One of the best-known American writers of children’s books is Alfred Strong, or Doctor Strong, as he is better known to readers everywhere. Now, an art show called “Doctor Strong From Then to Now” is travelling around the United States. The pictures and drawings show the history of Doctor Strong.
Doctor Strong first became famous almost fifty years ago when his first children’s book was published. Since then, he has written forty-five books that have sold more than one hundred million copies around the world.
Doctor Strong’s books are known for their easy use of words and colorful, hand-drawn pictures. These drawings bring life to his imaginary creatures. The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and hundreds of others.
The San Diego Museum, in California, organized the art show. It included about three hundred Doctor Strong’s original(最早的) drawings and some of his writings.
Most of Doctor Strong’s books, although written in a funny way, have serious messages. For example, in Mc Elligot’s Pool, he describes the danger of pollution. He discusses the arms race in The Butter Battle Book, written in 1984.
Doctor Strong is almost eighty-four years old now. He says he never planned to write stories just for children. He says he writes stories that interest people of all ages. He says he uses easy words so that everyone, even a child, can understand. Alfred Strong is a famous _______ in the United States.
| A．doctor | B．artist | C．writer | D．reader |
Doctor Strong first became famous in __________.
| A．his eighties when an art show was travelling around the United States |
| B．his fifties when his drawings and writings were published |
| C．1984 when his book Mc Elligot’s Pool was published |
| D．his thirties when his first book was published |
Doctor Strong’s books are very popular in America because __________.
| A．they are stories about animals such as cats, elephants and so on |
| B．they are written in easy words with colorful pictures |
| C．he organized the art show in California |
| D．they are written in a funny way |
His purpose in writing many such books is __________.
| A．to show his original pictures and drawings |
| B．to organize a special art show of his own |
| C．to make his readers laugh or smile when they read his books |
| D．not only to interest people but also to uncover some serious social problems |
It is that time of the year when the warm, late Summer days meet the cold, early Autumn nights. The skies on days like these are bright and clear. The air is cool, fresh, and full of the smell of wild flowers. The leaves on the trees are dark green but with splashes of red appearing here and there. It is a really beautiful time of the year. Every where and in everything you can see change.
Birds are starting to migrate. Children are getting ready for another school year. People are looking back on the fun days of Summer and forward to the busy days of Fall.
It is days like these that remind me that while seasons, weather, and nature's colors may change it is all beautiful and it is all joyful. And I am changing too.
My thick wavy hair is now pretty thin on top. Its dark brown color is now getting some gray sprinkled(散落)in it. The smile lines around my eyes and mouth are deeper now and stay with me even when I stop smiling. My glasses continue to get thicker with each new pair and the music I love is now referred to as "oldies". Still, I feel so happy and joyful in my life. I am grateful for my younger years because they taught me so much.
What I have learned and experienced has gotten me to where I am today. I am grateful for my present because now is where I live and now is where I love. I feel happiness in every moment that God has given me, and I take great delight in all the changes life brings. Life is a never ending journey of change and growth. Life's changes never stop but neither does life's joy. The author describes the sceneryin the first paragraph in order to ______ .
| A．tell the time of story’s taking place |
| B．tell the joy of season’s changing |
| C．show the impressive beauty of nature |
| D．set off the author’s delighted feeling |
From this passage we can learn _____.
| A．the author is not young any longer at present |
| B．the season the author describes is the meet of late autumn and early winter |
| C．the author is a person who used to love music |
| D．the author doesn’t hope life has changed so much |
The underlined part in the last paragraph probably means ______.
| A．present life is well worth treasuring |
| B．he is satisfied with where he lives now |
| C．present life isn’t changing |
| D．the world is filled with love everywhere |
From the passage we can see the author’s attitude to life is full of ______.
| A．excitement | B．appreciation | C．compassion | D．complaint |
The best title of this passage is ______.
| A．My life | B．My past | C．I love life | D．Life's changes |
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。注意：每空格1个单词。
Searching for the truth
Collecting mid writing news is like researching in history: the best information comes from those who were there at the time. So if' we want to study tile history of China in the sixth century AD, we look at the writings of the people who lived then. They are called the primary sources because they tell us what it was like to live then. People at a much later date who write about the same events are called the secondary sources. For example, when we read the original writings of Jia Sixie on agriculture, we are reading a primary source; when we read about Jia Sixie in our textbook we are reading secondary source because the passage was written about him and his ideas many years after he died.
