Billy’s favorite color is orange. But he can’t see what orange looks like. Billy is blind.
A month after he was born, his mother noticed that his eyes weren’t quite as big as a normal baby’s.”Billy would never be able to see.” the doctor told his mother. After that Billy’s mother began talking to him, describing things she saw outside the window. She described everything to him.
Billy does not only depend on his mother’s descriptions to learn about the world around him. He sees with his ears and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls, he can tell the numbers they dial(拨).
Billy loves computer science. He began teaching himself computer programming when he was just seven years old. His dream school would be Stanford University. He gets top grades in his classes, making that a real possibility.
“You can’t let excuses get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that you can’t move forward and reach your goals, “said Billy.From the passage, we know that_____________.
| A．Billy can’t hear. | B．Billy can’t see. |
| C．Billy can’t walk. | D．Billy can’t talk. |
How did Billy’s mother help him?
| A．By teaching him how to draw. |
| B．By asking teacher for advice. |
| C．By describing everything to him. |
| D．By sending him to his dream school. |
When did Billy begin teaching himself computer programming?
| A．When he was7 years old. |
| B．When he was in Seven Grade |
| C．When he was high school |
| D．When he was at university |
Several different stories are told about the origin（由来） of Saint Valentine's Day（情人节）. One legend(传奇) d
ates as far back as the clays of the Roman Empire, according to the story, Claudius, the Emperor of Rome, wanted to increase the size of the army. He knew that it would be easier to get young man who were not married to join. Therefore he made a rule that no young man could marry until he had served a certain number of years in the army.
A priest（牧师） named Valentine broke the rule and secretly married a great many young people. Finally, Claudius found out about Valentine and put the priest in prison, where he remained until his death on February 14.
After his death, Valentine was made a saint, and the day of his death was named Saint Valentine's Day. It became the custom for lovers to send each other message on this day. Now Saint Valentine's Day is a time for people to send one another greeting of many kinds.
February 14, Valentine's Day, is a sweethearts' day, on which people in love with each other express their tender emotions. People sometimes put their love message in a heart-shaped box of chocolates, or a bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons. Words of letters may be written on the flower covered card, or something else. Whatever the form may be, the message is almost the same "will you be my Valentine?"Valentine was put in prison because ________.
| A．he secretly got married |
| B．he didn't serve in the army |
| C．he married many young people secretly |
| D．he broke the laws |
According to the rule ________.
| A．no young men could get married unless they were old enough |
| B．young men could marry if they served in the army for several years |
| C．no one could get married without the emperor's permission |
| D．young could marry only in the army |
This passage mainly tells us about _________.
| A．how Valentine died |
| B．the Emperor of Rome |
| C．how Valentine's Day is celebrated |
| D．the origin of Valentine's Day |
February 14 is chosen Valentine's Day because __________.
| A．lovers express their tender emotions on this day |
| B．people want to remember Valentine |
| C．people send one another greetings of many kinds on this day |
| D．people want to fix a date for lovers to express their emotions |
The Touchstone
When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book, and so a poor man, who could read little, bought it for very little money.
The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.
The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold, throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days continued over a long period of time.
One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are careful, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.The man bought the book because ______.
| A．he wanted to read it | B．it was very interesting |
| C．there was a secret in the book | D．he wanted to find the touchstone |
We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is ______.
| A．pure | B．cold | C．magic | D．big |
What does the author want to tell us in the passage?
| A．We should offer opportunities in our life. |
| B．We should seek for opportunities in the world. |
| C．We may seize opportunities when we are watchful. |
| D．We may discover opportunities when forming habits. |
People living in the UK take quite a few holidays abroad and in the country each year. Choices made about where to go, how to get there and what to do can either benefit or harm the environment.
While on holiday
Many of the things you can do to the greener on holiday will be the same things you can do at home—but there are also some extra things too, like avoiding gifts made from endangered plants and animals. Here are some suggestions:
●Making the most of locally produced food and drink, and local activities and attractions will support people in the area you are visiting and reduce the need for further environmental influence from transport.
