I was going to die in Antarctica, I was certain. A picture of my frost-covered body, pale and lifeless, filled my mind as I glanced around. In all directions spreads the empty wilderness of Antarctica, the only feature being the division between snow and sky. I sadly stared at my team, who were rapidly disappearing from my sight．
It happened in the year 2009 when I was head of an adventure attempting to reach the South Pole. The team was made up of ordinary women from all around the world—from Jamaica, India, Singapore and Cyprus—many of whom had never seen snow, or spent a night in a tent, before we set off. Our aim was to be the most international all-female team to reach the South Pole．
By the time I realized that my sledge was firmly stuck, the team were already a long way ahead of me. I called out to Era, my teammate from Brunei, who was next in line. Getting no response, I called again, but my shouts were carried away in the opposite direction by the wind. I had stood and watched the line for a while as it marched away from me, confident that at any moment one of my teammates would look behind her. Seconds passed. Nothing. I was gradually being left alone．
I pushed my sledge again, my strength suddenly increased when I thought of a cold, lonely death. This time the sledge moved a little. I kicked at the ice with my ski-pole and boot, desperately trying to break the sledge free and pushed again. The sledge shot forward, knocking me off balance. I struggled to my feet and set off after the team．
I caught up just as they realized I wasn't there. As we continued, my panic slowly faded. I found myself laughing to myself as I noticed Reena checking behind her every few paces. In fact for the whole of the rest of the day each member of the team glanced over her shoulder every few minutes. They were not going to risk losing me again.What can we know from the first paragraph?
| A．The author's poor physical condition． |
| B．The wonderful sights of Antarctica． |
| C．The rough natural conditions of Antarctica． |
| D．The author's regret of being left alone． |
What's the main idea of the second paragraph?
| A．Brief introduction about the adventure. |
| B．How the author became the team leader. |
| C．The process of selecting the team members. |
| D．Complete information about the team members. |
What made it possible for the author to get her sledge out of the ice?
| A．The shouts of her teammates. |
| B．The strong desire to live on. |
| C．A sudden change in wind direction. |
| D．The natural beauty ahead in Antarctica. |
Why did the team form the habit of looking behind?
| A．Because they were expecting their team leader's arrival. |
| B．Because their team leader demanded them to do so. |
| C．Because they were afraid there might be danger coming from behind. |
| D．Because they wanted to make sure their team leader was following. |
There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.
One day,feeling very sad and lonely,she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn （荆棘） bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away,the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“For your wonderful kindness,” the good fairy said to the girl,“I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied,“I want to be happy.”
The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.
As the little girl grew up,there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness .She would only smile and answer,“The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”
When she was very old and on her deathbed,the neighbors all gathered around her,and feared that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “Tell us,please,” they begged,“Tell us what the good fairy said.” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said,“She told me that everyone,no matter how secure they seemed,no matter how old or young,how rich or poor,had need of me.”______ the girl felt sad and lonely.
| A．There were many friends but | B．There was nobody to love her so |
| C．There was nothing to do | D．Seeing the butterfly was caught |
Noticing the butterfly was caught by the thorn,the orphan girl ______.
| A．helped the butterfly escaped from the thorn | B．felt sorrow,but she didn’t go up to help it |
| C．fell down on it too | D．failed to help it release from the thorn |
The butterfly ______ after it was saved by the little girl.
| A．flied away | B．still died |
| C．changed into a fairy | D．was more beautiful than before |
The only thing that the little girl wanted was________.
| A．to be rich | B．to have her own parents |
| C．to have a lot of friends | D．happiness |
The neighbors all gathered around the old happy woman when she was dying,because ______.
| A．they loved this woman deeply and they didn’t wanted her to die |
| B．the woman had lots of money to be shared as soon as she died |
| C．they wanted to know the secret of her lifetime happiness |
| D．they wanted to pray for her after her death |
Even if you are a good high-jumper, you can jump only about seven feet off the ground. You cannot jump any higher because the earth pulls you hard. The pull of the earth is called gravity.
