The King received news one day that a group outlaws were committing some wrong and cruel acts on a distant border of the kingdom.
The news angered the King. He quickly gathered his army and started off for the distant border, leaving his kingdom unguarded and without a ruler.
On their long march, the King and his army made camp for the night wherever they could. One rainy day they stopped in a forest, seeking shelter under the trees. They unsaddled（卸鞍） their horses and steamed some peas, which they fed to their steeds in long narrow containers.
A monkey in a tree nearby saw the horses being fed, and he came racing down, filled both paws with peas, then climbed quickly up to a branch and settled down to eat. But as he opened one paw, a single pea fell to the ground. Without hesitation, the monkey jumped from his branch to hunt for the lost pea, and in doing so，he dropped all the other peas in his paws.
The King observed this foolish monkey and was greatly amused. He timed to his minister and asked: "Friend, what do you think of this monkey who would give up so much to retrieve so little?"
"That is the way of the foolish," replied the minister, "they will give up much that is certain for a little that is uncertain."
Then he added, "And we, Great King, are we not like the monkey in the trees. To gain so little we neglect so much exactly like the monkey with its pea."
The King understood the blame and realized how very foolish he had been himself to leave his kingdom unguarded. He gave out orders to his men, and he and his army returned at once to their country.What did the King do after he knew a group of bad guys were doing something illegal?
| A．He asked the minister for advice. |
| B．He led his army to defeat them. |
| C．He found some monkeys to feed. |
| D．He looked for shelters in the forest. |
The minister persuaded the King to give up his original plan by ________.
| A．steaming some peas to feed the horses |
| B．amusing the King with the monkey’s trick |
| C．blaming the king gently using the monkey’s example. |
| D．going back and guarding the country |
What does the underlined word “retrieve” in the fifth paragraph mean?
| A．Bring up. | B．Get back. | C．Give away. | D．Come up. |
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．An Angry King | B．A Battle against the Outlaws |
| C．A Simple-minded Monkey | D．An Unguarded Kingdom |
NBA commissioner David Stern was in Orlando on Thursday night, getting ready for Sunday’s All-Star Game. Of course, all he could talk about was the only player anyone wants to talk about these days: New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin.
Hours before Lin took the court against the Heat, a few hundred miles South down I-95 in Miami, Stern told reporters that Lin’s instant popularity hasn’t ever been matched in sports history, not even by Sunday’s biggest names, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant.
The Associated Press had the details.
“I haven’t done a calculation, but it’s fair to say that no player has created the interest and the craze in this short period of time, in any sport, that I’m aware of like Jeremy Lin has,” Stern said Thursday.
Lin, an undrafted(未选秀的)guard from Harvard, has become the NBA’s biggest story since coming off the Knicks’ bench earlier this month to lead them to nine wins in 11 games heading into their matchup with Miami on Thursday night.
With Lin’s popularity in Asia as the league’s first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, and with the religious community because of his strong Christian faith, Stern says he’s “never quite seen anything like” the attention on Lin.
“It’s fascinating,” Stern said after the All-Star Jam Session opening ceremonies.
The top five videos on NBA.com since Feb. 4, when Lin joined the circulation, are all Lin or Knicks related. Lin went from 190,000 followers on Sina, China’s version of Twitter, on Feb. 2 to more than 1 million as of Feb. 16.
Indeed, Lin’s popularity is so out of this world that the NBA made a late list switch to ensure his participation in the Rising Stars Challenge on All-Star Saturday, a game that includes the NBA’s best rookies(新秀球员)and sophomores. Lin is in such high demand that all of the game’s other participants will meet with the media following a team practice on Friday while Lin will have his own, separate press conference later in the night.
This is Jeremy’s world, folks. We’re all just living in it. Even David Stern and the rest of the league’s All-Stars, at least for the moment. The following statements about Jeremy Lin’s instant popularity are true EXCEPT that ______.
| A．Jeremy Lin led New York Knicks to win all the recent games this month |
| B．David Stern said Lin was the only instant popular player in NBA’s history |
| C．Lin has become the NBA’s greatest story though he was an undrafted guard |
| D．no player has created the interest and the enthusiasm in such a short period of time |
Why did Jeremy Lin have so many followers in Asia on Sina, China’s version of Twitter?
