What was your favorite sport during your childhood? Maybe running around the playground or jumping rope for hours would bring you pleasure. At that time you weren’t thinking of health, you were just thinking of entertainment(娱乐). But in this age of high-tech home equipment, the simple joy of jumping rope has been forgotten. I think rediscovering it probably will give you a total-body exercise.
Although considered an excellent form of exercise, jumping rope has never been widely accepted because of two reasons. First, most people consider jumping rope to be an excellent form of cardiovascular (心血管的) exercise, but they also believe that it is simply too difficult. In other words, they don’t think they’ll be able to continue jumping for the near 20 minutes in order to achieve a beneficial physical effect. Second, many people regard it as a little boring and overly repetitive —not as something fun or enjoyable.
As a matter of fact, jumping rope can be great fun as long as you find proper ways to practice it. Instead of doing the usual two-foot bounce(跳) over and over again, players good at rope-jumping often change their pattern every 10 or 20 jumps. A single bounce, a double –bounce, a skip, a knee-up, side swings, as well as a variety of other easy-to-learn free-style rope-jumping .
Nowadays researchers are discovering that jumping rope also prepares the brain for learning. It is an exercise allowing both brain hemispheres（半球）to perform equally to each other . In a word, jumping rope can be a life-long activity requiring little equipment, time and space, yet leading to a much healthier life.One reason that can explain why rope jumping has not spread widely is that_____.
| A．it is believed to be boring and repetitive |
| B．it is too difficult for people to learn to jump |
| C．it benefits the cardiovascular system |
| D．it requires little equipment, time and space |
The first sentence in Paragraph 3 implies that in rope jumping .
| A．there is only one proper way to follow |
| B．the usual way should not be used again |
| C．the easiest way is always the best one |
| D．there are different kinds of ways to follow |
According to the researchers, jumping rope .
| A．only prepares the brain for learning |
| B．is suitable for students only |
| C．helps both brain hemispheres work together |
| D．can be dangerous for old people |
What is the author’s attitude towards rope jumping?
| A．He strongly argues against it. |
| B．He is sitting on the fence of it . |
| C．He is for it. |
| D．He knows little about it . |
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try. “What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition .What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Competition helps to set up self-respect. |
| B．Opinions about competition are different among people. |
| C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development. |
| D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition. |
Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
| A．It builds up a sense of duty. | B．It pushes society forward. |
| C．It improves personal abilities. | D．It encourages individual efforts. |
The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means ______.
| A．those who try their best to win |
| B．those who value competition most highly |
| C．those who are against competition most strongly |
| D．those who rely on others most for success |
What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?
| A．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others’. |
| B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts. |
| C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills. |
| D．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried. |
Which point of view may the author agree to?
| A．Every effort should be paid back. |
| B．Competition should be encouraged. |
| C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter. |
| D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition. |
The Beijing government has set out to recruit thousands of university graduates to work as junior officials in rural areas to both improve rural administration and ease the city’s employment problems.
The government plans to recruit 3,000 university graduates this year,1,000 more than last year, to work as assistants to village heads or Party secretaries in suburban areas.
People interested in jobs in Beijing’s rural villages and townships can submit applications to the Beijing Municipal Personnel Bureau or online at www. Bjbys. com from February 1 through March 15.
“We hope university graduates will seize this opportunity to use their knowledge in rural villages and to start their careers,” Sun Zhenyu, deputy director of Beijing Personnel Bureau, told Xinhua News Agency.
The government has promised successful candidates a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan
( $ 250) in the first year, 2,500 yuan ($ 320) the second year and 3,000 yuan ($ 385) the third year, provided their performance is up to the required standards, Sun said.
Wang Lina, who graduated from Beijing Union University last year, was one of the first graduates to find work in the city's countryside. After majoring in industrial and commercial administration, Wang served as the assistant to the village head of Ertiaojie Village in suburban Beijing's Pinggu District. For one project, Wang contacted people at the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences and arranged for the local farmers to receive training in strawberry planting. Her efforts paid off. The village had a plentiful harvest of organic strawberries earlier this year.
