My grandfather lived only half a mile away from where I grew up in New York. Every day, he would walk down to our house and bring my dad newspapers. Along with the papers he would bring a small bag of treats (美食) for my two brothers and me.
Western New York had terrible winter weather: rain, sleet (雨夹雪), or even 3 feet of snow. Even when he was 81, he still walked the half mile every single day. As a child, I looked forward to the daily treats, but now I’m older and I realize he braved the rough weather each day just to see us smile; I now value that more than anything else.
My grandfather touched many lives. A woman who had been in hospital for five years told me her story. She said my grandfather would visit her twice a week at her home: to read to her, play bridge, or just chat. It lasted for years without stop. She had few visitors. Even a hitch-hiker who had traveled by getting free rides from passing cars told me of my grandfather’s influence on his life. My grandfather had picked him up for free and took the traveler to his home. After learning that the man was homeless, my grandfather gave him a place to stay. The man told me that no one had ever been so nice to him. He later found a job in a supermarket.
I was touched, but not surprised to know all of the touching stories from which I understood my grandfather’s selflessness. I have since tried to learn from him to help others. Although he died years ago, we still respect him.The writer’s grandfather walked to his grandson’s home each day in order to ________.
| A．bring his son newspapers |
| B．give his grandchildren some food |
| C．take exercise by walking |
| D．see his son and grandchildren |
All of the following can describe the writer’s grandfather EXCEPT ________.
| A．kind | B．selfless | C．strict | D．helpful |
The underlined word “hitch-hiker” in Paragraph 3 refers to ________.
| A．喜欢乘车旅行的人 | B．免费搭便车旅行的人 |
| C．被父母遗弃的人 | D．独自旅行并迷路的人 |
From the text we can infer that ________.
| A．the writer didn’t know his grandfather’s selflessness until years later |
| B．the writer’s grandfather went to his house except on snowy days |
| C．the writer’s grandfather ever looked after a woman in hospital for five years |
| D．the writer’s grandfather ever helped a stranger find a job in a supermarket |
After learning about his grandfather’s stories, the writer ________.
| A．felt a little surprised at first |
| B．followed the example of his grandfather |
| C．was much sad all the time |
| D．didn’t like his grandfather’s action |
“Aw, isn't it cute?”
That, right there, is the officially accepted response to any animal contact（接触） the world over. Animals are cute. They're there to be photographed, loved, and occasionally fed. But you know what? Not all animals are cute, or lovely, or even nice. Some of them are a real pain in the neck.
When you travel, you come into contact with all sorts of animals you’ve never heard of before. Some of them are amazing creatures that you'll talk about for the rest of your life. Some of them are just annoying. So, at the risk of causing anger among animal lovers around the world, here are some of the world's most annoying animals.
Vervet monkeys, South Africa
You'll immediately notice two things about Vervet monkeys: they have a bright blue bottom; and they'll steal any food that's not locked in a bank safe. I recently spent some time in South Africa, and watched as monkey after monkey dived in from the trees and stole everyone's food. Get your own food, Vervets! My sandwich was expensive!!
Kea parrots, New Zealand
I have never seen one of these birds before but from what I've been told they are more annoying than a spoilt kid. From biting the paint off your car doors to stealing people's passports, Keas are probably the most curious, and therefore annoying, animals in the world. And they're New Zealanders. That makes sense!
Kangaroos, Australia
Another well-known food-stealer, kangaroos are loved by tourists, eaten by Australians, and generally enjoy making trouble for others. Go on a camping trip anywhere in Australia, and watch how long your bags of food last. Turn your back for 15 minutes and the camp will look like thieves have turned the place upside down.
Grizzly bears, USA
They look pretty cute, grizzly bears. You almost want to go up and give them a hug. Unfortunately, it wouldn't end well. In fact, one of the world's most huggable creatures is also the one most likely to kill you just because it can. Oh, and it'll steal your picnic basket, too.The author uses the underlined expression “pain in the neck” to suggest .
| A．these animals may bite you on the neck |
| B．these animals can cause people a lot of trouble |
| C．people should be fearful of these animals |
| D．these animals may cause some serious illness |
Which of the animals is the most dangerous according to the writer?
| A．Vervet monkeys. | B．Grizzly Bears. |
| C．Kangaroos. | D．Kea Parrots. |
Which of the following is not correct according to the passage?
| A．When people see the cute animals they might take photographs of them. |
| B．Sometimes people will feed the cute animals. |
| C．Australians eat kangaroos. |
| D．Spoilt kids are not annoying at all. |
About 18,000 refugees (难民) from Burma have come to the United States each year since 2007. Some have settled in Howard County, Maryland between Baltimore and Washington. A local school began teaching English to the children of the refugees. But while the children learned the language, their parents did not. That made communication with teachers arduous.
