Suppose that we lined up our roughly 14 million United States businesses in order of size, starting with the smallest, along an imaginary road from San Francisco to New York. There will be 4,500 businesses to the mile, or a little less than one per foot. Suppose further that we planted a flag each business. The height of the flag pole represents the yearly volume of sales (销量) , each $ 10, 000 in sales in shown by one foot of pole.
The line of flagpoles is a very interesting sight. From San Francisco to about Reno, it is almost unnoticeable, a row of poles about a foot high. From Reno eastward the poles increase in height until, near Columbus, Ohio - about four - fifths of the way across the nation - flags fly about 10 feet in the air.
But as we approach the eastern terminus (终点) , the poles suddenly begin to mount (升高) . There are about 300, 000 firms in the country with sales over $ 500, 000. These firms take up the last 75 miles of the 3,000 - mile road. There are 200, 000 firms with sales over $ 1 million. They take up the last 50 miles. Then there are 1, 000 firms with sales of $ 50, 000, 000 or more. They take up the last quarter of a mile before the city limits, flags flying at cloud height, 5 , 000 feet up .
At the very gate of New York, on the last 100 feet of the last mile , we find the 100 largest industrial firms . They have sales of at least $ 1.5 billion, so that their flags are already miles high. Along the last 10 feet of road , there are 10 largest companies . Their sales are roughly $ 10 billion and up : their flags fly 190 miles in the air , almost in the stratosphere (平流层) .What is the author’s main purpose in this passage?
| A．To tell the reason why the largest firms are in New York. |
| B．To show the geographical distribution (分布) of the United States businesses. |
| C．To provide a general idea of the size of businesses in the United States. |
| D．To tell us how the United States businesses are arranged. |
What’s the correct order of the following places from east to west?
| A．San Francisco, Reno, New York, Columbus. |
| B．San Francisco, Reno, Columbus, New York. |
| C．New York, Columbus, Reno, San Francisco |
| D．New York, Reno, Columbus, San Francisco |
Among the four parts of the imaginary road , which part , considering all the firms in it , has the largest total volume of sales ?
| A．The last 75 miles. | B．The last 50 miles. |
| C．The last 100 feet of the last mile. | D．The last quarter of a mile |
Which of the following diagrams (图表) shows the right order of size of the US businesses , according to the text ?
S =" San" Francisco R =" Reno" C =" Columbus" N =" New" York H =" height" F = feet
Over thousands of years, human beings have been learning about more and more about this world, and have figured out many ways to avoid risks and make our lives easier. Even in ancient times, we used fire to frighten away animals, built simple boats to cross waters, and armed ourselves with sharpening stones and sticks. Nowadays, with advanced technology and instrument, people know the world better than ever. It’s surprising how much people already know about this world and how much we’ve changed our lives by using the knowledge we have.
But if you think we know everything, that’s wrong. I guess sometimes we have to accept the limitation on our understanding of the world. No matter how much we’re already known about the world, there are things that remain mysterious. I learned this from my pregnancy (妊娠) which ended in the 6th month, due to a placental abruption (胎盘早剥). I started to see my OB/GYN (产科医生) every month, taking vitamins regularly, doing all the lab tests to make sure we were expecting a healthy baby. All the results looked promising, and we thought we would have a healthy baby girl in January next year. Even in the week before placental abruption, when I was in hospital because of a sudden bleeding, doctors didn’t believe there were any bad possibilities after reading my blood tests. Unfortunately it still happened. Later, I asked my doctor “So what caused this?” She said, “I don’t know. We probably will never know.”
After leaving the hospital, I sometimes do feel frustrated for what happened. But I already accept the fact that there are simply things that we do not know. No matter how well you plan and monitor your life there are uncertainties that can not be predicted and thus can not be avoided. We are only human beings.
Her name was Janet. She came to the world in April, and left us 6 months later. Though we never had the chance of meeting her, she is always our beloved daughter.
In the late May 2013, during our first OB visit, we saw a little heart beating happily inside its mother. We couldn’t even tell that was a baby, but we knew the magic was happening.
