Stayinthemagicwithyourfriendsa-优题课

My Left Foot (1989)
Imagine being a prisoner of your own body, unable to make any movements except to move your left foot. The main character in My Left Foot, based on the real story of cerebral palsy (大脑性麻痹) sufferer Christy Brown, can barely move his mouth to speak, but by controlling his left foot, he’s able to express himself as an artist and poet. For his moving performance of Brown, Daniel Lewis won his first Academy Award for best actor.

Shine (1996)
Do you have a talent you’re afraid to share with the world? David Helfgott seemed meant from childhood to be “one of the truly great pianists,” but the pressures of performing (and pleasing his father) resulted in a complete breakdown. Ten years in a mental institution didn’t weaken Helfgott’s musical gift: When he was rediscovered, he was playing concertos in a bar. Shine received seven Oscar nominations (提名), and Geoffrey Rush won best actor for his performance of Helfgott.

Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Nothing’s more powerful than the love between a parent and a child. In this heartbreaking Italian film, a father (Roberto Benigni) makes an unbelievable sacrifice for his 4-year-old son: trapped in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, the Jewish man convinces his boy that they are playing a complicated game. He manages to spare him the horror of the terrible war, and even in his final moments of life, keeps his son smiling and hopeful. Benigni won the best actor Oscar.

Stand and Deliver (1988)
Few people can inspire us more than a good teacher. Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos got Oscar nomination for best actor) is a great one. Employed at a high school where kids are expected to fail, Escalante challenges his math students to struggle for better things, like getting good grades in the AP exam. Despite the obstacles in their lives, the classmates accomplish their goals, thanks to Mr. Escalante’s support. The real Jaime Escalanteis, the Best Teacher in America, says that Stand and Deliver is “90% truth, 10% drama.”

The underlined part in the passage means _________.

A．The main character in My Left Foot is a prisoner

B．The main character in My Left Foot is trapped by others

C．The main character in My Left Foot is a disabled person

D．The main character in My Left Foot can’t control his whole body

If you want to watch a movie about wars, which may be one of your choices?

A．My Left Foot.	B．Shine.
C．Life Is Beautiful.	D．Stand and Deliver.

What do the four movies have in common?

A．They are all based on real stories.

B．They are all inspiring stories that make a difference.

C．The main characters all won Academy Award for Best Actor.

D．The main characters are all sick to some degree but succeed.

Taking photographs at a birthday or a wedding has become as natural as blowing out candles or cutting the cake. But our obsession with recording every detail of our happiest moments could be damaging our ability to remember them, according to new research. A study has shown that taking pictures rather than concentrating fully on the events in front of us prevents memories taking hold.
Dr. Linda Henkel, from Fairfield University, Connecticut, described it as the "photo-taking impairment effect". She said: "People so often pull out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point where they are missing what is happening right in front of them. When people rely on technology to remember for them—counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves—it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences."
Dr Henkel and her team carried out an experiment in a museum, to learn if taking pictures of the exhibits was hindering the ability of visitors to remember what they had seen.
A group of university students were led on a tour at the Bellarmine Museum of Art at Fairfield University and were asked to either photograph or try and remember objects on display. The next day their memory was tested. The results showed that people were less accurate in recognizing the objects they had photographed than those they had only looked at. It was found that their memory for the details of the objects they had photographed was poorer.
Henkel's lab is currently investigating whether the content of a photo, such as whether you are in it, affects later memory. She is also researching whether actively choosing what to photograph might influence what we remember.
Previous research suggests that reviewing photos we have taken does help us remember the objects, but only if we take the time.
"Research has suggested that the sheer volume and lack of organization of digital photos for personal memories discourages many people from accessing and recalling them. In order to remember, we have to access and interact with the photos, rather than just collect them," said Dr Henkel.
What does the word “them”, in the first paragraph, refer to?

A．Gifts at a birthday.

B．People who go to parties.

C．Photos taken at a wedding.

D．Details of the happiest moments.

What is the “photo-taking impairment effect”?

A．Some unhappy events may impair the effects of photos.

B．Taking photographs of objects ruins one’s memory of them.

C．The effects of photos are strongly affected by bad cameras.

D．Memories last forever when people take the photos they like most.

What can we learn about Dr. Linda Henkel’s study?

A．A group of high school students were involved.

B．The memory of participants was tested the following week.

C．People who just looked at the objects remembered fewer details.

D．People who photographed objects were worse at recognizing them.

With which of the following may Dr. Linda Henkel agree?

A．Reviewing photos improves memories of objects.

B．Focusing on people at events is the best way to remember.

C．Relying on technology to remember affects the memory.

D．Counting on cameras to record events is always reliable.

The passage is probably taken from________.

