Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to(属于) a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed(服从) and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting.
"I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he said.
"But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man asked.
"I met your children outside, and they stole(偷) some of the apples."Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man?
| A．he was poor |
| B．he liked the rich man |
| C．his farm belonged to the rich man |
| D．the rich man’s children liked apples |
What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps?
| A．They jumped and jumped. |
| B．They played. |
| C．They ran away. |
| D．They ate some of the apples. |
The monkeys left the basket because
| A．they had thrown apples on the ground |
| B．the farmer had politely asked them to get off |
| C．they were afraid of the hat |
| D．the farmer was angry with them |
Have you got some paper, a pair of scissors and, above all, a desire to decorate your house? Then, we have the perfect holiday artwork for you: Make Star Wars snowflakes (雪花). Remembered as a cherished form of work in classrooms before the holidays, paper snowflakes have drawn many people's attention again.
The designer, Anthony Herrera, just recently released his 2013 collection. "The Star Wars snowflake designs began as just doing designs of characters that I and my daughter wanted to make three years ago," Herrera told us in an email. "The second year I introduced vehicles, and this year I decided to push further by designing battle scenes."
Sometimes, he feels a bit bored with his job. With each year, the designs have got more detailed and various, but the process of creating them remained the same: sketching (画) figures on paper with a pencil until a symmetrical (对称）pattern comes out, then scanning the designs and cut them with scissors. However, he says he has plenty of ideas for new flakes next year, so no two will ever be the same. Hopefully with Star Wars: Episode VII coming in 2015 he'll have even more work in the future.
Check out your favorite finished versions of Herrera’s flakes (from both 2013 and previous years) and download the pictures beneath them and then get down to creating your own work. A warning: Most designs aren't for the casual flake-maker, so patience you must have.
From the text, we know that Herrera ______.
| A．can make snowflakes with his daughter's help |
| B．made more complicated designs before 2013 |
| C．introduced paper vehicles in 2011 |
| D．will make a great variety of detailed paper flakes |
Herrera is fed up with the job sometimes because ______
| A．he has to design detailed and different patterns |
| B．he has to follow the fixed process of paper cutting |
| C．he spends much time designing, scanning and cutting |
| D．he has few ideas for what the next designs will be like |
By writing the last paragraph, the author tries to ______.
| A．offer us more information about Herrera’s paper cutting |
| B．tell us how to download picture of snowflakes |
| C．instruct people to be a real creative artist |
| D．remind us of being patient with Herrera’s designs |
阅读理解
I had arrived at the airport to catch an early flight home.It had been a very busy three days for me on an interstate trip with lots of meetings，business to do and new customers to meet.Then came the announcement that the flight had been delayed due to a technical problem.I could see a group of technicians and ground staff rushing about，obviously trying hard to fix the problem.I watched and listened as many of the passengers sitting near me shared their frustration about the inconvenience.
As I sat waiting，I reflected on my last meeting for the day.It was not a business meeting but rather a very enjoyable and brief lunch with an old business associate and friend I had not seen for over 12 years，and who I had worked with for nearly 15 years before we lost in touch.I had been given his phone number by a customer I had visited on the first day of my trip，so I called him out of the blue and made a time for us to meet.
Our lunch was spent recollecting(回忆) times gone by and as well filling each other in on what had happened in our lives over the last 12 years.Our conversation was frequently interrupted with statements such as ‘remember when we did...’，‘whatever happened to...’ and of course the one we all liked to hear...‘you know you haven't changed one bit，except for a few more grey hairs.’
We both laughed and smiled as we recalled the good times and the great experiences we had shared over the 15 years we had worked together. Each event we discussed caused another recollection and everything we talked about centered on the good times.Almost at the same time，right at the end of our time together，we both said how much we both enjoyed it and that we must do it again.We agreed to catch up when I was next in town，then said our goodbyes and I was off to the airport.
So with this extra time on my hands as I waited for my flight，it was great to revisit and replay in my mind all that we had talked about over lunch.I realized at that moment just how important it is to have regular reminders of the good times in your life and to be able to take the time to recall the past，for so much of what we have done in our past，shapes us and makes us who and what we are today and beyond.
At the end of my busy trip with the focus on getting all the business done，I was indeed fortunate enough to have had the chance to take a short break and reflect on the good things that had happened in my life over 12 years ago.It was somewhat like looking at an old photo album that you have found stored away in a cupboard in your house.There before your eyes are lots of wonderful memories in print that take you back to that time and place，and most importantly to those people who are in the photos.It also made me realize that when you get caught up doing what has to be done in the moment，it is easy to forget the people you have met in your life who have made a positive effect on and enriched you，often in only the smallest of ways.
My flight home was finally called nearly three hours later and yes as you would have expected many of the passengers cheered when the announcement was made.I smiled as I boarded the plane and realized that I was not at all upset about the delay，as I had been able to spend much of my time reflecting on the good times from days gone by and now eagerly look forward to many more opportunities to recall the past.Which of the following statements will the writer most probably support?
| A．It is impossible to avoid the inconvenience caused by flight delays. |
| B．Our past experiences have a great influence on our future life. |
| C．Looking forward is more important than looking back on the past. |
| D．It is really a pity that the good old times will never come back. |
The detail that their conversation was frequently interrupted is mentioned in order to show ________．
| A．they were eager to make the conversation go smoothly |
| B．they had been very good and close friends |
| C．they were both interested in each other's present life |
| D．they had a good time recollecting their old times |
When the writer boarded the plane，he smiled because ________．
| A．he could finally fly home |
| B．the other passengers were cheering |
| C．he had made very good use of the delay |
| D．his busy trip would soon come to an end |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．The Value of Old Friends |
| B．Reflecting on the Good Times |
| C．A Delayed Flight Home |
| D．A Three－day Business Trip |
阅读理解
Nine years ago, after Leo had died, people said to me. "I never knew he was your stepfather." You see, I never called him that. At first, he was no one special in my life. Then he became my friend. In time, I felt he was also my father.
