It was a cold winter day. A woman drove up to the Rainbow Bridge tollbooth. “I’m paying for myself, and for the six cars behind me,” she said with a smile, handing over seven tickets. One after another, the next six drivers arriving at the tollbooth were informed, “Some lady up ahead already paid your fare.”
It turned out that the woman, Natalie Smith, had read something on a friend’s refrigerator: “Practice random (随意的) kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” The phrase impressed (使某人印象深刻) her so much that she copied it down.
Judy Foreman saw the same phrase on a warehouse wall far away from home. When it stayed on her mind for days, she gave up and drove all the way back to copy it down. “I thought it was beautiful,” she said, explaining why she’d taken to writing it at the bottom of all her letters, “like a message from above.” Her husband, Frank, liked the phrase so much that he put it up on the classroom wall for his students, one of whom was the daughter of Alice Johnson, a local news reporter. Alice put it in the newspaper, saying that though she liked it, she didn’t know where it came from or what it really meant.
Two days later, Alice got a call from Anne Herbert, a woman living in Marin. It was in a restaurant that Anne wrote the phrase down on a piece of paper, after turning it around in her mind for days.
“Here’s the idea,” Anne says. “Anything you think there should be more of, do it randomly.” Her fantasies include painting the classrooms of shabby schools, leaving hot meals on kitchen tables in the poor part of town, and giving money secretly to a proud old lady. Anne says, “Kindness can build on itself as much as violence (暴力) can build on itself.”
The acts of random kindness spread. If you were one of those drivers who found your fare paid, who knows what you might have been encouraged to do for someone else later. Like all great events, kindness begins slowly, with every single act. Let it be yours! Why did Natalie Smith pay for the six cars behind her?
A.She had seven tickets. |
B.She hoped to please others. |
C.She wanted to show kindness. |
D.She knew the car drivers well. |
Judy Foreman copied down the phrase because she ___ .
A.thought it was beautifully written |
B.wanted to know what it really meant |
C.decided to write it on a warehouse wall |
D.wanted her husband to put it up in the classroom |
Who came up with the phrase according to the passage?
A.Judy Foreman. | B.Natalie Smith. |
C.Alice Johnson. | D.Anne Herbert. |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.People should practice random kindness to those in need. |
B.People who receive kindness are likely to offer it to others. |
C.People should practice random kindness to strangers they meet. |
D.People who receive kindness are likely to pay it back to the giver. |
Ye Shuhang: In some ways, reference books (参考书) are useful. They help us understand textbooks better. For example, if we can’t learn a language point well in English class, a reference book can help us to review the point. So I think it’s better to have such books. |
Jiang Yixing: Reference books have some disadvantages. Some reference books show answers to the exercises in textbooks. This isn’t very good. Students will just copy the answers directly instead of thinking for themselves. Day after day, students will begin to rely on (依赖) reference books and won’t listen carefully in class. |
Jin Yourong: Sometimes, reference books are useful. Some reference books show something a little bit more difficult than the textbooks. They challenge us and let us reach a higher level in our studies. So if you want to learn more, reference books are needed. |
Yang Haoyu: I don’t think reference books are helpful. If we listen to our teachers carefully and solve the questions at school, this is enough to grasp (掌握) all the knowledge. Besides, the school has given us too much homework. More reference books will only make us sick of studying. And for some subjects like English, if you want to learn well, the best way is to speak, not just do exercises. |
__________ think reference books are useful in our study.
A.Ye Shuhang and Jiang Yixing |
B.Jiang Yixing and Jin Yourong |
C.Ye Shuhang and Jin Yourong |
D.Jin Yourong and Yang Haoyu |
In Ye Shuhang’s opinion, reference books can ________________.
A.show answers to the exercises in textbooks |
B.help us review the point |
C.let us reach a higher level in our studies |
D.make us tired of studying |
From the four students’ opinions, we can guess that_____________.
A.Reference books are too expensive |
B.Some students buy reference books for their study |
C.No one will buy reference books any more |
D.Reference books are useful for everyone |
Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to cheat? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out (略去) important information that should be inside, he can give you a false picture.
For example, someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”
This guy is a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He’s really a big loser!
He didn’t say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That’s called a half-truth. Half truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.
Some politicians (政客) often use this trick. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and got three million jobs. Then she tries to get another term. One of her opponents (竞争对手) says, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true. However, an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had increased two million jobs.’’
