Have you heard of the story of the four-minute miles? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proves it wrong in 1954.
What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when people, who do not know how to swim, fall in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learned swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal does not.
Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam (堵塞) if the operator typed too fast.
These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers command to your nervous system.
I used a snake in my workshops of children to learn how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes were slippery, slimy(黏糊糊的) and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.
Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change.From the first paragraph, we know that _________.
| A．several people have run a mile in four minutes. |
| B．Roger Banister set a record |
| C．nobody has run a mile in three minutes. |
| D．Roger Banister tied a world record |
By comparing a drowning animal and a person, the writer tried to show _________.
| A．the power of confidence |
| B．the responses of humans and animals to dangers |
| C．the difference between humans and animals |
| D．the power of belief |
Which of the following statements would the writer agree with?
| A．Our beliefs are impossible to change |
| B．How we act mainly depends on our beliefs. |
| C．Our beliefs create or destroy our nervous system |
| D．Our beliefs always go against the truth |
The children visiting the writer’s workshops might_________.
| A．learn how to keep off snakes |
| B．become brave and realistic |
| C．become clever and strong |
| D．learn to review their beliefs |
On April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted with great force. Fifty cubic kilometers of magma (岩浆) flew from its peak (山顶) and a blanket of ash as thick as one centimeter fell over more than 500,000 square kilometers of Indonesia and the Java Sea. The eruption destroyed Tambora’s peak and formed a hole six by seven kilometers wide. The eruption and resulting tsunamis killed 10,000 people. The agricultural loss and disease brought about by the thick ash caused the deaths of 82,000 more.
Indonesia was rocked again in 1883. On August 26, a small volcano on an uninhabited island between Sumatra and Java, erupted. The eruption produced an ash cloud 80 kilometers high and was heard in Australia—4,800 kilometers away. The eruption also caused a tsunami, which pounded (击打) the shores of Java and Sumatra—killing 36,000 people.
In 1902, St. Pierre was a thriving (兴盛的) community and the largest town on the French colony of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea. Mont Pelee cast a shadow over the town from where it stood, eight kilometers to the north. The townspeople were used to the light continuous sounds of the mountain, but in May, 1902 Pelee started to get really unstable. Clouds of steam and ash poured from the volcano and on May 8, Pelee erupted. Superheated gas and steaming volcanic ash flew out, pouring down the mountain at high speed. Within seconds, the deadly gas cloud had destroyed the town of St. Pierre and incinerated everyone in it — except one prisoner in a basement cell. It was the worst volcano disaster of the 20th century. How many people died because of the eruption on April 10, 1815 ?
| A．About 10,000. | B．More than 82,000. |
| C．About 36,000. | D．More than 92,000. |
The underlined word “incinerated” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “_____”.
| A．brought up | B．burned up | C．woke up | D．shut up |
Only one prisoner survived the volcano eruption of Mont Pelee on May 8 because _____.
| A．he was on a ship then |
| B．he was kept underground |
| C．he stayed in the water |
| D．he was hidden in a well |
We can know from this article that _____.
| A．no measures can be taken to protect people from a volcano eruption |
| B．volcanoes usually caused a series of earthquakes |
| C．sometimes a volcano can completely destroy a city |
| D．volcanoes are much more violent than the earthquakes |
In the Middle Ages in Europe, theater was an important part of civic, economic and religious life. During this period after the fall of Roman civilization, many cities were destroyed. Southern and Western Europe, famous for its agriculture, became increasingly more agricultural. After several hundred years, many towns appeared again. The Roman Catholic Church took over religion, education and politics. What remained of theater was mostly on the Greek and Roman performing arts.
Theater was reborn as liturgical(礼拜式的) dramas. It was written in Latin and dealing with biblical(圣经) stories which would be performed by church members. Then there came local dramas spoken in common language not Latin. They were more wonderful one-act dramas taking place in town squares or other parts of the city. There were three types of local dramas. Mystery or cycle plays were short dramas based on biblical stories organized into historical cycles. Miracle plays dealt with the lives of the great. Morality(道德的) plays taught a lesson through characters standing for good or bad qualities. Secular plays in this period existed, but religious drama in the Middle Ages is mostly remembered today. As the Middle Ages ended, the number of religious theatres became small as the church weakened and more secular qualities won over religious theaters.The underlined sentence in the first paragraph means that _____.
| A．people got away from the cities |
| B．people liked to live in the country |
| C．agriculture was more developed at that time |
| D．people thought less of city life |
According to the passage, what does "secular plays"mean here?
| A．Plays that deal with the lives of the great. |
| B．Plays that taught a lesson. |
| C．Plays based on biblical stories. |
| D．Plays that are not connected with thechurch. |
Why did religious theatres become less important as the Middle Ages came to an end?
| A．People were not interested in them any longer. |
| B．The church was not as important as what it had been. |
| C．People liked new plays. |
| D．The stories of religious theatres were outdated. |
According to the passage, why did religious theatres take over in the Middle Ages?
| A．People preferred religious theatres to other ones. |
| B．There were no other types of theatres. |
| C．The church played an important part in people’s life. |
| D．The quality of religious theatres was better than that of other theatres. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．European dramas |
| B．Religious dramas |
| C．Religious theatres in the Middle Ages |
| D．Secular dramas in the Middle Ages |
Health and climate scientists have mapped how climate change affects different parts of the world in different ways. The scientists point to the fact that changes in the past thirty years may, have been affecting human health. Possible effects include more deaths from extreme(极度的) heat or cold, more storms and more crop failures in dry periods.
