You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. I’ve learned that through my personal experiences. A few months ago, I woke up deaf in one ear. I did not pay much attention to it at first. It felt that I had water in my ear. However, I began to hear less and less out of that ear. I even had to ask people to talk into my other ear so that I could hear them. I didn’t realize how serious it was until late in the day (为时太晚). One evening, when I was sitting on my bed doing chemistry homework, I fell off my bed. When trying to get up, I was incredibly dizzy (头晕的).
I went to see a doctor and he told me that hearing loss was common. However, hearing loss is usually bilateral, or occurs in both ears. He said that my hearing should come back within a week. After about a week the dizziness eventually went away, but the hearing loss did not. The medicine helped and I gained some of my hearing back. After many hearing tests, the doctor diagnosed (诊断) that I had permanent hearing loss in that ear.
School became harder for me because I couldn’t hear my teachers. I was very depressed. Finally, I bought a hearing aid. With the hearing aid, my hearing is almost back to normal. It makes school and group conversations easier.
My friends, teachers and even complete strangers always ask me questions about hearing loss. I answer them patiently. I never get offended because I know this is new to them. I am delighted that I can teach them something new.
What I have learned from this particular situation is that when things are desperate（绝望的；急切的）, there is always something good that can come out of it. My experiences have given me an opportunity to teach people about hearing loss and also taught me about the value of hearing.What happened to the author?
| A．He is born deaf. |
| B．He becomes deaf in a traffic accident. |
| C．He woke up deaf in one ear one day. |
| D．He becomes deaf due to taking some medicine. |
The author fell off his bed when .
| A．getting up from bed | B．doing his homework |
| C．waking up from a dream | D．wearing his clothes |
From the text we can infer that .
| A．the author’s hearing loss was cured after the treatment |
| B．the author is unwilling to talk about his hearing loss with others |
| C．the author took some medicine to treat his hearing loss |
| D．the medicine that doctors gave him didn’t work at all |
At present, the author is .
| A．desperate | B．optimistic |
| C．depressed | D．angry |
According to a survey released by the Nielson Company on Thursday, China has become a global tourist attraction after the Beijing Olympics.
The survey said the Olympics not only built up China’s image but also served as an advertisement for China’s tourism.
The online survey was conducted on consumers in 16 countries and regions before Games’ opening ceremony and after the closing.
About 80 percent of the respondents had not been to China before the events and 50 percent of them expressed hopes of visiting China after the Games.
According to the survey, 70 percent of the respondents felt Beijing was more modern and scientific than what they had thought.
The most interested respondents were from Singapore, India, Mexico, South Africa and the Republic of Korea, as well as China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Pan Wen, in charge of Chinese tourism research of the Nielson Company, said the World Tourism Organization predicted that China would become the largest tourist attraction in the world with 137 million foreign tourists every year.
“This figure would be realized earlier with the aid of the Beijing Olympics,” Pan said.When was the online survey conducted?
| A．During the Olympics |
| B．Before Games’ opening ceremony and after the closing |
| C．After the Olympics’ closing |
| D．We don't know |
Which countries were the most interested respondents from?
| A．Singapore, India, Mexico | B．South Africa and the Republic of Korea |
| C．China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan | D．All of the above |
Which country did the World Tourism Organization predict would become the largest tourist attraction in the world?
| A．China | B．Japan | C．South Africa | D．Hong Kong |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．About 80 percent of the respondents expressed hopes of visiting China during the Games |
| B．The online survey was conducted on consumers in 16 countries |
| C．137 million foreign tourists have come to China every year |
| D．The Beijing Olympics greatly speed up China’s tourism |
If you want a job of taking care of children, which ad will you answer?
| A．LOST AND FOUND | B．ROOMMATES | C．FOR SAIL | D．HELP WANTED |
You will call____ if you want to buy a radio.
| A．800---0436 | B．800—0739 | C．800—4661 | D．800—4964 |
If your aunt wants to rent a room from Feb.1st to Apri.1st, how much money should she pay?
| A．$160 | B．$ 129 | C．$ 209 | D．$418 |
Do your spirits soar (猛增) on a sunny day? Do you relax at the sound of flowing water?
Some scientists suggest that these contacts with nature are good for your health. In one study, hospital patients with a view of trees had shorter hospital stays and less need for pain medications. Another study indicated that prisoners with a view of the outdoors had fewer doctor visits.
“Why do we desire nature? Maybe we’re programmed to need it, since our ancestors’ survival was so dependent on their connection with nature,” suggests biologist E.O. Wilson.
Want to find out if contact with nature improves your outlook on life? Try a few of these ideas.
Hang out a bird feeder and watch the birds that visit it.
Sit down in the backyard or a nearby park. Close your eyes. What do you hear? Birds singing? The wind in the trees? Crickets (蟋蟀) chirping?
Find an anthill. Sit down and watch the ants work.
Take a walk right after a rainstorm. What looks different? Smells different?
Go barefoot on a sandy beach.
Open the curtains and the window, if the weather allows it.
On a windy day, watch the trees.
Go to a creek, river or park fountain. Listen to the sound of water in motion.
Camp out in the backyard or at a nearby state park. Use a tent or sleep on the ground.
