Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life.
In some modern countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for all whether rich or poor, clever or stupid, one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough: we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degrees; they refuse to do what they think “low” work; and in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor; we can live without education, but we die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we would get terrible diseases in our towns.
In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we are educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability, and secondly, that we realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that it is very bad to be ashamed of one’s work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society.The writer of this passage thinks that________.
| A．free education for all probably leads to a perfect world |
| B．free education can solve all of the world’s problems |
| C．free education won’t help to solve social problems |
| D．all the social problems can’t be solved by free education |
The writer wants to prove that ___________.
| A．a farmer is more important than a professor |
| B．our society needs all kinds of jobs |
| C．our society needs free education for all |
| D．people with university degrees earn more money |
According to the passage, ____________.
| A．work with hands is low work |
| B．work with hands is dirty and shameful |
| C．work with hands is the most important |
| D．we can’t regard work with hands as low work |
The purpose of education is ___________.
| A．to choose a system of education |
| B．to let everyone receive education |
| C．to prepare children for their future life |
| D．to prepare children for well-paid jobs |
Anna Riviere was one of the most admired of 19th-century English sopranos(女高音). She was also one of the most adventuresome.
She was born in London on January 9th, 1810. She entered the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 14. Seven years later, just after her first show, Anna married Sir Henry Bishop, who was 24 years her senior. Her reputation as a singer grew rapidly, based largely on her tours with Sir Henry and harpist Nicholas Bochsa. After a tour of Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, Anna Bishop deserted her husband and three children and ran away with Bochsa.
From then on, Madame Bishop—as she continued to be known—traveled and sang as if her life depended on it. Between 1839 and 1843 she traveled to every major town in Europe, where she sang in 260 concerts. In the course of two years in Naples, she performed in 20 operas. In 1855 she and Bochsa sailed for Sydney, Australia. He died there the following year, and Anna went on to tour South America before returning to New York, where she married a diamond merchant.
Then she began what proved her most dangerous adventure. After another American tour in 1866, she and her husband set sail across the Pacific. They were shipwrecked on a small coral reef, and for more than a month they drifted in a small boat before they finally reaching Guam. She had lost her music, her wardrobe, and her jewelry, but Madame Bishop was not to be stopped. She went on to Manila and began a concert tour that led to Hong Kong, Singapore, and India before she went back to England. After another two-year world tour she returned eventually to New York, where she gave her last public performance in 1883—at age 73.
Meanwhile the husband she left behind, Sir Henry, had become famous for writing the music to lyrics that might eventually have been meaningful to Anna Bishop—“Home, Sweet Home.”【改编】Which of the following information in the passage about Madama Bishop is true?
| A．She became famous after her first show. |
| B．After her tour in Europe, she returned to New York. |
| C．She got married more than once. |
| D．The song “Home, Sweet Home” was meaningful to her. |
Which is the right order of the event？
a. Bochsa died in Australia.
b. Madama Bishop deserted her husband and three children.
c. Madama Bishop toured South America.
d. Madama Bishop and her husband, a diamond merchant, set sail across the Pacific.
| A．abcd | B．bacd | C．bcda | D．dcba |
What is the best title for this passage ?_____.
| A．The English soprano |
| B．The soprano traveled around the world |
| C．A soprano and her husband |
| D．The adventuresome soprano |
【原创】On Aug.11 shopper Jenni Ware bought 207 dollars' worth of groceries at Trader Joe's and when she was waiting to pay,she realized that she had lost her wallet.Carolee Hazard,who was in line behind her,offered to pay the bill!Jenni later sent Carolee a check for 300 dollars,and suggested that Carolee treat herself to a massage with the cash leftover.
Carolee turned to her online Facebook group for advice on what she should do with the 93 dollar gift.The idea Carolee chose was to give it to a local food bank.
Carolee not only sent in the money that Jenni had given her to Second Harvest Food Bank,but matched that amount herself.So did a Facebook friend.And another,and another.So far,over 10,000 dollars have come in from people in many countries to feed the hungry through local food banks.
