“If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it!”
That may seem a strange thing to say. But touching things can help you to see them better. Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass is. When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it.
With your skin, you can feel better. For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket. You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too. You can even feel sounds against your skin. Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music.
All children soon learn what “Don’t touch!” means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up. In shops, we touch things we might buy, such as food, clothes and so on. To see something well, we have to touch it.
The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too. You know this when you walk on warm sand, cool grass or a bad floor. All feel different under your feet.
There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin. At first, it is not easy to feel these things. You are too used to them!
Most museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things to touch. Their signs say, “Do touch!” There you can feel everything on show.
If you want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you’ll really see!
Which of the following can be the best title of the story?
| A．Touching by Feeling |
| B．To See or to Feel |
| C．To See Better by Feeling |
| D．Ways of Feeling |
When people buy things in shops, they often ______.
| A．try them on first |
| B．put their right hand on them |
| C．just have a look |
| D．feel and touch them |
Why does it say, “At first, it is not easy to feel these things?”
| A．The things are used by people, too. |
| B．People are used to the things. |
| C．People know how to use the things |
| D．The things are easy to feel. |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Touching can help people learn things better. |
| B．Our feet, fingers, hands and skin can help us enjoy music. |
| C．People have to learn to see by feeling as they grow up. |
| D．Visitors cannot feel the things on show in some museums. |
Dubai is a city of big business, expensive hotels, skyscrapers (摩天楼), and shopping malls. In the early 20th century, Dubai was a successful trading port. People from the world stopped in Dubai to do business. But it was still a small city, and most people lived as fishermen and businessmen. Then in 1966, oil was discovered. This brought a lot of money into the area, and soon Dubai began to change.
Today Dubai is one of the world’s most important business centers. In fact, each year the city gels its money mainly from business, not oil.
Recently Dubai has attracted more and more visitors from abroad. They come to relax on its beaches, and every year, millions visit just to go shopping!
Dubai is also one of the world’s fastest growing cities. Many tall buildings are built in months. The city also has many man-made islands. One of these, the Palm Jumeirah, is like a palm tree (棕桐树) and is very beautiful.
The city is still an amazing mix (混合体) of people from different countries. The people from 150 countries live and work in Dubai, and foreigners now outnumber Dubai natives ( 本地人) by eight to one!
Many people welcome the city’s growth. But an increasing number of Dubai natives worry about the speed of change. As a Dubai native says, “We must always remember where we came from. Our kids must know we worked very, very hard to get where we are now, and there’s a lot more work to do.”Why did people stop in Dubai in the early 20th century?
| A．To relax | B．To buy oil. |
| C．To go shopping. | D．To do business. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Dubai has created many man-made islands.
B. There are many foreigners working in Dubai.
C Many international visitors come to Dubai every year
D. Dubai now gets money mainly from selling oil.What does the underlined word “outnumber” mean?
| A．To be smaller in size than another group. |
| B．To be more in number than another group. |
| C．To be bigger in area than another group. |
| D．To be smaller in area than another group. |
In the last paragraph, what does the underlined part mean?
| A．We should always visit Dubai, |
| B．We should learn from foreigners. |
| C．We must always remember our past. |
| D．We must only think about the future. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Dubai is growing very fast. |
| B．Dubai was a big city before 1966. |
| C．Many tall buildings are built in months. |
| D．Many tourists come to relax on Dubai’s beaches. |
Every morning my father buys a newspaper on his way to work. Every evening my mother looks through magazines at home. And every night, I look at the posters with photos of David Beckham and Yao Ming on my bedroom wall before I go to sleep. Can we imagine life without paper or print?
Paper was first created about 2,000 years ago, and has been made from silk, cotton, bamboo, and, since the 19th century, from wood. People learned to write words on paper to make a book. But in those days, books could only be produced one at a time by hand. As a result, they were expensive and rare. And because there weren’t many hooks, few people learned to read.
Then printing was invented in China. When printing was developed greatly at the beginning of the 11th century, books could be produced more quickly and cheaply. As a result, more people learned to read. After that, knowledge and ideas spread quickly.
Today information can be received online, downloaded from the Internet rather than found in books, and information can be kept on CD-ROMs or machines such as MP3 players.
Computers are already used in classrooms, and newspapers and magazines can already be read online. So will books be replaced by computers one day? No, I don’t think the Yao Ming poster on my bedroom wall will ever be replaced by a computer two metres high!What does the writer do before he goes to sleep’?
| A．He reads books. | B．He reads newspapers |
| C．He looks through magazines | D．He looks at the posters on the wall. |
When was paper first created?
| A．About 2.000 years ago. | B．In the 19th century. |
| C．About 1.000 years ago. | D．In the 11th century. |
Why were books expensive and rare before the invention of printing?
