Ray’s wedding had gone off smoothly. Everyone seemed to have had a good time. A few people had too good a time; they went home with designated (指派的) drivers. All evening, the gift table remained unguarded. Who would steal anything, Ray thought. He had never heard of such a thing happening at a wedding. But his best friend Aaron said there was a first time for everything. He walked out regularly from the inside festivities to check on the gift table, making sure no one doubtful was hanging around it.
Ray and Julia went on a 3-week honeymoon to Italy right after the wedding. When they got back, they opened all the gifts and sent out thank-you notes. But there was one problem. A married couple that used to be good friends had obviously given nothing. This surprised Julia, because Walt and Mary said they were excited to be invited. And, they actually seemed to have had a great time at the wedding. Frankly, Ray didn’t even care if they hadn’t given a gift. He just needed to know whether to send a thank-you note. Ray called Aaron. Aaron said maybe Walt had left an envelope on the gift table like Aaron had. “Yes, but we got your envelope with the cash inside,” Ray said.
“Maybe my envelope looked too thin, and some thief thought Walt’s envelope looked nice and fat.”
Aaron asked Ray if he had looked everywhere for Walt’s gift. Had he called up the wedding site to see if anything had been left behind? Ray said that he had looked everywhere and made a lot of calls that were fruitless.
Ray didn’t know what to do. If he sent Walt and Mary a thank-you note for a gift they hadn’t given, they would be insulted. If he didn’t send them a thank-you note for a gift they had given, they would get angry.
“What would you do?” Ray asked. Aaron said he would call Walt up and tell him the problem.
“You can’t go wrong with simply being honest,” Aaron said.
“Oh, yes, you can,” Ray contradicted (反驳) him. “Sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.” But he thought about it, and finally decided that Aaron was right. He called Walt and told him the problem. Walt said that yes, he had given an envelope. In fact, the envelope contained $500 cash.
“$500?!” Ray asked. “That’s a lot of cash, Walt!” Walt admitted that it was, but he had gotten a fat raise early that year and Ray’s was the only wedding he’d been to in quite a while. Ray thanked him very much, and apologized sincerely for someone stealing Walt’s generous gift. Walt told him that it was “only money”.
When Ray told Aaron about Walt’s gift, Aaron laughed. “The only thief at the wedding was Walt! I stopped playing cards with him last year because I caught him cheating. And it was only a $10 pot! I’m sure I told you about that.”
“Yes, you did tell me,” Ray said. But, of course, he had to send Walt a thank-you note anyway.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Aaron looked on honesty as the best policy. |
| B．Walt had surely gotten a fat raise early that year. |
| C．Stealing had never happened at a wedding. |
| D．Nobody checked on the gift table all evening. |
The underlined word “insulted” in Paragraph 5 probably means ______.
| A．deeply impressed | B．much discouraged |
| C．badly hurt | D．greatly moved |
What kind of person is Ray?
| A．Friendly and optimistic. | B．Doubtful and experienced. |
| C．Outgoing and stubborn. | D．Thoughtful and polite. |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Wedding Party |
| B．The Wedding Gift |
| C．The Thief at the Wedding |
| D．A Secret at the Wedding |
The National Dark-Sky Week (NDSW) is a week during which people all over the United States turn off their lights to enjoy the beauty of the night sky without light pollution. This even was started by Jennifer Barlow of Midlothian, Virginia in 2003, and it is becoming more popular each year. It has been supported by the International Dark-Sky Association, the American Astronomical Society, and the Astronomical League.
This even always occurs in April, during the week of the new moon so that the sky can be as dark as possible for the best viewing conditions.
“It is my wish that people could see the night sky without other light in the sky as our ancestors (祖先) saw it hundreds of years ago,” explains Barlow.
