Once a general manager wanted to test his people, who had come from all over India, about their values of life. He announced that in their folders(文件夹), there is PVC pouch and in it there is a seed. When they return, they must put the seed in a pot with good soil and look after it very well. He would hold a competition at the next year’s seminar and the best plants would be awarded suitably.
Everyone did what was told to him. A year passed quickly. And the next year in a big hall, what a great scene! There were hundreds of pots and a great variety of plants-all except one. In this pot was soil, but no plant! The owner of the pot was standing quietly and feeling ashamed of himself.
The general manager called him on the stage. He asked him what happened and he told him the truth. He planted the seed, which he was given, and did what was to be done - but nothing happened!
The general manager declared(宣布) him the winner! Everyone was shocked.
It was announced, "Gentlemen! The seeds I gave you were boiled seeds. You planted them and nothing happened! You acted smartly and used some other seeds. This man was honest to his work and therefore, he did not cheat me or himself!"What’s the general manager’s purpose of giving a seed to each of his employees?
| A．He wanted to get some beautiful plants. |
| B．He wanted to improve his employees’ planting skill |
| C．He wanted to enrich his employees’ life. |
| D．He wanted to know whether his employees are honest. |
The man in the passage failed to get the plant because .
| A．he didn’t take good care of his seed |
| B．he wasn’t good at planting |
| C．his seed wasn’t as good as the other people’s |
| D．the seed had been boiled |
Why was everyone shocked after they heard the general manager’s declaration?
| A．They didn’t understand why the man failed to get the plant. |
| B．They didn’t understand why the man was the winner. |
| C．They didn’t know why the manager gave him the best seed. |
| D．They didn’t know why they couldn’t get the plants. |
The author wanted to tell us the importance of by writing this passage.
| A．being careful |
| B．being honest |
| C．knowing how to plant |
| D．knowing how to please the manager |
Authorities in Shanghai said Thursday night that another person has died from H7N9 bird flu, bringing the death toll to five around the country. The city has reported six infections (感染) to date, and four have died, said the Shanghai Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission. Of the rest two, there was a four-year-old, the agency said. The baby was recovering from mild illness, it added. The person died at Huashan Hospital on Wednesday and was confirmed infected with the H7N9 bird flu on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, the commission reported the city's third death from the H7N9 bird flu. The case involved a 48-year-old man surnamed Chu, a poultry (家禽) transporter from Rugao in neighboring Jiangsu Province. He developed symptoms(症状) of cough on March 28. After having a fever on Monday, he went to a private clinic for treatment. The man then sought help in the Tongji Hospital in Shanghai in the early hours of Wednesday after his condition worsened. Chu died three hours after being admitted to the hospital. He was confirmed infected with the H7N9 virus on Thursday. Eight people who had close contact with him have shown no abnormal symptoms.
So far, China has confirmed 14 H7N9 cases -- six in Shanghai, four in Jiangsu, three in Zhejiang and one in Anhui, in the first known human infections of the lesser-known type of bird flu. Of all, four died in Shanghai and one died in Zhejiang. China's Ministry of Agriculture said Thursday the H7N9 avian flu virus has been detected from pigeon (鸽子) samples collected at a marketplace in Songjiang District of Shanghai.
After gene sequence analysis, the national avian flu reference laboratory concluded that the H7N9 virus found on pigeons was highly congenetic with those found on persons infected with H7N9 virus. China's health authorities have promised transparency(透明) and cooperation (合作) to the World Health Organization in regards to human infections of the new type of bird flu. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that no human-to-human transmission of H7N9 has been discovered.What does the underlined word “confirmed” probably mean?
| A．said | B．doubted | C．proved | D．made |
What does the news report mainly about?
| A．How many people died of H7N9 bird flu |
| B．How the development of the H7N9 bird flu vaccine (疫苗) is going on |
| C．What measures the government has taken to stop the spreading of H7N9 |
| D．The new outbreak of the H7N9 bird flu |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the news report?
| A．H7N9 bird flu has killed four people in Shanghai and one in Zhejiang. |
| B．H7N9 virus is not one that spreads from human to human |
| C．So far, China has confirmed 14 deaths from the H7N9 bird flu |
| D．The government agreed to cooperate with WHO in regards to the H7N9 |
What can we infer from the second paragraph?
| A．Chu, a poultry transporter is the city’s third death from the H7N9 bird flu |
| B．Chu developed symptoms of cough and a fever |
| C．Chu died three hours after being admitted to a private clinic |
| D．Eight people who had close contact with him haven’t been infected with H7N9 |
Silence is unnatural to man．He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness．In between he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and he fears silence more than anything else．Even his conversation is an attempt to prevent a fearful silence．If he is introduced to another person, and a number of pauses occur in the conversation, he regards himself as a failure, a worthless person, and is full of envy of the emptiest headed chatterbox（喋喋不休的人）.He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly, but he is anxious to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a waxwork figure（蜡塑人像）.
The aim of conversation is not, for the most part, to communicate ideas; it is to keep up the buzzing sound. There are, it must be admitted, different qualities of buzz; there is even a buzz that is as annoying as the continuous noise made by a mosquito （蚊子）.But at a dinner party one would rather be a mosquito than a quiet person. Most buzzing, fortunately, is pleasant to the ear, and some of it is pleasant even to the mind. He would be a foolish man if he waited until he had a wise thought to take part in the buzzing -with his neighbors.
