My wife Julie and I were out on the road that runs around where we live, when we saw an old worn-out dog stumbling (蹒跚) painfully up the road. We stopped, bent down, talked gently to the dog and patted it. I checked and there was a collar with a phone number. I called but no one answered.
The dog was painfully thin. So Julie ran home to get some of our dog’s food while I tried to encourage the dog. After Julie came back, we sat down on the sidewalk while our new friend made short work of the food. Eventually we got her home.
After trying for many times we got a response from the number. A lady came around with a bunch of flowers for us. She explained that Tara had been her father’s dog. She was very old and got lost that morning. So, Tara was safely returned home.
Here is the truth of the story:
Actually Julie and I were out that morning because I was leaving. She was trying to persuade me to come back, but I wasn’t hearing anything that made that sound likely.
I was about to turn and go when an old black dog walked between us and almost fell down. Suddenly we had something more important than our problem to worry about. There was a creature in need right before us and we had to work together to help it.
We did help it. And here I am writing the story in my own home, in my own family.
In the song “Love Is Not a Fight” Warren Barfield talks about marriage. At one point he sings, “And if we try to leave, may God send angels (天使) to guard the door.”
Sometimes angels come disguised (伪装) as dogs. How was the dog when found?
| A．Too weak to walk. | B．Thin and worn out. |
| C．Unable to eat food. | D．Homeless but gentle. |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that .
| A．the dog didn’t go with the writer |
| B．the writer had his own pet dog |
| C．Julie bought some food for the dog |
| D．the dog didn’t eat any of the food |
The underlined part “our problem” in the passage refers to the fact that .
| A．the writer didn’t want to take Julie’s advice |
| B．an old black dog appeared in front of them |
| C．Julie disagreed with the writer’s travel on business |
| D．the couple had some trouble with their marriage |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．An Angel Dog | B．A Helpful Couple | C．Saving the Dog | D．A Famous Song |
It would be very exciting to be a reporter on a newspaper. As soon as a reporter’s boss gives him a story to write, the reporter is on the job. He keeps his mind on what he is going to do. He does not begin writing the story until he knows what he should find out. He must know why he should write the story.
At times a reporter must search hard to find all of the facts he needs for a story. The facts may not be right under his nose. To find the facts, he has to recognize important details. While gathering information for a story, he asks himself questions：Should I use this information? Is this an important fact?
A reporter writes the story as fast as he can, so it can go right away into the newspaper. The story also needs a headline, which tells very quickly what the news story is about and is printed bigger and blacker than the rest of the news story.
Every big newspaper has many reporters，because many stories are needed in the newspaper. Would you like to be one？A reporter writes the story as fast as possible because ________________.
| A．he wants it to go into the newspaper quickly |
| B．people prefer to buy today’s newspaper |
| C．he wants to have a rest |
| D．he is good at writing it |
Which statement is true according to the passage?
| A．Being a reporter is a tiring job. |
| B．It is easy for a reporter to find the facts. |
| C．The headline must tell the details of the news story. |
| D．A reporter begins to write when knowing what he should find out. |
Which is the writer’s opinion?
| A．A reporter’s boss is usually very hard to his men. |
| B．The job of a newspaper reporter is exciting but not easy. |
| C．Everyone can write a good news story. |
| D．No one likes to be a reporter. |
The passage is about ______________.
| A．the job of a news reporter |
| B．big newspapers in the world |
| C．how to write the headline of all articles |
| D．how to gather information for a news story |
Knowing about yourself not only means finding out what you’re good at and what you like, but also means discovering what you’re not good at and what you don’t like. Both help you to see your aim （目标）in life.
Although most students would be unhappy if they failed a very difficult physics examination, they have in fact learned a lot about themselves. They know that they should not become engineers or physical scientists. So failing can help a student to live a happier life if he learns something from it. They may then decide on their aims and choose the work they like and are fit for.
