I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.
He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. “What are you doing?” I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.
He then answered me with a simple statement“TEACH THE CHILDREN！”
I was puzzled; what did he mean?
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR(杉木) TREE .“Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round，describing the everlasting hope of mankind，all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven.”
He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. “Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a savior(救世主) for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of his promise.”
He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. “Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of he who displaces(取代) the darkness.”
Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. “Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.”
Santa looked back and was pleased. I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, “Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but an humble servant of the one that is, and I bow down to worship HIM, our LORD, our GOD.”Author opened the door when he was going to sleep because________.
| A．he heard something unusual |
| B．he was not sleeping at the moment |
| C．he saw the Santa at the moment |
| D．he wanted to step out of the room |
According to Santa, the star was ________.
| A．a symbol of man's thoughts turning towards heaven |
| B．the sigh of fulfillment of the Santa's promise |
| C．the symbol of the light of the world |
| D．the sound of the bell which ring mankind to the fold |
What does the underlined word “twinkle” refer to?
| A．Tears. | B．Smiles. | C．Glasses. | D．Eyes. |
Holding a cell phone against your ear or stalling it in your pocket may be hazardous to your health．
This paraphrases a warning that cell phone; manufacturers include in the small print that is often tossed aside when a new phone is purchased．Apple, for example, doesn’t want iP hones to come closer to you than 1．5 centimeters; Research In Motion, Blackberry’s manufacturer, recommends 2.5 centimeters．
If health issues arise from cell phone use, the implications are huge．Voice calls - Americans chat on cell phones 2．26 trillion minutes annually - generate $109 billion for the wireless carriers．
Devra Davis, an epidemiologist who has worked for the University of Pittsburgh, has published a book about cell phone radiation, "Disconnect." The book surveys scientific research and concludes the question is not settled.
Brain cancer is a concern that Ms. Davis examines. Over all, there has not been an increase in its incidence since cell phones arrived. But the average masks an increase in brain cancer in the 20-to-29 age group and a drop for the older population.
"Most cancers have multiple causes," she says, but she points to laboratory research that suggests low-energy radiation could damage cells that could possibly lead to cancer.
Children are more vulnerable to radiation than adults, Ms. Davis and other scientists point out. Radiation that penetrates only five centimeters into the brain of an adult will reach much deeper into the brains of children because their skulls are thinner and their brains contain more absorptive fluid. No studies have yet been completed on cell phone radiation and children, she says.
Henry Lai, a research professor in the bioengineering department at the University of Washington, began laboratory radiation studies in 1980 and found that rats exposed to radiofrequency radiation had damaged DNA in their brains.
Ms. Davis recommends using wired headsets or the phone’s speaker. Children should text rather than call, she said, and pregnant women should keep phones away from the abdomen.We can infer from the passage that________．
| A．Cell phone may do harm to our health if we hold it against our ear or store in our pocket |
| B．Devra Davis thinks that there are many factors contributing to cancer． |
| C．The increase in brain cancer in the young adults may have something to do with cell phone |
| D．Children are more likely to be affected by radiation |
According to the passage, how could children avoid being hurt by cell phone radiation?
| A．They can keep cell phones away from the abdomen． |
| B．They can send short massage instead of making phone calls directly． |
| C．They can pay more attention to the small print on the phone． |
| D．They should use more advanced cell phones． |
From this passage we can learn that．________．
| A．American cell phone manufacturers did not give any warning to their customers |
| B．American cell phone manufacturers benefit greatly from their products |
| C．Scientists have found the connection between brain cancer and ceil phone |
| D．Cell phone should be banned because of the increase in brain cancer |
In which column can we most probably read this passage?
| A．Advanced technology． | B．Entertainment． |
| C．Science and life． | D．Celebrity． |
Nine out of 10 people have run up unsecured debt and many fear they will never be able to pay back what they owe, a survey has claimed.
