Martin Lynch, an American businessman, had been going on vacation to a small Mexican fishing village for a number of years. One morning while going for a walk along the beach, he saw his friend Pablo Perez, a local fisherman. Martin watched Pablo unload the fish from his boat and pack the fish in a box.
Martin noticed Pablo was smiling and looked very happy. He could also see several large fish in the boat. Martin greeted Pablo and asked how long it took to catch the fish. “Just a few hours,” replied Pablo. Martin asked, “Why didn’t you stay longer and catch more fish?” “I have enough for my family,” Pablo said. “And How do you spend the rest of your day?” asked Martin. “I take a nap, play with my children, spend time with my wife, and go into the village to see my friends and play cards, I have a full and busy life.” Martin explained that if Pablo worked longer hours and caught more fish, he could make more money. With the extra（额外的）money, Pablo could buy more boats and catch many more fish. By selling the fish, Pablo could open his own factory and sell direct to supermarkets.
“Then what?” asked Pablo. “Well you would probably have to move to Mexico City to run the business. Finally, you would be able to sell your business and make millions of dollars,” replied Martin. “How long will that take?” asked Pablo.
Martin thought for a while and said it would probably take at least 15 years.
“And then what?” asked Pablo.
“Well, that’s the best part,” Martin said. “You will be able to retire(退休), buy a house near the sea, sleep longer, play with your children, spend more time with your wife, see your friends, and play cards.”What makes the Mexican fisherman happy is ______________.
| A．many friends to visit him |
| B．a full and busy life |
| C．more boats and more fish |
| D．the house near the sea |
How can the fisherman make more money in the businessman’s view（观点）?
| A．By buying a supermarket. |
| B．To move to Mexico City. |
| C．By selling his own business. |
| D．To work longer and catch more fish. |
The underlined word “unload” in the passage means ____________.
| A．分发 | B．装进 | C．卸载 | D．出售 |
We can infer(推理) from the passage that ____________.
| A．the fisherman will stay the same with his life |
| B．the fisherman will leave the village for Mexico City |
| C．the business man will buy the fisherman’s boat |
| D．it takes all day for the fisherman to catch large fish |
What is the story mainly about?
| A．A businessman and a fisherman have become friends. |
| B．A businessman learns how to fish from a fisherman. |
| C．A businessman wants to become a businessman. |
| D．A businessman gives advice to a fisherman. |
Looking at the undone homework on his desk always makes David Grey feel uncomfortable. More often than not, David leaves his homework behind and surfs the Internet or watches TV instead, waiting until the last minute." But the longer 1 wait," says David, aged 15, "the more I worry."
Everyone procrastinates (拖延) because they want to feel good now. The way to do that is to avoid the task. You can procrastinate on nearly anything, even enjoyable tasks such as planning a vacation. "Some people procrastinate cleaning. Some people procrastinate by cleaning," says Professor Peter Stone. Research has shown that the top tasks young people procrastinate are studying and going to bed." One big cause for procrastination is that people are afraid of failure, of not meeting others' expectations," Stone adds.
Some people believe that procrastination will make them thrive. But researchers disagree. "I did a study several years ago, asking procrastinators to finish a task in a certain period of time," says Stone. "They did worse than non-procrastinators: they made more mistakes and they took longer. But they thought they did better." No matter what the cause is, procrastination is usually not going to be good for you. For example, bedtime procrastination can lead to sleeplessness, which in turn can cause many other health problems.
For those who need some drives to stop procrastinating, the best advice might be to take action first. If you've been procrastinating on forming a habit of exercise, just put on your walking shoes. A little bit of progress will get you moving.
Next, find something to help you remember to take action. If you want to go to bed at 10:30 pm, you might set a timed dimmer switch (渐暗开关) at 10 pm. When the lights are dimmer, you'll start going to bed. It works for most people.
Finally, reward yourself every time you make progress. For example, after you've run 3 km, enjoy your favourite ice-cream. But be careful: it won't work the other way around.
