Today, roller skating (滑旱冰) is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn’t easy at all. Before 1750, people never tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making instruments. In his free time he liked to play the violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called him a dreamer.
One day Merlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think. He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin had an idea. He thought that he would attract a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make he roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin was very proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into the room while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be very surprised.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyone was really surprised to see him. There was just one
problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with all eyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke into many pieces with a very loud noise. But nobody forgot Merlin’s wonderful entrance after that. The story tells us that people began to enjoy roller-skating ______.
| A．before the year 1750 | B．before the invitation |
| C．because of Joseph Merlin | D．because it was dangerous |
People called Merlin a dreamer because ___________.
| A．he slept and dreamed a lot | B．he was full of different ideas |
| C．he was a talented violinist | D．he always made people’s dreams come true |
___________ made Merlin think of skating on wheels.
| A．Merlin’s work | B．Merlin’s violin |
C．A huge mirror |
D．An important party |
What was Merlin’s problem after he rolled into the room?
| A．He couldn’t stop his roller-skating. |
| B．He couldn’t attract a lot of attention. |
| C．Everyone was surprised at him. |
| D．He couldn’t play the violin while rolling. |
The text is mainly about_________.
| A．a strange man |
| B．an unusual party |
| C．how roller skating began |
| D．how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century |
A small town in southwest Britain is banning (禁止) plastic bags in an attempt to help the environment and cut waste－a step that environmentalists believe is a first for Europe.
Shopkeepers in Modbury population 1,500, agreed to stop handing out disposable plastic bags to customers on Saturday. They said paper sacks and cloth carrier bags would be offered instead.
Last month, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags. Internationally, laws to discourage the use of plastic bags have been passed in parts of South Africa and Ireland, where governments either tax shoppers who use them or fine companies that hand them out. Bangladesh already bans them, and so do at least 30 remote Alaskan villages.
Modbury, about 225 miles southwest of London, has also declared a bag ammesty (宽限期), allowing local people to hand in plastic bags that have piled up at home. They w
ill be sent for a recycling.
The Modbury ban was the idea of Rebecca Hosking, who saw the effect of bags on marine life while working in the Pacific as a wildlife camerawoman. She said response in the town so far had been “really positive”.
“Modbury is quite an old-fashioned town and a lot of people have wicker(柳条) baskets to go out shopping anyway, ”Hosking told Sky News Television.
The World Watch Institute, an environmental research agency, states that 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year in the United States alone. More than 500 billion are used yearly around the world.The underlined word “disposable” in the pas
sage probably means .
A．ac ceptable |
B．valuable | C．environmentally-friendly | D．long-lasting |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．most of the people in Modbury continue to use plastic bags |
| B．fewer and fewer plastic bags will be used in the world |
| C．San Francisco is the first city to ban plastic bags in the world |
| D．most countries in the world have passed laws to ban plastic bags |
Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Environmental Protection | B．Big Cities Banning Plastic Bags |
| C．British Town Banning Plastic Bags | D．Effect of Plastic bags on Sea Animals |
US researchers have found traces of an anc
ient lake on Mars recently, increasing hopes of discovering evidence that billions of years ago the Red planet hosted life.
The lake, which dates back some 3.4 billion years, appears to have covered as much as 80 square miles and was up to 1,500 feet deep, said the team from the U
niversity of Colorado.
“This is the first clear evidence of shorelines on the surface of Mars,”said Boulder’ s research associate, Gaetano Di Achille, in a study published in the latest edition of Geophysical Research Letters.
“The identification of the shorelines and accompanying geological evidence allows us to calculate the size and volume of the lake, which appears to have formed about 3.4 billion years ago.”
Analysi
s of the images has shown the water carved out the canyon (溪谷) in which it was found, which then opened out into a valley depositing (使淤积) sediment (沉积) which formed a delta (三角洲).
“Finding shorelines is a great discovery to us,” said assistant professor Brian Hynek, adding it showed the lake existed at a time when Mars was thought to have been cold and dry.
