Andrew Carnegie was a 19th century steel tycoon（大亨）who became one of the 20th century’s most famous philanthropists（慈善家）His life story is one of the most famous rags-to-riches accounts in United States history.
Carnegie was born in Dunfermlined, Scotland, on November 25,1835. The son of a weaver, he came with his family to the United States in 1848 and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. At age thirteen, Carnegie went to work as a bobbin（线轴）boy in a cotton mill. He then moved rapidly through a series of jobs with Western Union and the Pnnsylvania Railroad. In 1865, he resigned to establish his own business and eventually organized the Carnegie Steel Company, which started the steel industry in Pittsburgh. At age sixty-five, he sold the company to J. P. Morgan for $480 million and devoted the rest of his life to his philanthropic activities and writing, including his autobiography（自传）.
Many persons of wealth have contributed to charity, but Carnegie was perhaps the first to state publicly that the rich have a moral responsibility to donate their fortune. In 1889 he wrote The Gospe（福音）of Wealth, in which he stated that all personal wealth beyond what was required to supply the needs of one’s family should be regarded as a trust fund to be managed for the benefit of the company.
Carnegie set about giving away his fortune through countless personal gifts and through the establishment of various trusts. In his thirties, Carnegie had already begun to give away some of his fast-accumulating funds. His first large gifts were made to his native town. Later he created seven philanthropic and educational organizations in the United States, including Carnegie Corporation of New York, and several more in Europe.
One of Carnegie’s lifelong interests was the establishment of free public libraries to make available to everyone a means of self-education. There were only a few public libraries in the world when, in 1881, Carnegie began to promote his idea. He and the Corporation subsequently（随后）spent over $56 million to build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world.
After this program was ended in 1917, the Corporation continued for about forty years an interest in the improvement of library services. Other major program in the Corporation’s early history included adult education and education in the fine arts.
During his lifetime, Carnegie gave away over $350 million. He died in Lenox, Massachusetts on August 11,1919.
53．Carnegie became wealthy by__________.
A．his investment in weaving industry B．his father’s financial support
C．starting his steel business from nothing D．his philanthropic activities
54．What is the correct order of events related to Carnegie?
a．He sold his company.
b．He organized the Carnegie Steel Company.
c．He worked in a cotton mill.
d．He came to the United States.
e．He wrote The Gospel of Wealth.
A．c-d-e-b-a B．c-b-a-d-e C．d-c-b-e-a D．d-b-a-e-c
55．What can we learn about Carnegie according to the passage?
A．He was the first wealthy person who contributed to charity.
B．He believed that it was the duty of the wealthy to help society.
C．He called on the wealthy to give away all of their fortune to help the poor.
D．He was willing to give personal gifts only to his friends and relatives.
56．Carnegie established public libraries in order to __________.
A．win a good reputation for his company
B．collect money for his educational organizations
C．improve library services
D．help people educate themselves
A recent survey in the United States showed that the average family spent more money on its pets than on its children. Although rather shocking, it should not surprise anyone who has seen the doggy parlors(客厅) where loved pets rest. Are Americans unique in treating their little friends in this way? No, the English, too, pay more attention to their pets.
This can clearly be seen when we look at pet foods, which often contain more vitamins than human food. They certainly cost much. Last year the British public spent two hundred million pounds on pet food alone, to say nothing of veterinary bills or animal furniture. It is difficult not to feel angry about this when considering what the same amount could do for victims of starvation and poverty, so it is not unusual for me to get hot under collar when I read an old man left all his money to his dog instead of his children.
There are a variety of reasons why I find pets-raising alarming. They cause physical problems. An example of this is New York where they have great difficulty getting rid of the mess that dogs leave on the streets. Many people find this funny, but in a number of large cities it is a major problem. Animals can cause disease, too. It is the threat of rabies — a disease with no known cure.
Another problem is the carelessness of pet owners. Most little children want a dog or a cat, and they continually push their mothers and fathers until they get one. It is only when the "sweet little thing" has been brought home that the parents realize how much time and money must be spent on "Rover" or "Bonzo". Then they just abandon it. As a result, they are allowed to run free. English farmers lose hundreds of sheep a year, killed by someone's pet and you must have read of children being hurt by some pets of their own.
Lastly, I would only suggest that we have got our priorities wrong and that something should be done about it. In my view, it's time we stopped being sentimental about pets. I can see no reason why we should get upset when animals are cut up for medical experiments. This will lead us to discovering cures for serious human diseases, then I say, “keep cutting!”The doggy parlors are mentioned in the 1st paragraph to show ________.
| A．where Americans keep their pets |
| B．what costly lives the pets are living |
| C．why children love their pets so much |
| D．how much pets depend on their masters |
In the second paragraph "to get hot under the collar" probably means ________.
| A．getting quite hot | B．feeling overwhelmingly angry |
| C．becoming excited | D．receiving a fashionable shirt |
According to the author, in which field can animals be most useful?
| A．Pet. | B．Food. | C．Medicine. | D．Sports. |
What is author’s attitude towards pets-raising?
| A．Pitiful. | B．Neutral. | C．Opposed. | D．Supportive. |
My family moved from Taiwan to a small town in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my classmates, Santa Claus would come down one’s chimney and put toys in one’s stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up “stocking” in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew what I had to do.
