New Zealand
【What can you see? Mountains, volcanoes, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, forests, beaches. Both islands are mountainous. In fact, only 30% of New Zealand is flat.】
The Maoris
When the Maoris first arrived in New Zealand, they lived in villages and were excellent fishermen, hunters and farmers. About 50 years ago many Maoris started to live and work in the large cities and took jobs in government, industries, medicine and education. They are proud of their culture and are determined to keep many of the customs which are part of their way of life.
Who can you meet? Most people live on North Island. Eighty-five percent of New Zealanders are “pakeha” (“white men”), which means their “great grandfathers” came from Europe. Ten percent are Maoris. The Maoris came to New Zealand from the Polynesian islands probably around the tenth century. The “pakeha” started to arrive in New Zealand from Europe about 200 years ago as farmers and traders.
Fact box: New Zealand
Position: South of the Equator ;
Nearest neighbor: Australia, 1600 km away.
Size: Two main islands — North Island and South Island: together they are 268.680 sq. km.
Population: 4 million
Capital: Wellington
Languages: English and Maori
Which of the following is a fact about New Zealand?
A.20% of the population being Maoris. |
B.Four million white people. |
C.About 1600 km south of the Equator. |
D.Nearly 1/3 of the country being plains. |
When did the white people begin to live in New Zealand?
A.1000 years ago. | B.200 years ago. |
C.85 years ago. | D.50 years ago. |
What do the Maoris value most in life?
A.Living in small villages. | B.Developing farming skills. |
C.Keeping their own culture. | D.Taking up government jobs. |
Andy rode slowly on his way to school, day-dreaming about the fishing trip that his father had promised him. He was so busy dreaming about all the fish he would catch that he was unaware of everything else around him.
He rode along until a strange sound drew him to the present. He came to a stop and looked curiously up to the heavens. What he saw shocked and terrified him. A huge swarm of bees filled the sky like a black cloud and the buzzing mass seemed to be heading angrily towards him.
With no time to waste, Andy sped off in the opposite direction, riding furiously—but without knowing how to escape the swarm. With a rapidly beating heart and his legs pumping furiously, he sped down the rough road. As the bees came closer, his panic increased. Andy knew that he was sensitive to bee stings(蜇). The last sting had landed him in hospital—and that was only one bee sting! He had been forced to stay in bed for two whole days. Suddenly, his father’s words came to him. “When you are in a tight situation, don’t panic. Use your brain and think your way out of it. ”
On a nearby hill, he could see smoke waving slowly skywards from the chimney of the Nelson family home. “Bees don’t like smoke,” he thought. “They couldn’t get into the house.” Andy raced towards the Nelson house, but the bees were gaining ground. Andy knew he could not reach the house in time. He estimated that the bees would catch up with him soon.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a small dam used by Mr. Nelson to irrigate his vegetable garden. Off his bike and into the cool water he dived, disappearing below the surface and away from the savage insects. After holding his breath for as long as he could, Andy came up for air and noticed the bees had gone. Dragging himself out of the dam, he struggled up the hilly slope and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Nelson took him inside and rang his mother.
“You’ll really need that fishing break to help you recover,” laughed his mother with relief. “Thank goodness you didn’t panic!” But Andy did not hear her. He was dreaming once again of the fish he would catch tomorrow. Why did Andy fail to notice the swarm of bees earlier?
A.He was riding to school. |
B.He was lost in the thought of the fishing trip. |
C.He was going fishing with his father. |
D.He was listening to a strange sound. |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the swarm of bees in the passage?
A.They crowded like a black cloud. |
B.They shocked and terrified Andy. |
C.They tried to attack Andy in a mass. |
D.They made Andy stay in hospital for two days. |
How did Andy avoid the bees in the end?
A.He asked Mr. Nelson for help. |
B.He hid himself under the water. |
C.He rushed into the Nelson house. |
D.He rode off in the opposite direction. |
Which of the following can best describe Andy’s escape from the bees?
