We once had a poster competition in our fifth grade art class.
“You could win prizes,’’ our teacher told us as she wrote the poster information on the blackboard. She passed out sheets of construction paper while continuing, “The first prize is ten dollars. You just have to make sure that the words on the blackboard appear somewhere on your poster.”
We studied the board critically. Some of us looked with one eye and held up certain colors against the blackboard, rocking the sheets to the right or left while we conjured up our designs. Others twisted their hair around their fingers or chewed their erasers while deep in thought. We had plans for that ten-dollar grand prize, each and every one of us. I’m going to spend mine on candies, one hopeful would announce, while another practiced looking serious, wise and rich.
Everyone in the class made a poster. Some of us used parts of those fancy paper napkins, while others used nothing but colored construction paper. Some of us used big designs, and some of us preferred to gather our art tidily down in one corner of our poster and let the space draw the viewer’s attention to it. Some of us would wander past the good students’ desks and then return to our own projects with a growing sense of hopelessness. It was yet another grown-up trick of the sort they seemed especially fond of, making all of us believe we had a fair chance, and then always — always — rewarding the same old winners.
I believe I drew a sailboat, but I can’t say that with any certainty. I made it. I admired it. I determined it to be the very best of all of the posters I had seen, and then I turned it in.
Minutes passed.
No one came along to give me the grand prize, and then someone distracted me, and I probably never would have thought about that poster again.
I was still sitting at my desk, thinking, What poster? when the teacher gave me an envelope with a ten-dollar bill in it and everyone in the class applauded for me.What was the teacher’s requirement for the poster?
| A．It must appear in time. |
| B．It must be done in class. |
| C．It must be done on a construction sheet. |
| D．It must include the words on the blackboard. |
The underlined phrase in paragraph 3 most probably means ________.
| A．formed an idea for |
| B．made an outline for |
| C．made some space for |
| D．chose some colors for |
After seeing the good students’ designs, some students ________.
| A．loved their own designs more |
| B．thought they had a fair chance |
| C．put their own designs in a corner |
| D．thought they would not win the prize |
We can infer from the passage that the author ________.
| A．enjoyed grown-up tricks very much |
| B．loved poster competitions very much |
| C．felt surprised to win the competition |
| D．became wise and rich after the competition |
GUATEMALA CITY（Reuters）---- A fish that lives in mangrove swamps（红树沼泽）across the Americas can live out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted（适应）to land millions of years ago, a new study shows.
The Mangrove Rivulus, a type of small killifish, lives in small pools of water in a certain type of empty nut or even old beer cans in the mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil. When their living place dries up, they live on the land in logs（圆木）, said Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard Endangered Lands Program in Florida .
The fish, whose scientific name is Rivulus marmoratus, can grow as large as three inches. They group together in logs and breathe air through their skin until they can find water again.
The new scientific discovery came after a trip to Belize.
“We kicked over a log and the fish just came crowding out,” Taylor told Reuters in neighboring Guatemala by telephone. He said he will make his study on the fish known to the public in an American magazine early next year.
In lab tests, Taylor said he found the fish can live up to 66 days out of water without eating.
Some other fish can live out of water for a short period of time. The walking catfish found in Southeast Asia can stay on land for hours at a time, while lungfish found in Australia, Africa and South America can live out of water, but only in an inactive state. But no other known fish can be out of water as long as the Mangrove Rivulus and remain active, according to Patricia Wright, a biologist at Canada’s University of Guelph.
Further studies of the fish may tell how animals changed over time.
“These animals live in conditions similar to those that existed millions of years ago, when animals began making the transition（过渡）form water onto land, ” Wright said.The Mangrove Rivulus is a type of fish that ________.
| A．likes eating nuts |
| B．prefers living in dry places |
| C．is the longest living fish on earth |
| D．can stay alive for two months out of water |
Who will write up a report on mangrove Rivulus?
| A．Patricia Wright. |
| B．Researchers in Guatemala. |
| C．Scientists from Belize. |
| D．Scott Taylor. |
According to the text, lungfish can __________.
| A．breathe through its skin |
| B．move freely on dry land |
| C．remain alive out of water |
| D．be as active on land as in water |
What can we say about the discovery of Mangrove Rivulus?
| A．It was made quite by accident. |
| B．It was based on a lab test of sea life. |
| C．It was supported by an American magazine. |
| D．It was helped by Patricia Wright. |
Having a husband means an extra seven hours of housework each week for women, according to a new study. For men, getting married saves an hour of housework a week. “It’s a well-known pattern,” said lead researcher Frank Stafford at University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. “Men usually work more outside the home, while women take on more of the housework.”
