ThisMarchisabusymonthinShangha-优题课

Dangerous as they are, extreme sports remain appealing among many Australian young people! Camp Xtreme is the perfect test of your heart.
Kite Surfing
It’s the exciting mixture of kite, board and waves. The idea of using a kite to accelerate speed seems like a new challenge, yet the art of kite flying dates back to the 13th-century Chinese when it was used as a simple means of transport.
Catch a wind and you’re moving — up, down and across the surf. “It’s always exciting. You’d jump 5 feet or 35 feet. You never know if you’re going to go up in the air, and your heart is just going boom, boom, boom.”
Coasteering
It is by far the best activity and the event that everyone is still talking about. This is exploring the coastline without worrying about a coastal path or finding a rocky bay blocking your route. You climb, dive and swim from one place to another. With Coasteering, you don’t have to be able to swim as the wet suit and buoyancy(浮力) aid will keep you floating when you are in the water.
Sky Diving
Traditional parachuting(跳伞) doesn’t sound risky enough. So now sky diving is the name for jumping from a plane and listening to your heart beating heavily as you move fast towards earth before you open your parachute at the last moment.
Mountain Biking
It’s been around so long that bikers are no longer satisfied with just going up and down a mountain. Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough land, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but include features designed to improve strength and performance in rough areas.
For details, please call us on 1300-792-668 or click here: www.xtremecamp.com.au.
All the four extreme sports are mainly intended to test one’s _____.

A．heart beat	B．physical health
C．potential strength	D．courage

The underlined word in the second paragraph “it” refers to _____.

A．the kite	B．kite surfing
C．kite flying	D．the art of kites

Which of the following sports can be the most risky?

A．Kite surfing.	B．Coasteering.
C．Sky diving.	D．Mountain biking.

We can infer from the passage that _______.

A．kites were the main means of transport in China

B．swimming skills play a key role in Coasteering

C．parachuting is the least popular sports at present

D．mountain biking requires more than riding common bikes

Amy Chua, a professor of law in Yale, nicknamed as Tiger Mother, has started a debate over Chinese-style parenting. Amy sets “10 Rules” for her two daughters. For instance, they’ve to get As in all subjects and play the piano or violin and practice hours every day.
There has been wide criticism(批评) across the US. “It’s kind of extreme,” said Jeffrey Seinfeld, a professor at New York University. “Children need parents who can guide them, not force them...”
Lawrence Solomon, a famous journalist for Canada’s Globe and Mail, has quoted statistics to show the failure of Chinese parenting. He writes that only 10 Chinese scientists outside the Chinese mainland have won the Nobel Prize in the past century. In contrast, American scientists have won more than 300 Nobel prizes, and Jews(犹太人), who take up only 1% of the world’s population, have got at least 180 (or almost one-fourth) of the prizes.
However, Amy’s strict rules help her daughters shine in their studies. The elder sister is known for her piano presentation at the Carnegie Hall, and the younger boasts an excellent academic record.
Besides, US statistics show that Chinese-Americans take up only 5% of the US population but 20% of the students in Ivy League schools（常春藤学校）.
Likewise, Chinese-Canadians take up more than one-third of the students in Canada’s two most famous universities, Toronto University and the University of British Columbia. Influenced by Confucius’ teachings, students from Korea and Japan are also excelling in academic fields.
Therefore, the Nobel Prize should not be taken as the yardstick of a country’s education. No culture or tradition, whether Eastern or Western, is better or worse. The same applies to Eastern and Western education systems. Both sides should stop using their concepts and criteria to judge the other. They should learn the good aspects of each other’s systems and clear the misunderstandings.
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A．there’re about 720 Nobel Prizes in the 20th century

B．Jeffrey Seinfeld agrees children need pushing to succeed

C．Amy Chua’s parenting style is widely accepted across America

D．Western concepts should be adopted to judge all education systems

What does the author think of the Chinese-style parenting?

