During my free time one day, I wandered down a lonely path into the woods and sat against a tree. Then I saw one of the camp counselors approaching me. "Oh great," I thought, since counselors were always trying to cheer you up or make you laugh.
"Hey," he said, "mind if I have a seat?" I shrugged(耸肩). I wasn't going to encourage him, but I couldn't exactly stop him, either. He sat down alongside me and extended a hand. "I'm Gary," he said, "and you're Erica, right?" I nodded. "You don't exactly look like you're having a good time," he began.
I crossed my arms and gritted my teeth. "Look," I said, "I didn't want to come to camp, I don't like it, I'm not having fun, and it basically stinks." I glared at Gary.
"So there's nothing here at all for you, huh?" he asked.
"Nothing," I answered.
"Let me show you something," said Gary. He got up, and I followed him along the path until I heard a sound like a roaring freight train.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Wait and see," he replied, with a small smile.
When we rounded the corner, I couldn't believe what I saw. There was the biggest waterfall I could ever imagine, right in front of me. "Cool!" I said, and I could feel my eyes getting bigger and a smile tugging at my mouth.
"Still think there's nothing here for you?" asked Gary. "Because there's a whole lot more of this kind of 'nothing' around here."
I had to admit, the waterfall was impressive.
"Look," said Gary, "camp is what you make it. You can be sullen(阴郁的) and closed-minded and have a rotten four weeks, or you can take a look around you and see some of the incredible sights and appreciate the opportunity. It would be useless for me to try to make you have fun. You can only do that for yourself. But if you loosen up a little, you might actually have a good time." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving me on the path.
That night, by the campfire, I found myself singing along with everyone else. By the time the four weeks were up, I didn't want to leave. I'd seen some amazing things and made some great friends.
Beauty is where you find it. Life is what you make it. I think it's going to be a good year this year. I mean, I'm going to work to make it one. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to go back to camp next year!When Gary walked to Erica, you could predict that ________ .
| A．he would help her feel better |
| B．she would say hello to him |
| C．he would talk about his life |
| D．she would tell him to go away |
What can you tell about Erica from the beginning of the story?
| A．She looks forward to this camp trip very much. |
| B．She has won a camp trip because of her good performance at school. |
| C．She knows Gary very well so they camp together. |
| D．She doesn’t see anything fun in the camp trip. |
What can you tell about Erica from the ending of this story?
| A．She has many close friends at home. |
| B．She is looking forward to the future. |
| C．She's a good student who gets mostly A's. |
| D．She often gets into trouble at school. |
What does the underlined word “counselor” most probably mean in Para 1?
| A．A person who teaches you how to make fun of others. |
| B．A person who gives you help and advice. |
| C．A person who guides you when you are travelling. |
| D．A person who teaches you how to make a camp. |
Which is the theme(主题) of this story?
| A．What you get out of life depends on what you put into it. |
| B．Parents are always making kids do things they don't want to do. |
| C．You will forget your trouble by the campfire. |
| D．Waterfalls always make you feel better. |
Three wishes
A man and his wife were very poor. They kept hoping for new clothes and good food. The man enjoyed eating, and he especially liked cakes. One night an old woman came to their house and told them she would let them have three wishes. They could wish for anything they wanted.
The man had just finished eating a piece of bread for his dinner, but he was still hungry. He said, “I wish I had a big cake!”
Suddenly a cake appeared on his plate.
“You fool!” His wife cried. “You could have wished for a house full of wonderful food, but you wished for a cake. I wish that cake was on the end of your foolish nose! ”
Immediately the cake stuck to the end of his nose.
Then the man and his wife started blaming each other. “It’s your fault!” she man cried. “No, it’s your fault!” she answered. What could they do? The cake was still stuck to the husband’s nose.
“Oh!” the wife cried. “I wish none of this had ever happened!”
Immediately the cake was gone, and the man was saying, “I’m still hungry. How I wish I had some cakes! ”
But of course nothing happened.. The man quarreled with his wife because ___.
| A．he always enjoyed eating |
| B．his wife hoped that he asked for a house |
| C．the cake stuck to the end of his nose according to his wife’s wish. |
| D．he didn’t want anything except cakes |
The wrong statement of the following is ___.
| A．the man made his wishes before dinner |
| B．the wife made two wishes, which worked |
| C．the wife wanted her husband to wish for more than a big cake |
| D．the man wished that the cake were not on his nose |
Why did the old woman not satisfy the man’s wish when he said he was still hungry and wanted some cakes?
| A．Because the old lady was angry with them |
| B．Because this was the fourth wish. |
| C．Because the man had made this wish before. |
| D．Because the cake had been gone. |
William James, the great psychologist (心理学家), said that most men are “old fogies (守旧者) at twenty-five”. He was right. Most men at twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs. They have closed their minds to all new ideas; they have stopped to grow.