Carolee has started the "93 Dollar Club" on Facebook,where people across the globe can read the story and comment on it.There are links on that page which people may use to give money to a food bank close to them.Carolee says,"It's been amazing to see this grow and how excited people are getting.I have told the story to my friends and they say it encourages them to do good immediately."
Carolee and Jenni are no longer strangers.They've become Facebook freinds and they've made a real_world connection that will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Junni remembers that she was in a "bad mood" that day in the grocery store,and Carolee's help reminded her that there are good people in the world.Jenni said,"It's just a reminder that there are these amazingly kind people out there.And it also reminds me of hwo good I want to be."Why did Carolee offer to pay for the groceries?
| A．Carolee and jenni were Facebook friends. |
| B．Carolee wanted to set up the “93 Dollar club” |
| C．Jenni was Carolee’s neighbor. |
| D．Caroleewas always ready to help others. |
How much money did Carolee send in to Second Harvest Food Bank?
| A．＄93 | B．＄186 | C．＄207 | D．＄300 |
Caroleedry set up the “93 Dollar club” to_____
| A．Help people make Facebook friends |
| B．Make her story known to people across the globe |
| C．Call on people to donate money for hungry |
| D．Make herself known to the public |
It can be inferred from jenni’s words that ____
| A．She believes there are many kind people in the world |
| B．She does not believe in humanity |
| C．She doubts whether she can become a kind person |
| D．She believes Carolee will be her life-long friend |
An Australian film company has halted the preproduction of its upcoming film Deep Water because of eerie similarities the plot has to the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.
MH370 disappeared from radar screens less than an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8.No confirmed sighting of the plane has been made since.
The action horror film, from Arclight Films, tells the story of a flight bound for China that mysteriously crashes in a remote stretch of ocean.The survivors then have to fight against hungry sharks as the plane is starting to sink.
“Out of sensitivity to the Malaysia flight situation，we’ve decided to put it on pause for now，”Arclight Films managing director Gary Hamilton told the Hollywood reporter Monday.
The news comes as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak stated at a press conference that new analysis suggested the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean，and that all those on board are now dead.
The eerily similar film plot had been promoted with the tagline (宣传词)：“Survivors of a plane crash face terror beyond imagination as the plane is starting to sink and soon discover they are surrounded by the deadliest natural born killers on earth.”
It’s not the first time Alister Grierson, the film’s director, has had a preference for film subjects of reallife disasters.Two weeks before the 2011 release of his best known film Sanctum, about an underwater cave diving expedition, Australia was hit by disastrous floods.
Grierson began preproduction on Deep Water at Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland weeks before the reallife incident of MH370.
The Queenslandbased filmmaker said he couldn’t deny the strange timing between his project and MH370.
Despite saying it was “mysterious” , he insists that his film is vastly different.
“In simple terms, Deep Water is about an accident that happens on an airplane which goes down in the ocean, and the survivors trying to stay alive afterwards.”
“It’s more complicated as there are villains (反面角色) and sharks, but it’s a fun adventure with thrills and scares. ”
It is unclear when the preproduction will restart, but it will be at least two years before the film makes it to cinemas.Why has the preproduction of Deep Water been stopped?
| A．Because MH370 mysteriously disappeared after takeoff on March 8. |
| B．Because the plot of the film is similar to the reallife incident of MH370. |
| C．Because Malaysian Prime Minister was very sensitive at a press conference. |
| D．Because the film won’t make it to cinemas until two years later. |
【改编】Which of the following statements about Alister Grierson is not wrong?
| A．He is a film director on the missing flight MH370. |
| B．He is keen on the film subjects of reallife disasters. |
| C．He is famous for his best film Deep Water. |
| D．He worked with Arclight Films to make Sanctum. |
The underlined word “eerie” in the first paragraph means “________”．
| A．strange | B．funny |
| C．deadly | D．sensitive |
Where will you most probably read this article?
| A．In a popular science magazine. |
| B．In Queensland Financial Daily. |
| C．In an entertainment special column. |
| D．In a disaster report of MH370. |
B
Many people take it for granted that black is a color of bad things while white should always mean something good. This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity. However, that is not always the case. Did you know that the same one color may mean differently in different places of the world?
