【2014年江苏省宿迁市中考】
Holmes said, “Somebody sent a letter with five pips (桔核) in it from India, and arrived seven weeks later to kill John’s uncle. Then they sent five pips from Scotland and arrived three days later to kill John’s father. Now they have sent five pips to John from London!”
“The letters are all from sea ports (海港). The writer was on a ship when he wrote the letters,” I replied.
“Very good, Watson! And John’s enemy is in London already!”
“Well, I hope they won’t kill young John,” I said.
But they did. The next morning, we read in the newspaper that a policeman found him die near Waterloo station. Holmes was very angry about it.
“He came to me for help and those men murdered him! I’m going to find them, if it’s the last thing I do!” he said to me, and he hurried out of the house.
At night, when he came back, he was tired, but pleased, he said, “I know the names of John’s enemies! And now I’m going to send them a surprise! This will frighten them!” He took five pips from an orange and put them in an envelope (信封). On it he wrote “S. H. for J. C.”
“I’m sending the pips to captain James Calhoun. His ship is called the Star. He and his men are sailing back to Georgia, USA.”
“How did you find him, Holmes?” I asked.
“Ship’s papers,” he said, “I’ve looked at hundreds of them today. Only one ship, the Star, was in the three ports at the right times, this morning the Star left London to sail back to Georgia. I found out that the captain and two of his men, all Americans, weren’t on the ship last night, so I’m sure they killed John. When they arrive in America, they’ll get the pips and then the police will catch them!”
Holmes was ________ about John’s death.
| A．curious | B．angry | C．crazy | D．worried |
The Star left London for ________.
| A．Canada | B．Australia |
| C．India | D．America |
Who do you think the underlined letters “J. C.” stand for?
A. James Calhoun B. James Columbus
C. John Calhoun D. John Columbus
Which order is correct according to the story?
①John came to Holmes for help.
② John received a letter with five pips.
③John was killed.
④ Holmes sent five pips to J. C.
A. ③①④② B. ③④①②
C. ④①③② D. ②①③④
Now some women are spending a weekend at Mother’s Camp. There, husbands and children are not allowed. Why would a woman want to take a vacation without her family? Some women say they need time to be alone.
At Mother’s Camp a woman has room to herself. She can sleep, read or watch TV, and no one will bother her. No children will ask, ”Mom, what’s for dinner?” No husband will say, “Oh, dear, I can’t find any clean socks.” In fact almost 50% of women in the United States work outside the home. Many of them work full- time and then come home to a second job – taking care of their homes and families. These working women say one of their biggest problems is housework.
In the United States, working wives do about 75% of the housework. Many of their husbands say they want to help. But then they burn the rice or they can’t find the pans. They ask so many questions that their wives decide it is easier to do the job themselves.
Some women go to Mother’s Camp just to get a break from housework. For two days they don’t cook, they don’t clean, they don’t look after their children and husbands. What do they do? They enjoy warm, sunny weather, walking, swimming or boating in a clear blue lake and sing songs around the camp-fire. They relax away from home. They have a really wonderful vacation at Mother’s Camp. From this passage we can see ________ in the United States.
| A．women want to work outside the home |
| B．working wives do most of the housework |
| C．husbands do as much housework as their wives |
| D．women like being bothered by their families |
At Mother’s Camp, women can’t _______.
| A．watch TV | B．read newspapers |
| C．swim in the lake | D．bring their husbands and children |
Why would some mothers like to be alone? Because _________.
| A．they don’t like their husbands and children |
| B．they have to work full – time |
| C．they are too busy to relax themselves |
| D．they want a new life |
________ is one of the biggest trouble for working wives in the United States.
| A．Housework | B．Working outside the home |
| C．When to take a vacation | D．Looking after their children |
What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．Busy Working Mothers | B．Welcome to Mother’s Camp |
| C．Mothers Relax Away from Home | D．Mothers in the U.S. |
A group of frogs were travelling through the woods. Two of them, Nick and Jack, fell into a deep pit(坑). All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told Nick and Jack that they were as good as dead.
Nick and Jack ignored(不理睬) what the other frogs said and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their strength. The other frogs went on telling them to stop, and that they were as good as dead. Nick listened to them and gave up. Finally, he fell down and died.
Jack continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the frogs around the pit shouted at him to stop the pain(痛苦) and just die. Jack jumped even harder and finally got out. When he was out, the other frogs asked, “Did not you hear us?” Jack explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him all the time. Nick and Jack fell into a pit when they were __________.
| A．holding a meeting | B．taking exercise |
| C．travelling through the woods | D．sleeping in the woods |
The other frogs told Nick and Jack to stop because they thought the pit was too ______.
| A．big | B．strange | C．small | D．deep |
From the story we know _______ died in the end.
| A．Nick | B．Jack | C．Nick and Jack | D．all the frogs |
When the other frogs shouted at Jack to stop the pain and just die, he __________.
| A．stopped jumping | B．jumped harder |
| C．fell down and died | D．gave up trying |
Jack finally got out because ________.
| A．the pit wasn’t deep | B．he thought the others encouraged him |
| C．he climbed a ladder | D．his friends pulled him out |
How do you make friends? Some students are sharing their ideas with us.
