Below are some interesting columns from a website:
| Girl’s Crazy Historical Costumes Stella Ehrhart, a US third-grader, dresses up as a different historical figure every day before school—yes, you heard right! The 8-year-old has been coming to class in a different persona (人物) daily since the second day of second grade, when she showed up as American author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Stella gets ideas for what to wear from the book 100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century. However, in the past years she has also dressed up as fictional characters including Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. The eager student managed to get through the entire second grade without repeating herself, but now she is running out of ideas. The girl’s parents, who are both theater professionals, say they support their daughter’s “creativity”. Her mother told UK news website The Huffington Post, “She goes into her closet and just picks out what she wants each day.” Learning Soars How do you get a child’s early education off the ground? A head teacher in the Georgian city of Rustavi has found a unique way of creating an exciting learning environment. He has transformed a plane into a kindergarten. Gari Chapidze bought an old but functional Yakovlev Yak-42 from Georgian Airways and filled it with education equipment, games and toys, but left the cockpit (驾驶舱) untouched so it could be used as a play area. “The idea was to create a kindergarten where children go |
with joy,” Chapidze, who runs the kindergarten, told AFP. “The children come in to the kindergarten with pleasure and cry when they have to go home. They are happy here,” he added. Taxi Driver Gets Lucky in Las Vegas Bright lights and big wins—this is what Las Vegas is known for, and even the taxi drivers here get lucky. Well, at least recently one did. Adam Woldemarim, 42, discovered $ 221,510 in the back of his van after a long day at work. The money was in a laptop case left between the seats of the Virgin Valley cab. What did Woldemarim do with the cash? He turned it in. The Ethiopian driver soon got a call from the case’s owner who, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had “won big” and was on his way to the airport when he realized he had forgotten his winnings. Woldemarim was given a $ 2,000 reward. But it was reported that the driver’s fellow taxi drivers thought he should have got a lot more. Eat Crickets (蟋蟀) and Worms at a Museum The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia is putting on a night for meat eaters who want to try some unusual foods. It is hosting a cocktail party on Oct 27 called Cuisine from the Collections. The food on the menu is inspired by the exhibited specimen (标本) at the museum. The event is for adults only. Let’s hope they don’t get a stomach bug from all the insects! |
Stella Ehrhart gets ideas on how to dress up every day before school from ________.
| A．Laura Ingalls Wilder | B．a book |
| C．Hermione Granger | D．her parents |
Which of the following is the biggest problem Stella Ehrhart is facing?
| A．She has to get through the entire second grade dressing up as others. |
| B．She finds her parents no longer offer her as much support as before. |
| C．She finds it hard to think of enough new figures to dress up. |
| D．She has difficulty dressing up without falling behind in study. |
Yakovlev Yak-42 is a certain kind of ________.
| A．school | B．company | C．toy | D．plane |
According to the passage, the van driver ________.
| A．was lucky to win a laptop case after a long day at work |
| B．was on his way to the airport when he saw the money |
| C．was given a reward but not quite satisfied with the sum |
| D．discovered the money but didn’t keep it for himself |
There are records of fingerprints taken many centuries ago. The ancient Babylonians pressed the tips of their fingerprints into clay to record business trade. The Chinese used ink-on-paper finger impressions for business. However, fingerprinting wasn't used as a method for identifying criminals until the 19th century．
In 1858, Sir William Herschel was working as an official of the Hooghly district in Jungipoor, India．In order to reduce fraud（诈骗）, he had people living in the district record their fingerprints when signing business documents. A few years later, Scottish doctor Henry Faulds was working in Japan when he discovered fingerprints left by artists on ancient pieces of clay．This finding inspired him to begin investigating fingerprints．In 1880, Faulds wrote to his cousin, the famous naturalist Charles Darwin, and asked for help with developing a fingerprint classification system．Darwin refused, but sent the letter to his cousin, Sir Francis Gallon, who was an eugenicist (优生学家). Gallon began collecting fingerprints and eventually gathered some 8, 000 different samples to analyze. In 1892, he published a book called "Fingerprints", in which he outlined a fingerprint classification system—the first existence．
Around the same time, Juan Vucetich, a police officer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was developing his own version of a fingerprinting system．In 1892, Vucetich was called in to assist with the investigation of the two boys murdered in Necoche, a village near Buenos Aires. Their mother, Francisca Rojas, accused a neighbour named Velasquez. But when Vucetich compared the fingerprints found at the murder scene to those of both Velasquez and Rojas, they matched Rojas' exactly．She admitted her crime. This was the first time fingerprints had been used in a criminal investigation.Vucetich called his system comparative dactyloscopy（指纹鉴定法）. It's still used in many Spanish-speaking countries．
Sir Edward Henry, in charge of the Metropolitan Police of London, soon became interested in using fingerprints to catch criminals. In 1896, he added to Gallon's technique, creating his own classification system, the Henry Classification System. It is the primary method of fingerprint classification throughout most of the world．Herschel had people record their fingerprints so as to_____．
| A．develop a fingerprinting system | B．prevent illegal business |
| C．put them on pieces of clay | D．collect and study fingerprints |
Who first came up with the idea of creating a fingerprint classification system?
