Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy-five, he gave￡12,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s playground.
As a result of his kindness, many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk, Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy-five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky (威士忌酒) and drank some each day. “I have an injection (注射) in my neck each evening,” he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.Johnson became a rich man through ___________.
| A．doing business | B．making whisky |
| C．cheating | D．buying and selling land |
The gift of money to the school suggests (暗示) that Johnson ___________.
| A．had no children |
| B．was a strange man |
| C．was very fond of children |
| D．wanted people to know how rich he was |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out ___________.
| A．what kind of whisky he had |
| B．how to live longer |
| C．how to become wealthy |
| D．in which part of the neck to have an injection |
The newspaperman ___________.
| A．should have reported what Johnson had told him |
| B．shouldn’t have asked Johnson what injection he had |
| C．was eager to live a long life |
| D．should have found out what Johnson really meant |
When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening, he really meant that ___________.
| A．he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening |
| B．he needn’t an injection in the neck |
| C．a daily injection in the evening would make him sleep well |
| D．there was something wrong with his neck |
Dear Jorge,
Are you enjoying your break from school? My family are now in Sacramento, California. We are here paying a visit to visit to my aunt Gloria. We have been to the California State Capital Building, the nature center, and the zoo. I have seen many interesting things, but one stands out above the rest. This morning we drove from my aunt’s home to Calistoga to see California’s Old Faithful Geyser(老忠实泉). I had read about it in my book, Sightseeing in California; Where You Should Go.You have probably heard of Old Faithful, the geyser father north in Yellowstone National Park. This California geyser is sometimes called“ Little Old Faithful.”
When we arrived California’s Old Faithful was only a calm pool of water. The geyser didn’t look very deep. “ What’s the big deal?” I wondered. As I turned, I saw some steam rising from the water. Before I knew it, there was hot water shooting up about 60 feet into the air. We could not believe our eyes! It continued for almost three minutes.
Aunt Gloria told me that the water came from an underground river. She also said that the water temperature was about 95℃. This water can sometimes shoot 170 feet into the air.
My aunt said that other geysers around the world reach hotter temperatures and shoot water even higher than California’s Old Faithful Geyser. I’d love to learn more about this geyser and other geysers in different countries when I get home. I’ll see you soon!
Your friend,
BennettoAccording to the text, Bennetto ___________.
| A．visited his aunt Gloria by himself. |
| B．had never heard of Old Faithful Geyser. |
| C．thought nothing of Old Faithful Geyser at first. |
| D．flew all the way from Sacramento to Calistoga. |
The water Bennetto saw high in the sky _____________.
| A．disappeared at once. | B．was too hot to touch. |
| C．came from a deep sea. | D．was 170 feet in height. |
What was expressed in Bennetto's letter?
| A．Anger | B．Doubt | C．Courage | D．Excitement |
Bennetto wrote the letter mainly to_____________.
| A．talk about his holiday experiences. |
| B．ask Jorge to visit Old Faithful Geyser. |
| C．express his thankfulness to Aunt Gloria. |
| D．give Yellowstone National Park some advice. |
Humans have been keeping animals as pets for tens of thousands of years, but Dr Jean-Loup Rault, an animal scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, believes new companions are coming: robot pets.
“Technology is moving very fast,” Rault told ABC News, “The Tamagotchi in the early 1990s was really the first robotic pet, and now Sony and other big companies have improved them a lot.”
This may not sit well with pet lovers. After all, who would choose a plastic toy over a lovely puppy? But Rault argues that the robotic kind has a lot going for it: “You don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to walk it, it won’t make a mess in your house, and you can go on a holiday without feeling guilty.” The technology also benefits those who are allergic to pets, short on space, or fearful of real animals.
It’s not clear whether robot pets can replace real ones. But studies do suggest that we can bond with these smart machines. People give their cars names and kids give their toy animals life stories. It’s the same with robots. When Sony stopped its repair service for its robot dog Aibo in March 2014, owners in Japan held funerals.
As an animal welfare researcher, Rault is concerned about how robotic pets could affect our attitudes towards live animals. “If we become used to a robotic companion that doesn’t need food, water or exercises, perhaps it will change how humans care about other living beings,” he said.
So are dogs and cats a thing of the past, as Rault predicts? For those who grew up with living and breathing pets, the mechanical kind might not do. But for our next generation who are in constant touch with smart technology, a future in which lovely pets needn’t have a heartbeat might not be a far-fetched dream.What does the underlined phrase “sit well with” means?
| A．be refused by | B．be beneficial to |
| C．make a difference to | D．receive support from |
What are the advantages of robot pets?
a. They are plastic and feel smooth.
b. Owners needn’t worry about them when going out.
c. They can help cure allergies（过敏）.
d. They save space and costs.
| A．ab | B．bc | C．bd | D．cd |
We can learn from the passage that___________.
| A．Sony is the first company to produce robot pets Aibo. |
| B．People can develop strong bond（联系、关系） with their robot pets. |
| C．Rault thinks robot pets still have a long way to go. |
| D．Robot toys may help people care more about living beings. |
The passage mainly tells us___________.
| A．the advantages of robot toys |
| B．the popularity of robot pets |
| C．living pets are dying out |
| D．robot pets are coming |
Failing in something isn’t a really nice feeling, but Scotland’s Fettes College in Edinburgh wants to show its students that failure isn’t something to fear and is actually something to accept willingly!