It is impossible to decide whether you like something until you have tried it. If you decide to play the piano, you need to take more than one lesson before knowing whether you are really interested in it or able to do well. It is not enough if you want to be a great pianist. You also have to like the hard practice and long training. If you enjoy being a great pianist but hate the work, forget it.
It’s a good plan to try as many ideas as possible when you are young. Then you will find out what your true interests are. If you say you really know yourself,_______________.
| A．you know what you don’t like |
| B．you know what you are good at |
| C．you have no interest in your work |
| D．you’ve got the whole picture of yourself |
Failing can turn into something good ______________.
| A．if you have aim in life |
| B．if your decision is fight |
| C．if you lead a happier life |
| D．if you learn something from it |
What can we learn from the second paragraph?
| A．Failure is a better mirror |
| B．Success is more helpful |
| C．No one is fit for the job of a physical scientist |
| D．Physics can help students live a better life |
There are 67 counties in the state of Alabama．Each county is rich with history and its own unique stories．Colbert County, located in the northwest corner of the state, has its share of exciting stories and claims to statewide fame．The county was created on February 6, 1867, and Tuscumbia became the county seat（the town in which the offices of the county government are located）．
One of the most famous residents of Tuscumbia was Helen Keller．Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880．Her home was a white frame cottage built by her grandparents．Since ivy（常春藤）grew everywhere, the house was called Ivy Green．It was here, at the water pump in the backyard, that Keller learned the word “w-a-t-e-r” with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan．Visitors to Ivy Green can walk under boxwood trees that are 150 years old．The home has furniture that the Keller family used．It also has Keller’s Braille（盲文）books and her original Braille typewriter．
Spring Park is Tuscumbia’s most popular park and favorite tourist attraction．This park has the world’s largest manufactured waterfall called Coldwater Falls．The Spring Park Light and Water Show is an amazing sight to see．It takes place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at sundown．The water appears to dance to music and colored lights．The music played during the show is recorded by singers and musicians from Alabama．
Fame Recording Studios is in the city of Muscle Shoals in Colbert County．The studio is the first successful recording studio in Alabama．It is best known for creating “Southern rock,” “Southern soul,” and “county soul．” Well-known performers like Aretha Franklin and musical groups such as Alabama and Lynyrd have made recordings at this studio．
Visitors can continue to explore music in Alabama by visiting the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia．Built in 1990, this site recognizes the musical talents of more than 500 Alabama residents in a wide variety of musical styles, including country and rhythm and blues．
Truly, Colbert County has a lot of wonderful locations to visit．Guests will not be disappointed in a visit to this delightful place．Which of the following is TRUE about Alabama and music?
| A．Alabama musicians have established exhibits for visitors． |
| B．There are a great many talented musicians in Alabama． |
| C．Music is the most important industry in Alabama． |
| D．Alabama residents enjoy listening to music． |
How many locations related to music in Colbert County are mentioned in the text?
