Long long ago, there lived in Greece a king whose name was Midas. He was a greedy man and loved gold better than anything else in the world.
One day, he asked a god to give him more gold. The god decided to give him a lesson and said, “OK, and from now on, everything you touch will turn to gold.” Midas was so excited when he heard this. The next morning, he got up early to test his skill. When he touched his bed, it turned to gold. “Gold!” cried Midas, laughing like a boy. “It works!”
Not only stones, flowers, and the things of his house turned to gold, so did the food he ate and the water he drank. He was unhappy now. Just then his daughter ran up to him, Midas touched her hand. At once her body became cold. Midas was holding a gold girl!
At last, he asked the god to free him from his wish. “Go to the river and bath in it,” the god said. So Midas did, and the water took away his golden touch. He would never forget this lesson: Gold did not bring happiness.
This is a Greek story. Now the idiom “have the Midas touch” means to have the ability (能力) to be successful, especially the ability to . Well, do you want to have the Midas touch and become a rich man? What does the underlined word greedy mean in English?
| A．易怒的。 | B．慷慨的。 |
| C．宽容的。 | D．贪婪的。 |
With the gold-touch skill, Midas can turn everything into gold except ______.
| A．the river | B．the food |
| C．the flowers | D．the stones |
Choose the best phrase to complete the sentence (Line 2, Paragraph 5).
| A．make money easily |
| B．drive a car safely |
| C．look after sick people |
| D．cook delicious food |
Next time you're unhappy or complaining about your life, don't turn to a cheerful comedy. You might find a tear-jerking tragedy(催人泪下的悲剧) is just the thing you need to brighten your day.
A team of researchers at Ohio State University, US, has found sad movies can make people happier, Science Daily reported last month.
Many people find tragedies make them realize how good their own lives are, the study showed.
"People seem to use tragedies as a way to reflect on the important relationships in their own lives," said Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, leader of the study. "Tragic stories often focus on themes of eternal(永恒的) love, and this leads viewers to think about their loved ones and count their good and helpful things."
In the study, researchers gathered 361 college students and showed them the 2007 movie, Alonement. The movie is about two lovers who are separated(分离) and finally die during Worid War II. Before and after the movie, the students were asked questions measuring(衡量) how happy they were with their lives. Researchers also asked them before, afier and three times during the movie to measure various emotions, including sadness.
Researchers found that the sadder students felt while watching the movie, the more likely they were to think about real people they had close relationships with in life. This increased their happiness afier watching the movie. Knobloch-Westerwick explained that negative(消极的) moods make people more thoughtful.
"Positive(积极的) emotions show that everything is fine, you don't have to worry, you don't have to think about problems in your life," she said. "But negative emotions, like sadness, make you think more critically about your situation. So seeing a tragic movie may make you sad, but that will make you to think more about your own close relationships and appreciate them more."
The link between watching a tragic story and feeling better has long been recognized. The ancient Greeks even had a word for the feeling of happiness afier seeing something sad that led to the modern English word "catharsis(宣泄)".
The study also showed that relationships are a very important source of happiness in our lives, so it is no surprise that thinking about your loved ones makes you happier, researchers said.Which of the following about the study of Ohio State University is NOT true?
| A．Students' emotions are measured by asking questions. |
| B．Only sadness is measured in the study. |
| C．The study shows relationships are a source of happiness. |
| D．Those who felt sadder when watching the movie were more likely to be happier after that. |
Why are ancient Greeks mentioned in the passage?
| A．To introduce the meaning of the word "Catharsis". |
| B．To explain the importance of knowing how to become happier. |
| C．To prove that they were of high intelligence and guessed its meaning. |
| D．To tell readers the relationship between tragedies and happiness was found long ago. |
From Knobloch-Westerwick's explaination, we can learn that.
| A．seeing tragedies makes you more thoughtful |
| B．positive emotions make you think more about your relationships |
| C．negative emotions show you have no need to think about your situation |
| D．after seeing comedies, you will appreciate your close relationships more |
Which is the title of the passage?
| A．There is eternal love in the world |
| B．Watching sad films may start smiles |
| C．It's useless to complain about life |
| D．Comedies should make way for tragedies |
Honey from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals looking for honey have a strange and unexpected helper -- a little bird called a honey guide.
The honey guide does not actually like honey, but it does like the wax(蜡) in the beehives (蜂房). The little bird cannot reach this wax, which is deep inside the bees' nest. So, when it finds a suitable nest, it looks for someone to help it. The honey guide gives a loud cry that attracts the attention of both passing animals and people. Once it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting from time to time for the curious animal or person as it leads them tot he nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get the delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always fall to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.
Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very determined (下决心) in its efforts to get it. The birds seem to be able to smell wax from a long distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper(养蜂者) is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit. Why is it difficult to find a wild bees' nest?
| A．It'ssmallinsize. | B．It'shiddenintrees. |
| C．It'scoveredwithwax. | D．It'shardtorecognize. |
What do the words "the follower" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Abee. | B．Abird | C．Ahoneyseeker. | D．Abeekeeper. |
The honey guide is special in the way________.
| A．itgetsitsfood | B．itgoestochurch |
| C．itsingsintheforest | D．itreachesintobees'nests |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．WildBees | B．WaxandHoney |
| C．BeekeepinginAfrica | D．Honey-Lover'sHelper |
Perhaps the most famous name in the world of sileni movies is Charlie Chaplin. It was in 1889 that both moving pictures and Charlie Chaplin were born. Sadly, Charlie's father died when Charlie was five, and his mother was sent to mental hospital. This left young Charlie homeless and living on the streets.,
Things seemed bad for Charlie, but he had a bright, nice character. He was pleasant and easy to like. So he managed to get small parts in Derformances around London. Then he moved to the USA in 1906, and his life took a major change for the better. He got a part in a show performing there. Seven years after his arrival in the USA, he got his first major part in a film. Charlie was a great success in the movie theaters. His silent, highly visual(视觉的) form of comedy was perfect for the silent films of the time. By 1915, he was making over $1,250 a week, which was a huge amount of money at that time. Charlie knew what he was good at, and he stuck to it. Even when sound could be used for movies in 1923, he continued to make silent pictures, Charlie knew that the silence was an essential part of what made his movies so funny. Charlie continued to make silent films well into the 1940s, when almost everyone else had changed to sound. Charlie, however, still remained one of the world's greatest film stars.When did Charlie get his first major part in a film?
| A．In 1889. | B．In 1906. | C．In 1913. | D．In 1923. |
The underlined word "essential" in Paragraph 2 probably means _______.
| A．very boring | B．very correct | C．very difficult | D．very important |
From the passage we know that Charlie_______.
| A．was easy to get along with |
| B．stopped making movies in 1923 |
| C．was born and brought up in America |
| D．didn't produce silent films in America |
Which could be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Major Change for an Actor. | B．A Great Man of Silent Movies. |
| C．The Beginning of Silent Movies. | D．The Hard Life for A Movie Maker. |
John was a very strong man. Once he got a job of cutting wood in a forest. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he should work.
The first day, John cut down 18 trees. "Good," the boss said, "keep it up!" John was encouraged by the words of the boss and tried harder the next day, but he could only cut down 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only cut down 10 trees. Day after day he was cutting down fewer and fewer trees.
"I must be losing my strength," John thought. He went to the boss and said that he could not understand what was going on. "When was the last time you had sharpened your axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpened? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut more treesl" said John.
The moral of this story: While John was working hard, he didn't think about how to do his job better. Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to sharpen our skills. Many of us never learn new skills. We think that whatever we have learned is enough. However, in some ways, sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success.When did John cut the most trees?
| A．The first day. | B．The second day. | C．The third day. | D．The fourth day. |
John was cutting down fewer and fewer trees. He thought_______.
| A．he needed to sharpen his axe | B．the boss should help him |
| C．it was wrong to cut down trees | D．he must be losing his strength |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．It is wrong to cut down trees. |
| B．Hard work is the only key to success. |
| C．It's important to take time to sharpen our skills. |
| D．It's a waste of time to sharpen the axe. |
It’s the lunchtime break at Shanghai Xianxia Middle School. No mobile phones can be heard ringing anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short messages has disappeared(消失).
A grade-2 student said: “I couldn’t concentrate(集中精力) during classes if the phone was with me. I couldn’t help checking if there were messages or missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes.”
The school leaders say they feel the ban(禁令) is necessary to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile phones to school. More than 96 percent of parents say they welcome the school decision. The school is also being flexible（灵活的）in implementing the ban. Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to call their parents. But they still have to turn them off in classrooms.
Medical experts(专家) have also welcomed the school decision. They say too much dependence on mobile phones can cause many psychological problems in school students.The passage mainly tells us about___________.
| A．whether the mobile phone should be used at school by students |
| B．the harm the mobile phone may cause to middle school students |
| C．different opinions between school leaders and medical experts |
| D．a ban on the use of mobile phones by students in a middle school |
In paragraph 3, the underlined word “implementing” means ________in Chinese.
| A．调整 | B．公布 | C．执行 | D．张贴 |
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