Sitting on a chair all day in school can make anyone want to move around. So, more and more teachers are letting students have a ball. By sitting on exercise balls instead of chairs, teachers find students' posture (姿势) and attention improve.
Dottie Pownall, a fifth-grade teacher in West Virginia, USA, has been using balls as chairs since December 2008. "The students love them", she says. Pownall took a survey of her students. She found that 80% of the students thought sitting on the balls helped them pay more attention to what they were learning.
The teacher, Pisa Witt, felt so strongly about the use of balls as chairs, she started Witt Fitt. This company encourages the use of the balls. And the company educates not only teachers but also students on how to use them. "Our products are used in 24 states, three provinces in Canada, Puert
o Rico ('波多黎各) and Japan," says Witt. "Research shows that sitting on the balls makes them sit up straighter. You can slouch (低头垂肩地坐) on a ball," says Witt, "but it feels awful." Because the students are moving, their blood (血液) increases. That carries more oxygen (氧气 to the brain (大脑), so the kids have more energy and can focus longer.
"Furthermore, they're fun." says Pownali. What will happen if a student sits on a chair all day in school? The student will _________.
| A．pay more attention to his lessons | B．be fun |
| C．like to move around | D．sit up straighter |
How long has Dottie Pownall used the balls?
| A．About three years. | B．Only one year. |
| C．In 2008. | D．Since he was a fifth-grade teacher. |
In how many countries are the balls used as the students' chairs?
| A．Four. | B．Three. | C．Two. | D．One. |
Teachers choose balls instead of chairs because sitting on balls helps the kids___________.
| A．improve the students' posture and attention | B．slouch on the chairs |
| C．have fun | D．Both A and C are correct answers. |
Which is better for kids to study in class, sitting on a chair or sitting on a ball?
| A．Sitting on a chair. | B．Sitting on a ball. |
| C．They are the same. | D．We don't know. |
Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors (家庭教师), cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic (天主教的) school.
After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread (铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.
Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity (好奇心). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns (修女)?”
Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ”
“Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?”
Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed (钉) to the plus sign (加号), I knew they weren’t joking. ” Why did Tommy’s parents send him to a catholic school?
| A．Because he could eat well there. |
| B．Because he could earn more about nuns. |
| C．Because his parents wanted him to do better in his math. |
| D．Because his parents didn’t want him to learn math any more. |
Tommy’s mother felt surprised that his son _______.
| A．was still the same as usual |
| B．ate so much at dinner |
| C．kissed her hello after school |
| D．worked hard but said little |
“Hitting the books” means “_______” in Chinese.
| A．用功 | B．捶书 | C．发泄 | D．振作 |
54. The last sentence in the passage shows that _______.
| A．Tommy felt sorry for the mail |
| B．Tommy was afraid of being nailed |
| C．Tommy didn’t like the plus sign |
| D．Tommy liked playing jokes on others |
From the passage, we can infer (推断) that _______.
| A．teachers should be strict with their students |
| B．mistaking (误解) might do good sometimes |
| C．a catholic school is much better than other ones |
| D．nuns are good at helping children with their math |
The word, “photography”, was first used in 1839. It comes from the Greek words that mean “to write with light”. But photography could only give peoplestatic pictures. So scientists were trying hard to find ways to make pictures that can move. They made lots of experiments, but failed again and again. It was Eadweard Muybridge who finally succeeded. He was the first photographer to try this successfully. But how did he make it? It was an interesting story.
Back in 1872, people didn’t know exactly whether all four of a horse’s hooves (蹄) left the ground at the same time when it was running. A gentleman called Leland Stanford made a bet with his friend about it. Most people believed that a horse always had one hoof on the ground, or it would fall over. But Stanford didn’t think so.
At that time, it was hard to know who could win the bet, because a horse’s legs move so fast that it is impossible to tell just by looking. So they needed a way to record the movement of a running horse. Then Stanford offered $25,000 to the famous photographer, Muybridge, to help find the answer. In the beginning, Muybridge failed to get clear images, but he didn’t give up. He continued to improve his cameras. In 1878, after many experiments, he managed to get a sequence (连续) of 12 photos. One of them clearly showed that all four of the horse’s hooves were off the ground at the same time. And when the photos moved fast, people could see a horse running.
