Is there an important exam right around the corner？ You might be starting to fear， thinking that there' s no way for you to get a good grade because of the little time left to study． This is something all students may worry about． But you should accept the fact that you have to take the exam no matter how much you want to avoid it．
Thankfully， there are several ways to help you get at least a passing grade． You may have a try．
◆Get yourself together．
This might sound like silly advice， but it's actually the most important． When you fear， you may lose control over your thoughts and actions Even if you try to study， perhaps you won't get anything in your head．
◆Enjoy enough sleep．
It's unbelievable many students have little sleep each night． That's not something to be proud of， especially if you're sleeping so little and still failing to do all the things． Sleep isn't for the weak， but for the wise． Your brain needs enough rest． After a good night's sleep， you'll perform much better in the morning．
◆Don't fear．
Once the test paper is in front of you don't be afraid． Take a deep breath and start the exam with confidence（信心）． Just like when you were reviewing， put away the problems you're having difficulty in and come back to them later． If you have time left， go over everything to make sure you haven't made any careless mistakes．
（1）In the writers opinion， whenever there's an important exam， ．
A． students might experience a period of fear
B． students will have little time to worry
C． students should try everything possible to avoid it
D． students have to ask teachers for more help
（2）The writer describes "get yourself together" as silly advice because ．
A． it won't influence your thoughts
B． it is one of the common senses
C． it is not the most important suggestion
D． it won't help you get anything in your head
（3）Enough sleep before an important exam is ．
A． the pride of the weak
B． not something to be proud of
C． not necessary for the wise
D． a way to avoid failing in exams
（4）When you meet with difficult problems in the exam， you can ．
A． give them up and take a deep breath
B．think hard and review them once again
C． put them away first and come back later
D． just trust yourself and look through the paper
（5）According to the passage， you may get at least the passing grade if ．
A． you fear nothing
B． you follow the writer's advice
C． the problems are not difficult
D． the preparation time lasts longer
| Name |
Personal Information |
| Norman Bethune |
Born in 1890 in Canada. A doctor Came to China in 1938 Died in 1939 in China |
| Celine Dion |
Born in Montreal, Canada A singing star In 1997, sang My Heart Will Go On for the film Titanic |
| Thomas Edison |
Born in 1847, Kentucky, USA Made over 1,000 inventions Died in 1931 |
| Bill Gates |
Born in 1955 in the USA Wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought Owns Microsoft Company |
| Mark Twain |
Born in 1835 in the USA A writer Wrote The Adventures of Tome Sawyer Died in 1910 |
________ is from Canada.
| A．Bill Gates | B．Mark Twain | C．Thomas Edison | D．Celine Dion |
The _______ was born in 1835.
| A．inventor | B．singer | C．doctor | D．writer |
My Heart Will Go On is the name of a ______.
| A．book | B．film | C．song | D．story |
Dr. Bethune worked in China for about _______ years.
| A．4 | B．8 | C．2 | D．6 |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Mark Twain wrote Business @ the Speed of Thought. |
| B．Bill Gates started working for Microsoft Company in 1955. |
| C．Thomas Edison made over 1,000 inventions. |
| D．Celine Dion stopped singing in 1997 |
There are hundreds of funny and strange expressions in the English language. A lot of them include country names or nationalities. Take these examples:
The Dutch（丹麦人）are the target of most English expressions about nationalities. Why are there so many jokes about the Dutch in English? And what do these expressions mean? In the 17th and early 18th centuries, there were three wars between the British and the Dutch, and Dutch became a bad word. So double Dutch means something that has no meaning or is impossible to understand. A Dutch uncle is someone who gives much stronger advice than they need to. There are later expressions, which are funnier and kinder, like to go Dutch, which is nowadays a popular expression. It means to pay for your part of a bill. This often happens when a group of friends have a meal together, and each person pays for the food they ate. I’m a Dutchman is another commonly used expression. This means not being able to believe something.
An expression with a similar meaning to double Dutch is it’s all Greek to me, which means I don’t understand. The expression was made famous in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar although the expression is actually hundreds of years older.
If you take French leave, you are not present or leave somewhere without permission. For example, you could take French leave from a classroom or the place where you work. This expression is from the 18th century when French people left parties without saying goodbye to the host or hostess.
There are Chinese whispers, which mean confused（令人困惑的）messages. This describes the fact that a message can often change as it is passed from person to person. This expression comes from the First World War when foreigners were often confused by Chinese language.
Many people find English expressions confusing, but now that you know about some of them, you can easily have fun finding out many more funny English expressions.Are there many jokes about the Dutch in English?
When did Dutch become a bad word?
What does “French leave” mean?
Which three expressions mentioned above have similar meanings?
What do the funny and strange expressions in the passage have in common?
When students and parents are asked to grade subjects according to their importance, the arts are usually at the bottom of the list. Music is nice, people seem to say, but not important. Too often it is only viewed as entertainment, but certainly not an education priority（优先）. This view is shortsighted. In fact, music education is very important for all students.
