My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.
My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six week period, to be written in every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.
So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating. The passage mainly discusses _____.
| A．teaching |
| B．literature |
| C．humor |
| D．knowledge |
The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means _____.
| A．funny |
| B．tiring |
| C．inspiring |
| D．brilliant |
With his favorite English teacher, the writer found it most amazing that _____.
| A．his teacher was very learned |
| B．his teacher was very humorous |
| C．the works by Johnson and Addison were very humorous |
| D．few were able to find humor in works by Johnson and others |
The English teacher the writer disliked most _____.
| A．was not able to make students laugh |
| B．hurt his students’ feelings |
| C．didn’t let his students do the grading |
| D．had no sense of humor |
After years of research and testing, the hybrid car was developed and put on the market. It’s an interesting and exciting new improvement in today’s world as we look for better ways to protect the quality of the air we breathe and conserve our natural resources.
The quality of our air is affected by many different things. But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline which are used to power a car’s engine. The EPA has set national standards to help control the level of harmful pollutants sent off into the air, and the automobile industry has acted by producing a hybrid car that uses less gas and therefore causes less pollution.
A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery powered. Some people tend to think that since the hybrid car is partially electric, you have to plug it in to charge it. But that’s not how it works. The 144 volt battery pack is actually recharged( 充电 ) through the energy that is produced when the car’s brakes are used. This is referred to as “regenerative braking”, because it generates electricity.
Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time, this helps it use less gas than a regular car. When the driver stops at a traffic light, the engine automatically ( 自动地；机械地 )shuts off to save fuel. Then, as soon as the driver puts the car in gear and touches the gas pedal, the engine starts back up.
Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who ran out of gas? That probably wouldn’t happen if you were riding in a hybrid car. It flashes a warning on its computer screen that says, “I am low on gas”. When it completely runs out, the warning reads, “YOU ARE NOW OUT OF GAS!” Then the electric power supply kicks in to let the driver travel a few more miles to a gas station.According to the passage, the word “hybrid” refers to ________.
| A．a high tech discovery | B．energy saving |
| C．a new invention | D．a combination of two things |
“Regenerative braking” is an important process of the hybrid car because ________.
| A．it allows the car to come to a quick stop |
| B．it gives the driver a smoother ride |
| C．it produces energy to charge the battery |
| D．it can control the speed of the car |
Which of the following is right about the EPA?
| A．They designed hybrid cars. |
| B．They outlawed (宣布……为不合法) the burning of fossil fuels. |
| C．They set important guidelines that help control pollution. |
| D．Their main purpose is to protect endangered plants and animals. |
Which of the following is the reason for developing hybrid cars?
| A．They use less gas than regular cars. |
| B．They’re safer to drive than most cars. |
| C．They’re more modern than other cars. |
| D．They cost less than regular cars |
HOUSTON (AP) --- A 10-year-old boy fatally(致命地) shot his father Friday, striking him several times as he sat in the front seat of a SUV to pick up the boy from his mother's home for a weekend visit.
The incident happened about 3pm on a cul-desac（死胡同）in the 1700 block of Cedar Cove Court, said Sgt. Williams of the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
An investigation found that Rick James Lohstroh, 41, was shot by his son, who was sitting in the back seat of the man's Toyota 4-Runner, said Sgt. Williams. The shooting took place outside the home of Lohstroh's ex-wife, where the boy lives with his mother and a 7-year-old brother.
"We're not certain of anything until we finish our investigation," Williams said. "The information we have at this time is that the 10-year-old did fire the weapon."
The mother and the 7-year-old were inside the house when the shooting occurred, said Williams.
Williams said the gun belonged to the boy's mother. After firing shots through the back seat, the boy exited (离开) the back of the vehicle and continued to fire at the car.
The man died on the way to Memorial Herman Hospital.
Lohstroh was a doctor at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
The man and woman shared custody（监护）of the children.
Williams said the mother and the boy were still in the home talking to investigators Friday night.
Neighbors described the family as being quiet and keeping to themselves.
Justin Gray, 17, was walking in the neighborhood when he heard gunshots. "We've had a suicide in this neighborhood once, but never anything like this," Gray said.The best title for the news should be __________.