Scientists believe the oldest surfaces on Mars formed during the wet and warm era known as the Noachan epoch, about 4.1 billion to 3.7 billion years ago.
The newly discovered lake is believed to date from the Hesperian era and postdates the end of the warm and wet period on Mars by 300 million years, according to the study.
Scientists believe deltas next to the lake may well hold secrets about past life on Mars as such places on Earth have become the natural deposits of organic carbon and other markers of life.The size of the lake found on Mars is ______.
| A．80 square miles | B．1,500 square miles |
C．3.4 billion square miles |
D．300 million square miles |
When the lake existed, the weather on Mars was ____.
| A．hot and wet | B．wet and warm | C．cold and dry | D．cold and wet |
Why do scientists think deltas near the lake may hold secrets about past life on Mars?
A．Because similar places on Earth have become natural deposits of marker s of life. |
| B．Because someone has put secrets about past life on Mars there. |
| C．Because past life has been found in other deltas on Mars. |
| D．Because some people are said to have already seen life marks there. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The Noachan epoch was a wet and warm era. |
| B．The lake might have existed 3.4 billion years. |
| C．The discovery can’ t fully prove that the Mars once hosted life. |
| D．The lake traces prove that there exists life on Mars now. |
Social Program: 22nd—26th August 2011
Monday Evening—Study Centre or Sports Park
Study Center: The school will be open from 7.45 pm to 9.35pm.
Sports Park: Aerobics, Swimming or Fitness Training (with a Fitness Card).
Tuesday Evening—Cinema
Cinema: To get your free ticket, you must write down which film you wou
ld like to watch. See the leaflet on the board for this evening’s UCI Cinema program. For more information about the films, visit the UCI website www.uci.co.uk or see the film section in this week’s Time Out magazine.
Wednesday Evening—Study Centre of Tennis Coaching
Study Center: The school will be open from 7.35 pm to 9.35 pm.
Tennis Coac
hing: With former Junior Wimbledon tennis player Stuart Silvester.
Thursday Evening—Chinese Party
Chinese Party: Come along and enjoy the hospitality of the Chinese students! You can try delicious Chinese food and learn about Chinese traditions. Please note that you should eat your evening meal at your home-stay, as the food is a taster and not a full meal. Non alcoholic and alcoholic drinks will be served.
Friday afternoon—Historical Walking Tour or Sports Parks
Historical Walking Tour: This afternoon you will have the opportunity to visit parts of Norwich you may have otherwise missed, with a professional guide. In medieval times Norwich was the second most important city in England and this afternoon you can learn some of the interesting history of our fine city.
Sports Park: Badminton, Basketball, Fitness Training (with a Fitness Card), Football, Squash, Swimming or Volleyball.
Please sign early if you wish to play any of the sports listed above.You can do all the following things during the weekday except ___________.
| A．going to the cinema | B．going to the Chinese party |
| C．taking a historical walking tour | D．taking a mountain climbing tour |
The passage may probably be found ___________.
| A．in a school’s bulletin board | B．in a school’s text book |
| C．in a latest newspaper | D．in a fashion magazine |
From the passage we know that ___________.
| A．students have to pay for the film tickets |
| B．some of the students in the school are Chinese |
| C．Norwich is the second largest city in Britain |
| D．the school is closed during the daytime |
From the passage we can infer that __________.
| A．students in the school can have access to computers |
| B．students in the school only have morning classes |
| C．the school often serves Chinese food to students |
| D．every Friday afternoon the students will have a tour |
BEIJING—Seven prestigious universities in China announced Sunday that they would begin using the same independent exam —besides the national one —to test students hoping to gain entrance to them in 2011.
The seven are Peking University, Beihang University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Fudan University, Xiamen University and Hong Kong University.
Students who want to gain entrance to any of the seven universities will only have to sit one independent exam, according to the joint announcement.
“This will help lighten tile students’ load, otherwise they must take several exams for different universities,”said the announcement.
Passing the exam could result in more than one interview chance, giving the students more opportunities to choose their favorite universities.
China’ s college entrance exam system is undergoing reform as universities aim to select students based on independent criteria rather than just using the results of the national exam.
