Nick Hancock hopes to set a new record by living alone for 60 days on a small island in the Atlantic.
Tom McClean, an SAS soldier who holds the solo record for occupying(占领) Rockall for 40 days in 1985, told Hancock that being alone for two months was the greatest challenge Hancock would have to face.
“I’m fully expecting it to be tough,” Nick Hancock said. “I’m hoping that by doing my daily tasks fairly slowly, I’m going to be able to keep most of my time busy. I think the worst times will come if I’m boxed up for several days by bad weather.”
Hancock hopes to land on Rockall in early June and will carry out the last tests of his boat next week. He has a small wind turbine(风电机) and a solar panel for power, more than two months’ food, a satellite phone and a laptop loaded with e-books to keep him going. Hancock will update an adventure blog, texting messages out on Twitter and emailing his wife Pam and friends every day.
Rockall has been occupied before, most famously by McClean but also by three Greenpeace campaigners, who set the long-stay record of 42 days in 1997 by occupying the rock in protest at oil and gas exploration in the area.
The last human inhabitants Hancock knows of are a small group of Belgian amateur radio enthusiasts, who are interested in broadcasting from distant islands; they were on Rockall overnight in late 2010.
Hancock has no large support team behind him. Except for the coastguard（海岸警卫队）, his only lifeline will be the Orca III, the passenger boat which will take him to Rockall.Nick Hancock’s main goal is to ______.
| A．protest at oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic |
| B．show his ability to adapt himself to bad conditions |
| C．prove broadcasting from distant islands can be possible |
| D．challenge the previous record of living alone on Rockall |
According to Tom McClean, the biggest challenge Hancock would meet was_____.
| A．loneliness | B．bad weather |
| C．lack of food | D．communication |
To keep his time busy on Rockall, Hancock will_____.
| A．do his daily tasks slowly |
| B．write a book |
| C．think of his wife |
| D．surf online |
How will Hancock get to Rockall?
| A．On the coastguard’s boat |
| B．On a passenger boat |
| C．On his own plane |
| D．On a passenger plane |
We can learn from the passage that_______.
| A．Tom McClean was the first person to set foot on Rockall |
| B．Hancock will rely on his large support team |
| C．Rockall is not suitable for humans to settle on |
| D．Hancock was already a famous online writer before making the plan |
A young executive was traveling down a neighborhood street．He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something．As his car passed，no children appeared．Instead，a brick smashed into his door! He slammed on the brakes(make his car stop)．The angry driver then jumped out of the car, caught the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car，shouting，“What was that all about and who are you?”
The young boy was apologetic．“Please，Mister．．．Please，I’m sorry…I didn’t know what else to do．I threw the brick because no one else would stop…”
With tears dripping down his face，the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car．“It’s my brother，”he said．“He fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up．”
Now sobbing(crying silently)，the boy asked the executive，“Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me．’’
Moved beyond words，the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat．He hurriedly lifted the boy back into the wheelchair，then took out his fancy handkerchief and dabbed(a light touch) at the fresh scrapes and cuts．A quick look told him everything was going to be okay．“Thank you and may God bless you．”the grateful child told the stranger．
Shaken up for words，the man simply watched the little boy push his wheelchair—bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home．
God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts．Sometimes when we don’t have time to listen，he has to throw a brick at us．Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!The executive slowed down because______. .
| A．he saw a boy throw a brick to his car | B．he saw a boy rush out from between cars |
| C．he was afraid some boys suddenly rushed out | D．a brick smashed into his door |
The boy threw the brick to the car in order to_________.
| A．disturb the driver on purpose | B．destroy the car of the stranger |
| C．ask someone to drive him home | D．stop someone to help him |
Knowing the reason why the boy threw the brick at his car the executive must feel .
| A．sympathized and excited | B．regretful and sympathized |
| C．ashamed and regretful | D．angry and regretful |
After the boy’s brother feIl off his wheelchair, .
| A．the boy threw bricks at several cars | B．the boy tried to stop several cars |
| C．the boy’s brother was hurt seriously | D．the boy’s brother wanted to stop a car |
From the last paragraph we can learn that.
| A．you shouldn’t drive so fast that someone throws at you |
| B．it is common to throw a brick at a car running too fast |
| C．you can’t go through your life without a brick throwing at you |
| D．you should pay more attention to others and help them |
How do successful people think? What drives them? Interviews and investigations indicate that there are several keys to success that successful people share.
First of all, successful people never blame someone or something outside of themselves for their failure to go ahead. They realize that their future lies in their own hands. They understand that they cannot control things in life, such as nature, the past and other people. But in the meantime, they are well aware that they can control their own thoughts and actions. They take responsibility for their life and regard this as one of the most empowering things they can do. Perhaps what most separates successful people from others is that they live life “on purpose”— they are doing what they believe they are put here to do. In their opinion , having a purpose in their life is the most important element（因素） that enables them to become fully functioning people. They hold that when they live their life on purpose, their main concern is to do the job right. They love what they do—and it shows. People want to do business with them because of their commitment(忠诚). To live their life on purpose, successful people find a cause they believe in and create a business around it. Besides, they never easily give up. Once they have set up goals in their life, they are willing to work hard whatever it takes to achieve their goals. Top achievers always bear in mind what they don’t have.
