Areyoualwaysbusy?Isyourschedul-优题课

I was walking along the main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking for somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to contact the AA Company. Low grey clouds were gathering across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea which nearly threw me off my feet every time I crossed one of the side streets. It had rained in the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat.
There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour whom I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop open selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his rounds, but the town was completely dead. The only living thing I saw was a thin frightened cat outside a small restaurant.
Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street. Next to it was the town’ s only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint. I hurried forward, but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat. I could not see his face and he did not even raise his head at the sound of my footsteps.
Carefully, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait for my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door.
At what time was the story set?

A．An early winter morning.

B．A cold winter afternoon.

C．An early summer morning.

D．A windy summer afternoon.

Which of the following words best describe the writer’s impression of the town?

A．Cold and frightening.	B．Dirty and crowded.
C．Empty and dead.	D．Unusual and unpleasant.

The underlined word “trickling” in the last paragraph probably means ______.

A．rushing out suddenly	B．shining brightly
C．flowing slowly in drops	D．appearing slowly

Why didn’t the man raise his head when the writer came near?

A．He was annoyed at being seen by the writer.

B．He was angry at being disturbed by the writer.

C．He was probably fast asleep.

D．He was probably murdered.

People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions — and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why. Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
"We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions," Jack said. "Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect (忽略) the mouth. "
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of. expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than did Westerners. "The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions," Jack said. "Our data suggest that, whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less. "
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.
The discovery shows that Westerners _________________.

A．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth

B．consider facial expressions universally reliable

C．observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways

D．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions

According to the fourth paragraph, what were the people asked to do in the study?

A．To make a face at each other.

B．To get their faces impressive.

C．To classify some face pictures.

D．To observe the researchers' faces.

What can be the best title for the passage?

A．The Eye as the Window to the Soul

B．Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions

C．Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills

D．How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding

No poem should ever be discussed or “analyzed”, until it has been read aloud by someone, teacher or student. Better still, perhaps, is the practice of reading it twice, once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end, so the sound of the poem is the last thing one hears of it.
All discussions of poetry are, in fact, preparations for reading it aloud, and the reading of the poem is, finally, the most telling “interpretation” of it, suggesting tone, rhythm, and meaning all at once. Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice, on records or on film, is obviously a special reward. But even those aids to teaching cannot replace the student and teacher reading it or, best of all, reciting it.
I have come to think, in fact, that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than “analyzing” it, if there isn’t time for both. I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry. Poetry is “ a criticism(批判) of life”, and “a heightening(提升) of life”. It is “an approach to the truth of feeling”, and it “can save your life”. It also deserves a place in the teaching of language and literature more central than it presently occupies.
I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry. Those who don’t like it should not be forced to put that dislike on anyone else. But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few things about its essential nature, about its sound as well as its sense, and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it.
To have a better understanding of a poem, one should________.

A．discuss it with others

B．analyze it by oneself

C．copy it down in a notebook

D．practise reading it aloud

Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a function of poetry?

A．Extending your life	B．Saving your life
C．Criticizing life	D．Heightening life

What does the last sentence in the third paragraph mean?

A．More stress should be laid on the teaching of poetry.

B．Poetry is more important than any other subject.

C．One cannot enjoy life fully without an understanding of poetry

D．Poetry is the foundation of all language and literature courses

In the animal kingdom, weakness can bring about aggression in other animals. This sometimes happens with humans as well. But I have found that my weakness brings out the kindness in people. I see it every day when people hold doors for me, pour cream into my coffee, or help me to put on my coat. And I have discovered that it makes them happy.
From my wheelchair experience, I see the best in people, but sometimes I feel sad because those who appear independent miss the kindness I see daily. They don‘t get to see this soft side of others. Often, we try every way possible to avoid showing our weakness, which includes a lot of pretending. But only when we stop pretending we‘re brave or strong do we allow people to show the kindness that‘s in them.
Last month, when I was driving home on a busy highway, I began to feel unwell and drove more slowly than usual. People behind me began to get impatient and angry, with some speeding up alongside me, horning (按喇叭) or even shouting at me. At the moment I decided to do something I had never done in twenty-four years of driving. I put on the car flashlights and drove on at a really low speed.
No more angry shouts and no more horns!
When I put on my flashlights, I was saying to other drivers, ―I have a problem here. I am weak and doing the best I can. And everyone understood. Several times, I saw drivers who wanted to pass. They couldn’t get around me because of the stream of passing traffic. But instead of getting impatient and angry, they waited, knowing the driver in front of them was in some way weak.
Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even when we don‘t feel that way. But those are few and far between. More often, it would be better if we don‘t pretend we feel strong when we feel weak or pretend that we are brave when we are scared.
The author feels sad sometimes because ______.

A．he has a soft heart

B．he relies much on others

C．some people pretend to be kind

D．some people fail to see the kindness in others

What did the other drivers do when they saw the flashlights?

A．They speed up to pass.

B．They waited with patience.

C．They tried their best to help.

D．They put on their flashlights too.

In this passage, the author advises us to ______.

A．handle problems by ourselves	B．accept help from others
C．admit our weakness	D．show our bravery

What is the passage mainly about?

A．A Wheelchair Experience.	B．Weakness and Kindness.
C．Weakness and Strength	D．A Driving Experience

How to deal successfully with a child showing outstanding musical ability? Its not always clear how best to develop and encourage his gift. Many parents may even fail to recognize and respond to their children’s need until discouragement explodes into uncooperative behavior. And while most schools are equipped to deal with children who are especially able in academic subjects，the musically gifted require special understanding which may not always be available in an ordinary school. Such children may well benefit from the education offered by a specialist music school.
The five music schools in Britain aim to provide all environment where gifted children can develop their skills under the guidance of professional musicians. Children here spend about half of a day on musical activities，for example，individual lessons，orchestras，chamber(室内音乐的)groups，voice training，conducting and theory. They also spend several hours a day practicing in private rooms. The rest of their time is taken up with the subjects: English, maths and basic sciences.
What are the disadvantages? An obvious problem is that the fees are high. However, each school will offer scholarships and other forms of financial aid. Secondly, not all parents want to send their children to boarding school, especially at an early age. Almost all the directors of the specialist schools express doubts about the wisdom of admitting children as young as seven into such a tense and disciplined (守纪律的) environment. They stress，however, that their main aim is to turn out “well-rounded and well—balanced individual.”
If a child’s musical ability is not recognized, ___________.

A．the child may behave badly

B．the ability may fade away

C．the child may lose interest

D．the parents may become anxious

What probably may musically gifted children face in ordinary schools?

A．Their academic work may suffer.

B．Schools lack musical equipment.

C．Music is not seen as an important subject.

D．Parents and teachers don’t work together.

What makes specialist music schools different from other schools?

A．Their working day is longer.

B．A range of musical training is offered.

C．More than half the day is spent on music.

D．The children have mostly one-to-one lessons.

According to school directors，what is a possible disadvantage for pupils?

A．Poor children may not be included.

B．They may lose their individuality.

C．There may be a discipline problem.

D．They may be too small on arrival.

The passage mainly talks about__________.

A．education and development about children

B．disadvantages of music schools

C．music schools for children with music gift

D．how to deal with music talented children

A．like eating in restaurants	B．have little time
C．prefer home-cooked meals	D．want to save money

A．Different kinds	B．High quality
C．Exact prices	D．Good taste

A．Pasta Salad	B．Dried Fruit
C．Noodles	D．Nuts