Since the pre-historic times, man has had an urge to satisfy his needs. Be it hunger, shelter or search for a mate, he has always controlled the situations to his advantage. Probably this might be the reason why we humans are the most developed of all living species on the earth. As we climbed the steps of development, we somehow left behind common sense and logical thinking -- we forgot that we have stopped thinking ahead of time.
If you are hungry, what do you do? Get a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet. Just like your stomach, even your mind is hungry. But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your dream lover, favorite star and many such things. So it silently began to care about your needs and never let itself grow. When mind looses its freedom to grow, creativity gets a full stop. This might be the reason why we all sometimes think "What happens next?", "Why can't I think?" "Why am I always given the difficult problems?" Well, this is the result of using our brain for thinking of not-so-worthy things.
Hunger of the mind can be actually satisfied through reading. Now why reading and not watching TV? Because reading has been the most educative tool used by us right from the childhood. Just like that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to turn to reading. You have innumerable number of books in this world which will answer all your "How to?" questions. The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed. Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas. The same seed, if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, of which you would have never thought in your wildest dreams! This is nothing but creativity. More the number of books you read, your mind will open up like never before.What is the function of the first paragraph?
| A．To show humans are the most developed. |
| B．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
| C．To indicate people have different needs to satisfy. |
| D．To explain why people need to read. |
What does the author mean by saying "When mind looses its freedom to grow, creativity gets a full stop."
| A．When mind keeps growing, creativity fully stops. |
| B．When freedom is lost, creativity gets a full stop. |
| C．When mind stops growing, creativity fully stops. |
| D．When growing is lost, creativity gets a flail stop. |
The paragraph following the passage is probably about ______.
| A．how the pre-historic man feeds his mind |
| B．what other advantages reading brings |
| C．how to develop creativity |
| D．how to satisfy your mind by watching TV |
The author tends to tell us ______.
| A．reading can satisfy your all needs | B．reading can result from creativity |
| C．reading can feed your mind | D．reading can realize your dreams |
It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night．The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently．
My father realised it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him．I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same．I' m so glad I did．
On the way to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape．After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea．As we got on board, we noticed two big humps （脊背） in the distance．
On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby．We couldn't believe it — there aren't any whales along the coast here．The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive．
The little baby whale —actually as big as our boat — was obviously stuck and could not move．The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools （漩涡） and waves．"She's trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side," my father said．At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently．With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water．Then it swam up right beside its mum．They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction．We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel．Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe -- and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes．Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance．
In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half．That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day．Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea．The author says "I' m so glad I did．" （ in Para．2） because _________．
| A．he witnessed the whole process of fishing |
| B．he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea |
| C．he experienced the rescue of the whales |
| D．he spent the weekend with his family |
The mother whale failed to help her baby because __________．
| A．she had stayed in the polluted water for too long |
| B．the whirlpools she had made were not big enough |
| C．she had no other whales around to turn to for help |
| D．the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction |
What is the theme of the story?
| A．Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness． |
| B．Fishing provides excitement for children． |
| C．It's necessary to live in harmony with animals． |
| D．It's vital to protect the whale in the ocean． |
The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic(赞同的) audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described the inadequacies of his students, all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been established.
My topic is not standards nor its decline(降低). What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.
My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies (缺陷). But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.
The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults the language of the young always seems inadequate.
Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not perceived(察觉) as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs. Otherwise, young people would not commit offenses against the language. The speaker the author mentioned in the passage believed that _____.
| A．the language of the younger generation is usually inferior(差的) to that of the older generation |
| B．the students had a poor command of English because they didn’t work hard enough |
| C．he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen years |
| D．English teachers should be held responsible for the students’ poor command of English |
In the author’s opinion, the speaker ______.
| A．gave a correct judgment of the English level of the students |
| B．had exaggerated(夸大) the language problems of the students |
| C．was right in saying that English teachers were not doing their jobs |
| D．could think and speak intelligently |
The author’s attitude towards the speaker’s remarks is ______.
| A．neutral | B．positive | C．critical | D．compromising |
It can be concluded from the passage that ______.
| A．it is justifiable(有理由的) to include English as a school subject |
| B．the author disagrees with the speaker over the standard of English at Grade 9 level |
| C．English language teaching is by no means an easy job |
| D．language improvement needs time and effort |
In the passage the author argues that ______.
| A．it is unfair to blame the English teachers for the language deficiencies of the students |
| B．young people would not commit offences against the language if the teachers did their jobs properly |
| C．to eliminate(消除) language deficiencies one must have sensitive eyes and ears |
| D．to improve the standard of English requires the effort of several generations |
Wind is the great maker of waves. There are exceptions, such as the tidal(潮汐的) waves sometimes produced by earthquakes under the sea. But the waves most of us know are produced by winds blowing over the sea.
Now before constructing an imaginary life history of a typical wave, we need to know certain physical things about it. A wave has height, from trough (low point) to crest (high Point). It has length－the distance from this crest to that of the following wave. The period of the wave means the time it takes for succeeding crests to pass a fixed point. None of these things stays the same－for all depend upon the wind, upon the depth of the water and many other matters.
