It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.
The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries(食品杂货),saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.
I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a plete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity(人性)as a whole. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.Why was the bike so important to the couple?
| A.The man’s job was bike racing. |
| B.It was their only possession. |
| C.It was a nice Kona 18 speed. |
| D.They used it for work and daily life. |
We can infer from the text that ____________.
| A.the couple worked 60 hours a week. |
| B.people were busy before Christmas |
| C.the stranger brought over the bike |
| D.life was hard for the young family. |
How did people get to know the couple’s problem?
| A.From radio broadcasts. |
| B.From a newspaper. |
| C.From TV news. |
| D.From a stranger. |
What do the couple learn from their experience?
| A.Strangers are usually of little help. |
| B.One should take care of their bike. |
| C.News reports make people famous. |
| D.An act of kindness can mean a lot. |
Will it matter if you don't take your breakfast? Recently a test was given in the United States. Those tested included people of different ages, from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these people were given all kinds of breakfasts, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Special tests were set up to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast. The results show that if a person eats a proper breakfast, he or she will work with better effect than if he or she has no breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person works with his brains. If a student eats fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen with more attention to class.
Opposite to(与.....相反) what many people believe, if you don't eat breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch, and end up gaining weight instead of losing. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.During the test, those who were tested were given ________.
| A.no breakfast at all |
| B.very rich breakfast |
| C.little food for breakfast |
| D.different breakfast or none |
The results of the test show that ________.
| A.breakfast has great effect on work and studies |
| B.breakfast has little to do with a person’s work |
| C.a person will work better if he has a simple(简单的) breakfast |
| D.those working with brains needn’t have anything for breakfast |
The passage mentions that many people believe that if you don't eat breakfast, you will _________.
| A.lose weight |
| B.not lose weight |
| C.be healthier |
| D.gain a lot of weight |
Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A.Poor breakfasts affect those who work with brains. |
| B.Eating nothing in the morning may cause one to get fatter. |
| C.Reducing lunch and supper is of less use in weight losing. |
| D.Eating less in lunch and supper may help to lose weight. |
During the summer holidays there will be a revised(修改过的)schedule of services for the students. Changes for dinning-room and library service hours and for bus schedules will be posted on the wall outside of the dining-hall.Weekly film and concert schedules,which are being arranged(安排), will be posted each Wednesday outside of the student club.
In the summer holidays, buses going to the town center will leave the main hall every hour on the half hour during the day.The dining-room will serve three meals a day from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm during the week and two meals from noon to 7:00 pm on weekends.The library will continue its usual hours during the week, but have shorter hours on Saturdays and Sundays.The weekend hours are from noon to5:00 pm.
All students who want to use the library borrowing services must have a new summer card.This announcement will also appear in the next week’s student newspaper.The main purpose of this announcement is to .
| A.tell students of important schedule changes |
| B.tell students of new bus and library services |
| C.show the excellent services for students |
| D.ask students to renew their library cards |
Times for films and concerts are not listed in this announcement because .
| A.they are not to be announced |
| B.they are hard to arrange |
| C.the full list is not ready |
| D.the full list is too long |
At which of the following times will the bus leave the main hall?
| A.8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 |
| B.8:30, 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 |
| C.8:30,9:00, 9:30,10:00 |
| D.8:00, 9:30, 11:00, 12:30 |
In the summer holidays,the library will have .
| A.no special hours |
| B.special hours on weekdays |
| C.special hours on weekends |
| D.special hours both on weekdays and weekends |
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives .
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker(面包师)in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery(面包房)into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them .
Samuel Pepys , the famous writer, writer about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path(路径) of the fire.With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone.In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among which was the new St Paul’s
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.The underlined word‘family’in the second paragraph probably means____.
| A.house | B.children | C.wife and husband | D.wife and children |
It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that .
| A.many people lost their lives |
| B.the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
| C.many famous buildings were destroyed |
| D.the King’s bakery was burned down |
Why did the writer cite(引用)Samuel Pepys?
| A.Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
| B.Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
| C.To show that poor people suffered most. |
| D.To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
How was the fire put out according to the text?
| A.The King and his soldiers came to help. |
| B.All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed. |
| C.People managed to get enough water from the river. |
| D.Houses standing in the path of the fire were destroyed. |
A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor(售票员) hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior , "said a middle-aged man.
"Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor. "
Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said , "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..."
Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap interrupted (打断谈话), "I know his name. I call him Dad."The passengers were ________ to see the conductor's kindness to the woman and the child.
| A.excited | B.pleased | C.interested | D.surprised |
One passenger suggested writing a letter to the company to ______ .
| A.make a demand for more buses |
| B.thank the conductor for his good service |
| C.criticize(批评) the conductor for his rude behavior |
| D.invite a newspaper reporter to write about the conductor |
What was the gentleman?
| A.A teacher. |
| B.A newspaper reporter. |
| C.Not known from the story. |
| D.The conductor's friend from his company. |
The word "he" in the last paragraph refers to _______.
| A.the gentleman |
| B.the conductor |
| C.the middle-aged man |
| D.the three-year-old child |
Scientists are trying to make the deserts ,which get very little rain, into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts,so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time.
Why is more and more land becoming desert?Scientists think that people make deserts.People are doing bad things to the earth against the scientists’ wish.
Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts.This is because some green plants are growing there.Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places.Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier. Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away.When a bit of rain falls,the plants hold the water. Without plants, the land can become desert more easily. Deserts ____________ .
| A.never have any plants or animals in them |
| B.can all be turned into good land before long |
| C.are becoming smaller and smaller |
| D.get very little rain |
More and more landisbecomingdesertbecause____________.
| A.plants can’t grow there |
| B.there is not enough rain |
| C.people haven’t done what scientists wish them to do |
| D.scientists know little about the deserts |
Smallgreenplantsareveryimportanttodryplaces because ________
| A.they don’t let the sun make the earth even drier |
| B.they don’t let the wind blow the soil away |
| C.they hold water |
| D.All of the above. |
After reading this passage, we learn that _____________ .
| A.plants can keep dry land from becoming desert |
| B.it is good to get rid of the grass in the deserts |
| C.all places without much rain will become deserts |
| D.it is better to grow crops on dry land than to cut them |