It was an autumn morning shortly after my husband and I moved into our first house. Our children were upstairs unpacking, and I was looking out of the window at my father moving around mysteriously on the front lawn. My parents lived nearby, and Dad had visited us several times already. “What are you doing out there?” I called to him.
He looked up, smiling. “I’m making you a surprise.” Knowing my father, I thought it could be just about anything. A self-employed jobber, he was always building things out of odds and ends. When we were kids, he always created something surprising for us.
Today, however, Dad would say no more, and caught ups in the busyness of our new life, I eventually forgot about his surprise.
Until one gloomy day the following March when I glanced out of the window. Any yet… I saw a dot of blue across the yard. I headed outside for a closer look. They were crocuses (番红花), throughout the front lawn. Lavender, blue, yellow and my favorite pink --- little faces moved up and down in the cold wind.
Dad! I smiled, remembering the things he had secretly planted last autumn. He knew how the darkness and dullness of winter always got me down. What could have been more perfectly timely to my needs?
My father’s crocuses bloomed each spring for the next four or five seasons, bringing the same assurance every time they arrived: hard times was almost over. Hold on, keep going, light is coming soon.
Then a spring came with only half the usual blooms. The next spring there were none. I missed the crocuses. I would ask Dad to come over and plant new bulbs. But I never did.
He died suddenly one October day. My family was in deep sorrow, leaning on our faith. I missed him terribly.
Four years passed, and on a dismal spring afternoon I was driving back when I found myself feeling depressed. “You’ve got the winter depression again and you get them every year.” I told myself.
It was Dad’s birthday, and I found myself thinking about him. This was not unusual --- my family often talked about him, remembering how he lived his faith. Once I saw him give his coat to a homeless man.
Suddenly I slowed as I turned into our driveway. I stopped and stared at the lawn. And there on the muddy grass and small gray piles of melting snow, bravely waving in the wind, was one pink crocus.
How could a flower bloom from a bulb more than 18 years old, one that had not blossomed in over a decade? But there was the crocus. Tears filled my eyes as I realized its significance.
Hold on, keep going, light is coming soon. The pink crocus bloomed for only a day. But it built my faith for a lifetime. According to the first three paragraphs, we learn that _________.
| A．the writer was unpacking when her father was making the surprise |
| B．the writer knew what the surprise was because she knew her father |
| C．it was not the first time that the writer’s father had made a surprise |
| D．it kept bothering the writer not knowing what the surprise was |
Which of the following would most probably be the worst time of the year as seen by the writer?
| A．Spring. | B．Summer. |
| C．Autumn. | D．Winter. |
The writer’s father should be best described as_________.
| A．a full-time gardener with skillful hands |
| B．a part-time jobber who loved flowers |
| C．a kind-hearted man who lived with faith |
| D．an ordinary man with doubts in his life |
At the end of the passage, crocus was viewed as the symbol of _________ by the writer.
| A．belief | B．family | C．love | D．friendship |
How to improve our life? Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. They’ll say, "This is my destiny(命运).I cannot change it."
Of course not! You don’t have to suffer needlessly. Your life depends on you, not on any other external(外部的)factor.
I know a woman who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it. Guess what her lifestyle is? She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, and then goes to sleep. Next day, the same routine cycle follows.
Huh! Is this what she calls "doing her best"? She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that has been intended for her and that her luck can only change if God wills it. She hasn’t realized that we have to do our share of making the effort to live the life of our dreams.
Remember that you harvest what you sow. You have to get off the sofa, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone(unless it contributes to your success),and get your mind and body to work! Don’t expect your luck to change, unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, don’t just regard it as a temporary setback; instead, learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem. It’s not enough to think positively; you also have to act positively.
