How would we travel without maps? It would be a bit adventurous (冒险的) to set off from Oxford University to go to London Bridge if there wasn't a map of the London Underground at each station. In fact, a lot of the early map-makers were adventurers and explorers, especially in the 15th and 16th centuries.
So what did people do before there were maps? Well, it was quite easy to use natural signs like mountains and rivers if you were travelling on foot or riding a horse. People took small boats down rivers and followed coastlines. And it was much more logical (合理的) to use time, not distance, to measure (计量) journeys: the next village is a three-hour ride, for example.
In fact, in the earliest maps, people didn't draw landmarks. They drew the stars. It was very easy to see the night sky and use it for navigation (航行). The sky was a lot clearer before the light pollution from cities that we have today. When towns and cities were built, people drew road maps which gave correct distances and directions.
The London Underground was opened in 1863 and it also used a road map style. But a man called Henry Beck realized that travelling by train wasn't the same as driving your car across London. Passengers only needed to know which stations to change at. His new design (设计) for the Underground map wasn't very popular with the train companies at first. But the passengers loved it and in 1933, 700,000 copies were printed.
These days, of course, you can ride a bike, drive a car or go through a forest and know where you are exactly, using a GPS. It's really difficult to get lost!What was drawn in the earliest maps?
| A．Stars. | B．Landmarks. |
| C．Cities and towns, | D．Mountains and rivers. |
When did road maps come out?
| A．Around 15th and 16th centuries. |
| B．When people began to travel by train. |
| C．When people began to travel by sea. |
| D．When cities and towns appeared. |
Which of the following is true?
| A．A GPS helped people to travel long time ago. |
| B．Ancient people could travel on a horse without maps. |
| C．The sky was polluted by light before cities were built. |
| D．Henry Beck's map wasn't popular with the passengers. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Maps have a long history. |
| B．We never get lost these days. |
| C．We can't travel without maps. |
| D．Henry Beck designed a new map. |
Just a Little Smile
Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of turn fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman (随身听). Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.
They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited(邀请) in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, then Mark went home. They often saw . each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.
Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker(锁柜) because I didn’t want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother’s sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, ! began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life. " When Mark met him the first time, Bill was going
| A．to have a basketball game | B．to his classroom | C．to see Mark | D．back home |
From what Bill was carrying, we can know that he .
| A．was a good student |
| B．liked sports and music |
| C．liked all the subjects in school |
| D．was a g |
Mark and Bill .
| A．were in the same middle school and high school |
| B．were in the same middle school but not in the same high school |
| C．of ten had lunch together at school |
| D．had known each other before they began to study in middle school |
In this passage, the phrase "break up" means" ".
| A．相处很好 | B．和好如初 | C．关系破裂 | D．保持联系 |
When Mark helped Bill to pick up some of his things, he. .
| A．knew he could save Bill’s life |
| B．knew who Bill was and wanted to help him |
| C．didn’t know why he was going to help him |
| D．didn’t know what he was doing was very important to Bill |
Are you carrying too much on your back at school? I’m sure lots of children of your age will, say "Yes". Not only the students in China have this problem, but children in the United States also have heavy school bags.
Doctors are starting to worry that younger and younger students are having back and neck problems as a result of schools bags being too heavy for them.
"It’s hard for me to go upstairs with my bag because it’s so heavy, "said Rick Hammond, an 11-year-old student in the US.
Rick is among students who have common school bags with two straps(带子) to carry them, but many other students choose rolling(有滚轮的)bags.
But even with rolling bags, getting up stairs and buses is still a problem for children. Many of them have hurt their backs and necks because of the heavy school bags.
But how much is too much? Doctors say students should carry no more than 10% to 15% of their own body weight(重量).
Scott Bautch, a back doctor, said children under Grade 4 should stay with 10 % . But it is also important that older children don’t stay with over 15 %, because their bodies are still growing. "Children are losing their balance(平衡) and falling down with their school bags, "he said.
Parents and teachers are starting to tell children to only take home library books they will be reading that night. Some teachers are using pieces of paper or thin workbooks for students to take home.
