A mother of a cheerful five-year-old just returned from a meeting of the National Organization for Women. Inspired by exciting dreams for the possibilities of womanhood, she asked her daughter what she wanted to be when she grew up. Little Lisa quickly answered, “A nurse.”
There was a time when nursing was thought of as a woman’s job and the answer somehow seemed not to be satisfied. She had, after all, just returned from a new meeting.
“You can be anything you want to be,” she reminded her daughter. “You can be a lawyer, a doctor, a banker, president of the country — you can be anything.”
“Anything?” Lisa asked.
“Anything!” her mother smiled.
“I know,” Lisa said. “I want to be a horse!”
Lisa’s dream may need some improvement, but there is plenty of time for that. When do we give up dreaming about the future? When do we resign (听任) ourselves to simply replaying dreams from the past?
Maybe her dream needs to mature (成熟) a bit, but would you rather have the optimism (乐观) of a five-year-old girl who wants to be a horse, or the pessimism (悲观) of an adult who says in despair, “I can’t be anything at all”？
Teddy Roosevelt said, “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” I believe that is the way to make those dreams come true. It begins with looking up and dreaming of something beautiful.What did the girl really want to be when she grew up?
| A．A nurse. | B．A horse. |
| C．A banker. | D．A lawyer. |
How did the mother feel when hearing her daughter’s first answer?
| A．Satisfied. | B．Puzzled. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Excited. |
The lesson we can learn from the passage is that we should ______.
| A．stop children dreaming of something strange |
| B．advise parents how to educate children |
| C．encourage adults to learn from children |
| D．help children to set up a big goal |
The true meaning of the underlined sentence in the last paragraph is “______”.
| A．Stand on the ground and watch the stars |
| B．Have a big dream and work hard |
| C．Protect your eyesight while working |
| D．Find a good way to watch the stars |
In choosing a friend, one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair-weather friends, who will be with you as long as you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will run away. How do I know when I have found a good friend? I look for certain qualities (品质) of character, especially understanding, honesty and reliability (可靠).
Above all else, I look for understanding in a friend. A good friend tries to understand how another person is feeling. He is not quick to judge. Instead, he tries to learn from others. He puts himself in the other person’s place, and he tries to think of ways to be helpful. He is also a good listener.
At the same time, however, a good friend is honest. He does not look for faults (过错) in others. He notices their good points. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.
Another quality of a friend is reliability. I can always depend on a good friend. If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, I can be sure that he will be there. If I need a favor, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not run away from me.
There is a fourth quality that makes a friend special. A special friend is someone with whom we can have fun. We should enjoy our lives, and we would enjoy our friendship. That is why I especially like friends who are fun to be with. A good friend likes the same things I like. We share experience (经验) and learn from each other. A good friend has a good sense of humor, too. He likes to laugh with me. That is how we share in the joy of being friends. And I know that he is looking for the same quality in me.
When I meet someone who is reliable, honest, and understanding, I know I’ve found a friend!If you have fair-weather friends, _____.
| A．they will give you all that they have when you need help |
| B．you will be refused when you get into trouble |
| C．you will become rich |
| D．you can be sure that you get real friends |
Good friends need to ______.
| A．always point out each other’s mistakes |
| B．be helped with money |
| C．understand each other’s feelings |
| D．have money or luck. |
This passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．the qualities of a friend |
| B．where to choose friends |
| C．how to get along with friends |
| D．the importance of having a friend |
In Europe, many people make friends between their countries through town twinning. Town or city twinning means two towns in different countries agree and decide to become “twins” with a sister city relationship.
The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away.
Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany.
Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town!
Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin town in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan(巴尔干半岛的) country!
Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skills, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations.Twin towns develop ______.
| A．between European countries and China |
| B．in the English-speaking countries only |
| C．in the same country |
| D．between different countries |
How many countries are mentioned in the passage?
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．7 |
One of the advantages of town twinning is _____.
| A．to earn more money |
| B．to set up schools |
| C．to improve students’ language skills |
| D．to develop industry and agriculture |
As you are students of English, it’s very possible that you’ll be interested in England. That’s where the language was first spoken. But England is often called by other names. This often confuses people and I wonder if you know what these names mean. So, now I would like to tell you about this matter of names. I believe that you have heard people use the names—England, Britain or Great Britain. Let’s see what each of these names means.
If you look at a map of Europe, you’ll see a group of islands--one larger island off the northwest coast, one smaller and many tiny ones. These make up what is called the British Isles. The largest island of the British Isles is Britain. It is also called Great Britain. The smaller island is Ireland.
Britain is divided into three parts: Scotland, Wales and England. But sometimes the word “England” is used instead of “Britain”. Why so?
