Wealth starts with a goal saving a dollar at a time. Call it the piggy bank strategy(策略). There are lessons in that time-honored coin-saving container.
Any huge task seems easier when reduced to baby steps. I f you wished to climb a 12,000-foot mountain, and could do it a day at a time, you would only have to climb 33 feet daily to reach the top in a year. If you want to take a really nice trip in 10 years for a special occasion, to collect the $15,000 cost, you have to save $3.93 a day. If you drop that into a piggy bank and then once a year put $1,434 in a savings account at 1% interest rate after-tax, you will have your trip money.
When I was a child, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me that, if I wanted something, I should save money to buy it. We associate piggy banks with children, but in many countries, the little containers are also popular with adults. Europeans see a piggy bank as a sign of good fortune and wealth. Around the world, many believe a gift of a piggy bank on New Year’s Day brings good luck and financial success. Ah, but you have to put something in it.
Why is a pig used as a symbol of saving? Why not an elephant bank, which is bigger and holds more coins? In the Middle Ages, before modern banking and credit instruments, people saved money at home, a few coins at a time dropped into a jar or dish. Potters(制陶工) made these inexpensive containers from an orange-colored clay(黏土) called “pygg,” and folks saved coins in pygg jars. The Middle English word for pig was “pigge”. While the Saxons pronounced pygg, referring to the clay, as “pug”, eventually the two words changed into the same pronunciation, sounding the “i” as in pig or piggy. As the word became less associated with the orange clay and more with the animal, a clever potter fashioned a pygg jar in the shape of a pig, delighting children and adults. The piggy bank was born.
Originally you had to break the bank to get to the money, bringing in a sense of seriousness into savings. While piggy banks teach children the wisdom of saving, adults often need to relearn childhood lessons. Think about the things in life that require large amounts of money--- college education, weddings, cars, medical care, starting a business, buying a home, and fun stuff like great trips. So when you have money, take off the top 10%, put it aside, save and invest wisely. What is the piggy bank strategy?
| A．Paying 1% income tax at a time. |
| B．Setting a goal before making a travel plan. |
| C．Aiming high even when doing small things. |
| D．Putting aside a little money regularly for future use. |
Why did the writer’s parents give him a piggy bank as a gift?
| A．To delight him with the latest fashion. |
| B．To encourage him to climb mountains. |
| C．To help him form the habit of saving. |
| D．To teach him English pronunciation. |
What does the underlined word “something”(Paragraph 3) most probably refer to?
| A．Money | B．Gifts |
| C．Financial success | D．Good luck |
The piggy bank originally was _________.
| A．a potter’s instrument |
| B．a cheap clay container |
| C．an animal-shaped dish |
| D．a pig-like toy for children |
The last paragraph talks about ________.
| A．the seriousness of educating children |
| B．the enjoyment of taking a great trip |
| C．the importance of managing money |
| D．the difficulty of starting a business |
第二部分: 阅读理解（共20小题, 每小题2分，满分40分）
第一节请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
12-year-old John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan. “I’ve liked trains probably from the day I was born,” he told Good Morning America. “When I was very little,” he said, “my grandpa got me a train model. I would just watch it go round for hours and hours.”
When Robertson finally had the opportunity to ride on a train, he felt great. His journey was so mind-blowing that he couldn’t keep it to himself: he decided to take all his classmates to go on a ride with him. When he found that some of his classmates couldn’t pay the fares, he spent money he had saved by collecting cans (罐子) and bottles and raised more than ＄1,000 for them.
That train was such a happy one that he made it yearly action. “It never gets boring for some reason; it’s just very fun,” he said. “It really lets people get away from their busy life and have fun.”
Every October, Robertson takes a new group of disabled children to ride the train — but now, he has a problem. Several disabled children were refused because the train was not accessible (可用的) to disabled people. “He was angry to think that children of his own age couldn’t ride a train,” his mother said.
But he wouldn’t say no: he recently sent a letter to the train office for help. To his surprise, the leader, Ty Pennington, took the letter seriously. He said that he and his workers would work on making a train accessible to disabled people.
