We don’ t always get a second chance to achieve our dreams. But some people are lucky, like Matthew McConaughey. Once almost unknown, the actor has recently found himself back on the list of the best actors in Hollywood. His new movie Interstellar is just another sign that his career reinvention has been an incredible success. “The film relies on McConaughey’ s performance to hold together the emotional story of a father and his daughter against the background of space travel and the end of the world,”Forbes commented.
But only years ago, the Texas native was often the butt of jokes（笑柄）about being too handsome. In 1993, after meeting with director Richard Linklater, McConaughey starred in Dazed and Confused. And a Hollywood career was born, mostly in romantic comedies. For a long time, the whole world believed McConaughey was just a handsome guy with comic talent.
But McConaughey stopped starring in that type of movie, and began to use his looks differently. Slowly he built up his reputation as a serious actor. In 2013, McConaughey was offered to play an AIDS activist in Dallas Buyers Club. The role saw the normally muscular actor losing 50 pounds in order to appear sick. His performance won him an Oscar for Best Actor.
The actor gave thanks to someone he has always looked up to as a hero during his Oscar acceptance speech. When he was 15, the actor said, he decided that his hero would be himself in 10 years. But 10 years later, he pushed the deadline ahead another decade. Then 10 years later, another decade.“My hero’ s always 10 years away,” he said. “I’ m never going to attain that. That keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.”Or perhaps constantly chasing the chance to be his own hero has given him a second chance to follow his dreams.Why was McConaughey often the butt of jokes in his early career?
| A．He was limited to handsome roles. |
| B．He was unknown to the audience. |
| C．He played in romantic comedies. |
| D．He was handsome and emotional. |
What role won Mc Conaughey an Oscar for Best Actor?
| A．A caring father. | B．An AIDS activist. |
| C．A serious buyer. | D．A strong hero. |
What can we learn about McConaughey？
| A．He was born in Hollywood. |
| B．He has become a hero of his own. |
| C．He wasn’ t famous until recently. |
| D．He isn’ t content with his achievements. |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．McConaughey, a Romantic Comedian |
| B．McConaughey, a Man Making a Hit |
| C．McConaughey, a Man Daring to change |
| D．McConaughey, Handsome and Talented |
Moral（道德的）science is taught as a subject in most schools but with little effect. Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that morality is not a science, strictly speaking. It is too much of a social phenomenon, and also has too much of the personal and subjective things mixed within. Besides, morality itself changes with generations. So it is impossible to be defined in a textbook.
I remember sitting through forty minutes of moral lessons, which told stories about little children who never told lies and were rewarded for their goodness. It had little effect and left no impression on me, though.
If moral science has to be taught as a subject in schools, it needs a participatory(参与其中的) approach. When you tell a child about morals, you also have to deal with social norms（规范）and cultural differences. You have to explain that morality can be subjective, and be able to co-exist in society. You will probably have to refer to the morals of the present time.
The best way to tell a child how to live is to show him what is valued. If a child likes his friend, you have to make the child think about why. Once the child notices and recognizes goodness in others, he or she is likely to develop it as well.
In fact, children learn most of their morals by watching people around them. They absorb behavior patterns from teachers and older students. They watch to see what is rewarded and who is punished. They learn on the sports field and through social work. Moral science lessons should simply consist of letting them live and interact, and watch you support correct values and reward good behavior.Which is NOT the reason that moral science is taught in schools but with little effect?
| A．Morality doesn’t strictly belong to a science. |
| B．Morality is more like a social phenomenon. |
| C．Different generations have different moral ideas. |
| D．Morality can’t be written down in textbooks. |
The author describes his own experience of having moral lessons in order to _____.
| A．explain telling lies is not moral for little children. |
| B．advise people should be rewarded for their goodness. |
| C．prove moral lessons in schools have little effect. |
| D．show he has no opinions about moral science. |
When you tell a child about morals, you should________.
| A．teach him to share personal moral ideas with others. |
| B．tell him about social norms and cultural differences. |
| C．explain that nobody can influence his moral ideas. |
| D．say that the present morals are likely to be changed. |
What is the last paragraph mainly about?
| A．The best way of teaching children about morals. |
| B．The value of teachers’ setting a good example. |
| C．The influence of people’s behavior on morals. |
| D．The importance of rewarding good behavior. |
May : Happenings from the past
May 5,1884
Isaac Murphy , son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history , rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby . He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times .
May 9 , 1754
Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon （漫画）, showing a snake cut in pieces, with the words “ Join or Die” printed under the picture.
May 11,1934
The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl , the result of years of drought（干旱），blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington , D.C. .
May 19, 1994
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis , former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s , died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64 .
