Readers of many different periods have considered Du Fu to be the greatest poet of the Chinese tradition. Such general agreement can partially be explained by the immense variety of his work, which holds up quite well to different tastes and historical changes in fashion. Like Shakespeare in English tradition, Du Fu's poetry came to be so deeply bound up with the constitution of literary value that generation after generation of poets and critics rediscovered themselves and their interests in some aspect of the poet.
Chinese critics from the Song Dynasty referred to Du Fu as the "poet-historian". Du Fu witnessed a typically political and social situation; the common people still lived in poverty while the emperor and his top officials enjoyed a foolishly luxurious life. He composed many poems，which expressed his dissatisfaction with the government and his great pity for the common people. Du Fu used his poems to comment on current events and historical images. Du Fu became the historian by creating his responses to particular situations.
Du Fu was talented. When he was young, he wanted to get a good job in the government. Unfortunately Du Fu was refused several times. He was in his fifties when he began to serve as a minor official in Changan( Xi'an).
Du Fu was dismissed in the form of a transfer to the post of personnel administrator in Huazhou and so he left Changan. And in 759 he arrived in Chengdu. He set up a modest cottage with some money he borrowed from his friend who served as a local governor. In the cottage he had a simple and peaceful life for three years, writing about 240 poems.
Du Fu left Chengdu after 762 and wandered in the southern provinces and eventually died of illness in 770. After his death, the people in Chengdu built a shrine (神殿)on the site of his garden to honor him, which is known as part of Du Fu Thatched Cottage now. Why does the author compare Du Fu to Shakespeare?
| A．Du Fu's poetry was written following Shakespeare's style. |
| B．Du Fu's poetry referred to the social change critically. |
| C．Du Fu and Shakespeare were best friends. |
| D．Shakespeare read a lot of Du Fu's poems. |
Du Fu ______ when he was young.
| A．didn't want to be an official |
| B．was worried about the education |
| C．wasn't liked by the emperor |
| D．wasn't offered an opportunity to work in the government |
What did Du Fu describe in most of his poems?
| A．The luxurious life that the emperor and his top officials enjoyed. |
| B．His happy life. |
| C．His responses to particular situations. |
| D．His dissatisfaction with the government and his great pity for the common people. |
What did the people do after Du Fu died according to the passage?
| A．They destroyed his cottage. |
| B．They rebuilt the cottage he had lived into a high building. |
| C．They built a shrine to honor him. |
| D．They made a carved statue of him. |
What's the title of the passage?
| A．Du Fu—the Most Important Politician in Tang Dynasty |
| B．The Origin of Du Fu Thatched Cottage |
| C．Du Fu—One of the Greatest Poets in Tang Dynasty |
| D．Du Fu Was Not a Skilled Survivor in Government Politics |
As I was busy working on my work plan in my bedroom, I could hear my four children playing upstairs. Suddenly, I heard the children running down the stairs and shouting, “Freddie, Freddie.” I heard the word “window” and rushed outside, heart in mouth. My three-year old son Freddie was lying on his side on the ground. I cried for my husband Simon to dial 999 and within minutes the air ambulance arrived. They quickly took him in the helicopter. During the flight, Freddie was looking at me and I remember thinking was a good sign, but then his eyes began to roll. As the doctors tried to stabilize(稳定) him, I couldn’t believe what was happening.
When we arrived at the hospital in Portsmouth, there were some doctors and nurses waiting for us and they immediately set to work on Freddie. I was hopelessly wishing everything would be alright, but Freddie had broken his skull in two places and blood clots were forming in his brain. He needed surgery(外科手术), and only a surgeon at another hospital in Bristol could do it. This meant another helicopter ride, but we couldn’t go with Freddie because there was no enough space. Simon and I drove the long 130 miles from our home in north Devon in silence. Neither of us dared say what we were thinking, “What if we get there and he’s dead?” “Is he going to be brain-damaged?”
Freddie was just coming out of surgery when we arrived. The surgeon said it had gone well. When I finally saw him, I hardly recognize my child—he was covered in tubes and there were wires coming out of his head.
On the third day, Simon went home to see our three girls and to pick up some clean clothes for us. While he was gone, the pressure in Freddie’s brain suddenly increased. He was taken into theater again and this time I fell apart. Luckily, the surgery managed to stabilize Freddie. After almost a week, Freddie was finally woken up. When he opened his eyes, he looked at me. He didn’t say anything, but I knew straight away that it was my old Freddie, and that he was going to be alright. Over the next two weeks, his recovery went well. After help with learning to swallow again and encouragement with speaking, he was soon playing with his Gruffalo cards and eating meals by himself.
