Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage.
Kids and Ponds
Years ago there was a group of kids who would hang around at some local ponds in the woods near their houses in Warwick, Rhode Island. In summer they caught frogs and fish. When winter arrived they couldn't wait to go skating. Time passed, and the ponds became the only open space for the kids to enjoy themselves in that neighborhood.
One day. a thirteen-year-old boy from this group of kids read in the local newspaper that a developer wanted to fill in the ponds and build over a hundred small houses called condominiums. So the boy went door to door and gathered more than two hundred signatures (签名)to stop the development A group of citizens met and decided to support him.
At the meeting of the town planning board (委员会),the boy was quite nervous at first and spoke very softly. But when he saw the faces of his friends and neighbors in the crowd and thought about what was happening to their favorite ponds,his voice grew louder. He told the town officials that they should speak for the citizens. He also insisted that they should leave enough space for children. A few days later,the developer stopped his plan.
Nine years later, when that teen was a senior in college, he was informed that the developer was back with his proposal to build condominiums. Now twenty-two years old, he was studying wetlands ecology. He again appeared before the town planning board. This time as an expert witness, he used environmental protection laws to explain restrictions on development in and around wetlands and the knowledge of wetlands ecology to help improve the development. Finally some condominiums were built, but less than half the number the developer wanted. The ponds where those kids used to hang around were protected by a strip of natural land,and are still there today.
1. |
What did the kids like to do at the local ponds in winter? |
2. |
How did the boy win the citizens' support? |
3. |
What did the boy tell the town officials? |
4. |
What helped the boy to protect the ponds successfully nine years later? |
Eat your vegetables. Wash your hands. Always say “please" and“thank you". We are full of advice for our children, but when it comes to money, we often have little to say. As a result, our children may grow up with clean hands and good manners, but without any idea how to manage their money.
Here are some basics that will help guide them their entire lives:
Show them the future. If your 13-year-old girl were to save$1,000,invest(投资)it at 8%and add$100 every month,by the time she's 65,she would have$980,983!
Be careful of credit(信用).Credit cards can help you buy necessary things and build a credit history,but they must be used responsibly, which means paying off your debt in time. Explain to your children that when you buy something using a credit card,you can easily end up paying two or three times what you would have paid if you used cash.
Teach patience. Suppose your child wants a new bicycle that costs $150. Rather than paying the cash,give him some regular pocket money and explain that by putting aside,say $15 each week,he will be able to buy it for himself in only ten weeks.
Provide incentive. Tell your children the importance of saving.“For every dollar he or she agrees to save and invest rather than spend, you agree to add another dollar to the pot,”says Cathy Pareto, expert in money planning.
Explain your values. Values and money are deeply intertwined, says Eilleen Gallo, co-author of The Financially Intelligent Parent. When your child demands that you buy something, explain why you really don’t want to buy it.“You might say,‘I'd rather save that money for your education,”,advises Gallo. Every time you spend or don't spend money,you have a chance to share your values.
64. The underlined word“incentive" in paragraph 6 means _____.
A. honor B. praiseC. excitement D. encouragement
65. What leads the writer to write this article?
A. Parents want to know how to educate their children.
B. He wants to share his good ideas about money matters.
C. He thinks money management the most important for children.
D. Parents care little about their children's management of money.
66. The writer gives some basics to help __________ in a proper way.
A. parents teach their children how to deal with money
B. children follow their parents' instructions
C. children manage their money
D. parents save their money
Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go in to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening.
One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper. Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to rent. With the same money, one can get a little house in the country with a garden of one’s own.
Then, in the country one can rest from the noise and hurry of the town. Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country. If one likes gardens, one can spend one’s free time digging, planting, watering and doing the hundred and one other jobs which are needed in a garden. Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature.
Some people, however, take no interest in country things: for them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance-halls and restaurants. Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London. An occasional walk in one of the parks and a fortnight’s (two weeks) visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want: the rest they are quite prepared to leave to those who are glad to get away from London every night.
60. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. People who like country things prefer to live outside the city.
B. People who work in London prefer to live in the country.
C. Because of certain disadvantages of living outside London, some people who work in London prefer to live inside London.