A．a health magazine	B．a cultural overview
C．an economics report	D．an entertainment website

Are you a high school student who loves to be outdoors and is eager to experience new challenges, learn new skills and meet new people? Learn all about the world of building and maintaining hiking trails, and experience it in a safe, teamwork-oriented environment in various locations across the state. WTA offers first-time participants country trips and returning students have the option to go on trips in the back country(边远地区).
Front Country Trips
Our front country trips provide opportunities for people to experience projects near the ocean, in the scenic Cascade Mountains and in northeast Washington. All our trips provide you with experienced crew leaders, a great project, some camping tents, sleeping bags and all your meals for the week.
Advanced Back Country Trips
On these trips you will be backpacking to the work site and will have a chance to advance your trail and leadership skills under the supervision of a WTA crew leader. Approval from a previous crew leader is necessary.
Trip Details
In 2014, trip fees for WTA members will be $195 for the first trip and $145 for each additional trip. Non-members will pay an additional $40 for their first trip and can be qualified to be members in the second trip. There will be a $30 cancellation fee for cancellations more than 30 days prior to the trip, and no refund for cancellations less than 30 days prior to the trip. Due to the popularity of our trips, please submit your payment and application within two weeks of signing up for a trip. If a trip is full and you would like to be added to the waiting list, please call us at 206/625-1367 or email trail＿teams@wta.org.
Scholarships
We believe no student should have to stay at home this summer because he or she can’t afford to go outside. Thanks to donations from members and supporters, WTA is proud to announce that we are able to offer a limited number of scholarships. Application deadline: March 1, 2014.
2014 Youth Volunteer Vacation
You must be 14 to 18 years old to go on one of our Youth Volunteer Vacations. We always recommend that volunteers go on a one-day trip before attending a Youth Vacation to understand what the work will be like for a week.
If you are going on one of the trips for the first time, you can’t go on trips ________.

A．near the ocean

B．in the back country

C．in the Cascade Mountains

D．in northeast Washington

How much will you have to pay for your second trip if you’re not a WTA member?

A．$145

B．$185

C．$195

D．$235

After choosing a trip, you ________.

A．will naturally become a WTA member

B．can cancel your trip and get all your money back

C．will be added to the waiting list

D．must submit your payment and application within two weeks

You must be lucky enough to obtain a scholarship if you ________.

A．apply before March 1, 2014

B．donate a little money to WTA

C．support WTA by advertising

D．volunteer in your high school

From the text we can learn that 2014 Youth Volunteer Vacations ______.

A．will be the last activity of the year

B．are more popular than people say

C．are open only to 14-to18-year-olds

D．offer a one-day trip for training

Once a girl named Lily got married, but soon she found that she couldn’t get along with her mother-in-law at all. Finally, Lily could not stand her mother-in-law’s bad temper and decided to do something about it.
Lily turned to Mr. Huang, who sold herbs (草药), for help. She asked if he could give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all. Mr. Huang thought for a while and said: “Lily, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and do what I tell you.” Lily agreed.
He told Lily, “You can’t use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day, prepare some delicious food and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, to make sure that nobody suspects you when she dies, you must be very friendly towards her.” Lily thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot to murder her mother-in-law.
Thus every other day, Lily served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had passed, the whole household changed. Lily and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter.
One day, Lily came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said: “Mr. Huang, please help me to stop the poison from killing my mother-in-law! I do not want her to die.”
Mr. Huang smiled, saying, “Lily, there is nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude towards her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her. ”
What can we learn about Lily?

A．She was treated badly by her husband’s family.

B．She didn’t treat her mother-in-law sincerely at first.

C．Her mother-in-law didn’t agree to her marriage.

D．She didn’t respect the tradition of her husband’s family.

Lily first went to see Mr. Huang to _________.

A．ask for some herbs to kill her mother-in-law

B．ask him to cure her mother-in-law’s illness

C．buy some herbs to improve her mother-in-law’s health

D．ask him for some advice on dealing with her mother-in-law

After visiting Mr. Huang, Lily__________.

A．became more and more suspicious

B．changed all of her living habits to please her mother-in-law

C．prepared specially cooked food for her mother-in-law every day

D．changed her attitude towards her mother-in-law gradually

What does the underlined word, “poison”, in the last paragraph, refer to?

A．Buying poisonous herbs.

B．A negative attitude towards life.

C．Thinking ill of others.

D．Losing one’s temper randomly

What does the author try to tell us?

A．Be aware of other people’s good qualities in relationships.

B．Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts will become your words.

C．True happiness is to enjoy the present, without depending anxiously on the future.

D．Don’t waste your time explaining, because people will only hear what they want to hear.

If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He'd need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on this special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It's nothing personal. Most Americans don't even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But this doesn't mean that Americans don't care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学).Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.
So the old thinker's ideas are still alive and well.
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.
The opening paragraph is mainly intended to ______.

A．provide some key facts about Confucius

B．attract the readers' interest in the subject

C．show great respect for the ancient thinker

D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations

We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students______.

A．have a great interest in studying Chinese

B．take an active part in Chinese competitions

C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams

D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese

What is the best title for the passage?

A．Forgotten Wisdom in America

B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language

C．Chinese Culture for Westerners

D．Old Thinker with a Big Future

A．Hong Kong Disneyland Park	B．a Hong Kong family
C．Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel	D．Disney’s Hollywood Hotel

A．a newspaper	B．a magazine
C．the website	D．a travel handbook