I still don’t know how the accident happened, but we got some idea from our girls. Clearly Freddie and Minnie had been sitting on the window ledge, and Freddie must have opened it to look out and fallen 20 feet onto the ground below.
The guilt I feel is awful— for weeks I was full of “ if onlys”, and we put window locks everywhere. Six months later, although the accident seems a lifetime ago, it has changed me. I feel differently about life now. I’ve left my job to put my children first. I want to spend every minute with them.The underlined sentence in paragraph 1 shows the author was ______________.
| A．hopeless | B．worried | C．curious | D．puzzled |
Why did the author’s son have to be moved to another hospital in Bristol?
| A．Because no surgeons were on duty in the first hospital that day. |
| B．Because the author wanted his son to stay in a hospital nearer her home. |
| C．Because no surgeons in the first hospital knew the injuries to the author’s son. |
| D．Because no surgeons in the first hospital could do surgery on the author’s son. |
When the author finally saw her son, she could hardly recognize him probably because his
face_____________.
| A．was seriously injured |
| B．was filled with small pipes |
| C．was too pale to be recognized |
| D．was covered by a piece of cloth |
On the third day after being taken to the hospital, _____________.
| A．the author’s son finally opened his eyes. |
| B．the situation of the author’s son suddenly worsened |
| C．the author’s son was finally out of danger |
| D．the author’s son did not need any more surgery |
After the accident, what did the author probably learn?
| A．Life is full of “if onlys”. |
| B．Being a single mother is not easy. |
| C．Children are more important than work. |
| D．Accidents can happen to every kid. |
A study shows that nearly ninety percent of teens report that they have tried alcohol. That’s an increase of 23 percent in just four years!
Each year, 1.1 billion cans of beer are drunk by students aged 15-19 years old. Beer is the most common alcoholic drink among teens—81 percent of the drinkers had tried it. Beer is followed by wine with 63 percent, hard liquor(烈酒) with 53 percent and wine coolers with 35 percent.
When the young people are asked why they drank, the most common answer is that drinking is “something to do”. If a teen’s parents drink alcohol, the teenager is more likely to start drinking at an early age. Also, tens see all of their friends drinking alcohol so they think it is the must-to-do thing. Peer pressure is probably the hardest thing teens have to deal with. What’s more, teens often drink alcohol because it makes them feel older and cooler.
Researchers asked 56,000 students about their drinking habits and grades, to see how drinking might affect their grades in school. The results seem to be clear. Students who got a C level or lower tend to use three times as much alcohol as those who got B’s or A’s.
Alcohol use can be deadly. About 8,100 young people are killed per year in alcohol-related accidents. Eight young people die per day as a result of a drunk-driving accident. Between 50 and 65 percent of all teen suicides (自杀) occur after the young people drink.
So you see, drinking the alcohol doesn’t always end up with a good time. The next time you try to push someone to drink or someone tries to push you to drink, please remember this. One drink can set the habit for life. Why not throw it away?The reasons for teens’ drinking alcohol are mentioned EXCEPT that _______________.
| A．they think it is cool to drink alcohol |
| B．their parents set a bad example to them |
| C．alcohol can make them happier |
| D．peer pressure plays an important role |
What can we learn from paragraph 4?
| A．Drinking alcohol makes students stupid. |
| B．Good students never try alcohol. |
| C．Drinking habits have something to do with IQ. |
| D．Students with poor grades tend to use more alcohol. |
The passage was written mainly to ______________________.
| A．show the bad effect of drinking alcohol |
| B．show how many teenagers drink alcohol |
| C．tell teenagers not to try alcohol |
| D．tell the reasons why teenagers drink alcohol. |
Growing up, I wanted to be just like my mom. She was kind. People always seemed to feel comfortable in her presence. For years, she was a volunteer in our community. I loved going to the local nursing home with her where she taught a ceramic class.
On one summer day, Mama told me to get changed and meet her at the car.
I had planned to spend the day at the lake with friends. Why did she have to ruin everything? I imagined the cool lake water. Irritated, I climbed into the car and slammed the door shut. We sat in silence. I was too upset to make conversation.
“Tasha, would you like to know where we are going?” Mama asked calmly.
“No,” I said.
“We are going to volunteer at a children’s shelter today. I have been there before and I think it would benefit you,” she explained.
When we reached the shelter, Mama rang the doorbell. Moments later, we were greeted by a woman. She led us to the front room where all of the children were playing. I noticed a baby whose body was scarred with iron marks. I was told it was because she wouldn’t stop crying. The majority of the children had noticeable physical scars. Others hid their emotional wounds.
As I took in my surroundings, I felt a gentle tug on my shirt. I looked down to see a little girl looking up at me. “Hi. You want to play dolls with me?” she asked. I looked over at Mama for reinforcement. She smiled and nodded. I turned back and said, “Sure.” Her tiny hand reached up and held mine, as if to comfort me.
