Four schoolchildren from Belgrave, England were out on their bikes on Wednesday evening. Unexpectedly, they saw an elderly man gasping for breath (喘息) in the street. They tried to call the police and ambulance service, but their phones were not working, due to network problems.
Before the polish man became unconscious, the children kept him calm while they flagged down (招停) a passing driver. The children used words they had picked up from their polish classmates to translate the injured man’s answer to the driver’s questions. Gary,10, and his six-year-old sister, Lily, stayed with the man while Thyus and Owen, both 11, led the ambulance to the spot where he lay. Soon the man was taken to hospital.
The fantastic four children who came to the aid of the elderly man deserve the highest respect for their quick-thinking and courage in an emergency situation. They are a credit not only to themselves, but to their families and their school. And it is great to be able to hear such a positive story about young people.
What is not so positive about this story is the fact that several adults apparently walked by without stopping to help. This seeming indifference (冷漠) to an emergency situation is a well- noted phenomenon which psychologists sometimes refer to as “the bystander effect”. Research suggests that when a group of people witness an emergency, people are likely to assume that somebody else will intervene and they feel that the burden of responsibility is lifted from their shoulders.
Perhaps the answer to this sort of thing is to introduce a “Good Samaritan” law. This already exists in France and places a legal responsibility on people who witness an emergency situation to help out as long as they can do so. This certainly seems to remove any doubt about who bears the burden of responsibility for offering assistance –everybody！What can we learn about the elderly man?
| A．He spoke Polish with the children. |
| B．He fell from his bike and got injured. |
| C．He was taken to hospital by the driver. |
| D．He recovered consciousness in the street. |
In paragraph 3, the author mainly _____.
| A．shows his great sympathy for the man |
| B．gives high praise to the four children. |
| C．offers his special thanks to the driver |
| D．expresses his anger at several adults |
The underlined word “intervene” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to “_______”
| A．be curious | B．go on |
| C．give up | D．get involved |
In France, if an emergency happens to someone, _____.
| A．offering help to him is required by law |
| B．people have the right to leave the scene |
| C．others must get permission before helping him |
| D．the witnesses will be punished if the rescue fails. |
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment . “We didn’t know at that time that there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it, ”says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement . Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many, many times, ”says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first Earth Day.
According to US government reports , emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10. 3 million tons a year to 5. 5 tons . The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 . Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place . A kind of “Green thinking ” has become part of practices .
Great improvement has been achieved . In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs , ; today in 1995 there are about 6, 600 . Advanced lights , motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution .
Twenty –five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment . Today , it’s hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program . ” Until we do that , nothing else will change! ” say Bruce Anderson .According to Anderson , before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___
| A．the social movement | B．recycling techniques |
| C．environmental problems | D．the importance of Earth Day |
Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?
| A．The grass –roots level | B．The business circle |
| C．Government officials | D．University professors |
What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?
| A．They have cut car emissions to the lowest |
| B．They have settled their environmental problems |
| C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities. |
| D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures . |
What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?
| A．Education | B．Planning |
| C．Green living | D．CO reduction |
Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband , Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.
He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.
Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶）that had been left out on the footpath.
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.
That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.What did Rashid plan to do after his arrival in Sydney?
| A．Go shopping | B．Find a house |
| C．Join his family | D．Take a vacation |
The girl’s parents got Rashid’s phone number from_______.
| A．a friend of his family | B．a Sydney policeman |
| C．a letter in his papers | D．a stranger in Sydney |
What does the underlined word “restored” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Showed | B．Sent out |
| C．Delivered | D．Gave back |
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．From India to Australia. | B．Living in a a New Country. |
| C．Turning Trash to Treasure. | D．In Search of New Friends. |
I teach geography at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then asked me why I always seemed to be so cheerful. “I choose to be cheerful.” I said. Then I told them a story.
In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at thecommunity collegein Henderson, 17 miles down thefreewayfrom where I live. One day I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died and wouldn’t start again. So I left my car there and marched down the road to the college.
