Lisa: My best teacher is my geography teacher in 10th grade. Why? Because we did school projects! Back then I wrote about India and never forgot what I had learned. He brought the culture to life by letting me become part of it. He also listened to us and was always ready with a kind word.
David: My best teacher is my high school social studies and history teacher, Thomas Ladenburg. He respected us, though we were just teenagers. His class was never boring because he often asked us to discuss in class. He used his own materials which made the class very interesting.
Henry: My best ever teacher is my biology teacher in high school. I really liked her class. She explained everything very clearly. She also checked our notebooks to make sure we had written down what she said. Now, many years later, I can still remember a large part of the things she taught!
Susan: The best teacher I have ever had is my 10th grade social studies teacher. She was always in a good mood and kept us laughing. She was really young, so she acted like us teenagers, which made learning fun. If we needed to talk to an adult about a problem, we would always come to her because we knew she could help us.
Tom: My favourite teacher is Mr. Yelle. He taught us math, science and music. He spoke to us “at eye level”, and was very patient and kind. We did great projects for the science fairs. Forty years later, I still remember his lessons very well. By the way, though he was called Mr Yelle, he didn’t yell(喊叫).We learn that when she was in 10th grade, Lisa ________.
| A．was always ready with a kind word |
| B．often forgot what she had learned very easily |
| C．liked doing school projects in the geography class |
| D．was interested in India the most in the geography class |
How did David most probably find Thomas Ladenburg’s class?
| A．Difficult. | B．Lively. | C．Useless. | D．Long. |
We can learn that Susan’s 10th grade social studies teacher _______.
| A．was good at listening to her students’ problems |
| B．liked laughing at her students’ problems |
| C．was not happy when she had a problem |
| D．didn’t like taking her students as friends |
They travel in groups, noses just inches away form GPS screen. Suddenly a boy shouts “I found it!”, grinning and walking away from the group.
The others focus on their screens. “Me. too!” shouts another a moment later, until all six kids are crowded around a tree, pulling out a plastic bottle painted to look like tree bark. It doesn’t seem like much from the outside, but everyone gathers around, eager to see what’s inside.
This is geocaching, a high-tech game played using coordinates (坐标) and global positioning systems to find hidden “treasures”.
It’s open to anyone—hiders or seekers—with a GPS and access to www.geocaching.com, where more than half a million users download and upload the coordinates of nearly 1 million hidden caches (储藏物) and write about their experiences in this worldwide hunt.
Although some adventures can take hours or even days, the contents inside the actual cache usually aren’t valuable—often just a book or a small trinket (小饰品).
But participants aren’t in it for the treasure. They say it’s a great way to exercise. Or it brings them to remote destinations or historical sites. Some consider it an extreme sport, looking for geocaches hidden in mountains or in other nearly inaccessible locations.
Jeffrey Howe, 41, sees it as an opportunity to take kids on adventures to unfamiliar places. The youths at the shelter mostly come form the city, but geocaching has taken them to parks, the suburbs, and, once, to a 498-meter-high mountain.
“Geocaching is a way to give kids the idea that there’s a whole world out there other than what they know from their home neighborhoods and video games,” he said.
How does it work? Log onto the Website and enter your zip code (邮编), then search for caches near your location. Although posted coordinates will take a GPS within about 4.5 meters of a cache, a good hide will require seekers to do a bit of hunting around. Caches can’t be buried underground, nor can they be hidden on private property (财产), in dangerous locations or in some national parks.
Posts written about the find—whether successful or unsuccessful—are an important part of the game, with users proudly recording the places to which they’ve traveled.
1. What is the meaning of the underlined word geocaching in paragraph 3?
A. A computer game played all over the world.
B. A TV series popular around the world.
C. An outdoor game of hiding and finding things.
D. A name of the latest GPS.
2. In geocaching, which of the following statements about players is NOT TRUE?
A. Players need to have GPS to play the game.
B. Players need to download the coordinates to find the hidden caches.
C. Players need to be young and strong to the play the game.
D. Players are asked to hide things in parks or other places most people can reach.
3. What is Jeffrey Howe’s attitude toward geocaching?
A. Negative. B. Objective. C. Uncertain. D. Supportive.
4. Many people like to play this game because __________.
A. they take pleasure in the process of the game
B. they like to visit historical sites
C. they want to find some treasure
D. they want to change their lives
The British royal family is about to be slimmed down. The Queen plans to reduce the number of real royals, it was recently announced. However, there seems little sign of the monarchy (君主) disappearing completely.
Up till the 17th century, the British king or queen was believed to rule by “divine (神的) right”, which was the idea that God chose the king or queen to rule and that he or she was therefore above the law. However, this idea ended with the English Revolution, in which King Charles I was imprisoned and then beheaded (斩首) in 1649.
So what role does the British royal family have today?
Well, the Queen has important formal duties as Head of State, the Queen represents the UK on v
isits abroad and invites other world leaders to visit the UK. As Head of the Armed Forces: Only the Queen can declare when the UK is at war or when war is over. The Queen also has constitutional duties: She has to sign many government and Commonwealth (英联邦) documents everyday.
In addition, the royal family sends a great deal of its time traveling up and down the country in support of different charity projects.
But republicans in Britain do not believe there should be a royal family. Sometimes, the press and media criticize the royal family as well. One criticism is that British people should have to pay for the royal family through their taxes.
Today, the royal family works hard to be relevant(相关联的) in the modern world. The Queen Speech on television is less formal every Christmas, and is now available as a podcast (播客). In 2005, after graduating from university, Prince William spent time teaching English in Uruguay, the sort of work many young British people do at some time in their lives.