D. Because of certain advantages of living outside London, many people who work in London prefer to live outside London.
61. One can use the same money for ________ to buy a little house with a garden in the country.
A. getting a small flat with a garden B. having a small flat with a garden
C. renting a small flat without a garden D. buying a small flat without a garden
62. People who think happiness lies in the town would feel that _______ if they had to live it outside London.
A. their life was meaningless B. their life was valuable
C. they didn’t deserve a happy life D. they were not worthy of their happy life
63. The underlined word rest in the last paragraph refers to ________.
A. the rest time B. the rest people
C. the rest of the country D. the rest of the parks and of the sea
第三节:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to stop at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don't worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn't really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King's famous speech---"I have a Dream", you may notice that he stumbles(结巴) over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don't remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making.
People care a lot about making a mistake in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-though-out speech that expresses the speaker's ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker's attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don't worry about being perfect. Once you free you mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.
56. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. How to Be a Perfect Speaker B. How to Make a Perfect Speech
C. Don't Expect a Perfect Speech D. Don't Expect Mistakes in a Speech
57. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______.
A. be smarter than you B. notice your mistakes
C. do better than you D. know what you are talking about
58. You don't remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ______.
A. your attention is on the speaker’s message
B. you don't know what the speaker plans to say
C. you don't fully understand the speech
D. you find the way of speech-making more important
59. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. giving a speech is like giving a performance
B. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad
C. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made
D. the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be.
When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to grandma’s generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday best.
But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware (粗陶) and stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times.
Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs-one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4,000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.
Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company “has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend” toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television.
Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it’s better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a “real” dinner party. Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time?
Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (礼节) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents (“Chew with your mouth closed.” “Keep your elbows off the table.”) must be picked up elsewhere. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be able professionally but inexperienced socially.
67.Why do people tend to follow the trend to casual dining?
A. Family members need more time to relax.
B. Young people won’t follow the etiquette of the older generation
C. People prefer to live a comfortable life.
D. Busy schedules leave people no time for formality.
68.It can be learned from the passage that Royal Doulton is ________.
A. a seller of stainless steel tableware B. a producer of fine china
C. a pottery chain store D. a dealer in stoneware
69.The main cause of the layoffs in the pottery industry is ________.
A. the increased value of the pound
B. the fierce competition at home and abroad
C. the change in people’s way of life
D. the worsening economy in Asia
70.Formal table manners, though less popular than before in current social life, ________.
A. are still a must on certain occasions
B. can help improve personal relationships
C. are still being taught by parents at home
D. are certain to return sooner or later
By far the most common difficulty in study is simple failure to get down to regular concentrated work. This difficulty is much greater for those who do not work to a plan and have no regular routine of study. Many students muddle along, doing a bit of this subject or that, as the mood takes them, or letting their set work pile up until the last possible moment.
Few students work to a set timetable. They say that if they did work out a timetable for themselves they would not keep to it, or would have to change it frequently, since they can never predict (foresee) from one day to the next what their activities will be.
No doubt some students take much more kindly to a regular routine than others. There are many who shy away from a self-controlled weekly timetable, and dislike being tied down to a fixed programme of work . Many able students state that they work in cycles. When they become interested in a topic they work on it attentively for three or four days at a time. On other days they avoid work completely. It has to be admitted that we do not fully understand the motivation to work. Most people over 25 years of age have become used to a work routine, and the majority of really productive workers set aside regular hours for the more important areas of their work. The “tough-minded” school of workers doesn’t fully accept the idea that good work can only be done naturally, under the influence of inspiration.
Those who believe that they need only work and study as the fit takes them have a mistaken belief either in their own talent or in the value of “freedom”. Freedom from control and discipline leads to unhappiness rather than to “self-expression” or “personality development”. Our society insists on regular habits, timekeeping and punctuality(准时), and whether we like it or not, if we mean to make our way in society, we have to meet its demands.
63.The most widespread problem in applying oneself to study is ________.
A. changing from one subject to another
B. working on a subject only when one feels like it
C. the unwillingness to follow a systematic plan
D. the failure to keep to a set timetable of work
64.Which of the following is true ?
A. Many students are not interested in using a self-controlled timetable.
B. Tough-minded people agree that good work is done naturally.
C. Most people over 25 years of age don’t work to a set timetable.
D. Many students don’t like being told to study to a fixed timetable.
65.The underlined part “as the fit takes them” in paragraph 4 means ________.
A. when they have the energy B. when they find conditions suitable
C. when they feel fit D. when they are in the mood
66.A suitable title for the passage might be ________.
A. Attitudes to Study B. Study and Self-discipline
C. The Difficulties of Studying D. A study Plan