Every morning Grandpa got up early sitting at the table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the book do?” The grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket instead.The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.”
The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless !”“So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean.
“Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.”What puzzled the grandson most was ________.
| A．what kind of book he could understand |
| B．why he forgot what he read soon |
| C．whether it was useful to read books |
| D．how he could read books like his grandpa |
Why did Grandpa ask his grandson to fetch a basket of water? _______
| A．To punish him for not reading carefully. |
| B．To get him to realize the use of reading books. |
| C．To train him to run faster. |
| D．To clean the dirty basket in the river. |
What lesson can we learn from the story? ________
| A．It is foolish to carry water with a basket. |
| B．The old are always wiser than the young. |
| C．You can’t expect to remember whatever you read. |
| D．Reading books can change a person gradually. |
What can be the best title for the text? _______
| A．Grandpa and grandson |
| B．Carrying water in a basket |
| C．Reading for total changing |
| D．Baskets and books |
Mary Jean Price Walls graduated second in her class in 1950.She had high hopes when she applied to a local college,Southwest Missouri State College.But after sending off her application，she spent months waiting for a reply.It never came.
Worse than simply being denied admission(拒绝接收)，the school didn’t reply to her at all.It wasn’t a matter of her school records，but of her skin color：Wallsis African American，and in those days，that fact alone closed a lot of doors. “I was sad and I was hurt,”Walls told ABC News.“I did not expect the skin color would affect my application.I thought I could go to university like other students.”
Four years later，the government declared that all schools should not discriminate against(歧视)African Americans— but it was too late for Walls.She’d moved on with her life, becoming a wife and a mother，and working as an elevator operator.She retired last year，at the age of 77.
She stayed quiet about the unfairness she’d faced in Missouri State.Her son，Terry，went through school records and found that she’d been the first black student to ever apply to the college.Today,four percent of the Southwest Missouri State College body is African American—including Terry.
Although it’s too late for Missouri State to change the past，the school is awarding Walls with an honorary degree(荣誉学位)from the school.While she knows it’s too late for herto change the course of her own life with the degree，it’s a chance for her to show her family that Missouri State has changed in the last 60 years，and there’s not a single door closed to them anymore.Walls couldn’t enter the local college because________.
| A．her examination performance is too bad |
| B．girls were not allowed to go to college |
| C．she was an AfricanAmerican student |
| D．her parents had no enough money to support her |
Before she was denied Walls thought that________.
| A．her application would be accepted as others’ |
| B．it was hard to become a college student |
| C．it was impossible for her to be admitted |
| D．she could be the best student in her college |
What can we know about Walls’s son?
| A．He helped his mother get the honorary degree. |
| B．He is a good student who teachers like best. |
| C．He was admitted by the college once his mother applied to. |
| D．He wants to be a government official who can help his mother. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Walls did not fight for her right to education. |
| B．The college did not receive Walls’s application. |
| C．Walls got a good job after she received the degree. |
| D．The government gave Walls some money for the wrongs. |
Walls’s honorary degree suggests that________.
| A．she could change her life with the degree |
| B．her dream of going to college has come true |
| C．she has been leading a happy life with her family |
| D．great changes have taken place in Missouri State |
I began working in journalism（新闻工作）when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.
With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.
“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“ None.”
“ Where did you go?”
“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“ What did you do?”
“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“ You just stood there?”
“ Didn’t sell a single one.”
“ My God, Russell!”
Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickle（五分镍币）. It was the first nickle I earned.
Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence（自信）, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.
“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.Why did the boy start his job young?
| A．He wanted to be famous in the future. |
| B．The job was quite easy for him. |
| C．His mother had high hopes for him. |
| D．The competiton for the job was fierce. |
From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.
| A．excited | B．interested | C．ashamed | D．disappointed(失望的) |
What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?
| A．She forced him to continue. | B．She punished him. |
| C．She gave him some money. | D．She changed her plan. |
What does the underlined phrase “this battle”（last paragraph） refer to?
| A．The war between the boy’s parents. |
| B．The arguing between the boy and his mother. |
| C．The quarrel between the boy and his customers. |
| D．The fight between the boy and his father. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The early life of a journalist. |
| B．The early success of a journalist. |
| C．The happy childhood of the writer. |
| D．The important role of the writer in his family. |
Below is a web page from Google.
