The Peales were a famous family of American artists. Charles Willson Peale is best remembered for his portraits of leading figures of the American Revolution. He painted portraits of Franklin and Jefferson and over a dozen of George Washington. His life-size portrait of his sons Raphaelle and Titian was so realistic that George Washington reportedly once tipped his hat to the figures in the picture.
Charles Willson Peale gave up painting in his middle age and devoted his life to the Peale museum, which he founded in Philadelphia. The world’s first popular museum of art and natural science mainly covered paintings by Peale and his family as well as displays of animals in their natural settings. Peale found the animals himself and found a method to make the exhibits more lifelike. The museum’s most popular display was the skeleton (骷髅) of a huge, extinct elephant, which Peale unearthed on a New York farm in 1801.
Three of Peale’s seventeen children were also famous artists. Raphaelle Peale often painted still lives of flowers, fruit, and cheese. His brother Rembrandt studied under his father and painted portraits of many noted people, including one of George Washington. Another brother, Rubens Peale, painted mostly landscapes and portraits.
James Peale, the brother of Charles Willson Peale, specialized in miniatures (小画像). His daughter Sarah Miriam Peale was probably the first professional female portrait painter in America.What is the main topic of the passage?
| A．The life of Charles Willson Peale. |
| B．Portraits in the 18th century. |
| C．The Peale Museum. |
| D．A family of artists. |
The author mentions in Paragraph 1 that Washington tipped his hat to the figures in the painting to show that _______.
| A．Charles Willson Peale’s painting was very lifelike |
| B．Washington respected Charles Willson Peale’s work |
| C．Washington was friendly with Raphaelle and Titian Peale |
| D．the painting of the two brothers was very large |
Which of the following is NOT the child of Charles Willson Peale?
| A．Titian Peale. | B．Rubens Peale. |
| C．Raphaelle Peale. | D．Sarah Miriam Peale. |
The author’s attitude toward the Peales is in general _______.
| A．puzzled | B．excited | C．admiring | D．disappointed |
When an official at the U. S. Open Pocket Pool(台球)Championship saw a 9-year-old girl playing at one of the tournament tables, he told her that spectators(观众)were not allowed to play. But much to his surprise, the girl was actually a competitor. That was nine years ago, and today, with five U. S. Open Women’s titles behind her and a recently won world championship, no one is likely to mistake Jean Balukas for a spectator again.
It doesn’t seem too surprising that Jean became caught up in pool——her father owns a pool hall within walking distance of the family’s home in Brooklyn. When she was just tall enough to see over the table, she fell in love with the game soon. Five years later Jean was ready to enter her first U. S. Open. She still remembers the letter the officials sent her reminding her that she wouldn’t be allowed to stand on a box to play.
As Jean improved, she found it increasingly difficult to play games at her father’s pool hall. “If I’d beat one of the guys, his friends would laugh at them about losing to me,” she says. Now Jean comes to the hall only weeks before a tournament when she plays Johnny Goon, her father’s pool manager.
That Johnny can beat her shows the gap that now exists in pool — as in other sports — between the top men and women competitors. “I’m supposedly the top woman player, but I’d have a hard time beating the number 50 man,” says Jean. “If I was a boy and played pool, I’d be a nobody.”
Jean thinks that women pool players still have a long way to go because pool has been a man’s game for so long. “When they think of pool players, people have this picture in their head of gambling(赌博) and smoke,” she says.
Jean won four of the seven games in these two years. She was as surprised as anyone else at her performance, even though she was a New York City tennis champion and center for her high-school basketball team. Jean does not take full credit for her achievements, saying, “I think what I have in sports is a gift from God, and that’s why I can get out there and do so well.”We can learn from the first passage that Jean Balukas_____.
| A．had become well-known at the age of 9 |
| B．had achieved great fame at the age of 18 |
| C．was often asked to play with men players |
| D．was refused to play in the U. S. Open for her young age |
The letter Jean received before her first U. S. Open_____.
| A．told her to arrive in time for the game |
| B．showed people’s doubt about her ability |
| C．told her about the basic rules of the game |
| D．invited her to compete in the U. S. Open |
Jean Balukas believed that women pool players_____.
| A．fall far behind men players |
| B．aren’t suitable for a man’s game |
| C．are impossible to beat any man player |
| D．have a bad reputation(名声) for gambling and smoking |
By saying the underlined words in the last paragraph Jean meant that _____.
| A．women players had a long way to go |
| B．she wouldn’t stop before her great achievement |
| C．she had much confidence in the game |
| D．she achieved her success because of her born gift |
News that Microsoft was making a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:
Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri
This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.
Scott G of New Jersey
I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along: Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative (创新的) with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft... same old story... I don’t think the merger (合并) will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts.
Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland
Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior (差的) to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.Who is in favor of the merger of Microsoft and Yahoo?
| A．Antonio Simmons. | B．Michael Grosser. |
| C．Scott G. | D．Mark Galeassi. |
In the opinion of Scott G , _______.
| A．the merger will contribute to Microsoft |
| B．Yahoo and Microsoft are lacking in innovation |
| C．Google is getting short of management experience |
| D．the merger will allow Microsoft to overtake Google |
Michael Grosser is afraid that _______.
| A．the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features |
| B．the merger will lead to Microsoft’s defeating Yahoo |
| C．the increased competition will force Google out of the game |
| D．Internet users will have to buy Microsoft’s expensive software |
What is Antonio Simmons’ attitude towards Google?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Disapproval. | C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
The American book Who Moved My Cheese has been a bestseller all over the world. It teaches people how to face changes in their lives. Now its author Spence Johnson has written a book just for teens. The book tells us that when facing change in our lives, like a new school or new friends, don't be afraid. Instead, use this change to make a better life. The book gives an example of a change at school. A school is changing from having two terms to three terms because there are too many students.
Several teens are talking about this. Most of them are unhappy and worried. But Chris is not. He laughs and tells a story about two mice, two "little people" and some cheese.
The four are in a maze looking for the cheese. Here, cheese means something important in life, like moving to a new class or getting into college. But they find the cheese is gone. The mice realize that they can't change what has happened and have to find more cheese. This means finding different dreams. The little people, however, can't do this. They are afraid of change so they find no cheese.
After Chris finishes the story, the friends understand one thing: to get more cheese, move in a new direction quickly. His friends understand how this can be used in the changes all teens face, such as doing well at school or having good relationships or just feeling good about yourself.What does the text mainly discuss ______?
| A．Never change in our life | B．Change when you like to do |
| C．Change with the changes | D．Pay attention to the changes |
The underlined word "four" (paragraph 3) refers to ______.
| A．Mice and little people | B．Students | C．Cheese | D．Readers |
In our lives, we should learn from _________.
| A．mice | B．little people | C．Chris | D．Spence Johnson |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The author is Britain. |
| B．There are three terms in every school. |
| C．Most teens don't understand Chris' story. |
| D．The book tells teens how to face changes in their lives. |
Animal experts in Croatia say a bear has learned how to trick people to let him in by knocking at the door.
They believe the 220- kilogram brown bear probably learned the trick while nudging (轻推) a door to get it to open.
Experts have a guess that the nudging was mistaken by the owners for knocking and that the bear, pleased by the result, repeated the trick.
The Loknar family from Gerovo in western Croatia said the bear had knocked at their door three times and they were now refusing to answer the door.
‘We jumped out of the window as he came in through the door and went into the kitchen to take some food for the first time.” Mum Nevenka Loknar told a reporter from a local newspaper. “I opened the door and saw him standing there and I didn’t believe my eyes at first, then I ran for it as he walked in as if it was the most normal- thing in the world.”
Bears are a common thing in the woods around here, but no one has ever heard of a bear that knocks at the door.
Mum Nevenka Loknar said, “The bear is so intelligent. It’s incredible. We’ve tried to put up lots of obstacles to stop him coming in, like a wire fence but he still gets through. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew how to use wire cutters (钢丝剪).”According to experts in Croatia, how did the bear learn the trick?
| A．By knocking at the door several times. | B．By accident. |
| C．By learning from the owner of a family. | D．By imitation. |
What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．Eating at the kitchen. | B．Knocking at the door. |
| C．Walking into the house. | D．Answering the door. |
It is ________ in Gerovo that a bear knocks at the door.
| A．unusual | B．a troubling problem |
| C．common | D．an exciting experience |
Mum Nevenka Loknar was surprised that the bear ________.
| A．didn’t attack her family |
| B．knew how to use wire cutters |
| C．jumped across her wire fence three times |
| D．was clever at getting through the obstacles |
Sport is very popular in England. In other words lots of English people like the idea of sport． A lot watch sport on TV． But the number who take part in（参加）sport is quite small． On the whole English people prefer to be fat rather than thin．
The most popular sport in England is football． Football is played on Saturday afternoon in most towns and the supporters（球迷）of a certain team will travel from one end of the country to the other to see their team play． There are four divisions（级别）of the football league．Not surprisingly the best teams are in the first division． But the best supporters are often in the fourth division． You have to be a good supporter to watch the fourth division football!
Many other sports are also played in England, such as golf, in which you try to knock a ball into a hole; basketball, in which you try to got a ball through a net（篮筐）; tennis, in which you try to hit a ball so that your opponent（对手）can not hit it． As you see, if the ball had not been invented, there would have been no sport．
Actually（其实）, that is not quite true． Athletics（田径）isn’t played with a ball; nor horseracing（赛马）． Perhaps that is why they are not so popular as football!________ is the most popular sport in England．
| A．Basketball | B．Football | C．Golf | D．Tennis |
You have to be a good supporter to watch ______division football．
| A．the first | B．the second | C．the third | D．the fourth |
Why do many English people not take part in sport?
| A．They are too busy． |
| B．They like watching sport on TV． |
| C．They would like to be fat． |
| D．They prefer to be thin． |
Why are English people interested in sport?
| A．They have their football team． |
| B．The sport games are played on Saturday afternoon． |
| C．They like the idea of sport． |
| D．They like the famous players． |