Nationwide, about 150,000 university graduates found employment in rural areas last year, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Education.
The ministry predicts that 4. 95 million students will graduate from universities across the country this year, 820,000 more than last year. About 1.4 million of them are unlikely to find jobs when they graduate.
In Beijing, a record 200,000 people are expected to graduate from university this year. Less than half of them are expected to be offered jobs, according to the personnel bureau.The underlined word “recruit” in the first paragraph probably means______.
| A．employ | B．force | C．encourage | D．train |
We can see from the passage that______.
| A．once you are hired as a junior official, you can get an endlessly rising salary |
| B．the government guarantee a gradually high salary for the successful candidates |
| C．working as junior officials is easy but very meaningful |
| D．the competition for the job as junior officials is very fierce |
From the story of Wang Lina we can learn that______.
| A．the sooner you go to the countryside, the sooner you will be successful |
| B．local farmers can get big harvests if they learn more knowledge |
| C．university graduates can also realize their value in rural areas |
| D．Wang had great difficulty in helping villagers planting organic strawberries |
The last two paragraphs aim to tell us that______.
| A．more and more graduates will work as junior officials |
| B．the universities should not have so many students |
| C．there are more and more graduates in recent years |
| D．it is not easy for graduates to find jobs nowadays |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
| A．What is the best career? |
| B．Graduates go to the countryside. |
| C．Job hunting for university graduates. |
| D．A good choice for university graduates. |
Summer school is something a kid will never forget. For some, it’s a way to advance past their classmates. For most, summer school is a requirement in order to graduate with their classmates. I can remember being forced into taking a summer school course. It was not the school that forced me into this awkward situation; it was my mother.
I was a 16-year-old kid in a new school. My school did not offer summer courses so I had to take my course at an alternative school in the city. It was an experience I will never forget. I was not concerned with making friends. I was there to get credit (学分) for a course that I should have received credit for the previous semester. It was my doing that landed me in the situation and it was important that I understood this.
The fees were lowest but the experience was amazing. I enjoyed. I didn’t miss the day. The course was from Monday to Friday for an entire month. I passed the course with an A. I was thrown into an awkward situation and actually enjoyed it. My friends didn’t even know I took the course. Most of them were still sleeping by the time my course ended each day.
Awkward situations are so important for personal growth. This situation made me feel more independent. I made friends. I finally understood what sacrifice and hard work were all about. While attending college, I remembered how much I enjoyed summer school and I chose to take summer school in my first three years of college. Some kids get pushed too much but some don’t get pushed enough. I was never pushed enough.
Enable your children to struggle for success. If your child needs summer school you explain to them why it’s important. Some parents are surprised by the situation and may want to be more involved in their children’s education. Follow through and follow up.Most students go to the summer school in order to ______.
| A．find good jobs after graduation | B．become top students in their class |
| C．have a chance to make more friends | D．graduate successfully on time |
What made the author go to summer school for the first time?
| A．What he had done . | B．His mother’s wish. |
| C．His own requirement. | D．Study competition. |
Which of the following was NOT the benefit got by the author through attending summer school?
| A．It helped him get rid of bad habits. |
| B．It helped him make new friends. |
| C．It helped him understand what sacrifice and hard work were. |
| D．It increased his independence. |
From the last paragraph we can learn that the author ______.
| A．does not like summer school at all even though it is useful |
| B．thinks summer school is unnecessary for children |
| C．encourages parents to make their children attend summer school |
| D．is against forcing children to attend summer school |
What does the author think of summer school?
| A．He thinks it is awkward. | B．He thinks it is significant. |
| C．He doesn’t think it is suitable. | D．He thinks nothing of it. |
“NOW I just don't believe that. ”Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It's simply badly researched，or the makers must think we're fools. Recently, The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on untrue tech moments from some top movies. Let’s see what they are all about.
Tom Chiver, the writer of The Daily Telegraph uses his first example from the movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus（病毒）which destroys Windows the computer system the alien （外星人）spacecraft uses. “It's a good thing that they didn't have Norton Anti-virus，” jokes Chivers.
