Where we live, on the eastern shore of Maryland, the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips.
The Canada geese know this place, as do the white swans and the ducks. In autumn, they come home for the winter. Once or twice each year, snow and frozen rain move into the area. When this happens, if the river is at its narrowest, there is a freeze which hardens the water to ice.
One morning, a friend of mine set the breakfast table beside the huge window, which overlooked the Tred Avon River. Suddenly she leaned forward and cried out, “There is a goose out there.”
We saw the figure of a large Canada goose, very still, its wings folded tight to its sides, its feet frozen into the ice.
Then from the dark skies, she saw a line of swans. They floated from the top of the sky downward and at last landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now, with one hand against her mouth, unbelieving. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose, she feared that life it still had might be pecked(啄) out by those great swan bills.
Instead, those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down, again and again. It went on for a long time. At last, the goose’s head was lifted. Its body was pulled. Then the goose was free and stood on the ice. And the swans stood in the air watching. Then, as if it had cried, “I cannot fly.” Four of the swans came down around it. Their powerful beaks chipped off the ice held in the feathers. Slowly, the goose spread its wings as far as they would go, and moved slowly into the sky.
This is a true story. I just think of it in the bad moment, and from it comes only one hopeful question: If so for birds, why not for man?
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Why Not for Man? | B．Graceful Swans |
| C．Swans’ Brave Act | D．I Just Couldn’t Believe It! |
What happened to the Canada goose?
| A．It was deserted by other geese. |
| B．It was stuck in the ice. |
| C．It was wounded and couldn’t fly. |
| D．It was lost in the water. |
At first the author’s friend was worried that________.
| A．the swans would not help the Canada goose |
| B．she didn’t care about this matter any more |
| C．the swans wouldn’t identify with the Canada goose |
| D．the swans would peck the Canada goose to death |
What did the swans do when they saw the Canada goose couldn’t fly?
| A．They chipped off the ice held in its feathers. |
| B．They waited patiently for the ice held in its feathers to melt. |
| C．They came down and lifted it up to the sky together. |
| D．They stayed with it and protected it. |
One is not born able to speak a language．One is born able to make a noise．I have heard babies cry in America and in China．I can't tell any difference．But when I hear someone from America speak English and hear someone speak Chinese, I can tell you there are a lot of differences．
I believe a common problem with Chinese students’ learning English is that they were not taught to think in English．They have an idea spoken in English and want to translate the idea into Chinese, Then they think in Chinese of the proper reply and translate it into English．After a long period of speaking the language, one begins to think in the foreign language naturally．You will learn faster if you begin to think in English at the very beginning of your study．Many students ask me: What can I do to improve my spoken English?
My reply is: The more English you speak, the better English you will speak．There are many things you can do to improve your spoken English．Of course, the best way is to live where English is spoken as a language of the country．The cries of American and Chinese babies are ________．
| A．different | B．the same | C．not like each other | D．like each other |
The underlined sentence ( in Paragraph 2 ) means that ________．
| A．some teachers didn't teach students to think in English |
| B．teachers never gave the students the way of learning English |
C．students didn't remem ber the way teachers taught them |
| D．teachers didn't want their students to think in English |
The underlined word “they” ( in Paragraph 2 ) refers to “________”．
| A．Chinese students | B．English students |
| C．Chinese teachers | D．English teachers |
According to the article, which
of the following is TRUE?
| A．You must think in English all the time． |
| B．If you translate a sentence into Chinese, you should think about the meaning of the sentence in Chinese carefully first． |
| C．After speaking English for a long time, you may probably think in English naturally． |
| D．The best way of learning English is to live in America． |
Looking back on my childhood, I am quite sure that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were all brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon left their pressed flowers and insects completely forever. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and
languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental mathematics.
Before World War I, we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and of my toys. Nor do I remember clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a clear memory of the dogs, the farm animals, the local birds, and above all, the insects
I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world and my interest had led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite subjects and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s discoveries. Then something happens that brings these discoveries together in my mind. Suddenly you imagine you see the answer to the question, because it all seems to fit together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some might honor with the title of scientific research.