The minute a man stops to grow –no matter what his years –that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. Goethe passed away at eighty-three, and finished his Faust only a few years earlier; Gladstone took up a new language when he was seventy. Laplace, the astronomer, was still at work when death caught up with him at seventy-eight. He died crying, “What we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense (extremely large).”
And there you have the real answer to the question, “When is a man old?”
Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had a lot to learn.
As long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind, as long as he can look back on every year and say, “I grew”, he is still young.
The minute he ceases (stops) to grow, the minute he says to himself, “I know all that I need to know,” –that day youth stops. He may be twenty-five or seventy-five; it makes no difference. On that day he begins to be old.According to William James, _______.
| A．most people are not open to new ideas before 25. |
| B．few people continue to improve themselves after 25. |
| C．some people still try to make progress after 25. |
| D．all the people stop to make progress after 25. |
The author mentions Goethe, Gladstone and Laplace to show that _____.
| A．the great man stops to grow that minute he begins to be old. |
| B．the really great man never grows old. |
| C．the great man usually dies young. |
| D．the really great man never dies. |
What do we know about Laplace?
| A．He was a great writer. |
| B．He was not pleased with what he had learned. |
| C．He thought he was one of the greatest man. |
| D．He thought he was old when he was 25. |
The author probably agrees with _______.
| A．people should be pleased with what they have. |
| B．people should try to make a great difference. |
| C．people should cease to grow when they are 25. |
| D．people should not be satisfied with what they know. |
A man living absolutely alone in a desert or forest is free from other people; but he is not absolutely free. His freedom is limited in several ways. Firstly, by the things around him, such as wild animals or cliffs too steep (陡峭的) to climb. Secondly, by his own needs: he must have sleep, water, food and shelter from extreme heat or cold. Lastly, by his own nature as a man: disease may attack him, and death will certainly come to him sooner or later.
When men live together, on the other hand, protection against wild animals is easier and they can work together to get food and build shelters; but each man has to give up some of his freedom so that he can live happily with the others.
When men become organized into very large groups, and civilization (文明) develops, it is possible to get freedom from hunger, thirst, cold, heat and many diseases, so that each person can live a happier life than he could if he were living alone; but such a society can not work successfully unless the freedom of each human being is to some extent limited so that he is kept from hurting others. I am not free to kill others, nor to steal someone else's property, nor to behave in a way that offends (触犯) against the moral sense of the society in which I live. I have to limit my own freedom myself so that others will not limit it too much: I agree to respect the rights of others, and in return they agree to respect mine.
The advantages of such an agreement are great: one man can become a doctor, knowing that others will grow food, make clothes and build a house for him, in return for the work he does to keep them healthy. If each man had to grow his own food, make his own clothes, build his own house and learn to be his own doctor, he would find it impossible to do any one of these jobs really well. By working together, we make it possible for society to provide us all with food, clothes, shelter and medical care, while leaving each of us with as much freedom as it can.A man living alone in a desert or forest ______.
| A．is completely free | B．feels rather lonely |
| C．has limited freedom | D．enjoys no freedom |
The author suggests that when men live together ______.
| A．they will have no freedom and have to help others. |
| B．they can help each other protect against wild animals. |
| C．they have to work for their own food and shelters |
| D．everyone’s happiness is at the expense of other people’s freedom. |
According to the passage, to do all his own jobs one would ______.
| A．enjoy a complete freedom. |
| B．find it a happy thing to do everything at his own will |
| C．find it a very hard job to deal with everything by himself |
| D．feel quite fantastic and encouraged. |
We may infer from the passage that the author ____.
| A．is against separation from a civilized society. |
| B．is in favor of a well-organized society. |
| C．is against freedom gained at others. |
| D．denies the existence of many-sided people |
China news, Beijing, July. 29 – Housing price in China has always aroused heated discussions among property (房产) developers and ordinary Chinese. To many property developers and local government officials, housing price in China is still low compared with many developed countries. However, the average housing price in the United States is only 8,000 yuan per square meter, while in China, it is even higher than in the United States. This shows that there are some bubbles(泡沫) in Chinese real estate(房地产) market, the International Finance News reported.