It's just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from the movie Star Wars, where the glowing light beams (光束）traveling through space look very impressive. But the problem is that in space there are no air particles (粒子）for the light to reflect off. In reality, they'd be invisible（看不见的）, which wouldn’t look so cool on the big screen.
Most people think that the mind—bending Matrix films are made for great viewing. But for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little bit silly. He comments “…the film is based on the idea that humans are kept alive as electricity generators (发电机). This is not just unlikely —it's basically impossible. They would need more energy to stay alive than they would produce. It's just like saying that you'll power the car with batteries, and keep the batteries charged by running a generator from the wheels. ”
And finally, as Chivers points out, DNA is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day by. In the film the bad guy has “gene treatment” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible in our real world.Which of the following does the writer agree with about the movie Independence Day?
| A．It's a science fiction movie. |
| B．It's about the alien spacecraft. |
| C．It's produced by Tom Chiver. |
| D．It's a jokey and humorous one. |
What is mainly talked about in the 4th paragraph?
| A．How we can power the car with batteries. |
| B．How Tom Chiver thinks of the Matrix films. |
| C．How humans are kept alive as power generator. |
| D．How the Matrix films are made for great viewing. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The movie Star Wars is about the light beams in space. |
| B．The author doesn't take the science in movies seriously. |
| C．Nowadays nobody believes in science movies any more. |
| D．There is a horrible virus in the movie Independence Day. |
The underlined word “They” in the 4th paragraph refers to ______.
| A．human beings | B．car wheels |
| C．Matrix films | D．electricity generators |
Some young Cambodians are learning a new sport — skateboarding. The country’s first skateboard park is located on the grounds of a local charity group at the edge of Phnom Penh, the capital.
Sports like Khmer boxing and soccer are wildly popular in Cambodia. But Chea, who has been skating for 6 months, says skating has already become his favorite sport.
The skaters are learning tricks like launching off a jump or half-pipe and flying through the air on their narrow wooden boards.
A non-governmental organization called Skateistan Cambodia organizes weekly programs at the park. Skateistan started its work in Afghanistan years ago. Rory Burke is working with the group which expanded to Cambodia last year.
Rory Burke points out, “Yeah, it’s definitely not a typical Cambodian pastime (消遣). And I think the idea of ‘why skateboarding’ is that it’s not been done before here. We want to use skateboarding as something saying, ‘Hey, this is new, this is something different.And that kind of itself becomes a little bit of hook. People see it and they think and they say, ‘Wow, what is that?’ and they want to get involved. ”
Skateistan partners with local groups that work with young people. The park is on the grounds of the group known as PSE, where children attend school and learn a trade. There are almost one hundred twenty participants. They all come from troubled lives.
Seventeen-year-old Sang Rotha is a student at PSE. “Sometimes I don’t do well in subjects like math,” he says, “I feel bad when I find it hard to keep up with my lessons. So that is why I skateboard ---to improve my bad feelings. ’，
He says he began skateboarding more than a year ago. Before he started training, it seemed very easy. But it was very difficult to learn tricks, and he got hurt a lot from falling off.
Rory Burke says learning to deal with the difficulties is part of the lesson for these young skateboarders. According to the passage, PSE is a group ______.
| A．that works with Cambodian students |
| B．for young Cambodians to learn a trade |
| C．for young Cambodians in troubled lives |
| D．for young Cambodians taking skateboarding |
What is said about skateboarding in the passage?
| A．It was born in Afghanistan years ago. |
| B．It is easy for young Cambodians to learn. |
| C．It is as popular as Khmer boxing in Cambodia. |
| D．It is a good sport to help get good feeling again. |
The underlined part alittle bit of hook probably means ______.
| A．something strange |
| B．something quite new |
| C．something different |
| D．something attractive |
It can be inferred from the passage that skateboarding is becoming ______.
| A．a sport liked by most young Cambodians |
| B．an increasingly popular sport in Cambodia |
| C．a sport used to better young Cambodians’ life |
| D．a good way to train young Cambodians’ learning skills |