On that fateful night, after everyone went to bed, I took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel(壁炉). Obviously, the previous owners of this house were no strangers to this Santa character.
I woke up before everyone else on Christmas Day and ran to the fireplace. To make a sob story short, I was hit with the reality of an empty sock and the biggest lie ever told. I burst into tears, quickly took down the sock, and stuffed it in the back of a drawer. Santa was dead.
Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry.
How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, an older man with a white beard and a red cap knocked on my front door. He said, “I’ve been looking for you for twenty-five years.” He handed me a bulging red stocking, winked, and left. On top of the stocking was a card. It read: “For Becky—I may have missed you in the second grade, but you’ve always lived in my heart. Santa.”
Through tear-blurred eyes, I recognized the handwriting of Jill, a friend I had met just two months before. I later discovered that the older man was her father. Jill had seen the hurt little girl underneath the thirty-something woman and decided to do something about it.
So now I believe that Santa is real. I don’t mean the twinkle-eyed character of children’s mythology or the creation of American holiday marketers. Those Santas annoy and sadden me. I believe in the Santa Claus that live inside good and thoughtful people. This Santa does not return to the North Pole after a crazy delivery but lives each day purposefully, really listens to friends, and then plans deliberate acts of kindness.What does the underlined part “what I had to do” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．Waiting for Santa Claus. |
| B．Putting a stocking on the mantel. |
| C．Asking for gifts from her parents. |
| D．Looking up “stocking” in the dictionary |
It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s parents ________.
| A．didn’t love their child at all |
| B．didn’t know the previous owners of the house |
| C．didn’t know much about Christmas tradition |
| D．didn’t have enough money to buy the author Christmas presents |
When the author told her friends about the story, she felt ________ in her heart.
| A．proud | B．amusing | C．hate | D．regret |
The author of the passage is probably ________.
| A．a teenager | B．a primary school student |
| C．a middle-aged woman | D．a native American |
阅读理解
Many of us still tend to think that emotions can affect reasonable thought，and sometimes land us in trouble. But in recent years psychologists have taken quite a different view. Keith Oatley，Professor of Psychology at Glasgow University，is involved in the research which shows the fundamental importance of emotions.
He believes we are very ambivalent about them：we think of our emotions as being unreasonable，but we also consider them as essential to being human. For example，Mr. Spock，a character in the television series Star Trek，is superintelligent and he has no emotions at all. However，he is never made captain of the spaceship. Maybe，this is because Mr Spock is not the kind of person you can share your feelings with—a person who shows his emotions.
As Professor Oatley points out，our emotions have very important functions，for example，fear. If we cross the road and a car approaches，we usually stop moving or step back. We stop what we are doing，check what we have done and pay very careful attention to the environment. The emotion of fear makes us take this small series of actions which,on average, help protect our safety.
On the other hand，if things are going well and small problems come up，we find we can solve them with the resources we have to hand. As a consequence, we tend to feel happy and usually continue doing the job.
Anger is an emotion that tends to occur when someone is preventing us from doing something. Then this small “kit” of reactions enables us to prepare ourselves to be quite aggressive to that person，or to try harder，and so on.
Professor Oatley believes emotions generally occur at these important moments in actions. With fear and anger our emotions make us decide to start doing something else, while with happiness they “suggest” we continue what we are already doing.
What’s Keith Oatley’s opinion about emotions?
| A．They affect reasonable thought. |
| B．They get us into trouble. |
| C．They are helpful to us. |
| D．They are reasonable. |
What does the underlined part “we are very ambivalent about them” in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．We have contradictory feelings towards emotions. |
| B．We have similar ideas of emotions. |
| C．We are quite clear about emotions. |
| D．We can do nothing about emotions. |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Fear helps us to be careful about our surroundings. |
| B．Happiness inspires us to continue what we are doing. |
| C．Anger may urge us to make greater efforts. |
| D．Anger tends to do us more harm than good. |
It can be inferred from the passage that________.
| A．we must control our emotions in daily life |
| B．emotions play a more important part than we realize |
| C．positive emotions such as love and joy are good for us |
| D．negative emotions make us continue what we are doing |
Have you got some paper, a pair of scissors and, above all, a desire to decorate your house? Then, we have the perfect holiday artwork for you: Make Star Wars snowflakes (雪花). Remembered as a cherished form of work in classrooms before the holidays, paper snowflakes have drawn many people's attention again.