The first three months was a disaster, Janet showed her power by making her mama throw up every day. Daddy became the cook of the family, and spent hours learning new dishes to please his picky wife.
In the 12th week, we saw her again during an OB screening. When the doctor tried to measure her, she suddenly waved her hand to us, as if saying “I know you are spying on me again.”
Every regular OB check became our favorite experience, when we could hear her heart beating and knew she was enjoying herself. In the 18th week, one day when daddy was singing, she suddenly kicked her mama. We never felt so happy. Since then, she became more and more naughty, doing all sorts of exercise in her warm little house. We started to think about names, decorate her pink room, and shared the news with our friends. For young parents, there are always a lot to learn!
Then it was the end of 25th week. A sudden bleeding terrified mama and daddy. After staying in the hospital for three days, things looked all right again, and Janet did not seem to be affected. However, the night after we went out of the hospital, a much worse contraction(痉挛) started which caused placental abruption. When we went back to the hospital, mama survived from an emergency operation, but Janet’s heart was no longer beating.
Janet, thank you for all the joy you brought to us. We love you and we will miss you forever. Rest in peace!Paragraph One impresses us with ________.
| A．man’s frightening away animals |
| B．people crossing lakes and rivers |
| C．people making modern weapons |
| D．man’s ability to know the world |
What happened to the baby girl?
| A．She died six months after birth |
| B．She died in a medical accident. |
| C．She died before she was born |
| D．She died from lack of equipment. |
What does the writer mean by saying “We are only human beings.”?
| A．We can not avoid risks and make our lives easier. |
| B．We have to accept the limitation of human knowledge. |
| C．We can change our lives by using the knowledge we have. |
| D．We know the world better with advanced technology. |
The writer’s detailed description of Janet’s growth shows that ________.
| A．the world is hard to predict |
| B．medical science is powerful |
| C．the mother’s love is endless |
| D．life is full of fun and mystery. |
The tone (笔调) of the passage is ________.
| A．emotional | B．pitiful |
| C．encouraging | D．hopeless |
In our world today, the media and entertainment industries are constantly focusing on beauty over brains. Movies, television shows, commercials, and magazines all make use of models and actors whose wonderful appearance will help sell their products. And make more money for the companies.
As our country become crazy about reducing the obesity numbers, eating disorder statistics continue to increase due to the push for thinner people. Even children as young as primary school age have begun to worry about the numbers that appear on the scale. I agree obesity is a serious medical condition that can lead to many health problems, but many of us try to lose weight for appearance purposes rather than our health. It seems that “fat” has become a new “ugly”.
Two weeks ago, 37-year-old Wisconsin television hostess Jennifer Livingston, who is 235 pounds, received an email from a local security guard named Kenneth Krause. In the email Krause attacked the mother of three, writing, “Your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years. Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular.”
Days later on live television, Livingston reacted to this email by responding, “The truth is that I am overweight. But to the person who wrote to me that email, do you think I don’t know that? You know nothing about me but what you see on the outside. And I am much more than a number on the scale.”
While Livingston is not denying her size, she does suffer from hypothyroidism, a hormone (荷尔蒙) disorder that makes it harder to lose weight. Krause doesn’t know that Livingston has also been trying to change her diet and keep a regular exercise since the summer, and has already lost 8 pounds.
What kind of people have we become when we criticize and attack other people we don’t even know? Haven’t we realized by now that weight does not determine character, talent, or qualities?
Today, it seems that a vast majority of people care more about how they look rather than what is inside. Negative attitudes towards heavier people can be seen worldwide because of the growing obesity problem.
The truth is that every person is built differently; we all come in different shapes and sizes. That someone is heavier doesn’t mean they eat large amounts of junk food and hang around all the day. Similarly, even though a person is thin, that doesn’t mean they are necessarily healthy and fit.
If you are reading this and you are fighting with your weight or your appearance, please recognize that you are beautiful and special in your own way. You are worth so much more than you realize, and even if I don’t know you, I respect and support you.
