FOR many young people, having to attend school with a parent would be their worst nightmare. However, Senior 1 student Li Qinmei is happy taking her father with her as long as she can go to classes. He is disabled and unable to take care of himself.
The 16-year-old country girl in Zhucheng, Shandong Province has experienced one disaster after another in her short life. Li lost her mother at three. Four years later, her father became paralyzed after a tractor accident. At 12, her misfortune returned with the death of her grandma. Since then she has been forced to shoulder all the responsibility for her broken family.
Li learnt to cook and managed to live a life with an allowance of only 24 yuan per month. The most difficult thing she had to deal with was helping her father bathe, dress and use the toilet as he could hardly move.
"I felt embarrassed, and so did my dad. It was really hard at the beginning," she recalled.
During most of her junior school years, Li went to classes only once a month as her father was seriously ill at the time.
"I taught myself at home and asked teachers for help on my school days," she explained.
Li's hard work paid off this fall. She was admitted by Zhucheng No 1 High School, a local key school, based on her good performance in the entrance exams.
The school offered Li and her father a room on campus to live in so she could look after him during breaks.
Once in a while, Li felt sad when she saw her classmates going shopping or hanging out with friends.
"I envy them sometimes because they have both mum and dad to look after them. However, I soon feel relieved as I still have my dad with me," she said.
Li admitted that the difficulties in life had taught her to be strong.
"I believe I will go on and continue my studies at a good university," she said, in a confident tone.
Her teacher Mr. Wang has the same belief. Li made great progress in the recent monthly exams. "She works hard and is always eager to excel . It's not easy for her never to be late for school, but she has managed to make it work," Wang said.Li Qinmei has to shoulder the family because ________.
| A．her father was badly injured in a car accident |
| B．her mother passed away when she was 3 |
| C．her grandma died when she was 12 |
| D．misfortune in her life forced her to do so |
From the passage we can infer that _________.
| A．Li Qinmei doesn’t like others talking about her father |
| B．many young students hate going to school with their parents |
| C．Li Qinmei has made great progress in her study |
| D．Li Qinmei has lost three relatives and has to take care of her father |
What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “hanging out” in the passage?_________.
| A．playing outside | B．working hard | C．exchanging ideas | D．talking happily |
According to the passage, which statement is Not True? __________.
| A．Li Qinmei was admitted to a local key school because of his good scores in the exams |
| B．Li Qinmei is very embarrassed when she helps her father bathe |
| C．Li Qinmei often goes to attend her father after class |
| D．Li Qinmei is able to go to class on time though she has to attend her father |
What’s the best title of the story?________.
| A．Difficulties make strong | B．A touching story |
| C．A strong-minded girl-Li Qinmei | D．Li Qinmei’s successful study life |
I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth.”
I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional (易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface”.
As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
I posted the letter and waited for her answer, none came.
My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
Now the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside — a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded (折叠) and refolded many times.
Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.The writer began to love her mother’s desk _______.
| A．after Mother died | B．before she became a writer |
| C．when she was a child | D．when mother gave it to her |
The passage shows that _______.
| A．Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done |
| B．Mother cared much about her daughter in words |
| C．Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words. |
| D．Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter |
The world “gulf ” in the passage means _______.
| A．deep understanding between the old and the young. |
| B．different ideas between the mother and the daughter. |
| C．free talks between mother and daughter. |
| D．part of the sea going far in land. |
What did Mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?
| A．She had never received the letter. |
| B．For years, she often talked about the letter. |
| C．She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in all her life. |
| D．She read the letter again and again till she died. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．My letter to Mother | B．Mother and Children |
| C．My Mother’s Desk | D．Talks between Mother and me. |
In the last years of the Warring States period, the State of Qin attacked the State of Wei on a large scale repeatedly and occupied large areas of land, for the State of Wei was too weak to defend itself. In 273 B.C., the Qin army launched a more serious attack upon the State of Wei than ever. The king of the State of Wei gathered his officials, and asked with a worried look if anyone could propose a way to defeat the Qin army. After years of chaos caused by the wars, the officials trembled when fighting was mentioned, and no one dared to speak of resistance.
At the critical moment when a large enemy force was bearing down upon the border, most of the officials persuaded the king to sue for peace, at the cost of giving away to the State of Qin the large area of land north of the Huanghe River and south of the Taihang Mountain. However Su Dai, a counselor, did not agree. He hurried up to the king and said, "Your Majesty, they don't think about the interests of the country at all. It is just because they are afraid of death that they ask you to sue for peace by betraying the country. Of course you can temporarily satisfy the ambition of Qin, but it will never stop attacking us until our land is totally given away."
