One day a farmer walking along a road with his son Thomas , the father said, “look! There’s a horseshoe, pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn’t worth(值得) the trouble.” His father said nothing but he picked (捡起)it up himself. When they got to nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries(樱桃).
The father and the son continued(继续) their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn’t a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk. At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it, after a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, hid son lost no time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.
And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, “My dear son, if you bent down early to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that he who does not worry about the things will find that he cannot do the great things.”Who picked up the horseshoe at last?
| A．the son | B．The father |
| C．both the father and the son | D．Neither the father or the son |
The farmer bought _____ with the money after he sold the horseshoe.
| A．some bread | B．some water |
| C．some cherries | D．some pennies |
When the son refused(拒绝)to pick up the horseshoe, the father___
| A．beat(打) the son | B．said nothing |
| C．felt very happy | D．became very angry |
The father dropped the cherries one by one, because_____
| A．he wanted to teach his son a lesson. |
| B．he wanted his son to do more exercise. |
| C．he wanted his son to eat them all. |
| D．he wanted to laugh at his son. |
From the story, we can learn that____
| A．cherries are so delicious that most of us like to eat them. |
| B．a horseshoe is so expensive that it can bring us a lot of money. |
| C．if we want to eat cherries, we must pick up a horseshoe. |
| D．if we don’t worry about the little things, we cannot do the great things. |
For hundreds Of years, scientists have been trying to answer what things have an effect on people’s emotions (情感). How you feel is controlled by many things. Your emotions can be affected by your personality, by the actions of others and by events around you. Perhaps you don’t know your emotions can be influenced by the weather as well.
People often say they feel good when the sun is shining and sad when it is cloudy. In fact, sunlight makes us feel good. When sunlight hits our skins, our bodies produce a vitamin. Vitamins are natural chemicals (化学物质) which we all need to stay healthy. Sunlight helps our bodies produce vitamin D. Vitamin D helps our bodies make a special chemical. This special chemical affects our brains (大脑) and makes us feel happy. For example, there are long, dark winters of little sunlight in Sweden and Norway, so many people in these countries often feel sad. Without much sunlight, their bodies produce less vitamin D. Without enough vitamin D, their bodies make less of this special chemical which makes them feel good. To help the people in these countries feel better, special “sunrooms” with artificial (人造的) lights have been built. People can go there and get “sunlight” for an hour or two!
The weather can also affect people’s emotions in other ways. Hot weather can make people angry because people feel uncomfortable when they are hot. In the same way, rain can make people angry because being wet can be unpleasant. As you can see, the weather can have an effect on the chemicals which control our brains. Through these ways, the weather can influence our emotions. Sadly, while the weather can change us, we can hardly change the weather. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a factor (因素) that can affect one’s emotions?
| A．Weather. | B．Actions of others. |
| C．Personality. | D．Age. |
Which of the following is true about vitamin D according to the passage?
| A．It is a kind of artificial chemical. |
| B．It makes us worried by affecting our brains. |
| C．It is needed by us all to keep fit. |
| D．It is in the sunlight. |
What can we infer (推断) from the passage?
| A．We feel good when we are in the bright cool weather. |
| B．We will be happy when we are caught in the rain. |
| C．All people in Norway and Sweden feel sad in winter. |
| D．The more vitamin D you have, the happier you’ll be. |
What may be the best title for this passage?
| A．Why Do We Feel Sad? |
| B．The Weather Influences People’s Emotions |
| C．People Need More Vitamin D |
| D．We Can Hardly Change the Weather |
Have successful people ever felt sad? Do they have any “secrets” to success? The answers to these questions can be found in US president Barack Obama’s “back to school” speech. Here is an excerpt(摘录) from his speech.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work—that your ticket to success is through rapping (饶舌音乐) or basketball or being a TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. Not all the homework will seem completely important to your life right this minute. And you may not succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was turned down 12 times before it finally came out. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots (投篮) during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures beat you—you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.
No one’s born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit(承认) when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged (泄气), and you feel like other people have given up on you—don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.Why does Barack Obama mention (提到) JK Rowling and Michael Jordan in the fourth paragraph?
| A．To compare these two famous persons. |
| B．To explain that writing and sports are difficult skills. |
| C．To show that the two persons were treated unfairly. |
| D．To prove that failure is the mother of success. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．No one can be successful without working hard. |
| B．Failure can be good if you treat it in a right way. |
| C．Those who believe in themselves shouldn’t ask others for help. |
| D．One should try his best to make his dream come true. |
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
| A．One should change his mind when others give honest advice to him. |
| B．One should believe in himself no matter what difficulty he is faced with. |
| C．One doesn’t have to work hard when he has failed several times. |
| D．One doesn’t have to take others’ advice when they get away from him. |
Cats are the most popular pets among Americans. So it is not surprising that there are a lot of expressions about cats. Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries (金丝雀). If someone looks very proud and satisfied with himself, we say “he looks like the cat that ate the canary.”
Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches. So if you “play cat and mouse” with someone, it means that you change between different kinds of behavior when dealing with another person. For example, a girl might offer something sweet to her little brother and then take it away when he reaches for it.
Americans might say that something is “the cat’s miaow” or “the cat’s pajamas(睡衣)” to describe something that is the best or finest. “A copycat” is someone who acts just like someone else or copies another person’s work. “A fat cat” is a person with a lot of money.
If you tell about something that is supposed to be a secret, we say you “let the cat out of the bag”. If you are not able to speak or answer a question, someone might ask you if “the cat has got your tongue(舌头)”
Have you ever watched children in a classroom when their teacher leaves for a few minutes? “When the cat’s away, the mice will play” means people sometimes act badly when there is no supervision (监管).
You may have heard the expression “curiosity killed the cat”. This means caring too much about things that are not your business might cause problems.
If you have ever had cats as pets, you know it is difficult to train them or to get them to do something. Cats are not like Sheep or cows that can be moved in a group. So we say a difficult or impossible job is like “herding (放牧) cats “What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The expression “a fat cat” is used to describe someone who is very fat. |
| B．The expression “play cat and mouse” usually means “play tricks on others”. |
| C．It is more difficult to keep sheep or cows than cats. |
| D．There are more expressions about cats than those about dogs. |
In which of the following situations do we most probably use the expression “curiosity killed the cat”?
| A．Someone always asked a lady her age or weight and it made her angry. |
| B．Someone promised to keep a secret but he failed to do so. |
| C．Someone won the first prize in an English singing competition and he felt very excited. |
| D．Someone tried to swim across the Yangtze River with his newly broken legs. |
Where can you most probably find the passage?
| A．In a scientific research paper about cats. |
| B．On a website telling people how to keep cats. |
| C．In a magazine telling various jokes and funny stories. |
| D．In a language book that teaches students how to use American slang. |
A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow (乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain (笔试).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge (挑战). The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments (评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended (假装) not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick? “
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride (自大) ! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life...”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.What’s the correct order of the following events?
a. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.
b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.
c. The crow had to ask the swan for help.
d. The swan accepted a challenge of performing flying tricks.
| A．a, d, b, c | B．a, b, d, c | C．d, a, c, b | D．d, c, a, b |
What does the underlined word “exhausted” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Tired. | B．Bored. | C．Nervous. | D．Frightened. |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．The early bird catches the worm. |
| C．No pains, no gains. | D．Pride goes before a fall. |
1990 was a significant year in world enents. In Febbruary, Nelson Mandela was set free after 27 years in prison. In October, East and West Germany became one country again. Then at the end of 1990, the World Wide Web was born. For this final event we have one man to thank, Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Web.
Berners-Lee was born on June 8, 1955 in London, England. His parents, both computer designers, encouraged him to think and work creativelhy as he grew up. He was an excellent student and naturally took an interest in computers and science.
After graduating from Oxford University, Tim went to work at a science research centre in Sfwitzerland. There be developed some of the different systems that would later become the Web. The first was HTML, the computer language used to make web pages. The second was an address system that let computers anhywhere find each other and send and receive information. In 1990, while still at the science centre in Switzerland, he put them together to make the first Internet browser. It could run on any computer and allowed people to create share their information with the rest of the world.
Tim knew that the more people used the Web, the more useful it would be. He wasn’t interested in money but knowledge, so he gave out his invention for free to anyone who was interested. Many were interested and the growth of the Internet began.
Today Tim works as a professor at the MIT in America, researching new and interesting ways to use the Web. He has received many awards from governments and organizations for his efforts. He is still not very interested in money. That is why he is so admired by his students and workmates. It may also be one of the reasons that few people outside the world of technology know his name. The underlined word “significant” (in Paragraph 1) most probably means “” .
| A．strange |
| B．terrible |
| C．important |
| D．difficult |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．The address system was used to make make web pages. |
| B．The World Wide Web was created in Swizerland. |
| C．The fist web browser was very expensive to buy |
| D．Many people could use the Internet before 1990 |
What can we learn about Berners-Lee from the passage?
| A．He was encouraged to be creative. |
| B．He didn’t do well at school. |
| C．He is a very poor businessman. |
| D．He is well-known all over the world. |
Where does Berners-Lee live today?
| A．England. |
| B．Switzerland. |
| C．America. |
| D．Canada. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The events that took place in 1990. |
| B．The history of the Internet. |
| C．The invention of the Internet browser. |
| D．The man who created the World Wide Web. |