Some people believe that a Robin Hood is at work, others that a wealthy person simply wants to distribute his or her fortune before dying. But the donator who started sending envelopes with cash to deserving causes, accompanied by an article from the local paper, has made a northern German city believe in fairytales(童话)．
The first envelope was sent to a victim support group. It contained
10,000 with a cutting from theBraunschweigerZeitungabout how the group supported a woman who was robbed of her handbag; similar plain white anonymous(匿名) envelopes, each containing10,000, then arrived at a kindergarten and a church.
The envelops keep coming, and so far at least190, 000 has been distributed. Last month, one of them was sent to the newspaper's own office. It came after a story it published about Tom, a14yearold boy who was severely disabled in a swimming accident. The receptionist at theBraunschweigerZeitungopened an anonymous white envelope to find 20 notes of500 inside, with a copy of the article.The name of the family was underlined.
“I was driving when I heard the news，”Claudia Neumann, the boy's mother, toldDerSpiegelmagazine.“I had to park on the side of the road; I was speechless.”
The money will be used to make the entrance to their house wheelchairaccessibleand for a course of treatment that their insurance company refused to pay for.
“For someone to act so selflessly, for this to happen in such a society in which everyone thinks of himself, was astonishing，”Mrs.Neumann said. Her family wonder whether the donator is a Robin Hood character, taking from banks to give to the needy.
Henning Noske, the editor of theBraunschweigerZeitung,said：“Maybe it is an old person who is about to die. We just do not know.”However, he has told his reporters not to look for the city's hero, for fear that discovery may stop the donations.TheBraunschweigerZeitungis the name of ________.
| A．a church |
| B．a bank |
| C．a newspaper |
| D．a magazine |
Which of the following is TRUE about the donation to Tom?
| A．The donation amounted to190, 000. |
| B．The donation was sent directly to his house. |
| C．The money will be used for his education. |
| D．His mother felt astonished at the donation. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．the donator is a rich old man |
| B．the donation will continue to come |
| C．the donation comes from the newspaper |
| D．the donator will soon be found out |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Money Is Raised by the Newspaper |
| B．Newspaper Distributes Money to the Needy |
| C．Unknown Hero Spreads Love in Envelopes |
| D．Robin Hood Returns to the City |
Connie Lau hates smoking. “It smells awful, and it’s so bad for you. It breaks my heart to see my friends smoking. I try to get them to give up smoking.” She says.
So why does Connie walk into convenience stores and try to buy cigarettes? She is testing to see if stores will sell cigarettes to a kid who is younger than 18. “You have to be 18 to purchase cigarettes, and I’m 16, so if they sell to me, they’re breaking the law,” Connie says.
Connie isn’t a vigilante (治安队员); She works with local police in her town of Castro Valley, California. Officers drive her to stores, and she goes in alone to try to buy cigarettes. If the person behind the counter sells her a pack, an officer comes in and writes the business a ticket for breaking the law.
Most stores obey the law and don’t sell her cigarettes. The law requires that customers show ID if store employees ask them to. “When they ask your age, you can’t lie,” Connie says. “Most stores don’t sell to me. In a year, we’ve visited almost 150 stores and had only 15 sales.”
Working undercover can be scary, even with police nearby. Connie said one cashier refused to sell her cigarettes and then got angry when he found out her age. He threatened to call the authorities. “To calm him down, the police went in to explain that I was undercover,” she says.
Most teens wouldn’t think of going undercover for the police. What’s Connie’s motivation (动机)? For starters, she can’t stand smoking. But she also believes it’s important for young people like her to try to make a real impact in their communities. In her view, teens can do more than get good grades in school, do chores at home, and do well in out-of-class activities.
Every time she stops the sale of cigarettes to children, she’s helping to uphold the law. “A single teenager can make a big difference,” Connie says. “For the most part, when stores get caught, they learn their lesson and don’t do it again.” According to the law what age of person can the store be allowed to sell cigarettes to?
| A．Under 18. | B．More than 18. | C．16. | D．More than 16. |
Connie goes to convenience stores to
________.
| A．discover whether stores can sell cigarettes to kids |
| B．see which stores can sell cigarettes to her friends |
| C．look for her friends |
| D．arrest the smokers |
What would happen if an owner sells cigarettes to kids?