A. Because Jeremy Lin was born in Taiwan with strong Christian faith.
B. Maybe because he is the first player born in America but has Chinese descent.
C. Because Sina has a large group of surfing people, maybe more than 10 million.
D. Because the top five videos on NBA. com since Feb. 4 are all Lin or Knicks related.The underlined phrase “out of this world” in Paragraph 9 may probably be replaced by ______.
| A．impossible | B．important | C．exceptional | D．excellent |
What can we learn from the above passage about Jeremy Lin’s instant popularity?
| A．Knowledge starts with practice. | B．Failure is the mother of success. |
| C．Every dog has its day. | D．No pains, no gains. |
We were driving on the right road when, all of a sudden, a black car pulled out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver stepped on his brake, skidded(打滑), and missed the black car’s back end by just inches! The driver of the black car, who almost caused a major accident, turned his head angrily and started shouting bad words at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, my taxi driver was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to hospital!” And the following is what my taxi driver told me, which I now call “the law of the Garbage Truck”.
“Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump(倾卸)it. And if you let them, they dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish him well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”
So this is “The Law of the Garbage Truck”. I started thinking: How often do I let “Garbage Trucks” run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was then that I said, “I’m not going to do it any more.”
I began to see “Garbage Trucks”. I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my taxi driver, I don’t make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, and move on.
Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. What about you? The mark of a successful person is how quickly he can get back his focus on what’s important.Who acted like a garbage truck in the accident described in the first two paragraphs?
| A．The author. | B．The taxi driver. |
| C．The driver of the black car. | D．Both drivers. |
The reason why the taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy is that ______.
| A．the black car was full of garbage |
| B．the taxi driver didn’t want his mood ruined |
| C．the driver of the black car didn’t cause any damage to the taxi |
| D．the driver of the black car was angry and the taxi driver felt a little frightened |
The underlined part “the load” in Paragraph 5 refers to _____.
| A．bad mood | B．excitement | C．new products | D．waste materials |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
| A．Always be kind and hardworking. |
| B．Ignore unpleasantness and stick to your tasks. |
| C．Try to be good leaders as well as good parents. |
| D．Do things quickly so as to be ready for the next. |
Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen…
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I tell her my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and reduce our electric bill. On this first night of our cost-cutting plan, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re going to suffer, but the three kids complain anyway.
They have grown up in 72-degree comfort, protected from the world outside.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter complains. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother complains down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to turn for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
The neighbor’s dog howls. Probably a passing squirrel. It’s been years since I took the time to really listen to the night.
I think about grandma, who lived to 92 and still helped with my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of grandma’s bed and turn my face toward the open window. I turn the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma saw me turn over and over. “If you just watch for the breeze(清风),” she said, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to move. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug chorus. Neighbors, porch(门廊)-sitting late, speak in unclear words that calm me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old son cries, “I think it was an owl(猫头鹰)family.”
“Probably,” I tell him, “just keep listening…”
Without the working air conditioner, the house is peaceful, and the natural night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze comes in.On the first night of the writer’s cost-cutting plan, her children ______.
| A．live a comfortable life as usual |
| B．begin to be unhappy |
| C．are protected from the world outside |
| D．are about to die from the heat |
The author talks about her grandmother and her childhood to show that ______.
| A．people used to live a hard life |
| B．people at that time were hardworking |
| C．it’s OK for people to live a simple life |
| D．she has learned a great deal from her grandma |
In the writer’s eyes, her children are ______.
| A．free from parents’ protection |
| B．full of dissatisfaction with life |
| C．dependable because of parents’ love |
| D．lacking in real test of hardships in life |
Which of the following titles best suits the passage?
| A．Waiting for the Breeze. |
| B．An Interesting Experience. |
| C．Life at Present and Life in the Past. |
| D．Different Times, Different Children |
How much do you want to pay for a CD by your favorite singer Jay Chou? Five Yuan for a pirated(盗版的) one, or more for a real one? Wang Ye, 14, said she would like the real one although the pirated one is cheaper.” A real one is worth keeping for years.” said the girl from No.1 middle school in Wu Han, Anhui. “Real CDs always sound better to me.”
