The majority of astronauts from America have been men. At the start of the space programme there was strong resistance from some people against having women in space. However, some women were very keen to become astronauts and in the end they were successful. In 1978, NASA began the first training programme for women astronauts.
Judy Resnick and Christa McAuliffe were both astronauts and they were both women, but in many other ways they were very different. Both of them were on Flight STS-5L-L. Judy Resnick was born in 1949 and studied engineering at university and went on to obtain a PhD in 1977. She was a member of the first group of women selected for astronaut training in 1978, and in 1984, she became the second woman in space. During that flight, she helped to launch three new satellites and she carried out a programme of research. She was, in many ways, a professional astronaut whose whole life was devoted to space travel.
Christa McAuliffe was born in 1948 and she was an astronaut almost by accident. In 1984, NASA decided to find a teacher who could accompany astronauts into space. They hoped that she would be able to communicate with students from space and encourage every one of them to be interested in space travel. Christa was a secondary teacher in history and social studies. She was a gifted teacher and she was selected from over 11,000 applicants to go on flight STS-51-L. She was also a very good communicator and she immediately established a very good relationship with the news media(radio, television and newspapers）. It was partly because of this that there was a great deal of interest and excitement about the flight. Thousands of students in schools and universities all around the country were looking forward to communicating with Christa in space. Millions of people were watching her flight with great interest. It is partly because of the excitement over McAuliffe's place in the flight that the disaster in 1986 had such an effect on people. We can learn from the first two paragraphs that ___________.
| A．Judy was against the idea of having women in space at first |
| B．Judy was the first woman selected for astronaut training |
| C．Judy helped to launch three new satellites at the age of 35 |
| D．Judy carried out a programme during her second space travel |
Christa McAuliffe was chosen for training because _______.
| A．she was popular with the news media |
| B．she expected to give history lessons in space |
| C．she was an excellent teacher and communicator |
| D．she made the students in space very excited |
The reason why there was great interest in Flight STS-51-L is that ________.
| A．both Christa and Judy got PhD degrees in the same year |
| B．a young secondary school teacher was on the flight |
| C．students were going to learn more about space travel |
| D．it was the first time for women to travel in space |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Two Astronauts | B．Flight STS-51-L |
| C．Travelling in Space | D．The Training Programme |
In America, square dancing has been the most popular form of folk dancing since the early days. In early times, when men and women worked in groups to build a barn (谷仓) or harvest crops, they danced when the work was done. The music came from the violin for the most part, but if there was no one to play a musical instrument, clapping was used to produce the rhythm to which people dance. The early settlers danced in a store, in a barn, or in a farm kitchen.
A square is formed by four couples （对）who stand facing the centre of the square. Each couple stand on one side of the square, the boy on the left and the girl on the right.
The caller is an important part of the dance, since he tells the dancers which steps to do. If the dancers do not know the steps, he teaches them. It takes time to learn to be a good caller, and good callers are always in demand（被需要）.
These are the names of some of the steps the dancers do: Form a square; Circle; Honour your partner; Swing your partner; Form a star. There are many more. As the callers tell the dancers what to do next, they move to form the pattern（图形）he calls.
Large or small numbers of people can dance at one time. Sometimes 800 or 1,000 people may be dancing at the same time. Or there may be only one square of eight people.
Special clothes are worn by some when dancing. This makes the dance more colourful to watch. The special clothes are different from place to place. Women often wear full skirts of various colours with a pretty blouse. Men have coloured shirts and western trousers that they wear only when square dancing. In some country areas, everyone wears his best clothes.
Today in some parts of the United States you will find some schools, clubs, or groups square dancing for fun.From the passage we know that square dancing came from_______.
| A．the clubs | B．the schools |
| C．big cities | D．the countryside |
How many steps do the dancers usually do while square dancing?
| A．At most four. | B．At least one thousand. |
| C．At most eight. | D．At least five. |
For what purpose do the American men and women dance?
| A．For money. |
| B．To lose weight. |
| C．For fun. |
| D．To show their beautiful clothes. |
If 800 people dance at the same time，how many squares can be formed?
| A．200 squares. | B．100 squares. |
| C．400 squares. | D．One big square. |
Halloween falls on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.