1. What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?
A. The British King or Queen is now considered above the law.
B. The British King or Queen is no longer believed to rule by divine right.
C. The royal family played a less important role in Britain in the late 17th century than in nowadays.
D. The English Revolution put an end to the British royal family in 1649.
2. Which of the following is NOT among formal duties of the Queen?
A. Traveling around the UK.
B. Declaring when the UK is at war.
C. Inviting other leaders to vis
it the UK.
D. Signing Commonwealth documents every day.
3. With the example of Prince William in the last paragraph, the author intends to show _____.
A. Prince William is very popular in the UK
B. the royal family is trying to connect better with ordinary people
C. Prince William has made an effort to win young people’s admiration
D. many young British people do voluntary work
4. According to the article, British people __________.
A. are all in favor of the royal family
B. can talk to the Queen through a podcast
C. pay for the royal family through the taxes
D. criticize the royal family through media and press
| National Geographic Museum |
The Newseum |
|
| Where: |
At 1145 17th St. NW. The nearest Metro stops are Archives (Yellow and Green lines) and Judiciary Square (Red line). |
At 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The nearest Metro stops are Archives (Yellow and Green lines) and Judiciary Square (Red line). |
| When: |
Open from 10 am to 6 pm daily and till 8 pm on Wednesdays. Closed Dec 25. The warriors exhibition is on until March 31. |
Open from 9 am to 5 pm daily but closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. |
| How much: |
Timed tickets are $12 for adults; $10 for seniors, students and the military; $6 for ages 2 to 12. |
Adults (19 to 64): $19.95 Youth (7 to 18): $12.95 Children (6 and younger): free |
| For more information: |
call 202-857-7700 or visit http://www.warriorsdc.org |
http:// www.newseum.org or 888-639-7386 |
1 Which of the following statements about National Geographic Museum is TRUE?
A. It’s open from 10 am to 6 pm each day.
B. It’s near the Judiciary Square stop on the Yellow line.
C. It is closed o
n Thanksgiving day, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
D. You have to go there before April 1 to see the exhibition of warriors.
2 How much should Mr. Brown pay if he takes his 6-year-old son to the Newseum?
A. $18 B. $32.8 C. $19.95 D. $32
3. To get more information about the Newseum, you can ________.
A. call 202-857-7700
B. call 888-639-7386
C. log onto http://www.warriorsdc.org
D. log onto http://www.museum.org
Section B
Directions: Read the following four passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
The professor stood before his class of 30 senior molecular (分子) biology students, about to pass out the final exam. “I have been honored to be your instructor this semester, and I know how hard you have all worked to prepare for this test,” he said to them. “I am well aware of how much pressure you are under to keep your GPAs (平均成绩) up, and because I know your are all capable of understanding this material, I am prepared to offer an automatic “B” to anyone who would prefer not to take the final.”
The relief was audible as a number of students jumped up to thank the professor and left the class. The professor looked at the handful of students who remained, and offered again, “Any other takers? This is your last opportunity.” One more student decided to go.
There were seventeen students left. The professor closed the door an
d took attendance. Then he handed out the final exam.
There were two sentences typed on the paper: “Congratulations, you have just received an ‘A’ in this class. Keep believing in yourself!”
I never had a professor who gave a test like that. It’s a test that any teacher in any course could and should give. Students who don’t have confidence in what they’ve learned are “B” students at best.
The same is true for students of real life. The “A” students are those who believe in what they’re doing because they’ve learned from both successes and failures. They’ve absorbed life’s lessons, whether from formal education or the school of hard knocks, and become better people.
Don’t let the biggest limit be yourself.
1. The professor offered an automatic “B” to those who would prefer not to take the final because ________.
A. he thought all of his students had prepared for the test well
B. he believed all the students were able to pass the exam
C. he didn’t want to put too much pressure on his students
D. he intended to tell the students about the importance of confidence
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. All the students feel at easy before the exam.
B. 22 students got a “B” in the final test without doing the paper.
C. There were no problems on the test paper for the students to work out.
D. The way the professor tested the students would be unsuitable for other subjects.
3. According to the author, the test given by the professor is ________.
A. funny B. instructive C. confusing D. inappropriate
4. The point of the story is to advise readers ________.
A. to stay focused on what they can do
B. to surround themselves with confident people
C. not to put up with being second best
D. not to let themselves be the biggest obstacles to their growth
When Webster was young ,he was a teacher .But he quickly became tired of the books he used in class .They were all about the English people and places .Since he wanted books that would be interesting to the American children ,he wrote three books with many American examples .
Webster worked hard to change the spellings of American English .He wanted words to be spelled in the same way they were pronounced .For example ,he thought the word laugh should be spelled laf.And he tried many ways to ask people to help him to do this .
One day he walked into a print shop and gave the boy there a piece of paper .Young man ,he said ,when you print any book in the future ,please don’t spell the words like the English people do .For example ,when you see these words :theatre ,centre ,colour ,and labour ,please always print them as theater ,center ,color ,and labor .The boy studied it and answered ,OK,but I must ask my boss first.
With the money he made from his books ,Webster could start his great work ,which took him more than twenty years to finish .In 1828 ,the first American English dictionary was born .And today, Webster’s dictionary is thought to be most important American English dictionary in the whole world .
1．Webster didn’t like the books used in American schools because________.
A．he was born in America
B．there were too many mistakes in them
C．American children were not interested in them
D．they were too difficult for American children to understand
2．In Webster’s opinion ,the word“colour”should be spelled as “color”according to its________.
A．meaning B．use C．pronunciation D．wording
3．What’s the printer’s attitude（态度）towards Webster’s advice？
A．He was for it. B．He was against it .
C．He had no idea about it . D．He thought it impossible
4. The best tittle foe this passage should be_______
A. webster
B. webster and His Dictionary
C. The first English Dictionary
D. The Differences between American English and British English