Isaac Stern was more than a great violin player. He was one of the most honored musicians in the world, an international cultural ambassador. And he was also a teacher and activist. For more than sixty years, Mr. Stern performed excellent music. He performed in concerts around the world and on recordings.
Isaac Stern was born in 1920 in Ukraine. His parents moved to California the following year. He began taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument. Later, he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory(旧金山音乐学院). He progressed quickly. When he was sixteen, he played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York and was praised by music critics.
Isaac Stern became one of the busiest musicians of his day. He played more than one hundred concerts a year. He also became one of the most recorded musicians in history. Isaac Stern also supported artistic development and freedom.
In 1979, Isaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese musicians and students. He taught them about classical Western music. His visit was made into a film. It is called From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.
In 1984, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Centre Honors Award for his gifts to American culture through music. He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life. He said music is an important part of a civilized life. He said people need music as much as they need bread.
Isaac Stern died in 2001 at the age of eighty-one. He was a major influence on music in the twentieth century. He leaves the world richer with his many recordings.What did Isaac Stern think of music?
| A．Necessary. |
| B．Difficult. |
| C．Entertaining. |
| D．Interesting. |
The passage mentioned Isaac Stern’s visit to China mainly to _____.
| A．encourage people to develop the international relationship |
| B．advise the readers to take up music |
| C．introduce more achievements of Isaac Stern |
| D．show he acted as an international cultural ambassador |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Isaac Stern?
| A．He was born in California in the 1920s. |
| B．He had visited many countries to advertise his recordings. |
| C．He played less than one hundred concerts in all. |
| D．His excellent music life lasted over 60 years. |
From the passage, we can infer that _____.
| A．Isaac Stern influenced the culture in the 20th century a lot |
| B．Isaac Stern was one of the most active musicians of his day |
| C．Isaac Stern was so busy that he couldn’t spare time to educate the youth |
| D．Isaac Stern led a rich life in his later life |
What will be the best title for the passage?
| A．Isaac Stern and the awards he got. |
| B．Isaac Stern’s life of pursuing music. |
| C．Isaac Stern: one of the most honored musicians |
| D．Isaac Stern’s visit to China |
Cliff House
Top of the world
Near the North Pole
Christmas, 1925
My dear boys,
I am dreadfully busy this year一it makes my hand more shaky than ever when I think of it一and not very rich; in fact awful things have been happening, and some of the presents have got spoilt, and I haven't got the North Polar Bear to help me, and I have had to move house just before Christmas, so you can imagine what a state everything is in, and you will see why I have a new address, and why I can only write one letter between you both．
|K] It all happened like this: one very windy day last November my hood blew off and went and stuck on the top of the North Pole. I told him not to, but the North Polar Bear climbed up to the thin top to get it down一and he did. The pole broke in the middle and fell on the roof of my house, and the North Polar Bear fell through the hole it made into the dining room with my hood over his nose, and all the snow fell off the roof into the house and melted and put out all the fires and ran down into the cellars where I was collecting this year's presents, and the North Polar
Bear's leg got broken.
He is well again now, but I was so cross with him that he says he won't try to help me again一I expect his temper is hurt, and will be mended by next Christmas.
I send you a picture of the accident and of my new house on the cliffs above the North Pole(with beautiful cellars in the cliffs).
That's all. Good Bye！Why can the writer only write one letter to the two boys?
| A．His hand is more shaky than ever. |
| B．He is extremely busy. |
| C．He has got a new address. |
| D．He has to help the North Polar Bear. |
Which of the following is most likely to be the picture of the accident?
The underlined "him'，refers to
| A．the hood | B．the pole | C．the hale | D．the bear |
Although cats may be one of the most popular pets today, little is known about how and when humans and cats set up their close relationship.
The earliest evidence for human–cat interaction dates back to prehistoric Cyprus（史前塞浦路斯）, where the remains of a wild cat and a human — dated 9,500 years old — were found buried together.
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed the first direct evidence of a human–domestic cat relationship among Chinese farmers 5,300 years ago. Researchers studied the bones of cats, dogs, deer and other animals unearthed in an excavation (挖掘) near a village in Central China. By using some ways, scientists showed that the cats were living on a mostly millet(黍)–based diet, just like the domesticated dogs and pigs from the site.
"The most reasonable explanation for a high consumption of millet–based food is that the cats had formed a stable and mutual relationship with humans and could easily feed on rodents (啮齿动物) around human villages, find leftover food or even have been fed by people intentionally," said Hu Yaowu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, whose research focuses on the relationship between humans and domesticated animals.
