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2014 TFK Poetry Contest
Calling all poets! TIME For Kids has a challenge for you：Write a funny, rhyming poem. It must be an original poem that does not copy another poet’s work. Enter it in the TIME For Kids Poetry Contest. As fewer and fewer children are interested in writing poetry of their own, TIME For Kids decides to organize and sponsor such a contest to change the situation.
Contest Rules
1. How to enter: This contest begins 12:01 am on March 6, 2014 and ends 11:59 pm on July 24, 2014. To enter, mail the following information to 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 32nd Floor, New York, New York 10020: (a) an original and previously unpublished poem that is humorous and has a rhyme scheme(韵律); (b) Entrant’s first name only and a parent’s mail address. Limit one entry per person. By entering, Entrant promises that the entry (1) is original, (2) has not been published in any medium and (3) has not won an award.
2. Judging: All entries will be judged by poet Kenn Nesbitt, based on the following criteria: creativity and originality (50％), use of language and rhyme (25％) and appropriateness to the theme of the contest (25％). The length of the entry will not be taken into consideration.
3. Prizes: Our judge will select four semifinalists(半决赛选手)from which one grand-prize winner and three finalists will be chosen. The one grand-prize winner will receive an online class visit from Children’s Poet Kenn Nesbitt and a signed copy of his newest book of poetry, The Armpit of Doom：Funny Poems for Kids, approximately value: $275. The three finalists will each get a signed copy of Nesbitt’s newest book of poetry，The Armpit of Doom: Funny Poems for Kids，and both their poems and that of the grand-prize winner will be published at timeforkids.com.
4. Eligibility(参赛资格)：Open to legal citizens of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are primary school students and are 8 to 13 years old at time of entry．
5. Winner’s list：For names of the winner and finalists，visit timeforkids.com(after August 1, 2014, available for a period of 10 days)．The purpose of the contest is to__________.
| A．encourage children to learn from other poets |
| B．help children realize the dream of poetry writing |
| C．encourage children’s interest in poetry writing |
| D．encourage children to read more original poems |
Which of the following characteristics of a poem is valued most in judging?
| A．Being creative and original． |
| B．Using a proper number of words． |
| C．Using proper language and rhyme． |
| D．Being appropriate to the contest theme． |
What can be known about the finalists of the contest?
| A．They will get a great deal of money. |
| B．Their poems can be read at timeforkids.com. |
| C．They will receive an online class visit from Nesbitt． |
| D．Their poems will appear in Nesbitt’s newest book of poetry. |
According to the contest rules,____________.
| A．poems can be sent to the organizers by e-mail |
| B．all children have the right to take part in the contest |
| C．the number of poems to enter the contest is not limited |
| D．the result of the contest will be unknown before August, 2014 |
The breaking news of Mo Yan's Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday evening soon aroused public curiosity of the 57yearold Chinese writer: Why was it him that was favored by the Swedish Academy?
Born in 1955 into a rural family，Mo dropped out of school and became a farmer when he was a teenager.He joined the military and devoted himself to writing after the Cultural Revolution (1966－1976)．
Less than half an hour after the announcement，Mo's works turned to soldout status at China's major online book sellers.One lucky buyer wrote in an online comment: “Rushed to purchase，but to my shame，I have not read any of his novels.”
Although Mo was entitled one of the top domestic literature awards before the Nobel Prize，he is not the most popular novelist in China，in either the book market or in reputation.
Mo's novel “Big Breasts & Wide Hips，” translated by Howard Goldblatt，tells a story of a mother who struggled and suffered hardship and intertwined fates with Chinese people in the 20th century.His more recent work “Frog” more directly criticized China's onechild family policy，which helped control the country's population explosion but also brought tragedies to rural residents in the past 60 years.
“I think the reason why I could win the prize is because my works present lives with unique Chinese characteristics，and they also tell stories from a viewpoint of common human beings，which is above differences of nations and races，” Mo said on Thursday evening to Chinese journalists.Mo also said many folk arts originated from his hometown，such as clay sculpture，paper cuts，traditional new year paintings，have inspired and influenced his novels.