Rather than be negative or depressing, they use the knowledge to encourage themselves on and go after what they want energetically and passionately.The underlined word “it (in Paragraph 2)” refers to “______”.
| A．the main concern of successful people |
| B．the job that successful people do |
| C．the commitment with which successful people do their jobs |
| D．the business that successful people do with other people |
By living life “on purpose”, successful people can do the following EXCEPT ______.
| A．do a lot of work | B．concentrate on their jobs |
| C．do business with many people | D．control things in life |
Successful people know that ____.
| A．they can control nature. | B．they are not allowed to blame people |
| C．they can control their own thoughts. | D．they can control others’ actions |
If you want to increase your vocabulary, the best way to do it might be to pick up a guitar, or learn the violin. A new study shows that learning to play a musical instrument makes the brain more able to remember words.
“Grown-ups with music training in their childhood can have better memory for words,” said Dr Agnes Chan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who did the research. “They can remember things that you tell them better than those who did not have music training when they were young.”
It seems that one can remember spoken words because his brain has a special part. “That part of the brain is larger in musicians than in non-musicians,” Dr Chan told BBC. “If that part of the brain is larger, it may be better developed and so this explains very nicely our results.”
Dr Chan and her workmates came to their conclusion after studying students. Their research is reported in the latest edition of the journal(杂志) Nature. “We did the experiment with 60 girl college students from our university and 30 of them have at least six years training with one western musical instrument (such as the violin and the piano) before the age of 12. The other 30 had received no music training. We tested their memory by reading them some words and asking them to remember these words—a very common test for memory. We found that people who have had music training can remember about 70% more information than those who have not had any music training.”
Dr Chan thinks the process(过程) of learning is more important than the actual instrument used. She also believes if one is able to remember words through learning to play instruments, he or she could have some very real benefits. Dr Chan thinks this could be developed into a medical way for patients who are suffering from memory loss. According to the writer, learning to play a musical instrument helps to ______.
| A．get more knowledge |
| B．live more happily |
| C．remember more words |
| D．make one become a musician |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Dr Chan thinks people should have music training when they grow up. |
| B．Dr Chan thinks the special part of the brain doesn’t need developing. |
| C．Dr Chan thinks people should have music training when they are young. |
| D．Dr Chan thinks musicians have a larger brain than non-musicians. |
How many students took part in Dr Chan’s research?
| A．30 girl students. | B．60 girl students. |
| C．17% of his students. | D．60 girl and boy students. |
The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the America from being discovered by the people of Europe.
The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) wide.
There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into and no more water was brought to it by rivers. It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. On the average the water is a little more than 2 miles (3.2 km) deep, but in some places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This "deep" measures 30,246 feet --- almost six miles (9.6 km).
Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is not, however, always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the Far North across the paths of ships. We now have such fast ways of travelling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four! From the third paragraph, we can learn that ______ .
| A．the Atlantic will dry up in 4,000 years' time |
| B．no river flows into the Atlantic ocean |
| C．it's hard to imagine how much water there is in the Atlantic ocean |
| D．the Ocean floor is rather flat |
Suppose it's February 27th, 2000. You take a steamship to cross the Atlantic to North America, when will you probably get there?
| A．On March 2nd | B．On March 3rd |
| C．On February 28th | D．In eight hours' time |
What can you learn from the last paragraph of the passage ?
| A．The Atlantic has grown smaller than it used to be. |
| B．The Atlantic had grown wider than it used to be. |
| C．Fast ways of travelling make the ocean grow smaller. |
| D．Fast ways of travelling make the ocean seem to grow smaller. |
Nodira, 18, lives in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan. She was born with a rare disease and is now paralyzed(瘫痪) from the waist down. Her life is confined to a wheelchair but her dreams know no such boundaries. Her hopes for the future include attending university, riding in her father’s car and being able to walk like other children.
Nodira, which means ‘unique’ in Uzbek, is one of five children in a poor family. Every morning, after reciting her prayers, Nodira feeds the hens and goats from her wheelchair. The rest of her day is spent knitting for other people and helping her mother with the household chores.
Nodira has never been to school because it is too far from her home and inaccessible for her wheelchair. A local teacher used to come and tutor her at home and, as a result, she was able to finish third grade. After that, her parents moved to another town and the tutor could not visit as much.
Despite the many difficulties in Nodira’s life she is lucky to be living with her family. The stigma(羞辱) attached to the children living with disabilities, combined with the lack of wheelchair access in schools and the economic difficulties faced by many Uzbek families, have led many parents to place children with disabilities in special institutions.
These days, Nodira does homework exercises at home and reads as much as she can. Still, it is unlikely that she will be able to finish her primary education, much less attend university. While missing out on an education is a great disappointment to Nodira, her greatest wish, for a true friend, can still come true. “What I want more than anything is a friend who also has a disability,” she says. “Somebody will not feel sorry for me or make fun of me, and will understand what my life is like.”The underlined sentence in the first paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．her dreams will help her desert her wheel chair |
| B．her dreams are never limited by her disability |
| C．she often dreams of moving freely without a wheel chair |
| D．she never dreams of recovering from her disability |
Nodira does all the following every day EXCEPT _____.
| A．give food to some animals |
| B．to make clothes from woolen or cotton thread |
| C．drive cars designed for the disabled |
| D．help with the housework |
The underlined word “tutor” in the 3rd paragraph can be replaced by “_____”.
| A．educate | B．visit | C．treat | D．comfort |
What Nodira wants most is ______.
| A．to go to university | B．to walk on her own feet |
| C．to finish her primary education | D．to find a true friend |