About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio(影棚)to take part in a crowd-scene. Although our "act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.
We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in "snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real that it made us feel cold.
The next scene was a complete contrast (对比). The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen (幕). An actor and actress stood in front of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water's edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees, sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!
Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film "stars"! Who is the author?
| A．A cameraman. |
| B．A film director. |
| C．A crowd-scene actor. |
| D．A workman for scene setting. |
What made the author feel cold?
| A．The heavy snowfall. |
| B．The man-made scene. |
| C．The low temperature. |
| D．The film being shown. |
What would happen in the "three minutes" mentioned in the last paragraph?
| A．A new scene would be filmed. |
| B．More stars would act in the film. |
| C．The author would leave the studio. |
| D．The next scene would be prepared. |
Tracy Caulkins is known as the first American to set an American record and win an American title in each of four swimming strokes（泳姿）: breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, freestyle.
Tracy Caulkins was born in Minnesota and lived in Iowa until she was six. She began swimming when she was eight, after the family had moved to Nashville, Tennessee. While unwilling at first to swim in cold water or get her face wet, she began to train in earnest (认真地) as her talent became clear. Though her father worked for the public schools, the family sent her to a private school when the public schools could not accommodate (适应) her training schedule.
At age 13, Tracy Caulkins took part in the trials(选拔赛) for the 1976 Olympics, but did not make the team. She continued to win national and international titles, and was disappointed in 1980 when the U.S. didn’t attend the Moscow Olympics. She continued to train and compete.
In 1981, Tracy Caulkins began college, graduating in 1985. In college, she continued competing and training, though she had slowed down from her peak (顶峰) years.
Caulkins trained especially hard for the 1984 Olympics, and not only made the team, but was captain of the swim team and at Los Angeles, won three gold medals and was named Sportswoman of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee. After that she retired from swimming, and was a commentator (解说员) for swimming events as well as taking advantage of her fame to do business.
Tracy Caulkins married Australian swimmer, Mark Stockwell, in 1991, their romance having begun at the 1984 Olympics when he jumped into a warm-up pool to introduce himself. They married in Nashville and moved to Australia, where they had three children. Caulkins continued to be professionally involved in sports. Tracy Caulkins was sent to a private school because _____.
| A．the schedule of the public school wasn’t suitable for her |
| B．her parents had to work in the school |
| C．her family had moved to Nashville, Tennessee |
| D．she showed strong interest in swimming |
Which Olympic Games did Tracy Caulkins attend?
| A．The 1976 Olympic Games. | B．The 1980 Olympic Games. |
| C．The 1984 Olympic Games. | D．The 1992 Olympic Games. |
Give the correct order of the following events in Tracy Caulkins’ life.
a. She was named Sportswoman of the Year.
b. She became a commentator.
c. She got married.
d. She went to college.
e. She attended the Olympics.
| A．d; e; a; b; c | B．d; e; c; b; a |
| C．d; a; e; c; b | D．d; e; a; c; b |
When was Tracy Caulkins born?
| A．In 1963 | B．In 1953 | C．In 1960 | D．Not mentioned |
Bungee jumping is an activity about jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord(有弹性的绳子). The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air balloon or helicopter, that has the ability to stay over one place on the ground; fixed-wing aircraft are unsuitable because they only stay high when moving quickly forward.
When the person jumps, the cord stretches to absorb (吸收)the energy of the fall, then the jumper flies upwards again as the cord jumps back. The jumper oscillates(摆动)up and down until all the energy is used up.
The word bungee first appeared around 1930 and was the name for a rubber eraser. The first modern bungee jumps were made on 1 April 1979 from the 250-foot Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, by David Kirk, Chris Baker and Alan Weston of the Dangerous Sports Club. The jumpers continued with jumps in the US from the Golden Gate and Royal Gorge bridges, spreading the concept worldwide. By 1982 they were jumping from mobile cranes and hot-air balloons. Later they put on commercial(商业的)shows, which began in 1986.
As with any sport, injuries can still happen, and there have been deaths. A relatively common mistake in the cases that may cause death is to use a cord that is too long. The cord should be fully shorter than the height of the jumping place to allow it room to jumper either starts to slow down or keeps speeding up depending upon the speed of falling.Which of the following is NOT suitable for bungee jumping?
| A．The fixed-wing aircraft | B．The helicopter |
| C．The hot-air balloon | D．The mobile crane |
In the second paragraph, the author tells_________________.
| A．who suits bungee jumping |
| B．the principle of bungee jumping |
| C．the material used for bungee jumping |
| D．the danger of bungee jumping |
According to the last paragraph, the safety of the jumpers depends mainly on________.
| A．the weight of the jumper |
| B．the height of the jumping place |
| C．the length of the cord |
| D．the speed of the falling |
The purpose of writing this passage is to__________.
| A．teach people how to carry out a bungee jumping |
| B．remind people of the danger of bungee jumping |
| C．advise people not to take the risk of bungee jumping |
| D．introduce some knowledge about bungee jumping |
Ice Hotel Quebec, located 30 minutes west of Downtown Quebec City, Canada, is only open during the winter season. The hotel is made entirely of ice. The two galleries at the Ice Hotel Quebec feature events such as ice painting and ice sculpture(冰雕) competitions.