A. People could not read.
B. People could not write words on paper.
C. People could not find silk, cotton or bamboo.
D People could only produce books one at a time by handWhat happened after books became cheaper?
| A．People didn’t want to buy books. |
| B．Printing was invented in China. |
| C．Knowledge and ideas spread quickly. |
| D．The Internet was introduced to people soon |
What is the writer’s opinion about books and computers’?
| A．People won’t need books any more |
| B．Books won’t be replaced by computers. |
| C．People prefer to find information in books. |
| D．Computers have already replaced books. |
My grandfather Jack is 96 years old, and he has had an interesting life. He has travelled a lot in his life in the Far East. He visited the Taj Mahal in India and the Pyramids in Egypt. He hunted (狩猎) lions in Africa, and rode a camel in the Sahara Desert. He says the most beautiful place he has travelled to is Kathmandu in Nepal.
Jack has married twice. His first wife died when she was 32. He met his second wife Maria while he was cycling round France They have been married for 50 years, and they have lived happily in a small village since they got married.
Jack says that he has never been ill in his life. The secret of good health, according to my grandfather, is exercise He goes swimming every morning. He has done this since he was a boy. He also has a glass of wine every night! Perhaps that is his secret!What kind of life has Jack lived?
| A．A short life. | B．An interesting life. |
| C．A lonely life | D．A poor life. |
Which of the following does Jack think is the most beautiful place?
| A．Kathmandu. | B．The Pyramids |
| C．The Sahara Desert. | D．Taj Mahal |
How many times has Jack married?
| A．Once. | B．Twice. | C．Three times. | D．Four times. |
Where did Jack meet Maria?
| A．In India. | B．In Nepal. | C．In France | D．in Egypt. |
What does Jack do every night?
| A．He has a glass of wine. | B．He goes swimming |
| C．He hunts lions. | D．He rides a camel. |
阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。
Every year, wildfires(野火) destroy much forest land. homes are broken down, and thousands of people die. smokejumpers are stop helping to stop this.
Smokejumpers are a special kind of firefight. they jump from planes into areas that difficult to reach by car or on foot. they race to put out fires as fast as they can.
At a fire site, Smokejumpers first examine the land and decide how to fight the fire. their main goal is to stop fire from spreading. using basic tools such as shovels and axes, smokejumpers clear land of burnable material like plants and other dry material. they carry water with them too, but not much.
Although most smokejumpers are men, more women are joining. Most important are your weight and height. Smokejumpers in the U.S. for example ,must be 54 to 91 kilograms, so they don’t get hurt when they land, or get blown by strong winds.
Smokejumpers must be able to live in the wilderness. in Russia ,many smokejumpers know how to find food in the forest and even make simple furniture from trees.
They work is dangerous, the hours are long. But for these firefighters, smokejumpers isn’t just a job. They love being able to jump out of planes, fight fires, and live in the forest. As 28-year-old Russian smokejumpers Alexi Tishin says,“This is the best job for the strong and brave.”What are Smokejumpers?
Where do the jump from?
What’s their main goal?
Why should they have proper weight?
What’s needed to be a smokejumpers?
Reading Oliver James'Affluenza, I thought about what often happens at home. My 12-year-old daughter is in tears."I have so take a test tomorrow. I don't understand any of it," she cries out. After shouting and shutting her door, she calms down enough to go through her notes. The following dry I ask her how the test went and the just says "OK,I got a nine".
"Wow. well done!" I say, before she finishes with "But I never get a ten!"
According to James, this obsession with getting top marks has been a bad development, which encourages people to think of education in terms of work and money. To test this, I asked my daughter why she was so worried about her tests. She looked at me as if I was thick. "Well, if I don't get good grades, I won't be able to afford nice things like a car and stuff."
I was quite surprised, because I don't consider myself a pushy parent. But James suggests and it leaves students feeling failures even if they are very bright. He points to the Danish system（体制）of education as a better model. Creating happy citizens who have good social skills is seen as more important than high achievements at school or the needs of business.
For me, I cannot remember the last time I had to work out the area of a circle, recite a Shakespeare poem or grammar rules, yet I have lived a happy life. What I really needed to learn at school was how to make polite conversations, or how to avoid getting into debt or how to develop good personality.
This is in fact similar to what Oliver James really has in mind. And he is looking for schools where students are encouraged to find and follow their own interests, something more like Tongjon. Tongjon has been developed in some Korean private schools. It is quite different from the more rigid system of learning things by heart that is used in Korea, and indeed in many other school systems around the world.
As the Russian poet Pushkin said," Inspiration(灵感）is needed in geometry(几何学）just as much as in poetry ",and inspiration does not come from endlessly revising for tests or getting worried about them .What does the writer probably think of his/her daughter?
| A．She sets herself a goal too high to reach. |
| B．She should be more polite to her parents. |
| C．She is hard-working but not very bright. |
| D．She takes her grades much too seriously. |
What does the word "obsession"in paragraph 3 mean?
| A．A plain and unavoidable fact. |
| B．A satisfied and very proud state. |
| C．A practical and widely-used way. |
| D．A fixed and often unreasonable idea. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Social skills are as important as high grades. |
| B．Interest in grades can shake self-confidence. |
| C．The writer regrets not having studied hard at school. |
| D．Danish educational system is for very smart students. |
The writer wants to tell us that____.
| A．learning happily is the key to self-development. |
| B．top marks may be helpful to increase one's interest. |
| C．tests should be improved to give children inspiration. |
| D．education should meet one's needs for word and money. |