The designer, Anthony Herrera, just recently released his 2013 collection. "The Star Wars snowflake designs began as just doing designs of characters that I and my daughter wanted to make three years ago," Herrera told us in an email. "The second year I introduced vehicles, and this year I decided to push further by designing battle scenes."
Sometimes, he feels a bit bored with his job. With each year, the designs have got more detailed and various, but the process of creating them remained the same: sketching (画) figures on paper with a pencil until a symmetrical (对称）pattern comes out, then scanning the designs and cut them with scissors. However, he says he has plenty of ideas for new flakes next year, so no two will ever be the same. Hopefully with Star Wars: Episode VII coming in 2015 he'll have even more work in the future.
Check out your favorite finished versions of Herrera’s flakes (from both 2013 and previous years) and download the pictures beneath them and then get down to creating your own work. A warning: Most designs aren't for the casual flake-maker, so patience you must have.
From the text, we know that Herrera ______.
| A．can make snowflakes with his daughter's help |
| B．made more complicated designs before 2013 |
| C．introduced paper vehicles in 2011 |
| D．will make a great variety of detailed paper flakes |
Herrera is fed up with the job sometimes because ______
| A．he has to design detailed and different patterns |
| B．he has to follow the fixed process of paper cutting |
| C．he spends much time designing, scanning and cutting |
| D．he has few ideas for what the next designs will be like |
By writing the last paragraph, the author tries to ______.
| A．offer us more information about Herrera’s paper cutting |
| B．tell us how to download picture of snowflakes |
| C．instruct people to be a real creative artist |
| D．remind us of being patient with Herrera’s designs |
阅读理解
I had arrived at the airport to catch an early flight home.It had been a very busy three days for me on an interstate trip with lots of meetings，business to do and new customers to meet.Then came the announcement that the flight had been delayed due to a technical problem.I could see a group of technicians and ground staff rushing about，obviously trying hard to fix the problem.I watched and listened as many of the passengers sitting near me shared their frustration about the inconvenience.
As I sat waiting，I reflected on my last meeting for the day.It was not a business meeting but rather a very enjoyable and brief lunch with an old business associate and friend I had not seen for over 12 years，and who I had worked with for nearly 15 years before we lost in touch.I had been given his phone number by a customer I had visited on the first day of my trip，so I called him out of the blue and made a time for us to meet.
Our lunch was spent recollecting(回忆) times gone by and as well filling each other in on what had happened in our lives over the last 12 years.Our conversation was frequently interrupted with statements such as ‘remember when we did...’，‘whatever happened to...’ and of course the one we all liked to hear...‘you know you haven't changed one bit，except for a few more grey hairs.’
We both laughed and smiled as we recalled the good times and the great experiences we had shared over the 15 years we had worked together. Each event we discussed caused another recollection and everything we talked about centered on the good times.Almost at the same time，right at the end of our time together，we both said how much we both enjoyed it and that we must do it again.We agreed to catch up when I was next in town，then said our goodbyes and I was off to the airport.
So with this extra time on my hands as I waited for my flight，it was great to revisit and replay in my mind all that we had talked about over lunch.I realized at that moment just how important it is to have regular reminders of the good times in your life and to be able to take the time to recall the past，for so much of what we have done in our past，shapes us and makes us who and what we are today and beyond.
At the end of my busy trip with the focus on getting all the business done，I was indeed fortunate enough to have had the chance to take a short break and reflect on the good things that had happened in my life over 12 years ago.It was somewhat like looking at an old photo album that you have found stored away in a cupboard in your house.There before your eyes are lots of wonderful memories in print that take you back to that time and place，and most importantly to those people who are in the photos.It also made me realize that when you get caught up doing what has to be done in the moment，it is easy to forget the people you have met in your life who have made a positive effect on and enriched you，often in only the smallest of ways.
My flight home was finally called nearly three hours later and yes as you would have expected many of the passengers cheered when the announcement was made.I smiled as I boarded the plane and realized that I was not at all upset about the delay，as I had been able to spend much of my time reflecting on the good times from days gone by and now eagerly look forward to many more opportunities to recall the past.Which of the following statements will the writer most probably support?
| A．It is impossible to avoid the inconvenience caused by flight delays. |
| B．Our past experiences have a great influence on our future life. |
| C．Looking forward is more important than looking back on the past. |
| D．It is really a pity that the good old times will never come back. |
The detail that their conversation was frequently interrupted is mentioned in order to show ________．
| A．they were eager to make the conversation go smoothly |
| B．they had been very good and close friends |
| C．they were both interested in each other's present life |
| D．they had a good time recollecting their old times |
When the writer boarded the plane，he smiled because ________．
| A．he could finally fly home |
| B．the other passengers were cheering |
| C．he had made very good use of the delay |
| D．his busy trip would soon come to an end |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．The Value of Old Friends |
| B．Reflecting on the Good Times |
| C．A Delayed Flight Home |
| D．A Three－day Business Trip |
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