A．Valuable.	B．Unreliable.
C．Unchangeable.	D．Flexible.

The underlined word “yardstick” in the last paragraph can be replaced by ______.

A．yard	B．footstep
C．standard	D．chopsticks

How does this passage develop?

A．By inferring.	B．By comparing.
C．By reasoning.	D．By explaining.

Several dollars equal nothing for some people, but make a difference for others. Steve has just lost his wife to cancer and everything they had is gone due to the treatment. He now lives in the shelter for the homeless. So we know each other.
Just like other homeless people, he didn’t think he needed anything. But once he mentioned to me he needed eye glasses. His voice hesitated a bit, he looked down, and it appeared like he thought such a request was just a dream. Too much to hope for? It was as if his wish were known by me only.
I submitted an application for him to a program that is supposed to provide a free eye examination and glasses. Three months later, I phoned to ask what was up with the appointment but they told me there was a cash flow problem until late summer.
Steve showed disappointment, thanked me and started to walk away. I said, “Hold on, I will figure out a way to get you an eye examination and glasses.” His face lit up a tiny bit. He had seen some of the things I have done for other people in our shelter and to me it looked like he might have a line of hope.
I took a picture of him and posted his picture and his story in the Twitter. In about 4 days, eight people from around the world donated $25 each and one person donated $40 and I made up the rest to get him an eye exam and glasses.
Steve picked up his glasses on Wednesday: May 11th, 2011. Today Steve has returned to a previous job he had in a nearby car wash. Because he now has glasses he will be able to see what he is doing while cleaning the vehicles. He is starting a second job at a pet center next week!
We can learn from the first two paragraphs that ______.

A．it took a long time to treat Steve’s wife

B．homeless people never ask for anything

C．Steve was too embarrassed to ask for help

D．the author and Steve have been friends for years

The program failed to satisfy Steve because ______.

A．it was already out of business

B．it had some trouble in finance

C．Steve didn’t submit the application himself

D．it’s not designed for people like Steve

What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The program was closed three months ago.

B．Steve used to work as a salesman in a car factory.

C．Steve got $240 in total from kind-hearted people.

D．The author might be a volunteer in the shelter.

The best title for the passage is probably ______.

A．Money can sometimes talk

B．Small help can really count

C．Two heads are better than one

D．God helps those who help themselves

The iPhone, the iPad, each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fashion. Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are targeted at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads(一时的狂热). From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend eventually disappeared.
People use iPlayer to ______.

A．listen to music

B．make a call

C．watch TV programs online

D．play computer games

We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is aimed at ______.

A．fashionable women	B．young readers
C．old readers	D．engineers

Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are ______.

A．environmentally friendly	B．advanced
C．recyclable	D．portable

The writer suggests that ______.

A．the popularity of “i” products may not last long

B．“i” products are often of high quality

C．iTeddy is a live bear popular in the US and UK

D．the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products

From now on, never spend your precious time thinking of reasons for your failures and shortcomings. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.
The seeds, and the power to grow them,are contained in the best machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You can be a success if only you make the right choice.
You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem(自尊). Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to have over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are leaves tossed(摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.
You can control your life only to the degree that you believe that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.
Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.
In short, in all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it, you are on the road to success.
People with low self-esteem are compared to leaves because they______.

A．are easily affected by windy weather

B．are ready to change their minds

C．don’t have the power to face their fate

D．can’t control themselves

Losers would think that______.

A．their failure is only because of bad luck

B．they don’t make efforts to succeed

C．working hard will lead to success

D．success is the result of hard work

It can be inferred from paragraph 5 that______.

A．success is a chance

B．We are what we make us

C．thoughts and beliefs are the result of creative mind

D．developing confidence is the only way to future success

The last paragraph serves as______.

A．the proof of the author’s points

B．an introduction to another topic

C．the conclusion of the argument

D．a comparison between two views