It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The streams were long gone back into the earth. If we didn't see some rain soon we would lose everything.
I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He was obviously walking with a great effort... trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house.
Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful long step toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey.
He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he held in them. Branches and thorns slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much greater purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.
Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. And I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water and heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort to lap up the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.
I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have ever known working so hard to save a life. As the tears that rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, Himself, was weeping with pride.Why did the author follow her son?
A.Because there might be danger. |
B.Because her son was doing a good deed. |
C.Because she intended to help. |
D.Because she was curious. |
Which of the following statements is Not True according to the passage?
A.Rain was in great need. |
B.Billy carried water with his small hands. |
C.There were few trees in the woods. |
D.Billy walked into the woods and then returned over and over again. |
Which is the correct order of the development of the story?
①The author was moved to tears.
②Billy fed the water to the baby deer.
③Billy walked towards the large deer.
④It began to rain.
⑤The author followed Billy into the woods.
A.③②⑤①④ | B.⑤③②①④ |
C.④①③②⑤ | D.⑤②①③④ |
At the end of the story, the author might experience different feelings Except that _____
A.Billy was a pride. |
B.God was touched by Billy's activity. |
C.the rain should have dropped earlier. |
D.it was worthwhile to have given birth to Billy. |
Liverpool city council (市政厅) want to clear the city of fat pigeons (鸽子). They say that people are feeding the birds, which makes them fat. The pigeons get bigger because they normally eat seeds (种子) and insects (昆虫) for their main food, not high-fat junk food they are eating in the city centre.
The council want people to know that everyone who feeds the pigeons makes the streets crowded (拥挤)with these birds. They hope to encourage the birds to move away from the city centre and into parks and open spaces.
Ten robotic birds have been brought into the city centre to scare the pigeons away and visitors are asked not to give the pigeons any food. The mechanical birds—known as ‘robops’—will sit on the roofs of buildings. They can be moved around to different places. They look like a peregrine falcon, which is a bird that kills pigeons. They even make noises and flap their wings to scare the pigeons. They hope that the pigeons will go away before the city becomes the European Capital of Culture in two years. Liverpool city council want to clear the city of fat pigeons because ______.
A.the pigeons are eating junk food |
B.the pigeons might get killed |
C.the pigeons make the city center crowded |
D.the pigeons sit on the roofs of buildings |
What do we know about a peregrine falcon?
A.It scares the robotic birds. | B.It is an enemy of the pigeons. |
C.It looks like a pigeon. | D.It likes the food people give it. |
Which of the following is probably true according to passage?
A.The robots will fly around the city center like real birds. |
B.Pigeons get fat because they eat seeds and insects. |
C.Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture. |
D.The pigeons like the food that people give them. |
Scientists would like to place a huge mirror in space above the earth. It might be sixty miles wide. It would be used to catch the rays (光线) of the sun. It would direct the sun’s rays upon the earth as a child might do to make sunlight dance on the wall with a hand mirror.
Why do they want to do this? The sun’s rays could be helpful in many ways. They could light up cities by night. The warm rays could stop frosts (霜冻) which might come at night and hurt fruit crops. They could melt (融化) dangerous icebergs in the ocean. Perhaps they could change cloud movements and bring rain where it is needed. The huge mirror would ______.
A.stand 60 miles in height (高度) | B.be 60 miles from side to side |
C.cover 60 miles of the earth | D.be 60 miles above the earth |
The mirror would be used to ______.
A.reflect (反射) sunlight | B.absorb (吸收) sunlight |
C.see what the earth looks like | D.see how clouds move |
The strong light from the mirror could possibly ______.
A.hurt fruit crops | B.set fire to cities |
C.bring longer daytime | D.shine through walls |
The huge mirror is ______.
A.something in a story | B.already made |
C.just an idea | D.to be made soon |
For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed very busy with business,and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough,he rode out a great deal.
During this time,all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house,when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me,because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening,several days later,I was invited to talk to Mr.Rochesterafter dinner. He was sitting in his armchair,and looked not quite so severe,and much less gloomy. There was a smile on his lips, and his eyes were bright,probably with wine. As I was looking at him,he suddenly turned, and asked me,“Do you think I am handsome,Miss Eyre? ”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No,sir.” “Ah,you really are unusual! You are a quiet, serious little person, but you can be almost rude.” “Sir,I'm sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn't matter,or something like that,” “No,you shouldn't! I see,you criticize my appearance,and then you stab (刺) me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance (抵消) your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind,and said quickly,“Yes,you're right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one,and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you, and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man,take my word for it,but I have done wrong. It wasn't my character,but circumstances which were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you're the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to, because you're sympathetic and give them hope.”
It seemed he had quite a lot to talk to me. He didn't seem to like to finish the talk quickly,as was the case for the first time.
“Don't be afraid of me, Miss. Eyre,”he continued. “You don't relax or laugh very much,perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me,and laugh, and speak freely. You're like a bird in a cage. When you get out of the cage, you'll fly very high. Good night.”At the beginning Miss Eyre's impressions of Mr. Rochester were all except_________.
A.busy | B.sociable | C.dull | D.changeable |
The underlined sentence means___________.
