Bend over, take a deep breath and drink some water! This is just one of the hundreds of tips you might get if you have the hiccups(打嗝). Hiccups are so mysterious. We really don’t know why they start and why they stop.
Everyone has a favorite cure for a case of the hiccups. Some people think that a good scare is necessary to get well. Others eat a teaspoon of sugar. Still others drink a glass of water with a knife in it.
An American man named Jack O’Leary claimed to have hiccupped 160 million times over a period of eight years. He tried 60,000 cures, but none of them worked. Finally he prayed to Saint Jude, the saint of Hopeless cases, and his hiccupping stopped immediately.
It took a British plumber eight months to cure his hiccups. People from all over the world wrote him letters with suggestions for getting well. He tried them all, but the hiccups continued. Finally, he drank a “secret’’mixture someone had sent him. By that evening his hiccups were gone. Why did these cures work for these two men? No one really knows. But people who have studied many cases of hiccups have an idea. Hiccups usually go away if you believe in the cure.
________might be the best cure for hiccups.
| A．Special pills | B．A spoonful of salt | C．Cold water | D．What you believe in |
The plumber spent________in stopping his hiccups.
| A．4 hours | B．2 days | C．8 months | D．8 years |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．We know why the hiccups start, but we don’t know how to stop them. |
| B．Saint Jude is an expert in curing the hiccups. |
| C．The British plumber drank a secret mixture given by an experienced doctor and then became well. |
| D．Some people think that a good scare is a cure for a case of hiccups. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Different ways to stop hiccups | B．What makes hiccups happen |
| C．How to get hiccups | D．Jack O’Leary’s hiccups |
Last summer, as part of my high school graduation project, I volunteered at Saunders House nursing home.
I choose this experience because it was something that I had never done before and I wanted to lend a helping hand．When I first came up with the idea of volunteering at a nursing home, I wanted to help out with activities and meet with some of the residents （住客）.
At first it was challenging because I was extremely shy; however after getting to know the residents a little better, I started to feel more comfortable around them. My goal in volunteering was to bring a smile to the residents by doing different activities from word games to playing chess. I feel as if I had accomplished that goal.
At the nursing home, I did a lot of different activities with the residents ranging from Jeopardy, to Wheel of Fortune. One of my favorites was a word game where I would write a ten letter word on the board and the residents would try to come up with as many smaller words as possible. I could tell that it was one of their favorite games because they always seemed to be so enthusiastic when they played．I also transported residents to and from their rooms when they needed help; and whenever it was a nice day out, I would take them outside to get some fresh air and relax. On Saturday mornings, I would deliver the newspaper to the residents and on Sundays, I assisted with morning church services.
The most unforgettable part of this experience was when I had one on one conversations with the residents; it was incredible how many great stories they had to tell. One of the first residents was Mr. Charles Bowman who is one hundred and three years old!The author volunteered at the nursing home because ________.
| A．she was willing to help |
| B．the residents needed her |
| C．she was good with the old |
| D．the old people challenged her |
What helped the author get over the challenge?
| A．The determination to do the voluntary work. |
| B．Communicating with the residents. |
| C．The residents’ smiling faces. |
| D．The sense of achievements. |
The author felt it ________ to do the activities with the residents.
| A．enjoyable | B．upset |
| C．uncomfortable | D．challenging |
The author wrote the passage in order to ________.
| A．persuade readers to care more about the old |
| B．encourage readers to do voluntary work |
| C．describe a social problem |
| D．share an experience |
A good deal of fascinating research has been done about the reading patterns of young people，and it is surprising to discover at what an early age children start expressing preferences for particular kind of books. A recent report，which examined in detail the reading habits of primary-school children．showed that even seven-year-old boys and girls have clear views about what they want to read. Girls，in general，read more，and far more girls than boys preferred reading stories. Boys were showing a taste for the more instant appeal of picture stories，or else books about their hobbies．
These tastes continue unchanged until the children are teenagers. Apparently girls read more in general，but more fiction in particular .You could say that there are more opportunities for girls to read fiction：magazines encourage the fiction habit in girls in their early teens，and by their late teens they have probably moved on to the adult women’s magazines．Teenage boys tend to buy magazines about their hobbies：motorcycles，heavy transport and to on．
Adult reading tastes are also the subject of research．Again the number of women who read for pleasure is considerably higher than the number of men. It seems that the majority of women still want love stories．There has also been some analysis of what men actually read Apparently only 38 percent of men read anything，but 50 percent of what they read is fiction in the form of action-packed(内容丰富有趣的)stories of space or gunmen What has the recent research into children’s reading show?
| A．Children begin to read very fast at an early age |
| B．Children examine in detail what they read at school |
| C．Children can read clearly in primary schoo1． |
| D．Children form their reading tastes by the time they are seven |
If we have a close look at the reading habits of boys and girls we’ll find that_______
| A．girls are more interested in fiction than boys |
| B．girls are more interested in action-packed stories than boys |
| C．boys read much more than girls |
| D．boys have no interest in fiction |
It can be inferred from the passage that_________．
| A．boys change their reading tastes more often than girls |
| B．people usually do not change their reading tastes when they grow up |
| C．boys and girls form their reading habits by reading magazines |
| D．people have no definite(确切的)reading tastes |
In a computer age，a broadband Internet connection is very popular now．Whether cable or mobile broadband，today’s connections are many times faster than those in the early days. Videos play smoothly, complex websites load quickly，and files download much faster than ten years ago．And the files are much bigger too．
There’s a hidden problem：You have to live near enough to a major city to get broadband Internet. If you don’t，it's slow dial-up access for you. And for those living really far out，there may be no Internet access at a11．
Technology experts often talk about the “last mile” problem， which refers to the difficulty of bringing Internet access to remote locations．In cities and suburbs(郊区)，it's relatively easy to provide access for everyone．It is much more difficult to deliver access to those living far from cities，especially in developing countries．Internet service providers．for their part，have been reluctant to provide access to sparsely(稀疏地)populated areas．The handful of Internet users they would reach wouldn’t cover the expense.
