The success of Pickwick Papers made Dickens very popular. He suddenly found himself at twenty-four the most famous novelist of his day. Busy as his social life was, he worked on two novels at the same time－Oliver Twist and Pickwick Papers. He was particularly proud of Pickwick, which was a huge success and was regarded as a comedy (喜剧)masterpiece(杰作). “If I were to live a hundred years and write novels in each, I should never be so proud of any of them as I am proud of Pickwick Papers,” he said.
It has been said of Dickens that he grasped（抓住）the imagination of his readers because his imagination grasped himself. The people in his works were so real that they could make him laugh or cry. When writing Oliver Twist he said that he could not rest until Fagin, the wrongdoer(做坏事的人), had been hanged.
Dickens’ marriage to Catherine Hagarth, with whom he had nine children, ended unhappily in 1858. He started to travel about giving readings of his works. His interest in theater gave his novels the qualities that made them suitable for reading aloud on the stage. A tiring travel to the United States affected his health. On June 9, 1870, when he was working on a new novel, he died, as he had wished. He said he wanted to die working. Dickens became a famous novelist .
| A．because his social work |
| B．with the success of Pickwick Papers |
| C．because he was writing two novels at the same time |
| D．when he began to give readings of his works |
According to this passage, we know that Dickens .
| A．was only interested in writing novels |
| B．didn’t like Oliver Twist |
| C．wished to live one hundred years and write three novels in each |
| D．didn’t think he could write a better novel than Pick wick Papers in his life |
Fagin must be .
| A．a person in real life |
| B．a character in Oliver Twist |
| C．a character in Pickwick Papers |
| D．one of Dickens’ works |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Dickens had a happy marriage to Catherine Hagarth |
| B．Dickens was a successful actor |
| C．Dickens’ death had little to do with his hard work |
| D．Dickens had wished to die in the course of his work |
As computers become more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly relying on computer keyboards to input Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes（笔画）of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.
Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. And computer dependence is more wide-spread among university students. Almost all their assignments and essays are typed on a computer.
All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.
It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education. But when people are taking stock in computers increasingly, problems appear.
“When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write a character, though I feel I’m familiar with it.”
“I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper.”
Many students don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and efficient to write on a computer, why bother to handwrite?
Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei, the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital said, “Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic (审美的) value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting contains the writer's emotion. Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and personality. Beautiful writing will give people a better first impression of them.”
To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory (必修的) and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
| A．The Importance of Handwriting and Typing |
| B．To Type or To Hand Write |
| C．Writing By Computer Will Replace Writing By Hand |
| D．Practical and Aesthetic Value of Chinese Characters |
The students interviewed prefer to write using a computer mainly because ______.
| A．they are usually asked to e-mail their Homework and Essays |
| B．they can correct the mistakes they make quickly and conveniently |
| C．they find it not easy to remember how to write a character |
| D．computers have become a trend and fashion in China |
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE of the advantages of handwriting?
| A．Handwriting contains the writer's emotion. |
| B．The writer’s thinking and personality are shown in his or her handwriting. |
| C．Handwriting can impress people well and build one’s self-confidence. |
| D．Chinese characters enjoy both practical and aesthetic value. |
The underlined expression “taking stock in” (Paragraph 4) probably means _____.
| A．getting bored with | B．getting dependent on |
| C．becoming crazy about | D．getting curious about |
We can draw the conclusion from the passage that _______.
| A．more and more students will give up writing on a computer |
| B．writing by hand will give way to typing by computer one day |
| C．more and more students will pay attention to handwriting |
| D．the typing article better expresses one’s emotion and quality |
A famous teacher was speaking to the students at our school. He began his lesson by holding up a ￡100 bill. Then he said to the three hundred students, "Who would like to have this ￡100 bill?" The students began to put up their hands at once.
Then he said, "I am going to give this bill to one of you, but first, let me do this." He then made this bill into a ball. Then he said, "Who wants it?" Hands went into the air.
"Well," he said, "What if I do this?" and he dropped it on the floor and stepped on it. He picked up the dirty, crumpled bill and said, "Who still wants it?" Hands went back into the air.
"My friends," he said, "You've learned a valued lesson today. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it didn't go down in value. It was still worth ￡100.
Many times in our lives, we're dropped, crumpled, and stepped on by the chances we take and the things that happen to us. We feel as if we are worth nothing. But remember, no matter what has happened to you, you will never lose your value. You are always valuable to those who love you. Your value doesn't come from what you drop or whom you know，but WHO YOU ARE .
You are special and valuable. Don't ever forget it!The story happened ______.
| A．when the teacher gave the students some advice on how to learn English |
| B．when the students were having a meeting |
| C．when the teacher gave the students a speech |
| D．when the students were discussing something interesting with their teachers |
Even though the money was dirty, it _______.
| A．went up in value | B．was worth much |
| C．didn't reduce in value | D．was still ours |
The underlined sentence “Hands went back into the air.” in the third paragraph
means_______.
| A．the students put up their hands again |
| B．the students put down their hands |
| C．the students agreed to what the teacher said |
| D．the students put their hands in front of them |
Why did the famous teacher use a ￡100 at his lesson?
| A．Because he wanted to give a lecture about money. |
| B．Because he was used to dropping a bill on the floor and stepping on it. |
| C．Because he was going to give the bill to one of the students. |
| D．Because he wanted to make the students know what the value was. |
What lesson can you learn from the passage?
| A．￡100 bill is worth the same no matter what you do with it. |
| B．All people love money most. |
| C．Your value doesn't change no matter what happens to you. |
| D．The value of money changes when it is made dirty. |
A new argument has been put forward as to whether penguins are disturbed by the presence of tourists in Antarctica.
