"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book Angela's Ashes, released in 1996.
This Irish American author best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Angela's Ashes that recorded his poor upbringing, died of cancer on Sunday, The New York Times reported. He was 78.
Born in New York City, he was the eldest of the seven children born to Irish immigrant parents. Angela's Ashes was a memoir(回忆录)that captured an irresponsible, drunkard(酒鬼)father with a gift for story-telling. When not drunk, his father was absent, turning his back on a family so poor, McCourt wrote, that they were reduced to burning the furniture in their rented hut to keep warm. His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family.
In Angela's Ashes, he wrote of hunger, a home flooded with rainwater and the unbearable humiliation(耻辱)of seeking handouts from charities in the Irish city. But he told the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted.
Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of 19 to return to New York City where he was born. He earned a degree in English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years. After retiring in 1987, he decided to write about his childhood. "Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors. Millions of copies of the book were sold worldwide and it was adapted into a 1999 movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle.In the first paragraph, by saying "The happy childhood is hardly worth your while", the writer really means that ________.
| A．a lot of readers don't deserve happy childhood |
| B．his childhood is not worth of others' sympathy |
| C．his childhood is mixed with happiness and misery |
| D．smooth childhood surely will not draw readers' attention |
From the passage, we know Frank McCourt's father is ________.
| A．humorous and trustworthy |
| B．alcohol-addicted but loves his family |
| C．poor but warm-hearted |
| D．irresponsible but gifted in telling stories |
Which of the statements about the book “Angela’s Ashes” is right?
| A．This book is intended to show respect to McCourt’s father. |
| B．The author wrote the book in a sad and serious tone(语调). |
| C．The book enjoyed great popularity after it came out. |
| D．The author got two awards because of the book. |
What's the text mainly about?
| A．A brief introduction to Frank McCourt and one of his works. |
| B．A literary review(评论) on Frank McCourt's book. |
| C．An account of Frank McCourt's miserable childhood. |
| D．A comment on Frank McCourt's life experience. |
A couple had a son eleven years after they married. They were a loving couple and the boy was the apple of their eye. When the boy was around four years old, one day the father was very tired after work so he asked his wife to pick up their son. The mother, who was very busy in the kitchen, totally forgot about it.
Later the boy lost his way on the street. When the son was found missing, the mother hurried to look for him, but she didn’t find him. The mother felt very sad and didn’t know how to face her husband.
When the father went to the police station after hearing that the son was missing, he looked at his wife and said just four words. What do you think the four words were? The husband just said "I love you, darling."
The son was missing. If she had picked him up earlier, this would not have happened. There is no point in blaming (责备) anyone. His wife had also lost her only child. What his wife needed at that moment was comfort and understanding from her husband. That is what the husband gave his wife. Several weeks later, with the help of the police, the couple finally found their lost son. The family’s relationship became stronger over that time.
Sometimes we spend lots of time asking who is to blame. We miss many chances to give each other support and let each other feel the warmth of human relationships. Get rid of all your unwillingness to forgive, selfishness, and fears and you will find the world is much more wonderful. What is the meaning of the underlined phrase “the apple of their eye”
| A．A person who always has a sweet smile in their opinion. |
| B．A person who is as pretty as an apple in their opinion. |
| C．A person who is loved more than anyone else in their opinion. |
| D．A person who looks like an apple in their opinion. |
Why didn’t the father pick the boy up himself?
| A．He was very lazy. |
| B．He thought the mother had picked him up. |
| C．He forgot to pick him up. |
| D．He was too tired to do it. |
What can we learn from this passage?
| A．Be careful in everything you do. | B．Love is the most important thing. |
| C．Learn to forgive others. | D．Everyone can make mistakes. |
What do you think of the husband?
| A．Warm-hearted. | B．Careful. | C．Hard-working. | D．Broad-minded. |
Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic or supernatural power. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in clubs in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity (宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks. She passed it quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? Worldwide fame and a name remembered today.According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on ______.
| A．his special tricks and supernatural powers |
| B．his unusual ability and skeleton key |
| C．his magic tricks and supernatural powers |
| D．his wisdom and magic tricks |
It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous ______ .