You can easily find out the pull of the earth. If you weigh yourself, you will know how much gravity is pulling you.
Since there is gravity, water runs down hill. When you throw a ball into the air, it falls back down. Because of gravity, you do not fall off the earth as it whirls (旋转) around.
Then, can we get away from the earth and go far out into space? Now you can do it, because spaceships have been invented. Then spaceship will go so fast that it can escape (逃出) the earth’s gravity and carry you into space.In this passage, the word “gravity” means_______.
| A．the pull of everything. | B．the force of attraction(吸引) among objects. |
| C．the force which attracts objects towards the centre of the earth | |
| D．the force which attracts the earth towards the sun. |
When you slip(滑) you always fall to the ground because________
| A．the earth always turns round. | B．the earth has gravity |
| C．the earth’s gravity is greater than your weight. | D．you are careless. |
Gravity is strong that_______
| A．it can throw a ball into the air. | B．it makes you jump only seven feet. |
| C．it can let you fly away from the earth. | D．it can keep everything on earth. |
Because of gravity,________
| A．water flows everything. | B．we can go everywhere by ship. |
| C．water always flows downwards. | D．fish can live in water. |
We can get away from the earth by spaceship because________
| A．the spaceship goes very fast. | B．the earth can’t pull the spaceship. |
| C．the spaceship has a strong force. | D．the spaceship can jump higher than others. |
There are many sorts of spies. There are those employed by governments to protect their countries’ interests; there are those we find in fiction and film, like the famous James Bond; and then there are the spies of the business world. But now there is a new form of espionage (间谍): sports spying. It may be a profitable job – if the spy can find a buyer for the information.
Last week, British newspapers reported that the England national team had been secretly recorded by an unknown group of individuals.
Media suggested that bugs had picked up a discussion of team tactics (战术), as well as playful talk about athletes’ affairs and possible rewards for players if they manage to win the World Cup.
England officials immediately filed a suit to stop media from publishing the contents of the recordings. Little is known about the identities of the spies, but authorities doubt they have any connection to rival sides preparing for this summer’s competition in South Africa. Rather, it appears that the people who bugged the hotel meeting room are just after money. If they find the right buyer, they could get a lot of it.
Gambling in major sports, like football, involves much more than picking the winner of a particular match. People can also place bets on starting line-ups, the timing of substitutions and goals scored. Knowing a team’s tactics for a particular game, or for a series of games, can help gamblers to increase their chances of winning big money.
England manager Fabio Capello tried to play down the importance of game tactics. He argued that a team’s psychological preparation is the most vital. “It’s more important to train the mind, to find confidence, create a group and a winning mentality,” he said.
Perhaps of more interest to the casual fan are the discussions of the players’ relationships with wives and girlfriends. UK newspapers may be prevented from publishing the details, but some Britons might say, the chances of the recordings never being heard are about as good as those of England winning this year’s competition: slim to none.We may know from the first paragraph that ______________.
| A．the spies mentioned are all pursuing money |
| B．all the spies are employed by the government |
| C．James Bond belongs to spies of the business world |
| D．if a sport spy can find a buyer, he can make money |
What does the underlined word “bugs” probably mean?
| A．A small insect. | B．The devices used in the spying. |
| C．A kind of virus. | D．A kind of laptop computers. |
The group of individuals who spied the England national team____________.
| A．are from the rival sides for sure |
| B．probably intended to make money |
| C．are involved in gambling |
| D．knew a winning mentality for a team is important |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．The chance of the England team winning the African World Cup is very small. |
| B．Many people will never hear the recordings. |
| C．A fan will be more interested in the players’ relationships with wives and girlfriends. |
| D．No one can get any information from the UK newspapers for ever. |
Every year, it costs British students more and more to attend university. Students are graduating with larger and larger debts. So is a college degree really worth it?