Since it only lasts a week and not everyone in the country will take part in it, how will the National Dark-Sky Week reduce light pollution? The main goal of NDSW is to increase awareness (意识) of the harmful effects of light pollution. It is not possible for all of the light pollution in this part of the world to disappear. However, it is possible to make a small difference in the quality of the night sky. Another goal of this even is to promote (促进) the use of better lighting systems that direct light toward the ground instead of up into the sky.
Jennifer Barlow states, “The night sky is a gift of such beauty that it should not be polluted by wasted light. In this way, our children will not lose touch with the wonder of our universe.”This passage is mainly about ______________.
| A．better lighting systems | B．the National Dark-Sky Week |
| C．the harm of light pollution | D．the beauty of the night sky |
Which of the following statements about the National Dark-Sky Week is WRONG?
| A．It is becoming more and more popular in America. |
| B．The event was started in 2003 by Jennifer Barlow. |
| C．The event takes place in the first week of every April. |
| D．American people are supposed to turn off their lights during that week. |
What is Jennifer Barlow’s wish?
| A．That people could spend time enjoying the beauty of the sky every night. |
| B．That the sky would always be as dark as possible. |
| C．That people could see the night sky without light pollution as our ancestors did. |
| D．That light would be directed up into the sky. |
We can infer from the underlined（划线的）sentence in Paragraph 4 that ________.
| A．many people in America hate this event |
| B．he event should last a month every year |
| C．it may be hard to reduce light pollution t |
| D．light will no longer pollute the sky soon |
I was with a group of businessmen, and we were dealing with a question—What is a good person?
At a certain point during the discussion, one of the students—a young man of about thirty—described an event that happened at Christmas. He and his five-year-old son were decorating the Christmas tree, and a little boy came to the front door begging. If you ever visit Mexico, you will see that the people there take begging as nothing to get upset about and nothing to get embarrassed by.
So, this little boy came to the door, a boy about the same age as my student’s son. The father and the son went to the front door, and the father went back with his five-year-old son and said to him, “Give him one of your toys.” At the words, the little boy quickly picked up some toy, and his father said to him, “No, no－give him your favorite toy.”
And the little boy, like a little tiger, said, “No way!” He cried; he refused. But the father, like a big tiger in a way, insisted gently, “No, you must give him one of your favorite toys.”
And finally the boy, with his head down, picked up a toy he had just gotten. The father waited in the living room, and the boy walked to the front door with the toy in his hand. The father waited and waited.
What do you think happened?
After a couple of minutes, his son came running back into the living room, his face radiant (喜气洋洋). “Daddy,” he said, “can I do that again?”
I think I have got the answer to the question.From the passage, we can learn that in Mexico ________.
| A．begging is looked down upon |
| B．begging is considered as a normal part of life |
| C．visitors all over the world treat beggars kindly |
| D．few people are living a poor life |
The sentence “can I do that again?” showed that the boy ________.
| A．got pleasure by helping the little beggar |
| B．wanted to please his father |
| C．began to like the little beggar |
| D．wanted to be the little beggar’s friend |
According to the writer, being a good person means ________.
| A．having the courage to correct his/her mistakes |
| B．being friendly to beggars |
| C．being ready to give |
| D．being able to teach children to tell right from wrong |
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Do you constantly use the computer, whether for learning or entertainment? Computers give off radiation(辐射) that is bad for your health, but here are some ways to protect yourself from computer radiation.
__1___Green tea can be absorbed by the body easily into a form of vitamin A, which helps reduce radiation.__2__
It is advisable to attach a radiation filter plate(辐射过滤板)in front of your computer’s screen. Make sure to avoid putting any mental substances near your computer as these may have reflected some of the electromagnetic waves that are harmful to your health. __3__ The brighter the screen the higher the radiation there will be and vice versa.
You can also put some radiation-absorbing plants such as several cacti near your computer to prevent radiation.
Make sure you do a skincare protection before sitting in front of the computer .