| A．in 1894 | B．before he married |
| C．at the age of 17 | D．when he was 24 |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Houdini was a famous American magician. |
| B．Houdini was first recognized in Chicago. |
| C．Houdini first entered the entertainment world together with his wife. |
| D．Houdini was popular with people from Europe and America. |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Skeleton Key | B．A Secret Prisoner |
| C．Worldwide Fame | D．Great Escapes |
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York. b. Worked in a bank. c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison. e. Had a newspaper Job. f. Learned to write stories.
| A．c. e. b. d. f. a | B．e. c. f. b. d. a | C．e. b. d. c. a. f. | D．c. b. e. d. a f. |
People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because
| A．they had surprise endings | B．they were easy to understand |
| C．they showed his love for the poor | D．they were about New York City |
O. Henry went to prison because .
| A．people thought he had stolen money that was not his |
| B．he broke the law by not using his own name |
| C．he wanted to write stories about prisoners |
| D．people thought he had taken money from the newspaper |
What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
| A．He was well-educated. | B．He was not serious about his work. |
| C．He was devoted to the poor. | D．He was very good at learning. |
Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
| A．His life inside the prison. | B．The newspaper articles he wrote. |
| C．The city and people of New York. | D．His exciting early life as a boy. |
Most Chinese people these days know what it is like to have an “English teacher”, since almost all pupils study English from their third year. Usually that first English teacher will be a young and lovely lady in primary school. But my first English teacher is no other than my father. Looking back, I can see that, when I was only a little girl, he created an English environment by providing me with flashcards，fun English- language toys and even dolls which can sing English songs! My interest in English had certainly been awakened (唤起) when I began to learn English at school. Just imagine, he went a step further and asked me to learn New Concept English by myself! I was puzzled and even angry. I could not understand why a father could be so strict with his little girl. All the same, he never gave up and he gently insisted that I follow through with his idea. At first, I read stories with tears and I actually hated them because they were too difficult for me. In the end, I came to love the funny stories and, to be honest, my father was always there with a helping hand. I am sure that my English would never have got so far without his support. And that’s why my father is not only my first English teacher but also my lifelong teacher. He is one who awoke my interest, and who gave me much confidence .Most pupils in China begin to learn English________.
| A．in primary school | B．from parents | C．at three years old | D．at home |
The underline part ”no other than my father” in the passage probably means________.
| A．like my father | B．not my father | C．my father himself | D．not only my father |
From the whole passage we can see that________.
| A．the girl preferred playing to learning English |
| B．the girl hates her father because he was strict |
| C．the girl is very thankful to her father |
| D．the father gave up after knowing his daughter could not understand |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The girl’s father is her first English teacher. |
| B．The girl had been interested in English before going to school. |
| C．The girl’s father was always ready to help her with her English. |
| D．The girl could have learned English well by herself without her father. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．How I learned English at school |
| B．My father---my first and lifelong English teacher |
| C．The relationship between my father and me |
| D．I’ve made progress in English learning |
The worker I hired to repair my house had just finished a difficult first day on the job. A broken wheel made him an hour late; his ladder (梯子) fell down when he was painting the roof and now his old truck wouldn' t start. With each problem he shouted angrily, more at himself than at his things. As I drove him home, the man didn't say a word.
I tried talking to the man to kill time. I managed to find out that he had come up from Blue Hills in Victoria with his family six months ago to find a job. This was his first job since moving here. I now knew why his price was lower than any other worker I could find in the local newspaper. He really needed the job. His clothes told me as much.
On arriving, much to my surprise, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked through his front garden he suddenly stopped at a small tree and placed his hands on it. Then, when he opened the door he completely changed. Instead of his troubled face, there was now a warm smile, hugs for his two children and a kiss for his wife.
The following day, I asked him about the tree.