A. A Boy Shot His Father
B. Shooting Kill a Father
C. An Unbelievable Tragedy(悲剧)
A Ten-Year-Old Boy's CrueltyWhat can we infer from the text?
| A．The tragedy happened because the boy had seen too many films showing violence. |
| B．The boy killed his father because he hated it that he deserted his mother. |
| C．Such things often occurred in this neighbourhood. |
| D．The boy's parents got divorced(=separated). |
The reason why the boy shot his father __________.
| A．is clear | B．can't be made out |
| C．is unknown | D．is quite simple |
The underlined word "suicide" most probably means __________.
| A．the act of killing the lives of a whole family |
| B．an instance ( example ) of deliberately killing oneself |
| C．the situation of getting on smoothly with others |
| D．the peaceful surroundings |
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.” The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means _______.
| A．bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding |
| B．pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
| C．great and important; common |
| D．hopeful and helpful; careless |
According to the context we can guess that a genius is ______ while an idiot is _______.
| A．a normal person; a funny person |
| B．a strong person; a weak person |
| C．a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person |
| D．a famous person; an ordinary person |
A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
| A．whose parents are clever |
| B．often thinking about difficult problems |
| C．often helped by his parents and teachers |
| D．born with a good brain and putting it into active use |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．Parents play an important part in their children’s growth. |
| B．The less you use your mind the duller you may become. |
| C．Intelligence is obviously the result of where and how you live. |
| D．What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion. |
A new word has suddenly become wildly popular in China —"tuhao" — which loosely translated means "nouveau riche". There have been more than 100 million references to the word "tuhao" on social media since early September.
It's being used to describe everything from the new People's Daily building, to expensive celebrity weddings full of bling, and the new gold-coloured iPhone.
In Chinese "tu" means earth and "hao" means rich. To say someone is tuhao is to imply they come from a poor peasant background, and have made it rich quick — but don't quite have the manners, or sophistication to go along with it. It's like the term "nouveau riche", says Professor Steve Tsang at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies in Nottingham - but has even more negative meanings, suggesting a certain vulgarity(粗俗).
"Tuhao" is actually an old word, dating back perhaps as far as the Southern Dynasty 1,500 years ago,but it has always meant something rather different. During the communist revolution, from the 1920s to early 1950s, it was widely used to refer to landholders and gentry who would bully those beneath them.
This new usage of the term took off in September after a widely-shared joke about a rich, but unhappy man, who goes to a Buddhist monk for advice, expecting to be told to live a more simple life. The monk replies instead with the phrase: "Tuhao, let's be friends!"
Chinese Internet users are highly creative in their use of language, and are constantly inventing, and re-inventing words as a way of getting past censorship(审查) rules. But in this case, its popularity seems to be down to the fact that it expresses China's changing society so well — many people sneer at those with wealth, but are secretly jealous.What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Tuhao, a new popular word in China |
| B．The long history of Tuhao |
| C．The new usage of Tuhao |
| D．Tuhao, a newly-invented Chinese word |
Which of the following may NOT be considered “tuhao”?
| A．A vulgar nouveau riche |
| B．A bully landholder |
| C．A quick-rich peasant without proper manners |
| D．A Buddhist monk. |
The last but one paragraph mainly tells us ______.
| A．what the new usage of the word is |
| B．how the word becomes popular again |
| C．why the unhappy man went to the Buddhist monk |
| D．what advice the monk gave the unhappy man |
What does the underlined word in the last paragraph mean?
| A．respect | B．envy |
| C．laugh | D．disbelieve |
Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student. By using your time properly, you can do your homework more quickly. Learning to study is not difficult.
The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn. It doesn’t mean that you must always like the subject. It does mean, however, that you must be willing to do whatever is necessary to learn. Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things. Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life. Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier. Sometimes subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly. Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them.
Here’s some advice for you: have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study, so that you can concentrate on your study without interruptions; have everything ready before you sit down to study, a dictionary, paper, a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start; read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things; when memorizing, first find out the main parts and then recite the whole thing; check your homework after you finish it; never forget the importance of review and preview.The main purpose of the article is____________
| A．to prove that learning is not difficult |
| B．to make the readers be interested in study |
| C．to tell the importance of self teaching |
| D．to tell the students how to study well |
The first thing to remember in studying is that____________
| A．you must like the subject |
| B．you must follow the teacher |
| C．you must enjoy learning |
| D．you must study hard |
We learn things because______________
| A．our parents want us to learn |
| B．every student learns at school |
| C．we may use them in the future |
| D．we like the subjects |
Which of the following is NOT the advice given in the article?
| A．To put a pen, paper and books beside you before study. |
| B．To study at any possible time and place. |
| C．To review and preview. |
| D．To pay attention to the most important things. |
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