My 14-year-old son, John, and I spotted （看到）the coat at the same time in a second-hand clothing store. It stood out among big and old coats. It had beautiful tailoring and an unbelievable price：$28. I looked at my son and we both said nothing, but John's eyes shone. Dark, woolen topcoats were popular with teenage boys, but they could cost several hundred dollars new. This coat was even better. John tried it on and turned from side to side, eyeing himself in the mirror. The fit was perfect.
John wore the coat to school the next day and came home with a big grin . "Did the kids like your coat?" I asked. "They loved it，"he said.
Over the next few weeks, John changed. He was polite, less ar-gumentative, more thoughtful, and on the whole much happier. "Good dinner, mom，" he would say every evening. Without a word of objection he would carry in wood for the stove （火炉）. One day when I suggested that he might start on his homework before dinner, John, who always put things off, said，"You're right. I guess I will. " When I mentioned this incident（事件，事情）to one of his teachers, she joked that the coat must have changed him.
John and I both know we should never mistake a person's clothes for the real person within them. But there is something to be said for wearing a standard of excellence for the world to see, for practicing standards of excellence in thought, speech, and behavior, and for matching what is on the inside to what is on the outside. What does the author try to express in the first paragraph?
| A．The coat looked like a magical coat. |
| B．They were good at shopping. |
| C．The coat was a real bargain（便宜货）. |
| D．They had the same taste in clothes. |
What does the underlined word "grin" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．A wide smile. |
| B．A worried look. |
| C．A jealous （嫉妒的）spirit. |
| D．A joking tone. |
After John wore the new coat, the author found he __________.
a. was happier and better-behaved
b. received more praise from his teachers
c. was willing to follow suggestions
d. made rapid progress in study
e. would say sweet words to please her
| A．a, b，c |
| B．a, c，e |
| C．b, d，e |
| D．c, d，e |
What message does the author intend to deliver in the article?
| A．We should not judge people by their appearance. |
| B．Life is full of possibilities when we are young. |
| C．It's beneficial to try different things in our lives. |
| D．What we wear could help shape who we are inside. |
Today, almost everyone has heard of Harry Potter. The books detailing his experiences at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have aroused passion, creativity, and interest in readingthroughout theworld.
But have you ever considered why you are a fan of theHarry Potterseries?
JK Rowling has created a list of characters and an environment for them to inhabit that appeals to both adults and children.
The fantasy aspect of the wizarding world expands the imagination, and takes the mind to new and exciting places. Anything could happen there. Her stories contain parts of the believable and unbelievable, changing the predictability that readers commonly come across and bear in fiction.
The main theme of the series, including good versus evil, prejudice, love, death, sacrifice, friendship and loyalty, in actuality contributes to the ever-lasting nature of the stories.At the same time, these themes remind us of classic literature, offering mature readers tales that wear like a comfortable pair of shoes, while introducing younger readers to concepts they will meet throughout their lives.
Much of the appeal also comes from the characters. In each book, JK Rowling introduces and describes the characters in such a way that we wonder not only about their futures, but also about their pasts.Even supporting characters are suddenly more than just extras in the background. And what of Harry Potter himself? We care about Harry, because we watch him grow from an innocent boy to a powerful wizard. We see him as both Hero and Victim. He experiences endless love and extreme pain, and as readers, we experience them with him.
This perfect combination of emotion, suspense and fantasy, together with the fact that JK Rowling is a superb storyteller is the reason why we are Harry potter fans. People are fond of Harry Potter series. With books like these, it’s hard not to be. Harry Potter series become popular partly because ____________.
| A．they remind us of the childhood and environment we had in the past |
| B．they take us to a world beyond our imagination and expectation |
| C．they offer us ever-lasting nature of the stories |
| D．they set an example of hero for us to follow |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 mean?
| A．The supporting characters are not necessary in the story. |
| B．Readers care only about Harry but not those supporting characters. |
| C．Even the supporting characters are attractive in the story. |
| D．Those supporting characters only appear all of a sudden. |
The themes of the Harry Potter series do not contain ____________.
| A．prejudice and love | B．good and evil |
| C．death and sacrifice | D．safety and peace |
People care for Harry Potter because ____________.
| A．they think of classic literature when reading the story |
| B．they find different experiences from theirs on Harry |
| C．they share the experiences with Harry |
| D．they like JK Rowling’s description very much |
STRANGERS parties go wild these days. The main idea of them is to never let the people know who their matches are until the last minute. These are some popular practices that are storming the world’s youth on this V-day.