"That's my trouble tree," he answered. "Work troubles aren't welcome at home with my wife and the children. So I hang them on that tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again. "
"And you know what else?" he said smiling,"The next morning I find that there aren't as many as I remember hanging up the night before. "Which of the following things did NOT happen to the worker?
| A．His truck broke down. | B．He was late for work. |
| C．He fell onto the roof. | D．His ladder fell down. |
When did the worker first arrive in this town?
| A．Today. | B．Last night. |
| C．Six weeks ago. | D．Six months ago. |
Where did the writer find the worker?
| A．Through a newspaper. | B．Beside the trouble tree. |
| C．In his old house. | D．In Blue Hills, Victoria. |
Why did the worker touch the tree?
| A．To get good luck, | B．To leave his trouble outside. |
| C．To send good wishes to his family. | D．To clean his hands. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Looking for a job can make trouble. |
| B．It is important to get to work on time. |
| C．Often our problems are worse than what we think. |
| D．A happy family can make many problems go away. |
The sun was just coming up when I headed out to work last May at 6 a.m. Not quite dark but dark enough to need my headlights. I turned onto one of the lonely rural country roads.
Maybe it was because I was listening to the radio, maybe it was because I was already thinking about some projects at work, that I didn’t spot the dark object on the road until I was too late. I ran over it and felt the back left tire pull, and then sink. I stopped and got out of the car.
No mystery here---- my back left tyre was cut like a loaf of bread. Back 50 yards was a piece of sharp iron I had run over. I had never changed a tyre. I looked up the road. Not a car in either direction. The nearest service station was miles away. I threw up my hands. Then I remembered---- my cell phone! I powered it up before realizing, I didn’t know who to call.
Wouldn’t you know it, I spotted a car coming from the opposite direction. The driver slowed as he approached. I guessed he could see I was in trouble. He stopped his car, got out and immediately saw the trouble. “Madam, would you like me to change that tyre for you?” he asked. The man couldn’t have been more friendly. I was frightened out there and he put me completely at ease. “There,” he said, after putting on the spare, “you are all set to go.”
“Good thing for me that you were driving this way,” I told him, as I climbed back into my car.
“Funny you should say that,” he said. “Just like you, I was heading to work, but my job is in the opposite direction. I made a wrong turn at some point. I don’t know what I was thinking.”The writer didn’t notice the object on the road because ______.
| A．it was rather dark then | B．she didn’t use her headlights |
| C．there was much traffic | D．she was careless when driving |
From Paragraph 4 we learn that______.
| A．the writer felt quite anxious |
| B．no one would like to help the writer |
| C．the writer was a new driver |
| D．the cell phone should be powered up |
What did the man do when he saw the writer?
| A．He stopped and laughed at her. |
| B．He walked over to frighten her. |
| C．He helped her without hesitation. |
| D．He drove away in the opposite direction. |
The end of the story tells us that the man ______.
| A．went a wrong way | B．felt the writer funny |
| C．didn’t know what he was doing | D．come specially to help the writer |
When two Bangs meet
SHELDON Cooper is a scientific genius on the popular American TV show, The Big Bang Theory (《生活大爆炸》). He finally met his match last year: Stephen Hawking.
This is not the first time that the scientist has appeared on TV. He has also been on Star Trek (in 1987) and The Simpsons (in 1989). Each time, he played himself.
Hawking, 71, is perhaps the world’s most famous scientist after Albert Einstein. He has spent his whole life studying the beginning and the end of the universe, including the Big Bang (宇宙大爆炸) theory.
The Big Bang theory explains the early development of the universe. According to the theory, about 13.7 billion years ago everything was all squeezed together in a tiny, tight little ball, and then the ball exploded. The results of that explosion are what we call the universe.
Hawking has always tried to make science more popular with people. His book: A Brief History of Time was published in 1988. In the book he shares his understanding of the universe in simple language. The book tries to explain many subjects about the universe to common readers, including the Big Bang, black holes and light cones (光锥).
Hawking’s achievements are even greater if you think about his disability. When he was 21, Hawking caught a bad illness that slowly stopped him from moving or talking. Now he sits on a wheelchair with a computer by his side. To communicate, he moves two fingers to control the computer’s mouse. He chooses his words from the screen, which are then spoken by a voice synthesizer (合成器).
