In the mid-1950s, I was a somewhat bored early-adolescent male student who believed that doing any more than necessary was wasted effort. One day, this approach threw me into embarrassment
In Mrs. Totten’s eighth-grade math class at Central Avenue School in Anderson, Indiana, we were learning to add and subtract decimals (小数).
Our teacher typically assigned daily homework, which would be recited in class the following day. On most days, our grades were based on our oral answer to homework questions.
Mrs. Totten usually walked up and down the rows of desks requesting answers from student after student in the order the questions had appeared on our homework sheets. She would start either at the front or the back of the classroom and work toward the other end.
Since I was seated near the middle of about 35 students, it was easy to figure out which questions I might have to answer. This particular time, I had completed my usual two or three problems according to my calculations.
What I failed to expect was that several students were absent, which threw off my estimate. As Mrs. Totten made her way from the beginning of the class，I desperately tried to determine which math problem I would get. I tried to work it out before she got to me, but I had brain freeze and couldn’t function.
When Mrs. Totten reached my desk，she asked what answer I’d got for problem No. 14. “I…I didn’t get anything,” I answered，and my face felt warm.
“Correct,” she said.
It turned out that the correct answer was zero.
What did I learn that day? First, always do all your homework. Second, in real life it isn’t always what you say but how you say it that matters. Third，I would never make it as a mathematician.
If I could choose one school day that taught me the most, it would be that one.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 indicate?
| A． It is wise to value one’s time. |
| B． It is important to make an effort |
| C． It is right to stick to one’s belief. |
| D． It is enough to do the necessary. |
Usually, Mrs. Totten asked her students to _______.
| A． recite their homework together |
| B． grade their homework themselves |
| C． answer their homework questions orally |
| D． check the answers to their homework questions |
The author could work out which questions to answer since the teacher always _______.
| A． asked questions in a regular way |
| B． walked up and down when asking questions |
| C． chose two or three questions for the students |
| D． requested her students to finish their usual questions |
The author failed to get the questions he had expected because _______.
| A． the class didn’t begin as usual |
| B． several students didn’t come to school |
| C． he didn’t try hard to make his estimate |
| D． Mrs. Totten didn’t start from the back of the class |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A． An Unforgettable Teacher |
| B． A Future Mathematician |
| C． An Effective Approach |
| D． A Valuable Lesson |
Alan took an early interest in gardening---first on his grandfather’s Yorkshire allotment in Ilkley, and then in his parents’ back garden. Small polythene（聚乙烯）greenhouses appeared in the back garden, and cacti（仙人掌）were bought from church markets.
Alan left school at fifteen with one `O’ level in Art and took a job as an apprentice（学徒）gardener in Ilkley Parks Department nursery, studying for his City and Guilds in Horticulture（园艺）in the evening.
He went on to horticultural college at Oaklands in Hertfordshire where he studied for one year full-time, being awarded the National Certificate in Horticultural. This was followed by three years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, resulting in the award of the Kew Diploma.
After two years as supervisor of staff training at Kew, Alan entered journalism where he became first a gardening books editor, and then Deputy Editor of Amateur Gardening magazine. He appeared regularly on BBC Radio and Television in programs such as Nationwide , Breakfast Time, Open Air, Pebble Mill, Songs of Praise, Titchmarsh’s Travels, and the Chelsea Flower Show. He presented the 100th edition of The Word for Channel 4, and hosted the quiz show Ask the Family.
Gardeners’ World and the hugely popular Ground Force, second only to Easterners in the BBC1 ratings, are broadcast as far as Australia, New Zealand and North America. After leaving both programs, Alan worked on two other series for the BBC to be transmitted in 2003 and 2004, one of them a landmark series on the natural history of Britain. Alan writes for the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Radio Times and BBC Gardeners’ World magazine, and has more than thirty gardening books to his credit. His four novels, as well as a book about his own life, have been best sellers.
Alan, 53, gardens organically, and lives with his wife, two daughters and a medley of animals.We know that Alan ______in his school days.
| A．was good at writing novels | B．loved Horticulture very much even |
| C．didn’t do so well in his studies | D．decided to be an apprentice |
According to this passage, we can learn that______.
| A．Alanaccepted little education | B．Alan wrote many books about food |
| C．Alan had never been married | D．Alan was first a gardening books editor |
Though the author doesn’t tell us directly, we can conclude that______.
| A．Alan’s school teachers were not good at teaching the subject: Botany |
| B．when Alan was successful he was working as a journalist of the time |
| C．Alan had had four years of training in Horticulture before being a journalist |
| D．born as a man of many talents, Alan didn’t realize the fact until years later |
Which of the following four programs is more popular than Ground Force in the BBC1 ratings?
| A．Breakfast Time. | B．Radio Time. | C．Gardeners’ World. | D．Easterners. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．A Man of Many Talents. | B．Botany Makes Him What He Is Today. |
| C．No Pains, No Gains. | D．Can’t a Poorly-graded Student Be Successful? |
On November18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Lincoln Centre in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is not easy for him. He got polio（小儿麻痹症）as a child, and has to walk with the aid of two crutches（拐杖）now.
That night Perlman walked slowly to his chair. Then he sat down and began to play. But, suddenly, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it break---it broke with a loud noise.
People thought to themselves, “He would have to get up to either find another violin or find another string for this one.”
But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra（管弦乐队）began, and he played from where he had stopped. He played with such passion and such power.
Of course, everyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him changing and recomposing（重新作曲）the piece in his head.
When he finished, there was a silence in the room. Then people rose and cheered. We were all on our feet, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.
