Reading newspapers has become an important part of our daily life. Some people read newspapers the first thing to do in the morning. Others read newspapers as soon as they have free time during the day they can learn what in the world.
People just choose their favorite newspapers. Some like the world news, and prefer short stories. Sometimes we don’t have enough time all the news carefully, so we just a quick look at the front page. At other time, we be in such a hurry that we only have a few minutes to look at the titles(标题) of the passages.
Today, newspapers in English have of readers in the world. The English language is so popular many Chinese students are reading English newspapers, such as China Daily, 21st Century and so on. They bring information together with the Internet. We can’t live without newspapers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There is an old saying in English, “Laughter is the best medicine”. Until recently, few people took the saying very seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to study laughter and the effects (作用) it has on the human body. They have found evidence(证据) that laughter really can improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart rate（率） and the rate of breathing. It also works several groups of muscles（肌肉） in the face, the stomach and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be helpful.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to make the effect of pain on the body less. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group which could bear the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can make pain less seems to be that it helps to produce endorphins (内啡肽) in the brain. These are natural chemicals which make both stress and pain less.
There is also some evidence to suggest that laughter helps the body’s immune(免疫) system that is the system which fights infection (感染). In an experiment, one group of students watched a funny video while another group served as the control group — in other words, a group with which to compare the first group. Doctors checked the blood of the students in both groups and found that the people in the group that watched the video had an increase in the activity of their white blood cells that is the cells which fight infection.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors and psychiatrists (精神病学) in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they try to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce good effects similar to those caused by laughter.We learn from the first paragraph that laughter________.
| A．is good for one’s health |
| B．has strong effects to do with some illness |
| C．has been studied long since |
| D．has no effect on the body |
Doctors have found that laughter_________.
| A．keeps down blood pressure |
| B．has similar effects to physical exercise |
| C．decreases the heart rate |
| D．increases stress and pain |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of laughter according to the passage?
| A．It makes pain less. |
| B．It exercises the body. |
| C．It improves the body’s immune system. |
| D．It can cure cancer. |
The main idea of this passage is that _________.
| A．the doctors should learn how to make people laugh |
| B．there are several ways of studying the advantages of laughter |
| C．tests show that laughter can produce positive effects on human body |
| D．laughter and physical exercise have the same effects on human body |
Once there was a garden in front of a church gate . Every day a number of children p__ by the garden to go to school , so the flowers were picked from time to time .
That spring , the flowers of the garden were in full bloom ( 开花 ) . One early morning , the pastor ( 牧师 ) stood in the garden to w_____ for the children going to school . Soon , some of them came along . A little boy asked the pastor , “ Can I p_
_ a flower ?”
“ Which one do you want ?” the pastor asked k____ . The boy chose a tulip .
The pastor said ,“Very good . It b_____ to you now .However ,if you leave the flower here ,it can still bloom for several days ; if you pick it now , you can only play for a while . You are a s___
__ kid , so you choose by yourself .
The little boy t_____ for a while and said , “ Then I leave it here . I will come back to see it after school is over .”
On that day , more than 29 children a____ to leave the flowers in the garden . And they all came back to see their favorite flowers after school . However , n_
__ of them picked the flowers from then on .
That spring , the pastor left the whole garden to the people , but he had never l___ one .
That Easter day ( 复活节 ) I found out we were so poor . The minister brought us the money for the poor family , so we must be poor , I thought . I didn’t like being poor . Everyone there probably already knew we were poor ! I thought about school . I was in the ninth grade and at the top of my class over 100 students . I wondered if the kids at school knew that we were poor .
We sat in silence for a long time . Then it got dark , and we went to bed . All that week ,we girls went to school and came home , and no one talked much . Finally , on Saturday , Mom asked us what we wanted to do with the money . What did poor people do with the money ? We didn’t know . We didn’t want to go to the church on Sunday , but mom said we had to . Although it was a sunny day , we didn’t talk on the way . Mom started to sing , but no one joined in .
At church we had a speaker . He talked about how churches in Africa built schools and houses for the poor people , but they needed more money to buy foods . The speaker said ,“ Can’t we all give away some money to help those poor people ?” We looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week .
Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope . She passed it to Darlene , Darlene gave it to me , and I put it into the offering .
