The girl was hanging by her hands from the railings of a balcony(阳台的栏杆). The balcony was on the twelfth floor of the high-rise block next to his. His flat was on the ninth floor and he had to look up to see her. It was half-past six in the morning. He had been awakened by the sound of an aircraft flying dangerously low overhead, and had got out of bed to look. His sleepy eyes, moved from the blue sky which was empty of cloud, empty of anything but the bright disappearing arrow of the aircraft, and then rested on the hanging figure.
He really thought he must be dreaming, for this sunrise time was the hour for dreams. Then, when he knew he wasn’t, he decided it must be a scene in a film. There were cameramen down there, a whole film unit, and all the correct safety precautions had been taken. Probably the girl wasn’t even a real girl, but a dummy(假人). He opened the window and looked down. The car park, paved courts, grass spaces between the blocks, all were deserted. On the balcony rail one of the dummy’s hands moved, desperately. He had to believe then what was obviously happening. The girl was trying to kill herself. She had lost her courage and now was trying to stay alive. All these thoughts and conclusions of his occupied about thirty seconds. Then he acted. He picked up the phone and dialed the emergency number for the police.
The arrival of the police cars and the rescue of the girl became the focus of talk for the people of the two blocks. Someone found out that it was he who had called the police and he became an unwilling hero. He was a modest, quiet young man, and was in relief when the talk began to die away. Again he was able to enter and leave his flat without being pointed at as a kind of St George and sometimes even congratulated.
About a fortnight after that morning, he was getting ready to go to the theatre, just putting on his overcoat, when the doorbell rang. He didn’t recognize the girl who stood outside. He had never seen her face. She said, “I’m Lydia Simpson. You saved my life. I’ve come to thank you.”What did the man do first after he got up?
A.He looked down from the window. |
B.He went to see the noisy aircraft. |
C.He called the police to save the girl. |
D.He hurried to check who was outside. |
The moment the man saw the girl hanging there, he felt it was _________.
A.scaring | B.desperate |
C.unbelievable | D.dangerous |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
A.the man disliked to be talked about |
B.the girl was unwilling to be rescued |
C.the police arrived quickly on the scene |
D.the girl was actually an actress in a film |
To do for you
Baby and me
St. Benedicts Family Medical Center’s “Baby and me” classes, 11 a.m. to noon Tuesdays, at Jerome Public Library, 101 First Ave. E.
This week’s topic: story telling. The class is educational support for parents and babies. A baby scale is available each week.
Free; 324-6133
Infant (婴儿)care
Infant care class of St. Benedicts’ prepared childbirth series (系列), 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, at Jerome Public Library, 101 First Ave. E.
Topics: baby care and early parenting. The class is offered separately, or as part of the childbirth series. Mothers may register (登记) even if their babies will be born at a different hospital.
Cost is $5. Register: 732-3148.
Self defense (自我保护)
College of Southern Idaho’s Community Education Center is offering a course “Self defense,” 7-8:30 p.m. Thursdays, beginning this week to Dec. 16, in room 304 in the College of Southern Idaho gym. Bryan Matsuoka and Gary Phelps will instruct.
Learn defensive skills and the coordination (协调) of mind and body.
Cost is $105. Register: 732-6442 or communityed.csi.edu.
Fitness for seniors
South Central Public Health District is observing Fall Prevention AWARENESS Week Sept.19-25 to raise awareness (意识)of falls and reduce fall risk in south central Idaho.
The health district will provide a Fit and Fall proof class leader training from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday at 1020 Washington St. N. in Twin Fall. Training is for individuals interested in volunteering. Volunteers aren’t required to have a physical education degree but should have exercise experience. Register for the training by Wednesday: 737-5988.
“To do for you” is a listing of health-related activities, events and education in the following Monday.“Baby and me” classes are held mainly for ______.
A.teachers and parents | B.children and teachers |
C.parents and children | D.parents and babysitters (保姆) |
Which activity can help the women who will soon have babies?
