Once a very rich man and his son collected valuable paintings by famous artists like Picasso，Van Gogh and Monet．
Later，the son left to join the army．After a few weeks，the old man received a letter saying his son had died while taking another soldier to a hospital．The old man became very lonely and sad．
One day，a soldier visited the old man and gave him a painting﹣it was a portrait（肖像）of his son．The painting of his son became the old man's most valuable item．He told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received．The following spring，the old man died．
All of the old man's paintings would be sold at an auction（拍卖会）．The auction began with the painting of the old man's son．
"Who will open the price at ＄100？"the auctioneer asked．Moments passed and no one spoke or raised their hands．Someone said，"Who cares about that painting？Let's get on to the good ones．"More voices followed in agreement．"No，we must sell this one first，"replied the auctioneer．"Now，who will take the portrait of the son？"
Finally，a good friend of the old man spoke，"Ten dollars!""Will anyone go higher？"called the auctioneer．After more silence he said："Going once…going twice…Sold!"The auctioneer then announced that the whole auction was over．"According to the father's will，whoever takes the son's portrait gets the whole collection．"The auctioneer said．
Because of the father's love，whoever took the son got it all．
46．How did the old man's son die？
A．He died of a serious heart disease．
B．He died while taking another soldier to a hospital．
C．A car hit him when he went home．
D．He was killed by a doctor．
47．What was the first painting to be sold at the auction？
A．The paintings by famous artists．
B．The gift given by the old man's neighbors．
C．The portrait of the old man's son．
D．The most expensive collection of the old man．
48．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？
A．At the beginning of the auction，everyone realized the importance of the painting of the son．
B．The painting of the old man's son was as popular as the other paintings．
C．The old man's will was to give away the whole collection to charity．
D．The old man's good friend got the whole collection for only ten dollars．
49．What's the best title of the passage？
A．Love is Sharing． B．An Expensive Painting
C．A Hot Auction D．Caring About the Person You Love．
I know what you’re thinking: pizza? 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 (跳过) breakfast, and they have a lot of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time. Others think they’re “saving” calories, still others just don’t like breakfast food.
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（装填） with vegetables, and you just eat one small piece.
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 (吃得过多) later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of getting 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 get the fat-burning effects.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means_______.
| A．food left 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 losing weight. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to_______.
| A．be careful about what you eat | B．eat calorie-controlled food |
| C．heat up food before eating it | D．eat something for breakfast |
The text is written mainly for those_______.
| A．who want to lose weight | B．who go to work early |
| C．who stay up late | D．who eat before sleep |
Is learning a foreign language ever easy? Yes. If you are five and move to another country, you will quickly pick up the language. But what about for the rest of us who are no longer five, and need to be polite when traveling for business or for pleasure? I think that answer is also yes. Language learning can be easy if you don’t want or need to learn too much.
The key to successful language learning in my mind is not to set the goal too high. It is rather like running. Even if you run twice a week, you don’t necessarily want to be able to run a marathon (马拉松). You might just want to keep a level of fitness. I think the same can be true for language learning.
Let’s get back to the goal. If you decide to learn ten words in a foreign language before visiting the country, you know that you will be sure to do this. However, if you decide to talk to people with great fluency (流利), unless you are quite a talented person, you will probably fail and give up in half-way.
It is also far easier to start learning a foreign language than to finish. In other words, the better you are, the slower it can be to improve, because you will not be able to move further because of grammar, making sentences, learning less common words, etc. If you are only trying to learn a few foreign words and sentences, you will enjoy faster progress, have more fun, and won’t have to spend too much time.
The idea of learning only a few hundred words in a language, and then stopping, isn’t the usual way to language learning, but it can be a very meaningful and enjoyable activity. In the writer’s opinion, it is easy for adults to learn English if _______.
| A．they are especially talented people |
| B．they don’t want or need to learn too much |
| C．they have to spend a lot of time on it |
| D．they have a chance to go abroad |
The writer believes that if you want to be good at a foreign language, you will probably _______.
| A．forget your own goals |
| B．become a talented language learner |
| C．get tired of learning it |
| D．reach your learning goal |
The best title of this passage would be _______.
| A．Easy Language Learning | B．Hard Language Learning |
| C．Fluency in a Foreign Language | D．A way of Language Learning |
Rent(出租)a room
Spare room? Not only will a lodger (房客) earn you some money, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax (税) on the first ￡4,500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis (基础). If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.
