Countless people long to make a difference this holiday season, yet they don’t realize that opportunities to make a difference are everywhere .Here are some ideas to get you started.
Organize a blank drive
It is cold outside, but imagine how thousands of homeless people may feel without a home of their own, or even a blanket to keep them from the cold. Organize a blank drive for your local homeless, and ask around for donations!
Practice random acts of kindness
I’ll never forget the time when I went to pay for my Dr. Pepper, but the sever resisted, saying my bill was paid by an anonymous(匿名的) guest. It’s this random act of kindness that restores my faith in humanity. Bless someone by paying for their drink at Starbucks, or praising them! If you live somewhere where it snows, shovel your neighbour’s snow out of their driveway for them! Whether it is as simple as praise or as complex as paying the bill, you’ll never know how far your impact will reach.
Say thank you
Just a simple thank-you can make somebody’s day, especially if they feel like their work is never noticed. Cultivate（培养） a smile on their face by being sincere and grateful for all that they do.
Use your talents to help the community
The best way to show your appreciation for people is by using the talents and skills you have to bless others. For me, I love to coordinate（协调） events and write , and so my way of reaching out to the community is through writing articles and creating awareness about problems we face today. If you can bake, make some delicious cookies for people to enjoy! If you can knit, put your talents to use by making clothes for children in foster care. Any talent can be used to help the community in meaningful ways.
Wish you a happy, healthy and helpful holiday season.If you join a blank drive, you can _________
| A．keep yourself from the cold |
| B．bring a blanket to go on a trip |
| C．buy a home for homeless people |
| D．collect donations for the homeless people |
How did the author restore his faith in humanity?
| A．he helps others |
| B．he often blessed others |
| C．He got help from others |
| D．He got praised by others |
The underlined phrase” to make somebody’s day” is to ________
| A．make someone feel grateful all day |
| B．do something unnoticed by people |
| C．make someone feel good all day |
| D．help someone to solve problems |
What is the author’s talent?
| A．Sewing | B．Writing | C．Baking | D．Knitting |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Help Others in Need |
| B．Make the Best of Talent |
| C．Enjoy Your Holiday Season |
| D．Make a Difference in Your Holiday Season |
I had just gone to bed after a very hard day when the phone rang. It was a strange farmer. I had never met him before although I had often heard people talk about him. He sounded quite nervous and he had been talking for a minute or so before I understood anything. Even then all I could make out was that someone called Milly had had a very bad accident. I really didn’t know who she was but I had to go.
It had been snowing heavily that day and I didn’t know the way. I had been driving for at least an hour when I finally found his place. He was standing there, waiting for me. It seemed that Milly had died. “She meant more to me than anyone even my own wife!” he said. I could see that he had been crying. I thought something terrible had taken place, a possible scandal(丑闻). I was even more surprised when he told me he had put her in the barn(厩). “I couldn’t leave her in the cold!” he said. Milly had clearly been a secret lover of his. I was about to tell him he could not expect me to cover anything up when he opened the barn door. He lifted his candle and I saw a dark figure on the ground.
“She was such a good cow! I wouldn’t let anyone except a doctor touch her!” he said and cried again.
60. The farmer wished that the writer might .
A. look into the matter B. bring Milly back to life
C. free him from a scandal D. keep the whole thing a secret
61. The underlined phrase in the first paragraph means “ ”.
A. expect B. understand
C. see clearly D. hear clearly
62. Before he arrived at the farmer’s house, the writer expected to see Milly lying .
A. on the ground of a barn B. on the floor of a room
C. in bed in a room D. in bed in a barn
63. What do we know about Milly for the story?
A. She had met with an accident. B. She had caused a scandal.
C. She was seriously ill. D. She was hidden somewhere.
64. The person who told the story is probably a .
A. farmer B. policeman
C. country doctor D. newspaper re5-6porter
At one time or another most farmers have problems with mice. This is especially true for grain farmers. Mice eat a lot of grain. They also carry diseases(疾病), which people can get from eating or touching grain the mice have made dirty. Farmers can use special grain storage building or they can kill the mice. However, both methods can be costly. Farmers must buy materials to build the special grain storage buildings or chemical poisons to kill the mice.
Here is a way to kill mice without spending a lot of money. It is a simple but effective king of mouse trap. The method is first used by some farmers in the west African country of Mali. An agricultural expert in Mali reported about the Mali mouse trap in a magazine. The expert reported that his gardener caught 150 mice in just one night. The gardener used four traps. The trap is easy to make. First, remove the top from a 20 liter metal or plastic container(容器). Put it n a hole in the ground. The top edge of the container should be the level with the surface of the ground. Fill the container with water to within eight centimeters of the top. Add tiny pieces of grain wastes. They should float on the water. Also put some wastes on the ground near the trap. During the night, mice will come out to eat the grain wastes. They will fall into the container and drown. Replace the food in the trap every night.
