McEvan’s Supermarket to Mark its Twentieth Anniversary(纪念日)
on October 24!
We would like you to join us on October 24. On this special day, we will be giving you even more ways to save. And there will be music, some free food, and games for children throughout the day. There are more reasons than ever to come to McEvan’s on October 24.
We will offer:
great discounts on hundreds of things from nearly every department, including the bakery, the dairy (奶制品) farm, fruit corner, the vegetable garden and electronics center.
Discount vouchers (代金卷) for $10.00, $15.00, or $20.00 to the first 100 customers.
McEvan’s Supermarket games for children whose parents are shopping that include free T-shirts and other giveaways.
To learn more about the special events planned for October 24, go to our website at www.mcevan-supermarket.com or ask any one of our 200 employees for more information.
Please tear the voucher out.
| Happy 20th! McEvan’s Supermarket October 24 only $20.00 discount Please present to cashier at time of shopping Title First Name Last Name Mailing Address (including apt. number) City StateZip Code Would like to Receive Mail from McEvan’s? Yesno Specials and information through E-mail?Yes no E-mail Address We promise to keep your information to ourselves.It will not be sent to any third party. In the event that your own information changes, please call us at (520)555-0318 or email us at info@mcevansupermarket.com. |
What is the text about?
| A．A supermarket sale. | B．A thank-you party. |
| C．A food exhibition. | D．A new product. |
How can a customer receive a voucher?
| A．He is the winner of the game on October 24. |
| B．He has been shopping at McEvan’s for 20 years. |
| C．He has been an employee of the shop for 20 years. |
| D．He is one of the first 100 customers on October 24. |
What can children get at McEvan’s for free?
| A．Electronic products. | B．Vegetable |
| C．T-shirts | D． Milk. |
How long has 3-D technology been around? Most of us might think of crowds of teenagers in a 1950’s movie house watching Bwana Devil in 3-D. But 3-D technology made its first appearance on the scene in 1838 with the first stereoscope(体视镜). And the first actual 3-D movie was a 1903 film called Le Ariveed’un Train.
Although it has such a long history, the technology has still remained based on one simple principle-----to make 3-D effects you must find a way to project two slightly different pictures to each eye. Modern 3-D technology works by rapidly flickering(闪动) two versions of the movie and projecting them onto each eye. The brain does the rest of the work, combining the two pictures together into one and giving the show the appearance of depth, the third dimension.
But does this exposure, especially long exposures, cause harm to the child’s developing brain and visual system? Unfortunately, long-term studies on new flicker digital 3-D technology and children aren’t yet available. We do not know if regular or daily 3-D viewing over years affects the developing visual system, although older 3-D methods basically do the same thing and are not considered harmful.
The question of possible harm in modern 3-D use in TV is really based on two facts: the amount of time children will now be watching 3-D TV each day and the sensitivity some children show in reaction to 3-D viewing. It is difficult to make actual lab studies of longer term 3-D viewing in children because of the possible harm of the experiment. Researchers will have to wait until 3-D TV technology is already in the marketplace for a number of years, then check heavy 3-D TV watchers and compare them with non-watchers.
With a 3-D television technology in the home, we will soon be able to answer the question of whether or not longer and more frequent periods of 3-D exposure cause more changes in the visual system. We may find that the bigger problem is the introduction of a new technology that leads to even more time spent on TV rather than playing outdoors.
| A．was refused by people when it first appeared. |
| B．will soon change the way we watch TV. |
| C．does no good to our visual system. |
| D．has a history of nearly 200 years. |
| A．how 3-D technology works. |
| B．why 3-D movies are popular |
| C．the history of 3-D technology. |
| D．the influence of 3-D technology. |
| A．To wait and see | B．To carry out lab studies |
| C．To stop making 3-D movies | D．To improve 3-D technology |
| A．ask children not to watch 3-D movies |
| B．discuss if 3-D viewing is harmful to children. |
| C．introduce the advantages of 3-D technology. |
| D．predict the development of 3-D technology. |
The nervous-looking young man had waited for a few moments outside the jeweler’s before he got enough courage to enter. He was warmly greeted by a young assistant. James felt a rush of blood to his face as he explained he would be bringing in his future wife to choose a birthday present.
The assistant listened carefully and told him he’d better buy a necklace. He wasn’t used to buying jewelry and was a little worried about overspending, because he was not very rich. After some discussion as to a reasonable price and the type, the assistant showed him dozens of necklaces and helped him to choose.
At last James chose one and left the shop promising to return at five o’clock. Half an hour later than planned, James did return to the shop with his future wife, Laura. The assistant acted as if she had never seen him before. When she was asked to show them some necklaces, she first brought out some inexpensive ones for them to choose, and then gave them the ones she had prepared. A choice was soon made and they went away satisfied. Later James would certainly come back to buy what he wanted when he got married.
| A．A Clever Assistant. | B．Buying a Birthday Present |
| C．How to Choose a Necklace | D．A Brave Young Man |
| A．spending too much |
| B．spending too much time |
| C．spending more time than he planned |
| D．spending too much money |
| A．4:30 | B．5:30 | C．5:00 | D．6:00 |
People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred in National Velve－the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race. At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet. However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained—and added three inches(英寸) to her height in four months! Her acting in National Velvet is still considered the best by a child actress.
Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932. Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons. When World War II started, the Taylor moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies. After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult(成人)roles and won twice for Best Actress: Butterfield 8(1960) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966)
Taylor’ s fame(名声)and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies. In 1963, she received $1 million for her part in Cleopatra—the highest pay received by any star up to that time.