Beauty is not determined by size; it is determined by how we treat others and respect ourselves. Just as the talented film actress Kirstie Alley put it, “There’s a lot more to life than how fat or thin you are.”From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that ________.
| A．fat people are sure to suffer from eating disorder |
| B．models will be out of work if they do not lose weight |
| C．many people nowadays focus too much on appearance |
| D．children in primary schools care little about their weight. |
The writer mentioned the email written by Kenneth Krause in order to tell us ________.
| A．some people still have negative attitudes towards fat people |
| B．Kenneth Krause is an unfriendly person who likes attacking the fat |
| C．we should make an effort to help the fat improve their physical condition |
| D．the fat can not act as a suitable example for the community’s young people |
What do we know about Jennifer Livingston according to the passage?
| A．She has been trying to keep a regular exercise all the time. |
| B．She has already realized her physical condition. |
| C．She is prevented from losing weight because of a kind of hormone. |
| D．She is often attacked by a local security guard because of her shape. |
The article mainly tells us the message that________.
| A．the thin are usually healthier than the fat |
| B．happiness lies first of all in health |
| C．health is more important than appearance |
| D．beauty means more than appearance |
In the writer’s opinion, ________.
| A．“fat” has become a new “ugly” |
| B．your size shows who you are |
| C．the fat should be careful about losing weight |
| D．fat people shouldn’t lose weight |
When Julio Diaz stepped off the subway after work one night, he was simply planning to go to his favorite local diner for a meal. But when a teenage boy approached（靠近）him with a knife, Diaz knew the evening was about to take a more dramatic(巨大而突然的) turn.
The young man demanded Diaz’s wallet, and Diaz passed it over without objection(异议). But just as he turned to walk away, Diaz called, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something.”
The young man turned around, surprised.
“If you’re going to rob people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep warm.”
The teenager looked at Diaz in disbelief, and asked why he would do such a thing. Diaz replied, “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, I guess you must really need the money.” He said he was heading out for dinner, and that he would be happy to take someone with him.
The young man decided to take Diaz up on his offer. As they were sitting at the table, the manager, dishwashers and waiters all stopped over to say hello to Diaz, and the young man was amazed at his popularity.
“Haven’t you been taught that you should be nice to everybody?” Diaz asked him.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teenager replied. Thanks to Diaz, he was beginning to see that kindness wasn’t so strange, after all.
When the bill came, Diaz told the teen that he’d have to get the check. After all, he still had Diaz’s wallet.
But the teenager put the wallet on the table without a moment’s thought, and Diaz treated him to dinner. Diaz also gave the would-be robber a $20 bill — in exchange for his knife. “I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right,” Diaz said.When a teenage boy approached him with a knife, Diaz was on his way ________.
| A．to the subway station. |
| B．to his workplace. |
| C．to have a meal. |
| D．to see a drama. |
The young man felt surprised when Diaz ________.
| A．stepped off the subway platform |
| B．passed the wallet over without objection |
| C．called him to wait for a moment |
| D．invited him to have dinner together |
The underlined part “take Diaz up on” can be replaced (代替) by “________”.
| A．follow | B．understand |
| C．check | D．accept |
The teenager gave the wallet back to Diaz maybe because _________.
| A．Diaz was so popular with people in the restaurant |
| B．he began to realize people should be nice to others |
| C．Diaz had to pay for the meal they had together |
| D．he had been given a $20 bill to take with him |
If you're ever apart from your children, a new study says just talking on the phone will help just as much as a hug （拥抱）.
If you're a parent who spends long hours on the job, you probably feel sorry for spending so
much time away from your kids. But the results of a new study show that a mother's voice alone can be just as comforting to an anxious (焦虑的) child as physical contact (接触).
In an experiment, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked a group of girls between the age of 7 and 12 to solve math problems in front of judges --- a stressful (充满压力了) situation for anyone. Before the girls were set to solve math problems, the researchers measured their levels of two hormones (荷尔蒙): cortisol, which goes up during stressful periods, and oxytocin, the "love" hormone.