At present, almost fifty children from Burma attend Bollman Bridge Elementary School. Laurel Conran is a teacher there. She said, “The main idea is the global idea.” She teaches English to speakers of other languages. One of her students is Tha Neih Ciang. Another student is Tha Neih’s mother, Tin Iang. Ms. Conran practices English with Tin Iang at the mother’s workplace. Many refugees from Burma work at Coastal Sunbelt Produce, a supplier of fruits and vegetables to restaurants and other businesses.
Laurel Conran started classes at the company to help refugees from Burma learn English. Laurel Conran said, “The program is a six-week session. It’s once a week, on every Wednesday, from twelve to one o’clock. So every Wednesday I go to Coastal Sunbelt.” As the workers eat lunch, they also practice their new language skills.
Lisa Chertok has a child at Bollman Bridge. She is also a manager at Coastal Sunbelt. She helped Ms. Conran develop the lessons, which she says have really helped. Lisa Chertok said, “Well, when the Burmese employees got here, they were very, very shy. Now I find that they are more outspoken than before. They’re more communicative. As parents, they are also more involved in their children’s school.”
Jonathan Davis is the headmaster of Bollman Bridge Elementary School. Mr. Davis hopes the lessons will help these parents feel better about communicating with the school. He said, “Even as simple as making a phone call to say that their son or daughter is sick, even if that’s the amount of English that they have got from the program, that truly will help us.”What does the underlined word “arduous” in Paragraph 1 mean?
| A．Interesting. | B．Necessary. |
| C．Difficult. | D．Surprising. |
When the refugees from Burma first arrived in Howard County, .
| A．neither the children nor the parents could speak English |
| B．the parents liked communicating with the teachers |
| C．the parents could help their children speak English |
| D．the children could speak very good English |
What can we learn about Laurel Conran from the passage?
| A．She mainly teaches English to the local children in a school. |
| B．She worked at Coastal Sunbelt Produce before being a teacher. |
| C．She teaches not only English but also other languages. |
| D．She often goes to the refugees’ company to teach them English. |
Jonathan Davis hopes that the lessons will .
| A．totally change the difficult life of the refugees |
| B．help the parents communicate better with the school |
| C．help the parents get along better with their children |
| D．encourage more refugees to send their children to the school |
My husband is reading The Secret Garden aloud to our kids. They are at the part where Mary has told Colin that she’s found the garden her mother loved. It’s an exciting moment. But the passage I’m waiting for is a few chapters on, after Colin has tasted his first breaths of fresh air and Mary has grown strong running in the garden. It’s just a detail, but my kids will notice it: a delicious description of roasted potatoes and eggs.
We have a tradition of trying foods from the books we read aloud. It started when we read Elizabeth Enright’s The Saturdays, and one of the boys asked, “What are petit fours?” An answer, my husband and I felt, wouldn’t be as good as a sample. So one Saturday we all sat down having tea and little cakes, covered with pink, green, and yellow. It was exciting for the kids to try a dessert they had learned about in a book. The petit fours they tried didn’t tell them what it was like to live in New York City 60 years ago, but tasting them made the book’s words alive.
Later, when we read C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, we had Turkish delight. We read The Penderwicks, written by Jeanne Birdsall, and had gingerbread (姜饼). We read Paddington Bear and tried marmalade.
Soon we will reach the part of The Secret Garden where Mary, Colin, and Dickon roast potatoes and eggs in a small oven (炉) in the earth. My kids will go out into the woods to find the perfect place for an oven of our own. Yes, we’ve eaten potatoes and eggs, but never in the open air.
The world that a good book creates is whole and real, but it lies flat on the page until a reader gives life to it.The text is written mainly to .
| A．show the importance of reading aloud |
| B．provide a new means of family education |
| C．discuss food culture in children’s books |
| D．introduce some interesting books |
The author believes tasting foods from the books may help children .
| A．understand the books better |
| B．be friendlier to each other |
| C．know more about history |
| D．enjoy more healthy food |
From the fourth paragraph, we can learn that the author’s family .
| A．will look for a secret garden in the woods |
| B．will read The Secret Garden in the open air |
| C．will cook potatoes and eggs in the woods |
| D．will eat roasted potatoes and eggs at home |
Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?
| A．The best way to make kids learn |
| B．Eating means more than reading |
| C．The taste of a good book |
| D．Our roasted potatoes and eggs |
Though the facts that too many people on earth and a too rapid increase in the number added each year are not in argument, we always begin the discussion of "population as global issue" with what most persons mean like this. It was quite right to compare demographic growth to "a long, thin powder fuse(导火线)that bums steadily and hesitatingly until it finally reaches the charge and explodes".