Around 89% of people aged between l|8 and 35 said they owed money on a credit card, loan or overdraft, the research showed．
A third of people admitted they did not think- they would ever be debt-free, 54% of whom said they would always need to borrow money in order to fund the lifestyle they wanted．
One in five of these people also claimed they were not worried about the possibility of their debts being passed on to their next of kin if they died before they were repaid．
Just over half who owed money said they did not feel in control of their debt, with 8% admitting they had needed to ask for help with repayments from a friend or family member．Eight out of 10 people also told the research for discount website MyVoucherCodes．co．uk that they thought it was too easy to borrow money through their bank or on credit cards．
Farhad Farhadi, MyVoucherCodes．co．uk’s personal finance expert, said: "The majority of British adults owe money m some way, shape or form, but to see that almost a third think they’ll never be free c ^ from debt is quite alarming．
"When borrowing money from any source, how you are going to repay it should always be in the back of your mind．
"A lot of people don’t-really think about ’die consequences of borrowing money and it can be easy to get complacent, but keeping it all under control should be a priority from the off．Only borrow what you really think you can afford to pay back．"The best title for this passage is_________．
| A．I’ll die in debt, say one in three | B．Desperate British |
| C．The beginning of the end | D．Borrowing money from any source |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Most British adults are in debt in some v/ay． |
| B．It is hard for the British to borrow money through their bank． |
| C．Lots of people do not take repaying money seriously． |
| D．This passage is a warning for the British． |
What does the underlined phrase mean?
| A．end with | B．from the start |
| C．ever since | D．fore ever |
What does Farhad mean by saying "the majority of British adults owe money in some way, shape or form"?
| A．It is natural to owe money m Britain so there in no need to worry． |
| B．It is natural to owe money in Britain as long as you are in control． |
| C．It does not matter to owe money in Britain if you are rich enough． |
| D．It seems that the British enjoy owing money in some way． |
Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.
The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts hardly lose their pumping power with age.
“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20---25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. “Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”
What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.
“This gender (性别)difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink.
They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.
The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.
The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.The underlined word “longevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to _________.
| A．health | B．long life | C．ageing | D．effect |
The text mainly talks about ________.
| A．men’s heart cells | B．women’s ageing process |
| C．the gender difference | D．hearts and long life |
According to the text, the UK scientists have known that _________.
| A．women have more cells than men when they are born |
| B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat |
| C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age |
| D．women never lose their pumping power with age |
We can know from the passage that _______.
| A．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out |
| B．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells |
| C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss |
| D．women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20 |
While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.
The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to compete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.
I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I’m not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold – his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.
I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.
But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.
No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout “Come on, you can do it!” and he did.
A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.
Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.From the passage we can learn that the young man .
| A．made his turn to start back pitifully | B．was skillful in freestyle in the game |
| C．swam faster than the average swimmer | D．was not capable enough to win the medal |
The crowd changed their attitudes because .
| A．they felt sorry for the young man | B．they were moved by the young man’s courage |
| C．they wanted to show their sympathy | D．they meant to please the young man |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Compete for Gold! | B．Try again! | C．Break a Record! | D．Go for it! |
As a boy，Tim was much influenced by books about the sea, but in fact by the age of fifteen he had decided to become a doctor rather than a sailor. His father was a dentist and as a result Tim had the opportunity of meeting many doctors either at home or elsewhere. When he was fourteen he was already hanging around the clinic of a local doctor where he was supposed to be helping to wrap up medicine bottles，but was actually trying to listen to the conversations taking place between the doctor and his patients in the next room.
During the war Tim served in the Navy as a surgeon（外科医生）.“That was the happiest time of my life. I was dealing with very real suffering and on the whole making a success of it .”In California he taught the country people simple facts about medicine. He saw himself as a life-saver. He had proved his skills to himself and his ability to take decisions. Thus，while he was able to tell them what to do, he could feel he was serving them. After the war, he got married and chose to be a doctor in the countryside，working under an old doctor who was popular in the area，but who hated the sight of blood and believed that the secret of medicine was faith. This gave the younger man many opportunities to go on working as a life –saver.Tim decided to become a doctor at fifteen mainly because
| A．hisfather wanted him to be so |
| B．his father was a surgeon himself |
| C．e had read many books about medicine |
| D．e had chances to meet many doctors through his father |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Tim got married to the old doctor’s daughter. |
| B．Tim continued working as a surgeon after the war. |
| C．Before the war，Tim worked as a doctor at a local clinic． |
| D．While working in California，Tim taught life-saving to the patients. |
From the passage we can infer that Tim .
| A．was sent to Europe during the war | B．worked as a surgeon during the war |
| C．was satisfied with his career as a surgeon. | D．decided to give up medicine for faith |
The passage is mainly about .
| A．Tim’s life story | B．Tim’s dream | C．Tim’s marriage | D．Tim’ s patients |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号