The American tradition of "trick-or-treating" probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day marches in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray（祈祷）for the family's dead relatives.
The act of giving out soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for homeless ghosts. The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was finally taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given sweets, food, and money.
The tradition of dressing in costume（服饰） for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies were often not enough because people were afraid of the darkness and would stay at home without doing businesses.
On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would meet with ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for their fellows(同伴).
On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to satisfy the ghosts and prevent them from trying to enter their houses.Halloween is a day_______.
| A．respecting the old |
| B．pleasing the children |
| C．honoring the dead |
| D．praying for relatives |
Which of the following statements is false about Halloween?
| A．Halloween has a long history. |
| B．Children can get a lot of gifts. |
| C．Americans created the festival. |
| D．People were afraid of darkness. |
Ancient people would wear masks on Halloween in order to______.
| A．frighten the ghosts | B．leave their homes |
| C．enjoy themselves | D．look like ghosts |
The best title for the passage is___________.
| A．Halloween Traditions | B．American Traditions |
| C．Ancient Church Practices | D．Halloween Costumes |
Mrs. Obama spoke to the graduates of Martin Luther King Jr. High School on Saturday in her only high school commencement（毕业典礼）speech this year. The ceremony took place in the gymnasium of Tennessee State University.
The first lady told the 170 graduates that she spent too much of her time in college focusing on academe achievements. While her success in college and law school led to a good job, she said, she ended up focusing on public service. “My message to you today is that don’t waste a minute living someone else’s dream,” she said. “It takes a lot of real work to discover what brings you joy and you won’t find what you love simply by checking mailboxes or surfing the net.”
She said MLK reminded her of her own high school experience in Chicago. “My No.1 goal was to go to a high school that would push me and challenge me,” she said. “I wanted to go somewhere that would celebrate achievement. Unfortunately, schools like this don’t exist for every kid.” she said. “You are blessed.”
The first lady told graduates that failure may be a part of their college lives and careers, and that how they respond determines what they will become. “That’s when you find out what you’re really made of in those hard times,” she said. “But you can only do that if you’re willing to put yourself in a position where you might fail.” Overcoming difficulties has been the mark of many great people, she said, “Oprah was demoted（降职）from her first job as a news reporter, and now she doesn’t even need a last name,” she said of media giant Oprah Winfrey “And then there’s this guy Barack Obama, I could take up a whole afternoon talking about his failures. He lost his first race for Congress”, the first lady joked, “and now he gets to call himself my husband.”When choosing her high school, Mrs. Obama ________.
| A．was willing to meet challenges |
| B．was pushed to make a choice |
| C．failed to find an ideal school |
| D．wanted to study law |
By mentioning Oprah’s example, Mrs. Obama wanted to tell graduates _______.
| A．to start as a news reporter |
| B．to work hard to get promoted |
| C．to be brave enough to risk failing |
| D．not to waste time doing what they dislike |
What do we know about Mrs. Obama from the text?
| A．This was the first time she gave a speech to graduates. |
| B．She complained about her school life in her speech. |
| C．She is a graduate of Tennessee State University. |
| D．She is enthusiastic about public service. |
Where can you probably find this text?
| A．In a politics book. |
| B．On a news website. |
| C．In a graduation paper. |
| D．On Mrs. Obama’s blog. |
Jumping across cities
Forget about expensive gyms; the new sport in cities is free-running. Since it started in a Paris suburb around 1995, free-running has attracted lots of fans in cities around the world. Instead of walking normally, free-runners jump over or around anything―cars, buildings, trees, or streetlights―in their way.
One of the sport’s inventors told our reporter how free-running started.
It was boring where we lived. There was nothing for us to do after school. We had done playground games like football and basketball when we were kids but we wanted something new and exciting. We started learning how to jump and run between buildings―and we loved it. Walking is a waste of time. Free-runners have to use their imaginations. Everything―a tree, a streetlight―is part of our outdoor gym. We’re like children because we have never stopped playing in the street.