| A．1． | B．2． | C．3． | D．4． |
The author writes the text mainly to persuade the reader __________．
| A．to learn from Helen Keller |
| B．to visit businesses in Alabama |
| C．to stop for a visit in Colbert County |
| D．to listen to Southern styles of music |
The text is most probably taken from __________．
| A．a story book | B．a book review |
| C．a personal diary | D．a travel magazine |
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NEMS |
NEWRI Environmental Master of Science |
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| NEWRI: Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute |
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| Be a leader in environmental science and engineering through the NEMS programme |
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| NEWRI Environmental Master of Science （NEMS） is a primary graduate education and research programme conducted by Nanyang Technological University’s （NTU’s）NEWRI, with summer attachment at Stanford University．It aims to train engineers and scientists to meet the increasing environmental challenges for Asia and the wider region． |
NEWRI-Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute NEWRI is enabling Singapore to be a global center of environmental science and technology in providing technological solutions to the world．It is committed to environmental and water technologies through its ecosystem of education, research and developmental activities． NEWRI is trying its best to pull together NTU’s water and environment-related centers and institutes, gathering one another’s strengths for the benefit of industry and society． |
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| Master of Science Applications ● Applications open now and close on 30 May 2013 for Singapore applicants． ● Graduates having relevant engineering or science background, including final-year students, are invited to apply． ● Applicants are required to have a certificate of GRE． Further information and application materials are available at the Website: http:// www．Cee．ntu．edu．sg/Graduate/NEMS |
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| Highlights of Programme: ★ Students spend a full summer term at Stanford taking regular courses and continue with the rest of their academic programme at NTU． ★ It is a 12-month full-time course in environmental science & engineering． ★Students under NEMS will have opportunities to do research projects under NEWRI as well as to continue for the Doctor’s degree． ★ Graduating students receive the NTU degree and a certificate from Stanford for their summer attachment． |
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| Scholarship for tuition grants and living expenses at both Stanford and NTU are available |
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| Enquiry contact: Ms Christian Soh Tel：（65） 6861 0507 Fax:（65） 68614606 Email: nems@ntu．edu．sg Information on other graduate programmes available at： www．ntu．edu．sg/cee/program/postgrad．asp |
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If one wants to apply for the NEMS programme, it is essential for him to __________．
| A．make contact with Ms Soh |
| B．have passed the GRE test |
| C．possess a university diploma |
| D．major in engineering or science |
Students admitted to the NEMS Programme __________．
| A．are required to obtain a Doctor’s degree |
| B．will first have regular courses at Stanford |
| C．needn’t be released from their regular jobs |
| D．can receive degrees of both NTU and Stanford |
What’s the main purpose of the NEMS programme?
| A．To offer scholarship for tuition grants and living expenses． |
| B．To strengthen the cooperation between NTU and Stanford． |
| C．To introduce Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute． |
| D．To train experts on environmental science and engineering． |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．30 May 2012 is the deadline for NEMS application． |
| B．Applicants for NEMS should have relevant work experience． |
| C．Other centers and institutes for environmental and water technologies also exist in NTU |
| D．Singapore is the global center of environmental science and technology． |
A study of more than five million books, both fiction and non-fiction, has found a marked decline in the use of emotional words over time．The researchers form the University of Bristol used Google Ngram Viewer, a facility for finding the frequency of terms in scanned books, to search for more than 600 particular words identified as representing anger, dislike, fear, joy, sadness and surprise．
They found that almost all of the categories showed a drop in these “mood words” over time．Only in the category of fear was there an increase in usage．
“It is a steady and continuous decrease,” said Dr Alberto Acerbi．He assumed that the result might be explained by a change in the position occupied by literature, in a crowded media landscape．“One thing could be that in parallel to books the 20th century saw the start of other media．Maybe these media — movies, radio, drama, had more emotional content than books．”
Although both joy and sadness followed the general downwards trend, the research, published in the journal PLOS One, found that they also exhibited another interesting behaviour：the ratio （比率） between the two varied greatly, apparently mirroring historical events．
During the Roaring Twenties the joy-to-sadness ratio reached a peak that would not occur again until before the recent financial crash．But the ratio plunged at the height of the Second World War．Nevertheless, the researchers held a reserved opinion about their claim that their result reflected wider social trends．In the paper, they even argue that the reverse could be true．
“It has been suggested, for example, that it was the suppression （压抑） of desire in ordinary Elizabethan English life that increased demand for writing ‘filled with romance and sex’… perhaps,” they conclude, “songs and books may not reflect the real population any more than catwalk models reflect the average body．”The word "decline" （paragraph 1） is closest in meaning to_________．
| A．increase | B．rise | C．decrease | D．change |
A study of more than five million books indicated a decrease in “mood words” over time except_______．
| A．in the use of the words of historical events |
| B．in the category of fear |
| C．in the category of literature |
| D．in the category of joy |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．A study of emotional words． |
| B．A study about vocabulary in literature． |
| C．Reasons for the use of emotional words decreases in literature． |
| D．A study on increase in the category of fear． |