41. The first time John Thomas Robertson took a train, he_______
A. felt extremely happy. B. was frightened by it.
C. watched it for hours. D. acted as a driver.
42. John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan, because he _______.
A. was taken on a train the day he was born.
B. his grandpa once worked on the train.
C. took a group of disabled children on board a train.
D. was greatly attracted to trains since early childhood.
43. The underlined word “mind-blowing” can be replaced by “_______”.
A. exciting B. frightening C. surprising D. disappointing
44. The disabled children were refused to get on the train because _______.
A. they couldn’t afford the train tickets
B. Robertson had not saved enough money for tickets
C. the train didn’t have special services for them
D. the workers there would not allow them to do so
45. According to the passage, we can see that Robertson is a(n) _______ child.
A. honest and crazy B. kind and helpful
C. clever but boring D. lazy but kind
D
Few people would question the value of taking part in sports for young people. With proper training, supervision, protective equipment and techniques, and a proper emphasis on winning, sports can develop a healthy body and spirit and a life-long interest in being active and fit. Without such measures, childhood sports can lead to injuries and even paralysis or death.
Even in the best conditions, no activity can be risk-free. But most serious hazards are preventable. Cyclists and football players can reduce their risks by wearing helmets, hockey players by wearing masks; basketball and tennis players by wearing eye guards; baseball players by wearing batting helmets.
Besides, risks to individual players can often be found, and thus prevented, through a properly performed medical exam before a child plays. For accidents that may not be preventable, having an emergency plan and first-aid equipment, and someone trained to use the equipment, can be lifesaving.
Still, each year, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, more than 775, 000 children under 14 are treated in emergency rooms for sports injuries, nearly half of them preventable. An estimated 300,000 athletes experience exercise-related head illnesses each year, and almost all of them should have been avoided.
Further, from half to three-fourths of sports-related concussions(脑震荡) are never even diagnosed; the injured are often sent back to play too soon and put at risk of another more serious brain-damaging concussion. To help reduce these risks, the National Center for Sports Safety, with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, offers a three-hour online safety course for coaches for $28 at www. SportsSafety. Org.
52. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. All the accidents can be prevented.
B. All the accidents cannot be prevented.
C. Lives can be saved so long as there is proper equipment.
D. Lives cannot be saved even if there is proper equipment.
53. What does the underlined word “hazards” (in Paragraph 2)
A. Mistakes. B. Diseases. C. Dangers. D. Situations.
54. It is implied in the passage that _____________.
A. prevention of injuries is not paid enough attention to
B. children under 14 are more easily hurt in sports
C. most head illnesses are related with exercise
D. none of the head illnesses should have happened
55. What can coaches mainly learn from the online safety course?
A. How to cure brain-damaging concussion.
B. How to diagnose brain-damaging concussion.
C. How to predict the possibility of brain damage.
D. How to deal with the injured properly.
C
Some experts feel that cars are certain to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all cars will be deserted and made useless. Other experts, however, think the car is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of city travel in the foreseeable future.
The car will undoubtedly change greatly over the next 30 years. It should become smaller, safer, and more practical, and should not be powered by the gas engine. The car of the future should be far more pollution-free than present types.
Unless changes take place in the power system, the car in the future will still be the main problem in city traffic jams. One suggested solution to this essential problem is the automated (自动的) system, which seems to hold water.
When the car enters the highway system, a small arm will drop from the car and connect with a rail, which is similar to those powering subway trains electrically. Once joined to the rail, the car will become electrically powered from the system, and control of the car will pass to a central computer. The computer will then monitor all the car’s movements. The driver will use the telephone to dial instructions about his position and the place he heads for into the system. The computer will find the best way and reserve space for the car all the way to the correct exit from the highway. The driver will be free to relax and wait for the call that will warm him of his coming exit. It is believed that an automated highway will be able to deal with 10,000 cars per hour, compared with the 1,500 to 2,000 cars that can be carried by a present-day highway.