He smiled and then he said in a quiet tone, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left.”
His words have stayed in my mind ever since I heard them. That is also the way of life. Perhaps our task in this quickly changing world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.Holding a concert is challenging for Perlman because ______.
| A．he is just a world famous violinist |
| B．he has never performed on stage before |
| C．he is physically disabled as a result of a disease |
| D．he has difficulty in moving his body |
When Perlman had just begun playing, ______.
| A．there was something wrong with the violin |
| B．he fell ill suddenly |
| C．an accident happened and caused a disturbance |
| D．a very loud noise arose from the audience |
If one of the strings suddenly broke, what would an ordinary player do?
| A．He would cancel the concert. | B．He would play another violin. |
| C．Another performer would play instead. | D．The concert would be put off. |
The audience rose and cheered ______.
| A．to show they are satisfied with Perlman’s performance |
| B．to thank the orchestra for their passionate performance |
| C．to ask Perlman for another performance |
| D．to express their appreciation of Perlman’s creative mind |
The lesson we draw from the story is that ______.
| A．we should make the best of what we have |
| B．what we have is more important than what is lost |
| C．we should not care about what is lost |
| D．the way of life is to always live with music |
Welcome to Adventureland!
Everyone loves Adventureland! The Parks and Exhibitions were built for you to explore（探索）, enjoy, and admire their wonders. Every visit will be an unforgettable experience. You will go away enriched, longing to come back. What are you going to do this time?
The Travel Pavilion
Explore places you have never been to before, and experience different ways of life. Visit the Amazon jungle（丛林）village, the Turkish market, the Tai floating market, the Berber mountain house and others. Talk to the people there who will tell you about their lives, and things they make. You can try making a carpet, making nets, fishing…
The Future Tower
This exhibition shows how progress will touch our lives. It allows us to look into the future and explore the cities of the next century and the way we’ll be living then. Spend some time in our space station and climb into our simulator（模拟装置）for the Journey to Mars!
The Nature Park
This is not really one park but several. In the Safari Park you can drive among African animals in one of our Range Cruisers: see lions, giraffes, elephants in the wild. Move on to the Ocean Park to watch the dolphins and whales. And then there is still the Aviary to see…
The Pyramid
This is the center of Adventureland. Run out of film, need some postcards and stamps? For all these things and many more, visit our underground shopping center. Come here for information and ideas too.The Travel Pavilion is built to help visitors.
| A．realize the importance of travelling |
| B．become familiar with mountain countries |
| C．learn how to make things such as fishing nets |
| D．learn something about different places in the world |
If you are interested in knowing about what people’s life will be, you may visit.
| A．The Travel Pavilion | B．The Future Tower |
| C．The Safari Park | D．The Pyramid |
If you want to get a toy lion to take home, where will you most likely go?
| A．The Pyramid. | B．The Nature Park. | C．The Future Tower. | D．The Travel Pavilion. |
It is natural that children are curious about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.
As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.
Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world．Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry.
These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world．For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.
Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.
We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．People of different ages are interested in different things |
| B．People in different countries are interested in different things. |
| C．Men and women are curious about different things. |
| D．People are curious in the same way. |
Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.
| A．the earth , the oceans and the sky | B．plants and animals |
| C．man-made things | D．ocean water |
When you run, your muscles need ____.
| A．more nutrition and oxygen | B．more signals | C．more salt | D．water |
A rock cracks _____.
| A．in wet regions | B．in dry regions |
| C．at very high or very low temperatures | D．when salty water falls in |
People are always curious because ____.
| A．they cannot explain many things | B．they know nothing about the world |
| C．they know little about the world | D．they want to be scientists |
Chocolate is good for your heart, skin and brain. Usually, people think that chocolate is bad for their health. They describe chocolate as “something to die for” or say “death by chocolate”．Now they should bite their tongues! Evidence(证据) is showing that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you in the following ways:
A happier heart
Scientists at Harvard University recently examined 136 studies on cocoa—the main ingredient in chocolate and found that it does seem to strengthen the heart．Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow．These benefits are the result of cocoa’s chemicals, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation(炎症)．
Better blood pressure
If yours is high, chocolate may help．Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University recently found that people with high blood pressure who ate 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop quickly．
Muscle magic
Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout(锻炼)．In a small study at Indiana University, people who drank chocolate milk between workouts did better on a tiredness test than those who had some sports drinks．
Better for your skin．German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special cocoa every day．After three months, the women’s skin was moister(滑润的)and smoother．The research shows that chocolate helps protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance．
Brain gains
It sounds almost too good to be true, but research suggests that chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving by increasing blood flow to the brain．Which of the following is wrong?
| A．Coca’s chemicals can prevent both cell damage and inflammation. |
| B．Chocolate may help you lower your blood pressure. |
| C．People early know chocolate is good for their health. |
| D．chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph?
| A．Sports drinks are better than chocolate milk． |
| B．Sports drinks can make people easy to be tired． |
| C．Drinking milk can keep you energetic at work． |
| D．We should drink chocolate milk between times when we work hard． |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Chocolate, a Healthy Food | B．More Chocolate, Less Health |
| C．Chocolate and Blood Pressure | D．Advice on Eating Chocolate |
The conclusion that chocolate may help lower blood pressure was brought out by．
| A．scientists at Harvard University |
| B．Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University |
| C．scientists at Indiana University |
| D．German researchers |
What’s the meaning of “bite their tongues” in the first paragraph?
| A．Think of it．． | B．Speak up． | C． Stop talking | D．Listen to it |