I will always remember my mother’s last few days in this world.
On February 14th, 2000, my class went on a field trip to the beach. I had so much fun. When we returned to school, my teacher told me to go to the headmaster’s office. When 1 got into the office, 1 saw a police officer. Suddenly I realized something was wrong. The police officer told what had happened and we went to pick my sister up. After that, we went to the hospital and waited. Time went slowly. Finally, we got to see our mother. It was terrible.
On the next day, the headmaster came and told my two teachers what had happened. I was taking a test that day. I knew it had something to do with my mother. I kept thinking that she either died or had gotten better. How I wished that she had gotten better. When my teacher took me outside, my sister ran up to me .She started crying, “She’s gone. Teresa, mommy’s gone. She’s dead.” I couldn’t believe it. We Jumped into the car and drove straight to the hospital. Most of my family were there. We went inside her hospital bedroom. We all stayed around her bed without any noise. The silence was terrible. I knew I had to say goodbye.
Today when I look back, I still miss my mother very much, but I know that I will live. My mother was a strong mother, who had the biggest heart. My mother was an angel walking on the earth. I will always remember her as living. When someone is asked who their hero is, they usually say someone famous, like Michael Jordan or Britney 5pears. When someone asks me who my hero is, I tell them, my mother. My mother lives every day. That is what makes her a true hero. Where was the writer when she learned her mother was very ill?
| A．On the beach. |
| B．At the hospital. |
| C．At school. |
| D．At home. |
Who brought the writer the bad news that her mother was ill?
| A．Her sister. | B．The headmaster. |
| C．Her teacher. | D．The police officer. |
What did the headmaster tell the two teachers on the next day?
| A．Her mother had been very ill. |
| B．Her mother had been dead. |
| C．Her mother had gotten better. |
| D．Her sister came to see her. |
From the last paragraph of the passage we know that_____.
| A．the writer is afraid of her mother. |
| B．the writer is proud of her mother |
| C．the writer feels sad about her mother |
| D．the writer feels sorry for her mother |
The writer thinks her mother is a_____ woman.
| A．famous | B．free | C．rich | D．great |
There are nearly 400 different types of sharks, but only about 30 types have even been reported as attacking human beings.
The chances of being attacked by a shark are very small compared to other dangers. Many more people drown（溺死）in the ocean every year than are bitten by sharks. The low number of attacks that happen every year proves that sharks do not feed on humans if they have the choice. There are three types of shark attacks. The main one is known as a ‘hit and run’. The shark attacks because it thinks you are a fish, but when it tastes a human it decides not to eat you. The second type is called a ‘bump and bite’. The shark bumps you to find out if you are fit to be eaten and then bites you if it thinks you are. The third type is called a ‘sneak’. When attacking in this way, the shark waits for you to swim by and attacks you suddenly. The latter（后者的）two types of attack are more likely to be deadly for humans.
However, your chances of being attacked by a shark can be reduced if you follow the advice below.
Do not swim in the dark. Sharks can still see you but you cannot see them.
Do not swim if you are cut or if you have a fresh wound. Sharks can smell blood over a long distance.
Do not wear bright clothing or jewellery because sharks are attracted to colours and shiny objects.
Try and stay in groups, as sharks usually avoid large numbers of people.
Don’t be frightened（受惊吓）by sharks as there is 30 times greater chance of being hit by lightning than being attacked by a shark.Are there only 30 types of sharks in the world?
Are the chances of being attacked by a shark small or big compared to other dangers?
What are the two deadly shark attacks called?
Why should you try and stay in groups to avoid the shark attack?
What does the writer mainly tell us in the passage?
Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant. A half century ago in the United states, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the dividing lines are still there, but they seem not clear.
The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer, in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal（法律的）limits, or whether it should become more changeable, is often debated（争论）. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the dividing lines of time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?
