Do you have a nickname(昵称)? Most of us do by our looks, clothing, or personality. But for cities, the meaning of their nicknames has much more than that.
Many big cities have nicknames, such as New York—The Big Apple, London— The Great Smog, and Rome—The Eternal City. Why do cities have such nicknames?
In the 1920s,there were many races in New York.People called the prizes of these races apples. Writer John J. Eitz Gerald first called New York the Big Apple, because New York is the place that many people dreamed of going to the biggest prize of all.
For Rome, as the name suggests, the answer is simple. Romans believed that no matter what happened to the world, Rome would go on forever. Rome has been an important center of power {权利) for more than 2, 000 years.
As for London, in the Victorian period it had problems with its air. Later in 1952, serious air pollution made 10,000people fall ill . But now the air of London has become better
Sound interesting?Does your city have a nickname?How do most of people get their nicknames?
What is London's nickname?
Who first called New York the Big Apple?
How long has Rome been an important center of power?
Why did 10, 000 people in London fall ill in 1952?
A. Choose the best answer (根据短文内容,选择最恰当的答案) (12分)
Sir Steven Redgrave—Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals
“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes (糖尿病), believing the profession trained for the whole of my life ended, I felt very sorry. Then one of my friends said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it—the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”
Karen Pickering—Swimming World Champion (冠军)
“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that amount of work by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success—you can’t follow a profession in any field without being well-organized. Make a list of what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”
Kristen Stewart—Actress
“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve anything. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to give most of your attention to one thing. When I feel nervous, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘focus’ , ‘calm’, ‘peace’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit and is a powerful psychological(心理学的) tool.”
Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talks about ________.
A.difficulties stopped his profession | B.doctors offered him help |
C.illness couldn’t stop him trying to win | D.he didn’t believe in himself |
Karen Pickering trained in swimming ________.
A.6 hours a day | B.6 hours a week |
C.6 days a week | D.4 hours a week |
Karen Pickering puts ________ on top of her diary.
A.the amount of work | B.her activities |
C.her goals | D.her sports news |
The underlined word “ distractions” probably means ________.
A.things that turn one’s attention away |
B.things that make one tired |
C.words to enjoy |
D.good habits |
The same character of the three people is________.
A.self-confidence | B.happiness | C.humour | D.wisdom |
The best title for the passage is ________.
A.How to Be a Winner | B.Health and Food |
C.Difficulties and Habits | D.Be a Sportsman |
Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum(论坛) asking what “PK” meant.
“My family has been watching the ‘I Am the Singer’ singing competition TV programme. My little daughter asked me what ‘PK’ meant, but I had no idea,” explained the puzzled father.
To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, “PK” is short for “Player Kill”, in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other.
In the case of the “I Am the Singer” singing competition, “PK” was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition raking.
Like this father, Chinese teachers at Middle schools have also been finding their students using Internet jargons which are difficult to understand. A teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write the compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn’t understand.
“My ‘GG’ came back this summer from college. He told me I’ve grown up to be a ‘PLMM’. I loved to ‘FB’ with him together; he always took me to the ‘KPM’,” went one composition.
“GG” means Ge Ge (Chinese pinyin for brother). “PLMM” is Piao Liang Mei Mei (beautiful girl).“FB” means Fu Bai (corruption).“KPM” is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s.
Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language. If you do not even know what a Kong Long (dinosaur, meaning an ugly looking femal) or a Qing Wa (frog, meaning an ugly looking male ) is, you will possibly be regarded as a CaiNiao!By writing the article, the writer tries to _________.
A.explain some Internet jargons |
B.suggest common Internet jargons |
C.laugh at the Beijing father |
D.draw our attention to Internet jargons |
What does the underlined word Internet jargons mean?
A.Internet language | B.Internet action |
C.Internet behavior | D.Internet fashion |
What does the writer think about the word “PK”?
A.Fathers can’t possibly know it. |
B.The daughter should understand it. |
C.Online game players may know it. |
D.“I Am the Singer” shouldn’t have used it. |
The example of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons____.
A.are used not only online | B.can be understood very well |
C.are welcomed by all the people | D.cause trouble to our mother tongue |
What would be the best title for the passage?
A.A Puzzled Father! | B.Do You Speak Internet English? |
C.Keep away from Internet English! | D.Kong Long or Qing Wa? |
January 16, 2014 –We know the saying“The early bird gets the worm”, but today you’re going to learn about the interesting saying “The early fish gets the bird.”
An African tigerfish(老虎鱼) was seen jumping out of the air and catching a flying bird. The African tigerfish has bright red fins and very sharp teeth. There have been rumors(传闻) this kind of fish preys on(捕食) birds since the 1940s, but no one was able to catch one.
"The whole action of jumping and catching happens so quickly that after we saw it, it took all of us a moment to really understand what we had just seen," said Nico Smit from Environmental Sciences and Management at North-West University.