●Switching off any air conditioning, heating and lights will help reduce climate change effect.
●Save water—some countries suffer from water shortages and saving water can help avoid damage to our natural habitats（栖息地）.
Endangered species(物种)
Some gifts and foods available in some countries can be made from endangered plants or animals. Check before you buy, but if you doubt, avoid animal and plant gifts. More details of the types of products to avoid any illegal trade hotspots can be found on the Souvenir Alert webpage.
Making a positive contribution to the place you are visiting.
There are ways in which your holiday can help support local people and the environment.
●There are many opportunities to volunteer and help with projects that conserve and improve natural habitats.
●When you are away, or if you are looking for somewhere to visit, you can support projects or attractions which protect wildlife, such as nature reserves and conservation projects.According to the passage, we can to help reduce climate change effect.
| A．make good use of water | B．buy local food and drink |
| C．save electricity | D．go around on foot |
We should check the gifts and foods before buying because ______.
| A．sometimes they are of poor quality |
| B．they may not be typical local products |
| C．some of them will do harm to our health |
| D．they may be made from endangered animals or plants |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．it is not easy for people to travel abroad |
| B．not everyone can tell an illegal souvenir |
| C．green holidays have been accepted by people |
| D．volunteer work is a must for protecting natural habitats |
The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．travel enjoyment | B．the harm to the environment |
| C．greener choices for holiday | D．protection of endangered animals |
Robert is nine years old and Joanna is seven. They live at Mount Ebenezer. Their father has a big property. In Australia they call a farm a property.
Robert and Joanna like school very much. At school they can talk to their friends but Robert and Joanna cannot see their friends. They live 100, perhaps 300, miles away and like Robert and Joanna, they all go to school by radio.
Mount Ebenezer is in the center of Australia. Not many people live in “The Center”. There are no schools with desks and blackboards and no teachers in “The Center”. School is a room at home with a two-way radio. The teacher also has a two-way radio. Every morning she calls each student on the radio. When all students answer, lessons begin… Think of your teacher 300 miles away! The children in “The Center” do not go to a school because ______.
| A．they live too far away from one another | B．they do not like school |
| C．they are not old enough to go to school | D．their families are too poor |
In order to send their children to school, parents in “The Center” of Australia must have ______.
| A．a property | B．a car |
| C．a school room at home | D．a special radio |
Teachers in “The Center” of Australia teach ______.
| A．not in a classroom but at the homes of the students |
| B．by speaking only and not showing anything in writing |
| C．without using any textbooks or pictures |
| D．without knowing whether the students are attending |
A “property” in Australia is a ______.
| A．house | B．school | C．farm | D．radio |
When I lived in Spain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visit England by car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at ‘bed and breakfast’ houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
“We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought ‘VACANCIES’ meant ‘holidays’, because the Spanish word for ‘holidays’ is ‘vacaciones’. So they did not go to house where the sign outside said ‘VACANCLES’, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said ‘NO VACANCLES’, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word ‘DIVERSION’ means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word ‘DIVERSION’ on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hold.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once in Paris, when someone offered me some more coffee, I said “Thank you” in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise, the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that “Thank you” in French means “No, thank you.”My Spanish friends wanted advice about ______.
| A．learning English | B．finding places to stay in England |
| C．driving their car on English roads | D．going to England by car |
‘NO VACANCIES’ in English means ______.
| A．no free rooms | B．free rooms | C．not away on holiday | D．holidays |
When someone offered me more coffee and I said “Thank you” in French, I ______.
A didn’t really want any more coffee B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away
C. really wanted some more coffee D. wanted to express my politeness I was surprised when the coffee pot was taken away because I ______.
| A．hadn’t finished drinking my coffee | B．was expecting another cup of coffee |
| C．meant that I didn’t want any more | D．was never misunderstood |
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