I remember the day during our first week of class when we were informed about our semester（学期） project of volunteering at a non-profit organization．When the teacher introduced us to the different organizations that needed our help，my last choice was Operation Iraqi Children （OIC）．My first impression of the organization was that it was not going to make enough of a difference with the plans I had in mind．
Then，an OIC representative gave us some details，which somewhat interested me．After doing some research， I believed that we could really do something for those kids．When I went online to the OIC website，I saw pictures of the Iraqi children．Their faces were so powerful in sending a message of their despair（绝望） and need that I joined this project without hesitation．We decided to collect as many school supplies as possible，and make them into kits--one kit，one child．
The most rewarding day for our group was project day，when all the efforts we put into collecting the items finally came together．When I saw the various supplies we had collected，it hit me that every kit we were to build that day would eventually be in the hands of an Iraqi child．Over the past four months，I had never imagined how I would feel once our project was completed．While making the kits，I realized that I had lost sight of the true meaning behind it．I had only focused on the fact that it was another school project and one I wanted to get a good grade on．When the kits were completed，and ready to be sent overseas，the warm feeling I had was one I would never forget．
In the beginning，I dared myself to make a difference in the life of another person．Now that our project is over，I realize that I have affected not only one life，but ten．With our efforts，ten young boys and girls will now be able to further their education．
24.How did the author feel about joining the OIC project in the beginning？
| A． |
It would affect his/her initial plans． |
| B． |
It would involve traveling overseas． |
| C． |
It would not bring him/her a good grade． |
| D． |
It would not live up to his/her expectations． |
25. What mainly helped the author change his/her attitude toward the project？
| A． |
Images of Iraqi children． |
B． |
Research by his/her classmates． |
| C． |
A teacher's introduction． |
D． |
A representative's comments． |
26. The author's OIC project group would help ten Iraqi children to__________．.
| A． |
become OIC volunteers |
B． |
further their education |
| C． |
study in foreign countries |
D． |
influence other children |
27. What can we conclude from this passage？
| A． |
One's potential cannot always be underrated． |
| B． |
First impression cannot always be trusted． |
| C． |
Actions speak louder than words． |
| D． |
He who hesitates is lost． |
The old saying that practice makes perfect seems to make no sense when it comes to schoolwork. Many educators today are looking for evidence to support the case for homework, but are coming up empty-handed.
Mary Jane Cera is the academic administrator for the Kino School, and she maintains a no-homework policy across all grades. The purpose of the policy is to make sure learning remains a joy, not a thing that discourages social time and creative activity.
At the Kino school, Cera says children often choose to take their favorite parts of school home. “A lot of what we see kids doing is practicing music with their friends, and taking experiments home to show their parents,” she says. Surveys of Kino graduates suggest that the early control they are given over their education continues to serve them well into college.
“One of the reasons that we continue to assign much homework is our obsession (着迷) with tests, although we can agree on the importance of kids doing better on tests through proper homework to some degree,”says author Alfie Kohn. In his book The Homework Myth, Kohn points out that no study has ever found a relation between homework and academic achievement and that if kids have no choice in the matter of homework, they’re not really exercising judgment, and are instead losing their sense of self-control.
However, many supporters of homework argue that life is filled with things we don’t like to do, and that homework teaches self-discipline, time management and other non-academic life skills.
Wherever the homework debate goes next, it’s worth taking a moment to examine if we’re doing the right thing about our children’s education. The good news is — it’s never too late to start.Mary Jane Cera believes that ______.
| A．learning should develop creativity |
| B．homework should be done at home |
| C．learning remains to be a difficult task |
| D．homework serves as a ticket to success |
According to the surveys, what influences students further study most?
| A．Professors’ instructions. |
| B．Time management skills. |
| C．Early education at home. |
| D．Freedom in choosing homework. |
What would Kohn probably agree with?
| A．Homework is linked to academic achievement. |
| B．Homework can equip students with life skills. |
| C．Homework leads to the loss of kids’ creativity. |
| D．Homework might improve kids’ grades in exams. |
What is the author’s attitude towards homework?
| A．Disapproved. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Objective. | D．Uninterested. |
Three key facts about rising sea levels need to be pointed out to the world's politicians and planners: sea-level rise is now unavoidable, it will happen faster than most of us thought, and it will go on for a very long time.
