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 (依赖)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 ( 追求)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 pushes society forward . |
| B．It builds up a sense of duty . |
| 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 |
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 |
One summer night Ludwig Beethoven took a walk in the suburb (市郊) of Bonn. Suddenly a gentle wind came. He heard some music. He listened carefully and found it was his F sonata. He followed the music and came to a small house. There through the window, he saw a girl playing a very old piano and a young man was making shoes beside her, he pushed the door open and went in. The host received him very warmly and told him that the girl was his sister, who was blind but very fond of music. They couldn’t afford to send her to a master. So she was only trying to play some music she heard the neighbors play. She knew it was the work of a great composer. Beethoven was very much moved. Suddenly the candle was blown out. Moonlight struck on the girl’s slender figure. Then Beethoven played music for them. He played so wonderful that the brother and sister were amazed. That was his famous Clair de lune.Beethoven heard the music because ______.
| A．it was played loudly | B．there was a slight wind |
| C．the piano was old | D．he stopped walking |
The young man and the girl were _____.
| A．brother and sister | B．husband and wife |
| C．lovers | D．good friends |
The girl couldn’t go to the teacher most probably because_____.
| A．she was blind |
| B．her brother didn’t want her to go |
| C．they were too poor |
| D．good friends |
Beethoven played some music____.
| A．before he was moved |
| B．as soon as he came in |
| C．when he saw the piano |
| D．after he heard the moving story |
Beethoven, a famous musician in the world, was born in Germany in 1770.
In his childhood Beethoven didn’t have a happy life．His father was a singer. When he was only four, his father began to make him practise hour after hour on different musical instruments(乐器). If he did not put his heart into it, his father would beat him or make it hard on him.
Beethoven loved music and he learned so fast that he was able to go around to give concerts, when he was only a boy of eleven. At the age of seventeen, he won high praise from Mozart, the great musician at that time.
Beethoven was often poor and ill during his life. After one illness, he suddenly found himself deaf. At that time he was only thirty-one. It was a blow(打击)to him indeed.
But he still went on working and writing music pieces. To people’s surprise, some of his best pieces were written after he lost his hearing.
In 1827, leaving more than 300 pieces, the great musician died. But his name is still remembered to this day.Beethoven was a ______ musician.
| A．America | B．French |
| C．German | D．British |
What happened when he was thirty-one? ___________.
| A．He was blind | B．He was deaf |
| C．He gave concerts | D．He won high praise |
Why didn’t Beethoven have a happy life in his childhood? ___________.
| A．Because his family was poor |
| B．Because he had to practise a lot of musical instruments |
| C．Because his father was strict with him |
| D．Both B and C |
The great musician lived in the world for only ______ years.
| A．43 | B．70 | C．57 | D．60 |
When were some of his best pieces written? ____________.
| A．At the age of 11 |
| B．At the age of 17 |
| C．Before he was deaf |
| D．After he became deaf |
What did Beethoven do after he lost his hearing? ____________.
| A．He never gave in |
| B．He stopped writing music pieces |
| C．He lost his heart |
| D．He went to see a doctor |
The US will seek to expand its own oil production in an attempt to reduce dependence on imported oil and bring down fuel prices, President Obama says. New contracts for exploration will be signed in non-protected areas of Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico.
In his weekly speech, the President insisted the US could reduce its need for imported oil and improve safety. Using his speech to tell Americans that he understood their concerns about rising prices, President Obama focused particularly on the price of fuel, which has risen in recent months.
US consumers have historically enjoyed cheap fuel, but have seen prices rise in recent months even though US oil production in 2010 reached its highest level for seven years.
Although the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was serious, Mr. Obama said the Gulf remained a key part of the country’s future energy supply.
The President’s proposals (议案) come after Republicans (共和党人) introduced a series of proposals that would expand and speed up oil and gas production.
The White House has criticized the Republican proposals for safety reasons, but Mr. Obama was clear in his speech that he felt safety and environmental standards could be maintained even though production might rise.
“I believe that we should continue to expand oil production in America — even as we increase safety and environmental standards,” he said.
“As a nation, we should be investing in the clean, renewable sources of energy that are the solution to high gas prices.”
