Here is some news of the future.
March 20, 2035
There was a lot of news around the life extension drugs that hit the market a decade ago. They didn't promise that you would like forever, but they gave you a chance to extend your life an extra five to ten years. Even though the life expectancy rate at birth has increased greatly, the life expectancy for seniors hasn't improved that much. Basically, you have a greater chance to become a senior, but you will not have a much longer lifespan, and this is where the anti-aging drugs intend to kick in. So, do the anti-aging drugs work? Well，it is too early to tell. But the sales so far are very good.
April 19, 2035
Of the total US population of 378 million, people over 65 years of age now make up 20% for the first time. The senior ratio of only 4.1% by year 1900, and 12.4% 30 years ago.
The number of people above 65 compared to those of what is considered working ages, between 15 and 64, is currently 33.7%. This is up from 18.5% since year 2005, which means that for every retired person there are now two workers, compared to four workers 30 years ago. The number of people above the age of 80 has grown to 23.8 million, making them 6.3% of the total population compared to 3.6% in 2005.
April 12, 2040
Although introduced in the market only five years ago, 10% of all hydrogen fuel now sold in the US is of the environmentally friendly Re-Hydro label, produced through eletrolysis(电解) based on a source of 100% renewable energy. Several producers have turned to producing Re-Hydro, mainly because of lower tax, which also keeps the price of Re-Hydro on the same level as regular hydrogen. Most analysts believe that Re-Hydro will be the dominating fuel in the future.According to News 1 we know that the life extension drugs ____.
| A．were first sold in the year 2025. |
| B．are made to make people live forever. |
| C．should be taken when people are young. |
| D．have greatly increased the life expectancy rate at birth. |
The sales of the life extension drugs so far clearly show that_____.
| A．people have no faith in them |
| B．people want to give them a try |
| C．they work very well for seniors |
| D．they have no effect on people’s health |
What can we learn from News 2?
| A．Many Americans will find it hard to find a job. |
| B．It’s very hard for seniors to pass the age of 80. |
| C．The US population has been increasing rapidly since 2005. |
| D．The US population has been aging rapidly since 2005. |
We can know from the passage that the fuel of the Re-Hydro label is ______.
| A．expensive | B．cheap | C．green | D．dangerous |
What can we infer from News 3?
| A．Re-Hydro will be widely used in the future. |
| B．The government discourages the production of Re-Hydro. |
| C．Producers are not interested in producing Re-Hydro. |
| D．Re-Hydro is more expensive than regular hydrogen. |
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u GONE WITH THE WIND Author: Margaret Mitchell ￥25 (in bookstores) ￥18 (online) Gone With the Wind is a best-seller, which tells a story that happened in the American Civil War. Scarlett O’Hara is a woman in the story who is full of energy. She is strong and saves her family but is very selfish at the same time. |
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| u A LITTLE PRINCESS Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett ￥18.3 (online) Motherless Sara Crewe was sent home from India to school at Miss Minchin’s. Her father was very rich and she lived a rich and comfortable life. Then her father died and Sara lost everything. She had to learn to do with her changed life. Her strong character made her able to fight successfully against her poverty (贫穷) and the scorn (嘲笑) of her fellows. It’s an excellent book with 4 tapes for children. |
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u PETER PAN Author: J.M Barrie ￥15 (in bookstores) ￥12 (online) It is a children’s story full of imagination and adventures, which is about Wendy, John, and Michael Darling’s adventures in Never—Never Land with Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up. The children are happy and lovely. (with 2 tapes) |
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u  UNCLE TOM’S CABIN Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe ￥20 (in bookstores) The most famous novel in American history, Uncle Tom’s Cabin talked about the struggle (斗争) between free states and slave states during the American Civil War and is as powerful today as when it first came out 150 years ago. |
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| u THE SECRET GARDEN Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett ￥35 (in bookstores) ￥30 (online) Mary Lennox, a sickly orphan (孤儿), finds herself in her uncle’s dark house. Why are so many rooms locked? Why is one of the gardens locked? And what is that crying she hears at night? Through the power of hope, friendship, and the magic (魔法) of nature, the brave girl brings the house and a long-lost garden back to life. |
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All of the following books have children as their main characters (主角) except _________.
| A．PETER PAN | B．GONE WITH THE WIND |
| C．A LITTLE PRINCESS | D．THE SECRET GARDEN |
We can know from the passage that _________.
| A．there are only three books with tapes |
| B．we can buy 5 kinds of the above books in bookstores |
| C．two of the above books are written by Frances Hodgson Burnett |
| D．THE SECRET GARDEN is ￥5 cheaper in bookstores than online |
Mary in THE SECRET GARDEN brings the house and a long-lost garden back to life with the help of _________.
a. the power of hope b. friendship c. her uncle d. nature’s magic
| A．abc | B．acd | C．bcd | D．abd |
This article may appear ___________.
| A．as an advertisement | B．as an introduction to the western literature (文化) |
| C．in a Chinese film | D．only to middle school students |
Once a man named Grand found a box of old papers in a room at the top of his house. He burned most of them, because he didn’t like old things very much, But one of these papers was an old letter. At the bottom(底部) of the letter was the name of a well-known writer. “When this letter was written,” said Grant, “no one knew about the writer. But now everyone knows him. Some people like to buy letters like this. I may be able to get much money for the letter if I sell it to the right man.”
But there were a lot of dirty marks all over the letter.
“It doesn’t look nice,” he thought. “No one wants to buy a letter if it’s dirty. I’ll have to clean it.”
So he took a piece of cloth and some water and cleaned the letter. He worked hard and gave a lot of care. At last the letter looked better. And he was very pleased with his work.
