I will never forget the lesson about my window. Four years ago, I moved to a house in a large town. One of my new neighbors’ house was only a few feet away from mine. There lived a woman. Through one of my windows, I could see her reading by her window every afternoon.
Several months later, I found I couldn’t see the woman clearly. I thought her window was too dirty. I said to myself, “Why doesn’t she clean her window? It looks terrible!”
One afternoon, I decided to clean my house including the window. I felt tired after three hours of hard work. So I sat down by the window for a rest. What a surprise! I could see the woman reading there clearly again! By that time, I realized that my own window was too dirty, not hers! I really felt ashamed for myself. I had been watching her through my dirty window in the past days!
The experience is very important for me. So I try to clean the window of my heart before judging others. How long has the writer lived in the house according to the passage?
| A．One years | B．Two years. | C．Three years. | D．Four years. |
What did the woman do every afternoon?
| A．Read by her window. | B．played tennis on the grass. |
| C．Danced in her house. | D．sang in front of the house. |
The writer couldn’t see the woman clearly because ______________.
| A．the writer’s window was dirty |
| B．the woman’s house was too far |
| C．the woman didn’t open her window |
| D．there was something wrong with his eyes. |
The underlined word “ashamed” means _________________.
| A．高兴的 | B．放松的 | C．羞愧的 | D．自豪的 |
According to the passage, the writer has learnt how to __________________.
| A．clean the house | B．judge others | C．help neighbors | D．learn English |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings. Week by week her list grew: I was very thin; I wasn’t a good student; I talked too much; I was too proud and so on. I tried to bear all these things as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you are really like? Well, you now have the girl’s opinion. Go to make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half of the things were true. some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it, “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else, the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just closing your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to other people’s opinions, but hear the truth and do what you know is right.”
Daddy’s advice returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Not an Enemy, but a Best Friend |
| B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father |
| D．My Childhood |
“Week by week her list grew” means “________”.
| A．Week by Week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
| B．She had made a list of shortcomings. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out. |
Her father listened to her quietly was because .
| A．He believed what her daughter’s enemy said was mostly true. |
| B．He had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings. |
| C．He didn’t believe in his daughter. |
| D．He wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
After the father heard his daughter’s word, he .
| A．told her to write down what her “enemy” had said and pay attention to the true things. |
| B．criticized(批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| C．told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” said. |
| D．refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
In the 1950s, a family that owned a farm near Beulah, Michigan kept a bull chained to an elm (榆树). The bull paced around the tree, dragging the heavy iron chain, which led to a groove (槽) in the bark . The groove deepened over the years. Though for whatever reason, it did not kill the tree.
After some years, the family took their bull away. They cut the chain, leaving the loop around the tree and one link hanging down.
Then one year, agricultural disaster struck Michigan in the form of Dutch Elm Disease. All of the elms lining the road leading to the farm became infected and died. Everyone thought that the old elm would be the next.
The farm owners considered doing the safe thing: pulling it out and cutting it up into firewood before it died. But they simply could not bring themselves to do it. It was as if the old tree had become a family friend. So they decided to let nature take its course.
Amazingly, the tree did not die. Nobody could understand why it was the only elm still standing in the county!
Plant experts from Michigan State University came out to observe the tree. They observed the scar left by the iron chain, now almost completely covered by bark. The experts decided that it was the chain that saved the elm’s life. They reasoned that the tree must have absorbed so much iron from the chain that it became immune to the virus.
It’s said that what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Or, as Earnest Hemingway put it, "Life breaks us all, but afterwards, many of us are strongest at the broken places."What did the family do with the elm when the agricultural disaster hit Michigan one year?
| A．They invited plant experts to observe it. |
| B．They pulled it out and chopped it up into firewood. |
| C．They prevented it from being infected by the disease. |
| D．They did nothing and just let it be. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．A groove formed because of natural forces. |
| B．The family decided to keep the tree because they had become attached to it. |
| C．All of the elms in Beulah, Michigan died of the disease. |
| D．The plant experts advised the family to chop it down. |
What actually saved the elm?
| A．The bull. | B．The groove. | C．The iron chain. | D．The experts. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Let nature take its course |
| B．Strengthened by our wounds |
| C．Constant dripping wears away a stone |
| D．Bend, but don’t break |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before a huge pile of troublesome stuff they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. “When can I go to bed?” I asked myself. I didn’t answer, in fact I dared not.
