Are Sports Important?
Sports are all around us. We watch and read sports news. There are also sports clubs,
and even sports-only channels(频道) on TV. In many countries, players make millions of dollars every year. But why are sports so important? They’re only games, right?
Our readers answer:
Vlad (Ukraine乌克兰)
Sports bring people together. In 2006, our team was able to play in the 2006 World Cup for the first time. Everyone was happy. Rich and poor, old and young, men and women—everyone was in the streets together!
Mike (U.S.A.)
Sports bring people together, but they divide them too. Fans of different teams fight all the Time
-they shout and hit each other. And here’s another example: My brother plays high school baseball.Last week, his team played an important game. At the game, two parents fought about a call .
Come on … baseball is only a game! Sports are so competitive (有竞争力的) these days. It’s all about winning. Then the game isn’t fun.
Oba (South Africa)
Right now, some of the world’s best soccer players are from African countries, and the 2010
World Cup games will be held in South Africa. Yes, some players make a lot of money—maybe too much, but sporting events (like the World Cup) bring tourists and money to countries
and people. And that is good for Africa.
What’s the idea of Vlad to the sports?
| A．They make people rich. |
| B．They bring people happiness all the time. |
| C．They make people younger. |
| D．They bring people together. |
Maybe Mike is from_____.
A.the USA. B.South Africa.
C. Ukraine. D. England.
Why are sports important for Oba?
| A．Because sports are competitive these days. |
| B．Because sports can make money for a country. |
| C．Because sports can make players rich every year. |
| D．Because sports can make people happy. |
What does the underlined word “call” mean?
| A．Decision. | B．Telephone. |
| C．Suggestion. | D．Seat |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Sports are popular all over the world. |
| B．Sports divide people from different countries. |
| C．People have different opinions about sports. |
| D．Sports bring tourists and money to Africa. |
Almost everyone likes dogs, and almost everyone likes to read about dogs. I have a friend. He has a big police dog with the name Jack. Police dogs are very clever. Every Sunday afternoon my friend takes Jack for a long walk in the park. Jack likes these long walks very much.
One Sunday afternoon a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed a long time. He talked and talked. Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for a walk. But the visitor still stayed. Jack became much worried. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of the visitor and looked at him. But the visitor paid no attention to Jack. He went on talking. At last Jack got angry. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he took the visitor’s cap in his mouth. The young visitor stayed a long time in my friend’s house, didn’t he?
| A．Yes, he was. | B．Yes, he did. | C．No, he wasn’t. | D．No, he didn’t. |
Jack became worried because _______ .
| A．he wanted to go out for a walk. | B．he wanted to play with him |
| C．he didn’t know the young man | D．he wanted to eat something |
The visitor went on talking and he_______.
| A．paid no attention to his cap |
| B．didn’t like Jack |
| C．didn’t know that his cap was taken away by Jack |
| D．paid no attention to Jack |
DNA is the whole “map” of the human body. It is something that all human have, and it tells the body what to do. DNA is the reason that we look like our parents, because we get some of their DNA to make our own.
People have been trying to understand the human body for a long time. In 1860, Mr. Mendel discovered why we look the same as other people in our family. It is because of small things called “genes”(基因) in our body. In 1953, two scientists, Watson and Crick, found out that those small parts are really messages. They’re written in the DNA with a special language.
In 1961, another two scientists found the first “word” that they could understand in that language. It shows how DNA tells the cell(细胞) to build its parts. So far, scientists have found all the words in the DNA map, but we still do not understand what they all do. By understanding what just one “word” means, we can help to save people from several illnesses. So the more we understand, the more doctors will be able to do.
Most people hope that this will help to make better medicine and help sick people. Other people worry that when we learn more “words” and and find out more information, we will use it in the wrong way, just to make people more attractive, or stop sick people getting jobs.When did Mr. Mendel discover why we look the same as other people in our family?
| A．In 2000 | B．In 1961. | C．In 1953 | D．In 1860 |
What did the two scientists find in 1961? They found ________.
| A．all the words in the DNA map |
| B．small things called “genes” in our body |
| C．the first “word” they could understand in that language |
| D．those small parts are written in the DNA with a special language. |
How can we help sick people if we understand more “words” in the DNA map?
| A．Make better medicine. | B．Make they get jobs. |
| C．Make maps for them. | D．Make them attractive. |
Which one is NOT TURE according to the article?
| A．We look like our parents because of “genes” in our body. |
| B．We have understood what all the words in the DNA map do. |
| C．DNA is the whole “map” of the human body. |
| D．DNA tells the cell to build its parts. |
What do people think about this research about DNA?
| A．It can be only bad. | B．It can be only good. |
| C．It can be good but won’t work. | D．It can be good and bad. |
One day a man found a cocoon(茧)of a butterfly in the forest. He sat there for several hours and watched the butterfly. Suddenly a small opening appeared, and the butterfly made its great effort to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly. He cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon so that the butterfly could come out easily. But to his surprise, the butterfly got a heavy body and very small wings when it came out of the cocoon.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that the body would grow smaller at any moment and the wings would become larger and be able to fly. But neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling(爬) around with a heavy body and small wings. It was never able to fly.