Leo married my mother when I was eleven. Two years later we moved into a house in a new suburban development, where we put down roots. At first our lawn was just a mud with wild grass, but Leo saw bright possibilities. "We'll plant trees there to give us shade as well as some flowers," he said. And just these little touches made our house different from all the others. More important, a real family was forming. Leo was becoming a full-time parent, and I was learning what it meant to have a father.
Weekday mornings when the weather was bad, Leo often drove me to school. Having a father drop you off may have been something my classmates took for granted, but I always thought it was wonderful. Saturday mornings, we went to the hardware (计算机硬件) shop, then stepped into the five-and-ten, buying a sports magazine or something else. Some people might think that doing shopping together is nothing special, but I, who had ever before spent my childhood watching other families do their everyday activities, experienced them now with extreme delight. Looking back, I realized that Leo gave me what I needed most—the experience of doing ordinary things together as a family.
Soon after we moved to the suburbs, one of our new neighbors introduced herself to me. She had already met my mother and Leo. "You know," she said, "you look just like your father." I knew she was just making a conversation--but even so... "Thank you", I said. Why tell her anything different?The writer's purpose in writing this passage is _______.
| A．to show his pride to have a good stepfather |
| B．to show how interesting a person Leo was |
| C．to remind us of our parents |
| D．to explain why they moved to the suburbs |
The phrase “put down roots”in the second paragraph means
| A．farmed | B．contacted |
| C．settled | D．accommodated |
In the writer's opinion, _______.
| A．it is not easy to live with a stepfather |
| B．not all the stepfathers are as good as Leo |
| C．the husband and wife must think more about their children before they divorce |
| D．in step families the love and friendship are extremely precious |
The last sentence “Why tell her anything different?”means that .
| A．he should have told the truth |
| B．he wouldn't tell her the truth |
| C．he wanted to tell her something that had nothing to do with Leo |
| D．he wanted to keep silence whenever he met the neighbors |
If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars，we would go in darkness happily，the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal(夜间活动的) species on this planet. Instead，we are diurnal(白天的) creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: We’ve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.
The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequences 一 called light pollution 一 whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design，which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky. III-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels 一 and light rhythms — to which many forms of life, including, ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect or life is affected .
In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze(霾) that mirrors our fear of the dark. We’ve grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit night, - dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadow on Earth, is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.
We’ve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further form the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing, Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet(磁铁). The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being “captured” by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.
Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times righter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint including most other creatures ,we do need darkness .Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.
Living in a glare of our making,we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage—the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night .In a very real sense light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way—the edge of our galaxy arching overhead.According to the passage, human being .
| A．prefer to live in the darkness |
| B．are used to living in the day light |
| C．were curious about the midnight world |
| D．had to stay at home with the light of the moon |
What does “it”(Paragraph 1) most probably refer to?
| A．The night. | B．The moon |
| C．The sky | D．The planet |
The writer mentions birds and frogs to .
| A．provide examples of animal protection |
| B．show how light pollution affects animals |
| C．compare the living habits of both species |
| D．explain why the number of certain species has declined |
It is implied in the last paragraph that
| A．light pollution dose harm to the eyesight of animals |
| B．light pollution has destroyed some of the world heritages |
| C．human beings cannot go to the outer space |
| D．human beings should reflect on their position in the universe |
Determined to make school more related to the workplace, Roosevelt High School in Portland, Oregon, developed a school-to-work program. In their first year, students are offered some job pathways in natural resources, human services, health care, business, arts and communication. The following year, each student chooses one of the pathways and examines it in depth, spending three hours a week watching someone on the job. Such a program is also in practice in some other states.
The school-to-work program is built around a partnership. For example, Eastman Kodak, a major employer in Colorado, introduces students to business by helping them construct a model city using small pieces of wood. “The children use the models to decide on the best place to set up schools,” says Lucille Mantelli, director for Eastman Kodak in Colorado. Kodak introduces math by teaching fifth graders to use their pocket money properly. They also provide one-on-one job watching experiences and offer chances of practice for high school juniors and seniors. “Students come to the workplace two or three hours a week,” explains Mantelli. “They do the job for us. We pay them and they get school credits (学分). We also give them our views on their performance and developmental opportunities.”
In these partnerships, everybody wins. The students tend to take more difficult courses than students in schools that don’t offer such programs. Business benefits by having a better prepared workforce needed in future years. “It’s a way for us to work with the school systems to develop the type of workforce we’ll need in future years,” Mantelli continued. “We need employees who understand the basics of reading and writing. We need them to be good at math and to be comfortable working on a team.”
“Our theory is that they can learn as much outside the classroom as in. All students have the ability to change the world, not just to live in it. To do that, they have to know how to solve problems and use critical thinking skills. We need to encourage them to dream about jobs that go beyond what they see today,” concludes a school-to-work program organizer.Using the example of Eastman Kodak in Colorado, the writer shows us ____.
| A．what role the business plays in the program |
| B．why the students get paid for their jobs |
| C．where the students have their math class |
| D．what the school decides to do |
The main purpose of the school-to-work program is to _____.
| A．make what students learn in school related to the workplace |
| B．introduce new job opportunities to schools |
| C．improve relations between students and teachers |
| D．offer students more difficult courses |
According to the text, Lucille Mantelli is ____.
| A．a math teacher |
| B．a company manager |
| C．a school designer |
| D．a program organizer |