Last Saturday on the way to the mall, two children, a boy and a girl, came running towards me with bottles on their hands, asking if I wanted bottled water. It was a surprising gesture. I was wondering if they were doing fund-raising. I knelt and asked them where their parents were and how much a bottle of water cost. Then two adult women came up to me explaining what the children were doing. “We are teaching the children to give without anything in return. We are teaching people to accept without giving in return. ”
Two mothers had bought bottled water and placed a sticker(小贴纸)on all bottles with five different quotes(引述):
1. Smile at everyone. You’ll never know when someone may need it.
2. If Plan A does not work, there are 25 more letters in the alphabets.
3. Have a thirst for life. Every day is filled with possibilities.
4. In your thirst for knowledge, be sure you don’t drown in all the information.
5. Dig your well before you’re thirsty.
The bottle I have has quoted No.5. A sudden change of attitude opened up between me, the mothers and the children. We are no longer strangers to each other. We were having such a great time chatting and I ended up helping them give away the rest of the bottled water.
One young lady was so thankful that she happily accepted the water and said it was the best thing that happened to her all day since she had a bad day at work. A man refused and walked away saying “no thanks”. A couple kept on bowing to us in gratitude. When it was all done, the children and I were giving each other high-five. It was so much fun. I think I had more fun doing this than the mothers and the children.How did the author feel when he was offered bottled water?
| A．Embarrassed | B．Surprised |
| C．Excited | D．Disappointed |
Different quotes were placed on the bottles to ________.
| A．inspire others to think positively. |
| B．show how rich and colorful our life is. |
| C．encourage people to get more bottled water. |
| D．explain why at times abandonment is necessary facing trouble. |
What did the author do after chatting with them?
| A．Buy the rest of the bottled water. |
| B．Give away some money for charity. |
| C．Decide to meet with them regularly. |
| D．Join them in being kind to strangers. |
What do we know from the last paragraph?
| A．Children had more fun from this than adults. |
| B．This random act of kindness is warmly welcomed. |
| C．People responded quite differently to this activity. |
| D．The author learned a lot from this random act of kindness. |
Don’t you think your schoolbag is too heavy to bear? The e-schoolbag will free you from the weight.
It is said that e-schoolbags are going to be brought into use in Chinese middle schools soon. An experiment with several hundred e-schoolbags will begin in seven cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang. And the e-schoolbags are going to cover all over China if the experiment proves to be successful. In fact, the e-schoolbag should perhaps be called an e-notebook. It is a small hand-held computer for school students.
Heavy schoolbags have long been a serious problem for school students. The average schoolbag of middle school students weighs up to 5 kilos. But the e-schoolbag will change everything. It is much lighter than a usual schoolbag, weighing under 1 kilo.
Also, it is no bigger than a usual book, but it can still hold all the things for study, such as a textbook, a notebook and exercise book. They could be made into chips that are as small as a stamp. The students can read the text page by page on the screen. They can still take notes using a special electronic pen. If they want to know the meaning or the pronunciation of a new word, or even e-mail their teachers, it’s just a press of a button.
In some foreign countries, it is becoming common. But it is hard to tell when people will receive this new form of study. Some say that e-textbooks can be easily broken, some say that it is not good to students’ eyesight to look at the screen for long. But only time will tell. The e-schoolbag has many functions EXCEPT ________.
| A．It can pronounce the words. |
| B．It can send e-mail. |
| C．It can be used as a dictionary. |
| D．It can phone somebody. |
According to the passage, the e-schoolbag ________.
| A．is not heavy as before but still large |
| B．is used as an experiment in Tianjin |
| C．is made of metal |
| D．is going to cover China if it proves to be successful |
Which of the following statement is TRUE?
| A．All the students in China will be required to use this new schoolbag soon. |
| B．All the people think highly of e-textbooks. |
| C．E-notebooks are very convenient to students. |
| D．We will not make notes because the e-notebook can make all by itself. |
The best title for the passage should be ________.
| A．An Experiment In China |
| B．Please Change Your Schoolbag |
| C．A New Invention, A New Schoolbag |
| D．Chips |
The word “conservation” has a thrifty（节俭）meaning. To conserve is to save and to protect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such good condition that others may also share the enjoyment. Our forefathers had no idea that human population would increase faster than the supplies of raw materials; most of them, even until very recently, had the foolish idea that the treasures were “limitless” and “inexhaustible”. Most of the citizens of earlier generations knew little or nothing about the complicated and delicate system that runs all through nature, and which means that, as in a living body, an unhealthy condition of one part will sooner or later be harmful to all the others.