| A．The owner would be arrested. | B．The owner would be fined. |
| C．The kids would be punished. | D．The kids would be removed from school. |
One reason that Connie works undercover is that
________.
| A．she wants more smokers to quit smoking |
| B．she wants to get good grades in school |
| C．she hopes to make a difference in the area |
| D．she hopes to be excellent in out-of-class activities |
Which of the following might be the main idea of the text?
| A．Smoking can be forbidden with the help of a girl. |
| B．A good way to stop a store from selling cigarettes to kids. |
| C．Connie Lau — a brave girl who goes undercover for the policeman. |
| D．Connie Lau goes undercover to stop stores from selling cigarettes to kids. |
I visited the nearby car factory today with my uncle, who works there. One thing I noticed was that most of the work is now done by robots. Welding (焊接), painting, testing, and many other jobs are performed by robots now.The whole dashboard (仪表板) of the car is now put into the car from above, through the windshield, by a robot. It would have taken two men to do this in the past, and it would have hurt their backs quite a bit. It got me thinking: is it a good thing that robots are replacing factory workers? On one hand, robots generally do a more accurate job than people. They aren’t likely to make many mistakes, and if something goes wrong with one car, an alarm goes off. They do exactly the same thing, every time, without fail. A human worker is never able to do exactly the same thing every time. On the other hand, robots also reduce costs for companies. Companies don’t have to pay robots wages or injury compensation (补偿) if they’re broken. If something in a robot does go wrong, it won’t have to take time off work for a year, or even forever, as could happen to a real person if he breaks his back or burn himself while welding.The obvious downside to all of this is that it increases the unemployment rate. The company will have to bring in some very talented individuals who know how to operate the robots. Unlike regular factory workers, these intelligence workers usually demand a higher pay.We can learn from the first paragraph that _______.
| A．all the workers are replaced by robots now |
B．robots do much of the work instead of workers now |
C．there were no workers in the car factory |
D．the author’s uncle made robots in the factory |
According to the text robots _______.
| A．can do work as accurately as workers |
B．never break down |
C．can do exactly the same thing repeatedly |
D．ask for less money from companies |
The underlined word "downside" in the last paragraph probably means "_______".
| A．weakness | B．favor | C．assistance | D．strength |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _______.
A．companies refuse to pay for intelligence workers |
B．robots have helped all of the workers |
C．robots can help solve the problem of unemployment |
D．using robots in factories widely will have a long way to go |
What is the author’s attitude towards using robots in factories?
| A．He is doubtful about it. | B．He thinks it necessary. |
C．He is strongly against it. | D． The text doesn’t mention it. |
Have you dreamed of traveling to cool places, meeting different people, and maybe picking up a language or two? No matter which country you live in, you can fly over the world’s highest waterfalls in Venezuela, study in France or take dancing lessons in Ghana. Besides the excitement of traveling, there is another reason to study abroad. "Obviously, I learned the language and am now fluent, but perhaps what’s more important was how much I learned about cultures, people, and myself." said Andrew, who studied in France.Christina studied in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 10 million people and a huge change from her hometown of 35,000! Christina said she learned how to better speak for herself and her beliefs and to express herself in another language. What could make you more confident than that?Living away from home can also help you become adapted to the transition (过渡) to college and adulthood. Matthew said that he returned from studying in Australia with confidence, and a real interest in international affairs. "After having gone abroad in high school, I found the transition to college was a breeze — moving 560 miles from home didn’t seem difficult at all after having lived thousands of miles away. "Speaking of college, improving your language skills might help you get into ideal colleges and even land future jobs. Colleges and employers know that studying abroad provides leadership skills in a world that needs much communication. Most of all, it’s fun! You won’t suffer from the general boredom (单调) while you’re studying in a different learning environment.What do we know about Andrew?
| A．He once flew over the world’s highest waterfalls. |
B．He took dancing lessons in Ghana. |
C．He learned about cultures in Caracas, Venezuela. |
D．He studied in France. |
According to Christina, studying abroad enables people to ________.
| A．get along with people around | B．have confidence in themselves |
C．get used to a different life | D．know about different cultures |
By saying "I found the transition to college was a breeze", the author means it is _______ to adapt to college life.
| A．interesting | B．difficult | C．easy | D．disappointing |
From the last paragraph, the greatest thing you can get by studying abroad is to _______.
| A．enjoy the excitement of traveling | B．pick up a new language |
C．enter the university you dreamed of | D．make your life full of pleasure |
What does the text mainly talk about?
| A．The advantages of studying abroad. | B．What to prepare to study abroad. |
C．The experiences of studying abroad. | D．Different opinions on studying abroad. |
Up, Up, and Away!