The clock struck 12. “Oh, dear!” I cried, “ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures ( 可怜的人 ) in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite hopeless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were heavy, so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were_____ .
| A．asleep | B．working in bed | C．outside | D．quietly laughing at him |
Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because ________.
| A．it was too late at night |
| B．he was very tired |
| C．his eyes lids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open |
| D．he hadn’t studied hard before the examination |
What do you suppose happened to the author？
| A．He went to a church to pray again |
| B．He passed the exam by luck |
| C．He failed in the exam |
| D．He was punished by his teacher |
The best title for the passage would be __________ .
| A．The Night Before the Examination |
| B．Working Far into the Night |
| C．A Slow Student |
| D．Going Over My Lessons |
Mr. Grey was the manager of a small office in London. He lived in the country, and came up to work by train. He liked walking from the station to his office unless it was raining, because it gave him some exercise.
One morning he was walking along the street when a stranger stopped him and said to him, “You may not remember me, sir, but seven years ago I came to London without a penny in my pockets, I stopped you in this street and asked you to lend me some money, and you lent me £ 5, because you said you were willing to take a chance so as to give a man a start on the way to success.”
Mr. Grey thought for a few minutes and then said, “Yes, I remember you. Go on with your story!” “Well,” answered the stranger, “are you still willing to take a chance?”
Mr. Grey liked walking to his office because ________.
| A．he couldn’t afford the buses |
| B．he wanted to save money |
| C．he wanted to keep in good health |
| D．he could do some work on the way |
Mr. Grey had been willing to lend money to a stranger in order to_______
| A．give him a start in life | B．help him on the way to success |
| C．make him rich | D．gain more money |
One morning the stranger recognized Mr. Grey, and_______
| A．wanted to return Mr. Grey the money |
| B．again asked Mr. Grey for money |
| C．would like to make friends with him |
| D．told Mr. Grey that he had been successful since then |
In the second paragraph,“… take a chance” means ______.
| A．Mr. Gray happened to meet a stranger |
| B．Mr. Grey had a chance to help a stranger |
| C．Mr. Grey helped a stranger by chance |
| D．Mr. Grey took the risk that the stranger would not give back the money which he lent him |
Poet Dean Young has dealt with impermanence (无常) a lot in his career, but it’s a particularly strong theme in Young’s latest collection, Fall Higher. The new collection was published in April, just days after the poet received a life-saving heart transplant (移植) after about a decade of living with a weakening heart condition.
Young, whose work is often frank and rich with twisted humor, tells NPR’s Renee Montagne that as he recovers from operation, he’s also slowly returning to his everyday writing habits.
“I’m getting back to it,” Young says, “not with the sort of concentration and sort of flame that I look forward to in the future, but I am blackening some pages.”
And on those blackened pages you’ll find poems like “How Grasp Green”, which carries themes of springtime and rebirth. It’s one of the first poems Young has written since his transplant.
It’s easy to spot clues (线索) to Young’s awful health situation in the lines of his poetry.
Fall Higher’s “Vintage” opens with “Because I will die soon, I fall asleep, during the lecture on the ongoing emergency.” And the poem “The Rhythms Pronounce Themselves Then Vanish”—published in The New Yorker in February—opens with the CT scan that revealed Young’s heart condition.
Hearts tend to come up a lot in poetry, and that’s especially true if Young’s work, which has clearly been influenced by the troubles of his own heart.
“A lot of times, it’s not just a metaphor (暗喻),” Young says. “For me, it’s an actual concern because I’ve been living with this disease for over 10 years. My father died of heart problems when he was 49, so it’s been a sort of shadowy concern for me my whole life.