Previous research by scientists from Keil University in Germany monitored Adelie penguins and noted that the birds’ heart rates increased dramatically at the sight of a human as far as 30 meters away. But new research using an artificial egg, which is equipped to measure heart rates, disputes this. Scientists from the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge say that a slow moving human who does not approach the nest too closely, is not viewed as a threat by penguins.
The earlier findings have been used to partly explain the 20 per cent drop in populations of certain types of penguins near tourist sites. However, tour operators have continued to insist that their activities do not adversely affect wildlife in Antarctica, saying they encourage non-disruptive behavior in tourists, and that the decline in penguin numbers is caused by other factors.
Amanda Nimon of the Scott Polar Research Institute spent three southern hemisphere summers at Cuverville Island in Antarctica studying penguin behavior towards humans. “A nesting penguin will react very differently to a person rapidly and closely approaching the nest,” says Nimon. “First they exhibit large and prolonged heart rate changes and then they often flee the nest leaving it open for predators (掠夺者) to fly in and remove eggs or chicks.” The artificial egg, specially for the project, monitored both the parent who had been ‘disturbed’ when the egg was placed in the nest and the other parent as they both took it in turns to guard the nest.
However, Boris Culik, who monitored the Adelie penguins, believes that Nimon’s findings do not invalidate his own research. He points out that species behave differently ---- and Nimon’s work was with Gentoo penguins. Nimon and her colleagues believe that Culik’s research was methodologically flawed because the monitoring of penguins’ responses needed capturing and restraining the birds and fitting them with beart-rate transmitters. Therefore, argues Nimon, it would not be surprising if they became stressed on seeing a human subsequently. According to the passage, what overall message is presented?
| A．No firm conclusions are drawn. |
| B．Neither Culik’s nor Nimon’s findings are of much value. |
| C．Penguin reduction is closed related to tourist behavior. |
| D．Tourists are not responsible for the fall in penguin numbers. |
Which ONE argument of the following is stated in the passage?
| A．Penguins are harder to research when they have young. |
| B．Tour operators should encourage tourists to avoid Antarctica. |
| C．Not all penguins behave in the same way. |
| D．Penguins need better protection from tourists. |
What do you notice about the views presented in the passage?
| A．They are groundless. | B．They are factual. |
| C．They are descriptive. | D．They are conflicting. |
What does the underlined word (final line) probably mean?
| A．Later on. | B．Calmly. | C．Separately. | D．In the same place. |
Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for cars, a study has shown. The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological basis to their preferences.
Psychologists Dr Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 babies aged 9 months to 36 months. The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys. Some were typically boys’ toys ---- a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy. The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys；and could pick whichever toy they liked their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.
Of the youngest children (9 to 14 months), girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did. Among the two and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched. There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children’s choice.
Dr Brenda Todd said, “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization. Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference. But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer: moving objects, probably through hunting instincts（本能）, while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the colour of a newborn baby.” Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because ________.
| A．baby boys are much more active |
| B．baby girls like bright colours more |
| C．their parents treat them differently |
| D．there is a natural difference between them |
Both baby boys and baby girls like to play with ________ according to the study.
| A．a ball | B．a teddy | C．a car | D．a doll |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
| A．Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all. |
| B．Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls. |
| C．The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is. |
| D．Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys. |
What conclusion did Dr. Brenda Todd draw from the results of the study?
| A．Adults purposely influence their babies’ preference. |
| B．Babies’ preference isn’t affected by social surroundings. |
| C．Baby boys preferring to moving toys will be good at hunting. |
| D．Baby girls preferring warmer colors will be warm-hearted. |
A recent Living Social survey showed that Americans may live up to their poor reputation while travelling abroad. But what’s more surprising is that many of those surveyed self-identified themselves as ‘ugly’ Americans and the world’s worst travelers.
Those in the U.S. ranked themselves as the worst travellers by a shocking 20 per cent, followed by 15 per cent saying the Chinese were the most substandard tourists.
Americans topped the list as being the worst-behaved travelers in a survey of 5,600 respondents, 4,000 of whom were Americans. Other respondents were in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. But even American respondents considered their compatriots(同胞) as the worst travelers from a list of 16 nationalities.
Canadians and Australians also put Americans in the No. 1 spot. Irish respondents pointed to U.K. residents and U.K. respondents gave Germans the nod. On the other hand, 37% of Americans opted for "none of the above" in answer to the worst-tourists question, displaying more tolerance and open-mindedness than the other nationalities.
Other survey questions had respondents admitting pilfering from hotels. Four in ten U.S. survey-takers said they’d stolen something – mostly towels (28%) and bathrobes (8%). Other popular pinched items included pillows, remote controls, Bibles and sheets.
Not surprising is that Americans have less time off from work than other nationalities. Americans reported getting 16 days off, compared with 28 days for the Irish, 27 days for Australians, 23 days for U.K. workers; and 21 days for Canadians.
In the travel mishaps department, the most common travel disaster reported by Americans was lost luggage on an airline (21%)； bad weather (21%)； and getting very lost (16%).
As for places Americans most want to see, Disney World and Las Vegas made the top 10, but they weren't at the top of the heap. And New York didn't make the cut.What percentage of American respondents is in the survey?
| A．20 % | B．15% | C．71% | D．37% |
The underlined word “pilfering” in Para. 5 most probably means ________.
| A．taking | B．bringing | C．stealing | D．borrowing. |
According to the survey, what kind of things are most taken away by Americans?
| A．towels and pillows |
| B．bathrobes and remote controls. |
| C．towels and Bibles |
| D．bathrobes and towels. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．Chinese were announced as the world’s worst travellers. |
| B．The global worst travellers were announced. |
| C．Disney World is the best destination to Americans. |
| D．European travellers were the best in the world |
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