These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we seldom recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to go to school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years – but unless we meet the truant officer（学监）, we may well think that we should go to school because of social custom and parents’ requirement rather than to the law. As adults we know “extra pay for overtime working” very well, but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes（构成）“overtime” is a matter of legal thing. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight – saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law – as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.What does the underlined word “irrelevant” probably mean?
| A．Impossible. | B．Unacceptable. | C．Unimportant. | D．Disagreeable. |
The writer raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people _____.
| A．are unknowing of the law of time |
| B．fail to make full use of their time |
| C．welcome changeable working hours |
| D．enjoy working overtime for more pay |
We can learn from the passage that most children go to school because they_____.
| A．have to follow the law |
| B．need to find social customs |
| C．need to learn more knowledge |
| D．have to follow their parents’ requirement |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Our life is governed by the law of time. |
| B．How to use time is not worth debating. |
| C．New ways of using time change our society. |
| D．Our time table is decided by social customs. |
Even though global warming may have made the weather more mild, many animals are still hibernating（冬眠）. It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past, farmers in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation. So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French farmers. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over the France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed since the invention of lighting.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ continuous sleep is a modern invention.
In the past, without the artificial light, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves up around midnight. The late night period was known as “The Watch”. It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbors.
According to some sleep researchers, a short of insomnia（失眠）at midnight is not a disorder. It is normal. Humans can experience another state of consciousness（清醒状态）around their sleeping, which happens in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning. This period can be a creative time for some people.
Playing with your sleep rhythms（节奏）can be dangerous, as worry may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need.The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people ______.
| A．to set time to catch animals |
| B．to remind others of the time |
| C．to guard against possible dangers |
| D．to wake up their family and neighbors |
We can infer from the last paragraph that people should ______.
| A．sleep in the way animals do |
| B．follow their natural sleep rhythms |
| C．keep to the eight-hour sleeping way |
| D．ask doctors for help if they can’t sleep |
What is the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To throw new light on human sleep. |
| B．To encourage people to sleep less. |
| C．To give some suggestions on insomnia. |
| D．To find out people’s hibernating history. |
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?
Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice cream. Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 2l years. Harrison’s job has been responsible for approving（批准）large numbers of the sweet ice cream – as well as for developing over 15 flavors（味道）.
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job; after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No – there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a job in this “cool field”.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and grades 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12oF. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.”
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the colour expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy – working at one cool job. What is John Harrison’s job?
| A．An officer. | B．An ice-cream taster. |
| C．A chemist. | D．An ice-cream producer. |
According to John Harrison, what is useful to get a job in “cool field”?
| A．To just like ice cream. |
| B．To find out new flavors each day. |
| C．To have new ideas every day. |
| D．To have a degree in food-science. |
What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?
| A．He smells it. | B．He lets it warm up. |
| C．He tastes its flavor. | D．He examines its colour. |
| Future Plan |
| Thomas I’m not very sure what I will be doing in ten years from now. Maybe a cook or a film director? But I can tell you what I’ll be doing next week – having a birthday party with friends. |
| Emma There is one thing I really want to do and that is to travel around the world. Hopefully I will be living somewhere different in ten years, like Australia, or even Japan – who knows? I’d like to be a teacher and I’ll probably be teaching English. |
| Ken When I was little I always said I wanted to be a doctor and that hasn’t changed. I will study medicine after I finish school. It will be a lot of hard work, but it’s my dream. So in ten years I hope I will either be working in a hospital or as a doctor with my own surgery. |
| Mary I’m not really sure about the future. I’m interested in the environment, so maybe I’ll probably be working as a scientist and help develop energy or something like that. |
Who will have a birthday party with friends next week?
| A．Emma. | B．Ken. | C．Thomas. | D．Mary. |
What would Emma like to be in the future?
| A．A teacher. | B．A cook. | C．A doctor. | D．A scientist. |
What’s Ken’s dream?
| A．To live somewhere different. | B．To travel around the world. |
| C．To help develop energy. | D．To study medicine in the future. |