The sport’s website has lots of rules, for example, don’t break people’s windows, don’t jump on flowerbeds and don’t be rude to people who want you to stop. Safety is also very important. You must start with the easy moves―you have to do thousands of small practice jumps before you try anything difficult. If you made only one mistake, you might hurt yourself badly.
A local person said, “It’s good that young people have something to do. But when they jump off buildings like cats, they sometimes frighten other people.”
Don’t try this at home: the basics of free-running
Blind Jump: a jump where you can’t see the landing spot.
Tic-tac: run and put your foot on a small step, go forward and jump over the next thing.
Basic Jump: run and jump, land on two feet while bending your knees. To finish roll into head-over-heels.
Cat Jump: run towards a wall, put both hands on the top of the wall and jump through your arms.
Free-running started __________.
| A．about twenty years ago | B．with the help of schools |
| C．in big cities of America | D．among famous sportsmen |
Free-runners shouldn’t ____________.
| A．use their imaginations | B．start with the easy moves |
| C．jump on flowerbeds | D．run between buildings |
According to the passage, free-running is a（n）__________sport.
| A．ancient | B．expensive |
| C．safe | D．exciting |
The purpose of this passage is to ___________.
| A．explain the importance of outdoor activities |
| B．introduce some information about free-running |
| C．warn children not to join in dangerous sports |
| D．advise people to do more exercise at home first |
It is "one of the few bright spots in the Chinese economy," says Zeng Ming．He is talking about e-commerce．Mr Zeng, the chief strategy officer for Alibaba, a giant Chinese Internet firm, predicts that digital transactions on his firm's platforms will top l trillion yuan（$159 billion）this year-more than Amazon's and eBay's combined．That is a bold claim, but consider what happened on Singles Sunday．
Invented a few years ago by students and seized upon by digital marketers, this festival for lonely hearts falls annually on the llth day of the llth month （since l is the loneliest number）．It is like St Valentine's Day, only worse．Singletons shower each other with tender gifts: a barrage of pearls; a storm of sweets．
This November llth they spent a surprising 19 billion yuan on Alibaba's online platforms ----- a fourfold increase on a year ago, and more than double what Americans spent online last Cyber Monday（the Monday after Thanksgiving, when retailers urge Americans to shop online）．About 100m purchases were logged, accounting for 80% of the packages shipped that day．Couriers（怏递员） were buried in parcels．
So life is good for China's e-tailers, then? Not exactly．The number of digital marketers is increasing and online sales are booming．Consumers are enjoying lower prices, better service and more variety．The problem? The pressure on profits in Chinese e-commerce is worse than in America, reckons Elinor Leung of CLSA, a broker． "Almost no one makes money," she says．
The fiercest battles are being fought between online retailers and their bricks-and-mortar（实体的） rivals．Dangdang, a firm, that resembles Amazon,and 360buy, another online retailer, have cut prices fiercely． Tencent, a cash-rich online giant known for its instant-messaging software, is splashing out to win market share．360buy has also just raised $400m from investors to do the same．But it is unclear how much longer such firms can burn through capital．What's the best title of this passage?
| A．The Ambition of Alibaba |
| B．Fierce Competition between Retailers |
| C．A Newly Sprung Festival for the Singles |
| D．Chinese Booming and Developing E-commerce |
According to Zeng Ming, this year Alibaba will ．
| A．outweigh Amazon and eBay in worldwide influence |
| B．rank top among all the Internet firms |
| C．have more than 159 billion dollars' sale |
| D．create another sales miracle just like the one on Singles Day |
How many packages were shipped on November ll th from Alibaba's online platforms?
A． About 80 million． B． About 100 million．
C． About 125 million． C． About 180 million．What's the author's attitude towards online retailers in China?
| A．Optimistic． | B．Concerned． |
| C．Sympathetic． | D．Indifferent． |
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