Use your roof (屋顶)
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier (供应商), which could prevent you from changing the roof.If you earn ￡5,000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on ________.
| A．￡300 | B．￡500 | C．￡4,500 | D．￡5,000 |
If you want to use energy free, you have to ________.
| A．sign an agreement with the government |
| B．pay around ￡14,000 for the equipment |
| C．sell the roof to some energy companies |
| D．keep the roof unchanged for within 25 years |
Who would most like to read the passage?
| A．Lodgers. | B．Advertisers. |
| C．House owners. | D．Online companies. |
A farmer had a cow. He took very good care of this cow and one day when it was ill. He was very worried. He telephoned the vet (兽医).
“What’s the problem?” The vet asked him when he arrived.
“My cow is ill.” the farmer said. “I don’t know what’s the matter with her. She’s lying down and won’t eat. She’s making a strange noise.”
The vet looked over the cow. “She’s certainly ill, ” he said, “and she needs to take some very strong medicine.”
He took a bottle out of his box, put two pills into his hand and said, “The pills should make her better.”
“How should I give them to her?” the farmer asked.
The vet gave him a tube (管子) and said,“Put this tube in her mouth, then put the pills in the tube and blow. That’ll make it.”
The next day the vet came to the farm again. The farmer was sitting outside his house and looked more worried.
“How’s your cow?” the vet asked.
“No change,” the farmer said. “and I’m feeling very strange myself.”
“Oh?” the vet said. “Why?”
“I did what you said,” the farmer answered. “I put the tube in the cow’s mouth and then put two pills down it.”
“And?” the vet asked.
“The cow blew first.” the farmer said.The farmer asked the vet for help when his cow ________.
| A．couldn’t make any noise | B．didn’t eat the pills |
| C．was ill | D．couldn’t lie down |
The vet taught the farmer how ________.
| A．to blow the tube | B．to make the cow take the pills |
| C．to take the medicine | D．to put the tube in his mouth |
Which of the following is true?
| A．The farmer ate the pills himself. |
| B．The cow got better after taking the medicine. |
| C．The vet came to help farmer change the cow the next day. |
| D．The farmer waited for the vet outside his house the next day. |
Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The program works because everyone’s eyes are different. So in the future you won’t have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You’ll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are.
The eye-recognition(眼睛识别) program is already being tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain and France. Soon, this technology(技术) will change all other ways of finding out who people are.
However, scientists are working on other systems. Machines will soon be able to know you from the shape of your face or hands or even your smell! We already have machines that can tell who you are from your voice or the mark made by your fingers.
Eye-recognition is better than other kinds because your eyes don’t change as you get older, or get dirty like hands or fingers. And even twins have different eyes, so the program can be up to 94％ correct, depending on(依靠) how good the technology is. Some programs may only be right 51％ of the time. In Britain, it was found that 91％ of people who had tried it said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition.
In the future your computer will be looking at you in the eye. So smile! What is the advantage of using the eye-recognition program?
| A．You needn’t use a machine. |
| B．You needn’t remember a number. |
| C．You needn’t look at the machine. |
| D．You needn’t take some money with you. |
How does the eye-recognition program work?
| A．You type in your number. | B．You show your ID card. |
| C．You look at the machine. | D．You say your name. |
Why can the eye-recognition program be up to 94％ correct?
| A．Because eyes hardly change. |
| B．Because hands or fingers can get dirty. |
| C．Because people like the idea of the program. |
| D．Because the program is widely used around the world. |
Which recognition program has been already in use?
| A．Remembering eyes. |
| B．Remembering smells. |
| C．Remembering fingerprints. |
| D．Remembering the shape of faces. |