Though is usually considered as the person who created the first movie in 1889, it was the work of Eadweard Muybridge and the bet that led to Edison’s invention.The underlined word“static”in Paragraph 1 most probably means _______.
| A．pretty | B．dark | C．moving | D．still |
What did Leland Stanford make a bet with his friend about?
| A．Whose horse ran faster. |
| B．whether a horse would fall over while running. |
| C．whether it was possible for scientists to make moving pictures. |
| D．Whether a horse’s hooves all left the ground at the same time while running. |
Muybridge finally found the exact answer to the bet _______.
| A．next year. | B．at the same year. |
| C．after six years. | D．after seventeen years. |
Which is TRUE from the passage?
| A．The word, “photography” means to make pictures that can move from the Greek words . |
| B．Leland Stanford made a bet with Edison in 1872. |
| C．It is very easy for Muybridgea to record the movement of a running horse. |
| D．Stanford believed all four of the horse’s hooves were off the ground at the same time. |
The passage mainly tells us _______.
| A．that Thomas Edison created the first movie . |
| B．that Eadweard Muybridge created the first static pictures |
| C．how photography helped people know more about animals |
| D．how Eadweard Muybridge got pictures of motion (移动) successfully |
Did you ever wonder how some of your favorite foods, products or toys came about? Believe it or not, they may have been an accident, or a failure of some other intention. Below, we found three mistakes we’re thankful for turned out to be what they are.
1. Most historians hold that the Chinese invented fireworks in the 9th century when they discovered how to make gunpowder. Story has it that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed together what were then considered common kitchen items and noticed they burnt. When put tightly(紧紧地）in a bamboo tube(管子and lit, it blew up.
2. In May of 1886, a law led John Pemberton, a pharmacist(药剂师), to rewrite the formula(配方) for “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca”, his popular headache treatment. Containing sugar instead of wine as a sweetener, the outcome became something for Coke, which was later mixed with carbonated(碳酸) water. His bookkeeper suggested the name Coca-Cola because he thought the two C’s would look good together, which is how what we call Coca-Cola, a world-wide drink came into being.
3. During World WarⅡ, scientists at the University of Birmingham invented the magnetron(磁控管)—an important heat-producing part of the microwave oven. While working for Raytheon Corporation after the war, the American engineer Percy Spencer was testing the magnetron when a chocolate bar in his pocket melted. He went on to test other foods including popcorn kernels(仁), and found it to be a much more efficient way to cook. In 1947 Raytheon came out with the first restaurant microwave oven, which was six feet tall and weighed 750 lbs.The underlined phrase “ blew up” might mean _______ in Chinese.
| A．爆炸 | B．膨胀 | C．升华 | D．蒸发 |
Percy Spencer found the microwave efficient in cooking when he was ________.
| A．looking for a way to melt his chocolate |
| B．trying to know tow a magnetron could cook |
| C．working to know how the magnetron works |
| D．asked to invent a restaurant microwave oven |
The right time order of the three inventions should be ________.
| A．fireworks, the microwave and Coca-cola |
| B．fireworks, Coca-cola and the microwave |
| C．Coca-cola, fireworks and the microwave |
| D．the microwave, Coca-cola and the fireworks |
What can we learn from the above invention stories?
| A．Experiments makes great inventors of our time. |
| B．Nothing is impossible if one tries each day. |
| C．Inventors come out of hard work at any time. |
| D．A small incident may lead to a great invention. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．What great inventions they are! |
| B．Inventions from Three Countries. |
| C．Stories of Accidental Inventions. |
| D．The Human Inventions of time. |
Born in Ghana，West Africa，in 1989，Freddy Adu has become one of the most promising young soccer players in the world.Soccer fans have been crazy about him since 2003，when he became the youngest player to join a professional sports team in the United States.The next year，he became the youngest athlete ever to play in an allstar game，a match in which the best players from many professional teams compete.
As a child，Adu did what many children in Ghana love to do—play soccer.His mother recognized her son's talentand encouraged it by providing soccer balls，which were expensive for them.Since he had soccer balls，other children always came looking for him and played together.
Education was very important to Adu's mother，and she wasn't sure that her son could receive a good education in Ghana.So she tried hard and moved to Maryland，U.S. in 1997，when he was eight years old.His new school friends soon noticed his talent for soccer，and the parents of one friend encouraged him to join a soccer club.This was his first time playing organized soccer，and he helped his team from the Potomac Soccer Association win a tournament in Italy in 2000.One professional Italian team was so impressed by Adu that they offered him $750，000 to play for them.Adu's mother refused the offer and thought that her eleven-year-old son needed to finish school first.