The health and climate scientists recently estimated(估计) that climate changes caused by human activity lead to more than one hundred and fifty thousand deaths each year. Cases of sickness are estimated at five million. And the W.H.O. says the numbers could rise quickly by the year of 2003.
Jonathan Patz of an environmental institute led the study. Professor Patz points out that climate scientists connected global warming with the heat that killed thousands in Europe in August, 2003. But he says poor countries least responsible(对……负责) for the warming are most in danger from the health effects of higher temperatures.
Professor Patz says areas in greatest danger include southern and eastern Africa and coastlines along the Pacific and Indian oceans. Also, large cities experience what scientists call a "heat island"effect that can make conditions worse.
Representatives(代表) from about two hundred countries hold a meeting in Canada, to discuss climate change. The ten-day meeting ends on December 9th. It is the first such United Nations meeting since the Kyoto Protocol(京都议定书) took effect earlier this year. The agreement aims to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide(二氧化碳) and other heat-trapping(吸热的) gases sent off into the air.Who is Jonathan Patz?
| A．A scientist responsible for the climate change. |
| B．A scientist in charge of the study of the climate change. |
| C．A professor interested in the climate change. |
| D．A professor who is a representative from an African country. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Climate changes affect different parts of the world in the same way. |
| B．The ten-day meeting is the first United Nations meeting on climate change. |
| C．The Kyoto Protocol aims to make smaller the amount of heat-trapping gases into the air. |
| D．Poor countries are responsible for the global warming. |
Possible effects from the climate changes include the following EXCEPT ______.
| A．crop failures | B．storms | C．more deaths from overheat | D．air pollution |
According to the health and climate scientists, climate changes have been caused by ______.
| A．dry weather | B．cold weather | C．human activities | D．storms |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．climate changes are having a bad effect on human’s health |
| B．Professor Patz leads the study of climate changes |
| C．a "heat island"effect large cities experience makes the matter worse |
| D．rich countries are most responsible for climate changes |
The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems .One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways ,We see it ,smell it, drink it and even hear it .
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people ,the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people ,When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place, But this is no longer true.
Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious .It’s bad for all living things in the world , but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution, They stop people from burning coal in house and factories in the city. And from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution, It is caused by heavy traffic .We are sure that if there are fewer people driving . there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home, We must take care of it . That means keeping the land. Water and air clean And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.______,our world is becoming much smaller
| A．Because of the rise in pollution |
| B．Thanks to science development |
| C．Because the earth is being polluted day and night. |
| D．Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year |
Hundreds of years ago., life was _____it is today
| A．much easier than | B．as easy as |
| C．much harder than | D．as hard as |
Pollution comes in many ways , We can even hear it , Here “it “means ________
A rubbish(垃圾) B. noise pollution
C. air pollution D. water pollutionAir pollution is the most serious kind of pollution because_____
| A．it makes much noise |
| B．it make us angry more easily |
| C．it makes our rivers and lakes dirty. |
| D．It’s bad for all living things in the world. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution |
| B．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does |
| C．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people living on the earth. |
| D．If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of SO2 |
The opera house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is one of the most beautiful in the United States. It is small and open, with one roof over the stage where singers perform and another roof over part of the audience. This opera house in the mountain is one of the best in the country, which may seem surprising because performances are only given during seven weeks in summer, and because Santa Fe is a very small city.
One reason why the Santa Fe Opera is so good is that it attracts many excellent young singers .They all hope to sing in famous opera houses like Metropolitan in New York someday. And they work hard to become well-known during the summer. The musicians and directors are experts who come from the best orchestras(管弦乐队) and operas in the country during their vacations. They enjoy working there because they like to live in Santa Fe, which is near both the mountains and the desert. It is very beautiful there in summer.
The state government of New Mexico advertises the Santa Fe Opera in newspapers all over the country， and a great many tourists come to New Mexico because of the opera ,Still ,most of the audience does come from Santa Fe and other nearby cities. And all the seats in the theater are sold for every show.
There is only one thing that some people do not like about the Santa Fe Opera, and that is the cold weather .Because the theater is open, performances cannot start before it gets dark at nine o’clock in the evening, and then the mountain air becomes very cool. Sometimes people complain about the cold air ,but because the opera is good , these people come back again wearing warm coats.This passage mainly introduces__________
| A．a mountain city | B．young musicians |
| C．an opera house | D．the tourism in Santa Fe |
Young singers come to perform in Santa Fe Opera because_______.
| A．the music quality is high |
| B．they enjoy the climate there |
| C．they want to be famous |
| D．they like the scenery there |
It seems surprising that Santa Fe becomes famous because______
| A．it is only a very small place |
| B．it is between the mountain and desert |
| C．all the seats are sold for every show |
| D．musicians there are form the best orchestras |
Audience complain because ___________.
A the opera is so good
B the temperature at night is very low
C there are so many people watching the performance.
D the text doesn’t tell usFrom the passage ,we can learn that ________.
| A．the opera house is open without any roofs |
| B．musicians always work in Fe |
| C．the government advertises to attract more musicians |
| D．performances are held in Santa Fe only after it is dark |
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