In the Englishspeaking world, black is the color of mourning. People wear black clothes at the funeral. Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed (流血)．Yellow is the word for fear. If you are afraid, you are yellow. Yet none of these sayings is true outside the Englishspeaking world. In China and Korea white is the color of mourning. In Russia, China and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence. In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear.
Even within the Englishspeaking area it is not difficult to find color contradictions (矛盾). A red cap in the United States is a porter in a railway station. In Britain, however, a red cap is a military policeman. Both names are logical because both men wear red caps. Similarly, the British term for an American white collar worker is sometimes called a blackcoated worker.
One does not have to cross an area to find color differences. Would you rather be redblooded or a blueblooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest. The expression “blue blood” comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly said that they had “blue blood”. Actually they meant that they had no Moorish or Jewish blood. But then why “blue” blood? Because they were fairskinned, and it is only natural that their blood vessels (血管) stood out appearing blue.Yellow is concerned with anger in ________.
| A．Russia | B．Britain |
| C．Germany | D．China |
The two meanings of the term “red cap” form a difference in ________.
| A．pronunciation | B．climate |
| C．logical relationship | D．custom |
【改编】Britain as well as America would probably agree that ________.
| A．black stands for the color of mourning |
| B．a blackcoated worker is employed in an office |
| C．red represents beauty and excellence |
| D．a red cap is a porter in a station |
The best title for this passage is “________”．
| A．The Origin of Blue Blood |
| B．The Development of the Symbolic Use of Colors |
| C．Colors That Carry Bad Meanings |
| D．The Meaning Concerned with Certain Colors |
English songs have been very popular for people around the world for many decades.Singers, from Elvis Presley to Ricky Martin, from the Beatles to Eminen and from Natalie Cole to Britney Spears, have all been sitting in everyone’s heart, even for people who don’t speak English. But will you have better English skills if you listen to English songs for a long time?
From my experiences, some people listen to English songs for 20－30 years but still haven’t accomplished any good English skills. Some people choose English songs to be the “main learning approach”， but most of them have failed.
Listening to English songs does not help you to speak English fluently. It does help you gain some vocabularies. Most of them are unusual ones that you don’t use in your everyday life. You won’t learn the sentence “It is a complicate project. We really need to meet the deadline.” in any English songs.
People like using English songs to practice English skills because it’s easy and enjoyable.They think that sitting in the car listening to English songs day by day can improve their English skills. It is not that actually.
You will not improve your listening skills because normal people don’t speak with melody (乐调). People don’t talk like Eminen’s songs (well, actually, some teenagers do). You can’t get yourself familiar with English pronunciation or accent just from listening to English songs. The words that they pronounce in the songs are not the words that you will hear in your everyday life.It often even confuses you more how English is pronounced.
I would fully encourage you to watch English movies, listen to radio news or other normal talks, but not music. Of course, you can consume it for fun but not the aim to improve your English skills.【改编】What’s the main idea of the passage?_____
| A．How English songs aid people with practicing English skills. |
| B．Where people can find good English songs to practise their English skills |
| C．Why people are not willing to develop their English by listening to English songs. |
| D．Who has made English songs popular throughout the world. |
【改编】English songs are beneficial to English learners if they hope to ________.
| A．adapt to express themselves in daily life |
| B．enlarge their vocabularies |
| C．improve their listening skills |
| D．speak English fluently |
【改编】what can we conclude from the text ? ________.
| A．English songs get people familiar with English pronunciation or accent |
| B．watching English movies or listening to radio news can be great helpful to English learners |
| C．worldfamous singers have done a lot to help people learn English |
| D．most people who listen to English songs in their car speak English very well |