To understand the current situation, which is characterized by rapid increases in population, it is necessary to understand the history of population trends. Rapid growth is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Looking back at the 8,000 years of demographic history, we find that populations have been virtually stable or growing very slightly for most of human history. For most of our ancestors, life was hard, often nasty, and very short. There was high fertility(生育)in most places, but this was usually balanced by high mortality. For most of human history, it was seldom the case that one in ten persons would live past forty, while infancy and childhood were especially risky periods. Often, societies were in clear danger of extinction because death rates could exceed their birthrates. Thus, the population problem throughout most of history was how to prevent extinction of the human race.
This pattern is important to notice. Not only does it put the current problems of demographic growth into a historical perspective, but it suggests that the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years is not a sudden
enthusiasm for more children, but an improvement in the conditions that traditionally have caused high mortality.
Demographic history can be divided into two major periods: a time of long, slow growth which extended from about 8000 B.C. till approximately 1650 A.D. In the first period of some 9,600 years, the population increased from some 8 million to 500 million in 1650. Between 1650 and 1975, the population has increased from 500 million to more than 4 billion. And the population reached 6.2 billion throughout the world by the year 2000, One way to appreciate this dramatic difference in such abstract numbers is to reduce the time frame to something that is more manageable. Between 8000 B.C. and 1650, an average of only 50,000 persons was being added annually to the world's population, At present, this number is added every six hours. The increase is about 800000,000 persons annually.The underlined word "demographic" in Paragraph l means .
| A．extinction of human |
| B．statistics of human population |
| C．death rate of human |
| D．development of human population |
Which of the following demographic growth patterns is most similar to the long thin powder fuse?
| A．A slow growth for a long time and then a period of rapid, dramatic increase. |
| B．Too many people on earth and a few rapid increases in the number added each year. |
| C．A virtually stable or slightly decreasing period and then a sudden explosion of population. |
| D．A long period when death rates exceed birthrates and then a short period with higher fertility and lower mortality. |
During the first period of demographic history, societies were often in danger of extinction because .
| A．only one in ten persons could live past 40. |
| B．our ancestors had little enthusiasm for more children |
| C．there was higher mortality than fertility in most places |
| D．it was too dangerous to have babies due to the poor conditions |
The author of the passage intends to .
| A．warn people against the population explosion in the near future |
| B．find out the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years |
| C．present us a brief and clear picture of the demographic growth |
| D．compare the demographic growth pattern in the past with that after 1650 |
Are you sometimes a little tired and sleepy in the early afternoon? Many people feel this way after lunch. They may think that eating lunch is the cause of the sleepiness. Or, in summer, they may think it is the heat. However, the real reason lies inside their bodies. At that time - about eight hours after you wake up - your body temperature goes down. This is what makes you slow down and feel sleepy. Scientists have tested sleep habits in experiments where there was no night or day. The people in these experiments almost always followed a similar sleeping pattern. They slept for one long period and then for one short period about eight hours later.
In many parts of the world, people take naps in the middle of the day. This is especially true in warmer
climates, where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon. Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate. A daily nap gives one a more rested body and mind and therefore is good for health in general. In countries where naps are traditional, people often suffer less from problems such as heart disease.
Many working people, unfortunately, have no time to take naps. Though doctors may advise taking naps,
employers do not allow it! If you do have the chance, however, here are a few tips about making the most of your nap. Remember that the best time to take a nap is about eight hours after you get up. A short sleep too late in the day may only make you feel more tired and sleepy afterward, This can also happen if you sleep for too long. If you do not have enough time, try a short nap - even ten minutes of sleep can be helpful.If you get up at 6:30 am, what is the best time for you to take a nap?
| A．About 12:30 pm. | B．About l:30 pm. |
| C．About 2:30 pm. | D．About 3:30 pm. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Your body temperature's going down also makes you feel sleepy besides eating lunch: |
| B．Taking a nap whenever you want will do good to your health. |
| C．You will feel less sleepy if you sleep for a long time, |
| D．You will feel sleepy at regular intervals. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Just for a Rest |
| B．All for a Nap |
| C．A Special Sleep Pattern |
| D．Taking Naps in Warmer Climate |