37. What can be the best title of this passage?
| A． |
A day of a procrastinator |
| B． |
Procrastination: yes or no? |
| C． |
Say goodbye to procrastination |
| D． |
Want to feel good now? Procrastinate! |
38. What is the main reason for people's procrastination?
| A． |
They want to avoid doing hard work. |
| B． |
They fear to lose and let others down. |
| C． |
They need to finish the top tasks first. |
| D． |
They plan to do the enjoyable tasks last. |
39. The underlined word "thrive" in paragraph 3 most probably means ________.
| A． |
think faster |
B． |
work more successfully |
| C． |
give up more easily |
D． |
worry too much |
40. What should David do if he wants to stop procrastinating on a writing task?
| A． |
Put on some soft music to help think actively. |
| B． |
Enjoy a favourite ice-cream, and then start writing. |
| C． |
Search the Internet for enough ideas before starting. |
| D． |
Pick up a pen and write down possible starting sentences. |
|
Making a Scarecrow How would you like your very own scarecrow (稻草人)? You can make one out of some old boards. You can use it to scare away birds in your garden. You can also put a scarecrow near your front door to give visitors a big surprise! Here are what you will need: ● a grown-up helper ● seven boards (each 10 cm wide): one 160 cm long; three 50 cm long; one 30 cm long; two 60 cm long ● a hammer and nails; safety pins; a pen ● a shirt with long sleeves ● a long skirt ● gloves and boots ● a hat and a pillow
Step1: Lay the boards on the ground. Make the shape according to the picture. You will have two arm pieces left over. You will add them later. Step 2: Ask a grown-up to nail the pieces together. Step 3: Put the shirt on. Ask a grown-up to nail one arm piece to the shoulder. Let the sleeve fall down so that it covers the board. Pin the glove to the sleeve. Do the same with the other arm. Step 4: Put on the skirt.
Step 5: Stick the pillow on top as the head. Draw eyes, a nose and a mouth on it. Step 6: Stand the body up and put it where you want. Step 7: Put the hat on and then put the boots under the skit so it looks like it has feet. |
34. This passage is most probably written for ________.
| A． |
young kids |
B． |
parents |
| C． |
gown-up helpers |
D． |
teachers |
35. A scarecrow can be used to ________.
| A． |
catch birds |
B． |
surprise your guests |
| C． |
drive dogs away |
D． |
show visitors the way |
36. Which shows the correct steps to make a scarecrow?
| A． |
a. Prepare all that you need. |
| B． |
b. Let the body stand where you want. |
| C． |
c. Dress up the body and make a head for it. |
| D． |
d. Put the hat on and put the boots under the skirt. |
| E． |
e. Nail the body parts together according to the picture. |
| A． |
a-e-C-b-d |
B． |
a-e-b-c-d |
C． |
e-C-b-d-a |
D． |
e-a-C-d-b |
The top-selling album (唱片), Songs of the Humpback Whale, was made public in 1970. This collection of nature recordings changed the way many people thought about whales, and it helped save thousands of whales' lives.
The album might never have been made without a sound engineer named Frank Watlington. In the 1960s, Watlington was making underwater recordings when he noticed some strange, deep sounds. He realized they were coming from whales. Watlington played the recordings for a pair of scientists named Roger and Katy Payne. When they listened, they fell in love with these beautiful voices at once.
Katy Payne studied music as well as animals, and she was greatly surprised by how the whales communicated using sounds like an opera (歌剧) singer. She also noticed another interesting fact: the sounds had clear patterns. According to scientists, an animal sound with a repeating pattern is called a song. Some scientists even compared these singing animals to musicians.
The Paynes thought that other people should also hear the beauty of the whales' songs. So
Roger I made the recordings into an album. Al the time when the album came out, whales were often caught, killed and traded for money. Some kinds were even in danger of dying out. Most people had never thought that whales could communicate through songs. But after hearing the album, they began to think differently.
The album led people to take action to save whales. Musicians began using whale songs in their music, and whales were included in movies and television shows. In 1982, a ban to stop deep-sea whaling was made. Before it, in the 1950s and 1960s, more than fifty thousand whales per year were killed. After it, the number went down below two thousand.
It might seem impossible that just one album could help save the lives of so many whales. But this album told people secrets about whales that had long been hidden under the sea. It allowed whales to finally share their songs with the human world.
30. What is the purpose of the passage?
| A． |
To call on people to save whales. |
| B． |
To tell how a good album was made. |
| C． |
To show that whales are born singers. |
| D． |
To introduce an album and its stories. |
31. Who first found the special voices of the whales?
| A． |
A song recorder. |
| B． |
An opera singer. |
| C． |
A sound engineer. |
| D． |
An animal scientist. |
32. What fact about the whales surprised Katy Payne?
| A． |
They could talk with scientists. |
| B． |
They could sing like an opera singer. |
| C． |
They could repeat interesting sounds. |
| D． |
They could communicate through songs. |
33. Which is one of the values of the album?
| A． |
It successfully stopped deep-sea whaling. |
| B． |
It helped people understand whales better. |
| C． |
It made some music and movie stars popular, |
| D． |
It encouraged musicians to work with scientists. |
Amy walked toward Miss Brown's backyard, where she was planting roses. Last week, Amy and her parents just moved into the house next door,
The old woman looked up, "Why the long face, Amy?"
