Growing strawberries in pots
·The best way to start growing strawberries is to buy pot-grown strawberry plants m spring：5plants are plenty for a hanging basket and 10 for the average 13 inch-sized pot．
·Plant them immediately in soil-based compost(混合肥料) and they will produce a modest crop in their first year．The second year should see a bumper(特大的)crop，followed by a slightly lower yield(产量)the third summer .Then start again with fresh stock
·Careful watering and feeding are essential Ifyou are to harvest a good crop，you must never
let the compost dry out,particularly when the fruit is forming and ripening；if you do．most of your
crop will drop off血e bush almost immediately．
·Water well then leave the pots for up to 3 weeks，until they reach the point of drying out Be
Careful not to overwater them during the winter months．
Pruning apple trees
·A one-year-old tree is known as a “maiden”. It has a single stem when purchased. Immediately after planting, cut it back by about half to leave 4 good buds at the base of the stem.. This will force growth from the base or the plant during the summer.
·In the second year ,prune in winter by cutting all side branches back by about one-third, Make sure each cut is made cleanly just above an outward-facing bud. In the third and fourth years, new side branches will have emerged from the previous year’s growth. Cut back all these new side branches by a third, pruning to an outward-facing bud.
·By the fifth year the tree should have a well-balanced shape. From then on ,cut back all new branches by one-third in winter .Remove any diseased wood and broken branches, and ensure the centre is open to air circulationThe two pieces of advice probably appear in
| A．a scientific repot | B．a gardening guide | C．a book review | D．a fashion column |
A good crop of strawberries mainly depends on
| A．the size of a pot | B．the season of harvesting |
| C．the number of plants in a pot | D．careful watering and feeding |
Cutting back all side branches by a third is to
| A．remove the diseased and broken branches |
| B．keep the whole tree open to air circulation |
| C．force the apple tree to grow from the base in winter |
| D．help the apple tree to form a well-balanced shape |
The two pieces of advice suggest that planting is closely related to
| A．season | B．water | C．compost | D．cutting |
Japanese students work very hard but many are unhappy. They feel heavy pressures(压力) from their parents. Most students are always told by their parents to study harder and better so that they can have a wonderful life in the future. Though this may be a good idea for those very bright students, it can have terrible results for many students who are not gifted(有天赋的) enough. Many of them have tried very hard at school but have failed in the exams and have their parents lose hope. Such students felt that they are hated by everyone else they meet and they don’t want to go to school any longer. They become dropouts.
It is surprising that though most Japanese parents are worried about their children, they do not help them in any way. Many parents feel that they are not able to help their children and that it is the teachers’ work to help their children. To make matters worse, a lot of parents serif their children to those schools opening in the evenings and on weekends — they only help the students to pass the exams and never teach them any real sense of the world.
Many Japanese schools usually have rules about everything from the students’ hair to their clothes and things in their school bags. Child psychologists(心理学家) now think that such strict rules are harmful to the feelings of the students. Almost 40% of the students said that no one had taught them how to get on with others, how to tell right from wrong and how to show love and care for others, even for their parents.“Dropouts” are those who _______.
| A．make troubles in and out of schools |
| B．go about or stay home instead of being at school |
| C．try hard but always fails in the exams |
| D．lose hope and give up some of their subjects |
According to the passage, it’s necessary to teach students _______.
| A．how to study well | B．how to get on with others |
| C．to show love and care for others | D．All above |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Trouble in Japanese Schools |
| B．The Problems of Japanese Students |
| C．Education in Japan |
| D．The Pressures on the Students in Japan |
Students in many countries are learning English. Some of these students are small children. Others are teen-agers. Many are adults. Some learn at school, others by themselves. A few learn English by learning the language over the radio, on TV, or in film. One must work hard to learn another language.
