Below are some interesting columns from a website:
| Girl’s Crazy Historical Costumes Stella Ehrhart, a US third-grader, dresses up as a different historical figure every day before school—yes, you heard right! The 8-year-old has been coming to class in a different persona (人物) daily since the second day of second grade, when she showed up as American author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Stella gets ideas for what to wear from the book 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century. However, in the past years she has also dressed up as fictional characters including Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. The eager student managed to get through the entire second grade without repeating herself, but now she is running out of ideas. The girl’s parents, who are both theater professionals, say they support their daughter’s “creativity”. Her mother told UK news website The Huffington Post, “She goes into her closet and just picks out what she wants each day.” Learning Soars How do you get a child’s early education off the ground? A head teacher in the Georgian city of Rustavi has found a unique way of creating an exciting learning environment. He has transformed a plane into a kindergarten. Gari Chapidze bought an old but functional Yakovlev Yak-42 from Georgian Airways and filled it with education equipment, games and toys, but left the cockpit (驾驶舱) untouched so it could be used as a play area. “The idea was to create a kindergarten where children go |
with joy,” Chapidze, who runs the kindergarten, told AFP. “The children come in to the kindergarten with pleasure and cry when they have to go home. They are happy here,” he added. Taxi Driver Gets Lucky in Las Vegas Bright lights and big wins—this is what Las Vegas is known for, and even the taxi drivers here get lucky. Well, at least recently one did. Adam Woldemarim, 42, discovered $ 221,510 in the back of his van after a long day at work. The money was in a laptop case left between the seats of the Virgin Valley cab. What did Woldemarim do with the cash? He turned it in. The Ethiopian driver soon got a call from the case’s owner who, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had “won big” and was on his way to the airport when he realized he had forgotten his winnings. Woldemarim was given a $ 2,000 reward. But it was reported that the driver’s fellow taxi drivers thought he should have got a lot more. Eat Crickets (蟋蟀) and Worms at a Museum The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia is putting on a night for meat eaters who want to try some unusual foods. It is hosting a cocktail party on Oct 27 called Cuisine from the Collections. The food on the menu is inspired by the exhibited specimen (标本) at the museum. The event is for adults only. Let’s hope they don’t get a stomach bug from all the insects! |
Stella Ehrhart gets ideas on how to dress up every day before school from ________.
| A．Laura Ingalls Wilder | B．a book |
| C．Hermione Granger | D．her parents |
Which of the following is the biggest problem Stella Ehrhart is facing?
| A．She has to get through the entire second grade dressing up as others. |
| B．She finds her parents no longer offer her as much support as before. |
| C．She finds it hard to think of enough new figures to dress up. |
| D．She has difficulty dressing up without falling behind in study. |
Yakovlev Yak-42 is a certain kind of ________.
| A．school | B．company | C．toy | D．plane |
According to the passage, the van driver ________.
| A．was lucky to win a laptop case after a long day at work |
| B．was on his way to the airport when he saw the money |
| C．was given a reward but not quite satisfied with the sum |
| D．discovered the money but didn’t keep it for himself |
China’s new term, tuhao, may be in next year’s Oxford English Dictionary. The word caught the attention of the dictionary's editing team after BBC’s recent program on influential Chinese words. “If its influence continues, it is very likely to appear on our updated list of words,” said Julie Kleeman, project manager with the editing team.
In Chinese tu means uncouth (笨拙的) and hao means rich. It has traditionally been referred to rich people who throw their weight around in China’s countryside. The word became more popular in September with the launch of Apple’s new gold-colored iPhone, which is loved by China’s rich people. The color became known as “tuhao gold.” The word is now also used by the online community to refer to people who have the cash but lack the class to go with it. Kleeman also mentioned two other Chinese words — dama and hukou — which may also make it into the dictionary.
People can have an intuitive (直观的) grasp of the meanings if they see pinyin, Kleeman said, adding that people avoid using an English word to keep the original meaning.
“We have nearly 120 Chinese-linked words now in Oxford English Dictionary,” she said. Some of them are: Guanxi, which means “connection”; Taikonaut, a mix of taikong, meaning outer space, and astronaut.
