In 1959，when Jean Harper was in the third grade，her teacher asked them to write a report on what they wanted to be when they grew up．She poured her heart into her report and expressed her dream of becoming an airline pilot．Her paper came back with an"F"on it．The teacher told her it was a"fairy tale"．Jean was completely disappointed．As the years went by，Jean was beaten down by the discouragement．"Girls can't become airline pilots； never have，never will．You're crazy．"Finally Jean gave up．
In her senior year of high school，her English teacher was Mrs．Dorothy Slaton，a strict teacher with high standards．One day Mrs．Slaton asked this question，"What will you do in the future？"Jean felt a rush of the old enthusiasm （热情），and with excitement she wrote down the very old dream right away．
The next thing that Mrs．Slaton said changed the course of Jean's life．"I have a little secret for you．You do have unlimited （无限的） abilities and talents．When you leave school，if you don't go for your dream，no one will do it for you．You can have what you want if you try!"
The hurt and fear of years of discouragement disappeared suddenly．Jean felt thrilled and told her teacher about her dream of becoming a pilot．Mrs．Slaton slapped （敲） the desk top，"Then do it!"she said．
So Jean did．It didn't happen overnight．In her l0 years of hard work，even facing all kinds of difficulties，she never gave up her dream．
Eventually，Jean Harper became a Boeing 737 captain （机长） of the United Airline Company．
（1）Jean's third﹣grade teacher thought her dream to be ．
A．great
B．impossible
C．challenging
D．reasonable
（2）Mrs．Slaton may think that ．
A．Jean is not a nice girl
B．only some of her students have great abilities
C．a belief helps to realize one's dream
D．her students are good enough to enter the best schools
（3）According to the passage，we can infer that ．
A．Jean's dream was always in her deep heart
B．Jean didn't go for her dream
C．most people around Jean were for her dream
D．Jean achieved her dream overnight
（4）What does the underlined word thrilled in Paragraph 4mean？
A．excited
B．surprised
C．disappointed
D．relaxed
（5）What's the best title of the passage？
A．Face Difficulties
B．Dream the Future
C．Voice Your Dream
D．Go for It．
A rabbit is running into its hole. You may ask, “What happened?”
Well, when a rabbit sees something dangerous, it runs away. Its tail moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this tail moving up and down, they run too. They know that there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.
Many other animals use this kind of language. When a bee found some food, it goes back to his home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.
Some animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger
comes near. A cat purrs (发出呼噜呼噜的声音)when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning.
But human beings have something that no animals have –-- a large number of words about things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information, to tell or inform other people what is in our mind or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things what have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this. No animals has the wonderful power of language.
No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language. People living in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. A very large English dictionary, for example, contains four or five hundred thousand words. But we do not know all these. The words we know are called vocabulary. We should try to make our vocabulary larger. Read as many books as possible. When we meet a new word, look it up in the dictionary. A dictionary is the Most useful book. When a rabbit gives the other rabbits a signal of danger, it _______.
| A．runs into its hole |
| B．stops to move its tail |
| C．runs with its tail moving up and down |
| D．stops moving its tail up and down as it runs |
A dog can tell something ________.
| A．by giving signals | B．by making different sounds |
| C．by purring | D．by barking |
It has been proved that no animal is able to _______.
| A．give the others information |
| B．tell others how it feels |
| C．express it actions and feelings with words |
| D． make different sounds, each with its own meaning |
Generally speaking, what we mean by “vocabulary” is _________.
| A．all the words that we know |
| B．more and more words we use |
| C．all the words we need |
| D．the dictionary which contains thousands of words |
What must we do in order to make our vocabulary large?
| A．Make more and more new words. |
| B． Learn more languages. |
| C． Look up any new words in a dictionary. |
| D． Try to read as many books as possible. |
Each year, we celebrate many holidays here in America.
On January 1, we welcome the coming of a new year like many people in other countries. And we have another four holidays on the first day of a month: April Fool’s Day, May Day, Friendship Day (Aug.1) and Grandparents Day (Sep. 1).
The most important holiday for the young people comes in February. It is Valentine’s Day. Lots of boys give red roses to girls as a present.
People celebrate some holidays for their family members. We say thanks to our mother in May and celebrate Father’s Day in the following month. In November many people return home for Thanksgiving Day, so the whole family can stay together.
There are also some interesting holidays for children. For example, Halloween comes at the end of October. Children often play with pumpkin lanterns and put on all kinds of masks.
Of course, the most important festival is Christmas. After a year of work and study, people can enjoy a long holiday, eat big meals, and visit family and friends.
| A．Four. | B．Five. |
| C．Seven. | D．Ten. |
| A．Thanksgiving Day. | B．Christmas Day. |
| C．Valentine’s Day. | D．New Year’s Day. |
| A．in May | B．in April. |
| C．in June | D．in July |
| A．children | B．mothers |
| C．girls | D．students |
| A．enjoy a long holiday | B．stay with their family members |
| C．eat big meals with friends | D．spend Thanksgiving Day |
Long, long ago people made fires from lightening (闪电). But they had to keep the fire burning, for they couldn’t start it again if there was no lightening. Later, they found out hitting two pieces of stone together could make a spark (火花). The spark could fire dry leaves. In this way they could make the fire again if it went out. Then people also learned to make a fire by rubbing (摩擦). They made a hole on a piece of wood and put a smaller stick into the hole. They turned the stick again and again. After a few minutes they got a fire.
