Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.
I am one of those unfortunate people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the spot I was heading for.
I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit that they didn’t know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite direction to that in which you should be going.
If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.
Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.
Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.Who showed the right way to the interviewee according to the passage?
| A．A warm-hearted old lady did such a thing |
| B．The writer did it for himself. |
| C．The secretary did so. |
| D．Someone we don’t know. |
Why did the writer consider himself to be an unlucky dog?
| A．Because he always forget the way to home |
| B．Because of his poor sense of direction |
| C．Because he did not have any friend. |
| D．Because he used to be shy and dared not ask others the way. |
How did the visitor feel when he was showed into the very room?
| A．He felt astonished | B．He felt embarrassed. |
| C．He felt very sad. | D．He felt strange |
What is the writer going to do when someone asks him for direction?
| A．He will direct the right way to the person willingly. |
| B．He will give the very person long list of direction |
| C．He will reply to it by the means of being a stranger to the town |
| D．He is going to show the man an opposite direction. |
Are you carrying too much on your back at school? You’re not alone. Back experts in the USA were worried that young students are having back and neck problems because they are carrying too much in their backpacks (schoolbags).
“It hurts my back when I run,” said Eglin Reyes, a student in Virginia. “It’s hard to get up the stairs with my backpack because it’s too heavy.”
Students have to carry heavy backpacks on their backs for a whole week’s study. Beeline is one of them. They have regular backpacks with two straps(带子) to carry them, but a number of students with heavy loads have switched to rolling backpacks. The backpacks have wheels and can roll on the ground.
Shirley Park’s backpack weighs 10 kilos, and she said, “I’ll change to a rolling backpack because I am starting to have back pain.”
How much is too much? Experts say that students should carry no more than 10 to 15 percent of their own body weight. A few students have had a good idea to lighten the load: Less homework.
Doctor’s suggestions:
●Lighten the load. Take home only the books the students need that night.
●Wide straps are better. They can send out weight over your shoulders and be sure to wear backpacks with two straps.
●The heaviest things should be packed closest to the back.
●Bend(弯曲) both knees when you pick up the pack, don’t just bend the waist(腰).The main idea of the passage is about _______.
| A．the problems made by rolling backpacks |
| B．the advantage of backpacks |
| C．the best backpacks for students |
| D．how to lighten students’ backpacks |
If a child carries a heavy school bag ,__________
| A．his back and neck will be hurt |
| B．his head and arms will be hurt |
| C．his hands will be hurt |
| D．his feet will be hurt |
By the words of the experts, it’s better for a student of 40 kilos to carry a backpack of at most _______.
| A．7 kilos | B．8 kilos |
| C．6 kilos | D．10 kilos |
If students follow the doctor’s suggesting, they _______.
| A．will know how to use backpacks |
| B．may feel their backpacks are lighter |
| C．can learn how to enjoy them |
| D．may do less homework |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Sometimes she said I was thin. Sometimes she said I was lazy. Sometimes she said I wasn’t a good student. Sometimes she said I talked too much, and so on. I tried to put up with(忍受) her as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, and then he asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Mary, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me and to my surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true.
I brought the list back to my dad. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be helpful to you. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is right.”
Many years have passed. The situation often appears in my mind. In our life we often meet with some trouble and we often go to someone and ask for advice. For some advice you will treasure(珍惜) all your life!What did the writer’s father do after he heard her complaints(抱怨)?
| A．He told her not to pay attention to what her “enemy” had said. |
| B．he let her continue to put up with her “enemy”. |
| C．He told her to write down all her “enemy” had said about her. |
| D．He agreed with her “enemy”. |
The writer felt ______ when she did the things as her father had told her.
| A．sad | B．angry |
| C．disappointed | D．surprised |
Which of the following can we know from the passage?
| A．The writer is grateful to her father. |
| B．The “enemy” thought the writer studied hard. |
| C．The writer and her “enemy” became best friends at last. |
| D．The “enemy” thought the writer was pretty. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Best Advice I Ever Had |
| B．A Serious Criticism(批评) |
| C．What People Say About You Is Always Right |
| D．My Parents |
In the United States, 30 percent of the people have a “weight problem”. To many people, the cause is obvious: they eat too much. But scientific evidence (证据) does little to support this idea. Going back to America of 1910, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less, and didn’t watch television.