The new words will be first uploaded on the official website before the dictionaries arrive. The online version is also renewed every three months. “It at least broke our old rules. It used to take 10 years to include a new word but now we keep the pace with the time,” according to a statement from ex-chief-editor John Simpson.Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
| A．Dama and hukou have made it into Oxford English dictionary. |
| B．Some influential Chinese words appeared on one of BBC’s recent programs. |
| C．tuhao refers to people who have both the cash and the class. |
| D．John Simpson thinks that it is not good to break old rules. |
What does the underlined part in paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Give orders to others. | B．Get ready to help others. |
| C．Go on a diet. | D．Put on weight. |
Tuhao becomes more popular in September partly because ______.
| A．it is very likely to appear in Oxford English Dictionary |
| B．it is often used by the online community |
| C．people use Chinese pinyin to keep the original meaning |
| D．Apple launched a new gold-colored iPhone |
The main idea of the text is that ______.
| A．tuhao may end up in Oxford English Dictionary |
| B．sometimes pinyin makes Chinese words better understood |
| C．tuhao has a new meaning at the present time |
| D．Oxford English Dictionary Includes new words faster than before |
Fix it on your own
Did you know that a bowl of rice could save your iPod if you drop it in a swimming pool by accident? Or that the camera on your phone could tell you what’s wrong with your TV remote control? The experts at Geek Squad (geelsquad.co.uk) have made a gadget (小机件) rescue guide. So, let’s take a look at some of their useful advice.
♦ How to get more juice out of your phone batter
If your battery goes dead but you need to get a number or send one last text, try warming it up. That may give you a tiny bit of power. Take the battery from the phone and rub it between your hands. Or warm it under your arm for a few minutes. Then try to start the phone but use it quickly.
♦ What to do if your gadget gets wet
First, try drying it out with a vacuum cleaner (真空吸尘器). If a vacuum cleaner isn’t at hand, fill a pot or bowl with uncooked rice and put your wet gadget inside. The dry, uncooked rice will absorb all the water and, after a few hours, you should be able to use the gadget. Don’t forget to remove the battery and SIM card before you dry it.
♦ What to do if your TV remote control stops working
If replacing the batteries doesn’t work, get the camera function up on your phone and point the remote at the lens (镜头). When you press a button on the remote, if it is working, the glass bobble (小球) at the front of the remote will light up when you look at it on the screen of your phone. This is because the screen on a phone or digital camera picks up infrared rays (红外线), even though your eyes don’t. If the glass bobble doesn’t light up, the remote is broken. If it does, the receiving device (装置) is broken.If your cell phone falls into a sink, you can _________.
| A．warm it up under your arm |
| B．remove the battery after you dry it |
| C．put it into the uncooked rice |
| D．press it with both of your hands |
Why can a phone be used to prove the TV remote control works well? Because it can _____.
| A．improve the TV remote control |
| B．receive infrared ray |
| C．picture the TV remote control |
| D．reflect infrared ray |
In which section of a newspaper can we possibly read this text?
| A．Life | B．Entertainment |
| C．Finance | D．Culture |
The purpose of this passage is to give people __________.
| A．personal opinions | B．professional guides |
| C．necessary warnings | D．practical tips |
Jenny was a pretty five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl (珍珠) necklace priced at $2.50. Her mother bought the necklace for her on condition that she had to do some homework to pay it off. Jenny agreed. She worked very hard every day, and soon Jenny paid off the necklace. Jenny loved it so much that she wore it everywhere except when she was in the shower. Her mother had told her it would turn her neck green!
Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny went to bed, he would read Jenny her favorite story.
One night when he finished the story, he said, “Jenny, could you give me your necklace?”
“Oh! Daddy, not my necklace!” Jenny said. “But you can have Rosy, my favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. Okay? ”
“Oh no, darling, that’s okay.” Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Good night, little one.
A week later, her father once again asked Jenny for the necklace after her favorite story. “Oh, Daddy, not my necklace! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you remember her? She’s my favorite.”
“No, that’s okay,” her father said and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. “God bless you, little one. Sweet dreams. ”
Several days later, when Jenny’s father came in to read her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling. “Here, Daddy,” she said, holding out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father’s hand.
With one hand her father held the plastic pearl necklace and with the other he pulled out of his pocket a blue box. Inside the box was a real, beautiful pearl necklace. He had had it all along. He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap necklace so he could give her a real one.What did Jenny have to do to get the plastic pearl necklace?
| A．She had to help her mother do some housework. |
| B．She had to listen to her father tell a story every night. |
| C．She had to ask her father to pay for the necklace. |
| D．She had to give away her favorite toys to the poor children. |
From the text we know that ______.
| A．Jenny’s mother paid a lot for the plastic pearl necklace |
| B．Jenny wore the necklace everywhere even in the shower |
| C．Jenny didn’t like Rosy and Ribbons any longer |
| D．Jenny got a real pearl necklace from her father |
Jenny’s father asked for her plastic pearl necklace repeatedly in order to ______.
| A．get it for himself | B．donate it |
| C．train her character | D．put it away |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．A Lovely Girl | B．Father and Daughter |
| C．A Pearl Necklace | D．An Unforgettable Childhood |
You may think your bathroom is often full of bacteria(细菌) and so you give it a complete cleaning once a week. But how often do you clean out and disinfect(消毒) your fridge? Well, probably not often enough, according to a recent study, which found out that the fridge is the second dirtiest place in your house, just behind the bathroom.