If someone’s life is in trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! You get to do anything you can to save the person. So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to do your best. In other words, don’t just stand(or sit)there, do something to improve your life.According to the woman mentioned in Para. 3, her life_________________.
| A．doesn’t need improving | B．couldn’t be improved |
| C．will be better some day | D．will be worse in the future |
What does the author think of the woman’s life?
| A．Positive | B．Passive | C．Colorful | D．Disturbing |
Which of the following statements is the author’s opinion?
| A．Your temporary problem is not discouraging. |
| B．Your luck can be changed by your own efforts. |
| C．You can only achieve success when God wills it. |
| D．You should treat yourself in the way you treat friends. |
In Para. 5, the author emphasized the importance of _______________.
| A．positive thinking | B．positive action |
| C．hope for the best | D．intention to succeed |
The text is mainly written to advise you to _________________.
| A．understand yourself | B．improve your life |
| C．believe in yourself | D．change your normal way |
A green house is a building made of glass which is used for keeping warm when the outside temperature is low. In a similar way there are several gases in the atmosphere (mixture of gases that surround the earth) which trap the heat produced by the sun and prevent it from escaping. These gases are known as “greenhouse gases”. And the way in which they trap heat in the atmosphere is called the “greenhouse effect”. This is not simply air pollution. Most of the main greenhouse gases exist naturally in small amounts in our atmosphere, and without them the earth would be 30 degrees colder and human life would not exist. In other words, the greenhouse effect is a natural course which is to some degree helpful to us.
The problem is that in the last century and a half, we have been putting too many of these gases into the earth’s atmosphere by burning large quantities of coal and oil and by cutting down forest. The rapid increase in greenhouse gases is making the world warmer. The world’s temperature has already gone up by half a degree this century, and the sea level has risen by 10 centimetres. If the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles, there will probably be a rise in the earth’s temperature of between I and 4℃;. This may seem a small increase, but it would be enough to cause major changes in geography and agriculture. Large areas of the world would be flooded, and some areas would become dry and unable to produce crops. It is important, too, to consider that there may be a delay of about 30 years in the greenhouse effect. This means that we are probably experiencing only now the effect of the gases put into the atmosphere before the 1960s. Since then, our use of these gases has greatly increased. According to the passage, we can know “greenhouse effect” means_______.
| A．the way in which gases are used for keeping plants warm |
| B．a natural course that is to a certain degree useful to us |
| C．the way “greenhouse gases” trap heat on the earth |
| D．the whole course in which greenhouse gases prevent heat |
If there were no greenhouse effect,_______.
| A．all plants would not grow on our planet |
| B．soil would reduce the temperature by 30 degrees |
| C．man would breathe the cleaner air |
| D．people couldn’t live in the earth |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Burning too much coal and oil produces lots of greenhouse gases. |
| B．It has become warm on the earth now than in the past. |
| C．Gases put into the atmosphere now will affect the earth years later. |
| D．The temperature in a greenhouse is as high as that in the atmosphere. |
Suppose the earth’s temperature rose by 3 degrees, _______.
| A．great harm will be done to mankind |
| B．the sea level would go up by 10 centimeters |
| C．all the land in the world would be flooded |
| D．crops would be unable to grow on the earth |
This passage mainly deals with ________.
| A．the concept (概念) and the harm of the greenhouse |
| B．the relation between greenhouse gases and man |
| C．the concept and change of greenhouse effect |
| D．the effect of the rise of the earth’s temperature |
A long time ago, before there was any money (coins or paper money), people got the things that they needed by trading or exchanging. Salt was one of the first items used to exchange for other items. Later, some of the common things that were used for exchanging were tea leaves, shells, feathers, animal teeth, tobacco, and blankets. Around 3000 BC, barley, a type of grain, was used for exchanging.
The world’s first metal money was developed by the Sumerians who melted silver into small bars all weighing the same. This was around 1000 BC. About three hundred years later, people started using coins as official money.
Around 640 BC, people in the ancient kingdom of Lydia ( which was in Turkey) created special coins of exact with and purity (纯度). They were made of gold and silver and were stamped with a lion’s head.
Later, other empires such as Greece, Persia, and Rome adopted the concept of coins and started developing their own in many different shapes and different metals.
Around the year 1000, the Chinese started using paper money. The Chinese were the first to use paper money. The Europeans discovered this thanks to Marco Polo who went to China in 1295. the Chinese had different values for the paper notes which were made by the Chinese government.
