A letter of reply is sometimes a most valuable thing． Here is a story telling about this common and natural human sentiment．
The busiest woman in Labrador during one bitter cold Christmas not very long ago, was an Australian nurse by the name of Kate Austen． But Nurse Austen was not too busy to acknowledge with a long, friendly letter every gift of food or clothing received for distribution to the natives in that cold and poor district of the north． Among the gifts was a box of knittings for children, knitted（编织）and sent by a woman in Toronto．
Nurse Austen was busy, exhausted and not feeling too well that winter．She could have written just ordinary routine notes of acknowledgement． But that was not her way． She sat down and wrote the woman in Toronto a real letter telling all about the village, and the names of the children who were wearing the knitted gloves and caps, and what they said, when they got them, and how they looked when they wore them．She wanted the woman who had knitted and sent all those lovely knittings "to see how much happiness and warmth she had created．" Not long after, she received the following answer from Canada．
Dear Miss Austen:
Your letter made me happy． I did not expect such a full return． I am eighty years old, and I am blind． There is little I can do except knit, and that is why I knit so many caps and sweaters and scarves．Of course I cannot write this, so my daughter-in-law is doing it for me．She also sewed the seams and made the button holes for the knitted things．
I know something of the work you are doing． At the age of nineteen I married a man who was going to China to be a missionary(传教士）． For forty years, with an occasional year at home in America, we Worked in China, and during that time our two sons and a daughter were born to us, of whom only one son survives．After forty years, my husband's health began to fail． We returned to the States where he took charge of a settlement house in Brooklyn, New York． A surprising number of the problems we faced there were similar to the problems we had met in China．When my husband died, I came to Toronto to live with my son and daughter-in-law． They are very good to me, and I pride myself that I am little trouble to them, though it is hard for a blind old lady to be sure of anything．
What I most want to say, my dear, is this． For sixty years I have been making up missionary packages of such clothing or food or medicine or books as I could collect． In various parts of the world and to various parts of the world I have sent them．Sometimes I have received a printed note of acknowledgement from the headquarters depot or mission board, sometimes nothing．Occasionally I have been informed that my contribution was planned for Syria or Armenia or the upper Yangtze．But never before in all that time have l had a personal letter picturing the village and telling me who is wearing the clothing and what they said．I did not suppose that ever in my lifetime I should receive a letter like that．
May God bless you．
Sincerely yours,
What did Nurse Austen do after receiving the gift?
| A．She wrote a letter telling all about her life. |
| B．She was too busy to write a note of acknowledgement. |
| C．She was not busy, exhausted or feeling too well that time. |
| D．She not only wrote a letter of thanks but told Laura more details. |
Which of the following is true_______________.
| A．Laura wrote the letter. |
| B．Laura made the button holes for the knitted things |
| C．Laura’s daughter-in-law sewed the seams and made the button holes for the knitted things． |
| D．Laura’s daughter-in-law knitted many caps and sweaters and scarves． |
We can learn from the passage EXCEPT that_____.
| A．For decades, Laura has been to many places of the world. |
| B．Laura sent contributions to people all over the world． |
| C．Laura was blind and brought trouble to her children. |
| D．Laura had never received such a personal letter as Miss Austen’s before. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Contributions make a big difference. |
| B．The Power of a sincere reply |
| C．The story of two women |
| D．Be grateful to others’ help |
Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth —so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that; it's nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I'll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean？You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry; I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it. ” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me?’” “I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you; shall we say for a fiver?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amusedby the whole thing.
We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The underlined word “approach” in the second paragraph means _____________.
| A．plan for dealing with thing |
| B．decision to sell things |
| C．idea of repairing things by himself |
| D．way of doing things |
The expression “ the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper __________.
| A．changed his mind |
| B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose |
| D．decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay?
| A．£5 | B．£6 | C．£20 | D．£27 |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was____________.
| A．honest | B．careful |
| C．smart | D．funny |
Topic: “Enjoy Worldwide privileges with BOC cards” 5% cash rebate(折扣) from UnionPay credit card issued by Bank of China
Time: April 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015
Customer: Personal credit cards with card number starting with “62” and with the UnionPay logo on the card
Details：
Payments with business cards, corporate cards or transactions（交易）through third-party platform (PAYPAL, Alipay and the internet banking payment and Kuai payment supported by Alipay) are not eligible（合格的）for the promotion.