In ancient times, what is Britain now used to be three different countries. People in these different countries spoke different languages. Over many years the three countries became one. England is the largest and richest of the three and it has the most people. So the English people take it for granted that their own name stands for the whole island.
There’s another thing that confuses people: sometimes you may hear people say “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. That is the official name of the country. Northern Ireland is only one sixth of the island of Ireland. The rest of the island is an independent state, called the Republic of Ireland. So we have the names of “England”, “Britain”, “Great Britain”, and “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Now do you know what each of them means?English was first spoken in ____.
| A．Britain | B．England | C．Great Britain | D．Ireland |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．Wales is the richest of the three. |
| B．Scotland is the largest of the three. |
| C．Sometimes England is used instead of Britain. |
| D．Britain is the only name of the largest island of British Isles. |
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is _____.
| A．part of Britain |
| B．part of British Isles |
| C．the official name of the whole country |
| D．the largest country of all mentioned in the passage |
Which of the following is the best title?
| A．Students of English |
| B．Different Names of England |
| C．Different Languages Spoken in England |
| D．The Republic of Ireland |
A community garden is a shared garden. A group of people get together and share a piece of land for their garden. This could be an empty place, or simply one at a neighbor's house.
Community gardens are not limited to urban locations. Many rural communities share garden space as well . Some communities will divide their garden into individual plots and others will work on the entire garden together. You may find some community gardens on rooftops. This provides a platform for city citizen, where they can communicate with nature even when there no yard space.
community garden can be used to grow flowers and other plants as well as produce. Some community gardeners choose to sell their homegrown goods. Others choose to use it themselves and some do a combination of both . Some community gardeners donate part of their produce to local food banks . Besides, homegrown produce is also much fresher and tastier.
When you belong to a community garden it also gives you a chance to socialize with your neighbor. You'll develop a better sense of involvement and belonging. You'll be communicating with people of similar interests, as well as people with different ideas .Community gardening often leads to setting up other community projects.
It brings a sense of achievement to know that you've taken apiece of waste land and turned it into something beautiful .The entire neighborhood will enjoy the benefits of your bard work.
A community garden is an opportunity for education as well .You may learn from your fellow gardeners .You can also ask local children to join you .This gives them a way to show their creativity and keep them busy, and points them in the right direction.People can find a community garden________
| A．near the river |
| B．only in rural areas |
| C．only in urban locations |
| D．both in rural and urban communities |
Which of the following is NOT one of the benefits of the community garden?
| A．A sense of achievement. |
| B．A sense of involvement and belonging |
| C．An opportunity for education |
| D．A method to ease urban crowdedness |
According to the passage, a community garden_________
| A．will replace other community projects |
| B．is especially suitable for rural areas |
| C．can sometimes be on the top of a roof |
| D．can only be shared where there is no yard space |
What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk abort?
A. The produce of a community garden.
B. The location of a community garden.
C The definition of a community garden
D. The popularity of a community garden.It can be learned from the passage that a community garden can __________
A. make it unnecessary to go shopping
B improve your study a lot at school
C. make you richer and healthier
D. help you to avoid feeling lonely
This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers from all over the world will spend about ten months in US homes through an exchange program. They will attend US schools ,meet US teenagers, and form impressions of the real American teenagers . American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.
Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George's family . In turn, George's son, Mike, spent a year in Fred's home in America.
Fred, knew little German when he arrived, but after two month's study, the language began to come to him . School was completely different from what he had expected -much harder. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States.
"Back home ,you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time ,In Germany ,you walk ,but you soon learn to like it."
At the same time ,in America ,Mike ,a friendly German boy ,was also forming his idea ."I suppose I should criticize American schools ,"he says ."It is far too easy by our level .But I have to say that I like it very much .In Germany we do nothing but study . Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens .There ought to be some middle ground between the two."The whole exchange program is mainly to _________
| A．help teenagers in other countries know the real America |
| B．send students in America to travel in Germany |
| C．let students learn something about other countries |
| D．have teenagers learn new languages |
What did Fred and Mike agree on?
| A．America has better traffic. |
| B．German schools were harder than American schools. |
| C．Americans and Germans were both friendly |
| D．There were more cars on the streets in America. |
What is particular in American schools ?
| A．There is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings. |
| B．There are a lot of after-school activities. |
| C．Students usually take 14 subjects in all. |
| D．Students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car |
What did Mike think after experiencing the American school life?
| A．A better education should include something good from both America and Germany. |
| B．German schools trained students to be better citizens |
| C．American schools were not as good as German schools. |
| D．The easy life in the American school was more helpful to students. |
The underlined word “criticize” in the last paragraph can be replaced by"_________"
| A．praise | B．regret | C．ignore | D．accuse |