Liu Qian, a magician from Taiwan, cast his spell (魔法) over an audience of thousands on the CCTV Spring Festival Show. Die-hard fans are still trying to work out the secrets behind many of the tricks he performed.
But Liu, 32, when asked, laughed off the idea that there might be an "answer" to his magic. "The most fascinating thing is the puzzling process. People enjoy how magicians make the impossible come true, " said Liu.
Few people today believe in the possibility of real magic. They also often fail to consider magicians' devotion to their art. It can take a magician years' of practice to perfect a trick before he performs it on stage.
Part of Liu's star appeal is his astonishing skill. However, when he began in the industry, he was all embarrassingly clumsy. "I could practice thousands of times for one single act. It wasn't much fun, " he said.
No magician's supernatural powers on stage extend to their life off stage. Liu says his life was no easier or funnier because he was a magician.
He developed an interest in magic at a young age, but didn't consider making a living out of it until he graduated from university. He had studied Japanese and found himself unable to find a job. "My parents never considered being a magician as a proper job. To begin with, I had little confidence I would be doing this in the long term, " he said.
Yet Liu felt a powerful calling to become a magician. "For many people, magic somehow means a miracle, which is something we all secretly wish for no matter how hard-bitten we become, " he said
Liu may be right. A popular modern dream is of the fairy godmother, who waves her magic wand (魔杖) and makes our dreams come true. But according to Liu, we all have the power to create magic in our lives. As Liu puts it: it's not the magic that makes it work; it's the way we work that makes it magic. According to the passage, we can tell that __________.
| A．being a famous magician, Liu Qian leads a comfortable life |
| B．it is a hard job for magicians to perform magic tricks well |
| C．Liu Qian's parents supported his wish to be a magician |
| D．Liu Qian showed great talents for magic tricks when he first took it up |
Talking of whether there's real magic, Liu Qian believes __________.
| A．there is no real magic and what counts in our life is the way we work |
| B．if we secretly wish for something, magic will turn out to be a miracle |
| C．the puzzling process of performing magic tricks is the answer to magic |
| D．there exists a fairy godmother waving her magic wand to make our dreams come true |
Which of the following is similar to the underlined sentence in meaning?
| A．All roads lead to Rome. |
| B．A miss is as good as a mile. |
| C．Every dog has his day. |
| D．No pains, no gains. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Magic Power by Liu Qian |
| B．The Magic Skill |
| C．A Popular Magician—Liu Qian |
| D．How to Be a Successful Magician |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Liu Qian is a born magician. |
| B．Liu Qian studied magic at university. |
| C．Liu Qian became successful mainly because he was hardworking. |
| D．Godmother helped him. |
"Regardless of social class, race and age, men say they hate to shop." says Zukin, City University of New York sociology professor. "Yet when you ask them deeper questions, it turns out that they like to shop. Men generally like to shop for books, music and hardware. But if you ask them about the shopping they do for books or music, they'll say, "Well, that's not shopping. That's research. "
In other words, what men and women call "buying things" and how they approach that task are different.
Women will wander through several 1,000-aquare-meter stores in search of the perfect party dress. Men will wander through 100 Internet sites in search of the perfect digital camcorder. Women see shopping as a social event. Men see it as a special task or a game to be won.
"Men are frequently shopping to win," says Ann, a marketing professor at Loyola University of Chicago. "They want to get the best deal. They want to get the best one, the latest one and if they do that it makes them happy. "When women shop, "They're doing it in a way that they want everybody to be very happy." says Ann. "They're kind of shopping for love."
"Teenage girls learn to shop from their moms and older sisters, but they also learn to shop by examining articles in magazines like Seventeen, "City University Zukin says." And although men's magazines such as GQ and Esquire have long had shopping articles, it's TV that has the eye of young male shoppers, "say Ann and Zukin.
"Television shows are used by young men in the same way Seventeen magazine or Lucky is used by girls," says Zukin, "to help make clothing and toiletry choices."
"Of course, there are men who love to shop and are proud of it." Loyola's Ann says. And that is important no matter whether you buy a car or a frying pan. All men love to buy but don't want to get cheated. Ann adds, "There actually are men who are interested, for example, in cooking or shopping or chinaware or things around the home-----they become kind of girl magnets. Women like it."From the first paragraph we can find that _____.
| A．men are all dishonest |
| B．men are all book-lovers |
| C．men hate to shop actually |
| D．men like to shop in fact |
Compared to women, men usually treat shopping _____.
| A．honestly | B．seriously | C．frequently | D．foolishly |
As is shown in this passage, teenage girls go shopping _____.
| A．only with their moms |
| B．only with their sisters |
| C．often following magazines |
| D．often following TV shows |
The underlined word "magnets" in the last paragraph means _____.
| A．magazines that attract young women |
| B．persons that have a powerful attraction |
| C．tools that can help housewives much |
| D．vegetables that make women beautiful |
While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.
The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to complete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.
I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I'm not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold — his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.
I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.
But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.
No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout "Come on, you can do it! " and he did.
A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.
Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.