"It is very interesting for us to find the consumption of millet-based foods by the cats, since this kind of evidence had long been missing.” Hu explains. Since cats usually eat meat, such a diet would be unexpected, unless the cats were being fed by people, the study argues. The researchers also found that one of the cats survived to reach old age, implying that it had a safe place to live and enough to eat.
Why the farmers wanted to keep cats nearby or make them "pets" could be answered by other evidence. Chinese archaeologists found some storage containers were specifically designed to keep out rodents — a vermin (害兽) that cats could certainly have helped with.
The simplified theory is that rats were attracted to the food of farmers, and so were harmful to farmers. Cats were attracted to the rats, and so farmers formed a mutually beneficial relationship with cats, taking care of them in return for pest control.The evidence found in the remains dating back to prehistoric Cyprus means .
| A．human made cats pets as early as 9,500 years ago |
| B．human interacted with cats very early |
| C．cats didn’t appear until prehistoric Cyprus |
| D．when cats became domesticated |
Apart from cats, Hu Yaowu and his teams may also study .
| A．the preventions of pests from grains |
| B．the history of Chinese farming |
| C．the dogs and pigs |
| D．the ways to keep pets |
Which of the following is NOT the evidence of Chinese farms’ keeping cats?
| A．Cats didn’t feed on meat. |
| B．The cats consumed large amounts of millet–based foods. |
| C．One of the cats survived to reach old age. |
| D．Some storage containers were specifically designed to keep out rodents. |
What are the reasons for farmers to keep cats?
| A．Helping keep other domesticated animals. |
| B．Not letting cats eat food. |
| C．Supplying meat for human. |
| D．Helping reduce the amount of pests. |
In which part of a newspaper would be the passage most probably appear.
| A．Entertainment | B．Environment |
| C．Human and Science | D．Life and fashion |
The younger daughter of former New York Mayor Richard White has moved her wedding from New Year’s Eve to this Thursday so her mother, who has been fighting against cancer for 11 years, can take part in the ceremony, a family spokesman said on Wednesday, Oct, 12, 2013. Elizabeth Lally White, who turns 28 on Thursday, will marry Sam Peterson in Spiaggia, a restaurant on North Michigan Avenue. The reception also will be held at the restaurant, which had been previously scheduled to host the couple’s engagement party on Thursday. 
Lally White’s mother, Maggie, 68, was reported to have caught breast cancer in 2002. She had an operation in her leg in April and she was hospitalized twice in the weeks following the procedure for treatment of flu-like symptoms that doctors said were not related to the cancer. Maggie, who has used a walker or a wheelchair during most public appearances in recent years, is well beyond the average survival time for someone with breast cancer.
“As the mayor himself has said, she had a pretty difficult summer.” said Jacquelyn Heard, who served Mayor White’s press secretary for years and followed him to the same international law firm that he joined after leaving office in May. “She was not able to get around the way that she normally would do. This year, she has had quite a few setbacks and they’ve been pretty well documented. Lally White decided to reschedule the wedding so that her mom can participate in the festivities (庆祝活动).” Heard said. Lally White is a doctoral candidate at De-Paul University and plans to work with autistic (孤独症) children, and Sam Peterson works in insurance, Heard said.
Richard and Maggie White married in 1972 and had three children in addition to Lally — Nora, Patrick and Kevin. But Kevin was born with a disease and died in 1981 at 33 months.When was Elizabeth Lally White born?
| A．In 1983. | B．In 1987. | C．In 1985. | D．In 1984. |
What can we infer from Paragraph 2?
| A．Maggie, 68, is recovering now. |
| B．Maggie caught breast cancer in 2002. |
| C．The cancer caused some flu-like symptoms on Maggie. |
| D．Average breast cancer patients lived a life shorter than Maggie. |
Why did Lally White reschedule her wedding?
| A．She was afraid that her mother couldn’t participate her wedding on New Year’s Eve. |
| B．She was eager to work with autistic children after wedding. |
| C．Her family will move out of New York. |
| D．Her mother will accept operation because of her disease. |
How many children did the former mayor and his wife give birth to?
| A．3. | B．4. | C．5. | D．6. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．The political life of former Mayor. |
| B．The brave wife of former Mayor. |
| C．The wedding of former Mayor’s daughter. |
| D．The family life of former Mayor. |
It is generally believed that we are getting cleaned when we step under a shower. We are, but we’re also giving a home to lots of tiny little creatures we didn’t even know about. A showerhead carries thousands of bacteria called Mycobacterium．These can cause problems like coughs and tiredness, and a general feeling of poorliness (身体不舒服). When you turn on the water, the bacteria go from the showerhead onto and into your body.