But Young’s poems also deal with more abstract matters of the heart. He wrote Fall Higher’s, “Late Valentine” for his wife. “We’ve been married since late November and most of it has been spent in the hospital,” Young says of his marriage to poet Laurie Saurborn Young, who says “‘Late Valentine’ is very sweet.”
His work also touches on themes of randomness and fate—two factors that contributed to him getting a second chance in the form of transplanting a new heart from a 22-year-old student. “I just feel enormous gratitude,” he says of his donor (捐献者). “He gave me a heart so I’m still alive … I’m sure I’m going to think about this person for the rest of my life.”The poetry collection Fall Higher .
| A．was published in February |
| B．is Young’s latest collection of poetry |
| C．makes darkness as its main theme |
| D．was written after Young’s heart transplant |
We can learn from the text that Young .
| A．was born with heart disease |
| B．received a heart transplant in February |
| C．married a female poet after he wrote “late Valentine” |
| D．wrote a poem for his wife in his collection |
What does the write try to say in Paragraph 3?
| A． The writer had less enthusiasm than before, but he still kept on writing. |
| B． The writer expected some bright future, but he was disappointed. |
| C． The writer devoted more time to poems, so he grasped a good chance. |
| D． The writer wrote poems with less enthusiasm, so he quitted fora while. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A． “How Grasp Green” is the first poem in FaU Higher |
| B． Young began all his poems with his illness. |
| C． Young’s fether died when Young was 49 years old. |
| D． Young’s health situation is mentioned in his poetry. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The meaning of Fdl Higher. |
| B．Dean Young and his heart problems. |
| C．Dean Young and his latest collection. |
| D．An analysis of Dean Young’s poems. |
When talking about his present life, Young seems to be .
| A．grateful | B． pessimistic | C． guilty | D．considerate |
A little boy went to a farmer who had some puppies (小狗）to sell and said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.” Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look.”
“Sure,” said the farmer. Then he called his dog, “Here, Dolly!”
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp(斜坡) ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else moving inside the doghouse. Slowly, another little ball appeared. This one was much smaller than the others. Down the ramp it slid(滑行). Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling(蹒跚) toward the others, doing its best to catch up…
“I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the slow dog.
The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs will.”
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of trousers. There was a steel brace(支架) running down both sides of his leg. It was joined to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see, sir, I don’t run very well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”
The world is full of people who need someone who understands. It can be inferred that “Dolly” in the passage was _______.
| A．a mother dog | B．the little boy’s name |
| C．the farmer’s son | D．one of the puppies |
How many puppies did the farmer have in all?
| A．3 | B．4 | C．5 | D．6 |
The little boy decided to buy the smallest puppy because _______.
| A．he was disabled and decided to be a vet (兽医) to cure it |
| B．he knew the smallest puppy needed understanding and care most |
| C．he liked puppies that were unable to run fast |
| D．he didn’t have enough money to buy a different one |
My Way to Success
From the day I signed up for the Naumburg Competition, everything changed. I had made a decision to start again, to save my life, and that meant a 360-degree turnaround.
I kept on practicing. An enormous amount of work had to be done in two months. I went from not practicing at all to thirteen hours a day.
I spent two weeks just playing scales. If I thought I sounded bad before, now I sounded worse than awful.
At the time I lived on 72nd Street, close to West End Avenue. I had an apartment with a window the size of a shoebox. I didn't do mylaundry. I left my apartment only to walk to Juilliard─and not onBroadway like everyone else. I walked up Amsterdam Avenue because I didn't want to see anybody, didn't want to run into anybody, didn't want anyone to ask what I was doing.
I stopped going to classes and became a hermit. I even talked Miss DeLay into giving my lesson at night.
My eating habits were awful. I lived on fried sausages, a pint of peanut butter/chocolate ice cream, and a gallon of Coca-Cola every day. That's all I ate for eight weeks.
I was nuts. I was completely obsessed with getting back into shape, with doing well in this competition. If I could, people would know I was still on earth. Not to count me out; to stop asking, “Whatever happened to Nadja?”
The last week before the Naumburg auditions, I couldn't touch the violin. I had worked and worked and worked and worked and then I just couldn't work anymore.
