Whenever there’s a terrible storm, there are many sad stories. Many people lost their houses, their cars and their pets. But sometimes these stories have happy endings, too.
A family in New Jersey, US, had a cat named Vivian. She was very smart. She could even draw with her wet paws(爪子) on the floor. They all loved her very much. When hurricane (飓风) Sandy hit America in October, they moved to a safer place 13km away from home. Unluckily, Vivian was missing (不见了). All the nine family members were worried about her. They put up posters (海报) to find her. They looked for her everywhere they thought she could stay, but they didn’t find it. The family thought Vivian was gone forever.
But six months later, Vivian showed up at their house, according to(根据) Yahoo News. They considered (认为) her return as a wonder. No one can be sure where Vivian was for all that time.
Many animals are good at finding their way home. People usually say that dogs and cats find their way home through using their sense of smell(嗅觉).
But that doesn’t explain how Vivian found her way back. Hurricane Sandy blew away the normal smell of home. “I wish she could talk,” said her owner.From the passage we know Sandy is a _____.
| A．pet | B．hurricane | C．girl | D．cat |
The cat was missing for _____.
| A．6 months | B．9 months |
| C．13 months | D．a year |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Vivian could even draw. |
| B．The family tried hard to look for the pet. |
| C．The owner knew how the cat found her way home. |
| D．Nobody knew where Vivian was while Hurricane Sandy was hitting America. |
The meaning of the underlined word in paragraph 3 is_____
| A．灾难 | B．幸福 | C．奇怪的 | D．奇迹 |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Terrible Storm | B．A Clever Pet |
| C．A Smart Owner | D．Sandy Hit America |
Do you like to eat sushi(寿司)? Many people are afraid to eat it, because they think the bacteria(细菌) in it might make them sick. However, a new study shows that sea bacteria are good for people. The study finds that a special enzyme(酶) from sea bacteria is helpful to humans. It helps people to get more energy from food.
To people’s surprise, the enzyme is present only in the Japanese. The Japanese traditionally like to eat food rich in seaweed(海藻). And the seaweed is rich in this kind of enzyme.
However, the enzyme isn’t present in all the Japanese. During the study, just 5 out of 14 Japanese had the enzyme. All the Americans studied didn’t have the enzyme.
“The number is small,” said researcher Mirjam Czjzek. “But we can say that this enzyme is present only in the Japanese and not in the North Americans.”
Then some people think that maybe other people are able to get the enzyme if they eat a lot of seaweed. The study suggests that they collect uncooked seaweed to make their sushi.
Restaurant sushi is often cooked, which will destroy the enzyme. So, if you want to get that enzyme, you can travel to Japan to have a taste of the real sushi.Sea bacteria are _______ for people.
| A．helpful | B．harmful | C．important | D．necessary |
Why do the Japanese have the special enzyme?
| A．Because they eat a lot of seaweed. |
| B．Because they were born with such an enzyme. |
| C．Because they get more energy from food. |
| D．Because they like to eat food full of bacteria. |
Which of the following is FALSE?
| A．The Japanese have a diet rich in seaweed. |
| B．All the Japanese studied have the special enzyme. |
| C．All the North Americans studied don’t have the enzyme. |
| D．The enzyme helps people to get more energy. |
According to the study, about _______ of Japanese have the enzyme.
| A．5% | B．14% | C．35% | D．60% |
Which of the following food has the enzyme?
| A．Restaurant sushi. | B．Restaurant seaweed. |
| C．Uncooked seaweed. | D．Seaweed soup. |
Mark began to introduce the guest speaker to the listeners, but then stopped for a while. He had forgotten her name.
Barbara hid her valuable things when she went on vacation. When she came back, she couldn’t remember where she’d put them.
Perhaps you’ve had such experiences like these. Most people have. But most of them haven’t realized that they have a memory problem. Neither do they know a simple but important fact: Memory can be improved. If you’ll just accept that, the following will show you how.
First, relax. If you are over worried about remembering something, you’ll forget it. If you keep telling yourself that your memory is bad, your mind will come to believe it and you won’t remember things. When you forget something, don’t follow up with sayings like “Oh, my God! I always forget things!” Such words will have a bad result on you and your memory.
But relaxing isn’t enough. To improve your memory, you’ll need to take an active role. Like your body, your memory can be made strong through exercise. Look for opportunities to exercise your memory. For example, if you’re learning a language, try to actively remember a lot of new words.
If you don’t take notice of things actively, you won’t remember them. So, you can make pictures of what you see in your mind every day. For example, don’t just put your keys down! If you want to find them again, make a mind picture of the place where you’re putting them.The first two paragraphs just tell us ________.
| A．Barbara was a very rich person |
| B．Mark often forgot his friends’ names |
| C．examples of memory problems |
| D．language problems of two persons |
When you forget things, you ________.
| A．must be too careless |
| B．shouldn’t lose heart about your memory |
| C．must accept the fact |
| D．shouldn’t take notice of the result |
The word “opportunities” in the fifth paragraph means “________”.
| A．places | B．activities | C．positions | D．chances |
According to the passage, ________ can make your memory better.
| A．realizing your memory problems |
| B．talking to your friends |
| C．making mind pictures of what you see |
| D．doing sports every day |
The purpose of the passage is to help you ________.
| A．to improve your memory |
| B．to introduce the guest |
| C．to remember new words |
| D．to forget unhappy things |
Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities. Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventures—those who have climbed the highest mountains, travelled into unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans(海洋). Now, however, there are more people who look for an excitement from a risky activity which may only last a few minutes or even seconds.
