Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook page was for the Ryan Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.
Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.
| A．he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet |
| B．he wanted to thank Ryan in person |
| C．an object reminded him of Ryan |
| D．he raised money for Ryan |
After reading Walter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.
| A．proud of her son | B．grateful for his help |
| C．happy about his recovery | D．sad again at her son' s death |
Which of the following can best describe Ryan?
| A．Determined and considerate. | B．Optimistic and brave. |
| C．Friendly and patient. | D．Brave and proud. |
We know from the text that Walter_________.
| A．survived the cancer |
| B．experienced 14 operations |
| C．searched for Ryan on the Facebook |
| D．founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation |
Hurricane(飓风) reached the northeastern United States today and caused death and destruction everywhere. The killer storm carried winds of 135 miles per hour. The high winds and heavy rains created extremely dangerous waves. It is not yet known how many people died or were hurt in this storm, but it is said that the numbers will be very high.
With the arrival of the tornado season, the National Weather Service is again telling people how to protect themselves from these deadly storms. The winds from tornadoes are the most violent winds on earth. They can blow up to 400 miles per hour. A tornado looks like a funnel(漏斗). It is also very loud. It may sound like a train coming at you. In fact, the winds from a tornado can pick up a train and throw it around. If a tornado is seen in your area, it is very important that you protect yourself. A basement (地下室) is the safest place to go. Try to wait under a table in the basement. Stay away from windows. If you are outside or in your car, try to find a narrow place to hide.
As the area tries to deal with the worst flood of the century, there are many heartwarming stories of people helping other people. From all over the world people have sent food and clothes to help the thousands who have had to leave their homes. Many volunteers have come to help to make sandbags and use them to build walls against the overflowing river. While the result of this disaster will be terrible for many, it is beautiful to see people coming together to help others and save lives.What does the underlined word “tornado” mean?
| A．台风 | B．龙卷风 | C．洪水 | D．冰雹 |
Which of the following is WRONG about tornados?
| A．They look like a funnel. |
| B．They come regularly every year. |
| C．They are the most violent winds on Earth. |
| D．They carry winds of 135 km per hour. |
According to the passage, a person who sees a tornado in his area had better NOT ______.
| A．drive his car away as fast as possible |
| B．go to the basement and wait under a table |
| C．find a narrow place to hide |
| D．stay away from windows |
We can learn from the passages that ______.
| A．nobody tried to help the local people |
| B．hurricane damaged the northwestern coast of US |
| C．when there is flooding, sandbags can be made and used to build walls |
| D．people are often taught how to protect themselves from snowstorms |
Everybody hates rats(老鼠). But in the earthquake capitals of the world—Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey—rats will soon be man’s new best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal(信号). This is sent to a small radio on its back and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that. ” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!
The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe. ” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building, but only after an earthquake, of course. In the world earthquake capitals, rats will become man’s best friends because they can ______.
| A．take the place of man’s rescue jobs |
| B．find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings |
| C．serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings |
| D．get into small spaces |
From the third paragraph we know the rescuers can judge a person is alive by ______.
| A．the noise made by the rat |
| B．the rat’s unusual behavior |
| C．the signal sent by the radio on the rat’s back |
| D．the smell given off by the person |
In doing rescue jobs, ______.
| A．rats smell better than dogs |
| B．dogs don’t need to be trained to smell people |
| C．robots’ sense of smell can be affected by other smells around |
| D．rats can see in the dark and they are smaller than robots |
Rats have all the following advantages EXCEPT that ______.
| A．they are more fantastic than other animals |
| B．they are less expensive to train than dogs |
| C．they don’t need electricity |
| D．they are small and can get into small places |
If you want to become a fluent English speaker you should take some advice. There are four skills in learning English. They are reading, listening, speaking, and writing. The most important thing you must remember is that if you want to improve your speaking and writing skills, you should first master the skills of reading and listening.