Smit and his research team saw it at a lake in the Mapungubwe National Park in South Africa during summer. They found about 20 fish feeding on birds in the morning. Those birds may be out early to look for food, but we will never know for sure!The tigherfish ___________.
A.is from the USA | B.has bright black fins |
C.has very sharp teeth | D.was seen in a forest |
The underlined word “one” in Paragraph 2 means _______.
A.a tiger | B.a fish | C.a bird | D.a person |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Nobody has heard of the rumors about the tigerfish before. |
B.It took Smit a moment to understand what he had seen about the fish. |
C.The interesting findings happened in a lake in the afternoon. |
D.The birds were caught by the tigerfish because they were out too early for food. |
Where is the passage likely to be read?
A.In a poster. | B.In a tour guide. |
C.In a newspaper. | D.In a story book. |
Which is the best title for the passage?
A.The early fish gets the bird. | B.Nico Smit and an African tigerfish. |
C.Nico Smit and his research team. | D.The Mapungubwe National Park |
Each morning a rich man found a poor man sitting on a bench(长凳) in the park. The poor man always sat there, looking at the big hotel in which the rich man lived. One day, the rich man got out of his car and said to the poor man,“Excuse me. I want to know why you sit here and look at my hotel every morning.”“Sir,”said the poor man,“I am a failure. I have no money , no family, no home. I sleep on this bench, and every night I dream that one day I’ll sleep in that hotel.”The rich man said ,“ Tonight your dream will come true. I’ll pay for the best room in that hotel for you a whole month.”
A few days after, the rich man went into the poor man’s room to ask him how he was enjoying himself. To his surprise, he found that the man had moved out of the hotel back to his bench. When the rich man asked why, he said,“You see, when I’m sleeping on my bench, I dreamed I am there, in the big hotel. It’s a wonderful dream. But when I was there I dreamed I was back to this cold bench. It was a terrible dream, and I couldn’t get any sleep at all.”The poor man lived in ____ before he met the rich man.
A.the hotel | B.his home |
C.the park | D.the car |
Every morning, the poor man sat on the bench and____.
A.waited for the rich man | B.looked at the rich man’s hotel |
C.looked at the rich man’s car | D.enjoyed the clean car |
Every night the poor man dreamed of ______.
A.sleeping in a hotel | B.becoming rich |
C.owning that hotel | D.being the rich man’s friend |
The poor man moved out of the hotel because____.
A.he didn’t want to live in such a fine room |
B.he didn’t like the rich man |
C.he couldn’t pay for the room |
D.he couldn’t get any sleep at all there |
In the end, the poor man found it _________to sleep in the hotel.
A.sorry | B.nice |
C.wonderful | D.terrible |
In the most southern part of our planet, there’s a place that’s covered with snow and ice all year round. But it has the clearest and cleanest air. Amazingly, in this place, the sun sometimes hangs even in the midnight sky. This place is Antarctica (南极洲): the coldest, windiest and harshest (恶劣的) place on the Earth.
As the world’s least-known place, Antarctica is of great interest to scientists around the world. In 1983, China joined the Antarctic Treaty (《南极条约》). The treaty made Antarctica a peaceful place for member countries to do scientific research. During 30 years, China has sent many scientists to Antarctica. They mostly look at the resources under the icy land and do research about climate change and marine (海洋的) biology.
Antarctica is a place with fantastic views. However, life there is very hard. Food is one of the biggest problems. Frozen food which can be heated easily is people’s daily food. Fresh vegetables are hard to grow in the cold weather. Therefore, scientists often eat dried or canned vegetables.
Sleep is also troublesome. In Antarctica, summer lasts from November to March. During this period, Antarctica points to the sun and receives sunlight 24 hours a day. In order to get some sleep, scientists cover the windows with black plastic cloth to create “night”.
Working in Antarctica is dangerous, especially when meeting gale-force(七级以上的)winds.Sometimes the wind is even stronger than a typhoon.It can easily blow people away.So there are ropes that connect buildings of some research stations.People can hold these ropes to keep their balance in forceful winds.
What’s more, communicating with others is difficult. Without cables and Internet in some research stations, two-way radios are the only tools to communicate. If people want to say hello to friends and relatives, they can use satellite phones.
Although it is challenging(挑战) to work in Antarctica, scientists’ passion to learn about this mysterious land will never end. It is hopeful that one day they will step every corner of this icy land.Scientists from China go to Antarctica to _____.
A.find out ways to control water pollution |
B.research climate change and marine biology |
C.grow plants and vegetables in special condition |
D.stop the hunters from killing the marine biology |
In order to sleep well in Antarctica, the scientists have to _____.
A.wear more clothes to keep warm | B.cover the windows with black cloth |
C.connect research stations with ropes | D.eat more fried and canned vegetables |
We can replace (替换) the underlined word passion in the last paragraph with .
A.strong love | B.full preparation |
C.pleasant introduction | D.amazing imagination |
The passage is mainly about .
A.view of the Antarctica |
B.exploring the Antarctica |
C.how to survive in the Antarctica |
D.climate changes of the Antarctica |