The promotion is applicable to online shopping payments to appointed business partners only, and all the transactions need to be completed via UnionPay online. Amazon (U.S.) personal credit cards with card number starting with “62” and with the UnionPay logo on the card are eligible for the promotion.
As the promotion has no pre-defined upper limit on the number of transactions, all transactions meeting the criteria above will enjoy the cash rebate. The value of eligible transactions will be the settlement amount in RMB according to the UnionPay system.
All single transactions of RMB 500 or more with payment made by UnionPay credit card issued by Bank of China (card number starting with ‘62’) via UnionPay online platform will enjoy a 5% cash rebate, capped at RMB 100 per card per month.
Cardholders will receive the cash rebate within 90 calendar days after every promotion period. If the cardholder has any questions on the amount of rebate, please contact Bank of China Credit Card Customer Care Hotline（4006695566）within 30 calendar days since receiving the rebate; if no question is raised within 30 calendar days, the bank with deem the client agreeable to the amount of rebate. The date of cash rebate arriving in client’s account could be later than the date described above due to force majeure that is not unforeseeable.
Only transactions made with specified credit cards to appointed business partners will be eligible for the cash rebate promotion; in case of refund, no cash rebate will be made. At the same time, Bank of China reserve the right to recall any unqualified cash rebate already made.
Cardholders will need to ensure no late payment, card freeze or other abnormal occasions during the promotion period, otherwise the cardholder will not be eligible for the promotion.
Income tax associated with the cash rebate will be taken care of by the cardholder. Cardholders hold the responsibility to declare the income and settle the tax payment.Which of the following cards can get the cash rebate?
How much rebate can I get from a 500 dollars payment?
| A．About 5RMB | B．About 25 RMB |
| C．About 100 RMB | D．About 125 RMB |
In which of the following payment can we get the cash rebate?
| A．$60 for a sweater on Amazon. |
| B．$100 for a souvenir bought in the duty-free shop of LAX. |
| C．$200 for a child safety seat on Amazon. |
| D．$80 for a bottle of wine from a shop in Paris. |
We can learn from the passage that ___________.
| A．The cash rebate will arrive in our account within 30 calendar days. |
| B．We can’t get the cash rebate unless we pay the income tax associated. |
| C．Both the customers and Amazon(U.S.) will benefit from this promotion. |
| D．Any transactions of RMB 500 or more can get the cash rebate. |
I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes.
At 19, when I began studying astrophysics, it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement—jobs, research papers, awards—was viewed through the lens of gender (性别) politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus (相对于) right brain, or nature versus nurture (培育), I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.
Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations: I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.
Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.Why doesn’t the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again?
| A．She feels unhappy working in male-dominated fields. |
| B．She is fed up with the issue of gender discrimination. |
| C．She is not good at telling stories of the kind. |
| D．She finds space research more important |
From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would owe the author’s failures to _____.
| A．the very fact that she is a woman |
| B．her involvement in gender politics |
| C．her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist |
| D．the burden she bears in a male-dominated society |
Why does the author feel great satisfaction when talking about her class?
| A．Female students no longer have to bother about gender issues. |
| B．Her students’ performance has brought back her confidence. |
| C．Her female students can do just as well as male students. |
| D．More female students are pursuing science than before. |
What does the image the author presents to her students suggest?
| A．Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation. |
| B．Women have more barriers on their way to academic success. |
| C．Women can balance a career in science and having a family. |
| D．Women now have fewer problems pursuing a science career. |
The simple exercise of sitting down and standing up again without holding onto anything, could suggest how long you have to live. This is the belief of a group of physicians, who came up with the ‘sitting-rising test’ to measure their patients’ flexibility and strength. They developed a scoring system for the test and found that people who scored three points or less out of 10, were more than five times as likely to die within six years, as those who scored more than eight points.