Hawking also believes that there might be aliens in space. However, he believes they are probably very dangerous, so we should not look for them. “I imagine they might exist in very big ships ... having used up all the resources from their home planet,” Hawking said in a British documentary named Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking. What does the “two Bangs” in the title refer to?
| A．The director of “The Big Bang Theory” and the founder of it. |
| B．The director and the actor of “The Big Bang Theory”. |
| C．The founder of the “Big Bang” theory and its spreader. |
| D．The scientific genius on TV show and the one alive in real life. |
Acting in The Big Bang Theory is Hawking’s _____ time on TV.
| A．first | B．second | C．third | D．fourth |
According to Paragraph 5, Hawking wrote the book A Brief History of Time especially for _____.
| A．scientists who study the universe |
| B．people who know a lot about the universe |
| C．people who know little about the universe |
| D．people who only know simple language |
The Big Bang theory mainly explains _____.
| A．how the universe started | B．what the universe is like |
| C．how old the universe is | D．how the universe exploded |
According to the passage, which of the following about Hawking is TRUE?
| A．He was born with a disability. |
| B．He uses a computer to communicate. |
| C．He believes aliens are our friends. |
| D．He encourages people to look for aliens. |
[1]Although known as an extraordinarily successful businessman, Warren Buffet comes off as a pretty ordinary person.
[2]Looking back on his childhood, one can see how serious he was about making money. Buffet used to go door-to-door and sell soda pop. Later, he also worked at his grandfather’s grocery store. At the ripe age of 11, Buffet bought his first stock(股票). When his family moved to Washington D.C., Buffet became a paperboy for The Washington Post. While still in school, he was making $175 a month, a full-time wage for many young men.
[3]From the beginning, Buffet made his fortune from investing. He started with all the money that he had made from selling pop, delivering papers and so on. Between 1950 and l956, he grew his $9, 800 to $14, 000．From there, he organized investment partnerships with his family and friends, and then gradually drew in more people through very attractive terms.
[4]Buffet applied to Harvard Business School but , making it to be one of the worst admission decisions in Harvard history. The outcome ended up affecting Buffet’s life deeply, for he ended up attending Columbia Business School, where he studied under Benjamin Graham, the father of securities analysis who provided the foundation for Buffet’s grand success.
[5]Buffet is a person of habit—same house, same office, same city. He doesn’t collect houses or cars or works of art, and he hates companies that waste money on such goods. Instead, he has established the Buffet Foundation, with a detailed plan on how to invest his money more wisely to society. What kind of person is Buffet according to Paragraph 1? (no more than 10 words)
_____________________________________________________________________What does the writer intend to tell us in Paragraph 2? (no more than 10 words)
_____________________________________________________________________According to Paragraph 3, how did Buffet start his investment? (no more than 10 words)
_____________________________________________________________________Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words. (no more than 3 words)
_____________________________________________________________________Explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5.(no more than 10 words)
_____________________________________________________________________
Linda Evans was my best friend –like the sister I never had ,We did everything together: piano lessons ,movies, swimming , horseback riding.
When I was 13, my family moved away . Linda and I kept in touch through letters ,and we saw each other on special times — like my wedding and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often .One day a card that I sent came back , stamped “Address Unknown”. I had no idea about how to find Linda.
Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share happiness of my children and then grandchildren . And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died, There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day, I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman —Linda’s married name.“There must be thousands of Wagmans.”I thought, but I still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter, “Mrs , Tobin!”she said excitedly, “Linda Ev-ans Wagman is my mother.”
Minutes later I heard a voice that I recognized at once, even after 40 years . We laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure; We won’t lose each other again!The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans .
| A．at the age of 13 | B．before she got married |
| C．before the writer’s family moved away | D．after they moved to new homes |
They didn’t often write to each other because they .
| A．got married | B．had little time to do so |
| C．didn’t like writing letters | D．could see each other on special times |
There was an empty place in the writer’s heart because she .
| A．was in trouble |
| B．didn’t know Linda’s address |
| C．received the card that she sent |
| D．didn’t have a friend like Linda |
The writer was happy when she .
| A．read the newspaper |
| B．heard Linda’s voice on the phone |
| C．met a young woman who looked a lot like Linda |
| D．wrote to the woman whose last name was Wangman |
They haven’t kept in touch .
| A．for about 40 years | B．for about 27 years |
| C．since they got married | D．since the writer’s family moved away |
Earning a black belt in martial arts and being issued a pilot’s license are both impressive accomplishments that take year of effort to achieve, but 30-year-old Jessica Cox has done both despite being born without arms.
