Dear friend,
For the past 17 years, you have been my best friend. I remember that you told me you were called Cigarette because of your features. You have seen me through difficult times, happy times and just about every stage of my life. You have always been here when I need you. Some of my family and friends didn’t like you so much, but I’ve always been on your side. I thought you were a great friend, and I counted on you at all times, especially when I was not very happy.
It’s hard for me to tell you this, but in the past few months, I have been seriously thinking about ending our relationship. I think that I‘ve just been too dependent on you, and I feel that at the age of 35 I should start being more independent. I thought about just maybe seeing you once in a while, but I don’t think that would work. Eventually, I’d start relying on you all the time again. I feel the only way to end our relationship is to end it forever.
I’ve always included you in everything I’ve done. But next week, I’m going on a trip, and I’ve decided not to take you along. I feel this would be a good time to break up. I will be gone for a whole week without you and if I can make it on my own for that week, I know I can make it forever.
It is a little sad for me knowing that I won’t be able to rely on you any more, but I think I will be a better person in the end.By writing the letter, the author wants to ______.
A.say goodbye to his girlfriend |
B.tell his friendship with Cigarette |
C.tell his travelling plan |
D.give up smoking |
The underlined phrase “counted on” in the first paragraph can be replaced by “_______”.
A.worried about | B.cared for |
C.depended on | D.got along well with |
According to the passage, the “letter-receiver” _______.
A.is the author’s girlfriend |
B.has done harm to the author for years |
C.will feel sad when reading the letter |
D.will never leave the author |
The author decided to take a trip to ______.
A.get away from his best friend |
B.relax himself for a while |
C.reduce his sorrow for the break |
D.show that he is independent |
Why does the author want to end his relationship with Cigarette?
A.Because he wants to be more healthy. |
B.Because they are going through difficult times. |
C.Because his family and friends no longer like him. |
D.Because he is going on a trip. |
Mozart was one of the greatest composers who ever lived. He was born in Salzburg,
Austria, in 1756. Even when he was very young, Mozart loved music. His father, who was the leader of an orchestra, was very happy that his son was so interested in music. When Mozart was three years old, he learned to play the harpsichord, which is a kind of piano. Mozart began to compose music at the age of five, and his father took him to play in front of the kings and queens of Europe.
At one concert, one of the violinists was missing from the orchestra. Mozart picked up a violin and played the music without a mistake. Mozart’s father and the other players in the orchestra were surprised. Mozart had never been taught to play the violin! Mozart continued travelling around Europe with his father, who was his teacher in everything. He composed many pieces for the piano, the violin, and later for full orchestra.
Mozart could write down a piece of music even if he had heard it only once. One day, he went to hear a group of people singing in a big church in Rome. The song was very special. The church leader said that people could sing the song only once a year, and only in his church. No one else was allowed to have the music. Mozart listened to the song. Although it was very difficult and long, Mozart went back home and wrote down the whole piece from memory. The head of the church heard about this, and instead of being angry with Mozart, he gave him a prize.
When Mozart grew up, people were not so interested in him. He worked as a teacher and pianist, but he did not make much money. In 1791, at the age of 35, he died. He was so poor that there was not enough money for him to have a proper grave. No one knows where he is buried.
43. The story is mainly about ____.
A. Mozart and his music
B. a leader of an orchestra
C. the life of a great composer
D. the head of a church in Rome.
44. Mozart’s father helped Mozart a lot by ____.
A. teaching him about music
B. giving him a violin to play with
C. sending him to a music school
D. giving him a lot of money
45. When Mozart was only three years old, he ____.
A. went to Rome B. began to sing C. began to compose music D. played the harpsichord.
46. Mozart had a very good _____.
A. violin B. grave C. memory D. orchestra
47. Although Mozart was one of the world’s greatest composer, ____.
A. he died poor B. he did not teach anyone.
C. he did not know many famous people
D. he couldn’t play the piano or violin
Thanksgiving Day is a very special day for people in the United States. In that country they celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians also celebrate Thanksgiving Day, but they do it on the second Monday of October. In Britain, where the festival is called “ Harvest Festival”, people celebrate earlier in the year, in September.
A harvest is the fruit you take from the trees and the crops you take from the ground. In North America, Europe, and England, harvest time for most fruit and crops is in the special day of the year. They thank God for the good things that have happened during the year and for the good harvest they have had. People usually take small boxes of fruit, flowers, and vegetables to their churches to show their thanks.
The first thanksgiving service in North America took place on 4 December 1610 when 38 English people arrived in America to make their home in the new country. They held this service not to thank God for the harvest, but to thank God for their safe journey. The next year, many more English people arrived. They had a bad winter, but fortunately the harvest was good. They decided to celebrate with a big meal. They shot and killed small animals to eat and cooked everything outside on large fires. About 90 Indians also came to the meal. Everyone ate at tables outside their houses and played games together. The festival lasted three days.
A Thanksgiving Day celebration was held every year for a long time, but not always on the same day of the year. Then, in 1789, President George Washington named 26 November as the Day of Thanksgiving. Almost a hundred years later, President Abraham Lincoln changed the date, and said that the last Thursday in November should be Thanksgiving Day.
Nowadays, North Americans around the world get together with their families on this day to eat good food and have a happy time.