In 2003, Peking
University and another 21 universities were allowed to pilot (试用) the reform by using their own criteria to independently select five percent of their students.
Now nearly 80 universities across the country have the right to select talented students based on their own exams.
Education experts regard universities selecting students according to independent examinations as conducive (有助的) to better understanding where the students’ talents lie.
Although this may be the case, it has also created problems as students may sit many differen
t exams as they often apply for a number of universities.
To relieve students from such pressures, the national education outline (2010—2020) released in July this year encourages high-level universities to group together to use the same exams. If students want to be admitted to the seven prestigious universities, they can______.
| A．only pass the interview. |
| B．only take the national exam. |
| C．only take the independent exam. |
| D．either take the national exam or the take the independent exam. |
What’s the purpose of students sitting one independent exam to gain entrance to the seven universities?
| A．It can reduce students’load to take several exams. |
| B．The universities will have the same standard to test students. |
| C．There will be less trouble marking students’ test papers. |
| D．It can avoid fierce competition among these universities. |
If students pass the independent exam,they will ______.
| A．take the national exam. |
| B．have one or more interview chances. |
| C．be admitted to one of the universities. |
| D．he trained to be adapted to universities life and studies. |
What is the advantage of universities selecting students according to independent examinations?
| A．Students needn’t take the national exam. |
| B．Students’education cost can be lowered. |
C．Students abilities and talents can b e better found. |
| D．It can encourage middle schools to recommend more qualified students. |
When you do some minor image editing (修正) on your computer screen, you may make some mistakes, so from time to time you’d click undo (撤消).
There are things in life we cannot undo as easily and completely as we would with our computer files. A wrong turn, a hurtful word said to a loved one, a bad move — these we all commit as we walk our life’s journeys, no matter how careful we are in our steps. Once committed, we can no longer undo many of these mistakes, especially because unlike with our computer documents, each thing we do and say has vast impact as they involve not just us — the file that we are working on — but also others, the unopened files and computer programs in our system.
So I guess our life’s mistakes are not like our pencil scrawls (潦草书写) that can be effectively corrected with an eraser, or errors on our computer works that can be undone with an undo button. But there are effective and reliable tools we can use—APOLOGY and FORGIVENESS. Simply click the APOLOGY button when you have commit
ted a mistake that has hurt a loved one and the words “I’m Sorry” will flash on the other person’s screen. But, you have to be truly sorry and you must be prepared not to commit the same mistake again for your APOLOGY to work. Sincerity is definitely a necessary part.
When someone clicks the APOLOGY button and the words “I’m sorry” flash on your screen, all you have to do is click back the FORGIVENESS (原谅) button. It means that you have wholeheartedly accepted the other person’s APOLOGY. But not only that. You also have to click it when someone has sent you back the message “It’s okay. Forget about it.”. It means that you are also forgiving yourself for your mistake; that you won’t keep feeling so bad having committed it.
And lastly, don’t forget to keep clicking the SAVE button. Going through the whole process of editing—of doing and undoing, of apologizing and forgiving — is useless if you fail to save the LESSON for future use. Let the saved file be a reminder of the healing process you once went through to make yourself better; for you not to forget the lesson; and for others to access and learn from.Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．However careful we are, we still make mistakes in life. |
| B．Things we do and say can affect computer programs in our system. |
| C．We can undo life’s mistakes if we are careful enough. |
| D．An eraser is an effective tool for our computer works. |
The APOLOGY button should be clicked when ________.
| A．one wants to make the computer work perfectly |
| B．one’s mistakes won’t influence others any more |
| C．one is actually saying “I’m sorry” |
| D．one won’t make the same mistake again |
What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
| A．The UNDO button. | B．The APOLOGY button. |
| C．The SAVE button. | D．The FORGIVENESS button. |
We need to click the SAVE button in life because ________.
| A．we want to go through the whole process of editing |
| B．we need to learn a lesson from the past mistakes |
| C．we want to make the healing process faster |
| D．we need to use the computer properly |
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