48. What is the main concern of the author of the passage?
A. How to make cars pollution-free. B. How to make cars smaller and safer.
C. How to solve the problem of train jam. D. How to develop an automated subway system.
49. We can infer from this passage that __________.
A. the car connected to the rail on the highway will be powered by electricity.
B. The lack of oil is forcing people to find new means to power automobiles.
C. The driver under the system will be told where to get out of the highway.
D. The future car will become larger, faster, prettier and less expensive.
50. What provides cars with electric power in an automated highway system?
A. An engine. B.A rail.C. A computer controller. D. A small arm.
51. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. The driver puts his information in the system by email.
B. The new system can deal with 10 times as many cars as the present one.
C. After entering the automated system, the driver needs to do nothing but relax.
D. Some experts are not confident of the future, while the view of the author is hopeful.
B
Mary went out at night. She never forgot the night when she met a robber many years ago.
That evening, she was invited to a birthday party which lasted until two o’clock i
n the morning. Without company Mary walked along the quiet street.
Suddenly from the shadow of a dark building a tall man with a sharp knife in his right hand ran out at her. “Good evening, lady,” the man said in a low voice, “I don’t think you wish to die here.”
“What do you want?” Mary asked.
“Your earrings （耳环）.Take them off!” Slowly Mary’s eyes looked down. She tried to cover her necklace with the collar（领子）of her overcoat while she used the other hand to take off both of her earrings, and then she quickly threw them on the ground.
“Take them and let me go.” she said. The robber looked at her only feeling uncertain. He saw the girl didn’t care for the earrings at all, only trying to protect the necklace. He realized the necklace would cost more. So he said, “Give me your necklace.”
“Oh, sir. It’s not worth much. Please let me keep it.”
“Stop rubbish. Quick!”
With shaky hands, Mary took off her necklace. As soon as the robber disappeared, she picked up her earrings and ran as fast as she could to one of her friends.
The earrings cost 480 pounds and the necklace the robber had taken away cost only six pounds ten shillings.
44. Mary never forgot that night because ___________.
A. she was robbed of her necklace B. she was robbed, but she fooled the robber
C. she had a good time at the party D. she lost her earrings
45. The party ___________.
A. didn’t end at two B. ended before two C. lasted two hours D. was over at two
46. She tried to protect the necklace because ___________.
A. she didn’t want to lose it B. it was more important
C. she liked it better than earrings D. she would rather have the necklace lost
47. The story tells us that she was a ___________girl.
A. clever and brave B. clever and beautiful C. brave and careful D. clever and careful
三、阅读理解（15*2=30分）
A
Everyone should learn to apologize. Apology language do work. Have you ever tried to apologize, only to be refused? It may be that you were offering partial apology in a “language” that was foreign to your listener. The five languages of apology include:
Apology Language 1: “I am sorry.”
List the hurtful effects of your action. NOT “I am sorry if…”, but “I am sorry that…”. You might ask if they want to add any points that you have not recognized.
Apology Language 2: “I was wrong.”
Name your mistake and accept fault. Note that it is easier to say “You are right ” than “ I am wrong”, but the latter carries more weight.
Apology Language 3: “What can I do to make it right ?”
How are you now? How shall I make amends to you? How can I RESTORE YOUR CONFIDENC that I love you even I was so hurtful to you?
Apology Language 4: “I WILL TRY NOT TO DO THAT AGAIN.”
Engage in problem-solving. Do not make excuses for yourself such as: “Well my day just so …” Instead, offer what you will change to prevent yourself putting them in the same bad situation again.
Apology Language 5: “Will you please forgive me?”
Be patient in seeking forgiveness. They may need some time or greater clarification of your input from Apology Languages 1-4.
Finally, your apology may not be accepted, but at least you know that you have been faithful in offering a sincere olive branch of peace.
41. When offerring an apology, which of the following dose the author prefer?
A. “You are right .”B. “I am sorry if …”
C. “I am wrong.” D. “Well , my day was just so…”
42. In the last paragraph ,the author tells us even if your apology may not be accepted , at least __________ .
A .It is not your fault any more. B. Your mind will be at peace.
C. your friend will make peace with you. D. your apology is true to your heart.
43 .What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Five tips for apology that work. B. Five ways of refusing apology.
C. The function (功能) of apology language. D. The importance of apology language