But every year, technological advancements allow of more and more Internet users. Most broadband connections today run over existing cable TV and telephone lines although these technologies aren’t available everywhere．
Some companies have delivered the Internet over standard power lines. Advancements in cheaper more efficient fiber optics cables(光纤电缆)promise to bring extremely fast Internet connections to more users．Still．the“last mile”problem remains hard to deal with．There will always be somewhere that doesn’t have an affordable broadband connection．But someday that might not matter．If the rapid progress in cell phone technology is any indication，it may not be too long before an Internet connection simply follows you wherever you go. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Internet connections have been popular everywhere． |
| B．Internet service providers are willing to care about rural(农村的)customers． |
| C．The problem of Internet access hasn’t been completely dealt with |
| D．Computer can’t become popular in developing countries． |
Paragraph 4 mainly tells us that technological advancements_______.
| A．make TV and telephone available everywhere |
| B．bring great change to people’s everyday life |
| C．bring faster Internet connections to users |
| D．make it possible for more people to use the Internet |
What may eventually settle the“last mile”problem?
| A．The broadband connection’s getting faster． |
| B．The rapid progress in cell phone technology． |
| C．More and more Internet connections． |
| D． More and more Internet users |
The best title for this passage may be________．
| A．Internet Connection Problems |
| B．Internet Connections Need Improving |
| C．Progress in Internet Connections |
| D．Internet Connections Today |
I work in a nursing home and my job is to take care of the elderly．
This year, a very sweet old lady that I cared for，Alice, had gone through a difficult time .She got dementia and so she had been in the hospital twice .In November I was finally able to get her back to her“home”．
Alice had thought her daughter was coming to visit her on Christmas day and that they were going to have the whole family together like the old days. When she finally realized that that happy moment was not going to happen，she was very sad．Knowing that her daughter was coming after Christmas was not enough to make her feel happy，I hated the idea of her being alone on the holiday!
On Christmas Eve，I gave her a surprise by asking if she could like to go to a candlelight service at church that night
Instead of taking her to my church，I took her to her old neighborhood church where all her friends were. We got there early and I got her a seat where her friends could see her as they came in．Then soon some of her friends came to the church and they rushed over to greet her and sit with her．
The candlelight service was beautiful and Alice got a lot of love from her old and new friends there.
The truth of the story is that I am the one who got the best gift: the smile on Alice’s faceThe underlined word“dementia”in Paragraph 2 probably is_______
| A．a house | B．a letter | C．an illness | D．a plan |
Where did Alice spend her Christmas Eve according to the story?
| A．In her old house |
| B．In her old neighborhood church． |
| C．In the nursing home． |
| D．In the hospital． |
What was the best gift that the author got on Christmas Eve?
| A．The candlelight service． |
| B．Praise from Alice’s friends． |
| C．Alice’s happiness |
| D．Thanks from Alice’ s daughter． |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．A special candlelight Christmas Eve |
| B．The dream of all old lonely lady |
| C．My special job |
| D．The true love |
One day a student was walking with his teacher in the countryside．As they went along，they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path．They were a pool farmer’s，who was working in the nearby field．
The student turned to the teacher saying：“We will hide his shoes，and hide ourselves behind those trees，and wait to see what he will do”
“My young friend．”answered the teacher,“we should never make fun of the poor. Why not put a coin in each shoe，and then we will hide ourselves and watch?”The student did so and they both hid themselves behind the trees. The poor man soon finished his work，and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.
After putting on his coat，he put his foot into one of his shoes，and felt something hard．Then he bent (弯腰) down to feel what it was，and found the coin. Surprised，he looked at the coin，turned it around and looked at it again．He then looked around，but no person was seen．He put the money into his pocket, and continued to put on the other shoe. His surprise was doubled on finding the other coin．
He couldn’t control his feelings and fell to his knees，looked up to the sky and expressed his thanks. Then he spoke of his wife，sick and helpless，and his children without bread．He said the help would save them from dying.
The student stood there deeply moved，and his eyes filled with tears．“Now,”said the teacher, “Are you not much happier than if you had hidden the shoes?”When the student saw the shoes，he wanted to_______
| A．steal them | B．play a joke on the owner |
| C．find their owner | D．give the owner some money |
According to the passage，the teacher is______．
| A．quiet and honest | B．kind and friendly |
| C．patient and clever | D．strict and careful |
When the farmer saw the second coin, he______
| A．was surprised and decided to find the owner |
| B．was worried and looked up at the sky |
| C．was very excited and grateful |
| D．spoke of his difficulties and asked for more help |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．True happiness comes from helping others． |
| B．All good things come to an end |
| C．Where there is a will，there is away |
| D．It is never too late to learn |
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