When Luca first heard of the Island of Inventions, he was still very young. But its wonders sounded so incredible that they were forever burned in his memory. From that moment, he never stopped searching for clues which might lead him to the island. He read hundreds of adventure books, histories, volumes of physics and chemistry, even music.
Over time, he pieced together his idea of what the Island of Inventions was like. It was a secret place, where all the great wise men of the world would meet to learn and invent together. Access to the island was totally restricted. To join, you had to have created some great invention for humanity. Only then could you receive the special invitation — which came with directions to the island.
So Luca spent his youth studying and inventing. Every new idea he got, he made it into an invention, and if there were something he didn't understand, he’d seek others to help him. Soon he met other young inventors and he told them about the Island of Inventions. They too dreamed of one day receiving an invitation letter.
As years passed, the disappointment of not receiving their invitation made Luca and his friends work harder and co-operate more. They would meet in Luca's house, share their ideas and build new machines. Their inventions became known throughout the world, and improved the lives of millions.
But still, no invitation came.
They didn’t lose heart. They continued learning and inventing every day, trying to come up with more and better ideas. Fresh young talent joined their group, as more inventors dreamed of getting to the island.
One day many years later, Luca, already very old, was speaking with a brilliant young man named Roberts, who had written to him, asking him to join the group. Luca started telling the man of the wonderful Island of Inventions, and of how he was sure that some day they would receive an invitation. Surprised, the young inventor interrupted: “You mean this place isn’t the Island of Inventions? Isn't the letter you sent me the real invitation?”
It was only then that Luca realised that his dream had become true in his very own house. No island could exist which would be better than where he was now. No place of invention would be better than what he and his friends had created. Luca felt happy to know that he had always been on the island, and that his life of invention and study had been a truly happy one.Why did Luca and his colleagues probably never receive an invitation to the island?
| A．Their ideas were not considered worthy enough. |
| B．They were too concerned with acquiring fame. |
| C．The organization had already broken up. |
| D．The island was not a real place. |
What did Luca learn at the end of the story?
| A．The island of inventions did not exist. |
| B．He had wasted most of his life. |
| C．He had unknowingly built his own dreamland. |
| D．He finally would receive his invitation. |
Which of the following best describes Luca?
| A．Aggressive. | B．Trusting. | C．Creative. | D．Easy-going. |
D
The valley known as Sleepy Hollow hides from the world in the high hills of New York State. There are many stories told about the valley, but the story that people believe most is about a man who rides a horse at night. The story says the man died many years ago during the American Revolutionary War. His head was shot off. Every night he rises from his burial place, jumps on his horse and rides through the valley looking for his lost head.
Near Sleepy Hollow is a village called Tarry Town. The village had a small school, where there was a teacher named Ichabod Crane which was a good name for him because he was tall and thin like a crane.
Ichabod didn’t make much money as a teacher. To pay for his food he earned extra money by teaching young people to sing. Every Sunday after church Ichabod taught singing.
Among the ladies Ichabod taught was one Katrina Van Tassel, who was the only daughter of a rich Dutch farmer, a girl in bloom much like a round red rosy apple. Ichabod had a soft and foolish heart for the ladies and soon found himself interested in Miss Van Tassel.
However, there were many problems blocking the road to Katrina’s heart. One was a strong young man named Brom Van Brunt, who was a hero to all the young ladies. His shoulders were big. His back was wide. He always won the horse races in Tarry Town and earned many prizes. Such was the enemy Ichabod had to defeat for Katrina’s heart.
Stronger and wiser men would not have tried, but Ichabod had a plan. He couldn’t fight with his enemy in the open, so he did it silently and secretly. He made many visits to Katrina’s farm and made her think he was helping her to sing better.
Time passed and the town’s people thought Ichabod was winning. Brom’s horse wasn’t seen at Katrina’s house on Sunday nights anymore.
One day in autumn, Ichabod was asked to go to a big party at Katrina’s home. He dressed himself in his best clothes. A farmer loaned him an old horse for the long trip to the party.
The house was filled with farmers, their wives, daughters and sons. Brom Van Brunt rode to the party on his fastest horse called Daredevil. All the young ladies smiled happily when they saw him. Soon music filled the rooms and everyone began to dance and sing.
Ichabod was happy dancing with Katrina as Brom looked at them with a jealous heart.
Ichabod seemed very happy until he said goodnight to Katrina. Was she ending their romance? He left feeling very sad. Had Katrina been seeing Ichabod just to make Brom Van Brunt jealous so he would marry her?