A.Only by meeting him around the house sometimes did I know a little about him. |
B.Only by coming to the house could I know about him. |
C.I occasionally met him but my knowledge about him was poor. |
D.What I knew about him was limited in the house. |
From what Mr. Rochester told Miss Eyre,we can conclude that he wanted to ___________.
A.tell her all his troubles |
B.tell her his life experience |
C.blame her for misunderstanding him |
D.change his circumstances |
At the end of the passage,Mr.Rochestersounded __________.
A.rude | B.cold | C.polite | D.encouraging |
According to the passage,which of the following statements is WRONG?
A.Miss Eyre was atLowoodSchoolbefore she came to Mr. Rochester’s house. |
B.Miss Eyre didn’t see Mr. Rochester often. |
C.Miss Eyre was honest,brave and confident. |
D.Miss Eyre was brave,polite and warm-hearted. |
Since 1950, the amount of information about the nutrition of food has increased by nearly 900 percent. Besides this fact, obesity has risen by 214 percent and nearly two out of every three adults in America are overweight or obese. Being overweight is not only an appearance problem, and it also increases the risk of various diseases including diabetes, sleep disorder and cancer.
With so much nutritional knowledge easy to find, we cannot simply ignore our present obesity epidemic(流行病). We know that fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin. Though we are overweight, many of us choose junk food over healthy food out of habits. One explanation for our strong desire for junk food is that we learn to connect junk food with positive feelings when we are young, and changing this attitude requires a huge amount of confidence and determination. Fortunately, new research published in May 2012 has shown a simple and accessible way to make healthier food choices- the one that doesn’t rely on great determination.
The research was based on two separate studies and it was carried out by T. Bettina Cornwell of the University of Oregon and Anna R. McAlister of Michigan State University. In the first study, 60 adults between the ages of 19 and 23 were questioned about the role of food and drinks. The survey tells us that adults prefer sweetened drinks with high-calorie, salty foods, to sweetened drinks with vegetables.
In the second study, 75 children between the ages of 3 and 5 were gathered for some experiments including drinks served with vegetables. The preschooler experiments were carried out under different situations and on different days. The researchers found that the children chose to take more green vegetables when they were served with water instead of a sweetened drink.
According to Cornwell, children learn to connect high calorie, sugary drinks such as cola, with high fat foods such as French fries, from a very early age. McAlister adds that early taste development appears to play an important role in food choices later in life. Meals served at home and meals offered at restaurants, set the stage for this idea and for the preference to choose junk food over healthy food, when beginning to take sweetened drinks.
“Our taste preferences are heavily influenced by regularly eating particular food and drinking particular drink,” states Cornwell. “If the drink on the table goes against both adults and children eating their vegetables, then perhaps it is time to change that drink… and to serve water with all meals. Restaurants could easily use water as free drink for children’s meals and charge extra money for other drinks.” Both McAlister and Cornwell are confident that serving water with meals could effectively reduce the nation’s obesity rates, diabetes rates and ever rising healthcare costs.What may cause the risk of diseases according to the text?
A.Over nutrition. | B.Obesity. | C.Unbalance diets. | D.Junk food. |
What makes many of us choose junk food according to the author?
A.Positive feelings about food. | B.High calorie of junk food. |
C.Nice taste. | D.Eating habits. |
The underlined word “accessible” in Paragraph 2 means”_________”.
A.quick | B.useful | C.easy to change | D.easy to get |
From Paragraph5, we know that __________.
A.children may like sugary and high-calorie drinks even from an early age |
B.early preference for food and drink may influence food choices later in life |
C.easy preference for drinks should not be allowed in most of the restaurants |
D.restaurants should provide the same food and drink as those at home |
Which would be the best title for this text?
A.Stop children drinking sugary drinks |
B.Drink water to eat more healthy |
C.Change eating habits to lose weight |
D.Eat healthy food at home |
You wake up in the morning,the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings,you say hello, and the drama starts.The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to.You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness.It may not change what you think,but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.
Life brings ups and downs,but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer.They only feel glad when they make others feel bad.No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect.
When you communicate with positive people,your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted.When the dagger(匕首) of a negative person is put in you,you feel the heavy feeling that all in all,brings you down.
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people.This could be a co-worker,or a relative.In this case,say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person,but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized.The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to(附着) you throughout the rest of your day,which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness.Life is too short to feel negative.Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible.The purpose of the first paragraph is to ___________.
A.make a comparison | B.offer an evidence |
C.introduce a topic | D.describe a daily scene |
How can negative people have effect on us?
A.By influencing our emotion. |
B.By telling us the nature of life. |
C.By changing our ways of thinking. |
D.By comparing their attitudes to life with ours. |
Some negative people base their happiness on _____________.
A.other people’s pity for them | B.making other people unhappy |
C.building up a positive attitude | D.other people’s respect for them |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us,we are advised to _____.
A.change negative people’s attitudes to life |
B.show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
C.make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
D.communicate with negative people as little as possible |
What is the author’s attitude towards negative people?
A.Favorable. | B.Critical. | C.Indifferent. | D.Supportive. |