Around 1661, Sweden became the first European country to make paper money. Until 1850, the Spanish dollar was the coin most widely used throughout the world.What is the best title for this passage?
| A． The history of money |
| B． How people traded in the past |
| C． The invention of paper money |
| D． The use of coins around the world |
We learn that before coins and paper money were used, _____.
| A． barley had always been used for exchanging |
| B． only a few people knew how to trade with others |
| C． salt was the most widely used item for exchanging |
| D． many kinds of things were used for exchanging |
According to the passage, when did people start using coins as official money?
A. Around 1300 BC. B. Around 1000 BC.
C. Around 700 BC. D. Around 640 BC.The underlined word “adopted” in Paragraph 4 probably means “____”.
| A． replaced | B． changed |
| C． accepted | D． invented |
Which of the following countries first started to use paper money?
| A．Spain | B．China | C．Sweden | D．Lydia |
Some of the planet’s most precious animals and plants are disappearing, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The group, based in Switzerland, works with governments and experts to protect threatened species. On September 12, the IUCN released its Red List, a list of species at greatest risk of extinction.
The list includes 41,415 animals and plants. The IUCN says that habitat destruction, hunting and other causes threaten one in four mammals, one in eight birds and one in three amphibians(两栖动物).
Who is to blame?
Scientists believe that 99 percent of threatened species are at risk because of human activity. “We are losing animals and plants at a high rate,” says Julia Marton-LefEevre, director general of the IUCN. “We need to change our behavior.” Warmer oceans and over-fishing are changing sea life. This year for the first time corals(珊瑚) made their appearance on the list. The gharial, a crocodile living in India and Nepal, has lost almost 60 percent of its population in the last 10 years. It is a victim（受害者）of habitat destruction.
Still, the news is not all bad. Thanks to efforts made to protect it, the Mauritius echo parakeet, a bird once endangered, has seen an increase in its population. “This shows that protection methods can work,” says Marton-LefEevre. “That’s the message we want to send to young people.”
In China the new reserve（保护区）itself is part of green efforts that have seen more than 2,400 nature reserves of various kinds being set up, covering more than 15 percent of the nation’s land area, official figures showed.
"The country’s natural resources(资源) have benefited from conservation," said Lei Guangchun, director of the nature reserve department of Beijing Forestry University. "It is a big increase nowadays compared with other countries." Lei said.
The total areas of China’s natural reserves have covered 1.38 million km2, which accounts for 15.4% of China’s area, higher than both the world average（平均水平） of 11% and the rate in most developed countries.
Li Zhong, an official in charge of the nature reserves office with the State Forestry Administration, thought it was important to increase investment（投资） in such reserves at all levels. What do we know about the IUCN?
| A．A union for listing animals and plants on the earth |
| B．A group of volunteers who are interested in wildlife |
| C．An organization concerning the protection of rare species’ survival |
| D．A government made up officials, scientists and experts |
What can be concluded from the passage?
| A．All the protection methods can’t work. |
| B．The IUCN does most of the protection. |
| C．The efforts China makes has paid off. |
| D．Enough is done in wildlife protection. |
Which of the following is not the cause of the disappearance of the animals?
| A．Bad weather | B．Over-hunting | C．Warmer oceans | D．Habitat destruction |
Which of the sentence is NOT true?
| A．China has been paying great attention to protecting the natural resources. |
| B．China has set up a lot of natural reserves. |
| C．The natural reserves in China cover more than 15 percent of the nation’s land area. |
| D．The rate of China’s natural reserves is lower than the average of the world. |
A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin （顽童） was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, Paul?” he asked.
Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…” He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He wished he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”
“Oh yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again．“Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled （残疾） brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.
“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it… Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.The street urchin was very surprised when __________.
| A．he saw the shining car | B．Paul told him about the car |
| C．he was walking around the car | D．Paul received an expensive car |
From the story we know that the urchin __________.
| A．wished to give his brother a car |
| B．wished Paul’s brother to give him a car |
| C．wished Paul could be a brother like that |
| D．wished he could have a brother like Paul’s |
The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ______.
| A．to show he had a rich friend | B．to show his neighbors the car |
| C．to let his brother ride in the car | D．to tell his brother about his wish |
We can infer from the story that __________.
| A．Paul couldn’t understand the urchin |
| B．the urchin’s wish came true in the end |
| C．the urchin wished to have a rich brother |
| D．the urchin had a deep love for his brother |
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