Olympic—Modern Olympic Games
The completer results archive of summer and winter Olympic games, with winners lists, statistics, national anthems and flags of all contries since 1896.
www. olympic. it/english/home-16k
Environment
Beijing steel plants to run at the lowest level of cost during 2008 Olympics [2007-03-11] Beijing able to treat 90 pct of waste water [2007-02-05] ·Air quality in Beijing has improved over the past six years [2007-02-01]·Green Olympics dream coming true …
en. Beijing2008.com/80/67/column211716780.shtml-52k
Beijing announces planned roule of Olympic torch relay
Beijing announced the 2008 Olympic Games torch relay route and set off the Olympic Games torch on Thursday. … Green Olympics is one of the three concepts of the Beijing Games. …
english.china.com/zh_cn/news/sports/110592227/14069663.html-26k
Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’
Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’, officially announced on Saturday, 24 September 2005. The symbol, created using a calligraphic art form, is composed of human and tree-like shapes, …
my.opera.com/green_head/blog/show.dml/92155-18k
Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004
On behalf of BOCOC, Wang Wei, executive vice president of BOCOC, gave a presentation about Green Olympics, introduced the environment protection work of BMC and BOCOC, and answered several questions such as protection of cultural relics …
en.beijing2008.com/84/91/article211929184.shtml-36k
Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia
Who was the founder of the Modern Olympics? In which cities were the modern Olympic Games due to be held/ scheduled during the ‘war years’, i.e., 1916, 1940, and 1944? … In which three years of the Modern Olympic Games were … More questions …
www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/sports/ olympic_games.html-12k
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
… aimed at young researchers engaged in scholarly research on the Olympic Movement, its history and values, and the impact of the …[ Full story] SPORT ACCORD[2005-01-23]…
www.olympic.org/
Ancient Olympic Heritage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004
As put forward in the various official texts, the Olympic symbols of ancient Olympia, the Olympic flame and the Marathon race are bridges between the ancient and the modern Olympic Games, …
www.c2008.org/rendanews/knowledge_detail.asp?id=911-106kWhen was the environmental symbol of Beijing Olympics made public?
| A．On January 23, 2005. | B．On September 24, 2005. |
| C．On February 5, 2007. | D．On March 11, 2007. |
Which of the following websites is designed for young researchers interested in the Olympics?
| A．Environment |
| B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004 |
| C．Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia |
| D．OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT |
Which website provides a complete list of the winners in the Olympic Games?
| A．Olympic—Modern Olympic Games |
| B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004 |
| C．Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’ |
| D．Ancient Olympic Hertiage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004 |
What do we learn from the above web page?
| A．Beijing has made efforts to improve its air quality. |
| B．The Olympic torch relay route has not been planned. |
| C．The Olympic flag will be on display in Athens. |
| D．A quiz on the Olympics will be held in Beijing. |
There are many special hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.
Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.
In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt: the walls, the roof, the tables, the chairs and the beds.
The sun heats the walls and roof during the day. So the rooms stay warm at night, though it’s cold outside in the desert. The hotel has twelve rooms. A single room costs $40 a night, and a double room $60.
A sign on the hotel’s wall tells guests, “Please don’t lick (舔) the walls.”Where did the salt for the hotel come from?
| A．A cave. | B．The lake. | C．The salt desert. | D．A salt field. |
What keeps the rooms in the Salt Palace Hotel warm at night?
| A．The water in the lake. | B．The sand in the desert. |
| C．The furniture in the rooms. | D．The heat from the walls and roof. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A large lake. | B．A special hotel. | C．A beautiful wall. | D．A famous desert. |
Most schools are named after famous people. Other schools are named after the streets on which they are located. Some school names are most unusual. How they were chosen is anyone’s guess.
There are schools with names that would make a person think twice before opening the door. The school named Lookout at least warns pupils in advance. You would need the most courage of all to enter the school in Oregon named Tenkiller!
Not all unusual school names are strange in a fearful way. Many of the names are pleasant. Who would not feel at home in the school named Welcome? What could go wrong in the school called Allgood? The Bright School, located in Montana, seems to promise that much learning will take place.
Other schools have names neither pleasant nor fearful. Their names are simply funny. There are schools with names such as Telephone, and Ducktown. For names to make us smile, what can match Bushyhead in the state of Georgia?
Do you think you can find the Nonesuch School? If you look carefully at the word, you will see that its name says there is no such school, but there is. The Nonesuch School is found in Kentucky.One pleasant school name in the passage is _______.
| A．Telephone | B．Tenkiller | C．Lookout | D．Allgood |
When you hear of the school name Bushyhead, you will find it _______.
| A．terrible | B．fearful | C．funny | D．familiar |
The Bright School is found in the state of _______.
| A．Georgia | B．Kentucky | C．Oregon | D．Montana |