Grandpa Nybakken loved life — especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he pretended innocent surprise, exclaiming, “Oh, forevermore!” But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and grandpa wasn’t laughing.
Grandpa worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage abroad. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church. His search proved fruitless.
Suddenly, he realized what had happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!
The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children. He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning.
“It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.”
Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on vacation in the United States．He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. Grandpa and his family sat in their usual seats among the small congregation (教堂会众).
“But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year.”
“Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses．Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your boxes arrived．When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on the top.” After a long pause, he continued, “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that!”
The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses. But the director surely must have confused their church with another, they thought, there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.
But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.Which of the following is NOT true about Grandpa Nybakken according to the passage?
| A．He was an outgoing man and held an active attitude towards life. |
| B．He had a large family to support. |
| C．He was a carpenter working in the church. |
| D．He was a loyal Christian. |
The people in the church but Grandpa felt confused at what the director said because ________.
| A．Grandpa didn’t tell the director that he was the owner of the glasses |
| B．the director wanted to return the glasses even though he liked it |
| C．the director could not get such glasses in their own country |
| D．the glasses were not included in the donation list |
Who does “the Master Carpenter” in the last paragraph probably refer to?
| A．Grandpa’s master. | B．One of Grandpa’s friends. |
| C．God. | D．Grandpa’s co-worker. |
Which can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Grandfather’s life. | B．The Helpful Donation. |
| C．The Perfect Mistake. | D．An Impressive Speech. |
EVERYBODY in this world is different from one another. But do you know that understanding differences can help you better manage your money?
As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it’s not easy to change later in life.
Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief of how to manage their finances. This is part of our value system and it has a great impact on the way we look after our money.
According to our different values, experts put us in three categories. They are: the ant, the cricket and the snail.
The ant—works first
Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don’t care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.
The cricket—fun first
The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn’t think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.
The snail—lives under pressure
The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford it. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.We can learn from the text that _____.
| A．we spend money because we have earned it |
| B．saving money is a good way to manage money |
| C．your way of managing money is a reflection of your value or belief |
| D．spending money is a wiser way |
Of the three types of people, the one that has no weakness is _____.
| A．the ant | B．the snail | C．none of them | D． the cricket |
If you had three dollars, you would spend all of it. Which type do you belong to?
| A．The cricket | B．The ant | C．The snail | D．None of them |
The text tells us mainly about _____.
| A．understanding differences |
| B．our own values and beliefs |
| C．living behaviors of small animal |
| D．spending nature |
Those who spend more pre-bedtime hours using the Internet or watching television are more likely to report insufficient sleep, even though they sleep almost as long as people spending fewer pre-bedtime hours in front of a computer or television screen, survey findings show.
“While many people use electronic media, say, the Internet, it should be noted that the longer media use before sleep can trigger (self-perceived) insufficient sleep,” lead researcher Dr Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, Japan, told the reporter.
He and colleagues obtained data on self-perceived sleep problems and the use of electronic media prior to bedtime from 5,875 altogether Japanese respondents in two separate Internet-based surveys. Their findings are published in Sleep and Biological Rhythms.
Nearly half of the respondents associated their problem with electronic media use before bedtime. Longer electronic media users were also more likely to report insufficient sleep.
“Overall, 29% of light users (less than 1.5 hours) listed electronic media use as a possible cause of their insufficient sleep. By comparison, 40% of medium users (1.5 to 3 hours) and 54% of heavy users (more than 3 hours) said the same.
However, longer Internet and television use before bedtime did not correlate with less actual sleep.
While heavy users averaged about 3 more hours in front of computer or television screens than light users, the heavy users averaged only about 12 minutes less pre-workday sleep time than light users.
Notably, Suganuma said, "Internet use affected self-perceived insufficient sleep more than TV watching not only in younger Internet users but also in middle-aged or aged Internet users."
Up to 38% of the respondents listed accessing the Internet far into the night as a possible cause for their sleep disturbance, while about 25% said watching television far into the night caused it.
The findings suggest that while heavy computer and television use before bedtime has a small effect on sleep duration, it may have a more significant effect on "sleep demand and sleep quality," Suganuma notes. Heavy computer and television user before bed time are more likely to be______ than light ones.
| A．energetic | B．happy | C．sleepy | D．clever |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Heavy computer and television user before bed time have less sleeping time than light ones. |
| B．Heavy computer and television user before bed time have worse sleep than light ones. |
| C．Those suffering insufficient sleep spend less time in using internet than in watching TV. |
| D．Spend less time in watching TV or surfing the internet, and you will have a better sleep. |
The passage seems to suggest that people ______.
| A．be far away from media. |
| B．watch TV rather than use internet |
| C．cut down late-night Internet and TV |
| D．Stop late-night internet and TV |
Which of the following phrases is similar in meaning to the underlined phrase in the sixth paragraph?
| A．have any connection with | B．make a friend with |
| C．share the opinion with | D．in accordance with |
What is an idiom? An idiom is a group of words which, when used together, has a different meaning from the one which the individual words have. For example, “---How do you know that Sid and Nancy have separated ?” “---I heard it on the grapevine(葡萄藤)”.
Of course, the second speaker does not mean he heard the news about John by putting his ear to a grapevine! He is conveying the idea visually of information spreading around a widespread network, similar to a grapevine. We use idioms to express something that other words do not express as clearly or as cleverly. We often use an image or symbol to describe something as clearly as possible and thus make our point as effectively as possible. For example, "in a nutshell" suggests the idea of having all the information contained within very few words. Idioms tend to be informal and are best used in spoken rather than written English.
One of the best ways to learn an idiom is by looking at the context in which it is used. This can be done by concentrating on the rest of the sentence and try to guess the meaning. Many idioms are not that difficult to understand when considered in their context. For example: We are going to have a surprise party for Tom tomorrow. It's a secret so please don't let the cat out of the bag.