Even greenhouse gas emissions (排放) stopped tomorrow, the oceans will continue to become larger as they get warm. The climate scientists estimate that sea-level rise may be in the range of 1 to 2 meters by 2100, with a small risk of an even greater rise.
For many islands and low-lying regions, even small rises will cause disasters. But for most countries, the problem is what has been built on that land: New York, Sydney and Tokyo, to mention just a few cities. Unless something can be done, great areas of urban network will disappear under the waves. It will take a great engineering effort to protect these cities---an effort that may be beyond economies that have been brought to their knees.
None of this means we should fear, and stop trying to forbid emissions. But together with these efforts, we need to start acting now and we must stop building in danger zones.
Billions of dollars are being spent on constructing homes, offices and roads in vulnerable coastal areas. For instance, the skyscrapers of Shanghai are being built on land that is merely 4 meters above sea level on average, and they are sinking under the weight of the buildings. Therefore, planning for new coastal developments is to go against reality. If we want to build a lasting heritage for our children, we should do so on the plentiful land that is in no danger from the sea. It is one of the effective ways to slow down climate change, and we should be acting on it now.Which of the following about sea-level rise is true?
| A．It will be brought under control by 2100. |
| B．It will cause few problems to many islands. |
| C．It may become worse than we expected. |
| D．It may be caused by fast urban development. |
New York, Sydney, and Tokyo are mentioned in this passage to show _______.
| A．modern cities are usually built along the coastline |
| B．the coastline is very important for modern countries |
| C．climate changes have endangered many big cities on land |
| D．climate changes have been completely out of control |
What does the underlined word “vulnerable” in the last paragraph means?
| A．difficult to build |
| B．easy to damage |
| C．likely to be protected |
| D．impossible to make sure of |
What’s the main purpose of this passage?
| A．To explain why sea-level is rising. |
| B．To tell us the danger of sea-level rise. |
| C．To warn us of greenhouse gas emission. |
| D．To discuss the disadvantage of building coastal cities. |
With the passing of Steve Jobs, the tech industry has lost one of its most respected heroes. So where will the industry turn for inspiration, now that Jobs is gone?
New Apple CEO, Tim Cook, will keep the business going, but he is unlikely to inspire the same kind of devotion as Jobs. Facebook owner, Mark Zuckerberg, has star power, but he and his company are still too young and untested. At Google, Larry Page is too awkward, and Eric Schmidt too clever, and a lot of the company’s recent products are unfinished. But there’s one tech leader who just might fill the gap: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Bezos runs his business the same way as Steve Jobs ran his, with a focus on long-term value over short-term profits and a willingness to invest in seemingly unrelated new areas. Steve Jobs converted Apple from personal computers into music with the iPod, and then into cellphones with the iPhone. It worked, and made Apple into the biggest and richest tech company in the world. Jeff Bezos is doing the same thing at Amazon.
In 2006, Amazon noticed it had a lot of spare capacity (容量) in its data centers. So it started renting out some of that capacity to some companies. Now, hundreds of newly-established Internet companies, including big names like Foursquare and Yelp, run their businesses on Amazon Web Services. Somehow, an outline bookseller became the most important provider of “cloud computing”.
In 2007, Amazon introduced its e-reader, the Kindle. The product developed slowly for a couple of years, and then started to take off in 2010 with the third generation. It sells for US$199, which is hundreds of dollars less than Apple’s iPad, but it has similar functions to the iPad. No wonder Amazon has to build millions more than it expected to meet demand.What do Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs have in common?
| A．They seek after short-term profits. |
| B．They tend to invest in unrelated areas. |
| C．They run their business creatively. |
| D．They show interest in personal computers |
The second paragraph is mainly developed by ______.
| A．giving examples |
| B．making comparisons |
| C．following the order of time |
| D．analyzing causes and effects |
Why does Amazon have to produce more Kindles?
| A．The product Kindle once developed slowly. |
| B．Amazon noticed it had a lot of spare capacity. |
| C．Kindle has powerful functions and lower price. |
| D．Amazon took off with Kindle’s third generation. |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Amazon’s Jeff Bezo and his talents |
| B．The Unknown Truth about Amazon |
| C．Apple and Amazon---Which Is the Legend? |
| D．Amazon’s Jeff Bezos---the Next Steve Jobs |
Dining in a completely dark room, unaware what’s on your plate while sitting next to a complete stranger may not sound like a perfect restaurant experience, but it’s certainly an intriguing way to spend a rainy night in London.