In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals feeling they have somehow been cheated out of gold, or when they act so proudly in front of their competitors, it is nice to watch an underdog.From the passage we can learn that the young man .
| A．made his turn to start back pitifully |
| B．was skillful in freestyle in the game |
| C．swam faster than the average swimmer |
| D．was not capable enough to win the medal |
The crowd changed their attitudes because ________.
| A．they felt sorry for the young man |
| B．they were moved by the young man |
| C．they wanted to show their sympathy |
| D．they meant to please the young man |
According to the passage, "it is nice to watch an underdog" probably means _______.
| A．it’s amusing to watch a man with awful swimming skills |
| B．it’s amazing to watch an ordinary man challenging himself |
| C．it’s cheerful for athletes to act proudly before their competitors |
| D．it’s brave enough for some athletes to remove the silver medals |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Compete for Gold! | B．Try again! |
| C．Break a Record! | D．Go for it! |
阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题。(请将答案写在答题卡上相应番号后的横线上) （共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
When you take a taxi in the United States, if you sit in the front seat, the driver will be pleased and talk with you all the way. If you sit in the back seat, however, the driver may be unhappy and unwilling to speak.
At first, I thought that this had something to do with different characters (性格) of the drivers. Later, after I’d had more experiences with taxis, I found that it happened very often. Only when I arrived in San Francisco did I ____________.
I went to see Sonia in San Francisco. One day, Sonia drove the car while her husband, Ji An, sat beside her, and I sat behind Ji An. Later, Ji An got out of the car and suggested that I sit where he had been sitting. It’s not a long way, so I told him that it didn’t matter, but Ji An insisted. I had to move, feeling a little strange.
“Do you know why Ji An asked you to sit here?” Sonia asked me. I shook my head. “If you sit in the front, it means that you and I are friends. If you sit in the back, it seems that I’m just your driver and our relationship is of employer and employee.”
With those words, I understood at once why taxi drivers were so pleased when people sat in the front. On the face of it, the only issue was where one sat. As a matter of fact, where to sit also reflected (反映) the degree of one’s respect for the driver.
Although it is true that the relationship between driver and passenger is a business relationship, people still place an emphasis (强调) on respect and friendship beyond any monetary (金钱的) relationship.What’s the best title for the passage? (Please answer within 10 words.)
____________________________________________Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
It seemed that the problem was no more than the seat.
____________________________________________Please fill in the blank in the second paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words)
____________________________________________What’s the culture of taking a taxi in the United States? (Please answer within 30 words.)
____________________________________________Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.
____________________________________________
Students and Technology in the Classroom
I love my blackberry—it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my laptop computer，as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices(设备) and truly communicate with others.
On occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers. My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas. Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom, I have a rule —no laptop, iPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy.
Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. Some students assume that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions and truly engage complex ideas. Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and make connections between the course material and the class discussion.
I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge, they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
I’m not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I’m sticking to my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.Some of the students in the history class were unhappy with____
| A．the course material | B．the author’s class regulations |
| C．discussion topics | D．others’ misuse of technology |
The underlined word “engage ”in para.4 probably means ____
| A．explore | B．accept | C．change | D．reject |
According to the author, the use of technology in the classroom may ____
| A．keep students from doing independent thinking |
| B．encourage students to have in-depth conversations |
| C．help students to better understand complex themes |
| D．affect students’ concentration on course evaluation |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author ____
| A．is quite stubborn |
| B．will give up teaching history |
| C．values technology-free dialogues in his class |
| D．will change his teaching plan soon |
Ann Whimey, a sophomore(大学二年级学生) at Colorado State University, first had a problem taking tests when she began college. "I was always well prepared for my tests. Sometimes I studied for weeks before a test. Yet I would go to take the test, only to find I could not answer the questions correctly. I would blank out because of nervousness and fear. I couldn't think of the answer."
The young student was experiencing something called test anxiety. Because a student worries and is uneasy about a test, his or her mind does not work as well as it usually does. The student cannot write or think clearly because of the great nervousness. though poor scores are often a result of poor study habits, sometimes test anxiety causes low scores. Recently, test anxiety has been recognized as a real problem, not just an excuse or a false explanation of lazy students.
Special university counseling(咨询) courses try to help students. In these courses, counselors try to help students by teaching them how to manage test anxiety. At some universities, students take tests to measure their anxiety. If the test shows their anxiety is high, the students can take courses to help them deal with their nervousness. These courses teach students how to relax their bodies. By controlling their nervousness, they can let their minds work at ease, learn information, then come out without difficulty in a test.
An expert at the University of California explains, "With almost all students, relaxation is felt after taking our program. Most of them have better control during their test. Almost all have some improvements. For some, the improvement is very great.The title of the passage should be
| A．Tests at college |
| B．Anxiety and Tests |
| C．How to Get Rid of Anxiety |
| D．Counseling Courses Help Students |
According to this passage, we mainly find poor scores may result from
| A．laziness | B．sleeplessness |
| C．nervousness | D．poor study habits |
In order to get rid of test anxiety, students should
| A．take tests to measure their anxiety |
| B．take counseling courses to help themselves |
| C．let their minds work at ease |
| D．learn to control their nervousness |
According to the counselor at the University of California, the program is
| A．successful |
| B．ineffective |
| C．of great help to all |
| D．worth showing off |