Elizabeth Taylor is a legend (传奇人物) of our time. Like Velvet Brown in National Velvet, she has been lucky, she has beauty, fame and wealth. But she is also a hard worker. Taylor seldom acts in movies any more. Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others —several years ago, she founded an organization that has raised more than $40 million for research and education.
| A．did not show much interest. | B．was too young. |
| C．did not play well enough. | D．was small in size. |
| A．popular all their lives |
| B．famous actresses |
| C．successful when very young |
| D．rich and kind-hearted |
| A．12 | B．28 | C．31 | D．34 |
| A．doing business and helping others |
| B．turning herself into a legend |
| C．collecting money for the poor |
| D．going about research and education work |
When I heard the piano, I walked to Mrs. Windsor’s house and waited outside as I always did. That meant she was working with another student, and I was not supposed to bother them by ringing the bell. I stood against the wall and daydreamed what I’d rather be doing. “Almost anything”, I sighed dejectedly. I had been tutored enough to read, understand, and even write some musical compositions, but I just didn’t have a gift for it. It didn’t come to me naturally. I thought back to happier times when I was writing stories and acting them out with my friends, cutting up old clothes to make dresses that performers wear in plays, and building scenery out of old things we found. But Mrs. Windsor had offered to give me the lessons for free, so I felt my duty to try.
The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to sort through my sheet music.
“Hello,” I heard a voice behind me say softly. I turned around to see a little girl standing behind me, eating an apple. But before I could make any response, Mrs. Windsor walked into the room in her usual urgent manner and announced,“Jennifer, this is my niece, Pasha. Pasha, this is Jennifer. Pasha will be giving you your lesson today. I’m up to my ears in something else!” she then exited to the kitchen.
Pasha set her apple down on the side table and slid beside me on the piano bench.
“What piece do you like best?”she asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “They’re all the same to me. I don’t know.
“You mean you don’t have a favorite?”
“No, not really.”
Pasha looked at me, rather puzzled, then opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I arranged my fingers on the keys and studied the notes on the page for a moment. Then I frowned and concentrated to make the notes on the page match the finger movements. I have to admit I was a rather mechanical pianist.
After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as if to calm my fingers. There was a long pause. “What are you hearing in the music?” I looked at her rather strangely and admitted I didn’t know what she meant.
“Like a story. What story is being playing out within the music?”
“I guess I’ve never thought about it before. I don’t know.”
“Here, let me try and you listen,” Pasha advised.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers dance lightly over the keys. Then, she began to play. “See, it begins here beside some kind of river. Hear the water flowing beside you?”
Her fingers rose and fell gently on the keys.“Now the princess appears and she’s picking flowers from the water’s edge.”A carefree, happy piece of music filled the air in time to Pasha’s dancing fingers. “Oh, but she slips!”The music changed. “And our princess is being carried off by the fast-flowing stream. Quickly, the princess’s horse sees her plight (困境),” Pasha continued, and races to the river’s edge where he swims out to let her catch hold of him. They make it to the bank and she hugs her faithful horse and swears she will never again wear princess skirts that weigh her down. She will only wear jeans and T-shirt from now on.” Pasha finished with a big smile and then looked at me.
“Aren’t you the girl who tells the stories?” she asked.
“I guess. I do tell a lot of stories.”
“Oh, yes! All the kids talk about them. I’ve heard about you. Well, all you have to do is learn to hear the stories in the music. That’s all there is to it.”
“I’ve never thought it that way.”
“Let’s try another one, shall we?”Pasha smiled and together we played that afternoon, finding the stories in the music and learning that sometimes it takes a friend to pull you out of the river onto dry land again.The underlined word “dejectedly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______
| A．nervously | B．desperately |
| C．impatiently | D．unhappily |
Jennifer got lost in thought when she ________
| A．played the piano with Pasha for the first time |
| B．listened to Pasha tell her story about the princess |
| C．remembered happier times of writing stories and acting them out |
| D．discovered that Mrs. Windsor’s niece would be giving the piano lesson |
By describing herself as a mechanical pianist, the author showed ______
| A．she could remember the notes in a short time |
| B．she was playing the piano without thinking |
| C．Pasha was showing off her skills |
| D．it had been a long time since she played last time |
58. Which of the following can best describe Pasha?
| A．Creative | B．Naughty |
| C．Humorous | D．Brave |
Which of the following is the best title for the text?
| A．Never Give up | B．A Piano Lesson |
| C．Why I Hated Playing the Piano | D．A Friend for Ever |
This text would be probably found in ______
| A．a collection of stories about friendship and learning |
| B．a book of daily records about famous young musicians |
| C．a magazine series about the challenges of overcoming fears |
| D．a series of newspaper articles about musical instruments |
The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it’s purposeful practice. Top performers spend more hours practising their craft. It you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same family background, or shared the same birthday.
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would hive her some idea of a fascinating circle who might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’s be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.
Then she would practise writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practising in this way, she delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious. Automatically performed skills. By practising slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance form the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems — how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.
The primary quality our young writer possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine; the latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behaviour.The passage mainly deals with.
| A．the function of I.Q. in cultivating a writer |
| B．the relationship between genius and success |
| C．the decisive factor in making a genius |
| D．the way of gaining some sense of distinction |
By reading novels and writers’ stories, the girl could.
| A．come to understand the inner structure of writing |
| B．join a fascinating circle of writers someday |
| C．share with a novelist her likes and dislikes |
| D．learn from the living examples to establish a sense of security |
In the girl’s long painstaking training process, ________.
| A．her adviser forms a primary challenging force to her success |
| B．her writing turns into an automatic pattern of performance |
| C．she acquires the magic of some great achievement |
| D．she comes to realize she is “hard-wired” to write |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A．A fueling ambition plays a leading role in one’s success |
| B．A responsible adviser is more important than the knowledge of writing. |
| C．As to the growth of a genius, I.Q. doesn’t matter, but just his/her effort. |
| D．What really matters is what you do rather than who you are. |