In spite of all difficulties , but with strong faith and the help of her family ,Cox put herself through high school and then college, typing papers with her toes, She became the first armless black belt in American Taekwondo （跆拳道）Association and now has two black belts, She got her driver’s license and then, astonishingly, her pilot’s license in 2008, The achievement earned her a place in the Guinness Would Records, which recognized her for becoming the first person without arms to fly an airplane.
Now Cox is the subject of a new documentary, Rightfooted, Which Cox says the hopes will inspire disabled young people around the world, “Had I watched a film similar to this one earlier, in my life ,I know it would have make a difference.” Cox says in a trailer (预告片) for the documentary.
The young woman says her current goal is to become a motivational speaker, particularly for chileren born without arms , She says she believes her message can reach millions of people working to overcome a variety of disabilities.
As the next step, she has been invited by non-governmental organization Handicap International to work with disabled children in Ethiopia Cox is extremely excited for the opportunity, She hopes that sharing her story will inspire children with disabilities and encourage Ethiopians to include all children in school because in Ethiopia only one percent of children with disabilities are educated and their parents do not think they can benefit from going to school, She also hopes to meet with government officials to inspire change.What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．Cox earned a place in the Guinness World Record |
| B．Cox can type papers as a common person does |
| C．Cox has little difficulty in doing things by herself |
| D．Cox has made some great achievements |
What’s the purpose of the documentary Rightfooted?
| A．To inspire all young people with disabilities |
| B．To tell the story of Cox’s life and her desire |
| C．To show how important one’s foot is |
| D．To show how Cox works in Ethiopia |
Why does Cox want to be a speaker?
| A．To give her message |
| B．To prevent children born without arms |
| C．To help people overcome disabilities |
| D．To prove she can also be a successful speaker |
The goal of Handicap International in Ethiopia is to .
| A．meet the government officials |
| B．help disabled children find jobs |
| C．run education projects for children with disabilities |
| D．help Cox realize her dream of becoming a speaker |
What is true of Jessica Cox?
| A．She is the first woman pilot |
| B．She is a disabled Taekwondo champion |
| C．She is the director of a documentary |
| D．She is an armless woman with strong faith |
The American local food movement has been all about buying seasonal food from nearby farmers. Now, thanks to the Web, it is expanding to include far-away farmers too. A new start-up, Foodzie, is an online farmers market where small food producers and growers can sell their products.
Foodzie was started by Mr LaFave and two of his friends, who met during college at Virginia Tech, where they would pay frequent visits to farmers markets. Last year, while living in North Carolina, one of them, Emily Olson, now 24, came up with one idea. She was working as a brand manager for a gourmet grocery chain and realized that people who enjoyed fine food but didn’t work in the business had no way to discover handmade foods outside their local farmers markets. Small farmers had no way of finding or selling to faraway customers, either.
Mr LaFAve and the third co-founder, Nik Bauman, both 25, worked in corporate sales and software development. “With business, food and computer science backgrounds, we figured we had everything we needed.” Mr LaFAve said.
The three quit their jobs, and opened this site to the public in December and the site has had 43,000 visitors in the past month. So far, 29 sellers have opened shops and 41 are in the process of opening them. The founders recently hired a fourth employee to help Ms Olson recruit(吸收) new food producers at farmers markets and food shows. Mr LaFAve is convinced that the recession(经济衰退) will not reduce people’s interest in buying locally grown and handmade food. “There is misunderstanding that all these foods are more expensive than mass-produced alternatives,” he said. “People are pouring their heart and soul into these products, and they are of the highest quality.”The passage is mainly about_______.
| A．how an online farmers’ market works |
| B．the American local food movement |
| C．three youths starting an online farmers’ market |
| D．the reasons why people are interested in local food |
Why did the founders start the online farmers’ market?
