Lightning flashed through the darkness over Donald Lubeck’s bedroom skylight. The 80-year-old retired worker was shaken by a blast of thunder. It was 11 p.m. The storm had moved directly over his two-story wood home in the rural town of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping. Lubeck padded down the stairs barefoot and opened the door to the basement, and flames exploded out.
Lubeck fled back upstairs to call 911 from his bedroom, but the phone didn’t work. Lubeck realized he was trapped. “I started panicking,” he says.
His daughter and young granddaughters, who lived with him, were away for the night. No one will even know I’m home, he thought. His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by pines that Lubeck knew calling for help would be fruitless.
Up a hill about a third of a mile away lived Lubeck’s closest neighbors, Jeremie Wentworth and his wife. Wentworth had been lying down, listening to the radio when it occurred to him that the sound was more like a smoke detector. He jumped out of bed, grabbed a cordless phone and a flashlight, and headed down the hillside toward the noise.
He dialed 911. “Is anyone there?” he called out as he approached the house. Wentworth knew that Lubeck lived in the house.
Then he heard, “Help me! I’m trapped!” coming from the balcony off Lubeck’s bedroom.
“I ran in and yelled,‘Don, where are you?’ Then I had to run outside to catch my breath.”
After one more attempt inside the house, he gave up and circled around back. But there was no way to get to him. “I shined the flashlight into the woods next to an old shed and noticed a ladder,” says Wentworth. He dragged it over to the balcony and pulled Lubeck down just as the second floor of the house collapsed.
Wentworth and Lubeck don’t run into each other regularly, but Lubeck now knows that if he ever needs help, Wentworth will be there.
Lubeck still chokes up when he tells the story. “I was alone,” he says. “Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life. It was Jeremie.” According to the text, Lubeck___________.
| A．stayed calm in the fire | B．couldn’t find a safe way out |
| C．lived on the first floor | D．called for help in the fire |
How did Wentworth help Lubeck escape?
| A．He called 911. |
| B．He went upstairs and took Lubeck out. |
| C．He put out the fire. |
| D．He used a ladder and pulled Lubeck down. |
Which of the following factors was not mentioned in the text that almost cost Lubeck’s life?
| A．He was living in his wood home alone that night. |
| B．The storm was too heavy and the fire was too fierce. |
| C．He lived far from the main road and was surrounded by pines. |
| D．He was too frightened to escape from the danger. |
What does the text mainly talk about?
| A．A near neighbour is better than a distant cousin. |
| B．A good way to get a narrow escape. |
| C．God helps those who help themselves. |
| D．Blood is thicker than water. |
When I asked my daughter which item she would keep: the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said, “the phone”. Personally, I could do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual. Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.
Point 1. The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the every people she has been at school with all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?
Point 2. The mobile phone means that we are never alone.”The mobile saved my life,” says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue.
Point 3. The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are, where they are going, and how their last meeting went.
Point 4. The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramanate in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near---but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”
Point 5. The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously（同声翻译地）on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.Point 1 mainly tells us that __________.
| A．The writer’s daughter enjoys talking on the phone |
| B．More roads create more traffic |
| C．phones create the need to communication |
| D．it’s easy to communicate through phones |
People’s attitude towards mobile phone is that it _________.
| A．helps people deal with the emergency |
| B．brings convenience as well as little secret to people |
| C．is so important and should be encouraged |
| D．is part of people’s life |
It is possible to talk to several complete strangers at the same time through_____.
| A．the TV screen | B．a fax machine | C．the Internet | D．the phone |
Which is the most suitable title for the passage?
| A．Phone Power | B．Kinds of Phones |
| C．How to Use Phone | D．Advantages of Phones |
Now let's look ourselves as a species in relation to ecosystem balance.Modern scientists believe that humankind, like other animals, evolved(进化) through millions of years of changes and adaptations to the environment and that our most direct evolutionary ancestor was probably an earlier species of the primate(monkey, ape) group. Despite this similarity with other creatures, however, the evolution of humankind differs from that of other species in one important and unique way.
In other species, evolution has led to specialization, both in the species abilities and in its place within the environmental structure. For example, the giraffe is much adapted to feeding on treetops, but it is also specialized and thus limited to feeding on trees and shrubs. Only with great difficulty can it bend down to graze on the ground. Similarly, the anteater is extremely well adapted to eating ants but is unable to catch or eat other animals. The same is true for countless other species.
For humankind it is opposite. Our evolution had led to a very generalized ability. Our highly developed intelligence and ability to make and handle tools mean that we can do almost anything. Humans evolved in such a way that we are able to move into every environment on Earth and even into space. No natural competitor offers great resistance, and other natural enemies such as disease have been controlled.
