Anne Sanders was practicing soccer moves, which was not normal. Usually, Anne only plays basketball. She wins every basketball game she plays, and she loses at any other game. "Anne", I waved to her. "Why are you playing soccer?"
"Well, the gym teacher is doing something different," she said. "There are teams of four and partners of two.We get to pick our partners, and I want someone to pick me. "Anne held up a list.
"It looks like I'm on a team with you, Stacey, and Paul," I said. "Stacey is my best friend.Maybe we can be together: " Just then, Stacey and Paul came over. They had heard of the teams.
"Do you want to be partners, Stacey?" I asked.
"Well, I was going to be partners with Paul," she claimed. I didn't blame her. Paul was as fast as a rocket, and my nickname was "Snail". "But we are best friends," said Stacey. “So I guess I'II be with you. "
It was our first game. Stacey went to talk to some other friends afterwards, and Paul and Anne were talking about winning their game. I was sipping on my water, when I overheard Stacey, "She's worse than I thought; if I played the team alone,, I would have won easily. She's worse than a snail. She's more like a statue. "
That night, I felt terrible for losing and mad at Stacey for calling me a statue. After all, she was my best friend and my only friend. Anyway, the phone rang, and it was Stacey. At first, I thought she might apologize, but no such luck.
“Allison, the game tomorrow is canceled, " she said.
"Okay," I replied. "Sorry about the game today", Stacey hung up on me.
The next day, I went over to the soccer field. I knew the game was canceled, but maybe I could help clean up.But instead of a mess, I saw a soccer game in progress. Stacey and were playing, and Anne was hiding in the corner. "Paul made me pretend to be sick, " she whispered. “He wants to play with Stacey because she's so fast. "
So Anne and I went to get ice cream. Even if I lost Stacey ,I just created a lifelong friendship.Why did Anne practice playing soccer?
| A．Because she wanted to win in all games. |
| B．Because she didn't want to be left out. |
| C．Because she intended to be a normal student. |
| D．Because she hoped to do something different. |
What did Stacey complain about Allison?
| A．Allison called her nickname. |
| B．Allison was as fast as a rocket. |
| C．Allison didn't treat her as a best friend |
| D．Allison moved too slowly in the game. |
Stacey phoned Allison in order to
| A．get rid of Allison as a partner |
| B．apologize for calling Allison a statue |
| C．tell Allison there was no game tomorrow |
| D．encourage Allison to fight in the next game |
Allison went to the soccer field to________
| A．watch a soccer game |
| B．keep the soccer field clean |
| C．find out Why the game was cancelled |
| D．make preparations for another game |
What conclusion can we draw from this passage?
| A．Allison wanted to be partners with Anne. |
| B．Stacey called Allison to show real concern. |
| C．Allison and Anne would be friends forever. |
| D．Anne was hiding in the corner because she was sick. |
When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.
People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Everything else seems blurry. Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near-sighted. People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm’s length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.
Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people’s eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.
Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle. To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object’s relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distances as people with two eyes.We should take good care of our eyes________. .
| A．only when we can see well |
| B．only when we cannot see perfectly |
| C．even if we can see wel |
| D．only when we realize how important our eyes are |
When things far away seem indistinct(模糊不清) , one is probably________. .
| A．near-sighted | B．far-sighted |
| C．astigmatic | D．suffering from cataracts |
The underlined word blurry in the second paragraph probably means_______.
| A．obvious | B．possible | C．clear | D．unclear |
Having two eyes instead of one is particularly useful for_______
| A．seeing at night | B．seeing objects far away |
| C．looking over a wide area | D．judging distances |
Some people learn a second language easily. Other people have trouble learning a new language. How can you help yourself learn a new language, such as English? There are several ways to make learning English a little easier and more interesting.
The first step is to feel positive about learning English. If you believe that you can learn, you will learn. Be patient. You do not have to understand everything all at once. It is natural to make mistakes when you learn something new. We can learn from our mistakes. In other words, do not worry about taking risks,
The second step is to practice your English. For example, write in a journal, or diary, every day. You will get used to writing in English, and you will feel comfortable expressing your ideas in English. After several weeks, you will see that your writing is improving. In addition, you must speak English every day. You can practice with your classmates outside class. You will all make mistakes, but gradually you will become comfortable communicating in English.
The third step is to keep a record of your language learning. You can write this in your journal. After each class, think about what you did. Did you answer a question correctly? Did you understand something the teacher explained? Perhaps the lesson was difficult, but you tried to understand it. Write these accomplishments in your journal.To feel positive（积极的） about learning English means_______
| A．if you are patient, you will learn |
| B．you can understand everything all at once |
| C．if you make mistakes, you can learn from them |
| D．if you believe you can learn, you will learn |
When you learn English, you do not need to _______
| A．practice speaking it too much |
| B．to be patient and feel positive about it |
| C．express your ideas in English |
| D．understand everything all at once |
What is not helpful for you to enjoy learning English?
| A．To communicate in English |
| B．To worry about taking risks |
| C．To think about what has been done after class |
| D．To make a record of the achievements |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．It’s very important to learn a second language |
| B．Some people learn a second language easily while others don’t |
| C．There are ways to help you learn a second language easily |
| D．Don’t worry about taking risks when learning a second language |
If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those surrounding Christmas trees. One would certainly think otherwise; selecting and putting up our trees have always been filled with risk. For example, one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain, a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it into the house. Once we did, my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter to build a stand for it. Another December, perhaps the very next one, we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before. We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable. We easily placed it in a stand, decorated it from top to bottom, and then self-satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light. Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden; we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off. There was nothing to do but undecorate it, take it down, and begin tree shopping again. Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task. When we brought it home, once again it seemed larger than it was in the great outdoors. To complicate matters, we had bought a new stand, one whose nuts （螺帽） and bolts （闩子） worked more mysteriously than those of our old stands. I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand. Unfortunately, no one noticed the mud on our helpers' shoes, so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments （装饰）were stored. Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these. I don't care to hear them, as my family's experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion:" Let's forget the tree next Christmas. Let's simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall. "The darkest moments in the writer's family were with the fact that _____.
