Imagine a boy from a small village in East Africa. He, from a very early age, has been looking after cattle. At twelve years old he knows more about cattle than most of you. However, he has never been to school. Has this boy ever had any education?
Education is discovering about ourselves and about the people and things around us. All the people who care about us—our parents, brothers, sisters, friends—are our teachers. In fact, we learn something from every-one we meet. We start learning on the day we are born, not on the first day we go to school. Every day we have new experiences, like finding a bird's nest, discovering a new street in our neighborhood, making friends with someone we didn't like before. New experiences are even more fun when we share them with other people.
Encouragement from the people around us enables us to explore things as much as possible. As we grow up, we begin to find out what we are capable of doing. You may be good at cooking, or singing or playing football. You find this out by doing these things. Just thinking about cooking doesn't tell you if you are good at it.
We learn so much just living from day to day. So why is school important? Of course you can learn some things better at home than at school, like how to do the shopping, and how to help old or disabled people who can't do everything for themselves. At school, teachers help us to read and write. With their guid-ance, we begin to see things in different ways. The writer takes the African boy as an example to show that __________.
A.African children are very poor |
B.some children are unlucky |
C.education takes many ways |
D.schools are of great importance |
In the eyes of the writer __________.
A.we have to learn from the people around us |
B.school is not important at all |
C.only the people caring for us can teach us |
D.education takes place everywhere |
One can find out what one is good at by __________.
A.the encouragement of people around |
B.the teachers of he or she meets |
C.thinking of it when growing up |
D.trying and practicing it |
According to the passage, we know that __________.
A.school is not so important as our living places |
B.school enables us to understand the world in other ways |
C.school teaches us something useless at home |
D.school cannot prepare us for our daily lives |
Thepassage tells us that __________.
A.everyone gets education from the day he or she is born |
B.different education trains different classes of people |
C.school is absolutely necessary if one wants to understand the world |
D.everyonewill find out what he or she is good at |
Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor. Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say, “My spoken English is poor.” However, their spoken English does not have to remain “poor”! I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English.
First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary. Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary. However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive. Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know.
Second, they are afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous. Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY(准确性). Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly. However, in speaking your aim is fluency. You want to get your message across ,to talk to someone in English ,as quickly and as well as you can ,even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense ,but it doesn’t matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances for any mistakes he hears.
The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening. You have one mouth but two ears! All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking.
Forth, most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners. Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor. If you have this proactive outlook, then you will see English opportunities wherever you go.
If you do not use your English beyond the classroom you will forget what English you know. Remember: USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more.
63.What is most probably the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To improve your reading. B.To improve your listening.
C.To improve your spoken English. D.To improve your vocabulary.
64.It can be inferred from the third paragraph that .
A.don’t be fluency . Just be accuracy
B.don’t be nervous ,don’t be shy . Just write!
C.don’t be afraid of making mistakes . Just speak!
D.don’t be shy ,don’t be fluency. Just listen and write!
65.The last paragraph is possibly close to the meaning of “ ”.
A.more hurry, less speed B.better late than never
C.silence is gold D.practice makes perfect
66.The text is most probably taken from a .
A.teacher’s diary B.report on study C.sports newspaper D.movie magazine
Student Puts School President On eBay
An Ohio State University student has put their school president on the online auction(拍卖)site eBay. Bidding started at a penny and the seven-day auction had 64 bids from 19. bidders topping out at almost $ 100 million.
Skydiver, 96, Hurt In Attempt To Set Record
In Washington, a 96-year-old man aiming to become the oldest person to make a solo skydiver had a rough landing and suffered a dislocated shoulder, but otherwise safe.
Pets Fight In Car, Cause Wreck
An American Lovell man was moving to his new home with all his belongings packed into his car when his pet cat got loose, found his pet snake and started fighting inside the car, causing him to lose control and crash into a narrow ditch(沟).
Thieves Steal Built-In Swimming Pool
When a Norwegian family visited their mountain cabin over the weekend, they discovered a big hole in the yard in place of the built-in swimming pool that had been installed 20 years ago.
Man Burns Down Home Over No Gifts
In Southampton, Long Island, Wednesday. A man, angry that he got no presents for
Christmas, burned down his parents' home early Christmas morning.
60.According to this passage, which of the events happened at the weekend?
A.A man’s pets fought in the car and caused a car crash.
B.An old man aiming to set a record got hurt.
C.A man burned down his parents' home over no gifts.
D.A family found their swimming pool stolen.
61.Which of the following events happened to the Lovell man?
A.He was put on the online auction site eBay. B.His car crashed into a narrow ditch.
C.His built-in swimming pool was stolen. D.He burnt down his parents' home.
62.The passage is most probably taken from _______.
A.a science magazine B.a research paper C.a personal diary D.a newspaper
第二部分:阅读理解(第一节:共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出最佳选项。
L’HAY-LES-ROSES, France: Three teenage girls admitted starting a fire in a suburban Paris housing project over the weekend that killed 17 people, including three children, police said yesterday. A fourth girl was held yesterday morning.
The fire in a 19-storey building south of Paris was the third fatal blaze in the Paris area in nine days. The death toll rose to 16 after a man died late Sunday in a hospital, where seven others were being treated for serious injuries, police said.
Three teenagers taken in for questioning on Sunday admitted having started the fire for fun, police said. Two of the suspects were 18-year-old, the other was 16, police said. Further details were not available.
Witnesses claimed to have seen a group of youths who lived in the building start the fire, said Patrick Seve, mayor of the town of L’HAY-LES-ROSES, near Orly airport, where the building was located.