Speed dating
It’s exactly what the name implies. Complete with a timer, a whistle and 50 willing singles, speed dating is not the traditional dinner and a movie type of first date. Singles pay US $35 for three minutes with more than two dozen future dates. They ask questions and try to get to know each other. At the sound of a whistle, they do the same thing all over again―25 times in all.
Lock and key party
Women are given a lock and men are given a key, upon arriving at the party. Each key and lock has several matches. One can hunt for his/her later-to-be sweetheart in various groups, and try out the key or lock. Each time a lock and key match the pair are entered into a ballot (票数） for top prizes!
Dinner in the dark
Waiters wearing night vision glasses guide the guests through the pitch-black dining room. They are seated at the table and familiarized with the wine glass and plate. Food is handled with the fingers. People will not see the food they are eating or the guests at their table until the dessert course. At that moment, dining partners will appear.
Message party
Have A Cocktail, Leave A Message! When you arrive, you get a tag with a number and a pad of post-it notes. If you see someone you like, write a message on the message board. But wait… You’ve got a message… Go and collect it! You can make new friends and win lots of gifts. The more messages you leave on the bulletin board, the more chances you have of winning prizes. What do you think the similarities of these parties are?
| A．All the parties have very strict rules for their members. |
| B．If you want to go to any of the parties, you have to buy a ticket. |
| C．All the parties are aimed at strangers who want to be lovers. |
| D．All the parties are suitable not only for the young but for the old. |
In which party does a participant have to be careful with the time?
| A．Speed dating. | B．Lock and key party. |
| C．Dinner in the dark. | D．Message party. |
If you go to the Dinner in the dark, ____________.
| A．you have to wear night vision glasses |
| B．you have to eat with your hands |
| C．guests eat all the courses in the darkness |
| D．your dining partners will help you choose the food |
How many of the parties offer gifts or prizes?
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
If you want to improve your child’s results at school, you could do a lot worse than ensuring that they do plenty of exercise. Scientists have already shown that physical activity can make you brainier. But a team in America has used scans to show that an important part of the brain actually grows in children who are fit. These youngsters tend to be more intelligent and have better memories than those who are inactive.
Scientists also found that one of the most important parts of their brains was 12 percent larger than those of unfit children. They believe that encouraging children to take exercise from a very young age could help them do better at school later. Researchers from the University of Illinois, in the U.S., studied the brains of 49 children aged nine and ten using a magnetic resonance imaging scan (核磁共振摄影扫描), a technique which provides very detailed pictures of organs and tissues in the body.
They also tested the fitness levels of the children by making them run on a treadmill (跑步机). The scientists found that the hippocampus, a part of the brain responsible for memory and learning, was around 12 percent larger in the fitter children.
Professor Art Kramer, who led the study published in the journal Brain Research, said the findings had important implications for encouraging individuals to take part in sport from a young age. “We knew that experience and environmental factors and socioeconomic status all impact brain development,” he said. “If you get some terrible genes from your parents, you can’t really fix that, and it’s not easy to do something about your economic status. But here’s something that we can do something about.” If you want to improve your children’s result in school, ____________.
| A．it is worse to ensure that they do plenty of exercise |
| B．you can have their brain scanned |
| C．it could be better to make sure that they do a lot of exercise |
| D．you can do a lot except ensuring that they do exercise |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．The fitness level of the children is linked to their intelligence. |
| B．Children who have a larger hippocampus will probably have better memories. |
| C．You can do something about the genes from your parents. |
| D．Unhealthy children will probably have a smaller hippocampus than others. |
All the following factors that have some influence on one’s brain are mentioned EXCEPT ____________.
| A．genetic factor | B．economic status | C．physical fitness | D．economic development |
Where do most writers get their ideas? For Yoshiko Uchida, it all began with Brownie, a five-month-old puppy. So excited was Yoshiko by Brownie’s arrival that she started keeping a journal, writing about all the wonderful things Brownie did and the progress he made.