But interest, a good eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist: one of the outstanding and necessary qualities required is self-discipline(自我修养), a quality I lack. A scientist, up to point, can be made. A naturalist is born. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds.The first paragraph tells us the author __________.
| A．was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood |
| B．lost his hearing when he was a child |
| C．didn’t like his brothers and sisters |
| D．was born to a naturalist’s family |
The author can’t remember his relatives clearly because __________.
| A．he didn’t live very long with them |
| B．the family was extremely large |
| C．he was too young when he lived with them |
| D．he paid more attention to nature |
The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he __________.
| A．has a great deal of trouble doing mental mathematics |
| B．lacks some of the qualities required of s scientist |
| C．just reads about other people’s discoveries |
| D．comes up with solutions in a most natural way |
At 50 I was the first woman to travel alone to the North Pole. But what should I do to celebrate my 60th birthday? What else, but a journey at the opposite end of the world, Antarctica. I began my almost 400-mile jour
ney on November 1st, 1997,a few days before my birthday. I walked and skied alone. My dog team were not with me to pull my sled. Another journey of challenge and danger was about to begin.
The first days the weather was very good. The wind was icy but not very strong and there was bright sunshine 24 hours a day. But changes were just around the corner. On the third day I was struggling through stormy weather and during the nest week the wind grew stronger and I found myself spending a whole day in my tent.
I had traveled only two hours one day when the winds increased so much that I had to put my tent up before the winds became too strong. Within a few minutes the winds increased to a howling storm that threatened to blow me and the tent away, but none of that happened.from the text we know the writer was born on ___.
| A．1st November 1937 | B．12th November 1937 |
| C．22nd November 1947 | D．1st November 1957 |
Another journey of challenge and danger
was about to begin. “ Another journey” here means ___.
| A．the travel to the North Pole. | B．another journey to Antarctica. |
| C．400- mile journey on November 1st 1997. | D．a new trip that she was planning. |
After reading the short passage, we can guess that ___.
| A．the trip to the North Pole must be the same hard as that to the South Pole. |
| B．The trip to the Antarctica may be more dangerous than that to the Arctic |
C．There was no danger though the trip to the South Pole w as hard. |
| D．During the trip to the Antarctica, the weather, most of the time, was not so bad. |
Do you think which kind of people the writer is?
| A．mean | B．generous | C．brave | D．handsome |
Several different stories are told about the origin（由来） of Saint Valentine's Day（情人节）. One legend(传奇) d
ates as far back as the clays of the Roman Empire, according to the story, Claudius, the Emperor of Rome, wanted to increase the size of the army. He knew that it would be easier to get young man who were not married to join. Therefore he made a rule that no young man could marry until he had served a certain number of years in the army.
A priest（牧师） named Valentine broke the rule and secretly married a great many young people. Finally, Claudius found out about Valentine and put the priest in prison, where he remained until his death on February 14.
After his death, Valentine was made a saint, and the day of his death was named Saint Valentine's Day. It became the custom for lovers to send each other message on this day. Now Saint Valentine's Day is a time for people to send one another greeting of many kinds.
February 14, Valentine's Day, is a sweethearts' day, on which people in love with each other express their tender emotions. People sometimes put their love message in a heart-shaped box of chocolates, or a bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons. Words of letters may be written on the flower covered card, or something else. Whatever the form may be, the message is almost the same "will you be my Valentine?"Valentine was put in prison because ________.
| A．he secretly got married |
| B．he didn't serve in the army |
| C．he married many young people secretly |
| D．he broke the laws |
According to the rule ________.
| A．no young men could get married unless they were old enough |
| B．young men could marry if they served in the army for several years |
| C．no one could get married without the emperor's permission |
| D．young could marry only in the army |
This passage mainly tells us about _________.
| A．how Valentine died |
| B．the Emperor of Rome |
| C．how Valentine's Day is celebrated |
| D．the origin of Valentine's Day |
February 14 is chosen Valentine's Day because __________.
| A．lovers express their tender emotions on this day |
| B．people want to remember Valentine |
| C．people send one another greetings of many kinds on this day |
| D．people want to fix a date for lovers to express their emotions |
The Touchstone
When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book, and so a poor man, who could read little, bought it for very little money.
The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.
The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold, throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days continued over a long period of time.
One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are careful, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.The man bought the book because ______.
| A．he wanted to read it | B．it was very interesting |
| C．there was a secret in the book | D．he wanted to find the touchstone |
We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is ______.
| A．pure | B．cold | C．magic | D．big |
What does the author want to tell us in the passage?
| A．We should offer opportunities in our life. |
| B．We should seek for opportunities in the world. |
| C．We may seize opportunities when we are watchful. |
| D．We may discover opportunities when forming habits. |