A.No pains, no gains. |
B.Once bitten, twice shy. |
C.Where there is a will, there is a way. |
D.In time of danger, one’s mind works fast. |
阅读下面短文,按要求回答问题。
Until the twentieth century cigarettes were not an important threat to public health. Men used tobacco mainly in the form of cigars. Most women did not use tobacco at all.
The cigarette industry began in the 1870s with the development of the cigarette manufacturing machine. This made it possible to produce great numbers of cigarettes very quickly, and it reduced the price.
Today cigarette smoking is a widespread habit. About forty-three percent of the adult men and thirty-one percent of the adult women in the United States smoke cigarettes regularly. It is encouraging to note, however, that millions of people have given up the smoking habit. Seventy-five percent of the male population and forty-six percent of the female population have smoked cigarettes at some time during their lives, but twenty-six percent of these men and eleven percent of the women have stopped smoking. The number of persons who have given up smoking is increasing.
Men as a group smoke more than women. Among both men and women the age group with the highest proportion of smokers is the age group 24-44. Income, education and occupation all play a part in determining a person’s smoking habits. City people smoke more cigarette than people living on farms. Well-educated men with high incomes are less likely to smoke cigarettes than men with fewer years of schooling and lower incomes. On the other hand, ___________, he is likely to smoke more packs of cigarettes per day.
The situation is somewhat (有点) different for women. There are slightly more smokers among women with higher family incomes and higher education than among the lower income and lower educational groups. These more highly educated women tend to smoke more heavily.
Among teenagers the picture is similar. There are fewer teenager smokers from upper-income and well-educated families. High school students who are preparing for college are less likely to smoke than those who do not plan to continue their education after high school. Children are most likely to start smoking if one or both of their parents smoke.How did men mainly use tobacco? (no more than 1 word)
In the form of ________________. What were the results of the development of the manufacturing machine? (no more than 4 words)
More cigarettes are _________________________________________.What are the three main factors closely related to one’s smoking habits? (no more than 4 words)
__________________________________________________________________________Please fill in the blank with proper words or phrases. (no more than 9 words)
__________________________________________________________________________Which kind of children is most likely to pick up the habit of smoking? (no more than 6 words)
Children __________________________________________ are most likely to smoke.
One important variable affecting communication across cultures is destiny (命运) and personal responsibility. This refers to the degree to which we feel ourselves the masters of our lives, contrary to the degree to which we see ourselves as subject to things outside our control. Another way to look at this is to ask how much we see ourselves able to change and act, to choose the course of our lives and relationships. Some have drawn a parallel between the personal responsibility in North American settings and the view itself. The North American view is vast, with large spaces of unpopulated land. The frontier attitude of “King” of the wilderness, and the expansiveness of the land reaching huge distances, may relate to generally high levels of confidence in the ability to shape and choose our destinies.
In this expansive land, many children grow up with a heroic sense of life, where ideas are big, and hope springs forever. When they experience temporary failures, they are encouraged to redouble their efforts, to “Try, try again.” Action, efficiency, and achievement are valued and expected. Free will is respected in laws and enforced by courts.
Now consider places in the world with much smaller land, whose history reflects wars and tough struggles: Northern Ireland, Mexico, Israel, Palestine. In these places, destiny’s role is more important in human life. In Mexico, there is a history of hard life, fighting over land, and loss of homes. Mexicans are more likely to see struggles as part of their life and unavoidable. Their passive attitude is expressed in their way of responding to failure or an accident by saying “ni modo” (“no way” or “tough lick”), meaning that the failure was destined.
This variable is important to understanding cultural conflicts. If someone believing in free will crosses paths with someone more passive, miscommunication is likely. The first person may expect action and responsibility. Failing to see it, he may conclude that the second is lazy, not cooperative, or dishonest. The second person will expect respect for the natural order of things. Failing to see it, he may conclude that the first is forcible, rude, or big headed in his ideas of what can be accomplished or changed.The author thinks that one’s character is partly determined by ________.
A.physical senses | B.general attitude |
C.financial background | D.geographic characteristics |
According to the passage, Mexicans would think that Americans are ________.
A.impractical | B.dishonest | C.ambitious | D.hesitant |
The underlined word “subject” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.