May 24, 1844
Samuel F.B. Morsr taps out the first message , “ What Hath God Wrought ,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C. , to Baltimeore , Md .We know from the text that Buchanan is_____________.
| A．Isaac”s father |
| B．a winnning horse |
| C．a slave taking care of horses |
| D．the first racing horse in Kentucky |
What is the title of the first American political cartoon ?
| A．Join or Die |
| B．Pennsylvania Gazette |
| C．What Hath God Wrought |
| D．Kentucky Derby |
In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die ?
| A．1934 | B．1960 | C．1964 | D．1994 |
Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history ?
A. Washington , D. C. B. New York City
C. Kentucky. D. Pennsylvania
How men first learned to invent words is unknown, in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters, we call words.
The power of words, then, lies in their association-the thing they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and the sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increase.
Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey （表达，传递）his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should, therefore, learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they make our speech silly and vulgar.（粗俗的）Which of the following about a real poet is NOT true?
| A．He is less than a master of words. |
| B．His style is always charming. |
| C．His poem can move men to tears. |
| D．He can express his ideas in words that sing like music. |
Where does the real power of the words come from?
| A．From the words themselves. |
| B．From their characteristics. |
| C．From their curiosity. |
| D．From their association. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The importance of choosing words. |
| B．Where the real power of words come from. |
| C．What great writers are like. |
| D．We should learn to choose words carefully. |
阅读下面短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题（请注意问题后的词数要求。）
A nurse of 78 this weekend celebrates 60 years of walking the wards — and she has no plans to retire.
Jackie Reid was 18 when she started work in 1953 — when the National Health Service（NHS）was just five years old — and is believed to be the oldest nurse in Britain.
The diabetes（糖尿病）specialist had to retire at 65 but returned as a nurse within two weeks and still does up to four seven-and-a-half hour shifts（轮班）each week. Mrs. Reid said, “Nursing is hard if you do it correctly but I love my job. Working for the NHS has been my life. I have no other hobbies because I have worked all my life.”
Jackie has worked at a number of different hospitals — including one in Scotland.
Her specialist field has been diabetes for the past 40 years. She retrained after her 12-year-old daughter Michelle developed the disease. She currently works at South end Hospital, Essex.
Over the last 60 years she has treated tens of thousands of patients.
Jackie believes nursing should be protected from government cuts. She said, “There’re lots of things I would say to the government. If you are going to get good care you have to have the resources（资源）, you can’t do it without enough money. They shouldn’t need the cuts that there are in the NHS. It’s hard now because there’s a shortage of staff.”
Jackie has lived alone in Grays, Essex, since her husband died three years ago.
The couple have two daughters Michelle, 50, and Karen, 54.
Jackie added, “My youngest daughter worries about me — she doesn’t think I should work as much as I do. I constantly say “don’t worry about me, I‟m fine”, but she never believes me. I don‟t like the thought of giving it up and will try to keep going forever.”In which year was the NHS set up? (within 2 words)
——————————————————————————————————What does Jackie think of nursing? (within 6 words)
——————————————————————————————————When did Jackie retrain in the field of diabetes? (within 6words)
——————————————————————————————————What does Jackie wish the government to do? (within 7 words)
——————————————————————————————————Why does Jackie’s daughter worry about her? (within 8 words)
_____________________________________________________________________
Babies are not just passing idle time when they stare at the television--they are actually learning about the world, U. S. researchers said.
Parents may want to limit what their babies see on television, based on the study, said Donna Mumme, assistant professor of psychology at Tuffs University in Boston, who led the research. "Children as young as 12 months are making decisions based on the emotional reactions of adults around them," Mumme said in a statement. "It turns out they can also use emotional information they pick up from television." Mumme's team already knew that babies watch other children and adults for information about the world. A mother urging her baby to eat some "yummy" soup or a brother crying in fear when a dog approaches can influence a baby's reaction.
Mumme's team tested babies to determine if television has the same influence, showing actors reacting on a videotape to objects such as red letter holder, a blue ball, and a yellow lubber. Babies aged 10 months or 12 months were later given the same objects to play with. Ten-month-olds did not seem to be influenced by the videos, but the 1-year-olds were. When the actors acted naturally or positively to an object, the babies happily played with them. But if the actor had seemed afraid or disgusted, the babies would avoid the object.The underlined word "psychology" means the study of_____________.
| A．human's society and its growth |
| B．human's hopes and dreams |
| C．human's mind and how it works |
| D．human's languages and cultures |
Which of the following is Mumme's conclusion?
| A．Small babies should not be allowed to watch television programs. |
| B．Adults should let their babies do nothing but watch television. |
| C．TV programs provide small babies with all the information they need. |
| D．One-year-olds can be emotionally influenced by TV programs. |
Mumme reached his conclusion by_____________.
| A．measuring the time babies spent in front of TV |
| B．making TV programs and advertisements for kids |
| C．showing actors how to react to blue balls |
| D．observing small babies' reactions to TV programs |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the researchers?
| A．Parents may want to limit what their babies see on television. |
| B．Actors may try to behave themselves well in front of babies. |
| C．Babies may be allowed to choose what they see on TV. |
| D．Watching TV does harm to babies' eyes. |