Why do all these people want to learn English? It is difficult to answer this question. Many boys and girls learn English at school because it is one of their subjects required for study. They study their own language and maths and English: Some people learn it because it is useful for their work. Many people learn English for their work. Many people learn English for their higher studies, because at college or university some of their books are in English. Other people learn English because they want to read newspapers or magazines in English.People learn English _______.
| A．at school | B．over the radio |
| C．on TV | D．not all in the same way |
Different kinds of people want to learn English _______.
| A．together with other subjects | B．for different reasons |
| C．for their work | D．for higher studies at colleges |
From this passage we know that _______.
| A．we can learn English easily |
| B．English is very difficult to learn |
| C．English is learned by most people in the world |
| D．English is a useful language but one must work hard to learn |
Which of the following is right?
| A．We don’t need to learn any foreign languages. |
| B．We can do well in all our work without English. |
| C．English is the most important subject in schools. |
| D．We should learn English because we need to face the world. |
America is growing older. Fifty years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. Today, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect （影响） American society in many ways — education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society— one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为）is suitable （合适）at various ages. A person's age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There's no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school ,get a job, or stop working isn't as strong as it used to be. It doesn't surprise us to hear of a 29-year-old university president or a 35-year-old grandmother, or a 70-year-old man who has become a father for the firs time. Public ideas are changing. Many people say, 'I am much younger than my mother - or my father - was at my age.' No one says ‘Act your age’ anymore. We've stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways. It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America_________ .
| A．has made people feel younger |
| B．has changed people's social position |
| C．has changed people's understanding of age |
| D．has slowed down the country's social development |
The underlined word ‘one’ refers to_________.
| A．a society | B．America | C．a place | D．population |
‘Act your age’ means people should_________.
| A．be active when they are old |
| B．do the right thing at the right age |
| C．show respect for their parents young or old |
| D．take more physical exercise suitable to their age |
If a 25-year-old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ______.
| A．normal | B．wonderful | C．unbelievable | D．unreasonable |
JINTAN, JIANGSU: The 20 students — 18 boys and 2 girls —had a thousand reasons to be proud of themselves. They had just climbed their way to the top rung（阶梯）out of 4 million students taking part in the Fifth National Hua Luogeng Gold Cup Mathematics Contest（竞赛）on Tuesday evening. The 20 gold medal winners are all primary and middle school students under the age of 14. ‘Many of the problems are of college level and these pupils can figure them out. It is just unbelievable!’said a teacher from Guangdong province. Named after China's most famous mathematician, Hua Luogeng, the contest started in 1986,one year after his death. In less than 10 years, it has been recognized by the State Education Commission（国家教委） as the country's biggest and best contest of its kind. This news story is mainly about________ .
| A．when the contest started |
| B．how the contest got its name |
| C．the 20 pupils who have won gold medals in the contest |
| D．the 5th National Hua Luogeng Gold Cup Mathematics Contest |
This news story most probably appeared in a newspaper in ________.
| A．1986 | B．1987 | C．1995 | D．1997 |
It can be inferred from the text that the teacher from Guangdong province ________.
| A．felt proud of the gold medal winners |
| B．wondered if the students were honest |
| C．thought that the problems were too difficult for the students |
| D．believed that the twenty winners could go to study at university |
The underlined phrase ‘figure out’ in the text means_________.
| A．work out | B．add up | C．guess | D．study |
Dear Guys,
I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected me to last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better-than-average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.
One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the urge to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I reluctantly (勉强地) agreed.
Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably simple request.
However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, threw it as hard as I could.
It hit the middle of the fence and bounced back to me.
Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, Oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.
The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.
This is the point where I start to take issue with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, motionless.
Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate. Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.
Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.
“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.
“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.
And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”
I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.
Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.
It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.
I surprised myself-and I’m sure you as well-by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery.
Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”
Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period was just enough blow for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”
And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment to never throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.
Sincerely, Jen CorderyThe writer agreed to throw the ball because ______.
| A．she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries |
| B．she wanted to refresh her childhood memories |
| C．she could not refuse the polite request from the young man |
| D．she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight |
Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?
| A．To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back. |
| B．To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills. |
| C．To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were. |
| D．To express her dislike towards softball. |
What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer _______.
| A．inspired | B．encouraged | C．embarrassed | D．depressed |
What happened to the ball at last?
| A．The writer managed to throw the ball back. |
| B．The boy got the ball back by himself. |
| C．The writer threw the ball away out of anger. |
| D．The boys got angry and left without the ball. |
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