With more Chinese writers like Mo，the world could learn a more real China.Perhaps，this is another reason for the Swedish Academy's choice.What can we conclude from the second paragraph?
| A．Mo's life experiences. | B．Mo's family life. |
| C．Mo devoted himself to writing. | D．Mo had a gift for writing. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Mo didn't got any national awards before he won the Nobel Prize. |
| B．Mo was the top novelist in China before he won the Nobel Prize. |
| C．Mo's novels have attracted many people to read. |
| D．Mo's novels are all based on his daily life. |
Which of the following have no effect on Mo's novels according to the passage?
| A．Clay sculpture. | B．Paper cuts. |
| C．Folk arts. | D．Beijing opera. |
According to the passage，we know that________．
| A．Big Breasts & Wide Hips' leading role is one happy mother |
| B．Big Breasts & Wide Hips criticized China's onechild family policy |
| C．Frog came out earlier than Big Breasts & Wide Hips |
| D．Frog shows benefit as well as shortcoming of one China's policy |
New research has revealed that which song drivers listen to can influence how safe they are on the roads.Among the top ten safest songs to drive to are Come Away With Me by Norah Jones，I Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith and Tiny Dancer by Elton John.Each of the songs has an optimum tempo(最佳节奏) for safe driving，imitating the human heartbeat at around 60 to 80 beats per minute.The Scientist by Coldplay and Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River also appeared in the top 10.
The study，conducted at London Metropolitan University，also revealed the type of songs that cause motorists to drive dangerously.Unsurprisingly，music that is noisy increases a driver's heart rate，which can be deadly.Fast beats cause excitement that can lead people to concentrate more on the music than on the road and to speed up to match the beat of the song.Styles of music were also measured during the experiment and revealed differences between male and female drivers.Hiphop made a female driver drive far more aggressively，speeding up faster than male driver.The heavy metal music caused the fastest driving among males in the group while the dance music had the same effect among women.The male and female drivers who listened to the classical music drove the most irregularly.
The experiment involved eight people driving 500 miles each using the confused.com MotorMate app，which monitored driving behaviors through GPS technology.What's the main idea of the whole passage?
| A．Songs that drivers prefer to listen to on their way. |
| B．A study made by the confused.com MotorMate app. |
| C．What kind of songs the drivers should choose to listen to during driving. |
| D．Female drivers and male drives have different responses to the same music. |
The underlined word “monitored” in the last paragraph means________．
| A．controlled | B．banned | C．modeled | D．showed |
．Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Tiny Dancer by Elton John appeared in the top 10. |
| B．Usually human hearts beat at around 60 to 80 beats per minute. |
| C．The classical music makes most drivers drive comfortably and safely. |
| D．The passage reveals appropriate music and improper music for drivers. |
If there is another paragraph in the end of the passage，the author may mention________．
| A．female and male drivers' popular tastes of music |
| B．how did the study carry out |
| C．why fast beat music is harmful to drivers |
| D．some music with optimum tempo for driver to enjoy |
A nameless British millionaire is currently putting people to the test by handing out ￡1，000 to those he randomly meets in the street.All he'd ask is that they'd do something positive with the cash.The reactions are varied，from the surprised to the suspicious to the simply delighted.He has given away close to ￡100，000 to people he has met around the world.He hands those that he chooses a card explaining his project and allows them 48 hours to get in touch.
“Mr.Lucky” is from London，in his late thirties and appears wearing rolled－up jeans and with a camera around his neck.Working for an insurance company abroad，he earned his fortune and resigned last year after having realized he had more money than he knew what to do with.
“I once booked myself a flight into space；I thought I'd fulfill my childhood dream.Then I told my friends and when the conversation changed to what they would do if they had that amount of money，I felt embarrassed.Their ideas were much more generous，interesting and responsible than mine，” said Mr.Lucky.After canceling his space flight and struggling to choose a worthy cause for his cash，he decided to set up the WeAreLucky project.“I didn't want to just pass on my luck；I also wanted to share the responsibility.I decided to give away ￡1，000 every day.I'd asked the receivers to fill in a brief questionnaire to explain their intentions in using the money.”