As soon as I got there I called AAA (美国汽车协会)and arranged for a tow truck (拖车) to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the office asked me what had happened. “This is my lucky day.” I replied, smiling.
“Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?” She was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway but it didn’t.” I replied, “Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance from here. I’m still able to teach my class, and I’ve been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class.” The secretary’s eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class. So ended my story.
I scanned the sixty faces in my class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn’t the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student’s observation that I was cheerful. An Indian wise man once said, “Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say.” I suppose it must be so.Why did the author tell his students the story?
| A．To share his lucky experience. |
| B．To make his class more lively. |
| C．To draw all students’ attention. |
| D．To encourage his students to be positive. |
What happened to the author on his way to the community college?
| A．He parked his car in a perfect place. |
| B．He called AAA for a tow truck to meet him. |
| C．He covered the last quarter mile on foot. |
| D．He drove off the freeway at a wrong exit. |
By saying “it wasn’t the story at all”, the author means that_______.
| A．His story is not convincing |
| B．He shouldn’t have told the story |
| C．His attitude to life has inspired the students |
| D．His story is not as interesting as expected |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A．Easier said than done. |
| B．You are what you choose. |
| C．Behind bad luck comes good luck. |
| D．A good beginning makes a good ending. |
Next time you hear a funny joke you’d better not laugh too hard. According to a paper published by the British Medical Journal, laughter isn’t always the bestmedicine. Sometimes it can even be harmful. Professor Robin Ferner from the University of Birmingham, one of the authors of the study, found that bad things could happen to people who laughed too much. He says: “We found people with heartbeat problems which had stopped their heart, we found people who had fainted(昏倒), and we found people who’ddislocated theirjawsor burst their lungs.”
It seems that laughing can beno laughing matter. Butit’s not alldoom and gloom. Professor Ferner says there are benefits to laughing when you want tolose weight, for example. Yes, that’s right: laugh and be slimmer! Professor Ferner explains that: “You use energy when you laugh, you move yourdiaphragm(横膈膜), you expand your lungs, and both those things can be helpful.”
According to the research, laughing for a quarter of an hour can burn up to 40 calories, and if you laughed all day you’d use up about 2,000 calories, which is what most people consume in a day. But don’t do that or you might end up with apainfuljaw.Ouch! Or you might find people looking at you in afunnyway.
But I don’t want to finish this article leaving you feelingdesperate. Laughter comes naturally for most of us. Babies begin to laugh at around 3-6 months. So give in to yoursense of humourand keep smiling. Life is short anyway.
Laughing too much may cause the following harmful results EXCEPT_________.
| A．heart stop | B．diaphragm movement |
| C．lung burst | D．jaw dislocation |
The underlined phrase “doom and gloom” in Paragraph 2 probably means_______.
| A．hopeless | B．funny |
| C．painful | D．nervous |
How many calories can you use if you laugh for half a day?
| A．About 40. | B．About 1,000. |
| C．About 2,000. | D．About 2,040. |
What is the author’s attitude towards laughing in the last paragraph?
| A．Uninterested. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Worried. | D．Favorable. |
Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee(拼写大赛). In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.
Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法)to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.
But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.
In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.What can we learn about the Character Hero?
| A．It’s open to people of all ages and all walks. |
| B．It’s the most-viewed TV programs in China. |
| C．It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world. |
| D．It draws great public attention across the country. |
Why are Chinese people forgetting how to write the characters?
| A．Chinese people don’t refer to dictionaries very often. |
| B．Chinese people no longer use brush pens or practice calligraphy. |
| C．Chinese people are using the Latin alphabet instead of the characters. |
| D．Chinese people needn’t write by hand as often with the help of technology. |
According to Shen Bin, being able to write characters by hand is_________.
| A．necessary for adults to survive in China |
| B．a requirement made by the Education Ministry |
| C．helpful to keep Chinese tradition and culture alive |
| D．an ability to be developed only when you are students |
Where does this text probably come from?
| A．A news report. | B．A science report. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．Children’s literature. |