The sun is shining when I get on No. 151 bus. We passengers sit jammed together in heavy clothes. No one speaks. That’s one of the unwritten rules of Chicago commuting. Although we see the same faces every day, we prefer to hide behind our newspapers. The phenomenon is striking: people who sit so close together are using those thin sheets of newsprint to keep their distance.
As the bus approaches the Magnificent Mile, a voice suddenly rings out: “Attention! Attention!” Papers rattle (发出细小声). Necks crane (伸长). “This is your driver speaking.”
We look at the back of the driver’s head. His voice has authority.
“All of you put your papers down.”
The papers come down, an inch at a time. The driver waits. The papers are folded and placed on our laps.
“Now, turn and face the person next to you. Go ahead.”
Amazingly, we all do it. Still, no one smiles.
I face an older woman, her head wrapped tightly in a red scarf. I see her nearly every day. Our eyes meet. We wait, unblinking, for the next order from the driver.
“Now, repeat after me…” It is a command, delivered in the tones of a drill sergeant (操练军士). “Good morning, neighbor!”
Our voices are weak and timid. For many of us, these are the first words we have spoken today. But we say them at the same time, like schoolchildren, to the strangers beside us.
We smile and can’t help it. We have said it; the barrier has been broken. Good morning, neighbor. It is not so hard after all. Some of us repeat it. Others shake hands. Many laugh.
The bus driver says nothing more. He doesn’t need to. Not a single newspaper goes back up. I hear laughter, a warm sound I have never heard before on bus No. 151. This day is starting off better than most.On hearing the sudden utterance of “Attention!”, the passengers ___________.
| A．stopped reading and put down their newspapers immediately |
| B．looked up from the newspapers to see who was speaking |
| C．sat still without response |
| D．were frightened |
The underlined word “commuting” in Paragraph 1 most probably means ___________.
| A．daily traveling between home and work |
| B．long-distance ride |
| C．communication technology |
| D．behavior patterns |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The passengers on the crowded bus were so absorbed in reading their newspapers that no one spoke. |
| B．The passengers were physically close together but mentally they kept each other at a terrible distance. |
| C．The passengers didn’t follow the driver’s instruction at first. |
| D．When the bus driver said nothing more, the passengers picked up and read their newspapers again. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The Warmth of Communication | B．The Exchange of Information |
| C．The Power of Observation | D．The Attitude to Loneliness |
Scientists have learned a lot about the kinds of food people need. They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day. They are :(1) green and yellow vegetables of all kinds. ( 2 ) citrus(柑橘)fruits and tomatoes； ( 3 ) potatoes and other fruits and vegetables；( 4 ) meat of all kinds, fish and eggs； (5) milk and foods made from milk ； ( 6 ) bread or cereal (谷类), rice is also in this kind of food ； ( 7 ) butter, or something like butter.
People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things. Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways. People in different countries eat at different times of the day. In some places people eat once or twice a day ； in other countries people eat three or four times a day. Scientists say that none of the differences is really important. It doesn't matter whether foods are eaten raw(生的)or cooked, canned or frozen. It doesn't matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o'clock in the afternoon or at eleven o'clock at night. The important thing is what you eat every day.
There are two problems，then, in feeding the large number of people on earth. The first is to find some ways to feed the world's population so that no one is hungry. The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kinds of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy. According to the scientists, which of the following groups of food is the healthiest for your lunch?
| A．Chicken, apples, cereal and cabbages. |
| B．Potatoes, carrots, rice and bread. |
| C．Oranges，bananas，fish and tomatoes. |
| D．Beef, pork, fish and milk. |
It is important for people to eat __________.
| A．three times a day |
| B．dinner at twelve o'clock |
| C．cooked food all the day |
| D．something from each of the seven kinds of food every day |
People in different countries and different places of the world __________.
| A．have the right kinds of food to eat |
| B．cook their food in the same way |
| C．have their meals at the same time |
| D．eat food in different ways |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People in some places don't have enough to eat. |
| B．There are too many people in the world. |
| C．One of the problems is that no one is hungry. |
| D．The scientists are trying to make people grow to be strong and healthy. |
If there is a Paragraph 4, what do you think is going to be talked about?
| A．When people eat their lunch. |
| B．What to do with the two problems. |
| C．How to cook food in different ways. |
| D．Why people eat different kinds of food. |
Arthur Miller( 1915 - 2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by “the Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system，with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “ burnt out ” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment ： if he can't do the work，then he is no good to his employer，the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this，and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949，the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play，the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award，and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut , on the evening of February 10,2005 , the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway. Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?
| A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country. |
| B．He was attracted by"the Great American Dream". |
| C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist. |
| D．His family business failed. |
The play Death of a Salesman __________.
| A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world |
| B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company |
| C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller |
| D．focuses on the skills in doing business |
What can we learn about Willy Loman?
| A．He treats his employer badly. |
| B．He runs the Wagner Company. |
| C．He is a victim of the American system. |
| D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues. |
After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman __________.
| A．achieved huge success |
| B．won the first Tony Award |
| C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen |
| D．was severely attacked by dramatists |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Arthur Miller and his family. |
| B．The awards Arthur Miller won. |
| C．The hardship Arthur Miller experienced. |
| D．Arthur Miller and his best-known play. |
In the US, elementary and middle schools are advised to give students two and a half hours of physical activity a week. That is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association recommend. They say high schools should provide about four hours of physical activity each week.
