That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco. There I was, walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre. With opening night only a week ago, I was still learning my lines. I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time. As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco. City life had become too much for me.
As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold. I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers (抢劫犯). Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.
About a block from my apartment (公寓房间), I heard a sound behind me. I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun. The street was empty. All I saw was a shining streetlight. Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster. Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been. It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.
Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired anymore. I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise. Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found.
Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck (垃圾车) pull up to the sidewalk next to me. When a voice called from the inside, “Alisa Camacho?” I thought I was dreaming. How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye. “Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape.
It was nearly 3 A.M. by the time I got into bed. I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had gotten my wallet back. I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life. I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were welling to help each other.How did the writer feel when she was walking home after work?
| A．Cold and sick. |
| B．Fortunate and helpful. |
| C．Satisfied and cheerful. |
| D．Disappointed and helpless. |
From the first paragraph, we learn that the writer was busy ______.
| A．solving her problem at the bank |
| B．taking part in various city activities |
| C．learning acting in a n evening school |
| D．preparing for the first night show |
On her way home the writer ______.
| A．lost her wallet unknowingly |
| B．was stopped by a garbage truck driver |
| C．was robbed of her wallet by an armed man |
| D．found some homeless people following her |
In the fifth paragraph, why did the writer say she was dreaming?
| A．Someone offered to take her back home. |
| B．A red-haired man came to see her. |
| C．She heard someone call her name. |
| D．Her wallet was found in a garbage truck. |
From the text, we can infer that the writer ______.
| A．would stop working at night |
| B．would stay on in San Francisco |
| C．would make friends with cleaners |
| D．would give up her job at the bank |
Norway—Ten Chinese college students arrived at the country’s Arctic research base, the Yellow River Station, on Friday.
On Saturday，the students are expected to witness the end of four months of darkness in the area, as the sun makes a rare appearance.
During their four-day stay at the station，the students will meet and learn from some of China’s leading polar researchers．They were welcomed at the station yesterday by its director，He Jianfeng, who is an expert on marine micro-ecosystems．
The students will also visit the German and Norwegian stations and meet researchers there．
As for entertainment, the visitors will get the chance to play ice hockey at the world’s most northerly stadium．
Among the visitors is Zheng Li，a student majoring in telecommunications at Dalian Maritime University．
“It is so exciting to see how the Chinese researchers work in the world’s most northerly laboratory，”she said．
“This opportunity is precious．Most people will never get the chance to travel so far from home and visit such an amazing place．It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
Wu Jinyou，head of the Polar Research Institute of China，and the group’s leader，said，“I hope the students have not only a field trip to the Yellow River station，but are also touched by the devotion and spirit of the Chinese researchers here. I also expect in the future，some of them will choose to devote themselves to polar research and maybe even work with us.”
The students have been in Norway since February 28，and were given Arctic training before moving to the station．
The Arctic expedition is one of the several international cooperation and exchange activities forming the China Program for International Polar Year(2007-08)．It was launched last March．Which of the following is true about Wu Jinyou?
| A．He is a graduate from Dalian Maritime University． |
| B．He is the leading polar researcher working at the research station． |
| C．He is sure that all the ten students will make good polar researchers． |
| D．He thinks highly of the devotion and spirit of the Chinese researchers． |
What does Zheng Li mean by saying“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing”?
| A．It’s exciting to see the sun rise in Arctic area． |
| B．The trip to the research station is extremely exciting． |
| C．Playing ice hockey in Arctic area is really a life-long memory． |
| D．People are only allowed to visit the station once in their lifetime． |
Which word can most probably replace the underlined word “launched”?
| A．ended | B．stopped | C．started | D．performed |
What could be the best title of the news report?
| A．Chinese Students Arrive at Arctic Station. |
| B．Chinese Students Do Research in Norway. |
| C．Chinese Students Play Ice Hockey at Arctic Station. |
| D．Chinese Students Receive Training at Arctic Station. |
I knew I was all right now. Nobody else would come ahunting after me. I got my traps out of the canoe and made me a nice camp in the thick woods. I made a tent out of my blankets to put my things under so the rain couldn't get at them. I caught a catfish and towards sundown I started my camp fire and had supper.
When it was dark I sat by my camp fire, feeling pretty satisfied; but by and by it got sort of lonesome, so I went and sat on the bank and listened to the current crashing along, and counted the stars and drift logs and rafts that came down, and then went to bed; there was no better way to put in time when you are lonesome; you can't stay so, and you soon get it over.
And so for three days and nights. No difference—just the same thing. But the next day I went exploring around the island. I was boss of it; it all belonged to me, and I wanted to know all about it; but mainly I wanted to spend the time. I found plenty of strawberries and green summer grapes; and the green blackberries were just beginning to show.
Well, I went fooling along in the deep woods till I judged I wasn't far from the foot of the island. I had my gun along, but I had shot nothing; it was for protection. About this time I almost stepped on a goodsized snake, and it moved quietly and smoothly through the grass and flowers, and I was after it, trying to get a shot at it. I clipped along, and all of a sudden I bounded right on to the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking.