The man was in his kindness, but he did not understand the nature rules. Before the butterfly came out of the cocoon, fluid (流体) from its body must be forced into its wings, and then it would be ready for flying. It must have a hard struggle(拼搏)to get through the small opening to get its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any difficulties, it would make us fail. We would not be as strong as we could have been; we could never fly. what was the butterfly doing at the beginning of the story?
| A．It was trying to make a cocoon for itself. |
| B．It was struggling to get out of its cocoon. |
| C．It was flying among the trees in the forest. |
| D．It was crawling around quietly on the ground. |
The man cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon ________.
| A．to take the butterfly home |
| B．to help the butterfly come out easily |
| C．to kill the butterfly |
| D．to stop the butterfly growing bigger. |
what do you think of the man?
| A．Patient but cruel. | B．Careful and wise. |
| C．Kind but unwise. | D．Brave and funny. |
what does the last paragraph tell us?
| A．Struggles are sometimes necessary in our lift. |
| B．Nothing is difficult if we put our heart into it. |
| C．Every good deed will come back with good result. |
| D．The greatest happiness in the world is to help others. |
What is the best title for the story?
| A．The Love for the Cocoon. | B．The Joy of Helping Each Other |
| C．The Lesson of the Cocoon. | D．The Expectation for the Butterfly |
For many years , Hawaii has been a magic name to people who like to travel. People on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, in Japan and in America, dream of seeing these beautiful islands in the middle of ocean. Their dreams always include at least on scene of a sunset over the ocean. In the tropical （热带的）lands, the sun drops like a ball of golden fire into the sea. And it drops so quickly that you can almost see it move. The sun leaves behind a glow that lights the skies in the quiet water.
People often have a quiet, peaceful time—perfect for a leisurely walk along the water. This scene is not too different from the dramatic beauty that greeted the first strangers to these islands centuries ago. They were Polynesia people who came from Tahiti in canoes that much bigger than small boats.
They found the beautiful white sand beaches and the waving palm trees, but there were no grand hotels like the ones we see nowadays. The first people came to Hawaii nearly two thousand years ago, but skyscraper hotels were only built in the last 30 years. Now jet airplanes make it possible to fly to Hawaii for a weekend from Tokyo or San Francisco or Los Angeles.
Wherever people come from, they really want to see the original（原始的，最初的） beauty of Hawaii. They want to see the lovely beaches and the mountains called Diamond Head which is almost hidden by the tall hotels.Hawaii is a name __________.
| A．given by people who like to travel |
| B．attracting a lot of travelers |
| C．with an interesting story behind it |
| D．talked about by both the Japanese and Americans. |
The most magic thing on these beautiful islands is
| A．the tropical plants |
| B．a leisurely walk along the beach |
| C．the sunset |
| D．the quiet water |
Which of the following does not belong to “the original beauty of Hawaii”
| A．White sand beaches | B．Waving palm trees |
| C．Tall hotels | D．The Diamond Head Mountain |
The meaning of the underlined word is ________
| A．very beautiful |
| B．expensive and comfortable building |
| C．low and pleasant building |
| D．very tall building |
The last paragraph suggests _________.
| A．The scenery nowadays is different from the original beauty |
| B．It is not quite easy to see the original beauty, because some of the scenery is almost hidden by tall hotels |
| C．The scenery nowadays is unchanged |
| D．It is difficult to see the original beauty because things have completely changed in the last twenty-five years |
Colorful hair speaks more about beauty. Now it becomes popular and people are dyeing their hair to make it different. Dyeing hair with natural products is good for health while dyeing with chemicals is harmful. Researches have found that dyeing hair with chemicals can make people have cancer.
Lead(铅)is very harmful for the human body and it is used in most hair dyes. Since the base of hair is the scalp(头皮)，you may have allergic reaction(过敏反应).
While dyeing your hair it is important to take some safety measures. You can follow them even when you are applying(涂) dye on your hair at home.
• It is better to apply hair dye for a few minutes. If you leave your hair with dye, longer than the necessary time，then you may get some skin problems.
• Don't forget to wear gloves while applying dye on the hair. This will protect the skin of your
hands.
• After applying hair dye it is important to wash your hair with water.
• Hair dyes are made of chemicals. If you mix different hair dyes ,there may be chemical reaction. So, It is not a good idea to mix different hair dyes at the same time.
• Finally all the bags of hair dyes carry the directions(说明书 ) Try to follow them very carefully. This will lower the chance of allergic reaction. Whatdomosthairdyescontain?
| A．Iron | B．Silk. | C．Lead | D．Gold |
Whatdoestheunderlinedword"it"referto?
| A．Beauty | B．Health. | C．Blackhair. | D．Colorfulhair. |
Howcanyoumakethechanceofallergicreactionlower?
| A．Dyewithchemicaldye. |
| B．Mixdifferenthairdyesatthesametime. |
| C．Leaveyourhairwithdyelonger. |
| D．Doasthedirectionstellyou. |
Fromthepassage，wecaninferthat_____
| A．amanwhooftendyeshishairmayhavecancer |
| B．amanwhodoesn’tliketowashhairmayhavecancer |
| C．leadisgoodforthehumanbody |
| D．wemustn'tdyeourhair |
What'sthemainideaofthepassage?
| A．Howtodyeourhair. |
| B．Dyeinghairisharmful. |
| C．Tipsoilprotectingourhair. |
| D．Makeourhairmorebeautiful. |