Claudio Gil Araujo, of Gama Filho University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was among the doctors who originally developed the sitting rising test (SRT) to quickly assess the flexibility of athletes, but he now uses it to persuade his patients that they need to stay active to maintain their muscle and balance, and live longer, Discover Magazine reported.
As we age, our muscles tend to become weaker and a loss of balance means we are increasingly likely to fall. Current ways to test frailty can be time-consuming, impractical and inaccurate for small doctors’ surgeries, but experts are keen to keep older people moving. Dr Araujo says that anyone can take the SRT because no equipment is needed.
In a study, published in the European Journal of Cardiology, the researchers described how 2002 adults aged between 51 and 80 took the SRT at Clinimex Exercise Medicine Clinic in Rio. They found that patients who scored fewer than eight points out of 10 on the test, were twice as likely to die within the next six years, compared with people with more perfect scores.
One point was deducted each time a person used their hand or knee for support to either sit down or stand up, while half a point was deducted for losing their balance. The experts found that people who scored three points or fewer, were more than five times as likely to die within the same period. They wrote in the study: ‘Musculoskeletal fitness, as assessed by SRT, was a significant predictor of mortality in 51–80-year-old subjects.’ The study found that every point increase in the test, was linked to a 21 per cent decrease in mortality from all causes. However, chartered physio-therapist Sammy Margo said that the exercise may be “quite ambitious” for older people in the UK.The sitting-rising test was first designed ______.
| A．to suggest how long you have to live. |
| B．to assess the flexibility of athletes. |
| C．to measure their patients’ flexibility and strength. |
| D．to persuade his patients that they need to stay active to maintain their muscle and balance. |
What does the underlined word “mortality” probably mean in this passage?
| A．body balance | B．muscle strength |
| C．flexibility | D．length of one’s life |
What would the author most likely to talk about in the following paragraph?
| A．The reason why the test may not be accurate to British older people. |
| B．Another test that is more appropriate in some other cultures. |
| C．The different test results among old men and women. |
| D．The limitation and disadvantage of the sitting-rising test. |
Which part of the newspaper will the article probably come from?
| A．Exercise & sports | B．Education |
| C．Entertainment | D．Health |
One morning a few years ago, Harvard President Neil Rudenstine overslept. For this busy man, it was a sort of alarm: after years of non-stop hard work, he might wear himself out and die an early death.
Only after a week’s leave—— during which he read novels, listened to music and walked with his wife on a beach—— was Rudenstine able to return to work.
In our modern life, we have lost the rhythm between action and rest. Amazingly, within this world there is a universal but silly saying: “I am so busy.”
We say this to one another as if our tireless efforts were a talent by nature and an ability to successfully deal with stress. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, and to be unable to find time to relax—— this has become the model of a successful life.
Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We miss the guide telling us where to go, the food providing us with strength, the quiet giving us wisdom.
How have we allowed this to happen? I believe it is this: we have forgotten the Sabbath, the day of the week—— for followers of some religions—— for rest and praying. It is a day when we are not supposed to work, a time when we devote ourselves to enjoying and celebrating what is beautiful. It is a good time to bless our children and loved ones, give thanks, share meals, walk and sleep. It is a time for us to take a rest, to put our work aside, trusting that there are larger forces at work taking care of the world.
Rest is a spiritual and biological need; however, in our strong ambition to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, we may feel terribly guilty when we take time to rest. The Sabbath gives us permission to stop work. In fact, “Remember the Sabbath” is more than simply permission to rest; it is a rule to obey and a principle to follow.The “alarm” in the first paragraph refers to “_______”.
| A．a signal of stress | B．a warning of danger |
| C．a sign of age | D．a spread of disease |
According to Paragraph 4, a successful person is one who is believed to _______.
| A．be able to work without stress |
| B．be more talented than other people |
| C．be more important than anyone else |
| D．be busying working without time to rest |
Some people feel guilty when taking time to rest because they _______.
| A．think that taking a rest means lacking ambitions |
| B．fail to realize that rest is an essential part of life |
| C．fail to realize that religions force them to rest |
| D．think that taking a rest means being lazy. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．We should balance work with rest. |
| B．The Sabbath gives us permission to rest. |
| C．It is silly for anyone to say “I am busy.” |
| D．We should be available to our family and friends. |
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