Dans le Noir, close to London’s financial district, is a restaurant full of blind waiters and waitress who become your eyes around the restaurant, whose original Paris branch opened in 2004.
In the bar with the light, you choose whether you want the fish, meat or vegetables, but the dishes themselves remain a secret. Bags, coats and devices that light up, including watches and mobile phones, are kept in the bar. Placing your hand on the shoulder of your guide, you are led to a table in a black dining room that seats up to 60 people. And it is dark.
The waiters tell you when the food is being placed down in front of you, then the fun begins, trying to get food into your mouth, then indentifying just what it is that’s on your plate, and finally whether you have missed any of it.
It’s also a great chance to break social tradition and eat using your fingers. Those same fingers are also the only way you can tell how much wine you’re pouring into your glass.
The happy atmosphere in the dinning room also makes the night memorable. You can’t really avoid talking to the person next to you at the long tables and guessing what the dishes are certainly provides adequate fuel for the conversations.
All will be revealed at the end of the meal when you are led back out into the lit bar. Not only do you finally get to see what you’ve just been eating but also who you’ve been talking to for the last 90 minutes.What does the underlined word “intriguing” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．Challenging. | B．Interesting. |
| C．Strange. | D．Fashionable. |
Which of the following is true about “Dans le Noir”?
| A．It has its first branch opened in Paris. |
| B．It is far from London’s financial district. |
| C．It receives up to 60 customers every day. |
| D．It becomes popular among blind customers. |
While at table, what contributes to the customers’ lively conversations?
| A．Talking about wine. |
| B．Recommending dishes. |
| C．Guessing what they’re eating. |
| D．Introducing themselves. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To tell how to run a unique restaurant. |
| B．To attract customers to the restaurant. |
| C．To help people find a job in the restaurant. |
| D．To show how to enjoy yourself in the restaurant. |
A mother had two daughters. She loved them very much, but two girls would fight with each other from their earliest years. As they grew older, they became total strangers. They had no contact with each other when they were adults.
This caused the mother great pain. Then, later, she had an idea. She decided to write a letter to them. In this letter, she told them how much she loved them, and how she wanted them to love each other in this way. She also gave them news of herself and some guidance on how to live happier lives.
When the letter was ready, she wrote out one copy for each daughter, but these copies were special. Each copy contained only every second sentence of the original letter: the copy for one daughter had only the even (双数的) sentences, and the other daughter’s copy contained only the odd sentences. Neither contained the fullness of the mother’s message.
When the two daughters received their letters, they were puzzled. To understand the half-letter, they would have to put the two letters together and read them as one, which meant they must approach one another again in love and respect. But they each blamed the other for not helping them when trying to read the half-letter.
For a long time, the mother waited in vain. Then one day, when the mother had almost given up hope, there was a knock at the door. There they stood, together. “We’ve come home,” they said at the same time. “We’ve finally put our letters together, and we’ve come to say how much we love you, Mum.” Then she hugged them both, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, and welcomed them back home.The mother gave her daughters incomplete letters mainly to ______.
| A．win their hearts | B．offer them advice |
| C．tell them her news | D．mend their relations |
Upon receiving their letters, the two daughters ______.
| A．complained about each other as usual |
| B．blamed her mother for the half-letter |
| C．put the letters together and read them |
| D．understood the mother’s purpose at once |
Why did the two daughters visit their mother at last?
| A．They wanted to apologize. |
| B．They missed home very much. |
| C．They had put the letters together. |
| D．They felt grateful for the mother. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．An Unusual Letter | B．A Mother’s Endless Love |
| C．Two Special Daughters | D．A Sincere Apology to Mother |