Yet many schools across the country have reduced their physical education programs. Criticism of the cuts has led in some places to efforts to give students more time for exercise, not less. The future health of Americans may depend on it. A study reports that life expectancy has fallen or is no longer increasing in some parts of the United States. The situation is worst among poor people in the southern states, and especially women. Public health researchers say it is largely the result of increases in obesity，smoking and high blood pressure. They also blame differences in health services around the country.
In 2006, a study found that only 4% of elementary schools provided daily physical education all year for all grades. This was true of 8% of middle schools and 2% of high schools. The study also found that 22% of all schools did not require students to take any P. E. One problem for P. E. teachers is that schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects.
Also, parents may agree that children need exercise in school. Yet many parents today still have bad memories of being chosen last for teams because teachers favored the good athletes in class.
But experts say P. E. classes have changed. They say the goal has moved away from competition to personal performance, as a way to build a lifetime of activity. These days, teachers often lead activities like weight training and yoga.
Some parents like the idea of avoiding competitive sports in P. E. class. Yet others surely dislike that idea. In the end，schools may find themselves in a no-win situation. The best title of the passage is __________.
| A．Physical education aims for active lives |
| B．The future health of Americans |
| C．22% of all schools in the US don't require students to take any P. E. |
| D．Avoid competitive sports in P. E. |
Which statement is TRUE?
| A．High schools in the US should provide fewer hours of physical activity than that in elementary and middle schools. |
| B．Not all schools in the US have reduced their physical education programs. |
| C．22% of all schools in the US require students to take any P. E. |
| D．8% of middle schools provide daily physical education all year for all grades now. |
The reason why the author gives Paragraph 3 is __________.
| A．to explain schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects |
| B．that students don't like P. E. classes at all |
| C．to support his opinion in Paragraph 2 |
| D．to explain why life expectancy has fallen in some parts of the US |
Paragraph 4 implies __________.
| A．parents may agree that children need exercise in school |
| B．P. E. teachers lay particular stress on competition |
| C．many parents didn't like P. E. class when they were young |
| D．many students spent more time on academic subjects |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means __________.
| A．schools will go on reducing their physical education programs |
| B．schools must listen to different opinions from different parents |
| C．schools will think much of life expectancy |
| D．schools will be trapped in failure or disappointment |
The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was not that we could take drawing classes or painting classes but that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum，she made us read about artists and painting styles. It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?
First we had to read about ancient Egyptians (古埃及人)and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.
On our last visit to the museum，something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother's expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting ！ I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worthwhile looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much. The aim of the mother's plan was to __________.
| A．take them to visit the museum |
| B．introduce them to the world of art |
| C．ask them to read about artists |
| D．show them different painting styles |
What was the writer's experience at the museum before the last visit?
| A．She came to feel her mother's love |
| B．She liked many paintings. |
| C．She hardly enjoyed herself. |
| D．She could understand the pictures of fat babies. |
What made the writer change that summer?
| A．One of Mary's paintings. |
| B．A strange way of painting. |
| C．Artists in the Middle Ages. |
| D．Her mother's instruction. |
From the text, we can see __________.
| A．the importance of curiosity |
| B．the effect of art |
| C．the value of learning |
| D．the power of family education |
The writer and her brother had thought that they could __________ in their summer vacation.
| A．have visited some art museums |
| B．have been to Egypt for a visit |
| C．have taken drawing or painting classes |
| D．have played with their friends |
Pablo Picasso, born in Spain in 1881, was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. Picasso began painting when he was a small child and took advanced art courses when he was only fifteen. Between 1904 and 1947 Picasso lived in Paris. In 1947 he moved to Riviera, in the south of France.
Many people thought Picasso's works were strange and unpleasant. Still，he had a great influence on artists in every country. Today, Picasso is regarded as a genius (天才), and his paintings are in the museums all over the world.
In 1912, Picasso actually invented a new type of art. He painted a picture，then he pasted bits of paper and something else on the picture. This picture of art is called collage(拼贴艺术).
Picasso was not only a painter, he was also a sculptor (雕塑家)and a designer of scenery for plays. There are even some photographs of “ light paintings ” that he created. These paintings were produced by moving a light pencil, or a small flashlight in the air. Although the images could be seen only briefly by anyone watching them happen, the camera was able to catch the images as they occurred.
By the time he died in France in April of 1973 , he had created a staggering 22,000 works of art.
When Picasso was asked how someone could become an artist, he would reply, If you want to draw, you must shut your eyes and sing. After reading the text, we can learn that Picasso was a __________.
| A．French artist |
| B．Spanish artist |
| C．English artist |
| D．Australian artist |
The meaning of the underlined word "pasted" in this text means __________
| A．stuck with |
| B．struck on |
| C．drew |
| D．mixed with |
Which of the following statements best explains the meaning of Picasso's advice about how to become an artist?
| A．Study hard and practise painting. |
| B．Only people who sing can become painters. |
| C．Painters should learn to paint with their eyes closed. |
| D．There is more to painting than just study and hard work. |
Which would be the best title for the text?
| A．How to Become a Great Artist |
| B．A Genius |
| C．Pablo Picasso ： More Than Just a Painter |
| D．Picasso's Life in France |
According to the text, which of the statements is right?
| A．Even Picasso was a great artist, he was not clever at all when he was young. |
| B．Picasso didn't leave Paris until he was 23 years old. |
| C．People didn't like Picasso's works at first. |
| D．Picasso was only good at collage. |