I certainly could have used it. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. But I simply had to say, “Nadja, you've dedicated yourself to this thing. Ready or not, do your best.”
Fifty violinists from around the world auditioned for the competition on May 25, 26, and 27, 1981. Those that made it past thepreliminaries would go on to the semifinals. Those that passed that stage would go to the finals. In years past, one violinist was chosen as winner and two received second and third place.
On May 26, the day of my audition, I went to the Merkin Concert Hall at 67th Street and Broadway. I waited, played for twenty minutes, and went home. I couldn't tell whether the preliminary judges were impressed or not. I'd find out the next evening.
Maybe subconsciously I was trying to keep busy; that night, when I fried the sausages, I accidentally set my apartment on fire. I grabbed my cat and my violin, and ran out the door. The fire was put out, but everything in my place was wrecked.
Fortunately, the phone was okay and on the evening of May 27, I had the news from Lucy Rowan Mann of Naumburg. Thirteen of us had made it.
Talk about mixed emotions. I was thrilled to be among the thirteen; a group that included established violinists, some of whom had already made records. But it also meant I had to play the next day in the semifinals of the competition.
Everyone entering the competition had been given two lists of concertos. One was a list of standard repertory pieces. The other list was twentieth-century repertory. For our big competition piece, we were to choose from each list and play a movement from one in the semifinals, and a movement from the other in the finals─if we made it that far.
From the standard repertory list, I chose the Tchaikovsky Concerto. I had been playing the Tchaik for three years, so it was a good piece for me.
From the twentieth-century list, I chose the Prokofiev G minor Concerto. I had never played it onstage before.
My goal had been just passing the auditions, but now my thought pattern began to change. If I wanted a sliver of a chance of advancing again, my brain said, “Play your strong piece first.”
Logically, I should play the Tchaikovsky in the semifinals just to make it to the next stage. Who cared if that left me with a piece I probably wouldn't play as well in the finals of the competition? It'd be a miracle to get that far.
There wouldn't be more than seven violinists chosen for the final round, and if I were in the top seven of an international group, that was plenty good enough.
The semifinals were held on May 28 in Merkin Concert Hall. You were to play for thirty minutes: your big piece first, then the judges would ask to hear another.
There was a panel of eight judges. They had a piece of paper with my choices of the Tchaikovsky and the Prokofiev in front of them. “Which would you like to play?” they asked.
I said meekly, “Prokofiev.”
My brain and all the logic in the world had said, “Play your strong piece.” My heart said, “Go for it all. Play your weak piece now, save Tchaikovsky for the finals.”
Maybe I don't listen to logic so easily after all.
My good friend, the pianist Sandra Rivers, had been chosen as accompanist for the competition. She knew I was nervous. There had been a very short time to prepare; I was sure there'd be memory slips, that I'd blank out in the middle and the judges would throw me out. My hands were like ice.
The first eight measures of the Prokofiev don't have accompaniment. The violin starts the piece alone. So I started playing.
I got through the first movement and Sandra said later my face was as white as snow. She said I was so tense, I was beyond shaking. Just a solid brick.
It was the best I'd ever played it. No memory slips at all. Technically, musically, it was there.
I finished it thinking, “Have I sold my soul for this? Is the devil going to visit me at midnight? How come it went so well?”
I didn't know why, but often I do my best under the worst of circumstances. I don't know if it's guts or a determination not to disappoint people. Who knows what it is, but it came through for me, and I thank God for that.
As the first movement ended, the judges said, “Thank you.” Then they asked for the Carmen Fantasy.
I turned and asked Sandy for an A, to retune, and later she said the blood was just rushing back into my face.
I whispered, “Sandy, I made it. I did it.”
“Yeah,” she whispered back, kiddingly, “too bad you didn't screw up. Maybe next time.”
At that point I didn't care if I did make the finals because I had played the Prokofiev so well. I was so proud of myself for coming through.
I needed a shot in the arm; that afternoon I got evicted. While I was at Merkin, my moped had blown up. For my landlord, that was the last straw.