Things to Do
Guests have a choice of different winter vacation activities, including cross-country skiing, ice skating, dog sledding (狗拉雪橇)， ice fishing and sliding(滑行). Ice Hotel Quebec has a sauna( 桑拿浴)，so remember to pack your bathing suit.
Rooms & Suites(套房)
The hotel offers 18 rooms and 14 theme suites built from 12,000 tons of snow and 400 tons of ice. The walls at Ice Hotel Quebec are four feet thick and allow the hotel to keep a temperature of -2℃ to -5℃.
The furniture at the hotel is made of snow and ice, including the beds. The beds are equipped with a thick foam mattress(泡沫床垫)and an extra thick sleeping bag. That is enough to prevent you from catching a cold.
Vacation Tip
Ice Hotel Quebec offers 30-minute guided public tours daily from 10:30am to 4:30pm. It costs $15 CAD for adults, $7.5 for children (under eight), $13for students\seniors (above sixty), and $42 for families.
Plan This Vacation
Ice Hotel Quebec-Canada will be open for its sixth season from January 5th to April 1st. Costs for overnight stays start at $199CAD per person.
If you’re looking for something really different to do on your next trip, think creatively and plan to visit the truly unusual Ice Hotel Quebec! If you visit the Ice Hotel, you can enjoy the following EXCEPT___________.
| A．going fishing |
| B．going skating |
| C．appreciating ice sculptures |
| D．holding an ice party |
Sleeping is not a problem in the Ice Hotel because ____________.
| A．the rooms are made of ice |
| B．the temperature is as high as -2℃ |
| C．the sleeping bags are warm |
| D．the walls are four feet thick |
If Mr. Smith attends a 30-minute public tour with his wife and seven-year-old twin sons, he should pay at least_________.
| A．$37.5 CAD | B．$45 CAD | C．$42CAD | D．$199 CAD |
I was very disappointed not to be able to go to the jazz concert last Friday. The announcement in the paper said that you could buy tickets at the theatre box office in Richland Hills any day between 10:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Since I work from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the only time I could go to the theatre was during my 45-minute lunch break. Unluckily, the theatre is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round trip in 45 minutes. Last Monday, I stood at the bus stop for 15 minutes waiting for a bus. By the time I saw one come around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip. So I gave up and went back to the office.
The same thing happened on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday. On Thursday, my luck changed. I got on a bus right away and arrived at the theatre in exactly 20 minutes. When I got there, however, I found a long line of people at the box office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for over an hour. Realizing I would not have enough time to wait in line, I caught the next bus and went back across the town. By Friday, I realized that my only hope was to make the trip by taxi. It was expensive, but I felt it would be worth to hear the concert. The trip by taxi only took 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour to me. When I got to the theatre, I was relieved to see that nobody was waiting in line. The reason, I quickly discovered, was that they had already sold out all the tickets.The writer could go and buy the ticket __________.
| A．any day before work hours |
| B．both before and after work hours |
| C．only during lunch time |
| D．on Saturday and Sunday |
The writer tried to go to the theatre every day, but was only successful______.
| A．twice | B．three times |
| C．four times | D．five times |
He failed to get the ticket on Friday because _________.
| A．it was impossible to make the round trip to the theatre in 45 minutes |
| B．the concert wasn’t on Friday |
| C．it was expensive to take a taxi |
| D．all the tickets had been sold out |
The word "______" can be used instead of the underlined(划线的)word "relieved".
| A．nervous | B．terrified | C．pleased | D．sad |
We couldn’t forget the historic moment on Oct.11, 2012, when the first Chinese Nobel laureate, Mo Yan, won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature. Minutes after the award was announced, millions of Chinese expressed pleasure and pride for Mo Yan on the Internet. So a Chinese getting the Nobel Prize for literature did really increase the national pride.
On Dec.11 (Monday) in Sweden Mo was given the Nobel diploma, medal and a document confirming the prize amount. In his speech at the ceremony, Mo said receiving the prize felt like a fairy tale, but of course it was true and that literature was useless compared with science. Mo's award filled the blank left by Chinese literature in the world literary history. Meanwhile, Monday's Nobel awards ceremony set off another buying rush on Mo's works among Chinese readers. Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for _________.
| A．history | B．Literature | C．peace | D．physics |
Which of the following words can best describe our Chinese feeling when hearing the news?
| A．Calm | B．Relaxed | C．Proud | D．indifferent |
The underlined word “laureate” in Paragraph 1 most probably means _________.
| A．loser | B．winner | C．fan | D．superstar |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．It was hard for Mo Yan to believe he was awarded the prize. |
| B．Mo Yan thinks Literature is useless. |
| C．Mo Yan was given the Nobel Prize, medal and a document. |
| D．Mo Yan’s works were more popular after his receiving the prize. |