I have two sons. They are as different as night and day. My youngest is sweet, loveable, easy-going, and finds joy in everything. My oldest we’ve nicknamed the “Evil Genius” is ambitious, self-confident, and suffers no fools.
Whenever we mentioned Santa my husband and I were rewarded with major eye rolling and deep sighs from my oldest. At first we both tried to ignore it.
We both knew that our eldest had figured out the big secret. But I’d be damned(指责) if he was going to ruin it for his six-year-old brother who had plenty of Santa-loving years ahead of him. I looked at my husband in the eye and said, “I’ll handle this.” to which he responded “Okay just be careful because I’m not sure he knows - he might just be acting like it.” But I knew. And I had it in my mind that he was about to break his younger brothers spirit and break the news to him. I was afraid he was going to take the Christmas spirit away from my sweet innocent youngest and stamp all over it. I had to protect him. I needed to control this now before it got out of control. I rushed into the play room where my oldest was playing alone. I looked him dead in the eyes and said: “Well you know Santa isn’t real, right?” And as I stared at my eight-year-old son for what seemed like a long time of silence, his eyes started to fill with tears. And a tear dropped down his cheek when he screamed out, “He’s not?”
“Um well it’s not that he’s not real (shut up you idiot(白痴) - stop saying he’s not real), but he doesn’t really make and deliver all the toys. Dad and I get some of them for you. So he’s real. He’s just got a little help from us.”
The Evil Genius wasn’t buying it. He just sat there looking at me with an expression of doubt.
You know when you make a terrible mistake but you can’t stop yourself from making it worse? That was me because I just had to know. I had to know why he had seemed to be over Santa. So I asked him why he rolled his eyes and sighed every time his father and I mentioned Santa. To which he replied that kids at school had been saying Santa wasn't real but that he still thought he was.What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Two different sons |
| B．Santa secret given away |
| C．Protecting one, ruining the other |
| D．Making a mistake worse |
What did the writer conclude when “Evil Genius” rolled his eyes and sighed?
| A．“Evil Genius” had discovered Santa was not real. |
| B．“Evil Genius” had broken the secret to his younger brother. |
| C．Evil Genius” had passed his Santa-loving years. |
| D．Evil Genius” had been influenced by his classmates. |
What does the underlined sentence mean in the passage?
| A．“Evil Genius” refused to buy toys. |
| B．Evil Genius” didn’t believe his mother’s words. |
| C．Evil Genius” wanted to keep silent. |
| D．“Evil Genius” would not give away the secret. |
What lesson can we learn from the story?
| A．Lies can never change facts. |
| B．Honesty is the best policy. |
| C．No one is perfect. |
| D．We should think twice before we act. |
Enough sleep is important to health. The amount of sleep needed depends on the age of the person and the conditions in which sleep takes place. The young may need more sleep than the old, but usually eight hours are enough for the health of grown-ups. Some can do with less than this amount, but others may need more. Every person knows his own need. It is then a matter of good judgement to satisfy his need. Sleep should always be enough to make one bring back his strength and get ready for a day’s work.
Fresh air is necessary to sound sleep. It is not without reason for some people to think that it is practicable to sleep in the open 
air. When one can keep himself warm, out-of-door sleeping probably gives the body its most complete relaxation(松弛).
Ability(能力) to sleep is large lay habit. The conditions referred to only lead to sleep. Out-of-door exercises, a good habit of regular hours and the avoidance(避免) of late eating and worry, which are largely within the control of any person, are all helpful to sound sleep.
A bath at bedtime, neither hot nor cool but of body temperature, may be helpful to sleep. Sleep-producing drug(药）should never be taken except when suggested by a doctor. How many hours are usually enough for the health of a pupil?
| A．Less than eight hours. | B．No more than eight hours. |
| C．Eight hours or so. | D．No less than eight hours. |
What does “sound sleep” mean?
| A．Long sleep. | B．Fast sleep. | C．Complete sleep. | D．Sleep without any sound. |
Which of the following is helpful to good sleep?
| A．Keeping good habits. | B．Staying up late night. |
| C．Eating something at bedtime. | D．Forming the habit of taking sleep-producing drug. |
The amount of sleep a person needs has something to do with________.
| A．his age | B．his height | C．his weight | D．his character |
Before going to bed, you’d better not_______.
| A．take a bath | B．do any housework | C．think a lot | D．go out for relaxation |
The ocean bottom，a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth， is even today largely unexplored. Until about a century ago，the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible and hidden beneath waters averaging over 3，600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth's surface，the deep-ocean bottom is a strange environment to humans，in some ways as forbidding and remote as the outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks for over a 
century，the first detailed global study of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968，with the beginning of the National Science Foundation's Deep Sea Drilling Project ( DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry，the DSDP's drill ship，the Glomar Challenger，was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean's surface and drill in very deep
waters，taking samples of rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year-research program that ende
d in November 1983. During this time，it sailed 600，000 kilometers and took almost
20，000samples of rocks around the world. Those samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to make out what 
it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today，largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger's voyages，nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics (构造学) and continental drift that explains many of the geological processes.