Well, Ichabod began his long ride home on the hills that surrounded Tarry Town. He began to whistle as he came close to the tree where a man was killed years ago by rebels.
There, in the dark woods on the side of the river, where the bushes grew low, stood an ugly thing, big and black. It didn’t move but seemed ready to jump like a giant monster.
Ichabod’s hair stood straight up. It was too late to run, and in fear of it, he did the only thing he could. His shaking voice asking “Who are you?” broke the silent valley.
The thing didn’t answer. Ichabod asked again. Still no answer. Ichabod’s old horse began to move forward. The black thing began to move along the side of Ichabod’s horse in the dark. For a moment the moon shone down and to Ichabod’s horror he saw it was a horse with a rider whose head was not on his body. It was in front of the rider, resting on the horse.
“Only if I can get there first, I am safe,” thought Ichabod, kicking his horse. He looked back to see if the headless man had stopped. He saw the man pick up his head and throw it with powerful force. The head hit Ichabod in the face and knocked him off his horse to the dirt below.
People found Ichabod’s horse the next day peacefully eating grass. They could not find Ichabod. The only other thing they found was lying near Ichabod’s hat. It was the broken pieces of a round orange pumpkin.
People talked about Ichabod for many weeks. Much later an old farmer returned from a visit to New York City. He said he was sure he saw Ichabod there. He thought Ichabod silently left Sleepy Hollow because he had lost Katrina.
As for Katrina, her mother and father gave her a big wedding when she married Brom Van Brunt. Many people who went to the wedding saw that Brom smiled whenever Ichabod’s name was spoken. And they wondered why he laughed out loud when anyone talked about the broken orange pumpkin found lying near Ichabod’s old dusty hat.What tone did the author use to describe Ichabod?
| A．Appreciative. | B．Sympathetic. |
| C．Ironic. | D．Scolding. |
What does the underlined part in Paragraph 6 mean?
| A．Ichabod did the foolish thing. |
| B．Ichabod was a wise man. |
| C．Ichabod made a careful plan. |
| D．Ichabod should try harder. |
What probably happened to Ichabod in the end?
| A．He was killed in Sleepy Hollow. |
| B．He left Sleepy Hollow in shame. |
| C．He lived a good life in another place. |
| D．He was missing for no reason. |
Why were broken pieces of a round orange pumpkin found near Ichabod’s hat?
| A．Ichabod carried a pumpkin with him. |
| B．Pumpkins were grown in Sleepy Hollow. |
| C．Brom had made use of the pumpkin. |
| D．Someone had dropped a pumpkin there. |
Which of the following can be used to describe Brom?
| A．Clever but cruel. | B．Rude and greedy. |
| C．Brave but selfish. | D．Generous and kind. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Horrible stories about Sleepy Hollow. |
| B．The love of a village teacher. |
| C．A horse rider without head. |
| D．The competition between two men for a woman. |
C
Not long ago, I was invited to speak at the annual banquet for an “elite” youth hockey organization. Before dinner, the organization’s president mentioned how he and his neighbor, another hockey dad, had seen the need for a top program in their area, and how much planning and money it took to create one. He talked about the championships his team had won in their first two years of operation. He also said his 6-year-old son and his neighbor’s boy were hockey-crazed best friends — or at least they used to be. His neighbor’s son was not selected for the team that first year, and the two men and their boys have not spoken to each other since.
In brief, that’s exactly what’s wrong with youth sports. Too much money, too much parent involvement and too many broken-hearted 6-year-old children. Perhaps the professionalism that has invaded youth sports is related to the Bruins, Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics all ringing up championships over the past decade. “Hey, I want some of that,” said Overzealous Sports Dad, jumping up from his couch. However, single-sport specialization, the privatization of youth leagues and the rankings of young children have become widespread. These are not positive trends, and meanwhile coaches, educators, community leaders and parents should take heed seriously.
Three out of four American families with school-aged children have at least one playing an organized sport — a total of about 45 million kids. By 15, as many as 80 percent of these young people have quitted, according to the Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine. One reason is the gap between children’s desire to have fun and the misguided idea among some adults that their kids’ games are a very small version of grown-up competitions, where the goal is to win. After coaching for 20 years, I can say definitely that adult expectations are the No.1 problem. As we approach summer, when the living is supposed to be easy, too many families are searching the Internet for a private batting instructor, a summer hockey program, an expensive strength camp, etc. This is a misguided attempt to accelerate a process that may not even be occurring, since most young athletes will never reach the elite level.
