Two traveling angels(天使) stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.
The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen? Why didn’t you watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune, I asked God if I could seal(封口)the wall so he couldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”Why did the older angel repair the hole for the rich family?
| A．Because the basement was too cold to stay in. |
| B．Because she wanted to save the gold for the poor. |
| C．Because she wanted to punish the greedy owner. |
| D．Because she believed that one should always be ready to offer help. |
In paragraph two, the pair refers to __________.
| A．the poor couple | B．the rich couple |
| C．the guests | D．the angels |
The younger angel was very angry because __________.
| A．the older angel killed the farmer’s cow |
| B．the older angel treated the two families unfairly |
| C．the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live |
| D．the angel of death took the cow away |
The story tries to tell the reader that ___________.
| A．sometimes things are not what they seem |
| B．angels are always ready to help the poor |
| C．angels are always ready to help the rich |
| D．the young should always learn from the old. |
“If music is the medicine of the soul(灵魂), let it play on,” said a famous person. I think he said so because probably he got some help from music. Music has some strange abilities. Medical scientists have found that a person that feels stressed can actually listen to some kind of music and become well.
The researchers said that since stress comes as a result of life events such as starting a new family, starting a new business, and starting a new job, one can actually listen to good music and feel good because good music touches the human mind in a positive way. Music helps you to forget the life events that make you worried and remember the important events that once happened in your life.
Depression(抑郁) is a disease cause by stress, smoking, social problems and so on. Depression is also caused by problems such as failure in business. Depression may bring us weakness, headache, and loss of concentration. Good music makes one remember happy moments or good days. If you play music about love, it makes you feel like falling in love again though you may have had several upset experiences. And such good feeling make you healthy.
Anxiety(焦虑) is another health problem that can be controlled by music. Anxiety is a side effect of some major health problems such as cancer of the liver and cancer of the breast. Good music makes you feel relaxed and removes the pains from these diseases and you feel all right.
Good music can send you to sleep. And you need to know that sleep puts your body in a healthy condition. Sleep takes away the effects of stress, depression and anxiety from a person. According to the famous person in Paragraph 1, music can___________.
| A．treat many kinds of diseases |
| B．help you keep healthy in your mind |
| C．take the place of medicine in treating illness |
| D．make you remember things happened in the past |
Good music helps people remove stress mainly by _________.
| A．letting people have a good sleep |
| B．making people think positively |
| C．showing something new to people |
| D．making people focus only on important things |
According to the passage, one who has cancer will most probably experience __________.
| A．stress | B．depression |
| C．anxiety | D．upset |
The average American child spends three to five hours a day watching TV. In 1961, the average child began to watch television at age three; however, today it is nine months. Yet, most parents think that television has bad influence on their children. For example, in the early 1970s, my parents believed that my bad eyesight was the result of sitting too close to the screen, and they therefore made my stay at least six feet from it. Today, most people have no such worry, but many new ridiculous (荒谬的) sayings have appeared:
*TV makes kids stupid. Many children watch more educational programs when they are pre-schoolers. When they grow up, they can read more books and have much better ideas to solve difficult problems than other children.
*TV makes kids violent. The real story is not so simple. Hundreds of studies show that watching violence on TV makes children more aggressive (好斗的). But a study of over 5,000 children also finds that some positive programs make children kinder. The problem is that kids are increasingly watching shows with violence instead of those suitable for their age.
*Sitting around watching TV makes kids overweight. An experiment finds that when children watch less television, they do lose extra weight; however, reducing their television time does not make them more active. The real problem lies in snacking (吃零食). A widespread habit for kids, and junk-food advertisements.
*TV helps kids get to sleep. The opposite is true. The more television children watch, the more likely they are to have irregular sleep and nap(小睡) patterns. Allowing kids to watch television is part of the problem, not the solution.Which one is the advantage of educational TV programs?
| A．They will make children solve difficult problems better than others. |
| B．they will improve children’s ability to get along with others. |
| C．They are likely to make children more aggressive. |
| D．They will make sure of children’s success in the future. |
Why are children spending much time watching TV likely to be fat?
| A．Watching TV makes children lazy and inactive. |
| B．Children are attracted by the food advertisement on TV. |
| C．Watching TV doesn’t burn up as much fat as doing sports. |
| D．Children like to snack while watching TV. |
What influence does watching TV have on a child’s sleep?
| A．Children are likely to sleep deeper after watching TV. |
| B．Children’s sleep time will be greatly reduced. |
| C．It will make children form a bad habit of sleeping. |
| D．It will make children sleep easier. |
What is the purpose of this text?
| A．To increase people’s knowledge of watching TV. |
| B．To warn parents of the disadvantages of watching TV. |
| C．To explain the bad influences that watching TV has on children. |
| D．To correct parents’ wrong ideas of television’s effect on children. |
I took the bus to work for many years. No one knew each other; the passengers all sat there sleepily in the morning. The bus was cheerless and silent.
One of the passengers was a small gray-haired man who took the bus to the center for senior citizens every morning. No one ever paid very much attention to him.
One July morning he said good morning to the driver and smiled. The driver nodded guardedly(戒备地). The rest of us were silent.