___4__Wash your face soon after using the computer in order to reduce 70% of the radiation.
__ 5___ Old computer in general, has one to two times more radiation released than the new one within the same distance.
| A．And adjust the brightness of your computer screen. |
| B．Apply a layer of facial mask to protect yourself. |
| C．And adjust the sound level on your computer. |
| D．The most efficient way is by drinking some coffee regularly. |
E.The simple way is by drinking 2 or 3 cups of green tea every day.
F.If possible, purchase a new computer instead of using an old model computer.
G.It also helps keep our eyes see things clearly in the dark by improving the visual ability.
The idea of light pollution has developed with the increase of lights in cities. In many areas, this light makes it difficult or impossible to observe stars and planets in the night sky.
There are a number of reasons why light pollution is important. One has become clear at the Mount Wilson Observatory near Los Angeles, California. Today, light from Los Angeles makes the night sky above Mount Wilson very bright. It is no longer an important reasearch center because of light pollution.
Light pollution threatens to reduce the scientific value of research telescoples in other important observatories. They include Lick Observatory near San Jose, California and Yerkes Observatory near Chicago, Illionis.
Light pollution is the result of wasted energy. Bright light that shines into the sky is not being used to provide light where it is needed on Earth. Poorly designed lighting causes a great deal of light pollution. Lights that are brighter than necessary also cause light pollution.
Most people in America are surprised to find out that they are able to see our own galaxy(星系)，the Milky Way, with their own eyes. But about threefourths of Americans cannot see the Miky Way because of manmade light.
Objects in the night sky are resources that provide everyone with wonder. But light pollution threatens to prevent those wonderful sights from being seen.Light pollution usually occurs________.
| A．in cities | B．in the country |
| C．in wild areas | D．in developing countries |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Mount Wilson Observatory is the most important one in America. |
| B．Light pollution affects observatories only. |
| C．In the dark night people can observe the sky clearly. |
| D．Astronomers can observe the stars clearly by the lights of the cities. |
The victims affected by the light pollution are________.
| A．children | B．grownups | C．students | D．observatories |
The tea gardens in Sri Lanka are actually large estates(种植园). The best tea usually comes from plants grown on high grounds, the cool hilltops with rows and rows of tea plants. The plants are about one metre apart. The plant is often pruned so that it remains only 60 to 90 centimetres high. Pruning is important because it encourages the growth of tender hoots, or young leaves. It is from these shoots that the best in got.
Practically all the tea pickers are women. The estates like to employ women pickers because they are more careful. Their thin fingers can easily remove the twin leaves and new shoots from the plant, which are the parts used for processing(加工)tea. The pickers carry large baskets into which they throw their pickings. A skilled worker can harvest between 9 to 14 kilogrammes of tea leaves a day. Usually new shoots can be picked from the plants about every ten or fifteen days.
Processing tea shoots into the familiar dry tea leaves requires great care and skill. There are various methods of processing depending on the type of tea required. For black tea, the young green leaves are first spread out on shelves to dry. This process removes much of its water and the leaves become soft. After this, the leaves are passed through heavy rollers. This operation will press the leaves for juices which give the tea both its colour and taste. Then the leaves are spread out on floors and left to ferment(发酵)under wet conditions. Fermentation develops the rich taste of black tea. The fermented leaves are then dried with a hotair blower until they become rolledup black leaves. The final step is to sort and grade them before the black tea is ready for sale to countries all over the world.In the first paragraph, the word“pruning”means______.
| A．regular cutting of the plants. | B．frequent watering |
| C．regular use of chemicals | D．growing the plants high in the mountain |
One of the reasons why women are employed to do the picking is that________.
| A．they work harder than men do in picking |
| B．they can throw their picking more easily into the baskets |
| C．their fingers fit them better for the job |
| D．they can move easily find the twin leaves |
How many processing steps are mentioned in the last paragraph?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
What's the writer's purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To introduce various methods of tea processing. |
| B．To persuade readers to buy tea from Sri Lanka. |
| C．To tell a story that had happened in the tea gardens. |
| D．To inform readers of tea growing, picking and processing. |