I would think bungee jumping to be a good example of such an activity. You jump from a high place (perhaps a bridge or a hot-air balloon) 200 metres above the ground with an elastic (有弹性的) rope tied to your ankles(脚踝). You fall at up to 150 kilometres an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground. It is said that about 2 million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping. Other risky activities include jumping from tall buildings and diving(跳水) into the water from the top of high places.
Why do people take part in such activities as these? Some psychologists suggest that it is because life in modern world has become safe and boring. Not very long ago, people’s lives were often in danger. They had to go out and hunt for food, diseases could not easily be cured, and life was harder than that of the present days.
Nowadays, to many people, life offers little excitement. They live and work in safe conditions; they buy food in shops; and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill. The answer for some of these people is to look for danger in activities such as bungee jumping. More and more people today __________.
| A．are trying activities such as bungee jumping |
| B．are climbing the highest mountains |
| C．are coming close to death in sports |
| D．are looking for adventures such as travelling into exciting parts of the world |
In bungee jumping, you __________.
| A．jump as high as you can |
| B．slide down(下滑) a rope to the ground |
| C．tie yourself to a rope and fall to the ground |
| D．fall towards the ground without a rope |
People probably take part in dangerous sports nowadays because __________.
| A．they have a lot of free time |
| B．they can go to hospital if they are injured |
| C．there isn’t so much excitement in life |
| D．they no longer need to hunt for food |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Modern Life is Boring |
| B．Dangerous Sports: What and Why |
| C．Bungee Jumping: Is It Really Dangerous? |
| D．Need for Excitement |
If parents’ aim(目标) is only to make a child be a genius(天才), they will cause a disaster. Several leading educational psychologists(心理学家) say this is one of the biggest mistakes that can cause great problems to children.
However, if parents are a little gentler, the child may act successfully—especially if the parents can support him. Michael Li is very lucky. He is very fond of music, and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and inviting a teacher to give him personal piano lessons. They even drive him 59 kilometers twice a week for violin lessons. Although Michael’s mother knows very little about music, Michael’s father plays the piano very well. However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling.
Michael’s friend, Winston Chen, however, is not so lucky. Although both his parents are successful musicians(音乐家), they set too high a standard for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are, so they enter him in every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. “When I was your age, I used to win every competition I entered,” Winston’s father tells him. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint(使…失望) his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy.One of the worst mistakes any parent can make is to __________.
| A．pay much attention to their child’s education |
| B．push the child into trying to achieve too much |
| C．make their child become a musician |
| D．help their child to succeed in the future |
Michael Li is lucky because __________.
| A．his father knows music and teaches him much |
| B．his parents are rich enough to support him |
| C．his mother doesn’t know much about music |
| D．his parents help him in a wise way |
The two examples show that __________.
| A．it is important to let children develop in their own way |
| B．it is successful to let children develop without others’ help |
| C．successful parents often have unsuccessful children |
| D．the more you help your children, the less they can achieve |
Dear Grandma,
How are you? I hope you are feeling well and your leg is improving. Can you walk a bit now? Is your neighbour, Mrs Lu, bringing you enough books to read? I hope so. You’d love our school library, Grandma. There are so many books on all kinds of subjects. The other day I found a book about engineering. I couldn’t really understand it but I hope to learn more about this topic sometime. This term I have three new subject classes, so I think I’ll tell you about them.
I study biology. It is a very interesting subject. I’m learning all about the human body, where everything is and what it does. Did you know that we have a kissing muscle? It’s called ‘orbicularis’ and it’s a circle muscle that closes your mouth and moves your lips forward. I love biology. It’s so interesting! Another new subject is religion (宗教). I didn’t think I would like this one, but actually it is very interesting to hear how different people worship (崇拜). We are learning about lots of religions from all over the world, not only Asia. My other new subject is Spanish. It’s really difficult to learn a new language but I know it will be useful for me in the future, if I want to travel around the world. Spanish is one of the official languages of the European Union and the United Nations. I’ve learnt that Spanish is not only spoken in Europe but in South America too. Countries like Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Mexico also speak Spanish. You know I’ve always wanted to go to Mexico, so if I can speak Spanish it would be really useful.
Did you study these subjects when you were at school? I suppose subject choice changes over time, doesn’t it? I’ll come to visit you again in the next holiday, which I think is in eight weeks’ time. I’ll bring you some of my new books if you like. I hope you can write back soon and tell me all the village news. I miss you very much.
Lots of love,
SaraFrom the letter we can know that Grandma’s leg was ________.
| A．improving | B．lost | C．getting worse | D．hurt |
The writer has learnt a lot except ________ since she began to study biology.
| A．the human body | B．a kissing muscle |
| C．orbicularis | D．circles |
Which of the following is Not True according to the passage?
| A．Sara knows little about engineering. |
| B．Sara thinks Spanish is useful but not easy to learn. |
| C．Grandma probably doesn’t like reading books very much. |
| D．The subjects Sara learns are different from the ones her grandma did. |