Find a wide-open space to study the stars. Learn about the different constellations (星座).
Raise a garden. Or plant some seeds in a flowerpot.
Go hiking with your family. Talk about all of the colors you see in nature.
Take a camera and capture your nature experience.From Paragraph 2 we can learn that ______.
| A．prisoners don’t like to go to the doctor when ill | B．trees can be used as pain medications |
| C．prisoners should often get out of prison to come into contact with nature | |
| D．contacts with nature are very helpful for hospital patients |
According to E.O. Wilson, we desire nature probably because ______.
| A．it can help us feel relaxed |
| B．we have inherited (继承) from our ancestors who were dependent on nature |
| C．people have lived with nature for thousands of years |
| D．contacts with nature can improve a person’s outlook on life |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．studying the constellations is important to everyone | |
| B．you can know all the colors only by going hiking | |
| C．nature is quite important to us | D．walking in a rainstorm can be very helpful |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Go hiking with your family | B．Let nature nurture you. |
| C．Visit your doctor less. | D．Watch the trees more often. |
Long long ago, there was an old merchant who had three sons. “To which one shall I leave my fortune?” he wondered. “It must be to the cleverest son. But which one is the cleverest?”
He called his three sons to him. “Here is some money,” he told them, “you must each take one coin to buy something that will fill this room. Anyone who can do this shall have my fortune.”
“It is a big room,” said the eldest son.
“One coin will not buy very much,” said the second son.
But the youngest son said nothing. He stood and thought, and then he smiled, “Come, brothers,” he said, “let us go to the market.”
The eldest son bought straw with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of straw. Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the straw covered only a corner of the room.
The second son bought sand with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of sand. Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the sand covered only half of the floor.
“What did you buy?” the eldest son angrily asked the youngest son. “You don't have any straw.”
“Yes, what did you buy?” the second son asked angrily. “You don't have any sand.”
“I bought this,” said the youngest son.
“A candle！” cried his brothers. “What good is a candle?”
“Watch”, said the youngest son.
He lit the candle, and all at once the room was filled from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor. It was filled with light!
“Although you are the youngest, you are indeed the cleverest of my sons,” the old merchant said.
And that is how, the old merchant left his fortune to his youngest son, the one who could fill a room with light. Who would get father's fortune?
| A．The oldest son. | B．The richest son. |
| C．The cleverest son. | D．The silliest son. |
The merchant left his fortune to the son
| A．who would fill the room by using something which is worthy of one coin |
| B．who would take care of him when he became old |
| C．who wanted to get his fortune |
| D．who got married first |
How do you think of the youngest son?
| A．He is very clever. | B．He is very lazy. |
| C．He is very mean. | D．He is very diligent. |
The youngest son used _____ to fill the room.
| A．straw | B．candle | C．sand | D．water |
Bruce Alberts, the former President of the National Academies (USA), has now taken over as Editor-in Chief of Science. Judging by his editorial in this week’s issue Considering Science Education there could be some interesting times ahead in Science offices.
Here’s part of what Bruce has to say about science education…
I consider science education to be critically important to both science and the world, and I shall frequently deal with this topic on this page. Let’s start with a big-picture view. Science has greatly advanced our understanding of the natural world and has enabled the creation of countless medicines and useful devices. It has also led to behaviors that have improved lives. The public appreciates these practical benefits of science, and science and scientists are generally respected, even by those who are not familiar with how science works or what exactly it has discovered.
But society may less appreciate the advantage of having everyone acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that are central to practice of successful science: scientific habits of mind. These habits include a critical attitude toward established claims and a stro
ng desire for logic and evidence. As famous astronomer Carl Sagan put it, science is our best detector (检测器). Individuals and societies clearly need a means to logically test the constant clever attempts to operate our purchasing and political decisions. They also need to challenge what is unreasonable, including the intolerance that led to so many regional and global conflicts.
So how does this relate of science education? Might it be possible to encourage, across the world, scientific habits of mind, so as to create more rational (理性的) societies everywhere? In principle, a strong expansion of science education could provide the world with such an opportunity, but only if scientists, educators, and policy-makers redefine (重新定义) the goals of science education, beginning with college-level teaching. Rather than only conveying what science has discovered about the natural world, as is done now in most countrie
s, we should provide first all students with the knowledge and practice of how to think like a scientist. Which of the following is NOT included in the “scientific habits of mind”?
| A．A critical attitude toward established claims. | B．A strong desire for logic. |
| C．A clever and active mind. | D．A strong desire for evidence. |
What does the underlined phrase “such an opportunity” refer to in the last paragraph?
| A．To create more rational societies everywhere. |
| B．To relate decision-making to science education. |
| C．To encourage science education around the world. |
| D．To set right goals of science education. |
In Bruce Alberts’ opinion, which is the most important in science education?
| A．Offering all students enough practice to drill their mind. |
| B．Equipping all students with a thinking model of a scientist. |
| C．Telling students what science has discovered about the natural world. |
| D．Advising all students to challenge all established scientific achievements. |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Bruce Alberts, a great science educator |
| B．Science education and world peace |
| C．The government and science education |
| D．Bruce Alberts’ opinion on science education |