He points out that differences among households (家庭) exist. But in general, marriage means more housework for women and less for men. “And the situation gets worse for women when they have children.” Stafford said.
Overall, times are changing in the American home. In 1976, women busied themselves with 26 weekly hours of sweeping-and-dusting work, compared with 17 hours in 2005. Men are taking on more housework, more than doubling their housework hours from six in 1976 to 13 in 2005.
Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework, about 12 weekly hours, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most – about 21 hours a week.
Men showed a somewhat different pattern, with older men picking up the broom more often than younger men. Single men worked the hardest around the house, more than that of all other age groups of married men.
Having children increases housework even further. With more than three, for example, wives took on more of the extra work, clocking about 28 hours a week compared with husbands’10 hours.According to the “well-known pattern” in Paragraph 1, a married man ________.
| A．takes on heavier work | B．does more housework |
| C．is the main breadwinner | D．is the master of the house |
How many hours of housework did men do every week in the 1970s?
| A．About 28 | B．About 26 |
| C．About 13 | D．About 6 |
What kind of man is doing most housework according to the text?
| A．An unmarried man. | B．An older married man. |
| C．A younger married man. | D．A married man with children. |
What can we conclude from Stafford’s research?
| A．Marriage gives men more freedom. |
| B．Marriage has effects on job choices. |
| C．Housework sharing changes over time. |
| D．Having children means doubled housework. |
I know what you’re thinking: pizza（比萨饼）？ For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a.m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast (不吃早饭), and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time, others think they’re “saying” calories (卡路里)，still others just don’t like breakfast food.学科But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight .“Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking, R.D. , who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.学科Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers – it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow.” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it … you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects. The word “leftovers” in paragraph I probably means ______.
| A．food remaining after a meal | B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables | D．pizza topped with fruit |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to _______.
| A．eat something for breakfast | B．be careful about what you cat |
| C．heat up food before eating it | D．cat calorie-controlled food |
The text is written mainly for those _______.
| A．who go to work early | B．who want to lose weight |
| C．who stay up late | D．who eat before sleep |
信
息匹配（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。
首先，请阅读以下有关音乐会的信息。
| A．Raymond’s Solo Concert: Raymond, the talented singer who shifts freely between musical, folk songs and hip hop, is to give a solo concert this weekend. The event will be part of the Asian tour promoting his new album. His concert has very high ticket prices, but his fans have bought tickets worth one million yuan in just four days. Place: Grand Theatre Time: 8:30 – 10:30 pm, January 6 Price: 380 – 2,000 yuan Tel: 7322-3411 |
| B．Prince of the Piano: Clayderman has established a truly international career as a best selling recording artist and concert performer. He has recorded over 1,000 melodies and created a "New Romantic" style through a repertoire which combines his 'trademark' originals with classics and pop standards. In fact, despite his natural shyness and reserve, he is completely in his element on stage; a Richard Clayderman concert is a real 'Spectacular'. Place: The Great Hall of the People Time: 8:00 – 10:00 pm, January 7 Price: 180 – 1680 yuan Tel: 7310-5266 |
| C．Live Music: Audiences in the city will be able to make a date with one of the most famous German Orchestras on the evening of Jan. 27 at Century Center. Conducted by Florian Stubenvoll, the orchestra will perform 11 classics including Beethoven's "Fledermaus Ouverture," Mozart's "Symphony No. 40," and four pieces by Johann Strauss. Place: Century Theatre Time: 8:00 – 10:30 pm, January 10 Price: 120 – 680 yuan Tel: 7988-7311 |
| D．Jazz Night: Enjoy real American jazz from Herbie Brown, the famous trumpet player. He’s coming with his new 7–piece band, Herbie’s Heroes. Herbie is known to play well into the early hours, so don’t expect to get much sleep. This is Herbie’s third visit to China. The first two have been sold out, so get your tickets quickly. |
Place: The Jazz Club
Time: 10:00 pm till late! January 7, 9, 11
Price: 100 – 200 yuan,
Tel: 7599-7862
E. Scottish Dancing: Want to get your body some exercise while enjoying live music? Take your partner here and get ready to dance till you drop. Scottish dancing is fun and easy to learn. There will be instructors demonstrating the dances. The live band is also excellent.