| A．Because it met the need of the market. |
| B．Because the founders were interested in seasonal food. |
| C．Because some people wanted to buy locally grown food. |
| D．Because farmers wanted to sell their foods. |
The underlined word in Paragraph 2 can be used to describe _______.
| A．food of high quality | B．terrible food | C．food of low fat | D．fried food |
About the three founders, we know that ______.
| A．they are of the same age |
| B．they gave up their work to start the website |
| C．they used to be colleague |
| D．they majored in farming at college |
By the age of almost four, Elijah Edney has never had a haircut in his life. But now he can ' t wait to visit the barber's - for two reasons: losing his two - foot - long golden hair will mean that strangers stop mistaking him for a girl; the hair will be donated to charity to provide a wig (假发) for a child with cancer.
Mrs. Edney, who works in a restaurant, says, "Elijah has always had beautiful hair, so I let him grow it as he w8nted. It' s like silk. But now it is at a stage where people mistake him for a girl and he wants it cut into a boy's haircut. "
Mrs. Edney and her husband want to collect enough money-£350-to process Elijah's hair for a sick child. She says, "I couldn't bear to see all Elijah's beautiful hair go to waste and my mum mentioned charities that have human hair made into wigs. "
Mrs. Edney says, "If we can raise the amount we want, it will mean a family will not have to pay for the wig and can receive it for free. When you've got children yourself, you hope that if they lost their hair someone would do the same for them by donating their hair. "
The two-foot-long hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust (小公主信托基金) to make a wig for children suffering cancer. Elijah keeps telling people he is giving his hair to poor princesses and he is so excited about it.
A spokesman for the Little Princess Trust says, "We're very grateful to anyone who decides to have their hair cut to donate it to the Little Princess Trust. As a result of hair donations like this, the charity receives real-hair wigs for free to pass on to families whose children have sadly lost their own hair through cancer treatment. "
Why has Mrs. Edney let Elijah's hair grow so long?
| A．Because Elijah has beautiful hair. |
| B．Because she likes long hair. |
| C．Because Elijah looks nice with long hair. |
| D．Because she wants to donate his hair to charity. |
Who first thought of charities that use human hair?
| A． Elijah's father. | B． Elijah's mother. |
| C． Elijah himself. | D． Elijah's grandmother. |
Elijah's parents try to raise money to _________.
| A．pay the barber for his work |
| B．process his hair into a wig |
| C．give the Little Princess Trust along with a wig |
| D．give a child who lost his hair through cancer treatment |
What does Elijah think of his hair being given to a charity?
| A．He doesn't care about it. | B．He wants to keep it a secret. |
| C．He is excited about it. | D．He feels sad for poor children. |
According to the last paragraph, the Little Princess Trust________.
| A．encourages people to cut their hair to donate it |
| B．welcomes and gives thanks for such donations |
| C．gives free wigs to children who have lost their hair |
| D．provides treatment for children with cancer |
A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package: What food might it contain? He was astonished to discover that it was a mouse trap!
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse declared the warning, “There is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house.”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me, I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mouse trap in the house.” “I am so sorry, Mr Mouse,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, “A mouse trap, am I in grave danger, huh?”
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and depressed to face the farmer’s mouse trap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was an evil snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knew to treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral. The farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.We may infer that the passage is most probably a ______.
| A．fairy tale (神话) | B．Fable (寓言) | C．science fiction | D．news report |
We could see from the passage that the mouse was ______.
| A．kind and warm-hearted | B．well-informed |
| C．good at cheating others | D．foolish and rude |
The underlined word “ingredient” (Paragraph 7) refers to ______.
| A．the mouse | B．the pig | C．the snake | D．the chicken |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Better safe than sorry. |
| B．Traps are usually well disguised. |
| C．To help others is just to save you. |
| D．To keep the balance of nature is the duty of us all. |
My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own, some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.
My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.
So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating. The passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．teaching | B．literature | C．humor | D．knowledge |
The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.
| A．funny | B．tiring | C．inspiring | D．brilliant |
The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.
| A．was not able to make students laugh | B．hurt his student’s feelings |
| C．didn’t let his students do the grading | D．had no sense of humor |
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