The samples of rocks drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also provided a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years. The information of
past climatic changes can be used to predict future climates. The underlined word" inaccessible" in Line 3 means .
| A．unrecognizable | B．unreachable | C．unusable | D．unreasonable |
Why does the author mention "outer space" in the first paragraph?
| A．The Earth's climate millions of years ago was similar to that in outer space. |
| B．It is similar to the ocean floor in being strange to the humans. |
| C．Rock formations in outer space are similar to those found on the ocean floor. |
| D．Techniques used by scientists to explore outer space were similar to those used in ocean exploration. |
Which of the following is TRUE of the Glomar Challenger?
| A．It is a type of submarine. | B．It is an ongoing project. |
| C．It has gone on over 100 voyages. | D．It made its first DSDP voyage in 1968. |
The Deep Sea Drilling Project was significant because it was .
| A．an attempt to find new sources of oil and gas |
| B．the first extensive exploration of the ocean bottom |
| C．made up of geologists from all over the world |
| D．supported entirely by the gas and oil industry |
Which is NOT mentioned in the passage as being a result of the Deep Sea Drilling Project?
| A．Geologists were able to determine the Earth's appearance millions of years ago. |
| B．Two geological theories became more widely accepted by scientists. |
| C．Geologists observed forms of life never before seen. |
| D．Information was revealed about the Earth's past climatic changes. |
Sandstorms hit northwestern China's Gansu Province and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on the first day this year. According to Sun Landong， a meteorologist with the Lanzhou Meteorology Observatory，visibility was less than 100 meters in Minqin， a Gansu county near Inner Mongolia， because of sand. When visibility drops to less than 1 
kilometer，it is called a sandstorm. The sandstorm in Minqin blew up dust in neighboring towns， such as Baiyin， Wuwei， Jinchang and Lanzhou， the capital city of Gansu Province. Dust-laden winds also
swept into Beijing. Brought by northwesterly blowing at more than 20 meters per second，dust first reached the capital's suburbs at 7 a. m，downtown areas at 9 a. m. The winds，which died down during the night，brought the temperature down to as low as 80C below zero and many flights put off their planned time from the city's airport.
It is quite rare for sandstorms，which are frequent between March and June，to happen in winter，when the earth is frozen. The sandstorms in Gansu and Inner Mongolia do not necessarily mean there will be more of them in the spring than last year，when they were serious，but Beijing is taking it very seriously. It is reported that Beijing will spend 6 billion yuan ( US 725 million) in preventing sandstorms in the capital and has already set up a special team to make sure what causes them. What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Sandstorms took place in Gansu. |
| B．Sandstorms happened on the first day of the new year. |
| C．Sandstorms are very serious，compared to last year. |
| D．Experts are trying their best to determine the cause of the sandstorm formed this year. |
Suppose the dust was 300 kilometers away from Beijing， it would reach Beijing about
hours later if it travels at a speed of 20 meters per second?
| A．4. 2 | B．1. 5 | C．2. 0 | D．2. 5 |
Why did sandstorms begin in the winter this year?
| A．Because there was little snow this season. |
| B．Because a lot of trees have been cut down. |
| C．Because people took few measures to control them. |
| D．It is not mentioned in the passage. |
Which of the following doesn't belong to the bad effect the sandstorms have do
ne in Beijing?
| A．The temperature fell. | B．Flights put off their  time to take off. |
| C．The air is dirty. | D．People had three days off. |
The author wrote the passage to .
| A．tell us the environments are becoming worse and worse |
| B．explain what measures people have taken to control sandstorms |
| C．make people realize the need to protect the environment. |
| D．call on us to do what we can to save the earth |
For many years it was common in the United States to associate Chinese Americans wi
th restaurants and places that wash clothes. People did not realize that the Chinese had been driven into these occupations by the prejudice and discrimination that faced them in this country.