He added,“Once there was a man whose house was on fire. People told him to put out the fire with water, but he would not listen. Instead, he carried a faggot to put out the fire, only to make the fire fiercer. Isn't it similar to carrying faggots to put out a fire if you agree to sue for peace at the cost of the land of the State of Wei?”
Though Su Dai's argument was very convincing, the king accepted the suggestion of those officials and gave away to the State of Qin a large area of the land of the State of Wei. As might be expected, the Qin army attacked the State of Wei in 225 B.C. again, surrounding the capital city Daliang and flooding it by digging open the dykes (堤防) of the Huanghe River. The State of Wei was finally destroyed.When asked how to defeat the Qin army, most officials _______.
| A．were scared and at a loss what to do |
| B．looked worried and turned to Su Dai for help |
| C．asked a large enemy force to bear down upon the border |
| D．were extremely frightened and decided to give up fighting back |
The underlined phrase“sue for”in Paragraph 2 probably means _______.
| A．demand | B．beg for | C．search for | D．negotiate for |
Su Dai used the example of“carrying faggots to put out a fire”to show _______.
| A．the ambition of the State of Qin | B．the serious results of giving in |
| C．the loss of the land of the State of Wei | D．the trembling consequences of defense |
The story is mainly developed by _______.
| A．time | B．logic | C．making comparison | D．cause and effect |
The attitude of the writer towards Su Dai is _______.
| A．approval | B．praise | C．neutral | D．disapproval |
I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal—that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck—of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract（合同）of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding（有回报的）.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?
| A．I was waiting for good fortune. |
| B．I was trying to find an admirable job. |
| C．I was being aimless about a suitable job. |
| D．I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time. |
The author decided to write a novel ______ .
| A．to finish the writing course |
| B．to realize her own dream |
| C．to satisfy readers’ wish |
| D．to earn more money |
How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?
| A．Disturbed. | B．Ashamed. | C．Confident. | D．Uncertain. |
What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?
| A．It pays to stick to one’s goal. |
| B．Hard work can lead to success. |
| C．She feels like being unexpectedly lucky. |
| D．There is no end in sight when starting to do something. |
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He stopped by the fence in front of the house where he lived with his aunt Polly. He looked at it, and all joy left him. The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.
He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day. They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.
He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find some way to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets —nothing that could buy even half an hour of freedom. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea
At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.
While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. As he walked along, he was making noises like the sound of a riverboat. First he shouted loudly, like a boat captain. Then he said “Ding-Dong-Dong”, “Ding-Dong-Dong” again and again, like the bell of a riverboat. And he made other strange noises. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.
Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hello! I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”
No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.
Ben said, “Hello, old fellow, you’ve got to work, hey?”
Tom turned suddenly and said, “Why, it’s you, Ben! I wasn’t noticing.”
“Say —I’m going swimming. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d rather work — wouldn’t you? Of course you would.”
Tom looked at the boy a bit, and said “What do you call work?”
“Why, isn’t that work?”
Tom went back to his whitewashing, and answered carelessly.
“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to say that you like it?”
The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said,
“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom thought for a moment, was about to agree; but he changed his mind.
“No —no —it won’t do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don’t think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough.”
“No —is that so? Oh come, now —let me just try. Only just a little.” “Ben, I’d like to, but if it isn’t done right, I’m afraid Aunt Polly … ”
“Oh, I’ll be careful. Now let me try. Say —I’ll give you the core of my apple.”
“Well, here —No, Ben, now don’t. I’m afraid …”
“I’ll give you all of it.”
Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom sold the next chance to Billy for a kite; and when Billy was tired, Johnny bought in for a dead rat —and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures.
And he had not worked. He had had a nice idle time all the time, with plenty of company －and the fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.