Fridge temperatures were often set too high, allowing the growth of bacteria, which included E.coil, Enterobacteria, and S. aureus, all of which will give you an easy access to food poisoning. So what can you do to ensure your fridge---and your food in it---is not a health threat?
For starters, clean the fridge weekly---wipe it and repeat.
Make sure your fridge is at the correct temperature for storing food, between 0 and 5 degrees centigrade. Your freezer should be below-18 degrees centigrade. You can use fridge and freezer thermeters to make sure this is the case.
Some modern fridges have zones to store different types of food ,such as meat and vegetables. Make sure you don`t store meat in the vegetable zone, as the temperature there might be higher.
Make sure you don not leave the door open too long as the temperature in the fridge will quickly rise, creating a breeding(繁殖) ground for bacteria.
Cover food that has not been finished, and eat it within a couple of days.
Keep bottles and jars closed.
Keep raw meat away from cooked meat. Both should be well covered to prevent pollution.
Store raw meat at the bottom of the fridge to stop juices dripping onto other foods.
Finally, use common sense, and throw away old food.What do we know from the first paragraph?
| A．People often clean their fridges once a week. |
| B．A recent study shows the bathroom is the dirtiest place in the house. |
| C．Many people don`t believe that the fridge is a dirty place. |
| D．The fridge may not have as many bacteria as the bathroom. |
Which is the best temperature for storing your food in the fridge?
| A．10ºC | B．-2 ºC | C．4 ºC | D．-18 ºC |
The purpose of this text is to________.
| A．introduce some common knowledge about fridges |
| B．teach people how to fix their fridges |
| C．guide people to store food properly in their fridges |
| D．let people know how to keep their fridges clean |
Commander was my parents` cat but I knew him first. In fact, Commander was my college roommate`s cat. My roommate wanted to sell Commander, but no one would buy him. I called my parents to see if they would like to adopt him. My mom had always loved cats but my dad disliked cats very much. As predicted my dad said, “No way. No cats” Fortunately for me, my dad was out of town at a math conference. So I brought Commander home. By the time he returned, both my mom and Commander had decided that Commander was going to stay.
My mom said that Commander was going to live at our house for a “trial period” while we looked for a buyer. As the months went by there was absolutely no effort to sell Commander and it became clear to my dad that Commander was there to stay. Commander started sitting by my dad as he read the newspaper and slowly my dad began to like Commander---just a little bit.
By the time I came home that summer, I was surprised to see my dad carrying Commander around the house. Over the years, my parents` love for Commander grew to the point where they could not imagine life without him.
Once I finished college, my parents built their dream house and they named the floor plan（平面图） The Commander! They worked with the architect to design the house so that it was perfectly suited both for them and for Commander.
Commander died at the age of eighteen. My mom still talks about him often and misses him, and so does my dad, which proves that not even the most determined cat-hating human being in the world can resist the charms(魅力)of a cat once the cat decides he is moving in to your heart.When the author`s dad returned from the conference,_________.
| A．the author had decided to sell Commander. |
| B．the author`s roommate sold commander to someone else |
| C．the author`s mother decided to keep Commander |
| D．the author`s mother started looking for a buyer |
What was the father`s feeling towards Commander when the author came home that summer?
| A．He still hated the cat very much |
| B．He began to like the cat |
| C．He wanted to sell the cat |
| D．He wanted to keep another cat |
What did the author`s parents do when they designed their new house?
| A．They designed a room for Commander. |
| B．They named the floor plan the Commander. |
| C．They opened a door in the wall for Commander. |
| D．They worked with the architect to build a cathouse |
Put the following events into the correct order.
a.The author`s father changed his attitude towards Commander.
b.The author brought Commander home
c.The author finished college.
d.The author`s parents built their dream house.
e.Commander died.
| A．a-e-b-c-d | B．b-a-d-c-e |
| C．d-b-c-a-e | D．b-a-c-d-e |