What good news. I was completely broke and didn't have the next month's rent anyway. The landlord wanted me out that day. I said, “Please, can I have two days. I might get into the finals, can I please go through this first?”
I talked him into it, and got back to my place in time for the phone call. “Congratulations, Nadja,”“they said. “You have made the finals.”
I had achieved the ridiculously unlikely, and I had saved my best piece. Yet part of me was sorry. I wanted it to be over already. In the three days from the preliminaries to the semifinals, I lost eight pounds. I was so tired of the pressure.
There was a fellow who advanced to the finals with me, an old, good friend since Pre-College. Competition against friends is inevitable in music, but I never saw competition push a friendship out the window so quickly. By the day of the finals, I hated him and he hated me. Pressure was that intense.
The finals were held on May 29 at Carnegie Hall and open to the public. I was the fourth violinist of the morning, then there was a lunch break, and three more violinists in the afternoon.
I played my Tchaikovsky, Saint-Sa‘ns’s Havanaise, and Ravel's Tzigane for the judges: managers, famous violinists, teachers, and critics. I went on stage at five past eleven and finished at noon. Those fifty-five minutes seemed like three days.
I was so relieved when I finished playing; I was finished! It's impossible to say how happy I was to see the dressing room. I went out for lunch with my friends. It was like coming back from the grave. We laughed and joked and watched TV.
As I returned to Carnegie Hall to hear the other violinists, I realized I'd made a big mistake: they might ask for recalls. A recall is when they can't decide between two people and they want you to play again. It's been done; it's done all the time in competitions. No way was I in shape to go onstage and play again.
In the late afternoon, the competition was over. Everybody had finished playing. Quite luckily─no recalls.
The judges deliberated for an hour. The tension in the air was unbelievable. All the violinists were sitting with their little circle of friends. I had my few friends around me, but no one was saying much now.
Finally, the Naumburg Foundation president Robert Mann came on stage.
“It's always so difficult to choose ...” he began.
“Every year we hold this competition,” Robert Mann said. “And in the past, we've awarded three prizes. This year we've elected to only have one prize, the first prize.”
My heart sank. Nothing for me. Not even Miss Congeniality.
“We have found,” Mann went on, “that second place usually brings great dismay to the artist because they feel like a loser. We don't want anyone here to feel like a loser. Every finalist will receive five hundred dollars except the winner, who will receive three thousand dollars.”
And then he repeated how difficult it was to choose, how well everyone had played ...dah, dah, dah.
I was looking down at the floor.
“The winner is ...”
And he said my name.
A friend next to me said, “Nadja, I think you won!”
I went numb. My friends pulled me up and pointed me toward the stage. It was a long walk because I had slipped into a seat in the back. Sitting up in front was my old friend. I would have to walk right past him and I was dreading it, but before I could, he got up and stopped me.
He threw his arms around me and I threw my arms around him. I kept telling him how sorry I was. I was holding him and started to cry, saying, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.” I didn't want to lose, but I really didn't want him to lose either. And he was holding me and saying, “Don't be sorry. I'm so proud of you.” It was over, and we would be friends again.
I took my bow, then ran to Juilliard. Ten blocks uptown, one block west, to give Miss DeLay the news. She could be proud of me now, too.
Suddenly, everything was clear. Playing the violin is what I'd do with my life. Heaven handed me a prize: “You've been through a lot, kid. Here's an international competition.”
Everything had changed when I prepared for the Naumburg, and now everything changed again. I made my first recording. Between September 1981 and May 1982, I played a hundred concerts in America, made one trip to Europe, then two months of summer festivals. And people asked me back.
There was a great deal of anxiety playing in Europe for the first time. But I was able to rely on my self-confidence to pull me through.
Self-confidence onstage doesn't mean a lack of nerves backstage. The stakes had increased. This wasn't practice anymore, this was my life. I'd stare into a dressing-room mirror and say, “Nadja, people have bought tickets, hired baby-sitters, you've got to calm down; go out there and prove yourself.”
