At dawn on Friday, May 19, 1780, farmers in New England stopped to wonder at the pink color of the sun. By noon the sky had darkened to midnight blackness, causing Americans, still in the painful struggle of a prolonged war of independence, to light candles and tremble at thoughts of the Last Judgment. As the birds quieted and no storm accompanied the darkness, men and women crowded into churches, where one minister commented that “The people were very attentive.” John Greenleaf Whittier later wrote that “Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp . . .”
A recent study of researchers, led by Richard Guyette from the University of Missouri’s Tree Ring Laboratory, has shown that vast forest fires in the Algonquin Highlands of southern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada brought this event upon New England. The scientists have discovered “fire scars” on the rings for that year, left when the heat of a wildfire has killed a part of a tree’s cambium (形成层). Evidence collected also points to a drought that year. An easterly wind and low barometric pressure (低气压) helped force smoke into the upper atmosphere. “The record fits pretty close,” says Guyette. “We had the right fuel, the drought. The conditions were all there.”
Lacking the ability to communicate quickly over long distances, Americans in 1780 remained in the dark about the event, which had disappeared by the next day. Over the next several months, the papers carried heated debates about what brought the darkness. Some were the voices of angry prediction, such as one Massachusetts farmer who wrote, “Oh! Backsliding New-England, attend now to the things which belong to your peace before they are forever hid from your eyes.” Others gave different answers. One stated that a “flaming star” had passed between the earth and the sun. Ash, argued another commentator. The debate, carried on throughout New England, where there were no scientific journals or academies yet, reflected an unfolding culture of scientific enquiry already sweeping the Western world, a revolution nearly as influential as the war for independence from the English.
New Englanders would not soon forget that dark day; it lived on in folklore, poems, and sermons for generations.
66. New Englanders crowded into churches because they were frightened by .
A. the pink color of the sun B. the darkened sky at daytime
C. the Last Judgment on Friday D. the American War of Independence
67. What can we infer about the event in New England on May 19, 1780?
A. Prayers remained silent and attentive. B. Night birds no longer came out to sing.
C. People’s ears became sharper than usual. D. Midday meals were served by candlelight.
68. According to the researchers, the origin of the event was .
A. an east wind B. a severe drought C. some burning fuel D. low barometric pressure
69. What can we know about the debates after the dark day?
A. They focused on causes of the event.
B. They swept throughout the Western world.
C. They were organized by scientific institutions.
D. They improved Americans’ ability to communicate.
70. What can be the best title for the text?
A. New England’s dark day.
B. Voices of angry prediction.
C. There is no smoke without fire.
D. Tree rings and scientific discovery.
In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation（模仿） is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes (菜谱) and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.
In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.
In the field of entertainment, those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.
Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.
.Imitation proves useful when you .
| A．know you are unique | B．lose the balance of life |
| C．begin to learn something new | D．get tired of routine practice |
To avoid the bad result of imitation, we should________.
| A．forget daily fear and pain | B．choose the right example |
| C．ask others for decisions | D．stay away from stars |
According to the author, the world moves on because of those who are .
| A．eager to influence others with their knowledge |
| B．ready to turn their original ideas into reality |
| C．eager to discover what their ancestors did |
| D．willing to accept others’ ideas |
The trouble a creator faces is .
| A．the lack of strong motivation | B．the absence of practical ideas |
| C．how to search for more materials | D．how to use imagination creatively |
The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to __________.
| A．emphasize the importance of creativity. |
| B．criticize the characters of role models. |
| C．compare imitation with creation. |
| D．explain the meaning of success. |
I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt’s house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.
I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving and never to come back was hardly in my head then.
The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism（乐观）, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times.”
My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers（移民局官员）, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.
From my experiences I have learned one important rule: Almost all common troubles go away at last! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.
The author got to know America from __________.
| A．radio programs | B．books and pictures | C．her mother | D．her relatives |
Upon leaving for America the author felt __________.
| A．excited | B．confused | C．worried | D．amazed |
For the first two years in New York, the author __________.
| A．often lost her way |
| B．did not think about her future |
| C．studied in three different schools |
| D．got on well with her stepfather |
We can learn about the author from Paragraph 4 that__________.
| A．she worked as a translator. |
| B．she attended a lot of job interviews. |
| C．she paid telephone bills for her family. |
| D．she helped her family with her English. |
The author believes that __________.
| A．her future will be free from troubles |
| B．it is difficult to learn to become patient |
| C．there are more good things than bad things |
| D．good things will happen if one keeps trying |
The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them. It claims to provide visitors with an “education” through games and other entertainment.
