Pearl Buck(1892—1973)was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia. She grew up in China, but was educated at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. After her graduation she returned to China and lived there until 1934 with the exception of a year spent at Cornell University, where she took an MA in 1926.Pearl Buck began to write in the twenties; her first novel, East Wind; West Wind, appeared in 1930.It was followed by The Good Earth (1931),Sons(1932),and A House Divided(1935),together forming a trilogy(三部曲)on the stories of the family of Wang. The Good Earth stood on the American list of bestsellers for a long time and earned her several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the William Dean Howells Medal. She also published The first Wife and Other Stories(1933),All Men are Brothers(1933),The Mother(1934),and This Proud Heart(1938).The biographies(传记)of her mother and father, The Exile and Fighting Angel, were published in 1936 and later brought out together under the title of The Spirit and the Flesh(1944).
Pearl Buck’s works after 1938 are too many to speak about. Her novels have continued to deal with the differences between East and West. Her interest has spread to such countries as India and Korea.
Pearl Buck was active in many charity(慈善)organizations; in particular she set up an organization for the adoption of Asian-American children and took an active interest in children with low IQ.
What is the correct time order of the following events?
a. Pearl Buck took an MA at Cornell University.
b. Pearl Buck published The First Wife and Other Stories.
c. Pearl Buck’s first novel, East Wind; West Wind appeared.
d. Pearl Buck published the biographies of her mother and father.
| A．a,b,c,d | B．a,d,c,b |
| C．a,c,b,d | D．a,d,b,c |
We can learn from the passage that_______.
| A．Pearl Buck attended a college in China |
| B．The Good Earth was well-received by American readers |
| C．Pearl Buck stayed in China in 1926 |
| D．Pearl Buck stopped writing in 1938 |
According to the passage, Pearl Buck was interested in______.
| A．American history | B．politics in India and Korea |
| C．writing novels about war | D．doing charity work |
In which part of a magazine would you probably read the passage?
| A．People | B．Politics | C．Travel | D．Business |
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling．Recycling in the home is very important of course．However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need．We are dealing with the results of that over–consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place．
The total amount of packaging has increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005．It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK．In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard．
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment．The UK, for example, is running out of it for burying this unnecessary waste．If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect．Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy．The solution is not to produce such items in the first place．Food waste is a serious problem, too．Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need．However, few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example．
But this is not just about supermarkets．It is about all of us．We have learned to associate packaging with quality．We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality．This is especially true of food．But it is also applied to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary．
There are signs of hope．As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collected．We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb．What does the underlined phrase “that over-consumption” refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging． |
| B．Recycling too many wastes． |
| C．Making more products than necessary． |
| D．Having more material than is needed． |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show ___________．
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the rapid growth of supermarkets |
| D．the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text, recycling ___________．
| A．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| B．means burning packaging for energy |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality． |
| B．Supermarkets care more about packaging． |
| C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging． |
| D．Other products are better packaged than food． |
Scientists say they have discovered a promising treatment for sleeping sickness, a killer disease that infects(感染) about 60,000 people in Africa a year．
British and Canadian experts say drugs could attack the parasite（寄生虫） causing the illness．They say the drug could be ready for human medical test in about 18 months．
The disease, spread by the bite of a fly, is caused by a parasite attacking the central nervous system．It has similar symptoms（症状） to malaria（疟疾）, making it difficult to diagnose．Left untreated, it moves to the brain, resulting in mental confusion and final death
The "breakthrough" came at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where scientists were offered money to research diseases ignored by major drugs companies．
Professor Paul Wyatt, director of the programme, said: "This is one of the most significant findings made in recent years in terms of drug discovery and development for ignored diseases."
He said the research, published in the journal Nature, represented "significant progress" in the development of a full blown drug against the disease．
The World Health Organization said there are between 50,000 and 70,000 cases of the disease a year, with a further 60 million people at risk of infection．
The research in Dundee was backed by partners at the University of York in England and the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto, Canada．The two drugs currently available to treat sleeping sickness both have problems．One is with side effects that kill one in 20 patients and the other is costly, only partially effective and requires long-time hospital treatment, the scientists said．The word backedin the last paragraph probably means_____.
| A．conducted | B．supported | C．believed | D．managed |
What the World Health Organization said suggested that______.
| A．about 60000 people died of the disease each year |
| B．about 60000 people were cured of the disease each year |
| C．600 million people are likely to get infected |
| D．the disease is spreading fast in Africa |
We can read this passage______.
| A．in the journal Nature |
| B．in a newspaper of the University of Dundee |
| C．in a book about flies |
| D．in a newspaper about medicine |
We can learn from the passage that______．
| A．big drug companies play an important role in the research of the new drug |
| B．people who get infected with the disease are mentally disturbed |
| C．among 200 people infected with the disease, 5 may die because of the old drug |
| D．Professor Paul Wyatt may be a professor at the University of York |
（BBC）The "father of the personal computer" who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68．Dr Henry Edward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that led to the home computer age．
Gates and Allen contacted Dr Roberts after seeing the machine on the front cover of a magazine and offered to write software for it．The program was known as Altair-Basic, the foundation of Microsoft's business．"Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers , and we have always been thankful to him," the Microsoft founders said in a statement.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told technology website CNET that Dr Roberts had
taken " a critically important step that led to everything we have today"．
Dr Roberts was the founder of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), originally set up to sell electronics parts to model rocket hobbyists．The company went on to sell electronic calculator parts, but was soon overshadowed by bigger firms．
In the mid-1970's, with the firm struggling with debt, Dr Roberts began to develop a computer kit(配套零件) for hobbyists．The result was the Altair 8800．The $395 kit (around £1,000 today) was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975, resulting in a flood of orders．
Among those interested in the machine were Paul Allen and Bill Gates．The pair contacted Dr Roberts, offering to write software that would help people program the machine．The pair finally moved to Albuquerque - the home of MITS - where they founded Micro-Soft, to develop their software．
Dr Roberts sold his company in 1977．He died in hospital on 1 April after a long period of pneumonia (肺炎
) ．Why did Dr Roberts probably decide to sell his company?