Read as much as you can. But your reading must be active. It means that you must think about the meaning of the sentence, the meaning of the unfamiliar words, etc. There is no need for you to pay much attention to grammars or try to understand all the unfamiliar words you come across, but the fact that you see them for the first time and recognize them whenever you see them, for example, in other passages or books, is enough. It would be better to prepare yourself a notebook so you can write down the important words or sentences in it.
As for listening, there are two choices: besides reading, you can listen every day for about 30 minutes. You can only pay attention to your reading and become skillful at your reading, then you can catch up on your listening. Since you have lots of inputs in your mind, you can easily guess what the speaker is going to say. This never means that you should not practice listening. For listening you can listen to cartoons or some movies that are specially made for children. Their languages are easy. Or if you are good at listening you can listen to VOA or BBC programs every day. Again the thing to remember is being active in listening and preferably taking some notes.
If you follow these pieces of advice, your speaking and writing will improve quickly, and you can be a fluent English speaker one day.According to the writer, which should you improve first among the four skills?
| A．Reading and listening. | B．Reading and writing. |
| C．Writing and speaking. | D．Speaking and listening. |
To improve your reading, when you read you should ______.
| A．look up all the new words in the dictionary |
| B．think about what you are reading actively |
| C．spend more time studying grammars |
| D．copy as many words and sentences as possible |
The underlined phrase “come across” in Paragraph 2 can probably be replaced by “______”.
| A．meet | B．discover | C．hear | D．look for |
The passage is mainly about how to ______.
| A．choose suitable listening materials |
| B．deal with new words in reading |
| C．improve your reading ability as quickly as possible |
| D．become fluent in speaking and writing English |
Thomas Alva Edison was awarded more patents on inventions than any other American. When he died in 1931, Americans wondered how they could best show their respect for him. One suggestion was that the nation observe a minute or two of total blackout. All electric power would be shut off in homes, streets, and factories. Perhaps this suggested plan made Americans realize fully what Edison and his inventions mean to them. Electric power was too important to the country. Shutting it off for even a short time would have led to complete confusion. A blackout was impossible.
On the day of Edison's funeral, many people silently dimmed their lights. In this way they honored the man who had done more than anyone else to put the great force of electricity at his countrymen's fingertips.This selection says that Thomas Edison ________.
| A．was the only important American inventor |
| B．received the first American patent |
| C．received more patents than any other American |
| D．was the first American inventor |
People decided to honor Edison when ________.
| A．he made the first electric light |
| B．electric power was 100 years |
| C．the country realized electricity's importance |
| D．he died in 1931 |
The suggested plan was to ________.
| A．turn off the lights in factories and schools |
| B．observe a few minutes of total silence |
| C．dim all electric lights |
| D．shut off all electricity for a short time |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Sometimes she said I was thin. Sometimes she said I was lazy. Sometimes she said I wasn’t a good student. Sometimes she said I talked too much, and so on. I tried to put up with(忍受) her as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, and then he asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Mary, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me and to my surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true.
I brought the list back to my dad. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be helpful to you. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is right.”
Many years have passed. The situation often appears in my mind. In our life we often meet with some trouble and we often go to someone and ask for advice. For some advice you will treasure(珍惜) all your life!What did the writer’s father do after he heard her complaints(抱怨)?
| A．He agreed with her “enemy”. |
| B．he let her continue to put up with her “enemy”. |
| C．He told her to write down all her “enemy” had said about her. |
| D．He told her not to pay attention to what her “enemy” had said. |
The writer felt ______ when she did the things as her father had told her.
| A．surprised | B．angry | C．disappointed | D．sad |
Which of the following can we know from the passage?
| A．The “enemy” thought the writer was pretty. |
| B．The “enemy” thought the writer studied hard. |
| C．The writer and her “enemy” became best friends at last. |
| D．The writer is grateful to her father. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．My Parents |
| B．A Serious Criticism(批评) |
| C．What People Say About You Is Always Right |
| D．The Best Advice I Ever Had |