After they were finished, some of the girls got to meet up with their mothers right away. The mums came in and hugged the girls. Another group of the girls didn't see their mothers, but received phone calls from them, in which their mothers told them how well they'd done. The final group had no contact with their mothers, but watched an animal movie, March of the Penguins instead. Finally, the girls' hormone levels were measured again. Although the movie was interesting, it did nothing to ease (缓解) the children's anxiety (焦虑) ---- but, surprisingly, both the physical contact and phone calls from their mothers had the same effect on easing the girls' stress levels.
So, no matter how old you are, if you're feeling stressed about something in your life, a phone
call to Mom might be just the key to help you feel better.The first two paragraphs suggest that ____.
| A．a mother's voice can comfort her anxious kid |
| B．the results of the study can't be accepted by mothers |
| C．parents are too busy to talk with their kids |
| D．mothers should spend enough time staying with their kids |
Which of the following is the right order in which the study was carried out?
a. The girls' levels of hormones were measured again.
b. The girls solved math problems.
c. The girls' levels of hormones were measured.
d. The girls were divided into three groups.
| A．b-c-d-a | B．d-b-c-a |
| C．c-b-d-a | D．d-c-b-a |
We can learn from the third paragraph that cortisol ____.
| A．is good for our health |
| B．can change into oxytocin |
| C．may go down when the situation becomes comfortable |
| D．is one kind of hormones mainly found in girls |
According to the passage, we can infer that ____.
| A．it is easy for girls to solve math problems |
| B．the girls who had watched the movie remained anxious |
| C．mothers should hug their kids as often as possible |
| D．older girls have higher cortisol than younger ones. |
What is the author's attitude towards the study?
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Uncertain. | D．Worried. |
My husband is reading The Secret Garden （《秘密花园》）aloud to our kids. They are at the part where Mary has told Colin that she’s found the garden her mother loved. It’s an exciting moment. But the passage I’m waiting for is a few chapters（章节）on, after Colin has tasted his first breaths of fresh air and Mary has grown strong running in the garden. It’s just a detail, but my kids will notice it: a delicious description of toasted（烤）potatoes and eggs.
We have a tradition of trying foods from the books we read aloud. It started when we read Elizabeth Enright’s The Saturdays, and one of the boys asked, “What are petit fours（花色小蛋糕）?” An answer, my husband and I felt, wouldn’t be as good as a sample. So one Saturday we all sat down having tea and little cakes, covered with pink, green, and yellow. It was exciting for the kids to try a dessert（甜点）they had learned about in a book. The petit fours they tried didn’t tell them what it was like to live in New York City 60 years ago, but tasting them made the book’s words alive.
Later, when we read C.S.Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, we had Turkish delight. We read The Penderwicks, written by Jeanne Birdsall, and had gingerbread（姜饼）.We read Paddington Bear and tried marmalade（橘子果酱）.
Soon we will reach the part of The Secret Garden where Mary, Colin, and Dickon roast potatoes and eggs in a small oven（炉） in the earth. My kids will go out into the woods to find the perfect place for an oven of our own. Yes, we’ve eaten potatoes and eggs, but never in the open air.
The world that a good book creates is whole and real, but it lies flat on the page until a reader gives life to it.The text is written mainly to _____.
| A．show the importance of reading aloud |
| B．discuss food culture in children’s books |
| C．provide a new means of family education |
| D．introduce some interesting books |
The author believes tasting foods from the books may help children _____.
| A．understand the books better |
| B．enjoy more healthy food |
| C．be friendlier to each other |
| D．know more about history |
The underlined words “Turkish delight” in Paragraph 3 probably refer to _____.
| A．a great time |
| B．something delicious |
| C．a trip to Turkey |
| D．more stories |
Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?
| A．The taste of a good book |
| B．The best way to make kids learn |
| C．Eating means more than reading |
| D．Our toasted potatoes and eggs |
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