The boarding school held “failure week” to celebrate taking risks and learning from them. Whether in sports or school, children often face lots of pressure to succeed and do well, and the school was becoming concerned.
“Young people from all walks of life live in a high-pressure environment where they are trying very hard to achieve a level of perfection,” said Sue Bruce, head of personal and social education in the school.
“This week at Fettes we have been focusing on one of the most misunderstood parts of success: failure. While we are often scared of failure, it is important to learn that it is only through failing, often many times, that we learn how to succeed. All through the week, we have looked at the experiences of some of the most successful inventors, artists and businessmen, who failed hundreds, if not thousands of times on their journey to success,” read a letter on Fettes College’s website.
To celebrate failure, students were encouraged to try something they’ve never done before, like playing an instrument or dancing in front of audiences. A number of students stepped up and tried things that they finally failed in, but they had fun and enjoyed the experience. “The concert was extremely enjoyable, proving that we should always try not to worry about failure and have a go!” read another note on the website. Students were also taught about famous people like J.K. Rowling and Richard Branson who failed many times before they finished what they set out to do.
“If they let the fear of failure stop them from doing something, they are actually stopping themselves from learning, developing, and potentially succeeding,” said Bruce.What is the purpose of the boarding school to hold “failure week”?
| A．To get the students involved in social activities. |
| B．To help the students accept and learn from failure. |
| C．To make the students study even harder. |
| D．To teach the students how to get relaxed. |
During the “failure week” the students could do the following things EXCEPT ___________.
| A．taking risks |
| B．learning from others’experiences |
| C．trying something new |
| D．trying to entertain themselves |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Many successful people are lucky and achieve success easily. |
| B．Because we are often scared of failure ,we never succeed. |
| C．The fear of failure can stop the students from learning and succeeding. |
| D．The students who failed in trying new things felt depressed. |
The new high-speed railway line between Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur self-governing region，and Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province，has cut train travel time by half to less than 12 hours.
The dramatic improvement will benefit many families planning reunions for Spring Festival.
“For the first time，I feel home is not that far away after all，”said Liang Shaofu as he boarded a high-speed train in Urumqi with six members of his family．
The 35-year-old left Lanzhou to set up a dry fruit business in Xinjiang eight years ago，and he has now settled in Urumqi．
The 1,776-km line, which passes through Qinghai province and is the country’s first high-speed railway to be built in a high-altitude region, came into service on Dec 26.
“We normally drive home for Spring Festival to avoid the difficulties of buying seven train tickets for the whole family during the peak season.” Liang said. “Driving can be very tiring and dangerous sometimes，so one year we even decided not to go back to Lanzhou simply to avoid the trip.”
More than 600,000 passengers traveled on the line during its first month，and the Urumqi Railway Bureau said the introduction of high-speed services will ease transport pressure during the Spring Festival peak season.
The existing usual railway line could no longer support Xinjiang’s development. All passenger trains will gradually shift to the new link，leaving the old one to be used for goods. As a result，Xinjiang’s annual goods ability could reach 200 million metric tons from the current 70 million．
The line passes through areas that experience high winds, and it also crosses parts of the deserted Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the bone-dry sands of the Gobi Desert．
The project could help China to promote its high-speed railway technology abroad，said Ma Xi zhang, director of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway project’s management department in Xinjiang.How long did it take to go from Urumqi to Lanzhou by the usual train before?
| A．about 12 hours | B．About 6 hours |
| C．About 18 hours | D．About 24 hours |
What’s the main advantage of the new high-speed railway?
| A．It takes more time to go to Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| B．It will be more convenient for people all over the country to Xinjiang. |
| C．All the people in Lanzhou can return home on festivals. |
| D．It helps to improve Xinjiang’s development. |
From the passage we can learn________.
| A．Xinjiang’s annual goods ability can increase nearly four times |
| B．the new railway technology may help more railway lines to be built abroad |
| C．the high-speed railway lines can’t be built across the bone-dry sands |
| D．the old railway lines can only carry goods now |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The new high-speed railway line is good for all people to go home. |
| B．The new high-speed railway line benefits businessmen to carry goods. |
| C．Taking the new train is safer than driving home from Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| D．Businessmen seldom went home for Spring Festival before. |
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◆ Accommodation(住宿), and other necessary documents(文件) will be ready before you leave.
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◆ Excellent teacher training programs.
If you are young with a university degree and are willing to experience different cultures, apply now. Experience in teaching is an advantage but not specially required. Knowledge of the Japanese language is not necessary but good English skills and practical computer knowledge are basic requirements.
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34, Bd. Haussmann, 75009 Paris, France
Fax: 33148014804
Or visit our website: www. teachjp.com
The manager expects to meet and talk with successful applicants in Paris in June and July.What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To introduce a language school in Japan. |
| B．To hire language teachers to work in Japan. |
| C．To describe working conditions in Japan. |
| D．To make clear the requirements for Japanese teachers. |
We know from the text that those who are going to Japan will _____.
| A．teach English only in Osaka |
| B．receive a degree from a university |
| C．have free accommodation |
| D．get trained for the job |
Before going to Japan, you need _____.
| A．to see the manager of NOVA France |
| B．To take some computer courses |
| C．to write a letter to Japan |
| D．to find a place to live |
If you want to work in Japan, you should _____.
| A．have some working experience |
| B．know how to use computers |
| C．present good teaching plans |
| D．speak several languages |