Soon she was writing about other memorable events in her life, too, like the day her family got their first refrigerator. She also began writing stories, thanks to one of her teachers. Yoshiko wrote stories about animal characters such as Jimmy Chipmunk and Willie the Squirrel. She kept on writing, sharing the kitchen table with her mother, who wrote poems on scraps of paper and the backs of envelopes.
Yoshiko grew up in the 1930s in Berkeley, California. Her parents, both of whom had been born in Japan, provided a loving and happy home for Yoshiko and her sister. They also provided a stream of visitors to their home who later found their way into Yoshiko’s stories. One visitor who later appeared in several of Yoshiko’s stories was the bad-tempered Mr. Toga, who lived above the church that her family attended. Mr. Toga would scold anyone who displeased him. The children all feared him and loved to tell stories about how mean he was and how his false teeth rattled (咯咯响) when he talked.
Yoshiko also included in her stories some of the places she visited and the experiences she had. One of her favorite places was a farm her parents took her to one summer. The owners of the farm, showed Yoshiko and her sister how to pump water from the well and how to gather eggs in the henhouse. They fed the mules that later pulled a wagon loaded with hay while Yoshiko and the others rode in the back, staring up at the stars shining in the night sky. Yoshiko, who lived in the city, had never seen such a sight. As Yoshiko gazed up at the stars, she was filled with hope and excitement about her life. The images of that hayride stayed with her long after the summer visit ended, and she used them in several of her stories.
The experiences Yoshiko had and the parade of people who marched through her young life became a part of the world she created in over twenty books for young people, such as The Best Bad Thing and A Jar of Dreams. Because of such books, we can all share just a little bit of the world and the times in which this great writer grew up. The author tells about Mr. Toga’s false teeth in Paragraph 3 in order to ____________.
| A．show health care was not good enough in Berkeley during the 1930s |
| B．provide an interesting detail in Yoshiko’s life and stories |
| C．show Yoshiko’s young life was difficult and frightening |
| D．tell about a beloved relative who helped Yoshiko learn how to write |
In Paragraph 4 “the stars” probably refer to ____________.
| A．family relationships | B．terrors in the night |
| C．limitless possibilities | D．sacrifices to benefit others |
What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Yoshiko loved to write about parades. |
| B．Yoshiko met many interesting people. |
| C．Yoshiko liked to go for long walks with others. |
| D．Yoshiko preferred to talk to her pets instead of to people. |
What is the main idea of this story?
| A．People who live in the city should spend as much time as they can in the country. |
| B．Writers like Yoshiko Uchida must communicate with as many writers as possible. |
| C．Those who move to the United States often miss their homelands for many years. |
| D．Writers like Yoshiko Uchida look to the richness of their lives for material. |
It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers（生产商） follow certain uniform standards for various features of clothes．What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men．Take a look at the way your clothes button．Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s form the left．Considering most of the word’s population----men and women----are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women．So why do women’s clothes button from the left?
History really seems to matter here．Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants．For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier．On the other hand, having men’s shirts button form the right made sense, too．Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt．
Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning form the left is still the standard for them．Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change．At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned form the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right．After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch．Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts．What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?
| A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years． |
| B．It is different for men’s clothing and women’s． |
| C．It woks better with men than with women． |
| D．It fails to consider right-handed people． |
What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?
| A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons． |
| B．They were interested in the historical matters． |
| C．They were mostly dressed by servants． |
| D．They drew their swords from the left． |
Women’s clothes still button from the left today because．
| A．adopting men’s style is improper for women |
| B．manufacturers should follow standards |
| C．customs are hard to change |
| D．modern women dress themselves |
The passage is mainly developed by．
| A．analyzing causes | B．making comparisons |
| C．examining differences | D．following the time order |