Said another way, we see in humankind a great imbalance between biological potential and environmental resistance. The result is the rapidly increasing world population, frequently referred to as the population explosion. Further, to support our growing population, natural ecosystems are being increasingly displaced by human habitations, agriculture, and other human supporting activities.From the passage we can infer that in the course of evolution _______.
| A．humankind is very important to earlier species, such as the primate group |
| B．human beings are limited by the environment while animals are not |
| C．human beings become more and more different from each other |
| D．humankind has experienced a generalization rather than specialization in ability |
According to the passage, primate includes such animals as _______.
| A．monkeys and anteaters | B．tigers and apes |
| C．apes and monkeys | D．monkeys and giraffes |
According to the passage, evolution has made it possible for humans to _______.
| A．increase the population |
| B．resist natural offers |
| C．go to the moon |
| D．cure all diseases |
According to the author, imbalance between biological potential and environ mental resistance has resulted in _______.
| A．the population explosion |
| B．the destruction of human habitations |
| C．the growth of natural ecosystem |
| D．the specialization of humans |
(You may read the questions first.)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Theatrical Release Date: July 1, 2011
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: Michael Bay
Genre: Action︱Adventure︱Sequel︱ Sci-Fi︱ 3D
The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are back in action, taking on the evil Decepticons. The Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a dangerous space race. The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft on the Moon and must race against the Decepticons to find its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers’ final battle. Shockwave, a longtime “Transformers” character, rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
Theatrical Release Date: July 15, 2011
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: David Yates
Genre: Action︱Adventure︱Sequel︱Fantasy︱3D
In part II, the battle between the good and evil forces of the Wizarding world evolves into an all-out war. This final adventure continues Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s attempt to find and destroy Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes. Harry Potter is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice to bring an end to his nemesis.
Winnie the Pooh
Theatrical Release Date: July 15, 2011
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Don Hall, Stephen J. Anderson
Genre: Sequel︱Family Animation
Winnie the Pooh is a 2011 American traditionally animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Based upon the characters of the children’s books Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne and Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus, the film features two previously unadapted stories from the original books.
In the movie, Owl sends the whole gang to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary bad character, and it turns out to be a very busy day for Winnie the Pooh who simply set out to find some honey.Which of the following is not the genre of Transformers: Dark of the Moon?
A. Action. B. Sequel. C. 3D. D. Fantasy.According to the Movie Express above, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II is mainly about _______.
| A．a journey of Harry, Ron, and Hermione |
| B．high risks of the final adventure |
| C．an all-out war between good and evil forces |
| D．a fear of Lord Voldemort |
Who might be most interested in the Movie Express of Winnie the Pooh?
| A．Would-be parents. | B．Families with children. |
| C．Writers of children’s books. | D．Honey lovers. |
I stood outside New York's Madison Square Garden and just stared, almost speechless. I was a farm boy from County Kilkenny, a child who some thought would never walk, let alone go as far as I had in the world.
From the day I was born, there was a problem. The doctors at the Dublin hospital told my parents I had phocomelia, a deformity that affected both legs below the knee, which were outward and shorter than normal and each foot had just three toes.
Life was tough. I couldn't stand, much less walk. I rarely, left the farmhouse---and then only in someone's arms. Mam bundled me up whenever she took me to town, no matter the season.
“The world will see him when he can walk,” she told Dad. “And he will walk.”
Mam devoted herself to helping me. She tried everything to get me on my feet. When I was three, she and Dad took me to a clinic in Dublin.
A few weeks later we returned to Dublin with my artificial limbs (肢). Back home I practiced walking with my new limbs.
“There's nothing anyone can do but you can't,” Mam said. “You and I are going to walk through town.”
The next day Mam dressed me in my finest clothes. She wore a summer dress and fixed her hair and makeup. Dad drove us to the church. We stepped out of the car. Mam took my hand. “Hold your head up high, now, Ronan,” she said.
We walked 300 meters to the post office. It was the farthest I'd walked, and I was sweating from the effort. Then we left the post office and continued down the street, Mam's eyes shining with a mother's pride.
That night, back on our farm, I lay exhausted on my bed. It meant nothing, though, compared to what I'd done on my walk.
Then I began to pursue my dream of singing. And at every step Mam's words came back to me—Ronan, you can do anything anyone else can do—and the faith she had in God, who would help me do it.
I've sung from the grandest stages in Europe, to music played by the world's finest musicians. That night, I stood at the Madison Square Garden, with Mam's words chiming in my ears. Then I began singing. I couldn't feel the pulse of the music in my feet, but I felt it deep in my heart, the same place where Mam's promise lived.What was the problem with the author as a baby?
| A．He was expected unable to walk. |
| B．He was born outward in character. |
| C．He had a problem with listening. |
| D．He was shorter than a normal baby. |
The underlined word “deformity” in the second paragraph most probably means _______.
| A．shortcoming | B．disadvantage | C．disability | D．delay |
Why did Mam dress him and herself in finest clothes?
| A．To hide their depressed feeling. |
| B．To indicate it an unusual day. |
| C．To show off their clothes. |
| D．To celebrate his successful operation. |
From the story we may conclude that his mother was _______.
| A．determined | B．stubborn | C．generous | D．distinguished |
According to the writer, what mattered most in his success?
| A．His consistent effort. | B．His talent for music. |
| C．His countless failures. | D．His mother's promise. |
If women are mercilessly exploited(剥削) year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend large sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing their old-fashioned dresses. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with necessary things like warmth, comfort and durability (耐用). They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability(稳定耐用)? That is for you to decide.Designers and big stores always make money _______.
| A．by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry |
| B．because they are capable of predicting new fashions |
| C．by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing |
| D．because they attach great importance to quality in women's clothing |
To the writer, the fact that women change their old-fashioned dresses is seen as _______.
| A．a waste of money | B．a waste of time |
| C．an expression of taste | D．an expression of creativity |
New fashions in clothing are created for _______.
| A．the commercial exploitation of women |
| B．the women's strength of character |
| C．basic qualities of inconstancy and instability |
| D．an important contribution to society |
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