| A．the family bought big Christmas trees |
| B．they had problems decorating their Christmas trees |
| C．they had problems picking suitable Christmas trees |
| D．they had problems finding carpenters for putting up Christmas trees |
We can learn from the passage that the writer would like to _____.
| A．forget about Christmas stories |
| B．get the neighbors to put up their trees |
| C．buy a better tree to celebrate Christmas |
| D．make other decorations rather than Christmas trees |
When the writer said " my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain", he means ____.
| A．she bought the tree at a cheap price |
| B．she didn't really want to buy it |
| C．she had to bargain hard with the salesman |
| D．she couldn't afford a more expensive one |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．How to Select a Christmas Tree |
| B．No More Christmas Tree for Us |
| C．Dark Moments of Life |
| D．Christmas Without Trees |
In a room at Texas Children Cancer Center in Houston, eight-year-old Simran Jatar lay in bed with a drip (点滴) above her to fight her bone cancer. Over her bald (秃的) head, she wore a pink hat that matched her clothes. But the third grader’s cheery dressing didn’t mask her pain and weary eyes.
Then a visitor showed up. “Do you want to write a song?” asked Anita Kruse, 49, rolling a cart equipped with an electronic keyboard, a microphone and speakers. Simran stared. “Have you ever written a poem?” Anita Kruse continued. “Well, yes,” Simran said.
Within minutes, Simran was reading her poem into the microphone. “Some bird soaring through the sky,” she said softly. “Imagination in its head…” Anita Kruse added piano music, a few warbling (鸣, 唱) birds, and finally the girl’s voice. Thirty minutes later, she presented Simran with a CD of her first recorded song.
That was the beginning of Anita Kruse’s project, Purple Songs Can Fly, one that has helped more than 125 young patients write and record songs. As a composer and pianist who had performed at the hospital, Kruse said that the idea of how she could help “came in one flash”.
The effect on the kids has been great. One teenage girl, curling (蜷缩) in pain in her wheelchair, stood unaided to dance to a hip-hop song she had written. A 12-year-old boy with Hodgkin’s disease who rarely spoke surprised his doctors with a song he called I Can Make It.
“My time with the kids is heartbreaking because of the severity of their illnesses,” says Anita Kruse. “But they also make you happy, when the children are smiling, excited to share their CD with their families.”
Simran is now an active sixth grader and cancer-free. From time to time, she and her mother listen to her song, Always Remembering, and they always remember the “really sweet and nice and loving” lady who gave them a shining moment in the dark hour. Simran Jatar lay in bed in hospital because ______.
| A．most of her hair had fallen out |
| B．she was receiving treatment for cancer |
| C．she felt depressed and quit from school |
| D．she was suffering from a pain in her back |
What do we know about Anita Kruse’s project?
| A．It helps young patients record songs. |
| B．It is supported by singers and patients. |
| C．It aims to replace the medical treatment. |
| D．It offers patients chances to realize their dreams. |
What does the case of a 12-year-old boy suggest?
| A．Most children are naturally fond of music. |
| B．He was brave enough to put up performance. |
| C．The project has positive effect on young patients. |
| D．Singing is the best way to treat some illnesses. |
What is probably the best title for the passage?
| A．Purple Songs Can Fly |
| B．Singing Can Improve Health |
| C．A Shining Moment in Life |
| D．A Kind Woman—Anita Kruse |
FreeRice.com is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP). It aims to provide education to everyone for free and help end world hunger. Join us and have fun with our vocabulary game. For each vocabulary word you get right, we donate free rice through UNWFP to those hungry people.
How do you play the vocabulary game?
Click on the answer that is closest in meaning to the word. If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word. For each word you get right, we donate 20 grains of rice to UNWFP.
How does the vocabulary game help you?
This game may make you smarter. While learning new vocabulary, it can help you:
★Present your ideas better
★Write better papers, e-mails and business letters
★Speak more accurately and influentially
★Read faster because you understand better
★Get better grades in high school and college
★Perform better at job interviews
★Be more effective and successful at your job
After you have done FreeRice for a couple of days, you may notice a phenomenon. Words that you have never consciously used before will begin to pop into your head while you are speaking or writing. You will feel yourself using and knowing more words.
How does the FreeRice vocabulary program work?
FreeRice has a database containing thousands of words at different levels of difficulty. There are words proper for people just learning English and words that will challenge the most learned professors. In between are thousands of words for students, business people, doctors, truck drivers… everyone!
FreeRice adjusts to your level of vocabulary. It starts by giving you words at different levels of difficulty and then, based on how you do, designs a proper starting level for you. When you get a word wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three words in a row right, you go to a harder level. There are 60 levels in all, but it is rare for people to get above Level 50.
Sign up now and you will have fun as well as help end world hunger. According to the passage, the purpose of the vocabulary game is to ______.
| A．combine English learning with helping hungry people |
| B．make it popular in English-speaking countries |
| C．encourage people to produce more rice |
| D．provide English learning for poor areas |
Playing the vocabulary game enables you to ______.
| A．develop some new ideas |
| B．increase chances of job interview |
| C．be admitted to a university |
| D．perform better in a speech competition |
People of different vocabulary levels can play the game because ______.
| A．it is free of charge |
| B．it offers fair chances to everyone |
| C．it changes levels with their performance |
| D．it meets the needs of people in different fields |
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