Several modern studies, moreover, have shown that fatter people don’t eat more on average than thinner people. A 1979 study of 3,545 London office workers showed that fat people eat less than slim (苗条的) people.
Studies also show that slim people are more active than fat people. A study by a research group at Stanford University found the following interesting facts:
The more the man ran, the greater loss of the body fat.
The more they ran, the greater increase in food intake.
Thus, those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost the greatest amount of body fat.Nowadays many Americans have the problem that ______.
| A．they lose too much body fat | B．they work too hard |
| C．they are too fat | D．they are too slim |
According to the passage, how many people in 900 Americans have a “weight problem”?
| A．150. | B．300. | C．600. | D．270. |
Is there any scientific evidence to support the idea that eating too much is the cause of a “weight problem”?
| A．We are not sure. |
| B．Of course, there is some evidence to support this. |
| C．There is hardly any scientific evidence to support this. |
| D．Yes, there is plenty of evidence. |
The Americans in 1910 ________.
| A．had more problems |
| B．ate less food but had more physical activities |
| C．ate less food and had less physical activities |
| D．ate more food and had more physical activies |
A man walked into a restaurant and asked for a glass of water. Then the girl in the restaurant pulled out a gun and shot him dead. Why? People asked to give reasonable explanation for the strange happening. All kinds of suggestions were made.
She was able to recognize him as a dangerous prisoner who ran away from the prison; she thought he was to rob her; she misheard what he said; asking for a glass of water had a special meaning for her and so on. All these explanations showed that the gun was used on purpose(有目的) to harm the man. The idea was easily accepted.
In fact, the explanation was that the man had an attack of hiccups(严重打嗝). It so happened that the girl in the restaurant knew that a great and sudden fear could get rid of hiccups. But she didn’t know the gun happened to be loaded(上子弹) that day.The man asked for a glass of water because ______.
| A．he was having an attack of hiccups |
| B．he was walked into a restaurant |
| C．he wanted to kill himself |
| D．he was too thirsty |
The girl used a gun to the man because _______.
| A．she wanted to kill him |
| B．she hated him |
| C．what the man said had a special meaning |
| D．she wanted to give him a sudden and great fear |
Why did the man have an attack of hiccups?
| A．Because he ate too much. |
| B．Because he was too old. |
| C．Because he ate too fast. |
| D．The passage didn’t tell us. |
Which is TRUE to the passage?
| A．The man just ran away from a prison. |
| B．The man wanted to rob the girl. |
| C．The girl misheard what the man said. |
| D．It is the girl’s kind help that happened to kill the man. |
Most people today think of chocolate as something sweet to eat or drink and can be easily found in stores around the world. It might surprise you that chocolate was once highly treasured.
The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed a sweetened chocolate drink. Later, the popularity of the drink spread throughout Europe. Chocolate remained a drink that only wealthy people could afford to drink until the eighteenth century. During the period known as the Industrial Revolution, new technologies helped make chocolate less costly to produce.
Farmers grow cacao trees in many countries in Africa, Central and South America, but these trees are difficult to grow. They require an exact amount of water, warmth, soil and protection. After about five years, cacao trees start producing large fruits called pods, which grow near the trunk of the tree. The seeds inside these pods are harvested to make chocolate. Growing cacao is very hard work for farmers. Today, chocolate industry officials, activists, and scientists are working with farmers. They are trying to make sure that cacao can be grown in a way that is easy for the farmers and safe for the environment.
The market value of the yearly cacao crop around the world is more than five billion dollars. Chocolate is especially popular in Europe and the United States. Each year, Americans eat an average of more than 5 kilograms of chocolate per person. Specialty shops that sell costly chocolate are also very popular. Many offer chocolate lovers the chance to taste chocolate grown in different areas of the world.
| A．served with a drink in old times |
| B．popular with people around the world |
| C．a drink enjoyed by the rich in old times |
| D．bought easily in stores in old times |
| A．A warm climate. | B．Official aid. |
| C．New technologies. | D．Scientific protection. |
| A．Simple and time-saving. |
| B．Safe and labour-saving |
| C．Easy and labour-saving |
| D．Easy and environment-friendly. |
| A．Scientists are trying to help people find various cacaos. |
| B．The chocolate industry is developing rapidly only in European countries. |
| C．People in America love to produce dear chocolate. |
| D．Chocolate making is probably a big international business. |