“Now it looks nice,” he said to himself. “I’ll be able to sell it for a lot of money.”
He took the letter to a shop in London where old papers of this kind were bought and sold.
“I want to sell this letter,” Grant said to the man in the shop. “It was written by a well-known writer. You know about these things. How much will you give me for it?”
The man looked at him for a long time.
“I will give you two pounds for it,” he said at last.
“Only two pounds!” said Grant. “But people pay ten pounds for a letter like this. And just look! I’ve even cleaned it to make it look nice.”
“I can see that,” said the man. “That’s the trouble. People who buy old papers like them to be dirty.”Which of the following is not right?
| A．Grant found a box of old letters. | B．Grant didn’t like old things very much. |
| C．Grant didn’t burn the old letter. | D．The letter was written by a famous writer. |
Grant didn’t burn the letter because______.
| A．it was written by his father | B．he thought he could get much money by selling it |
| C．he wanted to keep it forever | D．he wanted to give it to the government |
In order to sell it, Grant decided to _____ first.
| A．make advertisement(广告)in the newspapers | B．show it to others around him |
| C．clean it to make it look nice | D．take it to an archeologist(考古学家) |
Grant didn’t sell the letter at a good price because_______.
| A．it was not an old letter | B．few people knew about the writer |
| C．it had been cleaned | D．the man didn’t like it |
If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak. When you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows this. Yet there are many people who do not seem to know that one’s memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by exercising it regularly. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.
If a friend complains that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame, or that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is really his own fault. Not all of us can become very strong or very clever, but all of us can improve our memory by the same means —practice.
Have you ever noticed that people who cannot read or write usually have a better memory than those who can? Why is this? Of course, because people who can’t read or write have to remember things: they cannot write them down in a little notebook. They have to remember dates, prices, names, songs and stories, so their memory is exercised all the time.
So if you want a good memory, learn from those who cannot read or write: practice remembering. According to the passage, few people know that _____.
| A．arms or legs become weak if they are not used for some time |
| B．when they start using their arms or legs again, they slowly become strong again |
| C．a person’s memory becomes weak if he does not practice remembering things |
| D．it is their own fault if their arms or legs are weak |
The author thinks that if a person has a poor memory, ____.
| A．it is his own fault | B．his parents are to blame |
| C．he is just unlucky | D．his arms must be weak |
According to the passage, we learn that all of us can ____.
| A．become very strong | B．become very clever |
| C．improve our memory by practicing | D．know how to improve our memory |
It’s great fun to explore new places—it feels like an adventure, even when you know you’re not the first to have been there. But make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles.
·Do the map reading if you’re being driven somewhere. It’ll be easier if you keep turning the map so it follows the direction you’re traveling in. Keep looking 
ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn, or you’ll have to move to the back seat.
·Get a group of friends together and go exploring. You’ll need a good map, a compass(指南针), a raincoat, a cellphone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of spare cash for emergencies. Tell someone where you’re going before you set out and let them know what time you expect to be back. The test is not in getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.
See if your school or a club organizes orienteering(越野识途比赛) activities, in which you need a map and a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B (and B to C, etc) in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. Either way, it’s not only good fun, but a great way to keep fit. Sitting beside the driver, you should _______.
| A．direct the driver when necessary |
| B．look ahead to see where there’s a turn |
| C．move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable |
| D．Keep looking at the map to find a place to go to |
Why do you need to tell someone your exploration plan before setting out?
| A．To get information when in danger. |
| B．To be saved in case of an accident. |
| C．To share the fun with him/her in exploration. |
| D．To tell him/her what’s going on with the group members. |
Orienteering activities can _______.
| A．make people work fast | B．help people stay healthy |
| C．help people organize other activities | D．make people get prepared for sports. |
The
text mainly talks about _____.
| A．the fun of exploration | B．what to bring for exploration |
| C．the way to use a map in exploration | D．how to prevent getting lost in exploration. |
Benjamin Franklin only studied in school for two years. But he liked to read and write very much. Once he discussed a question with his friend in letters. His father found the letters and read them. He felt Ben did not express himself well. Nor did Ben make his meaning clear. He agreed that his father was right, From then on, he paid more attention to the style of his writing so that he could write better
.
About that time he bought a copy of the British periodical(周刊) called The Spectator (《观察家》). He read it over and over. He thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to write in the same style.
With this in mind, he studied some of the stories and made a note of the thought in each sentence. Then, a few days later, without looking at the magazine, he tried to write the stories. He tried to express each thought as fully as it had been expressed before. Then he compared his writing with the magazine. He found some of his faults in the compositions.
In this way he discovered he needed to know many more words. He felt that writing poetry would help him since that needed to use many different words which had the same meaning. So he turned some of the stories into poems; and after a time, he wrote them as stories again. He insisted on doing this for a long time.
He learned much from his efforts and went on to practise his writing. Then he became the first famous writer in American history.Benjamin liked ______ very much when he was ______ .
| A．languages; young | B．writing; young | C．writing; old enough | D．languages; old enough |
What did his father do to him?
| A．He found his son’s letters written very well |
| B．He felt his son expressed himself very well |
| C．He told his son what he wrote wasn’t so good |
| D．He bought a copy of The Spectator for him |
How did Benjamin practise writing?
(1) He studied
the stories in the magazine and made notes.
(2) He rewrote some of the stories and tried to express their thought fully.
(3) He turned some stories into poems, and then turned them back again.
(4) He tried hard to publish his poems in the periodical The Spectator.
| A．(1)(2)(3) | B．(2)(3)(4) | C．(1)(3)(4) | D．(1)(2)(4) |
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