In 2006, the UK government started to allow universities in England and Wales to charge British students tuition fees. As a result, more than 80 percent of students in England and Wales now take out a student loan in order to go to university.
They use the loan to pay for tuition fees and living expenses. Although the interest on student loans is quite low, it begins as soon as the student receives the loan.
The average student in England and Wales now graduates from university with a debt of around ￡12,000 (122,952 yuan). It means graduates have to struggle to pay rent on a flat, because they have to start paying back the student loan when they reach April after graduating. If you start to earn over ￡15,000 (153,630 yuan) a year, the government takes repayments directly from your monthly salary.
You might think that a person with a degree would find it easy to get a well-paid job. However, most people in “white collar jobs” seem to have a degree, so there is a lot of competition. Also, British companies tend to value work experience over a piece of paper.
All of the above is beginning to make British people question whether a university degree is really worth the money. Even before the credit crisis started, the BBC stated: “The number of British students at UK universities has fallen for the first time in recent history, from 1.97 million in 2007 to 1.96 million last year.”
Meanwhile, the British universities offer more and more of the available places to richer international students rather than poorer British students. What does the future hold for British higher education?What can we infer from the second paragraph?
| A．Universities’ charging students fees is quite common all over the world. |
| B．It’s unfair to charge college students fees in England and Wales. |
| C．Before 2006 the UK universities didn’t charge students tuition fees in England and Wales. |
| D．The UK universities are unwilling to carry out the government’s policy. |
What might be the reason that the number of British students at UK universities falls?
| A．It’s harder and harder for them to get a degree. |
| B．The credit crisis has great influnce on their families’ income. |
| C．College education costs them too much. |
| D．The competition to become a “white collar” is too fiece. |
What does the underlined words “a piece of paper” refer to?
| A．A written document from the bank. | B．A letter of recommendation. |
| C．A filled application form. | D．A diploma. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．More Profits for the Banks | B．College Life in the UK |
| C．Welcome! International Students | D．UK Universities Students Become Poorer |
No matter where he lives, 16-year-old Danny Lopez feels like an outsider: he is half-Mexican and half-white.
At his private high school in wealthy northern San Diego, California, US, Lopez is too brown to fit in, whereas for the Mexican side of his family in National City, just a dozen miles from the border, he is too white to belong.
Different from both sides, Lopez is silent in school. He focuses on his passion for baseball and working hard to improve the pitches (球场) that have kept him off the school team.
Mexican Whiteboy, by Matt de la Pena, is about a teenager’s search for identity. It was named as one of the Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults in 2009 by the US Young Adult Library Services Association.
When Lopez’s mother decides to go to live with her wealthy white boyfriend in San Francisco, he chooses to spend the summer with his father’s family in San Diego. It’s a trip to explore roots and self-identity, filled with unexpected friendship.
There he meets Uno, of mixed heritage (遗传) like himself, also with a divorced mom. Uno understands Danny’s split background and helps him improve his baseball skills. Both boys have big league dreams, but they both have to learn to come to terms with their mixed heritages before they can achieve their goals.
Aside from discussions of racism, Mexican Whiteboy takes on other issues, such as the importance of family and the negative influence of hiding the truth. It also shows how sports can draw cultures together.The reason why Lopez feels like an outsider lies in the fact that ___________.
| A．he is a Mexican | B．he lives in San Diego |
| C．he is half-white and half-Mexican | D．he studies in a private school |
Most probably “Mexican Whiteboy” is a ____________.
| A．book | B．club | C．newspaper | D．organization |
When Lopez found it is hard for him to fit in, he ____________.
| A．starts writing a book about himself |
| B．begins to look for identity with the help of Mexican Whiteboy |
| C．loses his interest in baseball |
| D．works in the fields in which he was kept off the school team |
Lopez and Uno have a lot in common except that ____________.
| A．they both have a divorced mom |
| B．they both have mixed heritage |
| C．they were both in the school baseball team |
| D．both of them have big league dreams |