A years went by, people learned other ways to make a fire. Sometimes they used the heat from the sun. They held a piece of glass in the right way and made a piece of paper on fire.
About two centuries ago, people began to make matches. Matches brought people a quick and easy way to make fires. Today matches are still being used, but people have more new ways to make fires. One of them is to use an electric fire starter. Of course an electric fire starter is much more expensive than a box of matches. But it is very useful.
| A．fire any leaves | B．burn anything |
| C．burn dry leaves | D．keep fire burning |
| A．making a hole on a big piece of wood |
| B．putting a smaller stick into the hole |
| C．turning the stick hard for a while |
| D．all above together |
| A．for about two thousand years |
| B．for about two hundred years |
| C． since people began to use fire for cooking |
| D． since people used the heat from the sun |
| A．electric fire starters are widely used |
| B．people haven’t used matches since they had electric fire starters |
| C．today there are only two ways to make fire |
| D．some forest fires happen from lightening |
a. with a match b. from the sun
c. from lightening d. by rubbing
e. with an electric fire starter
| A．a, b, c, d, e | B．b, c, a, e, d |
| C．c, d, b, a, e | D．d, a, c, b, e |
The more books you read, the better your life will be. If you don’t believe me, please consider these five reasons to read more books.
You will make your brain power better.
This shouldn’t come as a shock, but studies suggest reading makes you smart. Unlike watching television, which requires no thought process, reading is an active learning experience that will keep your mind sharp.
You will increase your chances of success.
The more books you read, the more knowledge you will have, the more ways and resources your brain will store, the more likely you will succeed.
You will have things to talk about at parties.
Reading more books will enable you to say the sentence, “Did you know …?” more often, making it easier to start conversations with strangers.
You will enlarge your vocabulary.
The more words you’re able to use, the better you will become at expressing your thoughts and feelings. I couldn’t imagine how I would write articles like this if I didn’t actively aim to enlarge my vocabulary, because using the same few words to express myself would get boring.
You will enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Your mobile phone or TV can make it difficult for you to get a good night’s sleep, if you do so late at night. You would be wise to cut off all electronics at least an hour before bed, and replace that with a good book, which is a much better choice.
The books can change your life. I firmly believe that if it wasn’t for books, I wouldn’t have achieved in my life; nor would I have the knowledge, imagination or creativity. I hope these reasons to read more books encourage you to unlock your power of reading.
| The more books you read, the better your life will be. |
|
| Details |
|
| Increase your chances of success. |
You will have more knowledge and your brain will store more |
| Have topics to |
You can start a talk more |
| Get a |
Using more better. |
| Enjoy a good night’s sleep. |
You’d better |
| Books can give you much knowledge, imagination and creativity that you can in your life. |
The 31st Summer Olympics will be held in Brazil in 2016. Before this global sporting event, we started thinking about sports that didn’t exist any more and sports that were maybe a little strange. Read the following ones that have ever been included in the past Olympic Games.
Live Pigeon Shooting (1900)
This bloody event was only held once, at the 1900 Paris Games. Nearly 300 birds were killed during the competition, leaving a crime scene of feathers and blood. This is the only event in Olympic history that involved killing live animals.
Kabaddi (1936)
This sport is popular in South Asia. The object is for one member of a team to enter the other side’s half of the field, and score points. The attacker then returns to his half of the field.
12 Hour Bicycle Race (1896)
Seven riders got on their bikes at 5 a.m. and rode until 5 p.m. Four riders dropped out before noon, but the winner, Adolf Schmal of Austria, managed about 180 miles. Only Schmal and one other finished.
Tug of War (1900—1920)
This may seem like a basic PE class sport more than an Olympic event, but Tug of War was actually one of the first sports played at the Olympic games in 500 BC.
There are two teams of eight; the winning team must pull the other team six feet forward.
Swimming Obstacle Race (1900)
The athletes had to climb over a pole (杆子) and a row of boats, and then swim under another row of boats. All of this was done in the Seine River, so they also had to fight against the water. This event was only ever held in 1900, in Paris.What do you probably think of these events?
| A．Strange. | B．Fantastic. |
| C．Modern. | D．Interesting. |
Which sport looks like a common activity more than an Olympic event?
| A．Swimming Obstacle Race. | B．12 Hour Bicycle Race. |
| C．Live Pigeon Shooting. | D．Tug of War. |
How many athletes finished the event 12 Hour Bicycle Race?
| A．One. | B．Two. |
| C．Four. | D．Seven. |
What does “drop out” mean in English according to the passage?
| A．Give up. | B．Run out. |
| C．Fall off. | D．Break down. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Athletes took part in all of the events in teams. |
| B．Tug of War was held in the Olympics only once. |
| C．Some of the events may be in the 31st Summer Olympics. |
| D．These events are not as popular as they used to be. |