Advertisers will sometimes use half–truths. It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, “Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache.” It fails to say that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.
This kind of cheating happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well. We may infer that the author believes people should ________.
A.buy lottery tickets if possible |
B.make use of half–truths |
C.be careful about what they are told |
D.not trust the Yucky Company |
How many examples does the writer give to show how the truth is used to cheat?
A.One | B.Two | C.Three | D.Four |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Using half truths is against the law. |
B.Technically, half truths are in fact lies. |
C.Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache. |
D.Governor Smith did a good job during her last term. |
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
A.He’s really a big loser! |
B.Sometimes the truth can lie as well. |
C.Advertisers will sometimes use half truths. |
D.It’s against the law to make false statements. |
“AN Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue (队伍) of one,” wrote famous British author George Mikes. While this sounds funny, it’s a popular English stereotype (刻板印象). From the supermarket to the subway, queues are a common sight on the streets of Britain.
Here in China, queues are normal, too. It is a part of everyday life. People queue most of the time, from buying tickets in the cinema to waiting for seats at a restaurant.But in certain situations, you’ll find yourself in the middle of a rushing crowd, such as getting onto the subway. Even away from the busy subway platform (站台), queues are different. One day I was standing in line at the supermarket.I left a small space in front of me. Within seconds, a girl walked by and took her place in that small space.I was surprised at first, but later I found these experiences very interesting. It is with these small, everyday differences that I get to live and learn within a new culture.
Back in Britain, the average person spends six months of their life waiting in a queue, according to the auction site MadBid. To pass the time, maybe they tell themselves the famous proverb: good things come to those who wait. The English are well known for _____.经过时间,
A.forming an orderly queue | B.being rude and loud |
C.traveling on subways | D.spending more time waiting in a queue |
When the girl jumped the queue, how did the writer feel?
A.annoyed → calm | B.calm → angry |
C.surprised → interested | D.shocked → angry |
The purpose of the article is to _____.
A.call on people in China to queue more |
B.compare queuing in two different countries |
C.praise the English for following good manners |
D.explain why people rush in some situations |
In which part of a newspaper would you most probably read this article?
A.Sports. | B.News. | C.Culture. | D.Business. |
I work in a nursing home and my job is to take care of the elderly.
This year, a very sweet old lady that I cared for, Alice, had gone through a difficult time. She got dementia and so she had been in the hospital twice. In November I was finally able to get her back to her “home”.
Alice had thought her daughter was coming to visit her on Christmas day and that they were going to have the whole family together like the old days. When she finally realized that that happy moment was not going to happen, she was very sad. Knowing that her daughter was coming after Christmas was not enough to make her feel happy, I hated the idea of her being alone on the holiday!
On Christmas Eve, I gave her a surprise by asking if she would like to go to a candlelight service at church that night.
Instead of taking her to my church, I took her to her old neighborhood church where all her friends were. We got there early and I got her a seat where her friends could see her as they came in. Then soon some of her friends came to the church and they rushed over to greet her and sit with her.
The candlelight service was beautiful and Alice got a lot of love from her old and new friends there.
The truth of the story is that I am the one who got the best gift: the smile on Alice’s face. The underlined word “dementia” in Paragraph 2 probably is _____.
A.an illness | B.a letter | C.a house | D.a plan |
What was the best gift that the author got on Christmas Eve?
A.The candlelight service. | B.Praise from Alice’s friends. |
C.Thanks from Alice’s daughter. | D.Alice’s happiness. |
Which of the statement is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Alice’s daughter came to visit her on Christmas Eve. |
B.None of Alice’s friends came to the church. |
C.The candlelight Christmas Eve made Alice really happy. |
D.Alice’s family never got together on Christmas Day in the old days. |
What is the best title for this passage?
A.A special candlelight Christmas Eve | B.The dream of an old lonely lady |
C.My special job | D.The true love |
The purpose of this notice is____________.
A.to ask people to visit the springs |
B.to make visitors know the area |
C.to tell visitors what not to do |
D.to tell the visitors to have a rest |
The notice is written for____________.
A.visitors | B.children | C.workers | D.managers |
____________is NOT mentioned in the notice.
A.How long visitors can stay in the area |
B.What visitors cannot bring to the area |
C.Who looks after the visitors’ things |
D.Whether smoking is allowed in the area |