| A．Herschel． | B．Faulds． | C．Gallon． | D．Darwin． |
The underlined word "they" in Paragraph 3 probably refers to "_____"．
| A．the fingerprints | B．the two boys | C．the crimes | D．the police officers |
We can learn from the text that _____．
| A．Faulds collected many fingerprints while in Japan |
| B．Henry's classification system is based on Gallon's |
| C．Darwin showed great interest in studying fingerprints |
| D．Vucetich's fingerprinting system is still used all over the world |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Different uses of fingerprints． |
| B．The history of fingerprinting． |
| C．Countries that first used fingerprints． |
| D．The way to collect and analyze fingerprints． |
When my grandfather died, my 83-year-old grandmother, once so full of life, slowly began to fade. No longer able to manage a home of her own, she moved in with my mother, where she was visited often by other members of her large, loving family. Although she still had her good days, it was often hard to arouse her interest.
But one chilly December afternoon three years ago, my daughter Meagan, then eight, and I were visiting her, when she noticed that Meagan was carrying her favorite doll.
“I, too, had a special doll when I was a little girl,” she told a wide-eyed Meagan. “I got it one Christmas when I was about your age. I lived in an old farmhouse in Maine, with Mom, Dad and my four sisters, and the very first gift I opened that Christmas was the most beautiful doll you’d ever want to see.”
“She had an elegant, hand-painted face, and her long brown hair was pulled back with a big pink bow. Her eyes were blue, and they opened and closed. I remember she had a body of kidskin, and her arms and legs bent at the joints.”
GG’s voice dropped low, taking on an almost respectful tone. “My doll was dressed in a pretty pink gown, decorated with fine lace. … Getting such a fine doll was like a miracle for a little farm girl like me — my parents must have had to sacrifice so much to afford it. But how happy I was that morning!”
GG’s eyes filled and her voice shook with emotion as she recalled that Christmas of long ago. “I played with my doll all morning long. And then it happened. My mother called us to the dining room for Christmas dinner and I laid my new doll down gently on the hall table. But as I went to join the family at the table, I heard a loud crash.”
“I hardly had to turn around — I knew it was my precious doll. And it was. Her lace skirt had hung down from the table just enough for my baby sister to reach up and pull on it. When I ran in, there lay my beautiful doll on the floor, her face smashed into a dozen pieces. She was gone forever.”
A few years later, GG’s baby sister was also gone, she told Meagan, a victim of pneumonia(肺炎). Now the tears in her eyes spilled over — tears, I knew, not only for a lost doll and a lost sister, but for a lost time.
Silent for the rest of the visit, Meagan was no sooner in the car going home than she exclaimed, “Mom, I have a great idea! Let’s get GG a new doll for Christmas. Then she won’t cry when she thinks about it.”
My heart filled with pride as I listened to my sympathetic little daughter. But where would we find a doll to match GG’s fond memories?
Where there’s a will, as they say, there’s a way. When I told my best friends, Liz and Chris, about my problem, Liz put me in touch with a local doll-make. From a doll supply house I ordered a long brown hair and a kidskin body to copy the outfit GG had so lovingly described. Liz volunteered to put the doll together, and Chris helped me make the doll’s outfit. Meagan wrote the story of the lost doll by giving examples.
Finally our creation was finished. To our eyes it was perfect. But there was no way it could be exactly like the doll GG had loved so much and lost. Would she think it looked anything like it?
On Christmas Eve, Meagan and I carried our happily packed gift to GG, where she sat surrounded by children, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. “It’s for you,” Meagan said, “but first you have to read the story that goes with it.”
GG no sooner got through the first page than her voice cracked and she was unable to go on, but Meagan took over where she left off. Then it was time to open her present.
