans .Instead, the 24-year-old New York University law student began thinking about helping low-income women get better jobs. "If a woman goes for a job interview poorly dressed, she won't get the job." Lublin says. “ but without a job, she can't afford suitable clothes."
So with the money Lublin founded "Dress for Success” and began collecting women's clothes which were still in good condition but which their owners no longer needed. "So many women have clothes lying around that they will never wear again," one of Lublin's assistants says "Nancy's idea is so simple and yet so important to women."
Many women come to Lublin's office before going to a job interview. Here, they receive a suit, shoes and any other things they need. Since it was set up, more than 1,000 women have turned to "Dress for Success" for help. Many of them have won jobs. Some have round jobs after being out of work for many years. Jenny, a 32-year-old woman who was recently hired as a law-firm office manager , says, "I made a good impression because of “Dress for Success”What can we learn from the text?
| A．Low-income women can get jobs at "Dress for Success" |
| B．Nancy's office gathers used clothes from women |
| C．Nancy's grandfather lent her the money to set up the office. |
| D．Nancy set up "Dress for Success" to make money. |
"Dress for Success" attracts many women because they_______
| A．prefer buying clothes at a low price |
| B．like to wear different clothes. |
| C．need to look smart when looking for a job. |
| D．like the design of the dresses |
From what Jenny says, we know that ______.
| A．she got a lot of good ideas from Nancy |
| B．"Dress for Success" has a good business relation with her firm. |
| C．clothes from Nancy's office helped to get her a job. |
| D．she is working happily at her present job |
What would be a good title for the text?
| A．Nancy: A Successful Law Student. |
| B． A Helping Hand for Women |
| C．Keep Your Old Clothes |
| D．A Successful Clothing Business |
Here’s a movie-a sharp, sugar-rush of fun that’s guaranteed to entertain the entire family.
With some terrific computer-generated effects, a great cast and a fun-packed storyline, Robots is the best animated film(动画片) since The Incredibles. Yep, it really is that good.
Set in a world populated by robots, Ewan McGregor plays Rodney Copperbottom, a young robot who leaves his small-town home to pursue his dream of becoming an inventor.
But after arriving in Robot City, his hopes of getting a job at Bigweld Industries are destroyed when he learns the firm has been taken over by the evil Ratchet (Greg Kinnear).
Egged on by his controlling mum, Madame Gasket (Jim Broadbent), Ratchet plans to reduce half on Robot City’s citizens to scrap metal by refusing to sell the spare Pans they need to survive.
Instead, he wants to make a fortune selling expensive upgrades that few can afford. As he says, “Why be you when you can be new?”
Aided by a few misfit robots known as the Rustles-including Robin Williams as the cowardly(胆小的) Fender (“I’m made of a metal called Afraidium”)-Rodney must track down the firm’s founder, Bigweld (Mel Brooks), and convince him to save the city from Ratchet’s plans.
The first thing that’ll strike you about the movie is the thought that’s gone into creating Robot City. It’s a wondrous world full of mechanical marvels including wind-up cars and walking streetlamps.
Also terrific are the special effects. This might be animated movie but at times you’ll catch yourself thinking it’s really a live-action film.
Of course, there have been plenty of animated movies that looked the part but were let down by a weak storyline(see Shark Tale, for example).
But Robots grips(扣人心弦)right from the start thanks to a heart-warming and thoroughly engaging plot that never bores.
My only complaints are with Williams who, as usual, has a one-in-10 success rate with his jokes. Also a letdown is a romantic subplot between Rodney and a shapely robot called Cappy (Halle Berry) that doesn’t go anywhere.
Complains aside, this is a mechanical marvel that’ll have you bolted firmly to your seat.
BEST QUOTE(引述)：Fender：“Even though you had a discouraging day, just remember there’s another one coming tomorrow.
BEST BIT：Check out those amazing images.
WORST BIT：Robin Williams’ character does an unfunny Britney Spears dance routine.
IF YOU LIKED…Ice Age, The Incredibles, Toy Story…YOU’LL LIKE THIS.This piece of writing is a _____.
| A．film review | B．commercial advertisement |
| C．movie poster | D．1iterary essay |
The cast of Robots is made up of all the following actors or actresses EXCEPT ______.
| A．Ewan McGregor | B．Britney Spears |
| C．Robin Williams | D．Halle Berry |
What is Shark Tale an example of?
| A．A great cast. | B．Special effects. |
| C．A poor plot. | D．Clumsy animation. |
The writer Margaret Mitchell is best known for writing Gone with the Wind, first published in 1936. Her book and the movie based on it, tell a story of love and survival during the American Civil War. Visitors to the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, Georgia, can go where she lived when she started composing the story and learn more about her life.
Our first stop at the Margaret Mitchell House is an exhibit area telling about the writer’s life. She was born in Atlanta in 1900. She started writing stories when she was a child. She started working as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal newspaper in 1922. One photograph of Ms. Mitchell, called Peggy, shows her talking to a group of young college boys. She was only about one and a half meters tall. The young men tower over her, but she seems very happy and sure of herself. The tour guide explains: “Now in this picture Peggy is interviewing some boys from Georgia Tech, asking them such questions as “would you really marry a woman who works?” And today it’d be “would you marry one who doesn’t?”
The Margaret Mitchell House is a building that once contained several apartments. Now we enter the first floor apartment where Ms. Mitchell lived with her husband, John Marsh. They made fun of the small apartment by calling it “The Dump”.
Around 1926, Margaret Mitchell had stopped working as a reporter and was at home healing after an injury. Her husband brought her books to read from the library. She read so many books that he brought her typewriter and said it was time for her to write her own book. Our guide says Gone with the Wind became a huge success. Margaret Mitchell received the Pulitzer Prize for the book. In 1939 the film version was released. It won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture.The book Gone with the Wind was_______.
| A．written in “ The Dump” |
| B．awarded ten Academy Awards |
| C．first published on a newspaper |
| D．adapted from a movie |
The underlined phrase “tower over” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _________?
| A．be very pleased with |
| B．be much taller than |
| C．show great respect for |
| D．show little interest in |
Why did Ms. Mitchell stop working as a reporter according to the passage?
| A．Because she was rich enough. |
| B．Because she was injured then. |
| C．Because her husband didn’t like it. |
| D．Because she wanted to write books. |
We can know about Margaret Mitchell from the passage that________.
| A．her height made her marriage unhappy |
| B．writing stopped her working as a reporter |
| C．her interest in writing continued as an adult |
| D．her life was full of hardship and sadness |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．An Introduction of the Margaret Mitchell House |
| B．Gone with the Wind: A Huge Success. |
| C．A Trip to Know Margaret Mitchell. |
| D．Margaret Mitchell: A Great Female Writer. |