The water that makes up a wave does not advance with it across the sea. Each drop of water turns around in a little circle with the passing of the wave, but returns very nearly to its original position. And it is fortunate that this is so. For if the huge masses of water that make up a wave actually moved across the sea, sailing would be impossible.
If we want to find the speed of a wave, we may use the following way:
Speed =" wavelength" × frequency
Here, wavelength is the distance between two high points (crests), frequency means the number of cycles per second.
What causes waves?
| A．Earthquakes and nothing else. | B．Only wind. |
| C．Wind causes most waves. | D．Wind causes some waves. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The water of a wave moves away across the sea. |
| B．The water of a wave remains almost at the same place. |
| C．The water of a wave goes with the passing of the wave. |
| D．The length of a wave means the distance from the top of a wave to the bottom. |
The speed of Wave 1 is 100 cm/s, frequency 10. The frequency of Wave 2 is 300, while its speed is twice that of Wave 1. Which of the following is right?
| A．The wavelengths of the two are equal. |
| B．The wavelength of Wave 1 is 10 times longer than that of Wave 2. |
| C．The wavelength of Wave 2 is longer than that of Wave 1. |
| D．The wavelength of Wave 1 is longer than that of Wave 2. |
Last year, my boyfriend suggested that I should run the London marathon, and I laughed. He laughed too, but he laughed too long and too loud. That made me think. I realized that he didn’t believe that I could do it. That made me angry, and determined. Now he knows that I can!
Training wasn’t easy, but I kept going. I didn’t need special training but I did need to buy very good shoes. Each day, I went a little further. By the end of three months, I was running five days a week. Sometimes in the evenings I ran 10 km; on Sunday mornings, I sometimes ran about 30 km. I used to come home, have a shower and eat my breakfast. I felt wonderful!
On the day of the race in London, I lined up with about 30,000 other runners. The faster runners were at the front, while slower runners like me were placed further back. In that way, the professional runners and club runners were not slowed down by the amateurs.
At first, there were so many runners close together that we were almost falling over each other. We could only run very slowly but that was a good thing because it meant that we didn’t rush off too quickly. Gradually the runners spread out and there was more space. There were thousands of people watching us along the route and they cheered and clapped everyone, even the slowest runner. It was wonderful!
For the first 10 km I felt very happy and my legs felt very comfortable. However, at 15 km I got a pain in my side and running became difficult, but I kept going and the pain disappeared. At the 30 km mark, I felt extremely tired, and wanted to stop, but I kept on going. I covered another 3 km and then I began to feel better again.
By the time I reached the 35 km mark, I knew I was going to get to the end of the course. Somehow that confidence made me feel lighter and faster and it seemed as if my legs flew over the last few kilometers. I passed hundreds of slower runners, some of whom had passed me earlier, and I felt wonderful! As I came round the last bend and saw the finishing line, I could see three runners ahead of me. I raced past all of them to finish the race in just under four hours. The winner had completed the race in 2 hours and 10 minutes, but I didn’t care! I had run 42 km and completed my first marathon!The writer’s boyfriend laughed at her because .
| A．he thought she could run the marathon |
| B．he didn’t think she could run the marathon |
| C．he wanted her to run the marathon |
| D．she wanted to run the marathon |
When the race began .
| A．all the faster runners were asked to stand before those slower ones |
| B．many runners fell over each other |
| C．all the runners were asked to run slowly |
| D．the professional runners and club runners ran very fast |
The hardest time for the writer was when she .
| A．had run for 15 kilometers |
| B．got a pain in her side |
| C．reached the 30 kilometer mark |
| D．was about to reach the finish line |
The passage suggests that it is better to start a long race slowly .
| A．than to run at the same speed all the time |
| B．than to run too fast at the beginning |
| C．than to run slowly at the end |
| D．than to run very fast all the time |
Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labor, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television license would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more.
And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a guarantee of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Apart from the fact that twenty-seven Acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for mercifully the public has the good sense not to buy the inferior article more than once. If you see an article consistently advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it represents good value.By the first sentence of the passage, the author means that______.
| A．he is fairly familiar with the cost of advertising |
| B．everybody knows well that advertising is money consuming |
| C．advertising costs money like everything else |
| D．it is worthwhile to spend money on advertising |
In the passage, which of the following is not included in the advantage of advertising?
| A．Securing greater fame. | B．Providing more jobs. |
| C．Improving living standards. | D．Reducing newspaper cost. |
According to the author, _____.
| A．the consumers are often fooled by misleading advertising. |
| B．no advertiser dare promote a product that can't live up to the promise of his advertisement. |
| C．if an article is consistently advertised, it probably has good value. |
| D．with advertisements, you have to pay more for the goods or services you need. |
From the passage, we can draw a conclusion that____.
| A．the most importance of advertisements is to lower the cost of many services |
| B．the twenty-seven Acts of Parliament made misleading advertisements unable to exist |
| C．advertising assists a rapid distribution of goods, thereby do good to the import at good prices |
| D．advertising does a lot for the material benefit of the community |
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