Every night I'd prove myself again. My life work had truly begun.In a gesture to prepare for the competition, Nadja did all the following except _________.
| A．preoccupying herself in practice |
| B．trying to carry out her deeds secretly |
| C．abandoning going to school for classes |
| D．consuming the best food to get enough energy |
.How many violinists does the passage mention advanced to the finals?
| A．Four. | B．Five. | C．Six. | D．Seven. |
After Nadja finished playing at the finals, she went out for a while and when she came back to hear the other violinists she realized she had made a mistake because _________.
| A．she forgot that there was going to be a recall |
| B．she didn’t get hold of the permission to leave |
| C．chances were that she had to replay and she was off guard |
| D．there was another play she had to take part in in the afternoon |
One day, I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physical problem, while the student claimed a perfect score. I was elected as their arbiter( 仲裁人). I read the examination problem：“Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer(气压计).” The student had answered:“Take the barometer to the top of the building，attach a long rope to it，lower it to the street，and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of it is the height of the building. ”
The student had really answered the question completely ，but the answer didn’t confirm his competence in physics. I suggested the student try again. I gave him six minutes to answer the question, warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. Five minutes later, he said he had many answers and clashed off one, which read：“Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, use the physical formula (公式）to calculate the height of the building. ”
At this point, my colleague had to accept it, and then the student made almost full marks. I couldn’t help asking the student what the other answers were. He listed many others and then added “Probably the best is to take the barometer to the administrator and said to him，' Sir, here is a fine barometer. If you tell me the height of the building, I will give it to you.，”
Then, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did,but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
The name of the student was Bohr who later was famous all over the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922.The student got a zero at the beginning because_______.
| A．the teacher wasn’t satisfied with him. |
| B．his answer wasn’t complete or correct |
| C．his answer didn’t show his knowledge of physics |
| D．the teacher didn’t fully understand his answer |
We know from the passage that______ .
| A．the administrator told Bohr the height |
| B．the student knew the expected answer |
| C．the author preferred Bohr’s last answer |
| D．the teacher was a very stubborn person |
We can learn from the passage that______.
| A．instructors can teach students how to think |
| B．arbiters can help students to get high scores |
| C．teachers should make students use physical formulas |
| D．students should be given more freedom in thinking |
What was Bohr’s attitude toward his schooling?
| A．Critical | B．Optimistic | C．Approving | D．Ambiguous |
Last winter, when I was heavily pregnant, I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law's house and had to park in a nearby parking lot because they didn't have accessible parking. The snow was extremely heavy and there was lots of ice on the ground --- not many people had ventured out that evening!
When I returned to my car around 11pm, I noticed that I was the only car left. Nervously, I hopped into the car and let it warm up a bit. When I finally tried to drive away, my wheels began to spin. I was stuck! I spun and spun and wondered what to do.
All of a sudden, in my rear view mirror, I saw four teen-aged boys approaching my car. They were walking side by side in a line and dressed a bit like gang members --- at least I thought that's what they looked like. My car was in a very isolated area and I began to panic. I was certain they were coming to my car to harm me. Terrified, I just froze. One of the young men tapped on my window and said "Excuse me, Ma'am, can we help you? You seem stuck." Still afraid and fearing the worst, I said "I am stuck." And the young man said "It's okay, stay in your car and we'll push you out of the snow." And they did!
When they finally got me out of the snow, they smiled and waved. I rolled down my window and thanked them, embarrassed to have judged them so poorly.Why did the author just freeze when the four young men walking toward her car?
| A．Because she was afraid of being harmed. |
| B．Because she sat in her car for too long a time. |
| C．Because she was cold indeed in that freezing evening. |
| D．Because she knew they would rob her of the car. |
Which of the following words can best describe the four young men?
| A．Impolite. | B．Ill-mannered. |
| C．Unfriendly | D．Warm-hearted. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．One of the four teenagers was a gang member. |
| B．The kids wanted to help the author out of trouble. |
| C．The author would have a baby in her car. |
| D．The young men enjoyed pushing cars out of the snow. |
The best title for the text would be___________．
| A．Every man has his faults |
| B．Fortune favors those who use their judgment |
| C．Don't judge a book by its cover |
| D．Think twice before you do. |
An African-American man named John Henry was the hero of former slaves and the people who built the railroads in the US in the 19th century.
