I'm a 34-year-old man, married, lived in a nice house, and have a successful career as an educational consultant. But my life was not always so great. I had a learning disability from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.
My life improved remarkably when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually got good at making things with clay(黏土). Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language. I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence came along.
I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. I soon noticed it wasn't a talent thing; it was practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.
Later I decided to apply my previous experience to learning how to read and write. Every day I practiced reading and writing, which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two hard years, I was literate.
Having gone through the long process with art, rock climbing, and reading and writing, now I've got to a point in my life where I know I am smart enough to dive into an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.
56. What made the author's school days difficult? (No more than 5 words)
57. Why did art give the author confidence? (No more than 10 words)
58. What lesson did the author learn from rock climbing? (No more than 15 words)
59. What is the meaning of the underlined part in Paragraph 4? (No more than 5 words)
60. How does the author's story inspire you to overcome difficulties in life? Put it in your own words. (No more than 20 words)
The neglected baby is crying alone. The young man, suffering from a lack of sleep, threatens suicide. The marriage fails because of the husband’s crazy behavior.
Is this just another story of social breakdown in the modern age? Not really. But they are the effects of a real social problem—Internet Addiction(沉溺), or, Internet Addiction Disorder.
The addiction is obvious from the popularity of one game alone: “Halo 2”. It’s a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video game console. By early 2005, 1 million players worldwide had clocked up an amazing 100 million hours on the game, among which are 360, 000 Chinese players.
China has about 94 million regular Internet users. Of these, a survey suggested, 4.4 million are teenagers who are so addicted to it that they neglect anything else.
Video gamers who have gone too far show symptoms similar to those of alcohol and drug abusers. “The real world meant nothing to me when I was fully involved in online games. I lost track of time, space, hunger, pain, and everything,” explained Liu Pinyi, a 19-year-old college dropout. She has had treatment in Beijing for her addiction.
What makes it similar to drugs is that online game addicts also develop a chemical imbalance in their brains. Gaming stimulates the production of a chemical compound that produces delighted or pleasant feelings. When they’re away from the screen, they suffer feelings of anxiety and headaches.
Experts say young people are attracted to video games partly because they are partly because they are pushed right into the center of the action. This allows them to overcome a lack of confidence which people at that age can often suffer from.What’s the writer’s main purpose in writing the first paragraph?
| A．To show his worries about Internet Addiction. |
| B．To show harm of Internet Addiction |
| C．To warn couples of the problem. |
| D．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
How much time in total had Chinese game players spent on “Halo 2” by early 2005?
| A．1 million hours. | B．94 million hours |
| C．100 million hours. | D．36 million hours |
When video gamers get lost in a game, they do the following EXCEPT that _______.
| A．They forget time, space, hunger and everything. |
| B．They drink a lot of alcohol and use drug. |
| C．They feel confident in the virtual games |
| D．Their brains produce a chemical which makes them delighted. |
what is the passage mainly about?
| A．Internet is bad for teenagers |
| B．Actions should be taken to deal with Internet Addiction |
| C．Web produces Internet Addiction Disorder |
| D．Teenagers should not play video games |
根据对话内容,从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余选项。完成后请将答案写到二卷答题纸上。
The world’s first completely automatic（自动的）railway has been built under the busy streets of London. 1. _______________________________. The new Victoria Line was opened in 1969. This new line was very different from the others.
The stations on the other lines need a lot of workers to sell tickets, and to check and to collect them when people leave the trains. 2. ______________________________. Here a machine checks and collects the tickets, and there are no workers on the platforms at all. On the train, there is only one worker. 3. _____________________. But usually he just starts it; it runs and stops by itself. The trains are controlled by electrical signals which are sent by the so-called command spots. The command spots are the same distance apart. Each sends a certain signal. The train always moves at the speed that the command spots allow. If the command spot sends no signals, the train will stop. 4. _______________. The computers also fix the train speeds, and send the signals to the command spots.
5. ___________________________. Once train may stay too long at a station; the other trains will then automatically move slower.
A. If necessary, this man can drive the train.
B. The railway is called the Victoria Line, and it is part of the complete London underground railway.
C. The computer makes the decision about when to use a gas engine and when to go electric.
D. This is all different on the Victoria Line.
E. Most of the control work is done by computers.
F. Other machines make sure that the trains are always a safe distance apart.______
_______
________
________
_______
Are you a man or a mouse? When people ask this question they want to know if you think you are a brave person or a coward(胆小鬼). But you will never really know the answer to that question until you are tested in real life. Some people think they are brave, but when they come face to face with real danger, they act like cowards. Other people think of themselves as cowardly, but when they meet danger, they act like heroes.
Lenny Sputnik had always thought of himself as a nervous person. He got worried before examinations. He worried about his job and his health. All he wanted in life was to be safe and healthy. Then, on 15th January 1982, a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington. Lenny went to the river to see what was happening. Then he saw a woman in the ice-cold water. Suddenly Lenny did not feel afraid. He kept very calm and did a very courageous thing. He jumped into the Potomac, swam to the woman, and kept her head above the water. Seventy-eight people died that day. Thanks to Lenny Sputnik, it was not seventy-nine.
