Eighth-grader Victoria Bills is talking about money with her classmates. She is worried that a company’s stock (股票) price could fall. It may be an unusual topic of conversation for a 13-year-old. But at Bills’ school in Chicago, US, you hear it all the time.
The Chicago school’s 420 students learn about economic(经济学). They also get a chance to make money. Each 1st grade and 5th grade, students learn the basics of economics and investing(投资).
Then in 6th grade, they put what they’ve learned to work. Students join a junior group that manages the $20,000. The group, made up of 12 to 14 students, decides which stocks to buy.
After graduating, students pass on $20,000 to the next 1st grade class. They keep half of the rest of the money; the other half goes toward improving the school. They can choose to put their money in a college-savings program or take the cash.
In 2007, Bills suggested that her class buy the stock of the Apple computer company. This was just before the iPhone came out. “We bought stock just at the right time,” she says. The kids bought Google stock as it reached $400 a share. It is now worth over $500. “It was a good buy,” says Myles Gate, 13. He hopes to be a banker one day.
The school’s two graduating classes of 2005 and 2006 have each earned about $10,000 in profits(利润). At Bills’ school, students can’t .
| A．learn the basics of economics | B．learn how to invest money |
| C．get a chance to make money | D．share all the money they make |
Who manages the $20,000 in the class?
| A．The teachers. | B．The school. |
| C．The students. | D．The parents. |
Google stock the kids bought has reached more than ______ at present.
| A．$500 | B．$400 |
| C．$10,000 | D．$20,000 |
According to Paragraph 5, we know that .
| A．Bills’ class bought the Apple stock after the iphone came out |
| B．it was a mistake for the class to buy Google stock |
| C．the students get some investing experience in the school |
| D．the class bought the two kinds of stocks at the same time |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．How students make money in the US. |
| B．Students learn economics and investing at school. |
| C．Myles Gage hopes to be a banker one day. |
| D．What US students hope to do after graduation. |
Dear Micheal,
How's your vacation? I'm visiting my uncle in Spain. He lives in the sunny and beautiful city of Valencia, in Spain.
Yesterday, I had great fun. My uncle took me to the tomato festival in Bunol, which is just 30 miles away from where my uncle lives. You have probably never heard of this festival before. Neither had I. The tomato festival is called "La Tomatina"in Spanish. It was the biggest and messiest tomato fight in the world. When we first got to the square where the festival took place, it was very crowded with people from all around the world, and many trucks were carrying tomatoes. My uncle told me the crowded people here were around 38,000 and this was more than four times the population of Bunol.
The tomato fight started as soon as the first banger was beaten. Then everyone including me started throwing tomatoes at each other. I took red tomatoes and threw them at anyone that ran, moved, bent down, or turned around. Tomatoes must be squashed before people threw them in order not to hurt anybody.
After a little while, the streets, people and nearby buildings were splashed with red. There was no winner in this fight,but we all had fun. As soon as a second banger was beaten, people stopped throwing.
I really had a great time, I wish you were here, too. I hope I hear from you soon. Take care.
With love,
From Spain
LindaFrom the letter,we can know ____.
| A．Linda lives in Valencia |
| B．Linda doesn't want to go to Spain |
| C．Linda is visiting her uncle in Spain |
| D．Linda is studying in Spain |
The population of Bunol is ____.
| A．around 38,000. |
| B．more than 38,000. |
| C．more than 152,000 |
| D．about 9,300. |
What is the main idea of this letter?
| A．"La Tomatina"is a fun and popular festival in Spain. |
| B．"La Tomatina"is a day for eating tomatoes. |
| C．Micheal has a great vacation. |
| D．Linda enjoyed the beautiful city of Valencia. |
| For Rent A big apartment for a family of three people. ￥ 650 a month. Call Mr. Zhang. Tel：(010) 8838-7166. |
| Wanted Looking for a quiet single（单人的）room under ￥ 120 a month. Please call Harry at 138-7682-5856. |
| Lost ID card Name：Dick Number：232324198804125510 Please call (010) 8433-9211. |
| Found A red bag with some books. Come to Room 402 in the evening or call White at (010) 6378-3021. |
根据表格内容，选择正确答案。Please call _____ to rent a three-bedroom apartment.
| A．(010) 8838-7166 | B．138-7682-5856 |
| C．(010) 8433-9211 | D．(010) 6378-3021 |
You can rent your single room to _____ for ￥ 120 a month.
| A．Dick | B．Harry | C．White | D．Mr. Zhang |
If you find an ID card, you can call _____ at (010) 8433-9211.
| A．White | B．Harry | C．Dick | D．Mr. Zhang |
If you can’t find your bag, you can _____ to get it back in the evening.
| A．call (010) 8433-9211 | B．go to Room 402 |
| C．call Harry | D．go to look for a single room |
If you want to rent a big apartment for your family for three months, it will cost you _____.
| A．￥ 650 | B．￥ 1,300 | C．￥ 1,950 | D．￥ 2,600 |
Hi! We are Lucy and Lily. We are sisters. We are studying in a high school. We are always wanting the weekends to come. Because on weekends there are different kinds of outdoor activities, such as going to the park, going shopping, playing ball games and so on.