A.Baby and me | B.Infant care | C.Self defense | D.Fitness for seniors |
Which of the following phone number can help you reduce fall risk?
A.737-5988 | B.324-6133 | C.732-6442 | D.732-3148 |
I had about 10 minutes to exercise before I had to pick up my two older daughters from school yesterday. It was a busier day than usual for me with a couple of meetings besides my regular work.
Years ago, I would have put off my workout and would have left things for the next day. But since it was a busy day as well, I knew that I may not have all that much time either. So, I picked up my kettle-bell (哑铃) and went to town for 4 minutes.
See, 4 minutes, if that’s all you’ve got, is enough to give your body a great fat-burning exercise. How did I get a killer workout in 4 minutes? I used a training workout discovered 10 years ago by a Japanese Sports Scientist called a TABATA.
It includes 20-second periods of warm-up, followed by 10-second periods of rest and 4-minute straight exercise. How is a 4-minute exercise able to burn fat? It all depends on the quality of work you do. Not on the quantity. Here’s how I did it yesterday.
You should never forget your warm-up. A TABATA workout is 20 seconds of 2-arm Kettle-bell swings, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds push-ups, and 10 seconds rest. You should do those 4 rounds. That’s it. I was done in a total time of 8 minutes by the time and when I got to school my heart was still pumping pretty hard.
A healthy body is needed for studying and working, and efficiency (效率) is the key to building a great body in the least amount (数量) of time possible and you can’t get more efficient than a 4-minute workout.We can learn from the passage that the author ______.
A.is busy with his work | B.has a weak body now |
C.has two children in all | D.is a manager in a film |
The underlined phrase “went to town” in Paragraph 2 means “_______”.
A.put off doing something | B.went to a very small city |
C.did something with interest | D.hated to do something |
What is the most important thing in taking exercise according to the author?
A.The goal | B.the quality | C.The quantity | D.The method |
Scientist Florence Wambugu works with farmers in Kenya, a country in East Africa. She helps them grow bigger and better crops. Wambugu is especially interested in finding simple ways to produce more food.
In the past ten years, Wambugu has spent much of her time studying sweet potatoes, which are an important food in her part of Kenya. A virus (病毒) kept attacking the plants. It stopped the sweet potatoes from growing well. Because of the virus, some farmers lost three quarters of their crops.
Wambugu went to war against the virus. Her research for a way to save the sweet potatoes led to a lab in St. Louis, Missouri.
The lab mainly works on genes (基因), the chemical “computer programs” found in the cells of living things. Genes tell a plant to produce pink flowers or an animal to grow black hair. Now scientists have found ways to move genes from one living thing to another. That process is called genetic engineering.
Wambugu spent three years in the lab. As a result, she created a sweet potato plant that could fight off the virus. Wambugu tested her research in Kenya, and her plants produced wonderful sweet potatoes.
That’s just the beginning, Wambugu believes. Genetically modified (转基因的) foods, she thinks, could help farmers in poor countries grow badly needed crops, thus, fewer people will go hungry.The text is written mainly to _______.
A.tell us sweet potatoes are in danger of being attacked by a virus |
B.introduce Wambugu’s contribution to genetic engineering |
C.introduce a new way of killing plant viruses |
D.tell how hard Wambugu worked in her lab for three years |
What caused Wambugu to set up a lab in St. Louis, Missouri?
A.Her wish to save sweet potatoes in Kenya. |
B.Her great interest in genetic engineering. |
C.Her love for sweet potatoes. |
D.Her interest in plant life. |
The fourth paragraph mainly explains what ________ is.
A.a crop virus | B.chemical technology |
C.a computer program | D.genetic engineering |
What is Wambugu’s attitude toward “genetic engineering”?