He had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get. How many characters are mentioned in this story?
| A．7 | B．6 | C．5 | D．4 |
Why did Tom take all his bits of toys out of his pockets?
| A．Because he is tired and wanted to play with his toys. |
| B．Because he wanted to throw his toys away. |
| C．Because he wanted to know if he could buy help with his toys. |
| D．Because he wanted to give his toys to his friends. |
Tom was about to agree to let Ben whitewash when he changed his mind because ______.
| A．Tom wanted to do the whitewashing by himself |
| B．Tom was afraid Ben would do the whitewashing better. |
| C．Tom was unwilling to let Ben do the whitewashing |
| D．Tom planned to make Ben give up his apple first |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．Tom was good at whitewashing the fence, so he looked at the result of his work with the eye of an artist. |
| B．Tom was unwilling to whitewash the fence, but he managed to let other boys do it for him |
| C．Tom had a lot of friends who are ready to help others. |
| D．Tom was interested in whitewashing the fence. |
What made Ben Rogers eagerly gave up his apple and offer to brush the fence for Tom?
| A．His curiosity about Tom’s brushing job. |
| B．His warm heart and kindness to friends. |
| C．Tom’s threat. |
| D．Aunt Polly’s idea. |
Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?
| A．Tom And His Fellows |
| B．The Happy Whitewasher |
| C．Whitewashing A Fence |
| D．How To Make The Things Difficult To Get |
It’s 10:30 p.m. and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: “ R U awake?”
But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can’t imagine life without them. “ If I didn’t have a cell phone, I wouldn’t be able to talk to my friends or family as often,” he told TFK.
Brandon’s use of technology doesn’t stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles in his room. With so many choices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That’s about an hour more than just five years ago.
The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. Today, nearly seven out of ten kids have cell phones. Just five years ago, it was four out of ten.
“ These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it’s on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor,” says Rideout.
Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. “ If you’ve got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?” Media expert Cheryl Olson says.
Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. “ It’s a matter of balance,” says Olson. “ You’ve got to work on it.”
Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. “It’s important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply,” says Rideout.
Logan Jones, 11, of Maumelle, Arkansas, describes himself as a “game freak”. Still, he is glad not to have unlimited time with his PlayStation 2. “I’ll tell my mom I’m going to play a game, and she’ll say, ‘Okay, but only for 30 minutes,’”, Logan told TFK.
With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. “ Kids should try,” adds Rideout. “:But parents might have to step in sometimes.”The text is mainly about kids’ _________
| A．cell phone use | B．various hobbies |
| C．favorite video games | D．using electronic devices |
It can be learnt from the text that _________.
| A．Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night message. |
| B．Olson is against teenagers’ using mobile phones. |
| C．many teenagers lack friends in their middle school |
| D．kids have too many electronic devices to choose from |
Which of the following is an example of multitasking?
| A．Watching TV while using the computer |
| B．Talking on the phone while lying on the sofa. |
| C．Playing video games after having lunch. |
| D．Listening to loud music while relaxing. |
The underlined phrase “in check” in the last paragraph can be replaced by ______.
| A．in order | B．in store | C．in sight | D．in control |
According to the text, Victoria Rideout would probably agree that kids should ____.
| A．do homework while watching TV |
| B．do homework in a place without disturbance |
| C．spend more time on homework |
| D．have less homework |
Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, made his first public appearance since going on medical leave six weeks ago, taking the stage at a San Francisco media event to introduce the iPad 2, the second generation of the company’s tablet computer.
Thin but energetic, Mr. Jobs showed off a thinner iPad. “ We’ve been working on this product for a while and I just didn’t want to miss this day,” he said.
His absence has concerned investors, especially since the group has given no details of his condition. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and had a liver transplant during almost six moths of medical leave in 2009. People close to him said last month his health had been changing.
Apple’s stock rose more than 2 percent in the minutes after Mr. Jobs began speaking, then gave up some of its gain as he detailed the iPad 2.
The iPad 2 will go on sale in black and white versions in the US on March 11 and in 26 other countries, including the UK and Germany, on March 25. The table is Apple’s biggest product launch since the iPhone three years ago, and is comparable to the iPhone as the most expected in Apple’s history.
Most of the improvements in the latest version had been expected, including front and rear-facing video, which allows video conferencing between iPads, Mac computers and the most recent iPhones and iPods, a larger speaker, a faster processor and other upgrades. The iPad 2 is one-third thinner than the original tablet and slightly lighter, with a 9.7-inch touchscreen. It can run movies, books, games and a complete range of applications. In the US it will work with AT&T and Verizon, the top two mobile carriers. The pricing will be the same to the 2010 iPad at its introduction, ranging from $499 to $829 in six models. But Apple dropped prices on the older iPad on Wednesday by $100 across the board.