When we make news we use primary and secondary sources. We can see this most clearly in TV programmes. As we watch the news on TV, the person presenting the programme in the studio is the secondary source( because he tells us about the news) and the reporter in. Iraq or Washington is the primary source (because he is telling us about what is actually happening there). Without these reporters acting as primary sources, you would never find out what really happened in a war, earthquake, sports meeting, concert or festival. These reporters explain what is happening so we have a clearer idea of what is going on there. They often take photographers with them who act as primary source by giving pictures of events.
In a newspaper the position is different because these two roles are often combined. This means a reporter who investigates a story may be the same person who writes it. If this happens, the reporter is both the primary and the secondary source. But the photographer who works with him/her is still a primary, source.
One of the reasons that it is important to separate primary and secondary sources is that they help us to decide what is a fact and what is an opinion. A fact is something that everybody agrees has happened. An opinion is somebody's idea of what happened. So facts and opinions are often mixed in any report, whether in a newspaper or on TV.
What have you learnt from the above passage?
| Primary Source |
Primary sources are the writing of' the people who lived at (1)___________ time and offer an inside view of a particular event |
| Secondary source |
Secondary sources are the writings of the people who write about the same events at a much later date with explanation and analysis (2)_________ on primary sources |
| News on TV |
The TV (3)__________ in the studio is tile secondary source while the reporter on the (4) ____________ is the primary source |
| News in a newspaper |
A newspaper reporter can be both primary and secondary source if he collects the information anti then (5) ______________ the news. But the photographer(6) ___________ with the reporter is always a primary source |
| Fact |
A fact is something that everybody agrees has happened. In other (7)____________, it is something that is (8) ________________ |
| Opinion |
An opinion is somebody's idea of what (9)________________on |
| Conclusion |
Primary and secondary sources are both important for (10)_______ the truth |
Kuss Middle School serves students in Fall River, Mass. , a former mill town that has struggled economically for decades. Students at Kuss have struggled, too, usually falling short of making the academic progress required under the No Child Left Behind law.
Then, last year, the school experimented with extending the school day. Teachers got paid at a higher hourly rate.
Students weren't thrilled at first with leaving school at 4:15 p.m. instead of at 2:20 p.m. But the added hours gave them more time for physical education and let them select special interest classes. By the end of the year, student scores had risen by enough to enable Kuss to make the progress required under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
The only surprise is that more districts haven't lengthened school schedules set decades ago to accommodate (适应) a farm economy rather the information economy of today.
| School days The USA ranks 36th of 40 industrialized nations in average weekly instructional time. Selected countries: 1) Thailand--30.5 hours 2) Korea--30.3 hours 7) China--26.5 hours 14) France--24.6 hours 15 ) UK--24.6 hours 16) Mexico--24.2 hours 23 ) Japan--23.8 hours 26)Canada--23.6 hours 36)USA--22.2 hours 40)Brazil--19 hours |
New research suggests the time is ready for a change:
Matched against 39 other developed countries, the United States is near the bottom in the rankings of average weekly instructional time in school. Measured over 12 years, students in the top-scoring countries spend the equivalent of a full extra year in school.
US students perform poorly on math and science tests compared to their international peers, according to a US Education Department comparison released earlier this month. In math, American 15-year-old scored near the bottom among the study's 30 developed countries.
Most countries that boost the number of minutes spent on math instruction find pay offs in improved math scores, according to a study released this month by the Brookings Institution. Small in creases in the school day are more effective than a longer school year, the report concluded.
The most encouraging news about the benefits of extending the school day comes from Massachusetts, where an experiment with 10 schools, including Kuss, appears to be working. Those 10 schools lengthened their instructional days by 25% and boosted their state scores in math, English and science at all grades.
Perhaps the concept won't work everywhere. Certainly, it won't instantly be popular. But it's obvious that a problem exists or that adding class time seems to help.What is the main idea of the above passage?
| A．Experiments with extended school hours produce academic gains. |
| B．Kuss Middle School sets a good example for US education. |
| C．Academic progress has achieved under the No Child Left Behind law. |
| D．Information age calls for more instructional lime at all schools. |
A longer school day is suggested for the following reasons except that _________.
| A．students from many developed countries spend more time at school |
| B．American students do a bad job at science subjects |
| C．teachers are paid at a higher rate with time added |
| D．a longer school day works better than a longer school year |
Which statement is true of Kuss Middle School?
| A．Kuss Middle School lies in where a farm economy is changing to an information one. |
| B．Kuss Middle school has joined the federal "No Child Left Behind" progrann |
| C．Neither teachers nor students are happy with the longer school day. |
| D．Adding class time functions at Kuss Middle School. |
The writer has expressed ____________.
| A．a positive attitude towards adding school time |
| B．a negative attitude towards adding school time |
| C．a changing attitude towards adding school time |
| D．a right attitude towards adding school time |
Honesty may well be the policy, but it often deserts us when no one is watching, psychologists report today. Experiments with an honesty box to collect payments for hot drinks show that people are better at paying up when under the gaze(注视) of a pair of eyes. The surprise was that the eyes were not real, but photographed.