"There aren't any kids around to play with," said Amy. "I have nothing to do."
Miss Brown smiled, "You sound just like a girl who used to live here."
"Really? Who?"
"Her name is Rachel," said Miss Brown."Too bad you two young girls couldn't have lived here at the same time."
"What did Rachel do when she was bored?" asked Amy.
"She planted a flower garden," answered Miss Brown.
Amy looked at Miss Brown's roses. "Could I, too?"
Miss Brown handed Amy some tools and roses. "This will get you started."
"Thanks," said Amy.
Amy worked hard the whole afternoon in her garden. When she saw the lovely roses planted, she smiled. Still, it was too bad that Rachel wasn't there.
The next day, Amy watered her roses and walked to Miss Brown's backyard, where she sat reading. "What else did Rachel do?" asked Amy.
"She wrote poems in her flower garden," Miss Brown answered. "One of her poems even won a prize in a school competition."
Amy closed her eyes."How good it would feel, but I don't know how to write poems," she said. Miss Brown smiled, "The best way is to read poems first." She handed Amy her book. "Thanks," said Amy.
Amy lay on her stomach next to her roses and read. Then she started to write. That night she had a poem that might not be a prizewinner but sounded good enough. Still, it was too bad that Rachel wasn't there.
The third day, Amy watered her flowers, wrote a new poem, and then walked to Miss Brown again."What else did Rachel do?" asked Amy, "She played in the attic (阁楼). Come with me," Miss Brown invited. "Thanks!" said Amy.
"Make yourself at home," Miss Brown said and left Amy to search alone there. Then Amy found a trophy (奖杯) with these words --- First Prize in Poetry. Rachel Brown. 1937.
Slowly, a smile spread across her face. Amy ran back to Miss Brown, "I wonder if Rachel would like to write poems in my flower garden." Miss Brown smiled, "I think she would love to."
26. Why was Amy unhappy at first?
| A． |
She couldn't meet Rachel. |
| B． |
She didn't like the new house. |
| C． |
She didn't have any friends there. |
| D． |
She was left alone to Miss Brown. |
27. What did Miss Brown do to help Amy?
| A． |
She told Amy to stay alone. |
| B． |
She worked and read with Amy. |
| C． |
She showed Rachel's poems to Amy. |
| D． |
She suggested some activities to Amy. |
28. What did Amy find out about Rachel in the attic?
| A． |
Who she really is. |
B． |
Her secret hobby. |
| C． |
How old she is now. |
D． |
Her prizewinning poem. |
29. Which is the main lesson of the story?
| A． |
Having shared interests is important to a real friendship. |
| B． |
Working in the garden is the best way to fight loneliness. |
| C． |
Parents should think twice before moving to a new place. |
| D． |
It is difficult for children to make friends with grown-ups. |
How would you feel if you received a large amount of money all at once？
That's exactly what happened to Nkosikho Mbele，a worker at a gas station in South Africa.His sudden luck was brought about by an act of kindness he did for a young woman﹣Monet，a company manager.
One day.Monet stopped at the gas station to refuel（加油）.But when Nkosikho was about to serve her，she realized she didn't have any money or cards on her.She immediately tried to stop him.Knowing about her trouble，Nkosikho decided to pay her gas bill of about R100 （＄ 7）to make sure that she could travel across the highway with enough gas.
"Madam.I'll pay for you so that you won't run out of gas on the road.Whenever you are near here again，you can just give me back the money，" Nkosikho said.As for him，the R100 was almost all be made in a day.He had to support a big family.He needed the money very much.He wasn't even sure if Monet would come back to return his money，but he still volunteered to help her.
Several days later，Monet came back with his money and a box of chocolate.She was so thankful that she also posted their story on the Internet.Great changes took place.Nkosikho became famous in his town.Many people were moved by his act and offered to raise money for him.Nkosikho received around ＄ 24，000 as much as about his salary（薪水） of eight years.His boss also heard of his kind act and decided to give him a rise in salary.
"I feel like I'm dreaming.My life has been turned﹣upside down，" Nkosikho said thankfully.As normal people，we can bring a great change to life by doing a small good thing.
（1）Why did Monet try to stop Nkosikho refueling？
（2）What was Nkosikho's life like before he met Monet？
（3）What else did Monet do to show her thanks besides returning the money？
（4）List two changes in Nkosikho's life after his act of kindness.
（5）What can we learn from the story？