Place: Jack Stein’s
Time: 7:30 – 10:00 pm, January 5 – 7
Price: 70 yuan including one drink
Tel: 7832-1788
F. Beijing Rocks: “The Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans special performance. Eight Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience can even decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.
Time: January 8, 9
Place: Worker’s Stadium
Time: 8:00 – 11:30 pm, January 4
Tel: 7633-0640
Price: 90 – 680 yuan
请阅读以下观众的信息，然后匹配与其适合的音乐会。
56. Mike and his girlfriend are both university students. The coming Sunday (January 6) is his girlfriend’s birthday. As both of them are music fans, Mike would like to take his girlfriend to enjoy some live music and learn something new.
57. Joey and his friends always enjoy their weekend by attending late night activities. However, he hasn’t joined them for a long time because he has been working for a couple of weeks. This weekend he wants to have some fun and excitement with his friends, who are interested in western music.
58. Alice is a college student who studies music, and playing the piano is her favorite. Her parents approve of her attending concerts and pay for the tickets. As a result, she doesn’t care much about how much the ticket might cost.
59. Tracy is interested in a variety of music. Like most of the other university students, she has a part-time job. She would like to amuse herself by attending concerts. Since she does not earn much, she can only afford a ticket that costs no more than 100 yuan.
60. Sally enjoys listening to foreign music in her spare time. She would like to attend concerts performed by foreign bands or orchestras whenever it’s possible. But according to the school rules, she has to return to her dormitory before 11:00 pm.
Kincaid looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out, shifted gears, and moved slowly down the alley under hazy sun. Through the streets of Bellingham he went, heading south on Washington 11, running along the coast of Puget Sound for a few miles, then following the highway as it swung east a little before meeting U.S Route 20.
Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. He liked this country and felt unpressed stopping now and then to make notes about interesting possibilities for future expeditions or to shoot what he called “memory snapshots.” The purpose of these causal photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously. In later afternoon h
e turned north at Spokane, picking up U.S Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to Duluth, Minnesota.
He wished for the thousandth time in his life that he had a dog, a golden retriever, maybe, for travels like this and to keep him company at home. But he was frequently away; overseas much of the time and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway. In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard fieldwork. “I must get a dog then.” He said to himself.
Drives like this
always put him into a sentimental mood. The dog was part of it. Robert Kincaid was alone as it’s possible to be – an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends.
He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty–two now, that would make her just under forty. Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a folksinger. She knew all of the Weavers’ songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouse of Seattle. When he was home in the old days, he drove her to the shows and sat in the audience while she sang.
His long absences – two or three months sometimes – were hard on the marriage. He knew that. She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and both of them had a vague (not clear) sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn’t when he came from photographing a story in Iceland and, she was gone. The note read, “Robert, it didn’t work out, I left you the Harmony guitar. Stay in touch.”
He didn’t stay in touch. Neither did she. He signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom.Which route is the right on
e taken by Kincaid?
| A．Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – U.S Route 2 – Duluth |
| B．U.S. Route 2 – Bellingham – Washington 11 – Puget Sound – U.S Route 20 – Duluth |
| C．U.S. Route 2 – U.S Route 20 – Duluth – Bellingham – Washington 11 |
| D．Bellingham – Washington 11 –U.S. Route 2 –U.S Route 20 –Duluth |
Which statement is true according to the passage?
| A．Kincaid’s parents were dead and he only kept in touch with some distant relatives. |
| B．Kincaid would have had a dog if he hadn’t been away from home too much. |
| C．Kincaid used to have a golden retriever. |
| D．Kincaid needed a dog in doing his hard fieldwork. |
Why did Kincaid stop to take photos while driving?
| A．To write “memory snapshots”. |
| B．To remind himself of places he might want to visit again. |
| C．To avoid forgetting the way back. |
| D．To shoot beautiful scenery along the road. |
What can you know about Marian?
| A．She died after five years of marriage. |
| B．She was older than Kincaid. |
| C．She could sing very well and earned big money. |
| D．She was not a professional pop singer. |
We can draw a conclusion from the passage that _____
| A．Marian knew what would happen before she married Kincaid. |
| B．Kincaid thought his absence would be a problem when he married Marian. |
| C．It turned out that Marian could not stand Kincaid’s absence and left him. |
| D．After Marian left him, they still kept in touch with each other. |