Apple has made the most of its year-long head start in tablets, selling 15,000,000 units of the older iPad last year and taking about 85 percent of the market. Forrester predicted that the iPad 2 would clain 80 percent of the US market this year, or 20,000,000 out of 24,000,000 total shipped. This prediction was based on both the technical improvements to the iPad 2, and the distribution difficulties and higher prices for Apple’s rivals.
Motorola, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Samsung and others have brought out competing tablets, many based on Google’s Android software.
Mr. Jobs said the rest of the field was still catching up with the first iPad and their markets for applications designed for tablets had, at best, 100 small programs. This compares with 65,000 on Apple’s applications store.Why are the investors of Apple worried according to the text?
| A．Apple’s stock price changes a lot |
| B．Steve Jobs’ health condition is not stable |
| C．The iPad 2 has some technical drawbacks |
| D．Apple faces strong competition from other companies. |
In what respect are the iPad 2 and the 2010 iPad exactly alike?
| A．the weight | B．the speaker |
| C．the thickness | D．the pricing at the introduction |
How many tablet computers were sold in the market last year?
| A．about 15,000,000 | B．about 17,000,000 |
| C．about 20,000,000 | D．about 24,000,000 |
What makes Apple’s tablets superior to the competing tablets of other companies?
| A．the low price |
| B．the Android software |
| C．the full kinds of models |
| D．the tens of thousands of applications |
What is the best title for the text?
| A．Jobs on Stage to Introduce iPad 2 |
| B．iPad 2 Better than the Original |
| C．Best Applications for iPad 2 |
| D．iPad 2 vs. Competitors |
When I was eight, I saw a movie about an island that had an erupting volcano and jungles filled with wild animals．The island was ruled by a beautiful woman called Tondalaya, the Fire Goddess of the Volcano．It was a low budget movie, but to me, it represented the perfect life．But through the years, Tondalaya was forgotten．
The week I turned 50, my marriage came to a sudden end．My house, furniture and everything I'd owned was sold to pay debts that I didn't even know existed．In a week I had lost my husband, my home and my parents who had refused to accept a divorce in the family．
I'd lost everything except my four teenage children．I used every penny I had to buy five plane tickets from Missouri to Hawaii．Everyone said I was crazy to think I could just run off to an island and survive．I was afraid they were right．
I worked 18 hours a day and lost 30 pounds because I lived on one meal a day．One night as I walked alone on the beach, I saw the red orange lava（火山岩） pouring out of Kilauea Volcano in the distance．It was time to live my imagination!
The next day, I quit my job, bought some art supplies and began doing what I loved．I hadn't painted a picture in 15 years．I wondered if 1 could still paint．My hands trembled the first time I picked up a brush．But after an hour had passed, I was lost in the colors spreading across the canvas（画布） in front of me．And as soon as I started believing in myself, other people started believing in me, too．The first painting sold for $ 1500．
The past six years have been filled with adventures．My children and I have gone swimming with dolphins, watched whales and hiked around the crater rim （火山口边缘） of the volcano．We wake up every morning with the ocean in front of us and the volcano behind us．
The dream I had more than 40 years ago is now reality．I'm living freely and happily ever after．Why did the writer go to Hawaii?
| A．To make a living． |
| B．To spend her holiday． |
| C．To free herself from trouble． |
| D．To realize her childhood dream． |
Which of the following is the writer's dream?
| A．Get close to wildlife． |
| B．Live a free and happy life． |
| C．Live in nature with animals. |
| D．Become a successful painter． |
We can infer from the passage that _____．
| A．the writer had never done painting before |
| B．the writer's parents encouraged her to divorce |
| C．the writer's husband took away most of her money |
| D．the writer wasn't sure whether she could survive in Hawaii at first |
It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” DeLuca recalls saying. “Buck said, ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’”
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, buck wrote a check for $1000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another $1000.
