That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco.There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theater.With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines.I was having trouble with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time.As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco.City life had become too much for me.
As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold.I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away any possible robbers.Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.
About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me.I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun.The street was empty.All I saw was a shining streetlight.Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster.Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been.It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.
Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired anymore.I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise.Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.
Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck(垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next to me.When a voice called from the inside, “Alisa Camacho?” I thought I was dreaming.How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eyes.“Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape.
It was nearly 3 a.m.by the time I got into bed.I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had got my wallet back.I also had got back some enjoyment of city life.I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.How did the writer feel when she was walking home after work?
A.Disappointed and helpless | B.Lucky and hopeful |
C.Satisfied and cheerful | D.Cold and sick |
On her way home the writer_____.
A.lost her wallet unknowingly |
B.was stopped by a garbage truck driver |
C.was robbed of her wallet by a man with a knife |
D.found some homeless people following her |
In the fifth paragraph, why did the writer say she was dreaming?
A.Someone offered to take her back home. |
B.A red-haired man came to see her. |
C.She heard someone call her name. |
D.Her wallet was found in a garbage truck. |
From the text, we can infer that the writer_____.
A.would stop working at night |
B.would stay on in San Francisco |
C.would make friends with cleaners. |
D.would give up her job at the bank |
Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling or swimming, winter skating or skiing in winter. It may be a game of some kind, football, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering(爬山).
Those who have a passion(热情)for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks on high mountains? This astonishment is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different thing that it would be dangerous to ignore(忽视),but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”. We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no“matches”between“teams”of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork.
The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than men. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities
A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is not unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they probably climb with more skill and less waste of efforts and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.Mountaineering involves.
A.cold | B.hardship | C.physical risk | D.all of the above |
The difference between a sport and a game has something to do with the kind of .
A.activity | B.rules | C.uniform | D.participants |
Mountaineering can be called a team sport because.
A.it is an Olympic event |
B.teams compete against each other |
C.mountaineers depend on each other while climbing |
D.there are 5 climbers on each team. |
Which is the best title for the passage?
A.Mountaineering Is Different from Golf and Football k ![]() |
B.Mountaineering Is More Attractive than Other Sports |
C.Mountaineering |
D.Mountain Climbers |
What makes a person a scientist? Does he have ways or tools of learning that are different from those of others? The answer is “no”. It is not the tools a scientist uses but how he uses these tools that makes him a scientist. You will probably agree that knowing how to use a power is important to a carpenter. You will probably agree, too, that knowing how to investigate(调查),how to discover information, is important to everyone. The scientist, however, goes one step further, he must be sure that he has a reasonable answer to his questions and that his answer can be confirmed by other persons. He also works to fit the answers he gets to many questions into a large set of ideas about how the world works.
The scientist’s knowledge must be exact. There is no room for half right or right just half the time. He must be as nearly right as the conditions permit. What works under one set of conditions at one time must work under the same conditions at other times. If the conditions are different, any changes the scientist observes in a demonstration must be explained by the changes in the conditions. This is one reason that investigations are important in science. Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, arrived at this theory through mathematics. The accuracy of his mathematics was later tested through investigations. Einstein’s ideas were shown to be correct. A scientist uses many tools for measurements. Then the measurements are used to make mathematical calculations that may test his investigations.What makes a scientist according to the passage?
A.The tools he uses. | B.His ways of learning. |
C.The way he uses his tools. | D.The various tools he use |
“The scientist, however, goes one step further,” the author says this to show。
A.the importance of information |
B.the importance of thinking |
C.the difference between scientists and ordinary people![]() |
D.the difference between carpenters and people with other jobs. |
A sound scientific theory should be one that.
A.does not only work under one set of conditions at one time, but also works under the same conditions at other times |
B.leaves no room for improvement |
C.does not allow any change even under different conditions![]() |
D.can be used for many purposes |
What is the main idea of the passage?
A.Scientists are different from ordinary people. |
B.The theory of relativity. |
C.Exactness is the core(核心)of science. |
D.Exactness and way of using tools are the keys to the making of a scientist. |
Below is a table which shows the melting(液化)and boiling points of common substances.Study the table.Then do Numbers 4—7.
Substance |
Melting point(C) |
Boiling Point(C) |
Water Alcohol Nitrogen Oxygen |
0 –117 –210 -218 |
100 78 –196 –183 |
The underlined word‘substances'means‘a type of'_________.