When I was growing up in Methuen, we organized our own football, hockey and baseball teams. Any kid who had a football helmet, a pair of Bobby Orr Rally skates or a first baseman’s mitt could play. We contacted teams from other neighborhoods and played entire seasons without our parents having anything to do with it. My friends and I even staged our own tennis tournaments at the public courts. We played for the love of it. Indeed, many of us went on to play high school and college sports.
Some kids are sick of playing, and some are sick of playing in pain. A 2013 study of 1,200 young athletes showed those who concentrated on a single sport were 70 percent to 93 percent more likely to be injured than those who played multiple sports.
At that hockey banquet, I said adults must set their egos (自尊) aside and remember to let the kids have fun. And to do that, we need to return youth sports to the neighborhood, where they belong.
This summer, encourage your children to go fishing, play mini golf and invite their friends to shoot hoops in the driveway. Have them visit the library and wander around in the backyard chewing on blades of grass. And remember that the inside experience of playing a sport, the beauty and the joy of it belong to the kids themselves.
What does the first paragraph imply?
| A．The author thinks highly of the organization’s president. |
| B．The neighbor’s son is a boy with remarkable athletic ability. |
| C．Some parents are having a wrong idea of sports. |
| D．Hockey is the most popular game for kids. |
The underlined phrase “take heed” in Paragraph 2 means .
| A．explore | B．suggest | C．avoid | D．consider |
Why do many youngsters give up the sports they are playing?
| A．They lose their interest in them as they grow up. |
| B．They fail to gain delight from them. |
| C．They have to concentrate on their studies. |
| D．They are too weak to take part in competitions. |
When the author looked back on his childhood sports life, .
| A．he believed it was very good and fit for children |
| B．he had forgotten his good friends’ weaknesses |
| C．he thought it was very simple but boring |
| D．he felt greatly grateful to his coaches and teammates |
B
Seeking to find happiness through a job before you find happiness on a personal level is like trying to stand on stilts (桩子) on quicksand. That’s how Anahita Moghaddam feels about it, anyway. She believes it is our “primary responsibility” to cultivate (耕耘) love and happiness within ourselves, first and foremost. Moghaddam says that if you only look to your professional achievements to keep your sense of purpose and well-being going, a sense of emptiness or desperation can’t almost be avoided.
You and your brain are more flexible than you think. The brain changes and grows depending on what it interacts with. Positive thoughts will give support to neuron pathways (神经路径) for the feeling of joy; negative thoughts will make neuron pathways for feelings of sadness stronger. “The number of possible combinations of neurons that fire and wire together is 10 to the millionth power in your nervous system. In comparison, the number of atoms in our entire universe is estimated to be around 10 to the 80th power. If we are 10 to the millionth power, that makes us almost infinite. So what are we? Who are we? And what can we do with this?” she says.
Unfortunately, human brains have several biological tendencies to negative thoughts and feelings. First, human brains can identify and avoid threats. Often, that means that other humans instinctively register as competition, instead of teammates or comrades. Second, we’re biologically likely to remember a single negative incident more than multiple positive experiences.
Despite it, we can control the thoughts with mindfulness. As Rick Hanson explains, changes in our thoughts can change the grey matter in our brains, and vice versa. “Mental activity is like a spring shower, leaving little traces of neural structure behind,” he says. “Over time, the little tracks in the hillside draw in more water down, deepening their course.”
There are benefits to living mindfully other than happiness. People who try to live more mindfully can focus for longer periods of time. “The ability to focus more strategically makes you more clear. It makes you show up to your own life more fully,” Moghaddam says. “Happiness and creativity are the purpose and they are also the byproduct of living mindfully, living with purpose. Otherwise it is a social idea, and a concept that we grasp at, but it really starts in your heart.”
What does Moghaddam think the most important for us?
| A．Working hard to avoid a sense of emptiness. |
| B．Finding a specific purpose for our own life. |
| C．Relying on our achievements to be happy. |
| D．Seeking happiness from our inner mind. |
We can infer from Paragraph 3 that .
| A．we are likely to remember good memories more than negative experiences |
| B．human brains instinctively refuse to remember negative thoughts |
| C．human brains can’t avoid threats instinctively |
| D．we tend to be impressed with negative incidents |
What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Our nervous system. |
| B．Our ability to be infinite. |
| C．Our entire universe. |
| D．Our total number of neurons. |
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项 。
A
Wondering where to watch the fireworks on the fourth Friday of July? Here are some restaurants where you can sit, grab a bite to eat and watch the show.