This is a finding of Norman R. Pace and his team at the University of Colorado, in the US. The scientists investigated bacteria in all kinds of human environment, including showers．Pace's team looked at 45 showerheads in nine American cities. They discovered that 30 percent of them had large amounts of flying Mycobacterium.
But Pace said that they pose few threats to the health．Only those with a weak immune system might need to worry．He told the New York Times that the bacteria are not as unpleasant as might be thought．He said that having a shower is no more dangerous than anything else we do in the morning．
But for those who feel sick about the idea of all those microorganisms (微生物), he had some advice. Let the water run for 30 seconds before getting into the shower. Why? The number of bacteria is smaller than that when the water is just turned on. If that seems like a waste of water, he added that you could also change your showerhead every few months.
However, Pace had good news too. He has also been testing the air in US subways. Apart from iron particles (粒子), which are ground off the track by the wheels of trains, subway air is fresh. The reason is that a train’s movement pumps fresh outdoor air into the tunnels.
Pace explained that he wanted to understand the natural microbial environments of public places. This kind of knowledge might help discover the microbes to be used in a bioterrorist (生物恐怖分子) attack.From the finding of Norman R. Pace, after taking a shower, we might cough or feel tired because.
| A．it’s easy to get a cold when taking a bath |
| B．the showerhead carries many bacteria causing illness |
| C．we don’t get cleaned while showering |
| D．we don’t get a weak immune system |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Hot water could kill most of bacteria in showerheads. |
| B．Of 45 showerheads surveyed in nine cities, 30 carried large amounts of Mycobacterium. |
| C．Changing showerheads is the only way to avoid microorganisms. |
| D．Shower water contains much less bacteria after being left to run for 30 seconds. |
We can learn from the third paragraph that .
| A．having a shower in the morning is more dangerous than at other time |
| B．the bacteria always threat people’s health |
| C．there is no reason to fear microorganisms for people with strong immune system |
| D．it is better to do some exercise in the morning than have a shower |
The underlined word “pose” in the third paragraph probably means “______”．
| A．cause | B．avoid | C．describe | D．promise |
What contributes to fresh air in US subways?
| A．The train’s movement. | B．Iron particles． |
| C．Train wheels. | D．Air conditioners on the trains． |
One of the greatest sources of unhappiness，in my experience，is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are．
When we see something we don’t like，we wish it could be different．We cry out for something better．That may be human nature，or perhaps it’s something ingrained(根深蒂固的) in our culture．The root of the unhappiness isn’t necessarily that we want things to be different．However, it’s that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place．We’ve judged it as bad，rather than saying, “It's not bad or good，and it just is it．”
In one of my books，I said“You should expect people to mess up and expect things to go differently than you planned”．Some readers said it's too sorrowful to expect things to go wrong．However, it’s only negative if you see it as negative and judge it as bad．Instead，you could accept it as the way the world works and try to understand why that is．
This can be applied to whatever you do：how other people act at work，how politics works and how depressing the news media can be．Accept these things as they are，and try to understand why they’re that way．It will save you a lot of sadness，because you’ll no longer say,“Oh．1 wish bad things didn’t happen!’’
Does it mean you can never change things? Not at a11．But change things not because you can’t accept things as they are，but because you enjoy the process of changing，learning and growing．
Can we make this world a better place? You can say that you’11 continue to try to do things to help others，to grow as a person，to make a difference in this world．That’s the correct path you choose to take，because you enjoy that path．Therefore，when you find yourself judging and wishing for difference，try a different approach：accept，and understand．It might lead to some interesting results．The author believes that we feel unhappy maybe because ___________.
| A．it is our natural emotion in the life |
| B．culture asks us to be different from others |
| C．everyone has their own opinions on things |
| D．we dislike something in the beginning |
Some readers think the words in the author’s book is too ______________.
| A．depressing | B．frightening | C．delighting | D．idealistic |
In Paragraph 4，the underlined word "it" refers to ____________．
| A．acting well at work and in politics |
| B．feeling depressed for the news media |
| C．accepting and understanding what has happened |
| D．saying something negative when bad things come |
In the last paragraph，you are advised _____________．
| A．to help others and make a difference |
| B．to enjoy what you have to do in the work |
| C．to judge yourself and make a wish for you |
| D．to try a new way when making the world better |
What is the main theme of the passage?
| A．Expecting things to be different gives us hope． |
| B．Accepting can make our life happier and better． |
| C．Traditional culture becomes root of unhappiness． |
| D．Judging good or bad is important for our world． |