But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public, ‘We are so successful, we are opening a second store.’” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal,” DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop in order to ____.
| A．support his family |
| B．pay for his college education |
| C．help his partner expand business |
| D．do some research |
Which of the following is true of Buck?
| A．He put money into the sandwich business. |
| B．He was a professor of business administration. |
| C．He was studying at the University of Bridgeport. |
| D．He rented a storefront for DeLuca. |
What can we learn about their first shop?
| A．It stood at an unfavorable place. |
| B．It lowered the prices to promote sales. |
| C．It made no profits due to poor management |
| D．It lacked control over the quality of sandwiches |
They decided to open a second store because they ___.
| A．had enough money to do it. |
| B．had succeeded in their business |
| C．wished to meet the increasing demand of customers |
| D．wanted to make believe that they were successful |
What contribute most to their success according to the author?
| A．Learning by trial and error. |
| B．Making friends with suppliers. |
| C．Finding a good partner. |
| D．Opening chain stores. |
Young adult filmmakers all hope to show their works in international festivals like Sundance and Toronto. But what about really young filmmakers who aren’t in film school yet and aren’t, strictly speaking, even adults?
They are at the heart of Wingspan Arts Kids Films Festival, tomorrow, in a setting any director might envy: Lincoln Center. Complete with “red carpet” interviews and various awards, the festival has much in common with events for more experienced moviemakers, except for the age of the participants: about 8 to 18.
“What’s really exciting is that it’s film for kids by kids,” said Cori Gardner, managing director of Wingspan Arts, a nonprofit organization offering youth arts programs in the New York area. This year the festival will include films not only from Wingspan but also from other city organizations and one from a middle school in Arlington, Virginia. “We want to make this a national event,” Ms. Gardner added.
The nine shorts to be shown range from a Claymation biography of B.B. King to a science fiction adventure set in the year 3005. “A lot of the material is really mature,” Ms. Gardner said, talking about films by the New York City branch of Global Action Project, a media arts and leadership-training group. “The Choice is about the history of a family and Master Anti-Smoker is about the dangers of secondhand smoke.” Dream of the Invisibles describes young immigrants’ feelings of both belonging and not belonging in their adopted country.
The festival will end with an open reception at which other films will be shown. These include a music video and full-length film whose title is Pressures.Wingspan Arts Kids Film Festival ____.
| A．is organized by a middle school |
| B．is as famous as the Toronto Festival |
| C．shows films made by children |
| D．offers awards to film school students |
Which of the following is true of Wingspan Arts?
| A．It helps young filmmakers to make money. |
| B．It provides arts projects for young people. |
| C．It’s a media arts and leadership-training group. |
| D．It’s a national organization for young people. |
The underlined word “shorts” in Paragraph 4 refers to _____.
| A．short trousers | B．short kids |
| C．short films | D．short stories |
Movies to shown in the festival ____.
| A．cover different subjects. |
| B．focus on kids’ life |
| C．are produced by Global Action Project |
| D．are directed by Ms. Gardner |
At the end of this film festival, there will be ____.
| A．various awards |
| B．“red carpet” interviews |
| C．an open reception |
| D．a concert at Lincoln Center |
I was 230 pounds this spring and I decided to get down to a healthier 200.In a house full of food，including snacks bought for my 7yearold sons，I had a hard time cutting calories. Then I noticed my neighbors were having diet meals (减肥餐)．I decided to do the same，knowing I would never be able to stick to a diet if I had to do the buying and cooking myself. I was looking for food that I could afford but I might take a diet more seriously if it hurt me in the wallet.
After online searches，I decided to compare the offerings of four companies：Zone Manhattan，Chefs Diet，NuKitchen and eDiets. All four would send the meals to my door. Three send food daily，while eDiets sends a large package once a week. There were dozens of companies I could have chosen.Research suggests that the economic crisis has made diet programs less tempting.Consumers prefer doityourself diets with foods bought from the supermarket.
NuKitchen regards itself as the “personal chef”．I ordered the fiveday plan ($230.53) and the taste was disappointing. I neither lost nor gained weight on the food.
eDiets promises “healthy，delicious meals sent to your door”．I ordered five breakfasts，five lunches and five dinners. My total cost was $119.70，or less than $25 a day. Overall，the food from eDiets was better than that from NuKitchen.
Chefs Diet charged $380.99 for seven days，making it the most expensive of the four services.I never tasted anything terrible，but I never tasted anything that made me want to renew for a second week.