Music tells us who we are. Because music is an expression of the beings who create it, it shows their thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. Rock music represents a lifestyle just as surely as does a Schubert song. The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions. Music expresses our character and values. It gives us identity（身份，特性）as a society.
Music provides a kind of perception（感知）that cannot be acquired any other way. Science can explain how the sun rises and sets. The arts can express the emotive（情感的）meaning of the same thing. We need every possible way to discover and respond to our world for one simple but powerful reason: No one way can get it all.
The arts are forms of thought as powerful in what they communicate as mathematical and scientific symbols. They are ways we human beings “talk” to each other. They are the language through which we express our fears, our hungers, our discoveries, our hopes. The arts are ways we give form to our ideas and imagination so that they can be shared with others. When we do not give children an important way of expressing themselves such as music, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses.
Science and technology do not tell us what it means to be human. The arts do. Music is an important way we express human suffering, celebration, the value of peace and love.
So music education is far more necessary than people seem to realize.What can we learn from Paragraph 1?
| A．Students regard music as a way of entertainment. |
| B．Students disagree with their parents on education. |
| C．Students take music as an important subject. |
| D．Students prefer the arts to science. |
In Paragraph 2, the writer uses jazz as an example to____________.
| A．compare it with rock music |
| B．show music identifies a society |
| C．introduce American musical traditions |
| D．prove music influences people’s lifestyles |
According to the passage, the arts and science____________. .
| A．explain the world in different ways |
| B．explain different facts of the world |
| C．express people’s feelings in different ways |
| D．explain what it means to be human differently |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Music education is worth more attention. |
| B．Music should be of top education priority. |
| C．Music is really a good communication tool. |
| D．Music education makes students more imaginative. |
To err is human. To blame（责备） the other guy is even more human.
Common sense is not all that common.
Why tell the truth when you can come up with a good excuse?
These three popular misquotes（戏谑的引语）are meant to be jokes, and yet they tell us a lot about human nature. To err, or to make mistakes, is indeed a part of being human, but it seems that most people don’t want to accept the responsibility for the problem. Perhaps it is the natural thing to do. The original quote about human nature went like this: “To err is human, to forgive, divine（神圣的）.” This saying mirrors an ideal: People should be forgiving of others’ mistakes. Instead, we tend to do the opposite – find someone else to pass the blame on to. However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a mark of great maturity（成熟）.
Common sense is what we call clear thought. Having common sense means having a good general plan that will make things work well, and it also means staying with the plan. Common sense tells you that you take an umbrella out into a rainstorm, but you leave the umbrella home when you hear a weather forecast for sunshine. Common sense does not seem to be common for large companies, because there are so many things going on that one person cannot be in charge of everything. People say that in a large company, “the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.”
And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art? One of the common problems with making excuses is that people, especially young people, get the idea that it’s okay not to be totally honest all the time. There is a corollary（直接推论）to that: if a good excuse is “good” even if it isn’t honest, then where is the place of the truth?Which of the following is NOT based on common sense?
| A．A secretary works to a timetable. |
| B．A company’s next move follows a good plan. |
| C．A girl goes out with an umbrella in stormy weather. |
| D．A man tries to manage everything in a large company. |
What can we infer from the last paragraph according to the writer?
| A．A good excuse is the same as honesty. |
| B．Inventing a good excuse needs creative ideas. |
| C．Unpleasant truth is better than a good excuse. |
| D．Making a good excuse is sometimes a better idea. |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．A Mirror of Human Nature |
| B．To Blame or to Forgive |
| C．A Mark of Maturity |
| D．Truth or Excuse |
For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He didn’t do much better in sports. Although he played for the school’s golf team, he lost the only important match of the season.
Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates…everyone knew it. Sparky never asked a classmate to go out in high school. He was too afraid of being refused.
However, one thing was important to Sparky – drawing. He was proud of his artwork. Of course, no one else appreciated it. In his senior year of high school, he sent some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook. Although the cartoons were turned down, Sparky was so confident about his ability that he decided to become an artist.
After completing high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was told to send some samples of his artwork, and the subject for a cartoon was suggested. Sparky spent a great deal of time on it. Finally, the reply came from Disney Studios. He had been rejected（拒绝）once again. Another loss for the loser.
So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography（自传）in cartoons. He described his childhood – a little boy loser and underachiever. The cartoon character would soon become famous worldwide. For Sparky, the boy who had little success in school and whose work was rejected again and again was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip（连环漫画）and little cartoon character – Charlie Brown. We can know that Sparky was ________ from the first paragraph.
| A．a top student | B．an artist | C．a good player | D．a failure |
Sparky never asked a classmate to go out because he ______.
| A．had never been invited |
| B．didn’t like making friends |
| C．didn’t want to be refused |
| D．was afraid of making mistakes |
What’s Sparky’s success according to the passage?
| A．He was good at golf playing. |
| B．He wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. |
| C．He drew some cartoons for the Yearbook. |
| D．His Peanuts comic strip became world famous. |