Adu did finish high school at the age of 14.Nowadays，he is playing professional soccer and living with his mother in a house he bought for her.His salary with the D．C. United team is $500，000 a year，and Adu is also paid to advertise products such as sports shoes and drinks.Adu is happy that his mother no longer has to work at two jobs，and his fans are happy that they can watch him play their favourite sport for many years to come.
Freddy Adu was ____ years old when he became the youngest ever allstar team player.
| A．eight | B．ten | C．thirteen | D．fifteen |
Adu's mother helped him develop his talent by ____．
| A．making him play soccer every day |
| B．finding him a soccer coach |
| C．offering him soccer balls |
| D．making him join the school team |
Which is the correct order of the following events？____
a．Adu became the youngest professional soccer player in the USA.
b．Adu's family moved to the United States.
c．Adu's mother noticed his special ability to play soccer.
d．Adu is paid to advertise sports shoes and drinks.
A．b—c—d—a. B．a—c—b—d.
C．d—c—a—b. D．c—b—a—d.
What can we learn from the passage？____
| A．As a child，Adu taught other children to play soccer in his hometown. |
| B．Adu moved to the USA because there were no soccer teams in Ghana. |
| C．Adu helped his team win a tournament and got $750，000 in Italy in 2000. |
| D．Adu gets more than $500，000 a year and lives happily with his mother now. |
What is the secret of the success of Adu according to the passage?
| A．His mother noticed his talent and encouraged him all the time. |
| B．He received a good education in the United States. |
| C．The parents of his friend encouraged him to join a soccer club. |
| D．All of the above |
Look carefully at the back of a California state quarter．A man with a walking stick is pictured there．A bird called a California condor(大秃鹫)is flying overhead. Who is this man，and why is he so important that he is featured(处于显著地位)on the back of a coin?
The man on this quarter is John Muir．Even as a child, Muir loved watching nature. As a young man，he spent much of his life exploring the beauty of the wilderness．He walked more than a thousand miles across the country，through fields and woods．John Muir liked writing about the places he visited，describing their beauty.
Muir also wrote about problems．In order to create more farmland for sheep and cattle, rnany trees were being cut down．This made Muir unhappy and worried，because he knew that trees were important to forests and to the animals that lived in them．Muir believed that nature should be conserved(保护)instead of being changed by human beings．He wrote articles in magazines and newspapers to spread the word about conserving forests．Soon，others began to listen．
Muir wrote letters to important people，such as President Theodore Roosevelt．The president admired Muir’s love for nature．When Roosevelt came to visit Muir in California. Muir convinced(说服)the president to go camping with him for three nights under the trees so they could talk about conservation．Later，President Roosevelt set aside 148 million acres of land for national forests and established(建立)five national parks．National parks are large areas of land that are protected from development. This means that people cannot build homes or businesses there. One of these parks is Yosemite National Park，the area that is featured on the back of the California quarter．
Though it has been almost one hundred years since John Muir died，people continue his work today．His work as a conservationist helped us to see the beauty of our natural world．John Muir made us understand the importance of protecting our earth and our resources---then，now，and for the future．What did John Muir spend much of his life doing when he was a young man?
| A．Watching natural views． |
| B．Writing about the places he visited． |
| C．Exploring the beauty of the wilderness． |
| D．Creating farmland for sheep and cattle． |
Why did President Theodore Roosevelt visit John Muir?
| A．Because Roosevelt loved watching nature． |
| B．Because Roosevelt received letters from John Muir． |
| C．Because Roosevelt admired John Muir’s love for nature. |
| D．Because Roosevelt was sad about the problems with farmland． |
What happened after President Roosevelt went camping with John Muir?
| A．Many trees were cut down． |
| B．Five national parks were established． |
| C．More homes and businesses were built. |
| D．More farmland was used for sheep and cattle. |
Why is John Muir featured on the back of a California state quarter?
| A．Because he walked over a thousand miles across the country． |
| B．Because he helped people understand the importance of protecting the natural world. |
| C．Because he wrote articles to spread the word about conserving forests． |
| D．Because he once wrote several letters to President Theodore Roosevelt． |
What is the writer’s purpose of writing this article?
| A．To advise readers to become active conservationists. |
| B．To make us interested in the story about a great man． |
| C．To tell us something about an important person in history． |
| D．To give information about how to conserve the environment． |
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