The fire is believed to have broken out in the lobby(门厅)of the building before raging up a stairwell at least three floors. Some residents jumped from windows as the fire spread through the building’s entrance.
Authorities were investigating possible criminals in an August 26 fire that killed 14 African children and three adults in a Paris apartment building. Three days later, another fire killed seven in a building.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy suggested on French television on Sunday night that copycats(盲目模仿者)were at work. “Each time there is a new story, sometimes that gives ideas to people who then turn into criminals,” Sarkozy said, promising severe punishment for anyone found guilty of arson(纵火).
56. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?
A. Three girls were caught setting fire to a building.
B. The fourth girl wasn’t present when the fire broke out.
C. All the people lost their lives before police came.
D. Paris was troubled by fire during that period.
57. Why did the teenagers start the fire?
A. They were interested in playing with fire.
B. They wanted to make fun of their parents.
C. They were not satisfied with the surroundings.
D. They wanted to warm themselves.
58. From the fourth and fifth paragraphs we know that ________.
A. the witnesses must have put out the fire
B. the lobby of the building was covered with wood.
C. the witnesses were familiar with the teenagers
D. the residents shouldn’t have jumped from windows
59. What the Minister said in the last paragraph means that ________.
A. he doesn’t like to listen to new stories
B. he has no time to write new stories
C. teenagers often have ideas to turn into criminals
D. teenagers may do the same as others have done
Japan's 24-hour convenience stores, already struggling with lagging sales and growth, may soon face yet another threat - moves to limit business hours and close the stores late at night. The district of Saitama, which borders Tokyo, may follow in the footsteps of the western city of Kyoto and urge convenience stores to close during late night hours in an effort to limit carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)emissions, Japanese media reported.
Kyoto, a former capital, wants to persuade convenience and other 24-hour stores to close late at night so as to improve evening views of the city and cut down on energy use. The Nikkei business daily said closures could last from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The move is strongly opposed by the industry, which fears a bad impact on an already troubled sector also grappling with the specter of a higher tobacco tax, which could hit overall sales.
"Even if we only operate the stores for 16 hours, we can't stop the refrigerators," said Toshiro Yamaguchi, the president of Seven-Eleven Japan Co, which is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd, at a news conference in Saitama on Tuesday. He said such cuts in operating hours would reduce each store's profit by 20 percent. "If this happens, our current business model will lose its foundation."
Analysts said that while it is difficult to estimate the potential impact of the move without a concrete plan, their overall impression was that it was likely to be negative. "This could cut profits and lead to less efficient operations and the increased loss of opportunities," said Masafumi Shoda, an analyst at Nomura Securities. "But it depends on the store -- urban stores do better than others. There are some in the countryside that are inefficient."
Some have suggested that if governments were sincere about reducing carbon emissions there were much more efficient methods, such as cutting back on the huge number of automatic vending machines(自动售货机)
68. Which of the followings was the first to try to limit convenience store hours?
A. Saitama B. Tokyo C. Kyoto D. Nomura Security
69. What's the main goal of the proposal?
A. To give employees more free time.
B. To limit carbon dioxide emissions.
C. To sell more tobacco products.
D. To reduce each store’s profit.
70. How's the convenience store sector doing in Japan? A. It is not mentioned.
B. It's doing great. Business is booming.
C. Not very well.
D. It’s about to close.
The world's oceans have warmed 50 percent faster over the last 40 years than previously thought due to climate change, Australian and US climate researchers reported on Wednesday. Higher ocean temperatures expand the volume of water, contributing to a rise in sea levels that is submerging small island nations and threatening to great damage in low-lying, densely-populated delta regions around the globe.
The study, published in the British journal Nature, adds to a growing scientific chorus of warnings about the pace and consequences of rising oceans. It also serves as a corrective to a massive report issued last year by the Nobel-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), according to the authors.
Rising sea levels are driven by two things: the thermal(热)expansion of sea water, and additional water from melting sources of ice. Both processes are caused by global warming. The ice sheet that sits at the top of Greenland, for example, contains enough water to raise world ocean levels by seven metres(23 feet), which would bury sea-level cities from Dhaka to Shanghai.
Trying to figure out how much each of these factors contributes to rising sea levels is critically important to understanding climate change, and forecasting future temperature rises, scientists say. But up to now, there has been a confusing gap between the projections of computer-based climate models, and the observations of scientists gathering data from the oceans.
The new study, led by Catia Domingues of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, is the first to reconcile(与…一致)the models with observed data. Using new techniques to assess ocean temperatures to a depth of 700 metres(2,300 feet)from 1961 to 2003, it shows that thermal warming contributed to a 0.53 millimetre-per-year rise in sea levels rather than the 0.32 mm rise reported by the IPCC.
64. What happens when the ocean's temperature rises?
A. It causes sea levels to rise.
B. It causes sea levels to remain constant.
C. It causes sea levels to decrease.
D. It causes sea level to change.
65. Which of the followings would be buried by the rising sea?
A. Small island nations.
B. All coastal cities around the world.
C. People who enjoy holiday on the beach.
D. Low-lying regions.
66. The new study in this passage _____________.
A. shows that thermal warming contributed to a 0.32 millimeter-per-year rise in sea levels.
B. did not reveal anything that scientists hadn't already known.
C. used new techniques to assess ocean temperatures.
D. shows that models contradict the observed data.
67. What was the main finding of the study?
A. Nothing enough is being done about global warming.
B. That ocean waters have warmed faster than scientists had previously thought.
C. That the warming of the world's oceans is not a threat.
D. A massive report issued last year by IPCC was wrong.