When you are in a very dangerous situation and feel afraid, the body automatically produces a chemical in the blood. This chemical is called adrenalin. With adrenalin in the blood system, you actually feel stronger and are ready to fight or run away. However, when you are completely terrified, the body can produce too much adrenalin. When this happens, the muscles become very hard and you find that you cannot move at all. You are then disabled with fear. That is why, when we are very frightened, we sometimes say that we are ‘petrified’. This word comes from the Greek word ‘peters’ which means ‘stone’. We are so frightened we have become like stone. According to the writer's opinion, a brave person can be judged by ______
| A．his words | B．his thought | C．his action | D．his looks |
From what Lenny did, we can conclude that __________
| A．Lenny had a good chance | B．Lenny was brave |
| C．Lenny liked swimming | D．Lenny wanted to be a hero |
In great danger, a hero always keeps __________.
| A．nervous | B．worried | C．calm | D．disappointed |
Adrenalin in our body is ________.
| A．harmful | B．useless | C．changeable | D．dangerous |
If a person's body produces too much adrenaline, he will ________.
| A．become stronger | B．lose his feeling and power |
| C．become a stone | D．become a hero |
I met the old man at a cafe. “Did you hear the radio news yesterday?” he asked me. “No,” I replied. “Anything exciting?”“Exciting? NO! Something very sad. A group of hungry dogs killed and ate my best friend.”
“Oh, dear!” I cried. “How did it happen?”“He was working on the hillside when the dogs attacked him. When he didn't return, I went to the hillside and found…”“His body?” I asked. The old fellow drank half of his coffee. “No. I told you they were hungry dogs, didn't I? The big bones were lying every where. But they found this.” He pushed open a match box he was holding in his hand. In it was a man's thumb, lying on some white bloody material.
“This is my friend's right thumb. The dogs ate the rest of him”. The old man began to cry. He finished his coffee quickly and left the cafe. I drank mine and called the waiter. “I'll pay the gentleman's bill. His poor friend—how terrible!”“You've heard the news?” The waiter laughed. “Sure. There's a hole in the bottom of the match box. He put his own thumb through the hole. The blood is red ink, I believe. Is the story worth a cup of coffee, sir?”“But he held the box in his right hand.”“Yes, but listeners look into the box. They just can't take their sight off that terrible thing.”“And when he tells the story, he gets free cup of coffee!” I said, laughing. “Yes, sir, but only from strangers who come to this town, and, of course, he does us no harm!” We can learn from this passage ________.
| A．the writer came to the cafe for the first time |
| B．the old man made a living by telling jokes in the cafe |
| C．the writer had known about the old man before |
| D．what had happened to his best friend made the old man mad |
Having heard the old man's story, the writer _______ .
| A．couldn't help laughing immediately | B．showed great mercy upon him |
| C．didn't believe him at all | D．bought the old man another cup of coffee |
It turned out that the thumb in the match box was actually __________.
| A．the right thumb of his best friend |
| B．the thumb he stole from the dead body of an unknown person |
| C．something made of bloody white materials |
| D．his own right thumb |
The waiter hadn't let out the truth of the old man's story earlier because _______ .
| A．he was nobody but the best friend of the old man |
| B．the old man wouldn't pay for his coffee if he did |
| C．the waiter hadn't seen through the old man's trick |
| D．the old man helped the cafe in some way |
As suggested by the passage, what might happen in the end?
| A．The writer refused to pay the old man's bill. |
| B．The writer decided to make the trick known to the public. |
| C．More strangers would hear the old man's story. |
| D．The old man wouldn't visit the cafe any more. |
Cities in Europe and around the world may be growing “bike trees” in the near future
. Invented by Japan’s JFE Engineering Corp, the invention proved useful in the busiest parts of this nation’s crowded cities.
Local governments of Japan have struggled for ways to encourage people to park their bikes considerably, particularly close to big stations, but that may block some roads and entrances to homes and businesses. “Our cities do not have a lot of space for any kind of parking, including bicycles.” said Mitsuharu Oshima, a spokesman for JFE Engineering. The bike tree comes in two types: one in a tower that is above ground and on the contrary, the other in an underground structure.
A cyclist registers with the operator of the equipment, pays a monthly fee and pushes the wheels of his bicycle into restraints(管理处) at the base of the bike tree. Each bicycle 
is fitted with an electronic card with the owner’s details. A mechanical arm then pulls the bike into the base of the tower and moves it to a free location inside. To collect the bike later, the cyclist puts his card through a reader and his bike is automatically returned to him in seconds. “The science of the equipment has been difficult —— even though they may look quite simple —— because bikes come in many different shapes and sizes.” said Oshima.
As well as clearing away the road, bicycles cannot be stolen from a bike tree. There are presently versions at seven sites in Japan and two others are under construction, while work is under way on an even larger version —— with room for 9400 bicycles —— in Thailand. And Oshima believes that the idea could catch on in Europe, particularly in countries such as France, Holland and Denmark , where cycling is so popular. Cities build this kind of “bike trees” so that they can _______.
| A．ask more people to ride bikes | B．provide more jobs for people |
| C．make more money than before | D．save more room for people |
Which is the right order of the following things when you use the bike tree?
① the wheels of the bicycle are put into restraints at the base .
② the card is read and the bike is automatically returned .
③ an electronic card with the owner’s details is given
④ the bike is pulled and moved to a free location inside .
| A．③②①④ | B．③①④② | C．②①④③ | D．②④③① |
What made it difficult to design “bike trees”?
| A．The location of “bike trees”. | B．The method of finding enough bikes. |
| C．The differences of the bikes. | D．The importance of traffic safety |
From the passage, we can know that _______.
| A．countries with many cyclists in Europe will like the idea of “bike trees” |
| B．there are seven “bike trees” used for holding bikes in Japan |
C．local government of Japa n encourage people to ride bikes |
| D．cyclists can use “bike trees” for free in Japan. |