When the offering was counted , the minister announced that it was a little over 500 dollars . The speaker was excited . He hadn’t expected such a large offering from our small church . He said ,＂ You must have some rich people in this church .” Suddenly it struck us ! We had given 420dollars of that “ little over 500 dollars .“
We were the rich family in the church ! Hadn’t the speaker said so ? From that day on , I’ve never been poor again .When the writer’s family was given the money for the poor , she probably felt ____________ .
| A．thankful | B．surprised |
| C．fair | D．embarrassed (难堪的 ) |
The mother decided to go to the church to ________________
| A．hang out with her kids |
| B．donate ( 捐赠 ) the money to poor people |
| C．cheer her kids up |
| D．show other people they were not poor |
What does the underlined word “announced” mean ?
| A．Spoke loudly in public |
| B．Made a hard decision |
| C．Host a good program |
| D．Discovered an exciting result |
Which of the statements is true ?
| A．The writer was born in an African country |
| B．The writer didn’t like going to school |
| C．The mother was helpful to others |
| D．he mother didn’t want the money given by others |
What can we learn from the article ?
| A．It’s not good to receive other’s money |
| B．Being poor ,you still can help |
| C．Churches are good places to learn |
| D．We should regard difficulties as challenges |
In a small village in England about 150 years ago, a mail coach ( 邮车 ) was standing on the street . It didn’t come to that village often . People had to pay a lot to get a letter . The person who sent the letter didn’t have to pay the postage (邮资 ) , while the receiver had to .
“Ｈere’s a letter for Miss Alice Brown , ” said the mailman .
“ Ｉ’m Alice Brown , ” a girl of about 18 said in a low voice .
Alice looked at the envelope（信封） for a minute , and then handed it back to the mailman .
“ Ｉ＇m sorry I can’t take it , I don’t have enough money to pay it＂, she said .
A gentleman standing around were very sorry for her . Then he came up and paid the postage for her .
When the gentleman gave the letter to her , she said with a smile , “ Thank you very much ,This letter is from Tom . I’m going to marry him . He went to London to look for work . I’ve waited a long time for this letter , but now I don’t need it , there is nothing in it .”
“ Really ? How do you know that ? ” the gentleman said in surprise .
“ He told me that he would put some signs on the envelope . Look ,sir ,this cross in the corner means that he is well and this circle means he has found work . That’s good news .”
The gentleman was Sir Rowland Hill . He didn’t forgot Alice and her letter .
“ The postage to be paid by the receiver has to be changed ,” he said to himself and had a good plan .
“ The postage has to be much lower , what about a penny (便士 ) ? And the person who sends the letter pays the postage . He has to buy a stamp and put it on the envelope .” he said .
The government accepted his plan . Then the first stamp was put out in 1840 . It was called the “ Penny Black “ . It had a picture of the Queen on it . The first postage stamp was made ___________ .
| A．in England | B．in America |
| C．by Alice | D．in 1910 |
The girl handed the letter back to the mailman because ______________ .
| A．she didn’t know whose letter it was |
| B．she had no money to pay the postage |
| C．she received the letter but she didn’t want to open it |
| D．she had already known what was written in the letter |
We can know from Alice’s words that _________________ .
| A．Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving |
| B．Alice was clever and could guess the meaning of the signs |
| C．Alice had put the signs on the envelope herself |
| D．Tom had put the signs as Alice had told him to |
The idea of using stamps was thought of by __________________ .
| A．the government | B．Sir Rowland Hill |
| C．Alice Brown | D．Tom |
From the passage we know the high postage made _____________ .
| A．People never send each other letters |
| B．lovers almost lose every touch with each other |
| C．people try their best to avoid(避免) paying it |
| D．receivers refuse to pay the coming letters |
56. We can see _______ in the butterfly exhibition .
| A．some paintings . |
| B．some pictures of butterflies only . |
| C．some beautiful butterflies . |
| D．some pictures of the towns from all over the world . |
You are going to see the exhibition with your 14 –year –old daughter , you will have to pay __________ .
| A．15 yuan | B．20 yuan |
| C．25 yuan | D．35 yuan |
We can book group tickets ____________ .
| A．by making a phone call |
| B．by sending an e –mail |
| C．by writing a letter |
| D．by filling in an application form |
There are 45 students in our class . How much will they pay if they visit the exhibition ?
| A．￥ 675 | B．￥ 450 | C．￥900 | D．￥400 |
If you go to the exhibition on 1 st , May , you can get ___________ .
| A．a book | B．a ticket |
| C．a butterfly | D．a present |