What can we do? People want to do more to help those like Wang to get real CDs.
This week the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry asked many countries to act against piracy(盗版行为).
In many places in China, the government is checking audio and video products. Pirated ones are broken into pieces.
Piracy is in your daily life. Don’t believe it? A study by 21st Century Teens found that more than 75 percent of juniors had listened to pirated music. They say this is because pirated products are usually much cheaper than the real ones.
Why are real CDs so expensive? When a music company makes music, it needs to pay the song writers and singers. It costs a lot of money! This makes the price of the CDs go up. Piracy like stealing. People who make pirated copies of CDs take away the writers’ and singers’ work without paying them. They even don’t ask them if they can.
So next time you’d better keep your eyes brightened when you see cheap CDs. Remember you’re helping someone to do something wrong if you buy them.
How do you know what’s real.
Already made up your mind to buy real ones? Well, you should get to know what real CDs look like. A real CD has the name and trademark(商标) of the music company on the cover. The company’s address, telephone number and fax number are on it.
If you open the CD box you'll see the singer's name and the album title. Most important of all, a real CD has a number from the IFPI on it.
But people who make pirated CDs only need the real CD and disks to copy them. That’s why some CDs are only five Yuan, but some many sell for 150 Yuan.Real CDs are more expensive because ______.
| A．it takes longer to make them |
| B．more people are needed to make them |
| C．a lot of money is paid to singers and writers. |
| D．better ways are used to make them |
Buying pirated CDs is just like _______.
| A．stealing |
| B．robbing |
| C．helping someone to do something wrong |
| D．helping someone |
From the passage we get to know that some pirated company are_______.
| A．moved away | B．doing something wrong | C．broken | D．made smaller |
Kites have been around for a long time.The Chinese invented kites over 2000 years ago. A determined man named Mo Zi had an idea as he watched hawks(鹰) fly. He spent three years making a wooden hawk“kite”. It broke after one flight! Mo Zi and his Chinese friends did not give up. Soon they perfected the art of creating kites.
Kites became part of many Chinese festivals. Pictures of kites were also on vases and in paintings. But kites were meant to fly in places other than China! Marco Polo visited China in the 13th century and brought kites back to Europe with him. Europeans loved them, and the art of kiting“took off”!
Many kites have stories behind them. One Chinese novel, called Journey to the West, was written around 1400 AD. In the story, a priest(僧侣) traveled with three students. One student was a monkey. The second student was a man with pig ears. The third student was a former river monster. These characters often appear on Chinese kites. Another splendid Chinese kite is the dragon kite. A dragon kite is made of many round discs strung together. Often the dragon is bright red, with fat horns and white teeth. The dragon is the king of beasts in Chinese myths. It represents goodness, even though it looks scary. Two kinds of kites have pictures of birds on them. One kite is called the phoenix(凤凰) bird kite. The phoenix bird symbolizes peace. Another kite shows the red-headed crane. The crane represents happiness, good fortune, and a long life.
Kites come in all shapes and sizes. Flat or bowed kites have a simple shape, such as a diamond or a rectangle(长方形). Delta(三角形) kites are triangular. Rokkaku kites are six sided and often bear a striking image. Sometimes these kites“flight”each other until one kite drops from the sky. The other kite then wins the“battle”.Who introduced Chinese kites to Europe?
| A．A foreigner from Europe. |
| B．Three students in Journey to the West. |
| C．The priest in Journey to the West. |
| D．A Chinese artist. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The novel Journey to the West mainly talks about the art of kiting. |
| B．The characters in the novel Journey to the West are often painted on kites. |
| C．The dragon kite represents happiness, good fortune and a long life. |
| D．A phoenix bird is a main character in the novel Journey to the West. |
Which statement expresses an opinion rather than a fact?
| A．Kites became part of many Chinese festivals. |
| B．There are many different kinds of kites. |
| C．The dragon kite is the most splendid Chinese kite. |
| D．Kites were invented 2000 years ago. |
Which kind of kite is NOT used to fight“battles”in the air?
| A．Flat. | B．Delta. | C．Dragon. | D．Rokkaku. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号