I’ll never forget the look on GG’s face as she lifted the doll and held it to her chest. Once again her tears fell, but this time they were tears of joy. Holding the doll in her frail arms, she repeated over and over again, “She’s exactly like my old doll, exactly like her.”
And perhaps she wasn’t saying that just to be kind. Perhaps however impossible it seemed, we had managed to produce a close copy of the doll she remembered. But as I watched my eight-year-old daughter and her great-grandmother examining the doll together, I thought of a likelier explanation. What GG really recognized, perhaps, was the love that inspired the gift. And love, wherever it comes from, always looks the same.GG moved in with her daughter because____.
| A．she wanted to live with a large family |
| B．she was not able to live on her own due to her weakness |
| C．her husband passed away |
| D．she thought it was the children’s obligation to take care of her |
Why did GG become very emotional on a December afternoon?
| A．Because she saw her great granddaughter’s doll. |
| B．Because she recalled her dead parents. |
| C．Because she was surrounded by her offspring. |
| D．Because she felt lonely during the Christmas season. |
What can we infer from Paragraph 5?
| A．GG’s doll was important and was a symbol of many things. |
| B．GG showed great respect for his husband’s love. |
| C．GG missed the great old days she spent with her family. |
| D．GG was grateful for her long life. |
What happened to GG’s baby sister?
| A．She envied her sister all her life. |
| B．She felt guilty for breaking GG’s doll and decided to go. |
| C．She left home at a young age. |
| D．She died of some disease at a young age. |
Why did Meagan’s mum feel proud of her daughter?
| A．Because she was clever. | B．Because she was loving. |
| C．Because she was sensitive. | D．Because she was imaginative. |
The main idea of the passage is that ____.
| A．treating the elderly well is moral |
| B．it is impossible to copy the exact doll for the elderly |
| C．love, the permanent rhythm of life, will always remain in the elderly’s heart |
| D．physical comfort from children rather than psychological care is important |
Are you a compulsive spender, or do you hold on to your money as long as possible? Are you a bargain hunter? Would you rather use charge accounts than pay cash? Your answers to these questions will reflect your personality. According to psychologists, our individual money habits not only show our beliefs and values, but can also stem from past problems.
Experts in psychology believe that for many people, money is an important symbol of strength and influence. Husbands who complain about their wives’ spending habits may be afraid that they are losing power in their marriage. Wives, on the other hand, may waste huge amounts of money because they are angry at their husbands. In addition, many people consider money a symbol of love. They spend it on their family and friends to express love, or they buy themselves expensive presents because they need love.
People can be addicted to different things — for example, alcohol, drugs, certain foods, or even television. They are compulsive in their addictions, i.e. they must satisfy these needs to feel comfortable. In the same way, according to psychologists, compulsive spenders must spend money. For people who buy on credit, furthermore, charge accounts are even more exciting than money: in other words, they feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasures in spending enormous amounts are actually greater than those they get from the things they buy.
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game: when they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and the real reason.
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business: they consider people’s needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, etc. in their advertising and sales methods.
Psychologists often use a method called “behavior therapy(疗法)” to help individuals solve their personality problems. In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with money: they give them “assignments”. If a person buys something in every store that he enters, for instance, a therapist might teach him self-discipline in this way: on the first day of his therapy, he must go into a store, stay five minutes, and then leave. On the second day, he should stay for ten minutes and try something on. On the third day, he stays for fifteen minutes, asks the salesclerk a question, but does not buy anything. Soon he will learn that nothing bad will happen to him if he doesn’t buy anything, and he can solve the problem of his compulsive buying. If you use charge accounts, ____.
| A．you pay in cash | B．you pay with credit card |
| C．you pay less than you should | D．you pay more than you should |
Compulsive bargain hunters buy things for all the following reasons except that ____.
| A．the things they buy are cheap |
| B．they believe they can balance their budgets |
| C．they get psychological satisfaction |
| D．they really need the things they buy |
Behavior therapy in this case aims at____.
| A．helping businessmen to increase their business |
| B．helping compulsive spenders to buy less |
| C．finding out how people will react if they are allowed to buy |
| D．finding out what people will do in front of a bargain |
The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 refers to ____.
| A．different things | B．their addictions |
| C．charge accounts | D．their pleasures |
From the passage we can conclude that ____.