39. The story is about ____.
A. festivalsB. an American festival
C. English people in America D. giving thanks for everything
40. The last Thursday in November in November is ____.
A. a festival in every country in the world
B. Thanksgiving Day in the United States
C. the day farmers pick fruit from the trees
D. the day the first English People came to America
41. On thanksgiving Day people ____.
A. plant their crops. B. celebrate a safe journey
C. thank God for a good harvest
D. harvest their fruit and crops.
42. At the first thanksgiving service in North America, the people ____.
A. shot a lot of small animals
B. thanked God for a safe journey
C. thanked God for a good harvest
D. had a big dinner outside their houses.
Stories about Kites in Japan
People have flown kites in Japan for more than 1000 years. There are many different kinds of kites there. Some look like bats; others look like birds. Most have pictures on them.
There are many interesting stories about kites in Japan.
One story tells us about a thief who used a kite to fly. He wanted to steal the gold from the top of an old tower. The thief and his friends made a large kite. One dark windy night, the thief caught hold of(抓住) the kite. His friends raised the kite into the air. Then they moved the kite near the top of the tower. The thief was able to steal the gold.
Another story tells about a father and a son who were on a small lonely island in the middle of the Japanese sea. There were no bouts or ships. They couldn’t go back to the mainland. So they made a big kite. His son flew on it back to Japan.
There is a K-Day in Japan. The young men of Japan have kite matches. When the kites are flying the match starts. The young men try to break each other’s kite string(细线). The last kite left in the sky is the winner.
35. Most kites in Japan ____.
A. are very large B. are very small C. look like bats D. look nice with pictures.
36. In the kite match, the young men try to ____.
A. make their kites fly high
B. stop each other’s kites from flying in the sky
C. make very large kites themselves
D. draw beautiful pictures on their kites.
37. The father in the passage made a big kite to help his son to ____.
A. return home B. fly over Japan C. win the match D. steal the gold.
38. which of the following is NOT true?
A. The last kite left in the sky is the winner in the kite match.
B. The thief stole the gold from the top of an old tower.
C. The father and the son in the story were dead in the sea at last.
D. There is K-Day in Japan.
The word “cool”
“Cool” is a word with many meanings. Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little cold. As the world has changed, the word has had many different meanings.
“Cool” can be used to express feelings or interest in almost anything.
When you see a famous car in the street, maybe you will say “It’s cool.” You may think “He’s so cool.” You can use it instead of many words such as “new” or “surprising”. Here an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used. A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall they had visited. On one student’s paper was just the one sentence, “It’s cool.” Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and how he felt.
But the story also show a scarcity(缺乏) of words. Without “cool”, some people have no words to show the same meaning. Can you think of any other words that make your life as colorful as the word “cool”? I can. And I think they are also very cool.
31. We know the word “cool” has had ____.
A. many different meanings B. only one meaning
C. the same meaning D. no meaning
32. If you are ____ something, you may say “It’s cool.”
A. afraid of B. unhappy with C. interested in D. angry with
33. The sentence “It’s cool.” On the student’s paper may mean “It looks really ____.”
A. careful B. wonderful C. thankful D. painful
34. The writer takes an example to show he ____ the way the word is used.
A. strange to B. pleased with C. worried about D. excited at
Have you ever been at a meeting while someone was making a speech and realized suddenly that your mind was a million miles away? You probably felt sorry and made up your mind to pay attention and always have been told that daydreaming is a waste of time.
“On the contrary,” says L. Giambra, an expert in psychology, “daydreaming is quite necessary. Without it, the mind couldn’t get done all the thinking it has to do during a normal day. You can’t possibly do all your thinking with a conscious(有意识)mind. Instead, your unconscious mind is working out problems all the time. Daydreaming then may be one way that the unconscious and conscious states of mind have silent dialogues.”
Early experts in psychology paid no attention to the importance of daydreams or even considered them harmful. At one time daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses. They did not have a better understanding of daydreams until the late 1980s. Eric Klinger, a professor of psychology, is the writer of the book Daydreaming. Klinger says, “We know now that daydreaming is one of the main ways that we organize our lives, learn from our experiences, and plan for our futures. Daydreams really are a window on the things we fear and the things we long for in life.”
Daydreams are usually very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand. It’s easier to gain a deep understanding of your life by paying close attention to your daydreams than by trying to examine your sleep dreams carefully. Daydreams help you recognize the difficult situations in your life and find out a possible way of dealing with them.
Daydreams cannot be predicated(预料). They move off in unexpected directions which may be creative and full of ideas. For many famous artists and scientists, daydreams were and are a main source of creative energy.
72.The writer of this passage considers daydreams .
A.hard to understand B.important and helpful
C.harmful and unimportant D.the same as sleep dreams
73.The writer quoted(引用)L. Giambra and Eric Klinger to .
A.point out the wrong ideas of early experts B.list two different ideas
C.support his own idea D.report the latest research on daydreams
74.Which of the following is TRUE?
A.An unconscious mind can work all the problems out.
B.Daydreaming can give artists and scientists ideas for creation.
C.Professor Eric Klinger has a better idea than L. Giambra.
D.Early experts fully understood what daydreams were.
75.What is the main difference between daydreams and sleep dreams?
A.People have daydreams and sleep dreams at different times.
B.Daydreams are the result of unconscious mind while sleep dreams are that of conscious
mind.
C.Daydreams are more harmful. D.Daydreams are more helpful in solving problems.