56. According to the passage, used the mouse trap first.
A. an agricultural expert in the west Africa B. farmers in the United States
C. an American gardener D. farmers in Mali
57. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. A simple and effective method used by farmers to kill mice.
B. Methods used by farmers to kill mice.
C. Farmers have problems with mice.
D. How to kill mice.
58. is not needed in making the mouse trap.
A. Water B. A container
C. chemical poison D. Food
59. Which of the following can’t protect grain from being eaten by mice?
A. A special grain storage building. B. Chemical poisons.
C. A mouse trap.D. A hole in the ground.
People nowadays buy a second home for different purposes. If you want to enjoy your vacation in a second home, then you should buy a second home where your family wants to stay during their vacation. And a second home is becoming very important from the real estate (房地产) point of view. It is one of the largest parts of the real estate business. If you want to invest (投资) in a second home, then you should buy one in a great location. When buying a second home, you should select a location where there are great attractions for tourists.
Investing in a second home is becoming very popular now that people have realized the great profit (利润) that can come from second homes. Also you can use your second home as your vacation home until you feel like selling it for a great profit. The price of the second home will always increase as the demand for second homes keeps increasing. Also you can use the second home for rent by buying a second home at a location where there are many attractions for tourists.
If you want to buy or sell second homes, you should contact GMAC Real Estate as it is offering different types of real estate services that will help you to buy and sell your second homes.
68.How many reasons for buying a second home are mentioned in Paragragh1?
A.One B.Two C.Three D.Four
69. According to the author, the price of second homes will always go up because _________.
A.the number of second homes is going down
B.more people use the second homes for rent
C.most second homes are near great attracions
D.the demand for second homes is increasing
70. The passage is most probably taken from ______.
A.an advertisement B.a news report
C.a survey report D.a government report
What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology. With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today’s leading killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant(遥远的) memories.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, wouldn’t last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官).The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on—in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up (澄清) on the way to this wonderful future.
64.According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.
A.diseases and aging B.accidents and war
C.accidents and aging D.heart disease and war
65.In the author’s opinion, today’s most important advance in technology lies in ______.
A.medicine B.the Internet C.brain cells D.human organ
66.Humans may live longer in the future because ________.
A.heart disease will be far away from us
B.human brain can decide the final death
C.the basic materials of cells will last forever
D.human organs can be repaired by new medicine
67. We can learn from the passage that ______.
A.human life will not last more than 120 years in the future
B.humans have to take medicine to build new skin cells now
C.much need to be done before humans can have a longer life
D.we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells
The Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings, has been recreated with 3,604 cups of coffee—and 564 pints of milk. The different colors were created by adding no, little or lots of milk to each cup of black coffee.
The recreated Mona Lisa measured 20 feet long and 13 feet wide. It took a team of eight people three hours to complete the work. It was created for The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia, and seen by 130,000 people who attended the one-day coffee-lovers event.
Elaine Kelly, one of the organizers from the Sydney Harbor Foreshore Authority, was delighted with the result. She said, “Each coffee cup was filled with varying amounts of milk to create the different shades(色度) of the painting. We wanted to create an element of surprise and a sense of fun in the way we communicated with the public.”
“Once we had the idea of creating an image(像) out of coffee cups we searched for something iconic（有代表性的）to reproduce(复制).And after some time we chose the most iconic painting in history. The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee,” Kelly continued. “Besides, the idea is practical.”
“It was fantastic. It really looked like the famous painting—the Mona Lisa. It was wonderful,” said one visitor.
After much planning it was great to see it coming together so well and the 130,000 people who attended the event certainly enjoyed it and were deeply attracted by it,” said Kelly.
60.How were the different colors of the recreated Moma Lisa created?
A.By adding different amounts of black coffee to each cup of milk.
B.By adding different amounts of milk to each cup of black coffee.
C.By using paints of different colors
D.By using different kinds of coffee
61.How large is the recreated Mona Lisa?
A. 20 square feet B. 260 square feet
C. 564 square feet D. 3,604 square feet
62.The people who saw the recreated Mona Lisa are all_______ lovers.
A.Mona Lisa B.milk C.coffee D.painting
63.The event organizers chose to recreate the Mona Lisa for the following reasons EXCEPT that _________ .
A. the Mona Lisa is a very iconic painting in history
B. the Mona Lisa has never been reproduced out of coffee
C. the idea can be actually carried out
D. it is very easy to do so