Fifty years ago nature study was not part of the school work; scientific forestry was a new idea; wood was still cheap because it could be brought in any quantity from distant woodlands; soil destruction and river floods were not national problems; nobody had yet studied long-term climatic cycles in relation to proper land use; even the word “conservation” had nothing of the meaning that it has for us today.
For the interests of ourselves and those who will come after us, we must now set about repairing the mistakes of our forefathers. Conservation should, therefore, be made a part of everyone’s daily life. To know about the water table（水位）in the ground is just as important to us as a knowledge of the basic arithmetic formulas. We need to know why all watersheds（上游源头森林地带集水区）need the protection of plant life and why the running current of streams and rivers must be made to yield ( produce ) their full benefit to the soil before they finally escape to the sea. We need to be taught the duty of planting trees as well as of cutting them. We need to know the importance of big nature trees, because living space for most of man’s fellow creatures on this planet is figured not only in square measure of surface but also in cubic volume（容积量）above the earth. In brief, it should be our goal to restore as much of the original beauty of nature as we can. According to the author the greatest mistake of our forefathers was that _______.
| A．they had no idea about scientific forestry |
| B．they had little or no sense of environmental protection |
| C．they did not realize the importance |
| D．they had no idea of how to make good use of raw materials |
It can be inferred from the passage that earlier generations didn’t realize _______.
| A．the interdependence（相互依存）of water, soil, and living things |
| B．the importance of the proper land use |
| C．the harmfulness of soil destruction and river floods |
| D．the extraordinary rapid growth of population |
With a view to correcting the mistakes of our forefathers, the author suggests that ______.
| A．we plant more trees |
| B．our forefathers be taught environmental science, as well as the science of plants |
| C．environmental education be directed toward everyone |
| D．we return to nature |
. What does the author imply（express indirectly）by saying “living space for most of man’s fellow creatures on this planet is figured not only in square measure of surface but also in cubic volume（容积量）above the earth.”?
| A．Our living space on the earth is getting smaller and smaller. |
| B．Our living space should be measured in cubic volume. |
| C．We need to take some measures to protect space. |
| D．We must create better living conditions for both birds and animals. |
The underlined word “restore” probably is closest to the meaning of “_________”.
| A．put back | B．bring back | C．keep | D．protect |
When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.
People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Everything else seems blurry (unclear). Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near--sighted.
People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm’s length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.
Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people’s eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.
Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle. To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object’s relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distance as people with two eyes.We should take good care of our eyes ___.
| A．only when we can see well |
| B．only when we cannot see perfectly |
| C．even if we can see well |
| D．only when we realize how important our eyes are |
. When things far away seem indistinct(模糊不清) , one is probably ____.
| A．near-sighted | B．far-sighted |
| C．astigmatic | D．suffering from cataracts |
The underlined word “suffer” in the third paragraph probably means ____.
| A．experience | B．imagine |
| C．feel pain | D．are affected with |
Having two eyes instead of one is particularly useful for ____.
| A．seeing at night | B．seeing objects far away |
| C．looking over a wide area | D．judging distances |
People who suffer from astigmatism have ____ .
| A．one eye bigger than the other |
| B．eyes that are not exactly the right shape |
| C．a difficulty that can be corrected by an operation |
| D．an eye difficulty that cannot be corrected by glasses |
How to Fight Winter Blue
Winter’s short days are more than cold. For many people, winter depression, the most common type of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), is as much a part of the season as hats and scarves.
Winter serious SAD sufferers may need medical treatment. Those feeling a little blue can help themselves by sticking to a healthy lifestyle.
Here are some tips:
Pace yourself. Don’t expect to do everything you normally can. Set a realistic schedule. Don’t listen to negative thinking, like blaming yourself or expecting to fail.
Get involved in activities that make you feel good or feel like you’ve achieved something. For example, play table tennis or badminton.
If you are feeling depressed, you may feel like staying away from friends. Yet this is a time when friends’ support can be helpful. Call them regularly. Remember, the more we put off calling or visiting a friend, the harder it is to rebuild a friendship.
