Bob was born in Cambridge. When he was in elementary school, he asked his mother to take him to parks in their community so he could collect empty soda cans to recycle. His mother agreed, as long as he saved part of the money he earned for college.
Bob’s mother remembers Bob as the most determined of her seven kids. Bob’s persistence paid off. On Friday, he will become the first person in his family, originally from El Salvador, to graduate from college. And he’s graduating with university honors.
For his honors thesis（毕业论文）he researched unmanned solar-powered airplanes, which BYU students have been building and testing for about 10 years. Bob’s study helps discover the best way to fly a solar-powered airplane so that it uses the least amount of power. The goal is to design and build an airplane that flies indefinitely. Bob’s thesis helps lay the foundation for this work.
“My parents were always diligent,” Bob said. “They often tell us hard work leads to success. ” Bob’s father taught him to read at the age of 3, and his mother is currently a student at Utah Valley University in a way to becoming a dentist.
Bob acknowledges he overcame some obstacles to get where he is. For starters, English is his second language. He also faced stereotypes（模式化的形象）. Although Bob never doubted that he would be a college graduate, other people assumed he wouldn’t because he didn’t come from a family of high income. There were other obstacles as well, but Bob viewed them all as opportunities.
Bob’s mother says she feels very happy and proud that her son is about to graduate with honors, and remembers the sacrifices he’s made to get there. “He has worked very hard. He started something, and now he has finished it,” Cathy says. “I have always told him, ‘If this is your dream, then you can get it! Keep working hard and you can get it!’”
From the passage we can know that Bob’s honors thesis _____ .
| A．makes his mother feel surprised |
| B．helps to save the power of flying a solar-powered airplane |
| C．is done with BYU students |
| D．doubts the way of flying a solar-powered airplane |
According to the passage, Bob _____ .
| A．researched unmanned solar-powered airplanes for 10 years |
| B．paid for all his study by collecting empty soda cans |
| C．worked hard and has graduated from college |
| D．was affected by his family and has made some achievements |
People thought Bob couldn’t graduate from college because _____ .
| A．his parents had little money to support him |
| B．his teacher didn’t think he could graduate |
| C．he didn’t work hard on his study |
| D．he didn’t dare to face the obstacles for short of confidence |
It can be inferred that _____ .
| A．Bob’s mother is in a way to becoming a dentist |
| B．Bob’s mother works in their community |
| C．Bon’s father will graduate from Utah Valley University on Friday |
| D．Bob’s father learnt to read at the age of 3 |
When travelers think of an Adriatic cruise, scenes of Venice, Italy—its canals, bridges, piazzas, and stunning architecture—come to mind. It's one of the most popular cruise destinations in Europe. And for many, the sail-away from Venice, through its Giudecca Canal, is an awe-inspiring experience.
Venice may be known as La Serenissima, or "the most peaceful," which, however, isn't entirely accurate these days. Venetians have been increasingly concerned about the impact of tourism and the potential for an environmental disaster off its shoreline due to the number of cruise ships that enter and exit its lagoon(泻湖).
That's why earlier last month, Venice announced a new policy to forbid the transit(穿越) of cruise ships to the city via the Giudecca Canal. It's not that the city wants to shun the cruise industry altogether: It simply wants to force traffic further away from the landmarks along the shoreline. City officials say that most ships will now transit the Contorta Sant'Angelo Canal.
Additionally, the city is clamping down on the size of ships that can visit Venice, as well as the total number of ships that call on it on a daily basis. As of January 2014, Venice plans to reduce the visitations of larger ships (those that are 40,000 tons or heavier) by 20 percent. This effectively caps the number of ships that can enter per day to five. In November, ships heavier than 96,000 tons will not be allowed to enter Guidecca Canal at all.