An adventurer who became the first person to fly across the English Channel on a cluster（簇）of balloons has launched a house into the sky just like in the hit movie Up-in reparation for a more ambitious journey and a new record
Fearless Trappe , from North Carolina, stepped into the cartoon themed home before flying above the leon International Balloon Festivel in Mexico more than a week ago.
The 38-year-old Trappe was using the event as a warm-up for his planned trans-Atlantic flight scheduled for next summer ,He aims to complete the 2,500-mile journey in a seven-foot lifeboat carried by 365 huge helium（氦气）ballooms
The brave man is learning to sail a lifeboat ,in case he meeds to ditch (在海中迫降)into the ocean during the danger-filled adventure
He sill fly at between 18,000 feet and 25,000 feet , beating his previous world altitude record of 21,600 feet ,and must fly uninterrupted a distance ten times longer than his previous world record of 230 miles in order to succeed.
The adventurer Trappe ,who holes records for crossing the Alps, flying the most cluster balloons, and the longest distance , has opent his entire carreer ,building up to this ambitious plan.
“I didn’t wake up one day and think：‘I’ going to fly across the Atlantic, ’”he said “he said Every attempt before this was prepared for this fight ,I’ve been training for a long time”The adventurer flew across the English Channel to
| A．test the balloons |
| B．launch a house |
| C．shoot a hit movie |
| D．prepare for breaking a record |
To finish the journey ,he will fly a distance of
| A．2500 miles | B．18,000 feet | C．25,000 feet | D．230 miles |
About the ambitious journey ,which is NIT mentioned in the passage?
| A．When he will fly | B．How high he sill fly |
| C．How far he will fly | D．How long it will take him |
How many world records does Jonathan hold?
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |
What does he last paragraph imply?
| A．Trappe can’t sleep worrying about the adventure |
| B．Trappe was born to set world records |
| C．Trappe always keeps his ambition in mind |
| D．Trappe never thought of crossing the Ataantic before |
A Swedish man aws dug out alive after being snowed in car on a forest track for rwo months with no food, police and local media reported on Saturday, The 45-year-old from southern Sweden was found on Friday , Fedruary 17, Too weak to say more than a rew wouds, He was found not far from the city of UImea in the north of Sweden by snowmobilers who thought they had come across a ruined car until they dug their way to a window and wawmovement inside.
The man ,who was lying in the back seat in a sleeping bag ,said he had been in the car since December 19.
“Just incredible that he’s alive considering that he had no food,but also since it’s been ,really cold for some time after Christmas,” a rescue team member told regional daily Vasterbottens - Kuriren ,which broke the news.
Ebbe Nyberg, duty officer at the Umea police , said police waw no reason to doubt that the man had been stuck in the car for a very long time,“We sould not make up something like this, The rescue services were on site too and saw the same as us”,he told Vasterbottens-Kuriren.
Umea University Hospital ,where the man is recovering after being rescued by police and a rescue team , said in a statement he was doing well considering the circumstances.
Doctors at the hospital said humans would normally be able to survive for about four weeks without food ,Besides eating snow , the man probably survived by going into a dormant-like（休息似的）state ,physician Stefan Branth told Vasterbottens-Knriren ,“He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees which the body adjusted to ,Due to the low temperature ,not much energy was used up”Who found the Swedish man in the snow?
| A．Snowmobilers | B．The police | C．A rescue team | D．Local people |
“Police saw no reason to doubt that the man had been stuck in the car for a very long time”implies that
| A．police didn’t think it true |
| B．police were sure of the fact |
| C．police had some doubt on the fact |
| D．police had reasons to doubt the fact |
The reason shy the man could survive was most probably that
| A．he was only forty –five –year old | B．he did not use any energy |
| C．he slept in the sleeping bag | D．he was in a dormant-like state |
Which is the correct order of the following evernts?
a、The Swedish man was stuck in the snow
b、He was went to Umea University Hospital
c、He was found by snowmobilers
d、He was recovering after treatment
e、He stayed in his car for nearly two months
f、He was dug out by people
| A．eackfb | B．aecfbd | C．afcebd | D．ecfadb |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Traffic Accident | B．A long Sleep in Winter |
| C．An Incredible Survival | D．A Successful Rescue |