We usually go to the park on Saturdays. We often take some bread, meat, water and milk with us. It’s Saturday today. We are in the park again. Father is fishing in a boat on the lake(湖). Mother is sitting and reading under the tree. We are flying a kite. Now we are drinking some water. Do you think we are happy?
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。Lucy and Lily are ________.
| A．students | B．teachers | C．nurses | D．cousins |
What do Lucy and Lily usually do on Saturdays?
| A．Play ball games. | B．Go to the park. |
| C．Go for a picnic. | D．Go shopping. |
How many people can we know from the passage?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
What are Lucy and Lily doing now?
| A．They are fishing. |
| B．They are reading. |
| C．They are flying a kite. |
| D．They are drinking some water. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Lucy and Lily like the weekends. |
| B．Lucy and Lily often take some food with them. |
| C．It’s Sunday today. |
| D．Lucy and Lily’s father is in the park, too. |
When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, at the same time they usually talk about a lot of subjects, including children, men, careers and what’s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen---they can’t do both---and they don’t understand that women can. Besides(此外), women think that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships--not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring (盯着) at the screen.
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot (the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.) and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the small body language signals that show how the characters are feeling emotionally(情绪上). Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully because they want to keep relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to connect to the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a way of keeping relationship. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing(令人信服的)evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls’ mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr. Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to and looked at baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents reply to the brain differences of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech, we talk to them more. As a result, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short complaints in reply.While watching TV with others, women usually talk a lot because they ___________.
| A．are afraid of silence with their families and friends |
| B．can both talk and watch the screen at the same time |
| C．think they can have a good time and develop relationships |
| D．have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands |
After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours in order to ___________.
| A．experience the happy time again |
| B．keep a close tie with her |
| C．recommend her a new wonderful place |
| D．remind her of something forgotten |
What does the writer want to tell us most?
| A．Women’s brains are better organized for language and communication. |
| B．Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men. |
| C．Men do not like talking because they believe more in facts. |
| D．Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking. |
Which of the following would be the BEST title for the passage?
| A．Women Are Socially Trained to Talk |
| B．Talking Keeps Relationships |
| C．Women Love to Talk |
| D．Men Talk Differently from Women |
“Everything happens for the best.” Whenever I faced disappointment(失望),my mother would say this to me.
After I left college in 1932, I decided to find a job in radio as a sports announcer(广播员). I went to Chicago and knocked at the door of every station. But unluckily, I was refused every time.
At one station, a kind lady told me that big stations wouldn’t hire(雇佣) a person without any experience and suggested that I try my luck at smaller stations. Following her advice, I went back to Dixon, where I had grown up. There were no such jobs in Dixon, and my father said a newly-opened store wanted a local athlete(运动员)to work for it. I wanted this job, but I was refused again.
“Everything happens for the best,” Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.
As I left his office, I felt so frustrated(沮丧). “How can I become a sports announcer if I can’t get a job in a radio station?” I asked aloud.
While I was waiting for the lift, I heard someone calling. It was MacArthur. “What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he asked me to have a try. He was pleased with my performance, and he offered me a chance to work there.
On my way home, I thought of my mother’s words: “If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn’t have happened if without the failure before.”Why couldn’t the writer find a job at big radio stations?
| A．Because he never graduated from college. |
| B．Because he didn’t work hard in college. |
| C．Because he didn’t have much experience. |
| D．Because he didn’t know about sports. |
Which of the following is the correct order of events?
a. The writer got a job as a sports announcer at a radio station.
b. The writer was refused when he wanted jobs in Chicago.
c. The writer graduated from college.
d. The writer went back to his hometown to look for a job.
| A．c b d a | B．c b a d | C．b c d a | D．b c a d |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The writer’s parents didn’t want him to be a sports announcer. |
| B．There were no radio announcer jobs in the writer’s hometown. |
| C．The writer became uninterested in being a sports announcer. |
| D．The writer got a job as a sports announcer in Dixon at last. |