My heart jumped up among my lungs. I never waited to look further, but unlocked my gun and went sneaking back on my tiptoes as fast as I could. Every now and then I stopped a second among the thick leaves and listened, but my breath came so hard that I couldn't hear anything else. I moved quietly along another piece further, then listened again; and so on. If I saw a stump(树桩), I took it for a man; if I stepped on a stick and broke it, it made me feel that a person had cut one of my breaths in two and I only got half, and the short half, too.The underlined part “put in time” in the second paragraph probably means _____.
| A．take the time | B．kill the time |
| C．employ the time | D．waste the time |
Why did the boy always carry his gun with him wherever he went?
| A．To show off his gun. |
| B．To protect himself. |
| C．To hunt some animals for food. |
| D．To play with it for fun. |
How did the boy feel when he saw the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking?
| A．Surprised. | B．Excited. | C．Frightened. | D．Puzzled. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The boy felt a bit lonely on the island. |
| B．The boy brought with himself a tent. |
| C．The boy was surely the only person on the island at that time. |
| D．The boy might be bitten by some animal when the story happened. |
We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect — but to have no tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher.
Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them--- a form of favoritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from ill-respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for the job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well-respected school. This defence of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s reputation, unable to compete with the child from the favored school.
The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer. The underlined word “favoritism” in paragraph three is used to describe the phenomenon that _______.
| A．bright children also need certificate to get satisfying jobs. |
| B．children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs. |
| C．poor children with certificates are favored in job markets. |
| D．children attending ordinary schools achieve great success. |
What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
| A．Schools for bright children would lose their reputation. |
| B．There would be more opportunities and excellence. |
| C．Children from poor families would be able to change their schools. |
| D．Children’s job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation. |
The opponents of the examination system will agree that _______.
| A．jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection. |
| B．computers should be selected to take over many jobs. |
| C．special classes are necessary to keep the school standards. |
| D．schools that win academic subjects should be done away with. |
The passage mainly focuses on __________.
| A．schools and certificates. | B．examination and equality. |
| C．opportunity and employment. | D．standards and reputation. |
Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it’s painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you labour through your work, you may say that you’re “hot”. That’s true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people that peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues （自言自语）as “Get up , John ! You’ll be late for work again !” The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can’t change your energy cycle, but you can make your life fit it better. Habit can help. Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you’re sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to . If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won’t change your cycle , but you’ll get up steam and work better at your low point .
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy for your sharper hours .If you want to work better at your low point in the morning, you should .
| A．change your energy cycle | B．overcome your laziness |
| C．get up early than usual | D．go to bed earlier |
You are advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will .
| A．help to keep your energy for the day’s work |
| B．help you to control your temper early in the day |
| C．enable you to get your energy on your routine work |
| D．keep your energy cycle under control all day |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Change Your Habits | B．Save Your Energy |
| C．Daily Energy Cycle | D．Temperature-and-Energy Peak |
The text is probably taken from a ______.
| A．news report | B．research paper |
| C．medical textbook | D．fashion journal |
Grant Wood’s American Gothic caused a stir （轰动）in 1930 when it was exhibited for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago and awarded a prize of 300 dollars. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and the painting of a farmer and a younger woman posed before a white house brought the artist instant fame.
In 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter with European training, noticed a small white house built in the small southern Iowa town of Eldon. Wood was so fascinated by it that he decided to paint the house along with the kind of people he thought should live in that house. In the painting, the farmer is modeled on his dentist. Dr. Byron McKeeby. His younger sister Nan served as a model for the woman （imagined to be the farmer’s wife or daughter）. Wood wanted to give a description of the traditional roles of men and women as the man is holding a pitchfork symbolizing hard labor. Each element was painted separately; the models sat separately and never stood in front of the house. The Gothic style of the house inspired the painting’s title.
American Gothic remains one of the most famous paintings in the history of American art. The painting has become part of American popular culture. Some believe that Wood used it to satirize（讽刺） the narrow-mindedness that has been said to characterize Midwestern culture. The painting may also be read as a praise of the moral virtue or rural America or even as a mixture of praise and satire. American Gothic is one of the few images to reach the status of cultural symbol, along with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.Which of the following is true about American Gothic?
| A．It won a prize of ￡ 300. |
| B．The two characters in it posed before the White House. |
| C．It was the first painting by Grant Wood. |
| D．It was on show at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930. |
From the passage we can infer Iowa is in __________.
| A．the southern town of Eldon | B．the Midwest of the United States |
| C．a European country | D．the city of Chicago |
Grant Wood chose the two models __________.
| A．to describe traditional roles of men and women |
| B．to praise the moral virtue of rural America |
| C．to make his dentist and his sister famous |
| D．to carry the story across the country |
The title of the painting is based on __________.
| A．the name of a small town | B．the man and the woman |
| C．the Gothic style of the house | D．the pitchfork symbolizing hard labor |
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