 TomAlthough we are quite different, Adam and I have been close friends for 5 years. We have a lot to talk. We play basketball together after school. We go for a picnic at weekends. It’s always a pleasure to be with him. |
 YumiI spend my spare time mostly with people from other countries. When I’m with them, I really get to know what they’re like and how easy they are to get along with. They help me to improve my English. |
 AnnaI’ve made some good friends at the gym I go to. People there are very friendly. Talking to them as I take exercise is a good way for us to get to know each other. |
 PeterI can make more friends on the Internet because it keeps me in touch with the whole world. I can get worldwide stories from my friends all over the world. |
Adam is ______ friend.
| A．Tom’s | B．Yumi’s | C．Anna’s | D．Peter’s |
Anna likes to make friends who ________________.
| A．are different from each other . | B．like surfing the Internet |
| C．have the similar interest | D．speak English. |
With the help of her friends, Yumi ______.
| A．takes more exercise | B．learns English better |
| C．feels happier at picnics | D．knows more about the world |
What helps Peter make more friends?
| A．The story. | B．The sport. | C．The Internet. | D．The language. |
According to the passage, which is Not True?
| A．Peter often tells his friends funny stories. |
| B．Anna often takes exercise. |
| C．Yumi’s friends are easy to get along get with. |
| D．Adam and Tom often go for a picnic at weekends. |
China's first moon rover (月球车), Yutu, set off from the lander early on December 15, several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe (探测器) soft-landed on the moon surface.
The 140 kg six-wheeled rover touched the moon surface at 4:35 a.m., leaving deep lines on the loose moon land. This was recorded by the camera on the lander and the images were sent to the earth, according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center. After that, the rover and lander will take photos of each other and start their own science explorations.
Earlier this morning, engineers made final checks of the environment of the landing area and the situation of the probe. Yutu, reached its solar panel (光板) and started to drive slowly to the moon at 3:10 a.m.. It took Yutu nearly a whole hour to complete the simple task.
Chang'e-3 landed at the Bay of Rainbows on the moon, at 9:11 p.m. on December 14, making China the
third country in the world to carry out such a mission (执行此类任务) after the United States and Russia.
In old Chinese tales, Yutu was the white pet rabbit of Chang'e’s. The name for the rover was selected following an online survey that collected several million votes from people around the world.
The rover, 1.5 meters long with its two wings folded (折叠), 1 m in width and 1.1 m in height, is a perfect robot controlled by the command center from the earth. It will face challenges including temperature differences of more than 300℃ on the moon.
Yutu will do some research and look for natural resources (资源) for three months, while the lander will conduct an exploration at the landing place for one year. Then they will have a good rest on the moon and will not be used for a long time until China’s next probe visits the moon again. Which is the best title for the passage above?
| A．The first rover on the moon | B．The tale of Chang’e |
| C．The journey to the moon | D．Yutu explores the moon |
Which is the correct order of the following events?
a. The 140 kg six-wheeled rover touched the moon surface.
b. The rover and lander will take photos of each other.
c. Yutu started to drive slowly to the moon.
d. Chang'e-3 landed at the Bay of Rainbows on the moon.
| A．a-b-c-d | B．c-d-a-b | C．d-c-a-b | D．c-a-b-d |
What does the underlined word width mean in Chinese?
| A．智力 | B．宽度 | C．重量 | D．长度 |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The moon had been visited by only two countries before 2013. |
| B．Yutu is a perfect robot under the control of its own computer. |
| C．Yutu and Chang’e will return to the earth after the one-year mission. |
| D．Chang’e-3 is 140 kg in weight. |
There will soon be a second moon rover to explore the moon. Which is its proper name?
| A．Chang’e-4 | B．Yutu-2 | C．Shenzhou-11 | D．Tiangong-2 |
7 January, 2014
A new report says more and more international students are attending colleges and universities in the United States. It also notes a large increase in the number of international students from China.
These findings are from the latest Open Doors Report. The report documents the record number of international students in the United States during 2012, 2013 school year. It says more than seven hundred sixty-four thousand four-hundred such students were attending American colleges and universities during the last two years. That represents an increase of almost six percent than one year earlier.
On the other hand, the number of Americans studying overseas (海外) increased by one percent, which reached nineteen thousand this year.
The report says one hundred ninety-four thousand students at American colleges and universities were from
China. That is an increase of more than twenty-three percent over the year before. Peggy Blumenthal, an expert(专家) of international education, described the effect of the increase in Chinese students.
"Now they have been coming for some time. But this year was the highest level ever." She says many Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children. The children mainly choose to study in America.
"We know many of them have enough income to be able to afford to send them anywhere in the world that they want to go. And for the most part, looking around the world, Chinese students still prefer to come to the United States as their choice."
Chinese students are not the only ones who want to attend American colleges and universities. After China, India sends the second largest number of students to the United States for higher education. India has about one hundred thousand students in American schools. South Korea is third with about seventy two thousand students.
Why do so many foreign students study in the United States? Peggy Blumenthal provides one reason.
"The advantage America has is that we have a huge system and a very perfect system. So there are over four thousand universities and colleges in the United States. Among them are some top ones in the world, and what that tells us is there is still a lot of room to host international students."
Foreign students represent less than four percent of the total student population in American higher education. And from Learning English, that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty. Thanks for listening.Bob Doughty seems to be ________.
| A．an exchange student from the USA |
| B．an expert of international education |
| C．a viewer of VOA |
| D．a reporter from VOA |
Which country below has the fewest students studying overseas?
| A．South Korea | B．India | C．China | D．America |
Which is NOT the reason why so many Chinese students go to the USA for further study?
A. Lots of Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children
B. The USA has a huge and a very perfect education system.
C. There is a lot of room to host international students in the USA.
D. The USA has some top universities and colleges in the world.Which of the following statement is true?
| A．China has 122,000 more students than South Korea at American colleges and universities. |
| B．The number of Americans studying overseas is becoming smaller and smaller. |
| C．The number of Asian students has an increase of 6% over the past two years. |
| D．Most of the international students in the United States are Chinese. |
This passage from VOA Special English is most likely to be ________.
| A．An advertisement | B．A radio programme | C．A science report | D．A tour guide |