Thomas Edison was one of ten said to be the greatest genius of his age. There are only a few men in all of the history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because someone said he was a genius.“ There is no such thing as genius,” Edison said. He said that what people called genius was mostly hard work.
But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker.. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. Nature , he often said ,is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then , he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure.
Edison could not understand how anyone could be uninterested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what ideas he had about life. “ Work,” he answered. “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Edison invented the electric light. |
| B．Many other people have changed Edison’s life. |
| C．Edison has changed the life of many other people. |
| D．Few men in history can change other people’s life. |
Edison thought .
| A．he could be happy if he was a genius |
| B．genius plays the most important part in one’s success |
| C．hard work could do better than genius |
| D．genius could do better than hard work |
Edison was .
| A．very much interested in nature |
| B．interested in discovering the secrets of nature |
| C．interested in changing people’s ideas |
| D．uninterested in making people happier by discovering the secrets of nature |
In Edison’s opinion, .
| A．thinking can supply people with enjoyment and pleasure as well as help |
| B．people’s success lies mostly in genius |
| C．hard work is the second important thing in making people successful |
| D．there are few secrets for him to discover later |
The last sentence in the passage most probably implies .
| A．life is too short for Edison to invent more for human beings |
| B．Edison made 100 inventions in his life |
| C．Edison was able to live and work for 100 years |
| D．People of his time were ready to give Edison another 100 years’ work |
Tom was taken to the police station and put in a room with another thief, an older man.
The man looked at Tom and said, “Why have they brought you here, boy?” “I stole a small radio one day after lessons,” Tom said. The man laughed rudely at him, “you should steal something which is worth a lot if you want to be a thief. You ought to steal something really expensive, so that your name is put in the newspaper. Go and steal a lot of money from a bank next time!”
Tom thought for a few seconds and then said, “I can’t do that!” “Why can’t you?” said the older man. “Are you afraid?” “No,” said Tom, “I’m not afraid at all, but the banks are all closed at three o’clock, and my lessons don’t finish until four.” Tom was taken to the police station ________.
| A．by mistake | B．to see another thief | C．as a thief | D．on business |
Why did the older thief laugh rudely at Tom ?
| A．Because Tom lied to him |
| B．Because Tom was only a student. |
| C．Because he didn’t think a small radio was worth stealing |
| D．Because he thought Tom was too young to be a thief. |
From what Tom said, we can draw the conclusion(得出结论) that _________.
| A．He would go on stealing after he was set free. |
| B．He must have been taught while stealing |
| C．He wasn’t planning to steal from a bank |
| D．He would never be out of prison again |
Having heard what the older man said, Tom thought carefully about_______.
| A．his lessons |
| B．how to be a famous man |
| C．stealing something worth a lot |
| D．the plan to steal from a bank |
. Tom couldn’t steal from a bank because ______
| A．he was afraid of being put into prison |
| B．he wouldn’t have time to do that though he dared to |
| C．he wanted to be a good student |
| D．he did not believe in the older man |
Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia(蒙古), some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud “burp(打嗝)” after you finish eating. Burping shows that you like the food.
In some countries, if you give a loud burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please.”
In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia(波利尼西亚)it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.
What are manners like in an East African town? People try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you.
Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends.In Mongolia, burping is a way to show that__________.
| A．the host is very friendly with the visitors |
| B．one doesn’t want to eat anything at all |
| C．one enjoys the meal that is prepared by the host |
| D．one is not polite at table |
In some parts of Polynesia, to be polite while eating, one should____________.
| A．eat as fast as possible | B．eat with his mouth full of food |
| C．turn his back on others | D．sit still without doing anything |
It is good manners for people in East African towns__________.
| A．to sit down beside others and wait for them to talk |
| B．to say “hello” to others on the street |
| C．to try to talk to others when they are working |
| D．never to speak to anyone on the street |
We have good manners to show that we________.
| A．are different from other |
| B．begin all manners in the same way |
| C．want to be friendly to other people |
| D．don’t want people to trouble us |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Manners are not the same in different countries. |
| B．It is good manners to give a burp when you’ve had enough in any place. |
| C．Sometimes manners are different in different places in the same country. |
| D．A person with good manners is liked by other people. |
The English language started about 1500 years ago in England. Three groups of people came to the country. They were the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. These three groups brought their languages with them to England. After some time, the three languages became one new language—English. The name "English" comes from the Angles. They lived in most of England. "England" means "Angle Land" or "Country of the Angles".
The language that we speak today—Modern English—is not the same as the English that people used 1500 years ago, including Old English（before ll50）and Middle English（up till 1500）. That language—Old English—sounds different, and it has some different rules of grammar. There were only a few thousand words in Old English. But Modern English does come from Old English, and it is still like it in many important ways.When did Modern English start?
| A．About the year 1150. |
| B．Before the year 1500. |
| C．Between the 12th century and the 16th century. |
| D．About 1500 years ago. |
How many languages did Old English come from?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
Which language did the name "English" come from?
| A．Modern English. | B．The Angles. | C．The Jutes. | D．The Saxons. |
According to the passage, Modern English differs from Old English in ________.
| A．grammar | B．pronunciation | C．words | D．All of the above |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Modern English has nothing to do with Old English. |
| B．Modern English has more words than Old English. |
| C．Modern English has a vocabulary（词汇量）twice as large as old English. |
| D．There is no difference between Old English and Middle English. |
It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains!
Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time.
As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(丰富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves.
We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains! The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.
| A．are related to your studies |
| B．you easily achieve |
| C．make you happy |
| D．make it difficult for you to do something |
How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?
| A．She is fearful | B．She is grateful |
| C．She feels trapped | D．She feels hateful |
We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.
| A．life without challenges is dull |
| B．life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness |
| C．we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours |
| D．we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up |
The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.
| A．life is full of hardships |
| B．growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way |
| C．everyone is painful in growing up |
| D．everyone should do what they don’t like when young |
Welcome to your future life!
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and young-looking. In 2035, medical technology is better than ever. Many people your age could live to be 150, so at 40, you’re not old at all. And your parents just had an anti-aging(抗衰老的) treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age !
You say to your shirt, “Turn red.” It changes from blue to red. In 2035, “smart clothes” contain particles(粒子) much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed to change your clothes’ color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but a voice says, “You shouldn’t drink that!” Your fridge has read the chip (芯片) that contains information about the milk , and it knows the milk is old . In 2035, every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It’s time to go to work. In 2035, cars drive themselves. Just tell your “smart car” where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve(袖子). Such “smart technology” is all around you.
So will all these things come true? “For new technology to succeed,” says scientist Andrew Zolli , “it has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already.” The Internet is one example --what will be the next?We can learn from the text that in the future__________.
| A．people will never get old |
| B．everyone will look the same |
| C．red will be the most popular color |
| D．clothes will be able to change their pattern |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Milk will be harmful to health. |
| B．More drinks will be available for sale. |
| C．Food in the grocery store will carry electronic information. |
| D．Milk in the grocery store will stay fresh much longer. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Food and clothing in 2035. |
| B．Future technology in everyday life. |
| C．Medical treatments of the future. |
| D．The reason for the success of new technology. |