A.a topic of a discussion | B.a branch of knowledge |
C.a person being experimented on | D.a person under the power of others |
The author would probably agree that ________.
A.vast land may lead to a more controllable desire |
B.heroic sense of life roots deeply in a small country |
C.living in limited space contributes to an accepting attitude |
D.fighting over land helps people gain high levels of confidence |
Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge (报复) of the Nerds. They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book. They are not good at social communication and look clumsy while doing sports.
How, then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres? Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School. She also sings in the choral group, serves on the student council and is a member of the mathematics society. For two years she has maintained A’s in every subject. Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque. He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair, and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station. Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony, he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes, plus bonus points for A’s in two college-level courses.
How do super-achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer. “Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students,” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super-achieving students. “Knowing how to make full use of your innate (天生的) abilities counts for more. Much more.”
In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ. For them, learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down. Hard work isn’t the whole story, either. “It’s not how long you sit there with the books open,” said one of the many-A students we interviewed. “It’s what you do while you’re sitting.” Indeed, some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates.
The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn.The underlined word “nerds” in paragraph 1 can probably be ________.
A.dull bookworms lacking sports and social skills |
B.successful top students popular with their peers |
C.students with certain learning difficulties |
D.born leaders crazy about social activities |
What can we conclude from the first paragraph?
A.Most TV programs and films are about straight-A students. |
B.People have unfavorable impression on straight-A students. |
C.Everyone knows about straight-A students from TV or films. |
D.Straight-A students are well admired by people in the society. |
Some students become super-achievers mainly because ________.
A.they are born cleverer than others | B.they work longer hours at study |
C.they make full use of their abilities | D.they know the shortcut to success |
What will be talked about after the last paragraph?
A.The interviews with more students. | B.The role IQ plays in learning well. |
C.The techniques to be better learners. | D.The achievements top students make. |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.IQ is more important than hard work in study. |
B.The brightest students can never get low grades. |
C.Top students certainly achieve all-around developments. |
D.Students with average IQ can become super-achievers. |
Visiting London can be an expensive trip, so establishing a budget and finding bargains when you arrive will help you get around London on the cheap. The following steps can help you find cheaper alternatives for transport for your London trip.
lFamiliarize yourself with the city’s boroughs and specifically the area where you will be staying. You can use a street map, or an online map search engine, to establish where in the city you will be staying and the distance you are from the major tourist attractions you want to visit.
lFind a local provider of Transport for London tickets or travel cards, since your first bargain purchase will be an Oyster Card. Traveling around London with an Oyster Card will give you access to the cheapest option of transportation methods and the Oyster Card is accepted citywide on buses, boats and the London Underground, known by the locals as “the tube”.
lSeek out your nearest Tube Station. The Tube is the cheapest and most reliable form of transportation and runs from around 6 a.m. until around 1 a.m. ..., depending on the line or the station.
There are 287 tube stations in London that accept the Oyster Card, with a high concentration in central London. If you are staying anywhere in central London, there will be a tube station less than 10 minutes away.
The Transport for London website offers a tube station search facility to find the nearest subway station to any location in the city. When you find a tube station, you can easily locate the closest bus stop by using the comparison bus-tube maps at the station’s entrance.
lFollow the Transport for London Tube Guide to your destinations and always plan ahead. Making a plan for transport will save you unnecessary expenses, wasted trips on the tube and doubling back on your journey .What’s the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To introduce the public transport system in London. |
B.To show readers how to use the Oyster Card. |
C.To prove the subway in London is easy to use. |
D.To offer tips for saving transport costs in London. |
Which of the following can help a traveler spend the least money on transport?
A.Trying different transportation methods. |
B.Taking buses as much as possible. |
C.Traveling with an Oyster Card. |
D.Making a plan before your journey. |
By visiting the Transport for London website, people can ________.
A.identify their own location | B.locate the nearest bus station |
C.find the nearest subway station | D.use an online map to avoid getting lost |
We can conclude from the passage that ________.
A.the subway is the cheapest means of transport in London. |
B.only Tube stations in Central London accept Oyster Card. |
C.subway lines in London run no less than 19 hours a day. |
D.the transfer from subway to bus is very convenient. |