A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo. "Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it. Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising.
Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities. Kids of that age are also a big market for advertisers.
The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things: To identify the advertiser. To know what the advertiser is really saying. And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do.
Children learn these things through a video game. They create their own game character. They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes. Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards. The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level.
The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found. It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing.
One such area is food marketing. The Federal Trade Commission(FTC) says it is a big business. The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2010.
The FTC says children are important for three reasons. They buy products. They influence parents and caregivers to buy. And they are the future adult buyers of the products.
A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value. First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children.
.The best title of the text may be .
| A．The guide of Admongo |
| B．An education website for children |
| C．A popular online video game |
| D．An advertising website |
. The government started the website to .
| A．attract the biggest market of buyers. |
| B．sell the products of its company. |
| C．help children know about advertising. |
| D．advertise the video game for children. |
. Players in the website game can .
| A．choose hair styles for their character. |
| B．travel to a supermarket. |
| C．eat in a fast-food restaurant. |
| D．play video games during the trip. |
. Children are important for advertising because they are .
| A．important for the society | B．the most potential buyers |
| C．easily influenced by ads | D．easily affected by poor products |
According to Michelle Obama, lots of food advertised for children are ________.
| A．healthy | B．of high nutrition | C．yummy | D．of low quality |
Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student. By using your time properly, you can do your homework more quickly. Learning to study is not difficult.
The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn. It doesn’t mean that you must always like the subject. It does mean, however, that you must be wil1ing to do whatever is necessary to learn. Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things. Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life. Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier. Sometimes the subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly. Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them.
Here’s some advice for you: have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study, so that you can concentrate on your study without interruptions(中断); have everything ready before you sit down to study, a dictionary, paper, a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start; read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things; when memorizing, first find out the main parts and then recite the whole thing; check your homework after you finish it; never forget the importance of review and preview.
Don’t try to spend a lot of time researching learning methods. There are many students who know many good learning methods but don’t study well. They forget that the most useful learning method is to study hard.
The main goal of the article is .
| A．to prove that learning is not difficult |
| B．to make the readers be interested in study |
| C．to tell the importance of self teaching |
| D．to tell the students how to study well |
The first thing to remember in studying is that .
| A．you must like the subject | B．you must follow the teacher |
| C．you must enjoy learning | D．you must study hard |
We learn things because .
| A．our parents want us to learn | B．every student learns at school |
| C．we may use these things in the future | D．we like the subjects |
The following advice is given in the article EXCEPT .
| A．To put a pen, paper and books beside you before study. |
| B．To study at any possible time and place. |
| C．To review and preview |
| D．To pay attention to the most important things. |
Among the following statements, ______ is true.
| A．The more learning methods we have, the better we will study. |
| B．Finding the best learning method is the most important in learning. |
| C．If you don’t work hard, though you have a good learning method, you can’t be good at study. |
| D．Once we have mastered a good learning method, we can improve our study greatly. |
Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it’s other people – society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course．We were brainwashed．We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us．As Oscar Wilde puts it，“Most people are other people．Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions，their lives a mimicry(模仿)，their passions a quotation．”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are，it makes us feel good．We long for this good feeling like a drug—we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can．Therefore，we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives，failing to do the things we really want to．Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix(一剂毒品)，we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval．
But just as with any drug，there is a price to pay．The price of the approval drug is freedom--the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think．People have their own schedule，and they come with their own baggage and，in the end，they’re more interested in themselves than in you．Furthermore，if we try to live by the opinions of others，we will build our life on sinking sand．Everyone has a different way of thinking，and people change their opinions all the time．The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process．
So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way--make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think．We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values—not values imposed (强加于) from the outside by others，but inborn values which come from within．If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others，we will live a more authentic，effective，purposeful and happy life．What Oscar Wilde says implies that ．
| A．we have thoughts similar to those of others |
| B．other people’s thoughts are more important |
| C．most people’s thoughts are controlled by others |
| D．most people have a variety of thoughts |
What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph?
| A．We may lose ourselves to please others． |
| B．Changing opinions may cost us our freedom． |
| C．We need to pay for what we want to get． |
| D．The price of taking the drug is freedom． |
It can be concluded from the passage that ．
| A．it’s better to do what we like |
| B．it's important to accept others’ opinions |
| C．we shouldn’t change our own opinions |
| D．we shouldn’t care what others think |
The author tries to persuade the readers to accept his arguments mainly by .
| A．making suggestions |
| B．providing examples and facts |
| C．discussing questions |
| D．analyzing causes and effects |
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