But is handing over the responsibility to others really a responsible thing to do? How does he know the money will be used properly? “I'm not going to judge or start checking up on them.Sometimes what we need to do is just believing others，” he said with nearly childlike enthusiasm.How do people feel when offered ￡1，000 by “Mr.Lucky”？
| A．Shocked. | B．Cheerful. |
| C．Embarrassed. | D．Stressful. |
How did Mr.Lucky get so much money？
| A．Flying into space. |
| B．Giving out some questionnaires to people. |
| C．Setting up a web site. |
| D．Working in an insurance company. |
Which conclusion can be drawn from the third paragraph?
| A．What Mr.Lucky dreamed in his teens is to fly into space. |
| B．What Mr.Lucky wants to do is to pass on his fortune. |
| C．Why Mr.Lucky decided to set up the WeAreLucky. |
| D．Why Mr.Lucky changed the way he spent money. |
Why did Mr.Lucky hand out his money?
| A．He was easy－going and rich. |
| B．He wanted to help the poor. |
| C．He believed people could use it properly. |
| D．He needed people to share his responsibility. |
There are a great number of people in the world while few people are great.I think there is probably only one great person out of 10，000 at best，and most probably much less than that.
The reason why there are only few of them is that most people do not pay the price of greatness.There are so many people who want to be great，why only very few of them actually pay the price? The answer to the question explains the difference between the almost 100% people who want to be great and the much less than 0.01% who actually be so.The reason is that the road to greatness is full of pains.
Greatness requires sacrifices and there is no sacrifice without pain.The kind of sacrifices required for greatness is the ones that make the process continuously painful for long time.If you only want to be good it may be painful just every now and then，and many people can still handle it.But being great is a total difference.The pain is much deeper and it is continuous，so very few people can endure this kind of pain.Most people naturally choose things that bring pleasures to them.It's unnatural to choose pain over pleasure，let alone doing it continuously for long time.But that's what I believe is the secret to greatness: The secret to greatness is choosing pain over pleasures continuously for long time.What is the purpose of Paragraph 1?
| A．To compare. | B．To list statistics. |
| C．To lead up to the topic. | D．To give information. |
If one person only wants to be good，what will he/she face?
| A．Occasional pains. | B．Continual work. |
| C．Constant pains. | D．Various difficulties. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Pleasures mean greatness. |
| B．Greatness equals sacrifices. |
| C．What's greatness. |
| D．Greatness lies in continuous pains. |
On June 15th，2012，millions of people watched as 33yearold Nik Wallenda walked across one of the world's greatest waterfalls on a tightrope(钢丝)．What made the 25－minute walk that was televised live and watched by over 13 million people worldwide even more amazing，is that it was done over the Niagara Falls－An action that had never been attempted before.
Even though Nik was wearing a harness(保护带)，a safety measure provided by ABC，the television network that broadcast the event，his action to keep his balance against the strong winds made for some heart－stopping(令人担忧的) moments for the audience.
Nik，however，never slowed down for even one moment.Wearing special shoes made by his mother，he remained totally focused on the job at hand.It was only when he got to the last stretch near Canada's Table Rock that he knelt down on one knee and finally broke into a smile.Waving and blowing kisses to the cheering audience，he knew he had accomplished a great task，which most people had thought impossible.
While he described the whole experience as peaceful and relaxing，Nik said his biggest challenges came from a totally unexpected source－his 40 pound balancing pole.The balancing pole was so heavy that he could hardly carry it on the tightrope.
One would think that now that Nik has realized his lifelong dream he would be ready to hang up his “balancing pole”．However，the adventurer who already has seven Guinness World Records under his belt，is just getting started－Next up? A 5，000－foot tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon.While the one across the Niagara Falls took years of planning because he had to convince the US and Canadian officials，this one should happen in the very near future.That's because，the Florida resident has already been granted(授予) a permit by the Canyon officials.Why did so many people fix their attention on the event?
A．Because it was done by Nik Wallenda.
B．Because nobody had done it there before.
C．Because it was broadcast live by ABC.
D．Because it was impossible to do the event.What made the audience hold their breath during Nik's performance?
| A．How Nik managed to cross the Niagara Falls with safety measure. |
| B．What Nik would do when he lost his balance on the tightrope. |
| C．How Nik kept his balance against the strong winds. |
| D．How long Nik will take to finish the event. |
What was the greatest difficulty for him to face in Nik view?
| A．The supplied tightrope. |
| B．The safety belt. |
| C．The balancing pole. |
| D．The audience's noise. |
What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．Nik will go on with his dream. |
| B．Nik's life dream is changing. |
| C．Permission of governments is important. |
| D．The Grand Canyon is a dream for Nik. |