Mr. Obama has previously called for a step-change in energy policy, saying the US must move towards getting 80% of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.Which of the following is NOT included in Mr. Obama’s speech?
| A．The dependence on imported oil. |
| B．Improving safety standards. |
| C．The reason for the rising oil prices. |
| D．Expanding oil production. |
Mr. Obama thinks the Republican proposals are ______.
| A．not safe enough |
| B．not environmentally friendly |
| C．practical |
| D．clear |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．The US has got most of its electricity from clean energy. |
| B．US oil production is too small to keep the present low fuel prices. |
| C．The US produced the most oil in 2010 in its history. |
| D．The Gulf is still important in energy supply in spite of the oil spill in 2010. |
Which of the following can serve as the title?
| A．Obama: US will seek oil in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico |
| B．Obama: US will import less oil to improve safety and environmental standards |
| C．Obama: the time of high fuel prices will be gone |
| D．Obama: clean, renewable sources of energy are the solution to high gas price. |
(Reuters) — A group of Chinese scientists and explorers are looking for international help to organize a new search for the country’s answer to Bigfoot, known locally as the “Yeren”, or “wild man”.
Over the years, more than 400 people have said they saw the half-man, half-ape (半猿) Yeren in a remote, mountainous area of the central province of Hubei, state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday.
Expeditions (探险) in the 1970s and 1980s found hair, a footprint, and a sleeping nest suspected of belonging to the Yeren, but there has been no conclusive proof, the report added.
Witnesses describe a creature that walks upright and is more than 2 meters tall with grey, red or black hair all over its body, Xinhua said.
Now the Hubei Wild Man Research Association is looking for volunteers from around the world to join them on another expedition to look for the Yeren.
“We want the team members to be devoted, as there will be a lot of hard work in the process,” Luo Baosheng, vice president of the group, told Xinhua.
But the team will have to come up with about 10 million yuan ($1.50 million) first, and is talking to companies and other bodies to secure the money, so there is no timetable yet for when they may start, the report added.
China is no stranger to cryptozoology. There are many tales about mysterious, monster-like creatures in remote parts of the country. For example, Tibetans have long talked about the existence of the Yeti (喜马拉雅雪人), or “Abominable Snowman”, in the high mountains of their snowy homeland.What the volunteers for this expedition need most is _____.
| A．experience | B．enthusiasm |
| C．confidence | D．devotion |
The timetable for starting the trip depends on _____.
| A．the number of explorers |
| B．government’s support |
| C．the finance |
| D．local people’s guiding |
According to the text, the underlined word “cryptozoology” in the last paragraph probably refers to _____.
| A．the study of mysterious animals |
| B．the study of human beings |
| C．dangerous expeditions |
| D．tourism industry |
What would be the best title for this text?
| A．Volunteers for an expedition needed |
| B．Scientists to look for China’s Bigfoot |
| C．International cooperation in finding wild man |
| D．Yeren appeared in Hubei again |
Australia’s koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to stop the losing in population, according to researchers They say development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to reduce the number of wild koalas sharply. The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. Previous estimates (估计) put the number of koalas at more than 100,000, but the latest calculations (计算) suggest there could now be as few as 43,000.
The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.
The foundation said besides problems caused by cutting down forests, hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional (营养的) value of their staple food, eucalyptus leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them.
Koalas, which live in the forests in Australia’s east and south, are very fussy (爱挑剔的) about what types of the leaves they eat.
Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: “The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It’s really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don’t have any koalas.”
She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government’s Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely recently and the koala’s status as one of the country’s favourite animals would not be a factor. “There’s a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don’t consider that,” Mr Beeton was reported as saying by the AFP agency.The writer gives the example of the area in northern Queensland in Paragraph 3 to show that _____.
| A．the forests are being damaged heavily |
| B．the environment is being polluted seriously |
| C．the number of koalas is dropping quickly |
| D．koalas usually live in wild mountainous areas |
Global warming is an important cause of koalas’ reduction because _____.
| A．koalas can hardly stand the hot weather |
| B．koalas cannot get enough water to drink |
| C．the leaves koalas eat are losing nutritional value |
| D．the leaves koalas eat cannot grow in hot weather |
According to Bob Beeton, _____.
| A．koalas are his favourite animals |
| B．a decision will be made to protect koalas |
| C．they needn’t pay special attention to koalas |
| D．koalas needn’t be protected at all |