John Henry was born a slave. He was known for his strength. Many people say he represents the spirit of growth in America during that period.
John Henry grew up in a world that did not let children stay children for long. Before he was six years old, he was carrying stones for workers building a nearby railroad. By the time John Henry was a young man, he was one of the best railroad workers in the country.
John Henry was asked to lead workers on a hard project, creating a tunnel through a mountain. The project required about 1,000 laborers and lasted three years. Hundreds of men became sick as a result of the hot weather and tiredness. John Henry was the strongest and fastest man. Concerned his friends might lose their jobs, he picked up their hammers and began doing their work. He worked day and night, rarely stopping to have a rest.
One day, a salesman came to the work area with a new drilling machine powered by steam. He said it could drill holes faster than twelve men working together.
John Henry looked at the machine and saw images of the future. He saw machines taking the place of America’s best laborers. He saw himself and his friends unemployed and sanding by a road, asking for food. He decided he would never let the machine take their jobs. Therefore, a competition between a man and a machine began .At first, the steam-powered drill worked twice faster. Then, John Henry started working with a hammer in each hand. He worked faster and faster. People cheered when the machine broke down and was pulled away. But they were sad to find John Henry fall to the ground, with blood spilling all around, and still holding a hammer in one of his hands.“I beat them,”he said. Then he took his last breath.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
| A．Many children in those days starved to death. |
| B．Children at that time grew much faster. |
| C．Children in those days had to work like adults. |
| D．Children at that time couldn’t stay together. |
Why did hundreds of workers become sick?
| A．Because they had to work long hours. |
| B．Because the weather was hot and they were tired. |
| C．Because the project was too hard. |
| D．Because they didn’t have time to eat. |
John Henry helped do his friends’ work .
| A．because he was the strongest and fastest man |
| B．for fear that his friends would lose their jobs |
| C．so that they could regain their strength |
| D．in order be the hero of the railroad workers |
Which of the following best describes John Henry?
| A．Kind and determined. | B．Cautious and considerate. |
| C．Brave and strict. | D．Hardworking and stubborn. |
I wish there would be a way to describe China in simple terms but that’s impossible. For the most part Chinese people are friendly, easy-going and optimistic. They are curious and unusually patient and they are also the hardest-working people I have ever met.
In China, family is everything. In my English classes when the students were asked what they would do if they only had a few hours to live, most students told me how they would spend their last few hours with their families and parents. Many times the subjects in the classes center on families and friends. I teach many students a year, talking to them freely.
The cost of living here is very low compared with that of the US. The city of Xiang Fan I live in isn’t large and I live better. Non-imported(非出口的) foods are very cheap, so are clothing and articles of everyday use. The cost of public transportation is very low, too. Chinese value education. However, it is reported that many children can’t afford the expenses of schooling and are forced to leave school in some poor area in China. But they organized Project Hope many years age. It creates conditions for the poor children to go back to school. In my opinion, Project Hope is of great importance to the development of the rural education.
When we read news of China in the west, rarely, if ever, will we see anything mentioned of the positive changes China has gone through. While it is true that economic miracles have not reached many areas of China, but we also have the same problems.
When I am asked which country I consider better. China or the US, my answer has always been the same, “We are not worse or better than each other, we are only different.”What does the author think of Chinese people?
| A．He thinks most Chinese people hardly work. |
| B．He thinks most Chinese people are proud. |
| C．He praises most Chinese people a lot. |
| D．He dislikes most Chinese people. |
What is the author doing in China?
| A．He is visiting the places of interest. |
| B．He is teaching English in a school. |
| C．He is studying in a college. |
| D．He is on business. |
What are not cheap in China in the author’s opinion?
| A．Clothes and shoes made in China. | B．Local foods |
| C．Public transportation tickets. | D．Imported foods |
We can infer from the passage that the author thinks________.
| A．the westerners have got to know China well |
| B．China’s economic miracles have appeared everywhere |
| C．the progress of China is seldom reported in the US |
| D．the education in rural areas is never cared about in China |
In the author’s eyes,________.
| A．China is different from the US |
| B．China is better than the US |
| C．Americans are richer than Chinese |
| D．China bears great similarities to the US |
A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin (顽童)was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car，Paul？”he asked．
Paul answered，“Yes，my brother gave it to me for Christmas．”The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing？Boy，I wish…”He hesitated(犹豫)．
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.