Zone Manhattan charged $349.80，with tax，for a week’s supply of food，or about $50 a day.I liked the food so much that I lost six pounds in the first four days on the diet.When the author began to have diet meals，she________.
| A．was 200 pounds |
| B．didn’t have any children |
| C．worked as a cook in a company offering diet meals |
| D．didn’t believe she could stick to a diet if she had to cook herself |
What does the underlined word “tempting” in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Attractive. | B．Expensive. | C．Delicious. | D．Useful. |
Which of the four companies’ food cost the least daily?
| A．Zone Manhattan’s. | B．Chefs Diet’s. |
| C．NuKitchen’s. | D．eDiets’． |
We can learn from the passage that________.
| A．the author gained weight on the food from Nukitchen |
| B．the author would choose the food of Zone Manhattan |
| C．the food from eDiets was the worst of the four |
| D．Zone Manhattan sends food once a week |
For a long time, a boy wondered why his next-desk-pal was always the first in the class, whereas he could only rank the 21st. At home, he asked his mom, “Am I more stupid than other kids? How come I always lag behind? I just can’t come up with an answer.” Mom was aware that her son’s self-respect had been damaged by the ranking system, but she didn’t know what to say to help.
She was tempted (想要) to say that intelligence differs and that yes, her son’s friend really was the smarter boy. But that would have so upset her son. Thank goodness she resisted the temptation to say it.
Her son and his friend went on to high school that year, but despite trying as hard as he could, her son’s friend still outdid him. But she was proud of her boy for his hard work, sincerely proud. It was around this time she decided to take him on a trip to the seaside. On the trip, she at last found an answer for him.
Today her son no longer cares about rankings. He doesn’t have to, for he himself is now the top of the class – at the top national university he attends. Invited to speak to his old high school, he mentioned a valuable childhood experience: “Once, on a trip to the sea, my mother and I were lying on the beach. She pointed to the sea and said to me: ‘Do you see the seabirds fighting for food out there? When a wave comes near, the little birds rise quickly. The “clumsy” seagulls (海鸥) are far less agile (灵活的) and have to struggle to get away from the wave. But these “clumsy” birds prove to have the biggest, strongest wings, which open the widest and allow the bird to travel the furthest. When the season changes, they leave for foreign shores, leaving the little birds behind. Son, I have a feeling that you are one of those seagulls.” From the first paragraph, we could conclude the mother ______.
| A．knew her son was not bright enough |
| B．saw the negative effects of the ranking system |
| C．decided to help with her son’s school work |
| D．was troubled by her son’s low rankings |
The mom was glad she didn’t give an answer at first because ______.
| A．she knew her son would forget his rankings soon |
| B．she felt intelligence doesn’t mean everything |
| C．she knew he was not strong enough for the truth |
| D．she wanted to avoid another blow to her son’s self-respect |
The story conveys the message that ______.
a. only rankings show intelligence
b. hard work and confidence can lead to a change in rankings
c. parents should see children’s strengths and encourage them
d. competition between students is good for society
| A．bc | B．cd | C．abc | D．bcd |
Once when I was six years old I saw an amazing picture in a book called True Stories from Nature about the primeval（原始的）forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor(大蟒蛇) in the act of swallowing an animal. In the book it said：“Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole without chewing（嚼）it. After that they are not able to move and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion（消化）.”
I thought deeply then over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. I showed my work to the grown-ups and asked them whether the drawing frightened them. But they answered：“Frighten? Why should anyone be frightened by a hat？”
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing. I drew the inside of the boa constrictor so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. That's my Drawing Number Two.
The grown-ups' response this time was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of ba constrictors whether from the inside or the outside and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why at the age of six I gave up what might have been a great painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
So then I chose another profession（职业） and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had lots of chances to meet with a great many people. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them. Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried showing him my Drawing Number One which I have always kept. I would try to find out if this was a person of true understanding. But whoever it was, he or she would always say: That is a hat. Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors or primeval forests or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such an intelligent man.The writer drew his first picture in order to ________.
| A．show the grown-ups what the book was about |
| B．frighten the grown-ups trying to enter the forest |
| C．remind himself of the adventures of the jungle |
| D．illustrate（说明）a boa constrictor's act of digesting an animal |
How did the writer understand the grown-ups' response to his second drawing?
| A．He was actually only good at academic study. |
| B．It was a waste of time for him to keep on drawing. |
| C．He had difficulty in communicating with the adults. |
| D．He was good at anything but geography. |
The underlined word disheartened in Paragraph 4 could most probably be replaced by ________.
| A．discouraged | B．dissatisfied | C．discovered | D．disturbed |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The writer could have become a pilot if encouraged when young. |
| B．The writer finally changed his opinion of grown-ups. |
| C．The writer has been showing his two pictures to others ever since. |
| D．The writer felt nobody could have really understood him. |
For the past two years, 8－year－old Harli Jordean from Stoke Newington, London, has been selling marbles(弹珠)．His successful marble company, Marble King, sells all things marble-related—from affordable tubs of the glass playthings to significantly expensive items like Duke of York solitaire（独粒宝石）tables—sourced, purchased and processed by the mini－CEO himself.