Although the average price of residential houses in the United States, after converted to Renminbi, is about 8,000 yuan per square meter, the houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses. If US property developers sell their houses according to the building area, then the housing price will be even lower than 8,000 yuan per square meter. In most big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, houses are sold at a price even higher than those in the US.
The high housing sales price in large cities in China proves that Chinese real estate market does have some bubbles. Moreover, Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities. Furthermore, it should be noted that American people’s average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people. How can the Chinese afford to buy a house which is even more expensive than that sold in US?
At the beginning of 2007, Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public. Now in order to reduce the high housing prices, the government can regulate(control) the real estate market by raising tax on property industry and controlling the release of loans (贷款) and lands to property developers. At the same time, the government should allow people to build more houses th
rough various fund-raising channels, such as funds collected from buyers or raised by working units. By applying these multiple means, it is expected that the high hou
sing prices can be lowered. What is the average housing price per square meter in China?
| A．8000 yuan. | B．10000 yuan. |
| C．7000 yuan. | D．It’s not mentioned here. |
Which of the following does NOT support the idea that the average housing price in China is even higher than in the United States?
| A．Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities. |
B．American people’s a verage income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people. |
| C．The houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses. |
| D．The population who need houses in China is larger than in the United States. |
How many measures are mentioned in the last paragraph in order to reduce the high housing prices?
| A．Four. | B．Three. | C．Two. | D．One. |
What is the main idea of this passage?
A．The housing price in China is so high that the gover nment should do something useful to prevent it. |
| B．There are some bubbles in Chinese real estate market. |
| C．The average housing price in China is even higher than in the United States. |
| D．Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public. |
Dior was born in Normandy in 1905, and his family’s original plans for him included a career in the diplomatic (外交的) service, but by the time he was twenty—three, with his parents’ money，he opened a small art gallery in Paris．By 1931，the money had been used up. Dior’s friends in the art gallery asked him to draw and he took his first step at designing and drawing．His first job was with Lucien Lelong from whom Dior learned his craft（手艺）．
In February,1947, Dior started the New Look in his first major Paris collection．He was backed by a famous textile (纺织品) producer, Boussac，who looked after the dollars, while Dior looked after the fashions．Dior knew nothing about cutting and sewing，but he was good at fashion design．
The New Look started an entirely different look to costume, with a tiny waist, a rounded shoulder and a shapely bust（胸围），usually with a low-cut neckline and a long, full skirt．To women who had lived through the war years, the femaleness of the New look was a great success, for people were tired of tile extremely plain, wartime restrictive fashions．
It is said that dresses by Dior were “constructed like buildings.” But young people were attracted to his design，and all over the western world, manufacturers plunged（投入）into the production of his new style．Dior’s revolutionary designs lighted up a whole cycle of fashion，rounded，gentle，feminine, a delight in elegance．A New Look House of Dior opened in 1948，followed by one in London．Considered as King of Couture（women’s clothing）for years, the Dior empire grew until it covered every country in the western world，and included furs, hosiery, jewelry, perfumes, men’s wear and on and on．More than 1,000 people worked at the Paris headquarters then．
His sudden death in 1957 when he was 53 years old did not stop the growth of the House of Dior. Even now, so many years after his death，his name is closely
connected with fashion throughout the world，and indeed is one of the most recognized names in the world. His first，great New Look，with its long skirts was an expression of freedom in the late 1940s．Which of the following designs is close to Dior’s?
According to the passage, in Dior’s life，he did NOT ．
| A．make creative fashion designs | B．work in a diplomatic service |
| C．1earn craft as his first job | D．open a New Look House |
We can infer from the passage that ．
| A．Dior and his supporter had different interests in business |
| B．Dior’s New Look had little influence on people then |
| C．Dior is only a brand of women’s fashion |
| D．Dior’s fashion was not accepted at first |
What is probably the best title for the passage? ．
| A．The History of the New Look | B．The Growth of the Dior Empire |
| C．An Expression of Freedom—Dior | D．The Founder of the New Look—Dior |
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