“I wish，”the boy went on，“that I could be a brother like that．”Paul looked at the boy in surprise， then he said again， "Would you like to take a ride in my car？”
“Oh yes，I’d love that．”
After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind driving in front of my house？”
Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are？ the boy asked．
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back， but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled (残疾的)brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There she is，Buddy，just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride. The street urchin was very surprised when ________．
| A．Paul received an expensive car |
| B．Paul told him about the car |
| C．he saw the shining car |
| D．he was walking around the car |
From the story we can see the urchin ________．
| A．wished to give his brother a car |
| B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a car |
| C．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s |
| D．wished Paul could be a brother like that |
The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ________．
| A．to show his neighbors the big car |
| B．to show he had a rich friend |
| C．to let his brother ride in the car |
| D．to tell his brother about his wish |
We can infer（推断）from the story that ________．
| A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin |
| B．the urchin had a deep love for his brother |
| C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother |
| D．the urchin’s wish came true in the end |
The best name of the name story is _________．
| A．A Christmas Present |
| B．A Street Urchin |
| C．A Brother Like That |
| D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride |
Sam, a dog, was left behind in Colorado while his owners, Mr. And Mrs. Green moved to Southern California. They did not give the dog up. They found him a very nice home before they moved. They would have let Sam accompany them, but they were afraid the dog’s presence would make it difficult for them to rent(租) a house when they reached their destination.
The Green family lived in Colorado for less than a year. Before that, they had lived in the same neighborhood in California to which they returned. So Sam had been there before, but only for a short time when he was young.
Several months after the Greens left Colorado, after they were comfortably settled back in California, they heard a scratch（抓）at the door. They couldn’t imagine who might be there. They never thought that it might be Sam, because they were sure he was happily set up with his new family back in Colorado. When they opened the door, the Greens saw a dirty, tired dog with very hurting feet. The animal looked a little bit like Sam, but no one could believe that Sam could have walked 840 miles on his own. The tired dog spent the night under the family car. The next day, when he was more rested, he performed some of his old tricks. The Greens knew they had their own dog back. The story suggests that _______ .
| A．dog owners have trouble renting |
| B．many people treat their pets badly |
| C．keeping a dog is easy |
| D．dogs are too much trouble |
Which is the right order （顺序）of the following events according to the passage?
a. Sam walked to California.
b. The Greens moved to Colorado.
c. The Greens left Sam.
d. The Greens returned to California.
e. Sam spent the night under the family car.
| A．b, d, c, e, a | B．b, c, d, a, e | C．a, c, b, e, d | D．c, e, d, a, b |
The underlined word “destination” in the first paragraph means _________.
| A．the cost of living |
| B．the country of one’s birth |
| C．the damage to oneself |
| D．the place to which one is going |
The Greens knew the dog was Sam ________.
| A．because of his hurting feet |
| B．from the color and the markings |
| C．by the way he walked |
| D．after he did some tricks |
Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humour. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.
One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes(蚊子) in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved (摇动) his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”
After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.
Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.
But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night. That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.
| A．to see one of his friends |
| B．to see one of his relatives |
| C．because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there |
| D．because he wanted to do something there for his writing |
The waiters felt sorry because _____.
| A．their hotel was too small |
| B．the room was not very clean |
| C．they did something wrong to Mark Twain |
| D．there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room |
All the people present laughed heartily because _____.
| A．Mark Twain made a joke |
| B．the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number |
| C．Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents |
| D．the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room |
From the story we know _____.
| A．Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night |
| B．no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night |
| C．there were not mosquitoes in the hotel any longer |
| D．the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night |
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