Researchers at Newcastle University set up the experiment in secret. They attached a poster to a cupboard of mugs above an-honesty box alongside a kettle ,with tea, coffee and milk. Over 10 weeks, they alternated each week between images of eyes and pictures of flowers.
Dr. Bateson, a behavioral biologist and leader of the study, said that even though the eyes were not real they still seemed to make people behave more honestly. They effect may arise from behavioral characteristics that developed as early humans formed social groups that increased their chances of survival. Individuals had to co-operate for the good of the group, rather than act selfishly.
"If nobody is watching us it is in our interests to behave selfishly. But when we think we're being watched we should behave better, so people see us as co-operative and behave the same way towards us, "Dr. Bateson said.
"We thought we'd get a slight effect with eyes, but it was quite striking how much difference they made. Even at a subconscious(潜意识的) level, it seems people respond to eyes, and that might be because eyes send a strong biological signal we have evolved(进化) to respond to."
The finding, which researchers believe sheds light on our evolutionary past, could be turned to practical use. The psychologists say images of eyes could promote ticket sales on public transport and improve monitor systems to prevent antisocial behavior.This passage is mainly about _______________.
| A．the policy of honesty |
| B．an honesty box to collect money |
| C．evolution on honesty |
| D．an experiment on honesty |
The reason for doing the experiment secretly is that the researchers _____________.
| A．wanted to get a comparatively more exact result |
| B．had known they wanted to do something illegally |
| C．meant to get the co-operation of their colleagues |
| D．intended to sell the hot drinks at a higher price |
People behave honestly under watchful gaze of eyes because _____________.
| A．they want to leave a good impression |
| B．they fear to be laughed at by others |
| C．they've got the nature through evolution |
| D．they take the photo for a real pair of eyes |
The underlined phrase" sheds light on" in the last paragraph means _____.
| A．causes somebody to become cheerful |
| B．makes something easier to understand |
| C．comes upon something by accident |
| D．brings something into the broad daylight |
You can be proud of yourselves, even if you can only make one or two of these green changes. The goal here is to limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which are closely associated to the big problem of global-warming.
| Strategy 1: Bring your own cup to Starbucks |
|
| You'll get a 10-cent discount, and it's one less paper cup to end up in a dustbin |
The store won't create more waste when they throw away a cup |
| Strategy 2: Turn off your computer |
|
| When in standby mode, your PC is still using energy |
Turning off a monitor for 40 hours a week may only save $ 5 a month, but it reduces CO2 by 750 pounds |
| Strategy 3: Reuse plastic bags |
|
| Instead of throwing away 100 billion plastic bags a year, try and get a second, third, or tenth use out of them. Better yet, next time you shop, try a reusable bag |
You're reducing pollution. The amount of oil it would take to make just 14 plastic bags would run your car for one mile |
| Strategy 4: Use recycled paper in the bathroom |
|
| Most of the toilet paper we use is made from trees found in forests previously untouched by humans |
If every household replaced one roll of toilet paper with a recycled one,424,000trees would still be standing. Look for eco paper towels too |
| Strategy 5: Buy energy-efficient appliances(电器) |
|
| Replace the old fridge with an Energy Star appliance and you'll use 15 percent less energy. It might be a little expensive to buy, but you'll save money on your electricity bills and help the environment |
If we all used one Energy Star appliance at home, it would be like planting 1.7 million acres of new trees |
| Strategy 6: Plant a tree |
|
| Adding green to your garden is beautiful and earth-pleasing |
Just one tree will help make cleaner air and save the environment from 5, 000 pounds of hot carbon dioxide each year |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Strategies to Save Money |
| B．Ways to be Earth-Friendly |
| C．Strategies to End Global-Warming |
| D．Ways to Limit Carbon Dioxide |
According to the writer, what will happen if our PC is switched off when not in use?
| A．It will help to save a large amount of money. |
| B．It will help to reduce a great deal of CO2. |
| C．It will save the amount of oil that runs your car for a mile. |
| D．It will be like planting 1.7 million acres of new trees. |
Which strategies suggest recycling or reuse of things?
| A．Strategies 1 & 3. | B．Strategies 2 & 5. |
| C．Strategies 3 & 6. | D．Strategies 4 & 5. |
What benefits do these strategies have in common?
| A．They all help reduce the use of energy like electricity. |
| B．They all cut down the amount of the use of paper. |
| C．They all result in producing less greenhouse gases. |
| D．They all aid to preserve our trees and forest. |
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