My mom taught me a valuable lesson that summer. I returned to the shelter with her several times. During those visits, some of the children shared their troubled pasts with me and I learned to be grateful for what I had. Today as I strive to instill (逐渐灌输) these values in my own child, I reflect back to that experience. It was a time that I will never forget. The author admired her mom for ________.
| A．her kindness to others | B．her excellent teaching |
| C．her quality of honesty | D．her positive attitude to life |
According to Paragraph 3, when she was asked to go out with her mom, the author was ________.
| A．excited | B．angry | C．surprised | D．worried |
From the passage we learn most children in the shelter ________.
| A．were often punished by staff | B．weren’t allowed to go outside |
| C．were once treated badly | D．all suffered from mental illness |
The underlined word “reinforcement” in the passage is closest in meaning to “________”.
| A．truth | B．help | C．comfort | D．support |
Discover Nature Schools programs
Becoming Bears (Kindergarten-2 grade)
By becoming baby bears, children learn from their “parent” to survive the seasons. Kids will find safety in the spring and learn kinds of food bears eat during the summer, and then create a cave for winter hibernation(冬眠). After learning the skills needed to survive, students will go out of the cave as an independent black bear able to care for themselves. (1.5-2 hours)
Whose Clues? (3-5 grade)
Kids will discover how plants and animals use their special structures to survive. Through outdoor study of plants and animals, kids will recognize their special structures and learn how they enable species to eat, avoid their enemies and survive. Using what they have learned, kids will choose one species and tell how they survive in their living places. (3-4 hours)
Winged Wonders (3-5 grade)
Birds add color and sound to our world and play an important ecological (生态的) role. Students will learn the basics of birds, understand the role birds play in food chains and go bird watching using field guides and telescopes. Students will do hands-on activities. Students will use tools to build bird feeders, allowing them to attract birds at home.(3-4 hours)
Exploring Your Watershed (6-8 grade)
We all depend on clean water. Examining how our actions shape the waterways around us. Go on a hike to see first-hand some of the challenging water quality problems in a city. Students will test the water quality to determine the health of an ecosystem.
● Each program is taught for a class with at least 10 students.
● All programs include plenty of time outdoors. So please prepare proper clothing, sunscreen and
insect killers for children.
● To take part in a program , please email dcprograms@mdc.mo.gov.What can kids do at Becoming Bears?
| A．Watch bears’ performances. |
| B．Take care of bears |
| C．Dress up as baby bears to learn about bears. |
| D．Learn how to survive a bear attack. |
Kids who are interested in plants will choose______________.
| A．Winged Wonders | B．Exploring your Watershed |
| C．Becoming Bears | D．Whose Clues? |
According to the passage, all the four programs _____________.
| A．have the same teaching hours |
| B．have outdoor activities |
| C．are offered during summer holidays |
| D．are designed for primary school students |
Feel tired lately? Has a doctor said he can’t find anything wrong with you? Perhaps he sent you to a hospital, but all the advanced equipment there shows that there is nothing wrong with you.
Then , consider this: you might be in a state of sub - health （亚健康）.
Sub - health, also called the third state or gray state, is explained as a borderline state between health and disease.
According to the survey by the National Health Organization, Over 45 percent of sub - healthy people are middle-aged or elderly. The percentage is even higher among people who work in management positions as well as students around exam week.
Symptoms （征兆）include a shortage of energy, depression, slow reactions, insomnia （失眠）and poor memory , Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs.
The key to preventing and recovering from sub - health, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, ale mate work and rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open air activities.
As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar . They should also eat more fresh vegetables, fruits, fish because they are rich in nutritional elements - vitamins and trace elements - that are important to the body.
Nutrition experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract （消化道）. They also say that a balanced diet is very helpful in avoiding sub - health.When you are in a state of sub - health, you should________.
| A．stay home and keep silent |
| B．go to a doctor and buy some medicine |
| C．not consider it very serious |
| D．find out the reasons and relax yourself |
Middle - aged people may be easy to get sub - healthy because________.
| A．they have used up their energy |
| B．they have lost their living hopes |
| C．they have more pressure in life and work. |
| D．they have changed their way of life |
The key to preventing you from falling into a state of sub health is to________.
| A．keep on working regularly | B．go to sleep a bit earlier |
| C．form good living habits | D．take medicine if necessary |
As for food, experts suggested that________.
| A．we should never eat meat |
| B．we should have variety of food |
| C．we should eat less than usual |
| D．we should have meals without sugar |
The underlined word “alternate” in this passage is closest in meaning to________
| A．arrange by turns | B．cause to take place |
| C．make up for | D．keep away from |