A.It will help more hungry people. |
B.It should be carefully used. |
C.It has more disadvantages than disadvantages. |
D.It is a too expensive technology at present. |
“It hurts me more than you,” and “This is for your own good.” There are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework.
That was before we entered the permissive(自由的) period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school.The schools and the educators made it easy on us.They taught that it was all right to be parents who take a let-alone policy.We stopped making our children do homework.We gave them calculators, turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation.
Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their own pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we’ve made a terrible mistake.One such teacher is Sharon Clomps who says of her students—“so passive”—and wonders what has happened.Nothing is demanded of them, she believes.Television, says Clomps, contributes to children’s passivity.“We’re talking about a generation of kids who’ vet never been hurt or hungry.They have learned somebody will always do it for them, instead of saying ‘go and look it up’, you tell them the answer.It takes greater energy to say no to a kid.
Yes, it does.It takes energy and it takes work.It’s time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work.It’ s time to take the car away, to turn the TV off, to tell them it hurts you more than them but it’ s for their own good.It’s time to start telling them no again.We learn from the passage that the author’s mother used to lay emphasis on(强调:重视)_______.
A.natural development | B.education at school |
C.discipline | D.learning Latin |
Children are becoming more inactive in study because _______.
A.they watch TV too much | B.they have to fulfill too many duties |
C.they have done too much homework | D.teachers are too strict with them |
By “permissive period in education” the author means a time _______.
A.when everything can be taught at school |
B.when children are permitted to receive education |
C.when children are allowed to do what they wish to |
D.when every child can be educated |
The main idea of the passage is that _______.
A.It’s time to be more strict with our kids |
B.parents should always set a good example to their kids |
C.parents should leave their children alone |
D.kids should have more activities at school |
The Luck of the Irish
Look at a map of Britain, and the island on the left is Ireland. It’s a small but beautiful country with a long tradition of folk music. Up until 10 years ago just about the only thing that Ireland was famous for was its specialty black beer.
Now Ireland is famous around the world for its music with names like "Kenya","U2" ,"Van Morrison"and more recently "the Corers". "Boyzone",one of the world's top boy bands ,is from Ireland too.What's more,Boyzone member shane has twin sisters,Adele and Heavy,who are members of "B Witched"
The "Boyzone"story is interesting because they were created in 1993 by Dublin nightclub owner John Reynolds.They advertised in newspapers to find members for the group and 300wannabe pop stars applied!
Ronan,who was just 17 when he dropped out of school to make his bid for stardom,and shane,who had been working as trained mechanic in his father's garage when he left to join Boyzone,were both lucky enough to be chosen. The other members are shoe-shop attendant stephen lately,former mechanic Mike Graham and one-time clothes store assistant Keith Dully.
Many people expect bands that have been created by the music industry to produce boring music which doesn't become popular. Even the boys themselves knew they the would not easily achieve international pop music success.
Boyzone quickly proved that they were more than just pretty faces and have sold millions of records around the world.At the moment ,they are not big stars in America,but they say that will change,when they begin a tour of the United States.
Ronan will shortly also start recording as a solo artist. That does not mean the band will spilt yet,but we can expect Boyzone to split sometime in the next 18 months or so.Ronan has also recently become involved as one of the managers of new Irish boy band "West Life" whose song "Swear It Again"has recently been Number 1 in the British charts. Ireland is famous for now.
A.its black beer | B.its long tradition |
C.popular music | D.its scenery |
The words “wannabe pop stars” in the third paragraph mean.
A.the pops who want to join the band |
B.the persons who want to become pop stars |
C.the pop stars who want to become more popular |
D.the persons who want to be as famous as they are |
Boy zone was formed by members in 1993.
A.3 | B.4 | C.5 | D.6 |
Acording to the passage, we know that.
A.Boy zone will split some day |
B.Boy zone was successful because it was created by music industry |
C.The boys in Boy zone were certain that they would be famous one day |
D.Boy zone are going to perform in the States for Americans love them very much |