| A．how you spend money reveals if you are psychologically healthy |
| B．money is a necessity and will bring you happiness if you have much |
| C．compulsive buying problems can be solved by taking some medicine |
| D．all businessmen understand well the psychology of customers |
Skiping classes violates school rules and a poor attendance record will damage your final mark. But some college students still try every means to escape classes. The number of these rebels may be much bigger than you think. Three students from Anhui Normal University established Itaoke. Com in June. The website quickly attracted 2 000 registered members in three months. On the website, students share their experiences of skipping classes and even post ads to look for someone to stand in for them to attend courses. Its embarrassing for universities to see this shameful behavior discussed:
However，it's good for schools and teachers to know via the website the reasons why students skip classes，according to Professor Xiao Haitao from Shenzhen University: Xao pointed out that some`students skip classes because of laziness.Others play truant because the teaching is truly dissatisfactory,“Universities can seek improvements to give a cure to the class-skipping problem，”said Xiao.
Chen Yang，21，thinks that he is “forced" to skip some courses because of the poor teaching. the senior，majoring in English at Yangtze University, thinks that he's wasting time in the classroom when the teacher reads the textbook word for word or hands him outdated reading materials. He would rather skip classes to study in the library, watch online videos of Harvard or Yale lectures，or sit in on(旁听）other courses he is interested in. Chen draws a clear line between himself and those who skip classes in order to get more sleep or fool around on campus. He emphasized：“I skip classes with a clear goal，which is to probe into areas I'm interested in and broaden my horizons.”
Li Sicen，President of the National Taiwan University，seems to be on Chen's side. Li claimed that he supported those students who skip classes for good reasons.
However，Professor Xiao warns students that Li is not giving permission for students to skip classes. Xiao suggests that Li was just showing his understanding of truancy in a limited number of cases.
In Professor Pan Cuiqiong's opinion，students tend to jump to the conclusion that a certain course is boring and useless. "To clear students' misunderstanding，teachers should use materials closely related to students’lives and adapt interactive teaching methods，”said Pan.
Besides offering teachers more training，schools also need to give students different optional courses and ensure that they can attend the courses they are interested in，according to Professor Xiao. Many Chinese students have the experience of being kicked out of an optional course because its size is limited. They are then forced to choose courses they dislike and are likely to skip them. We may learn from Sydney University in Australia. There aren't any problems with numbers---if a course is popular then there will be more than one class per week.The underlined word“rebels" in Paragraph 1 refers to
| A．students who embarrass their universities |
| B．students who establish websites |
| C．students who skip classes |
| D．students who quarrel with their parents |
Chen Yang Skips some courses because_ ___.
| A．his school is more student-centered |
| B．he wants to get more sleep |
| C．he wants to fool around on campus |
| D．the teaching style needs much improvement |
According to the passage，we learn that Professor Xiao__ __.
| A．is giving permission for students to skip classes |
| B．thinks it's embarrassing for the three students to establish ltaoke. com |
| C．thinks the website will help to know why students skip classes |
| D．claimed that he supported those students who skip classes for good reasons |
Which of the following measures is NOT mentioned to stop students skipping classes?
| A．Teachers should adopt practical materials and flexible teaching methods. |
| B．Schools should offer teachers more training: |
| C．Schools need to ensure that students can attend various courses they are interested in. |
| D．Students should be punished if they skip classes. |
Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth. Australia is big, but its population is not large. The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai.
The government has made enough laws to fight pollution. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. The sky is blue and the water is clean. You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.
Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers’ exhibition. There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers’ exhibition. After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves. Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.
Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos (袋鼠). After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep. Australia is _______.
| A．the largest country in the world |
| B．as large as Shanghai |
| C．not as large as China |
| D．the largest island in the north of the earth |
The government had made _______.
| A．too enough laws to fight pollution |
| B．so many laws that it can fight pollution |
| C．enough laws that it can hardly fight pollution |
| D．enough laws because the pollution is very serious |
Which of the following is NOT true？
| A．Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. |
| B．Perth is bigger than any other city in Western Australia. |
| C．Perth lies in the west of Australia. |
| D．No other city is larger than Perth in Australia. |
In Perth you may visit a wild flowers’ show in _______.
| A．October | B．January | C．May | D．July |
Which of the following is true？
| A．Australia is famous for its sheep, kangaroos and wild flowers. |
| B．We ran back to the car because we were in the middle of white sheep. |
| C．Three hundred sheep came towards us because they saw us. |
| D．If you go to the countryside in Australia, you will see a large number of white sheep. |
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