A.matter | B.liquid |
C.solid | D.gas |
Which of the four should be a liquid at-90 degrees?
A.water | B.alcohol |
C.nitrogen | D.oxygen |
Mixing alcohol and water is often used to wash windscreens of cars during the wintertime because _________.
A.it is easier for alcohol to change into gas |
B.alcohol is not easily separated from water |
C.alcohol freezes at lower temperature than water |
D.the mixture is not expensive |
In order to change water from a solid to a liquid energy must be _________.
A.removed | B.added |
C.created | D.destroyed |
Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell. He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other words, we learn our looks—we are not born with them. A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around-family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the United States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that cannot be explained by genetics (遗传学). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth, it is learned after. In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many, this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country area where people smile more than those in other areas. In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York State still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do. Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance ___________.
A.has little to do with culture |
B.has much to do with culture |
C.is ever changing |
D.is different from place to place |
According to the passage, the final mouth shape is formed _____________.
A.before birth |
B.as soon as one’s teeth are newly set |
C.sometime after new teeth are set |
D.around 15 years old |
Ray Birdwhistell can tell what area of the United States a person is from by __________.
A.how much he or she laughs |
B.how he or she raises his or her eyebrows |
C.what he or she likes best |
D.the way he or she talks |
This passage might have been taken out of a book dealing with ____________.
A.physics | B.chemistry |
C.biology | D.none of the above |
Jonathan James looks like just another kid about to graduate from high school. But this 19-year-old Swede is anything but ordinary, from the computer in his parents’ home he helps the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) find out the world’s most wanted cyber criminals (网络犯罪分子).
Jonathan first made headlines when he and another Swede, Fredrik Bjoerck, found out the maker of the “Melissa” virus (病毒) in March 1999. He came to the aid of the FBI again on May 7, finding out the suspected (嫌疑的) sender of the dangerous “I LOVE YOU” virus. The suspect was caught in Manila on May 8.
Jonathan’s special skills are in hot demand as officials around the world express alarm at the “virtual” crimewave. In between studying for final exams, hanging out with friends and refereeing his younger brother’s football matches, the quiet, gentle teenager also gives lessons on e-security (电子安全) to large companies. He reads a lot and exchanges information with other computer experts to know much about the latest tricks of the hacker (黑客) trade.
Many companies have already tried to employ him, but he is not interested at the moment. Instead, he plans to begin law school in the autumn at Sweden’s Uppsala University and start up his own e-security company.
Although he works with the FBI now, his family insists he’s just “a regular kid”. “Jonathan is a great kid, he has his friends and he does a lot more than just play with the computer,” his little sister Tessa said, adding that he helps the FBI because “he likes to help”, not because he’s looking for fame and recognition.
When the world was hit by the “Love Bug” virus, Jonathan was too busy preparing a speech on e-security to look into the problem. “Finally on May 7, I had some free time, so I began looking.” Within a few hours, he had found the suspect and e-mailed his method and results to the FBI. He said his work on the “Melissa” virus, which took three weeks to solve, was a big help in finding the suspect so quickly.
“This time I knew exactly where to start, I knew what to disregard and what to look at.” The passage mainly wants to tell us that ___________.
A.Swedish kid helps FBI find out the most wanted cyber criminals |
B.Jonathan is really a quiet, gentle and ordinary boy |
C.many companies want the young computer expert to join in |
D.any cyber criminals will surely be found out wherever they are |
The public started to know something about Jonathan just from _________.
A.his helping the US FBI to find out the sender of the dangerous “I LOVE YOU” virus |
B.his work together with Fredrik Bjoerck to find out the maker of the “Melissa” virus |
C.his little sister’s talk about his good qualities as a regular kid and a good programmer |
D.his speech on e-security to many computer companies after his fight against hackers |
From Jonathan’s success in finding out the sender of the dangerous ‘Love Bug” virus we can infer that _________.
A.where there’s a will, there’s a way |
B.experience is knowledge |
C.hard work leads to success |
D.failure is the mother of success |
What do we know about Jonathan?
A.He is a good fame hunter with various abilities. |
B.He is such a brave fighter that any criminal will feel afraid. |
C.He is an expert on security, not interested in running a company. |
D.He is a regular kid but does something unusual. |