When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any doctor I'd ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.
When Doctor Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle: "No pain, no gain". He hardly watered his new trees, an attitude which flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water.
So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he'd beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention.
Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some 25 years ago. They were tall and strong.
I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb's trees in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to encounter hardship. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be torn apart.With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs often______.
A.kept watering them every morning |
B.talked to them to get their attention |
C.paid little attention to them |
D.beat them to make them grow deep roots |
What does the underlined word "Adversity" mean in the sixth paragraph?
A.Difficult living conditions. | B.Lack of moisture. |
C.Enough care or attention. | D.Bad weather. |
Which prayer does the author wish for his sons?
A.Have an easy life, without too much to worry about. |
B.Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives. |
C.Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life. |
D.Meet people like Dr Gibbs in the future. |
Music has often been used in movies to create mood and add dimension to the images which the audience sees on the screen. One man who is famous for his ability to write powerful and highly effective music for movies is John Williams. Mr. Williams has been writing music for movies since 1960, but he is perhaps best known for his award-winning scores for movies such as Jaws, Star Wars, and Schindler's List. Before he began writing music for the movies, Mr. Williams dreamed of being a concert pianist. He studied at both the University of California, Los Angeles and Juilliard School. During the 1950s, Mr. Williams was into jazz and he worked in New York City with many jazz artists. Later, he moved back to Los Angeles where he continued to play the piano for jazz musicians. He also got a job writing music for television shows. It was this television job that led him into movies.
Throughout the 1960s, Mr. Williams wrote the music that can be heard in more than 20 movies. Most of these movies were light comedies. Then, in 1975, the director of the movie Jaws, Steven Spielberg, hired Mr. Williams. The director thought that Mr. William's music added so much to the scary (引起恐慌的)scenes of the movie that he insisted on working with Mr. Williams in all of his future movies. Other directors and Hollywood film studios also demanded to work with Mr. Williams, and his career as a composer of movie soundtracks took off. Many of these movies have soundtracks that are still available in music stores today. They include The Deer Hunter, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, and Jurassic Park.
In 1980, Mr. Williams had another chance to expand his musical experience. He was chosen to be the new conductor for the Boston Pops Orchestra when Arthur Fiedler retired. Mr. Williams gladly accepted the position because it only required that he conduct the orchestra during the summer. This left him free to continue writing music for the movies during the rest of the year. Mr. Williams conducted the Boston Pops for more than 12 years before he decided to retire and write music full-time. Along with the many movie music scores he has written, Mr. Williams has also written two symphonies, a flute concerto, and a violin concerto. Up to now, Mr. Williams has written music for more than 60 movies. It is no wonder that he is today's most famous Hollywood composer.
69. What is John Williams most famous for?
A. Conducting. B. Making movies.
C. Playing jazz. D. Writing music for movies.
70. What happened to Mr. Williams in 1975?
A. He began writing music for movies. B. He moved to Hollywood.
C. He worked with Steven Spielberg. D. He worked for the Boston Pops.
71. Which of the following things has Mr. Williams not done?
A. Conducted an orchestra. B. Directed a movie.
C. Played jazz piano. D. Writing classical music.
If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year,he'd better offer you more money to do so--or even double that depending on where you live now.That's because Moscow has just been found to be the world's most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
Using the cost of living in New York as a base,Mercer determined Moscow is 34.4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing,transportation,food,clothing,household goods and entertainment(娱乐).
A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs$4,000 a month;a CD$24.83, and an international newspaper $6.30,according to Mercer.By comparison,a fast food meal with a hamburger (汉堡包)is a steal at$480.
London takes the No.2 place,up from No.5 a year ago,thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar. Mercer estimates(估算)London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days.Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo,both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York,while No.5 Hong Kong is l9 percent more costly.
Among North American cities,New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world's most expensive cities.But both have mien since last year's study--New York came in15th,down from 10th place,while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place a year ago.San Francisco came in a distant third at No.54,down 20 places from a year earlier.
Toronto, meanwhile,is Canada's most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82nd place worldwide.In Australia.Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No.21 worldwide.
65. What do the underlined words "a steal" in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. an act of stealingB. something delicious
C. something very cheap D. an act of buying
66. London has become the second most expensive city because of ______.
A. the high cost of clothing B. the stronger pound against the dollar
C. its expensive transportation D. the high prices of fast food meals
67. Which city is the third most expensive on the list?
A. TokyoB. Hong Kong C. MoscowD. Los Angeles
68. Which city has dropped most on the list in North America?
A. New York. B. Los Angeles. C. San Francisco D. Tokyo
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NANJING, June 13,2009 (Xinhua) – China will see the longest total solar eclipse (日食) in 500 years on July 22, a scientist said Saturday.
The most important time of the total eclipse was expected toNeatness and personal cleanness have been around for ages and have become an important part of everyone’s daily routine. You might think that all modern societies would have the same neatness and personal cleanness practices. After all, doesn’t everybody take baths? Most people do recognize the need for cleanness, which is the basis for health. Neatness practices include all the little things people do to make themselves look their best, such as combing their hair and putting on makeup. However, while most modern people agree that these things are important, people in different cultures take care of themselves in different ways.
There used to be an old joke in America that people should take a bath once a week, whether they need one or not. In fact, though, Americans generally take a bath or more commonly, a shower every day. But in contrast to some cultures, most Americans get their shower in the morning so that they can start the day fresh. Americans are known for having very sensitive noses. In America, body smell is socially unacceptable. For that reason, Americans consider it a must to use special lotion (浴液) to prevent the smell. Ladies often add a touch of perfume. Men may spray on after – shave cream or manly – smelling perfume.
Some of the cultural varieties in neatness practices result from physical differences between races. Whereas many Asian men have little facial hair, Westerners have a lot. As a result, most American men spend some time each day shaving or tidying their facial hair to keep it nice. American women, on the other hand, generally prefer not to be hairy at all.
Americans put great value on both neatness and personal cleanness. For some people, taking care of themselves has become almost a religion. As the old saying goes, “Cleanness is next to godliness.” Whether or not being clean and neat – looking brings one closer to God, it certainly at least brings one closer to others. Americans look down on people who don’t take care of themselves, or who “let themselves go.”
68.We can infer from the first paragraph that .
A.everyone takes baths daily to get a nice look.
B.people have the same neatness practices today.
C.neatness practices may be affected by cultures.
D.neatness means combing hair and doing makeup.
69.Americans have a bath in the morning to .
A.begin an energetic day B.refresh their sensitive noses
C.prevent their body smell D.style their hair at home
70.According to the author, physical differences between races can cause differences in .
A.cultures B.locations C.religions D.neatness practice
71.The underlined phrase in the last paragraph means “”.
A.care much about themselves B.give loose to themselves
C.stay away from other people D.stay closer to other people
As AH1N1 flu continues to spread, experts from the World Health
Organization are calling for everyone to practice smart flu prevention
techniques. Besides washing your hands and getting enough sleep,
here are the other 7 ways to keep your body strong and your immune
(免疫) system ready to fight infection.
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64.Which of the following pictures is talked about in the passage?