| A．Because he was in heavy debt in the mid-1980's． |
| B．Because he wanted to take a chance on Gates and Allen. |
| C．Because he wanted to develop a computer kit for hobbyists. |
| D．Because he had difficulty competing with big companies． |
What do we know about MITS?
| A．It was set up by Steve Wozniak. |
| B．It sold electronics parts to big firms. |
| C．It is located in Albuquerque. |
| D．It is a technology website. |
We can learn that Popular Electronics is likely to be ____.
| A．a newspaper | B．a magazine |
| C．a Website | D．an organization |
What is the best title of thi
s passage?
| A．The story of the Altair 8800 |
| B．The founder of MITS |
| C．Father of the personal computer died |
| D．The story of Dr Roberts |
Funny English Errors and Insights
Laugh..．And Learn!
Welcome tothe website for Funny English Errors and Insights (2010), a new book of unconscious humour published by the National Library of Australia．
Funny English Er
rors and Insights will be launched at the National Library in Canberra on 29th, October 2010.
In the meantime, explore this website for other collections of real-life English language mistakes,including funny answers to exam questions, media misprints, and silly signs.
See Funny English Errors: The B List for more than a hundred examples of funny English gaffes（失言）．For more funny English errors, read author Troy Simpson's blog．For still more examples, join this website to download a free PDF version of English As She Is Taught, which lists our top 250 funny English language mistakes from that classic howlers book.
Join this website FREE, and you can also:
Enter member-only competitions
Contribute your comments
Download free e-Cards
Be the first to know about our much-anticipated book, Funny English Errors and Insights (2010)．.．
Features
Follows in the tradition of the runaway best-seller Howlers books of the 1920s and 1930s
Includes quotes(引文) that have never been published before in this way
Includes more than 30 carefully selected funny photos
Topics include English, science, history, geography, religion, mathematics, and more
A perfect gift for students, teachers, parents, grandparents, public speakers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, clergy and religious, and anyone with a sense of humour! The word launched in the second paragraph is closest to the meaning:
| A．sent up for the first time． | B．written for the first time． |
| C．for sale for the first time． | D．printed for the first time． |
On the website, you can do the following things except．
| A．read some funny news |
| B．know something about this book previously |
| C．find a lot of examples about English errors |
| D．express your opinions freely |
About this book, you know that．
| A．it only includes English, science, history |
| B．it is quite different from Howlers books |
| C．all the quotes in it are familiar with us |
| D．it is intended for people all walks of life |
The text is aimed at introducing
| A．a popular website | B．some selected funny photos |
| C．a new book | D．some funny English errors |
Maggiano is an award-winning teacher in the Social Studies Department at West Springfield High School in Virginia．He has taught in public and private schools for 25 years．In a piece on his blog called “The Classroom Post,” he calls for more males to enter the profession(职业).
Men Teach, a non-profit organization that encourages men to enter teaching, reports that in 2008, 18.8% of all elementary and middle school teachers were men．At the high school level during the same year, men comprised（构成） 44% of the work force.
Why are there so few men in teaching? Men Teach says low pay and lack of prestige（声望）, as well as a perception in our culture that teaching is for women．As a result, there is no organized effort across the country to attract men into the teaching profession.
A study in 2008 by the National Education Association showed that the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low．Males comprised 24.5 percent of public schoolteachers．States with high percentages: Kansas (33.6 percent), Oregon (31.6 percent), Alaska (30.9 percent) and Indiana (30.5percent).States with the lowest percentage : Arkansas (16.2 percent), Virginia (17.4 percent), Mississippi (17.5 percent), Louisiana (18 percent), South Carolina (18.5 percent) and Georgia (19.7 percent)．
There is no definitive(确定) research that male students--or female students, for that matter-- learn better from a particular sex.
But as Maggiano put it, “Kids today, both boys and girls, must have the same opportunity to learn from outstanding, devoted men that I did．However, I have heard little discussion about this problem coming from our national leaders．What worries Maggiano is that_______．
| A．nobody will take his place when he retires | |
| B．male teachers are not so excellent | |
C．men are not interested in teaching |
D．there is not enough teachers in the schools |
According to the text , we can infer that______．
| A．the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low in 2008 |
| B．it is not certain that students will learn better from male teachers |
| C．male teachers get a higher pay |
| D．organized efforts have been made to call on men into the teaching profession |
In which state are male teachers most badly needed?
| A．Alaska | B．Virginia | C．Georgia | D．Arkansas |
What does the last paragraph suggest?
| A．The government doesn’t pay much attention to the shortage．of male teachers in the school. |
| B．Students find it easy to learn from male teachers. |
| C．I’m glad to hear the discussion about the shortage of male teachers in the school. |
D．The shortage of ma le teachers in the school has no effect on students． |