'Let the cat out of the bag' is an idiom. Imagine you don't know what this idiom means; by looking at the words preceding, it should be easy to guess that the speaker does not want you to tell Tom about the surprise party. Therefore, 'let the cat out of the bag' must mean something like' reveal a secret' or 'tell a secret'.Which of the following sentences is NOT similar to “I heard it on the grapevine. ” in figures of speech(在修辞方面)？
| A．The exam was a piece of cake. |
| B．You will be paid under the table. |
| C．You eat with that mouth? |
| D．It rained cats and dogs yesterday. |
“I was feeling under the weather so I went to see a doctor.” The underlined idiom means____.
| A．blue | B．homesick | C．unhappy | D．ill |
It is most probable that idioms will be seen______.
| A．in a paper | B．in an preface(序言) | C．in a notice | D．in online chatting |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Other words can express something as vividly as idioms. |
| B．Written English with spoken English does not use idioms at all. |
| C．There are plant, food, animal idioms used to express something. |
| D．Contexts play not a bit important part in guessing the meaning of idioms. |
The China Daily newspaper group is looking for English-language senior business editors, senior copy editors, copy editors and graphic designers to strengthen its international team. We offer a competitive salary package, accommodation with furniture paid for 90 percent medical reimbursement（报销）, a seven-day paid leave, eleven-day public holidays and a return ticket to the country of residence.
Senior Business Editor
You must:
（1）Assist the business editor in setting goals and working on achieving them;
（2）Be an excellent team person who can generate ideas and think creatively and be able to rewrite totally if needed;
（3）Ideally have been working or have worked in a position of Responsibility and
understand what leadership intends;
（4）Have had at least five years' editing experience working on editing the Business Desk and be familiar with industry software.
Senior Copy Editor
You must:
（1）Work on shifts in the Business Desk and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
（2）Edit or rewrite copy and give smart headlines and captions (文字说明);
（3）Have had at least two years' editing experience working on editing desks and be familiar with industry software.
Copy Editor
You must:
（1）Be good at editing or rewriting copy and writing smart headlines and captions:
（2）Be able to work on shifts for different pages, and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
（3）Have two years of editing experience working on copy desks, and be familiar with industry software.
Graphic Designer
You must:
（1）Have excellent skills in information graphics;
（2）Be good at illustrations and freehand drawings;
（3）Be experienced in newspaper or magazine layouts（布局）;
（4）Have a good sense of typography（活版印刷术）;
（5）Have good news judgment;
（6）Be fluent in English.
For enquiries or to apply, write to job @ chinadaily.com.cn.What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To advertise for employing some good employees. |
| B．To tell you how to become part of this group. |
| C．To describe the working conditions of the China Daily newspaper group. |
| D．To describe the positions of the China Daily newspaper group. |
What is not required about Graphic Designer?
| A．Having a good sense of typography. |
| B．Have excellent skills in information graphics. |
| C．Writing smart headlines and captions. |
| D．Be expert in Photoshop. |
How many positions need editing experience?
| A．Two | B．Three. | C．Four | D．Five |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．China Daily: New Employees Wanted |
| B．China Daily: The Best Working Condition |
| C．China Daily: Newspaper |
| D．China Daily: An International Team |
On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of a New York subway station, playing his violin. Many of passers-by slowed down their paces and put some money into the hat of the young man.
The next day, at the same place, he put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different than the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it on the ground and put some stones on it. Then he adjusted the violin and began playing. It seemed more pleasant to listen to.
The words read, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat mistakenly. Please come to claim it soon.”
Seeing this, people wondered what it could be. After about half an hour, a middle-aged man ran there hurriedly and rushed through the crowd to the violinist and grabbed his shoulders and said, “Yes, it’s you. You did come here. I knew that you’re an honest man and would certainly come here.”
“Are you Mr. George Sang”? asked the young violinist.
The man nodded. “Did you lose something?” “Lottery. It’s lottery.” “Is it?” The violinist took out a lottery ticket and asked.
George nodded promptly and seized the lottery ticket and kissed it, then he danced with the violinist.
The story turned out to be this: George Sang bought a lottery ticket, winning a prize of $500,000. After work, he passed the station and felt the music was so wonderful that he took out 50 dollars and put it in the hat. However, the lottery ticket was also thrown in. The violinist was a student at an Arts College and had planned to attend further study in Vienna. He had booked the ticket and would fly that morning. However when he was cleaning up he found the lottery ticket. Thinking that the owner would return to look for it, he cancelled the flight and came back to where he was given the lottery ticket.
When asked why he didn’t take the lottery ticket for himself, the violinist said, “Although I don’t have much money, I live happily; but if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever.” What is the sequence(顺序) of the story?
a. The violinist tried to look for the ticket-owner
b. George Sang won a lottery
c. George Sang threw $50 and his ticket in the hat of a violinist’s
d. The violinist found the owner of the lottery ticket
e. A young student played the violinist near a subway station.
| A．c, d, e, a, e | B．b, c, e, d, a | C．b, e, c, a, d | D．c, a, d, b, e |
George Sang was so ______that he kissed the lost ticket and danced with the violinist.
| A．moved | B．disappointed | C．mad | D．pleased |
By telling the story, the writer intends to tell us that__________.
| A．getting rich overnight is important |
| B．showing sympathy for others is important |
| C．being honest is of great importance |
| D．school fees are high at the present time |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．The Arts College the young violinist was going to attend is not in New York. |
| B．Many people usually put their money in their hat in the distant past. |
| C．George Sang may give some money to the young violinist as a reward. |
| D．all the people who win lotteries are generous and easy-going. |