Those who hate to pick up the weather as a conversational opening seem to me not to know the reason why human beings wish to talk. Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new. Some of them are content if they are merely allowed to go on making a noise into other people's ears, though they have nothing to tell them except that they have seen two or three new plays or that they had food in a Swiss hotel. At the end of an evening during which they have said nothing meaningful for a long time, they just prove themselves to be successful conservationists.According to the passage, people usually talk to their neighbors_____.
| A．in the hope of learning something new |
| B．in the hope of getting on well |
| C．about whatever they want to |
| D．about whatever they have prepared |
According to the author, people make conversation to______.
| A．achieve success in life |
| B．overcome their fear of silence |
| C．exchange ideas |
| D．prove their value |
What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To persuade people to stop making noises． |
| B．To explain why people keep talking． |
| C．To discuss why people like talking about weather． |
| D．To encourage people to join in conversations． |
By "the buzzing of a fly"(Para.1), the author means"_____".
| A．the voice of a chatterbox |
| B．meaningless talk sound |
| C．a low whispering |
| D．the noise of an insect |
Most people want to know how things are made. They honestly admit, however, that they hardly know a thing when it comes to understanding how a piece of music is made. Where a composer begins, how he manages to keep going – in fact, how and when he learns his trade – all are covered in complete darkness. The composer, in short, is a man of mystery .
One of the first things the common man wants to know about is the part inspiration plays in a composer’s work. He finds it difficult to believe that composers are not much interested in that question. Writing music is as natural for the composer as eating or sleeping for all. Music is something that the composer happens to have been born for.
The composer, therefore, does not say to himself: “Do I feel inspired?” He says to himself: “Do I feel like working today?” And if he feels like working, he does. It is more or less like saying to himself: “Do I feel sleepy?” If you feel sleepy, you go to sleep. If you don’t feel sleepy, you stay up. If the composer doesn’t feel like working, he doesn’t work. It’s as simple as that.What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Composer: a man of mystery |
| B．Practice makes good music |
| C．Relation between sleeping and music |
| D．Music: product of nature |
Most people seem to think that a composer ____.
| A．finds it difficult to write music |
| B．considers it important to have a good rest |
| C．should like to talk about inspiration |
| D．never asks himself very simple questions |
The author will most probably agree that composers ____.
| A．are born with a gift for music |
| B．are people full of mystery |
| C．work late at night for their music |
| D．know a lot about eating and sleeping |
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
| A．Improving the quality. |
| B．Deciding the conditions. |
| C．Fixing the time. |
| D．Worsening the state. |
The passage is developed mainly by_________.
| A．giving examples |
| B．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
| C．pointing out similarities and differences |
| D．describing the changes in space order |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| B．The eating habit of African elephants. |
| C．Disappearance of African elephants |
| D．The effect of African elephants’ search for food |
What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
| A．They are home to many endangered animals. |
| B．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds. |
| C．They result from the destruction of rain forests. |
| D．They provide food mainly for African elephants. |
Besides giving off gases and dusts into the air, humans produce waste that is poured on the environment. Often, this waste produced by major industries and people is harmful to both nature and human life.
One of the main causes of the large amount of dangerous waste is that people do not realize how large a problem it is. Because it can be simply removed and sent to a landfill(废渣填埋场),the problem is often believed to end there. In addition, industries have often shown an unwillingness to find ways to deal with dangerous waste because of the related expenses. Many industries and governments build simple landfills to store waste, and often just pour waste chemicals into nearby bodies of water. Often, chemicals used for industrial production cause dangerous forms of waste.The amount of these chemicals has increased greatly in the past, but it is often difficult and expensive to get rid of these chemicals or to store them in a way safe to human life and the environment.
Every year, major health problems result from dangerous waste. Sadly, it is often only after someone has died or become seriously ill that governments will take measures to reduce levels of harmful waste.
Some governments have realized how serious the dangerous waste problem is and are now trying to settle this problem. They are also trying to limit the amount of waste industries are allowed to produce.
Notonly governments but ordinary people as well must work together to solve the problem. They can choose not to buy those products which require the production of dangerous waste, and produce less harmful waste themselves. Many scientists think that waste production can be cut. The waste can be reduced by at least one third using existing technologies and methods.What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Measures of Reducing Dangerous Waste |
| B．Danger of Harmful Waste to Mankind |
| C．Dangerous Waste and Water Pollution |
| D．Environmental Protection |
According to the text, people________ .
| A．do not produce harmful waste in their daily life |
| B．do not know where to place the dangerous waste |
| C．are not clear about how serious the dangerouswaste problem is |
| D．are not sure about where harmful waste ends |
What troubles industries most in dealing with the dangerous waste problem?
| A．How to get government support. |
| B．How to increase their production. |
| C．How to store harmful waste. |
| D．How to cut down the related costs. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The polluting industries are not allowed to sell their products. |
| B．Present technologies have settled the harmful waste problem. |
| C．Everyone should obey the government rules for the problem. |
| D．To solve the problem requires the efforts of the whole society. |