Think clearly about what’s wrong or right. Instead of giving in to vague feelings of sadness, look at your problems objectively. Break down problems into specific issues that you can work on.
Regular exercise helps to prevent and ease depression.
Eat well. Studies show that a healthy diet can help to maintain (keep) a healthy body and mind. The vitamins, minerals and micro—nutrients found in balanced diet may help our bodies to produce feel-good hormones(荷尔蒙). Foods containing chemicals to help produce feel-good hormones include bananas, turkey, nuts and seeds. Eat at least five pieces of fruit and vegetables every day.
P.S. Symptoms(症状) of SAD:
No interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy.
Increased need for sleep.
A change in eating habits, especially an appetite for sweet or starchy(含淀粉的) foods.
Weight gain
A heavy feeling in the arms or legs
A drop in energy level
Difficulty in concentrating
Overly emotional
Avoidance of friends and social situations
Frequent feelings of guilt
Long-term feelings of hopelessness, and physical problems, such as headachesThe writer of the passage agrees that .
| A．the cold in winter makes us suffer from SAD |
| B．hats and scarves protect us from SAD |
| C．every one of us meets SAD in winter |
| D．we are blue mainly because of short days in winter |
We may infer that , according to the passage.
| A．more darkness will make us sad |
| B．we should wear hats and scarves in winter |
| C．a healthy lifestyle prevents us from serious SAD |
| D．staying away from friends makes us depressed |
．When we pace ourselves, we .
| A．don’t do anything we can | B．make a practical plan |
| C．face depression easily | D．think something of guilt |
The underlined expression “ease depression” in the passage probably means “”
| A．reduce depression | B．be easy with depression |
| C．face depression easily | D．make an easy depression |
The passage includes the following except .
| A．the earlier we meet friends, the easier it is to rebuild a friendship |
| B．if we give in to unclear feelings of sadness, we’ll be caught in the SAD |
| C．playing table tennis helps us achieve whatever we want |
| D．feel--good hormones from a balanced diet can help a healthy body |
Justin’s bedroom was so full of flat bicycle tires, bent tennis rackets, deflated basketballs, and games with missing pieces that you could hardly get in the door. His parents pleaded with him to clean out his room.
“What use is a fish tank with a hole in the bottom?” his father asked. But Justin simply smiled and repeated his motto, “Never throw anything out, you never know when it might come in handy.”
When Justin was away from home, he always carried his blue backpack — a smaller bag of his bedroom — a place to store the many objects that he collected. It was so worn and stretched that it hardly resembled a backpack anymore.
Justin had earned a reputation for figuring things out and getting people out of otherwise hopeless situations. Many of his classmates and neighbors sought him out when they needed help with a problem. On the first day of school, his friend Kenny, came looking for Justin.
“Do you think you have something in your backpack that could help me remember my locker combination (箱子密码)?” he asked. “I lost the piece of paper it was written on. I have a science class in two minutes and if I’m late on the first day it’ll make me look bad for the rest of the year.” Kenny looked really worried.
“Relax,” Justin said, taking his backpack off and opened it. “Remember how you borrowed my notebook in my home to write the combination down? Well, I know how I can recover what you wrote.”
He took the notebook and a soft lead pencil out of his backpack. The page that Kenny had written on had left faint marks on another page in the notebook. Justin held the pencil on its side and rubbed it lightly over the marks. Slowly but surely the numbers of the locker combination appeared in white.
“That’ s amazing!” Kenny said, “I owe you one.” And he dashed off to open his locker.
It was just another day in the life of the boy whose motto was “Never throw anything out; you never know when it might come in handy.”Why is Justin’s room in such a mess?
| A．He always forgets to clean it. |
| B．He never throws anything out. |
| C．He has no time to clean it. |
| D．He shares the room with his brother. |
In what way is Justin’s blue backpack used?
| A．He uses it as a place to store collected objects. |
| B．He uses it to carry his books and sports equipment. |
| C．His parents tell him to clean it all the time. |
| D．He carries it to remind others of his ability. |
The underlined phrase “pleaded with” means .
| A．ignored | B．asked | C．pushed | D．admired |
How does Kenny feel toward Justin?
| A．Annoyed | B．Disinterested | C．Grateful | D．Angry |