Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But, before 1750, the idea of skating didn’t exist(存在). That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making musical instruments.
One day Merlin was invited to a music party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance (隆重出场) at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates in the world. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of getting to the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on, suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking into pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin’s entrance!The idea of roller skating didn’t exist _______.
| A．until 1750 | B．after 1750 |
| C．since 1750 | D．from 1750 |
What was the job of Joseph Merlin?
| A．Making shoes | B．Making toys |
| C．Making mirrors | D．Making musical instruments |
Merlin didn’t ______ at the party.
| A．play the violin |
| B．have any ways to stop his roller skates |
| C．roll into the room |
| D．get a lot of attention |
Merlin stopped rolling when ______.
| A．he wanted to stop | B．he ran to the window |
| C．he ran into the mirror | D．he knocked someone |
Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．How to use the roller skates |
| B．Merlin and the first roller skates |
| C．How to make musical instruments |
| D．Merlin and the first violin. |
Chineseareverygenerousin educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities such as musical instrument learning or balletclasses, or other classes. They think these will give them a good future. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend much unreasonable money on education. Even poor parents will buy a computer for their son or daughter.
However, most parents don’t understand that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.
Parents can see that their children are very good in some areas while poor in others. Parents can also see some children are good at these skills and others do well in others.Most parents don’t realize that today’s children lack self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need are to be confident, happy and clever.
Parents can achieve this by teaching skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking needs patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and finish his job successfully. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.
Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with, will make him curious(好奇的) and improve his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them. Your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.We know from this passage parents inChina .
| A．are too strict with their children |
| B．are too rich to educate their children |
| C．are too poor to educate their children |
| D．have some problems in educating their children correctly |
We learn from the passage that .
| A．the cheaper an education is, the better it is |
| B．children today should learn difficult skills |
| C．practical skills are helpful to children’s growth |
| D．school education can’t meet parents’ expectations |
Doing some cooking at home helps children .
| A．benefit (有益于) from it and prepare themselves for the future |
| B．learn how to serve their parents |
| C．learn how to become strong and fat |
| D．make their parents believe that they are clever |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Broken things are useful for children |
| B．Interest is necessary for everything |
| C．Learning to think is very important. |
| D．Using hands helps improve thinking ability |
In some science fiction movies, evil robots refuse to die, no matter how hard people fight back.
Now science fiction has become science fact. For the first time, scientists have made a robot that can take a beating and keep on going. Scientists from Cornell University made the robot, which looks like a spider with four legs.
Until now, even the most advanced (先进的) robot was almost certain to break down when it was damaged (毁坏). That is because its computer inside simply doesn’t know how to make the machine work after its shape has changed.
To deal with this problem, the scientists put eight motors (发动机) and two sensors (传感器) that read how the machine is working. They all give signals to the machine’s software. Using this information, the computer can then figure out the machine’s shape at any moment.
The new technology is a big advance in robot-making, scientists say, and it’s far from scary. It may someday help scientists create better artificial (假的) arms and legs and give new freedom to people who lose them. It might also help scientists understand how people and animals figure out their own sense of place in space.
“It has been difficult to design robots that can work well when the environment changes or when it’s damaged,” says Olaf Sporns of Indiana University in US. “With this work, we are nearer to solving this problem.”Why do robots easily break down when they are damaged?
| A．They cannot repair themselves. |
| B．The computer has changed a lot. |
| C．They have no computers inside. |
| D．The computer cannot work if the robot changes. |
The new technology(技术) allows the robot to .
| A．keep working after being damaged |
| B．tell people where it is |
| C．do house work for humans |
| D．remember a lot of information |
The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 5 refers to .
| A．sensors | B．robots | C．scientists | D．arms and legs |
How do the sensors in the robot work?
| A．They can replace the computer when it’s broken. |
| B．They help the computer learn the robot’s condition. |
| C．They can find out where the damage comes from. |
| D．They can send signals to the person who uses the robot. |
Wonder why you can get angry so easily while your friend smiles all the time? It’s probably because you both have different personalities(个性).
Personality is also about how people think, behave, and react (反应) to everything around them from day to day.
So what makes people think and behave in certain ways?
Part of the reason is that people are born like this. A baby gets its blood type, genes (基因) and other physical things when it’s still inside its mother. These things may help decide what the baby will be like.
But one’s personality doesn’t stop here. Family life, school learning and life experiences can also make you the person you are. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to change your personality. You can always try to make yourself better. Don’t get too worried about your shortcomings (缺点). Just accept them. This is a good way to start making changes.
If you don’t know how to make friends, find out why. Is it because you’re too shy? Tell yourself to smile at people. Start talking to people using warm greetings.
Don’t give yourself a hard time about it all. It’s not easy to change lifelong habits in one night. Keep working at it. One day you’ll see that you can turn over a new leaf and be a new you!Personality is about the following except .
| A．how you behave |
| B．what you look like |
| C．how you react to something |
| D．how you think about something |
We know that from the passage.
| A．people are born the way they’ll always be |
| B．a person can try to change his/her personality |
| C．personality decides what a person looks like |
| D．blood type decides what a person will be like |
From the last two paragraphs, we learn that .
| A．a shy person can’t make many friends |
| B．you can work hard to improve yourself |
| C．everyone can change him- or herself in life |
| D．there is no way to change your lifelong habits |
Co-operation (合作)is always needed when you make a project that the teacher gives you.
First, discuss all you would like to do with your classmates. Choose one of the members to write down what you’re talking about. Then, with the ideas you get, list all you want. Everyone shares the duty for the project. You can collect information not only from books but also on the internet. Making a survey and doing a research are also good ways. After that, all the members put what has been found together. Try to make the project more well-organized. In the end, you can give a report in front of your class to show the results of your hard work.
How to do it? |
Peter was getting ready to graduate from the college. He loved a beautiful sports car for many months, and knew his father could well afford it for him. He told his father all that he wanted.
As the graduation day was coming near, Peter had got nothing from his father. On the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his study. He told his son how proud he was to have such a good son, and told how much he loved him. Then he gave his son a beautiful gift box. He opened the box, finding a lovely book, a Bible(圣经), with the young man’s name in it. Angrily he raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible?” He then ran out of the house, leaving the Bible.
Many years later, Peter was very successful in business. He had a beautiful house and a wonderful family. Realizing his father was old, he thought he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Unfortunately, he was told that his father had died.
When he reached his father’s house, he began to take care of his father’s papers. And then he found the Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened it and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, from the back of the Bible dropped a car key. That was the key to the sports car he wanted so much. Sudden sadness and regret (悔恨)filled his heart.
Sometimes we don’t realize the good luck that we already have because we don’t know the gift box is packed in a different way. The gift box may be the door to happiness. It is just waiting for us to open.The son would like his father to buy him___________.
| A．a beautiful house | B．a Bible | C．a beautiful box | D．a sports car |
The son ran out of the house angrily because ____________.
| A．his father said something wrong to him | B．his father gave him nothing |
| C．he thought his father only gave him a Bible | D．his father didn’t love him |
Many years later, the son_____________.
| A．was told his father was still healthy | B．became a successful man |
| C．had a hard life | D．went to see his father quite often |
How did the son feel when he got the car key?
| A．Excited and happy. | B．Worried and sad. |
| C．Disappointed and upset. | D．Sad and regretful. |
From the story, the writer wants to tell us ___________.
| A．we may miss good luck because they are not packed as we expect |
| B．we should look after our parents carefully |
| C．our parents will give us everything we ask for |
| D．we should accept any gift that our parents give us |