The next day, the old man boarded with a big smile and said in a loud voice: “A very good morning to you all!” Some of us looked up, amazed, and murmured “Good Morning” in reply.
The following weeks, our friend was dressed in a nice old suit and tie. His thin hair had been carefully combed. He said good morning to us every day and we gradually began to nod and talk to each other.
One morning he even had a bunch of wild flowers in his hand. The driver turned around smiling and asked: “Have you got yourself a girlfriend, Charlie?” We never got to know if his name really was “Charlie”, but he nodded shyly and said yes. The other passengers whistled and clapped at him. Charlie waved the flowers before he sat down on his seat.
Every morning after that Charlie always brought flowers. Some passengers also brought flowers for him. The bus became a happy place.
Then, one morning, as autumn was closing in, Charlie wasn’t waiting at his usual stop. When he wasn’t there the next day and the day after that, we started wondering if he was sick or—hopefully – on holiday somewhere.
When we came nearer to the center for senior citizens, one of the passengers asked the driver to wait. We all held our breaths when he went to the door.
The old gentle man was fine, but one of his close friends had died over the weekend. How silent we were the rest of the way to work.
The next Monday Charlie was waiting at the stop, stooping (弯腰) a bit more, a little bit more gray, and without a tie. Inside the bus was silent. Even though no one had talked about it, all of us sat there silently, our eyes filled with tears and a bunch of wild flowers in our hands. From the passage, we can infer that .
| A．people always cared about each other on the bus |
| B．people were unhappy and sleepy on the bus because they were tired |
| C．smiles can shorten the distance between people |
| D．people are not good at communicating in the country |
What are we sure about the old man?
| A．His name was Charlie. |
| B．He worked at the center for senior citizens. |
| C．He got sick over the weekend. |
| D．He was in great sorrow when we saw him the next Monday. |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．The atmosphere on the bus was cheerful and lively at first. |
| B．People were surprised at the old man’s first greeting. |
| C．People were worried about the old man’s absence. |
| D．People on the bus at last shared happiness and sorrow together. |
Which would be the best title for the passage？
| A．How to Shorten the Distance between People |
| B．Smiles Make a Bus Feel Like Home |
| C．Charlie, A Smiling Gentle Man |
| D．The Key to Friendship — Communication |
Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia（怀旧）. It’s fun to come home. It looks the same. It smells the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you. Home is where we can remember pain, love and some other experiences: We parted here; My parents met here; I won three championships here.
If I close my eyes, I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home. I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glass-top wooden table. To the right of the living room is my first bedroom. It’s empty, but it’s where my earliest memories are.
There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays and where I cried on Halloween---when I didn’t want to wear the skirt my mother made for me. I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong. If I sit at this table, I can see my favorite room in the house, my parents’ room. It is simple: a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side. Their bed is my safe zone(区域). I can jump on it anytime---waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.
I’m lucky because I know my first home still exists. It exists in my mind and heart, on a physical property（住宅）on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles. It is proof I lived, I grew, and I learned.
Sometimes when I feel lost, I lie down and shut my eyes, and I go home. I know it’s where I’ll find my family, my dogs, and my belongings. I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I’ll be blamed by Mom. But I don’t mind, because I want to hear her say my name, which reminds me I’m home.Why does the author call her parents’ bed her “safe zone”（Paragraph 3）?
| A．It is her favorite place to play. |
| B．Her needs can be satisfied there. |
| C．Her grandparents’ photos are lined on each side. |
| D．Her parents always play together with her there. |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．The old furniture is still in the authors first bedroom. |
| B．The author can still visit her first physical home in Los Angeles. |
| C．The authors favorite room in her first home is the dining room. |
| D．Many people of the authors age can still find their first physical homes. |
Sometimes when she feels lost, the author will_________.
| A．open the window at night |
| B．lie down in bed to have a dream |
| C．try to bring back a sense of home |
| D．go to Los Angeles to visit her mom |
What is the authors purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To express how much she is attached to her home. |
| B．To declare how much she loves her first house. |
| C．To describe the state of her family. |
| D．To look back on her childhood. |
Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send orders to machines.
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, showed a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person's thoughts.
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the wheelchair and guided it with his thoughts.
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells(神经细胞). These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓)to the muscles(肌肉) to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles.” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with outside world and also to control the machine.”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮)and sends them to a computer. The computer understands the signals and directs the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that recognize objects in its path. They help the computer react to orders from the brain.
Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that understands brain signals and turns them into simple orders. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be divided into two kinds: communication, and controlling the machine. One example is this wheelchair.”
He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to ensure that they can use the technology over long periods of time.How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?
| A．By controlling his muscles. |
| B．By talking to the machine. |
| C．By moving his hand. |
| D．By using his mind. |
Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?
| A．scalp → computer → cap →wheelchair |
| B．computer → cap → scalp →wheelchair |
| C．scalp → cap → computer →wheelchair |
| D．cap → computer → scalp →wheelchair |
The team will test with real patients to ______.
| A．make profits from them |
| B．prove the technology useful to them |
| C．make them live longer |
| D．learn about their physical condition |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center |
| B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works |
| C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled |
| D．Computer Technology Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries |
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