The first Chinese to reach the United States came during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Like most of the other people there，they had come to search for gold. In that largely unoccupied land， the men st
aked a claim (立界标表明所有权) for themselves by placing makers’ in the ground. However，either because the Chinese were so different from the others or because they worked so patiently that they sometimes succeeded in getting a mining claim to make a profit ( where others saw no way to do so) ,they became the target".Of their competitors. They were troubled and attacked in many ways. Often they were prevented from working their claims; some places even passed regulations forbidding them to own claims. The Chinese therefore started to seek out other ways of earning a living. Some of them began to wash clothes for the white miners; others set up small restaurants. (There were almost no women in California in those days and the Chinese filled a real need by doing this" women's work". ) Some went to work as farmhands or as fishermen.
In the early 1860's many more Chinese arrived in California. This time railroad companies brought the men in to build the first railroad line from California to the East. They were sorely needed because the work was so hard and dangerous，and it was carried on in such an isolated part of the country that the railroad company could not find other laborers for the job. As in the case of the first Chinese in America， these Chinese were almost all males; and like them，too，they encountered a great deal of prejudice. The hostility grew especially strong after the railroad project was completed，and the Chinese laborers returned to California—thousands of them，all out of work
Many of today's Chinese Americans are the descendants of some of the early miners and railroad workers. What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The first Chinese to reach the United States came during the California Gold Rush of 1849. |
| B．Many more Chinese arrived in California to construct the first railroad from California to the East. |
| C．Early Chinese immigrants to America experienced a lot of prejudice and discrimination. |
| D．Prejudice and discrimination that Chinese Americans met. |
Why did the Chinese become the target of their competitors?
| A．Because the Chinese were different and they worked patiently to achieve a lot of success while others couldn't. |
| B．The Chinese were so different from the others. |
| C．They worked so patiently with little payment |
| D．There were almost no women in California in those days. |
What was the fate of the Chinese after the construction of the railroad?
| A．They went back to their own country |
B．They stayed to work in the ra ilroad companies. |
| C．They went to California to search for gold. |
| D．The hostility grew especially strong. |
What is the meaning of the word" encountered"?
| A．face. | B．Count. | C．Enter. | D．Handle. |
The following statements are true EXCEPT .
| A．during the California Gold Rush of 1849，people staked a claim for themselves by placing markers in the ground |
| B．the first Chinese went to America because they wanted to work as farmhands or as fishermen |
| C．many of today's Chinese Americans are the descendants of the early miners and railroad workers |
| D．the Chinese were sorely needed because the work was so dangerous |
Every summer thousands of Americans stay at home instead of going on holiday because they're overweight. They don't want people to see them sunbathing and they don't want to have to squeeze into plane seats，But now，thanks to the growing number of weight-friendly holiday packages，the overweight are having their days in the sun.
"Overweight people will have a great time on our holidays as we don't judge them like oth
er people do，" said Liz Nickels，the owner of Big Adventures，a US-based company that hosts scuba-diving—a sport of swimming underwater while breathing through a tube connected to a tank on your back for larger people. As a way to keep up with the demand for extralarge accommodation，many hotels in the US have started to offer features such as wide beds and hand-held showers. But the best in plus-size vacation lies at Mexico's Freedom Paradise，a 112-room resort(度假胜地) opening this month，which urges guests to" Live Large，Live Free" .
The hotel has wide doorways，reinforced furniture and extra large chairs. It also boasts a private beach to protect people from the stares that can occur on public beaches. "It's not a hotel just for large people. It's a size-friendly place where anyone can enjoy a holiday，" said owner J urrian Kilnk，"What we noticed was that a lot of oversized people don't feel comfortable at resorts. "Staff members of all sizes are hired by the hotel to make overweight people feel OK.
Though many welcome the new service，some feel differently. "I have a real problem with this，"said Nancy Lenhart，the owner of Camp La Jolia，a Californian weight-loss and fitness camp.
"If you talk about oversized beds and doorways you are throwing their weight in their faces. Overweight people want to be normalized. They shouldn't be discriminated against 
like this. " Large people don't want to go on holiday because .
| A．they don't like sunbathing | B．they don't want to be looked at |
| C．the planes are too crowded | D．hotels are not open to them |
In the first paragraph，weight-friendly holiday packages mean .
| A．there are some free packages for the overweight |
| B．people are friendly to the overweight |
| C．special holiday for the overweight |
| D．the overweight can lose weight |
Scuba-diving is a sport of swimming .
| A．for people to lose weight | B．only for larger people |
| C．jumping from the platform | D．underwater |
Mexico's Freedom Paradise is a hotel .
| A．for people of all sizes | B．only intended for larger people |
| C．where everything is oversized | D．where larger people can live for free |
The underlined part" you are throwing their weight in their faces" means .
| A．you are beating them in the face | B．you are showing them that they are overweight |
| C．their faces seem bigger than others | D．you can make them lose weight |
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