The Roof on Wilshire offers a view of the city, so chances are that you’ll be able to catch a fireworks show while you’re up there. The restaurant will also offer an all-you-can-eat menu for $20 that includes all beef hot dogs and sweet potato chips. The festivities will take place from 2 to 11 p.m. Reservations are recommended. 6317 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 852-6002.
Whiskey Red’s is located in Marina Del Rey. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., it will include live music from Jack of Hearts. Drink specials include $3 select “Old School” beers and $5 Fireball shots from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. A custom menu of hamburgers and hot dogs will be available. Guests can make reservations from 5:30 to 10 p.m. It costs $59 to reserve a seat on the patio (露台) and $49 for indoor seating. Kids aged 5 to 12 need $25 for a seat outside and $20 for an indoor seat. Kids aged four and below are free. 13813 Fiji Way, Marina Del Rey, (310) 823-4522.
High Rooftop lounge in Venice at the top of the Hotel Erwin offers views of the Venice coastline. The fireworks show starts at 9 p.m. The rooftop lounge (休息室) offers a full menu of cocktails and a selection of snacks. 1697 Pacific Avenue, Venice Beach, (800) 786-7789.
The last one is Carbon Beach Club at the Malibu Inn. Here you can see fireworks from the restaurant’s oceanfront balcony from 6 to 9:30 p.m. The restaurant offers a menu of cheese, steak, fish, as well as a selection of raw shellfish. Reservations are recommended. 22878 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, (310) 456-6444.Which restaurant will you choose if you want to watch the fireworks at 3 p.m.?
| A．The Roof on Wilshire. | B．Whiskey Red’s. |
| C．High Rooftop lounge. | D．Carbon Beach Club. |
If a couple with a six-year-old kid want to reserve three indoor seats in Whiskey Red’s, they should pay at least _____.
| A．$143 | B．$138 | C．$123 | D．$118 |
D
Thousands of taxi drivers in Shenyang, Liaoning province, reportedly blocked streets with their vehicles on Sunday in protest against unlicensed vehicles using taxi-hiring apps(打车软件) and apps-based car rental companies providing passenger services, including high-end cars. Although the drivers also complained about the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy by the government, their main complaint was the loss of business because of the rising number of Internet-based car services companies.
On Wednesday, news reports came that Beijing transport authorities will take measures to stop the illegal “taxi business” of private cars through the newly rising Internet apps, following the footsteps of Shenyang and Nanjing.
It is not yet clear how the Shenyang city government will handle the issue and whether it will declare the services offered by market leaders such as Didi Dache, a taxi-hiring app provider backed by Tencent Holdings, and Kuaidi Dache illegal. But Shanghai transport regulators have set a rule, by banning Didi Zhuanche, or car services offered by Didi Dache in December.
Such regulations will cause a setback to the car-hiring companies and investors that are waiting to cash in on the potentially booming business. Just last month, Didi Dache got $700 million in funding from global investors, including Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings, Russian investment company DST Global and Tencent. Besides, the market is uncertain that Kuaidi Dache is about to finalize its latest round of funding after getting $800 million from global investors.
Regulatory uncertainties, however, could cast a shadow on the future of the Internet-based car-hiring services, which have become popular in most of China’s big cities. To be fair, these companies’ business model is anything but bad. For example, Didi Zhuanche works side by side with established car rental companies to provide high-end car service mainly for businesspeople through the Internet and mobile phone apps.
Every link in this business model chain has legal companies and services. Hence, it is hard to define it as illegal and ban it.Why did taxi drivers in Shenyang block the streets with their vehicles?
| A．Because they wanted the authority to increase their driving allowances. |
| B．Because they wanted to be taught how to use the taxi-hiring apps. |
| C．Because they wanted to make their main complaints known to the authority. |
| D．Because they wanted to appeal to passengers not to hire the private cars. |
The author’s attitude to banning internet car-hiring service is______.
| A．positive | B．negative |
| C．neutral | D．unclear |
Which of the following statements is false according to the passage?
| A．The problem referred to in the passage exists in all cities |
| B．App-based car rental is functional to some degree |
| C．The government should regulate the app-based car rental market |
| D．Didi Dache is a China-foreign joint company |
we can learn from the passage that ____ _.
| A．Shenyang forbade apps-based car rental companies |
| B．Shanghai is the second city banning Didi Zhuanche |
| C．some international investment companies have strong faith in the future of apps-based car rental companies |
| D．it is not difficult to picture the apps-based car rental companies illegal |
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