One of the best answers is, as some children said, to have no homework at all! From the passage we can know that .
| A．only children in China carry too heavy school bags |
| B．children in other countries don’t carry too heavy bags |
| C．both children in China and the US carry too heavy school bags |
| D．only children in the US carry too heavy school bags |
Children feel it hard for them to go upstairs because
| A．they are too young |
| B．their school bags are too heavy |
| C．they don’t know how to go upstairs |
| D．their parents don’t always go upstairs with them together |
If a child carries a heavy school bag, .
| A．his back and neck will be hurt |
| B．his head and arms will be hurt |
| C．his hands will be hurt |
| D．his feet will be hurt |
According to the doctor, Scott Bautch, if a child in Grade 5 weighs(重) about 30 kilos, the school bag he carries should not be over
| A．5 kilos | B．3 kilos | C．5. 5 kilos | D．4, 5 kilos |
Some students think the best answer to his problems is that . .
| A．they should have a little homework to do after they get home |
| B．their teachers had better not ask them to do any homework |
| C．they should only take home library books they will read that night |
| D． they should use thin workbooks instead of thick ones |
We are in a world full of competition. Our parents compete (竞争) with others in their offices, our brothers and sisters compete with others
in their colleges, and we compete with our classmates in school. Many of us give up in the face of competition and will never be successful. ①can’t, others, why, we, do, better, than One important reason is that we have no self-confidence (自信).
In fact, everyone is born equal. You can do what others do. Although your classmates may be better than you in some ways,
you may be better than them in other subjects. So everyone has his or her own advantages. Don’t look at things from a single (单个的) point of view. Try to discover your own advantages, and believe that you can do better than others in those ways.
Competition is not so terrible. Don’t be afraid of it. And don’t be afraid of those classmates who are better than you. ②Remember that self-confidence is the first step to success. Believe in yourselves, and you will be successful one day.
任务一: Are we li
ving in a world full of competition?
任务二: How can you improve your self-confidence according to the passage?
任务三: 将①处画线部分单词连成一个完整的特殊疑问句。
任务四: 将②处画线部分译成中文。
任务五: What’s the main idea of this passage?
Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The next building only was a few feet away from mine. They was a woman lived there, and I had never met her, yet I could see she sat by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.
After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I would say to myself. “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window. It really looks terrible.”
One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside.
Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a
rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly visible (看见). Her window was clean!
Then it dawned on me. I had been criticizing (批评) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.
That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own shortcomings?
Since then, whenever I wanted to judge (评判) someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?” I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world about me more clearly. The writer couldn’t see everything clearly through the window because __________.
| A．the woman’s window was dirty | B．the writer’s window was dirty |
| C．the woman lived nearby | D．the writer was near-sighted |
The writer was surprised that _________.
| A．the woman was sitting by her window | B．the woman’s window was still terrible |
| C．the woman did cleaning in the afternoon | D．the woman’s window was clean |
“It dawned on me” probably means “_______”.
| A．I began to understand it | B．it cheered me up |
| C．I knew it grew light | D．it began to get dark |
It’s clear that ________.
| A．the writer had never met the woman before | B．the writer often washed the window |
| C．they both worked as cleaners | D．they lived in a small town |
From the passage, we can learn _______.
| A．one shouldn’t criticize others very often |
| B．one should often make his windows clean |
| C．one must judge himself before he judges others |
| D．one must look at others through his dirty windows. |
People know the danger of fires. It’s good for a family to learn how to prepare for a fi
re. Here are some suggestions:
Put a smoke alarm in the house. Smoke from a fire causes the alarm to go off. The alarm makes a loud sound. The sound tells everyone to leave the house at once.
Make escape (逃脱) plans. They should know all the ways out of the house. If there is a fire, everyone follows the plan to get out. Part of the plan is to check all the windows to make sure they can be opened easily.
Buy fire extinguishers (灭火器) in the house. Everyone in the family should know how to use them.
Practice for a fire. They do fire practice because they teach children about fire safety. Everyone in the family should know the following fire rules:
＊Don’t open a hot door! The fire can grow more quickly if you open the door.
＊Stay close to the floor! Smoke can be more dangerous than fire; the best air is near the floor because smoke rises.
＊What will you do if you hair or clothes start to burn? First, stop! Don’t run! The fire burns faster because of more air. Drop! Fall to the floor. They roll! Turning over and over will make the fire go out. Put a blanket (毯子) around you to keep air away from the fire that may still be on you.
There are many possible causes for firs. A wise family is ready all the time. If there is a fire, don’t forget to call 119 for help. What does it mean when a smoke alarm rings at home?
| A．You have to get up. | B．Water is running to the floor. |
| C．Something is burning. | D．Someone breaks your window. |
The writer advices people to do the following to prepare for a fire except that _______.
| A．they practice for a fire | B．they make escape plans |
| C．they buy fire extinguishers | D．they use electrical cookers |
When a fire happens, _______ if you open the hot door.
| A．the fire will grow more quickly | B．the electricity will be cut off |
| C．the door will soon be on fire | D．the house will fall down |
What are the right steps you should take when your hair or clothes catch fire?
| A．Stop, run, roll. | B．Stop, drop, roll. |
| C．Run, drop, roll. | D．Roll, drop, stop |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．The Dangers of a Fire. | B．The Cause of a Fire. |
| C．Learn to Use a Fire Extinguisher. | D．Be Ready for a Fire. |
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