“I like having my own company. I like being the boss,” Harli told The Mirror.
With profits now in the thousands, “the world's youngest CEO” has had to get his mother and older brothers to help him meet the growing demand.
Harli launched Marble King after swapping（交换）marbles at school led to schoolchildren depleting(削减) his marble collection. Yes, he literally（确切地）“lost his marbles.” Harli and his mother, Tina, turned to the Internet to find replacements.
Harli saw an empty space online: the marbles he wanted were hard to find. Within months, Harli had his own marble－selling website and orders started pouring in.
Tina says her son's obsession(迷恋) with marbles started when he was just 6.
“His obsession became so big we started calling him the Marble King, so when he wanted to set up a website it was the natural name for it，” she told The Sun.
“I never thought it would become so popular—we are struggling to cope with the number of orders at times.”
The 8－year－old boy has his sights set on expanding his business and launching his own brand of marbles.
“Sometimes his ideas are so grand we have to scale them back a bit. But his dream is still to own Britain's biggest marble shop and open stores around the world.” Tina told The Daily Mail.
“At the minute he is annoying me by asking about creating his won Marble King marbles, so that could well be the next step for him.”Why did Harli's marble company become popular as soon as he launched it?
| A．Because it was run by “the world's youngest CEO”． |
| B．Because it filled the gaps of marble business. |
| C．Because Harli was fascinated with marble collection. |
| D．Because his mother and brothers helped him a lot. |
How many mass media are mentioned in the passage?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined expression “scale back”？
| A．make smaller | B．carry out | C．turn down | D．frighten away |
What message do the last two paragraphs carry?
| A．Conflicts often occur between Harli Jordean and his family. |
| B．Harli's mother and brothers are worried about Marble King's future. |
| C．Marble King marbles will be more popular with marble fans around the world. |
| D．The “Marble King” has great ambitions for his Marble King Company. |
Everyone agrees that all the creatures want happiness and are afraid of pain and grief. The question, however, is “What is real happiness?” The desire for happiness has no meaning without understanding the real nature of happiness.
Generally, ordinary beings consider sensual（感觉的） pleasures as happiness, and their actions are directed toward gaining these. According to them, searching for happiness means searching for pleasures of the senses. The question, “What is happiness?”, does not arise（出现） in their hearts, because in their hearts they think of a life full of sensual joys as a happy life.
Some thinkers say, “Happiness does not lie in the objects of enjoyment; happiness or unhappiness lies in the imagination.” To prove their belief they give examples like the following one. A man has a two-storey house. When he thinks of those who have a house with three storeys or more, he feels unhappy. When he thinks of those who have just a cottage, he feels happy. Such happiness does not lie in possessions（占有物）, but in the imagination. They advise people to take inspiration from those who have few possessions but are quite happy. If you only consider people wealthier than yourself, you will always be unhappy.
If you want to be happy, they say, look at the poor. But it is unreasonable to hold that happiness lies in the imagination. And it is inappropriate to think that someone is happy if he only imagines himself better than the poor and the unhappy. This attitude also satisfies the sense of pride of possession. This can never be called happiness. Unless we find out where happiness lies, we cannot really become happy.
Some ask people to do this or that, and say, “This way your desires will be satisfied. That way you will get what you want and become happy.” People holding these views regard happiness as satisfaction of desires and unhappiness as denial(否定) of such satisfaction.What kind of life can make common people feel happy?
| A．Life without pain and grief. |
| B．Life full of sensual pleasures. |
| C．Life with desire for possessions. |
| D．Life full of imagination. |
The underlined word “cottage” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to ________.
| A．a house in one’s imagination | B．a modern building |
| C．a desired object | D．a small house |
The author may agree that ________.
| A．by comparing themselves with the poor, people will feel happy |
| B．people won’t feel happy without a desire for happiness |
| C．possessing wealth may lead to a sense of pride |
| D．people have to experience pain and grief before finding happiness |
The best title for this passage would be “________”.
| A．What Is Happiness? | B．How to Get Happiness |
| C．Happiness and Desire | D．Happiness and Imagination |
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