How the city plans to carry out the new five-ships-per-day rule remains to be seen and have yet to be announced. Which ships will be allowed passage? Will it be first-come, first-served? However they proceed, cruise line executives want their passengers to know that Venice will remain a regular port of call—even if the transit to and from the city must evolve.Before last month, toursits left Venice by ship through ______.
| A．the Giudecca Canal |
| B．La Serenissima |
| C．the Contorta Sant'Angelo Canal |
| D．the Adriatic Sea |
The new policy was issued in order to_____________.
| A．stress the accuracy of Venice's fame for peace |
| B．reduce the damage to Venice's environment |
| C．depend less on the crusie industry |
| D．limit the number of tourists |
It can be learned from the passage that _____________.
| A．People in Venice are complaining about the toursits' behaviors. |
| B．Venetians are often bothered by noise and pollution. |
| C．The city government has announced the concrete ways to carry out the new five-ships-per-day rule. |
| D．The new policy will not discourage the tourism from developing. |
What does the underlined phrase "clapming down on" mean?
| A．limiting | B．abandoning |
| C．banning | D．punishing |
In spite of the uncertainty of the economy, the movie industry has been stricken by a box-office outburst. Suddenly it seems as if everyone is going to the movies, with ticket sales this year up 17.5 percent, to $1.7 billion.
And it is not just because ticket prices are higher. Attendance has also jumped, by nearly 16 percent. If that pace continues through the year, it would amount to the biggest box-office increase in at least two decades.
Americans, for the moment, just want to hide in a very dark place. People want to forget their troubles, and they want to be with other people. Helping feed the outburst is the mix of movies, which have been more audience-friendly in recent months as the studios have tried to adjust after the discouraging sales of more serious films.
As she stood in line at the 18-screen Bridge theater complex here on Thursday to buy weekend tickets for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience,” Angel Hernandez was not thinking much about escaping reality. Instead, Ms. Hernandez, a Los Angeles parking lot attendant and mother of four young girls, was focused on one very specific reality: her wallet.
“Spending hundreds of dollars to take them to Disneyland is ridiculous right now,” she said. “For $60 and some candy money I can still be a good mom and give them a little fun.”
A lot of parents may have been thinking the same thing Friday, as “Jonas Brothers” sold out more than 800 theaters, and was expected to sell a powerful $25 million or more in tickets.
The film industry appears to have had a hand in its recent good luck. Over the last year or two, studios have released movies that are happier, scarier or just less depressing than what came before. After poor results for a rush of serious dramas built around the Middle East, Hollywood got back to comedies.Which of the following is not a reason for the improvement of the movie industry?
| A．A growing number of people are going to the cinema. |
| B．People are richer with the development of economy. |
| C．More comedies are made than serious films. |
| D．People have to pay more to watch a movie. |
Ms. Hernandez purchased the movie tickets because ________.
| A．she tried to escape reality |
| B．she was a crazy movie fan |
| C．she was fond of Disneyland |
| D．she wanted to please her kids |
According to the text, which of the following number is not used to describe the shooting up of the movie industry?
| A．17.5% | B．$1.7 billion |
| C．$60 | D．$25 million |
The passage is developed mainly by ________.
| A．presenting the effect and analyzing the causes |
| B．following the order of time |
| C．describing problems and drawing a conclusion |
| D．making comparison of ideas |
They’re WILD animals
By Ernst-Ulrich Franzen
March 11, 2010(3) Comments
The story about the woman who lost some fingers while feeding a bear at a zoo in Manitowoc, after she ignored warnings and barriers(栅栏), reminded me of the story I heard about a couple who put their baby on the back of a wild horse in South Dakota to get a really cute picture. We all do silly things at times — no one is immune — but treating wild animals as lovely pets has to fall into a special category. Teddy bears and Disney movies aren’t actually representative of real bears.
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1. TosaLeft - Mar 11, 2010 10:46AM
Don’t you think that maybe, just maybe some alcohol was involved?
2. tk421 - Mar 11, 2010 11:09 AM
It was already approved that alcohol was involved. Stories that begin with a drunk person saying “Hey, I got an idea, watch this!” rarely end well.
3. Tristan Kloss - Mar 11, 2010 11:41 AM
Alcohol certainly isn’t involved when people decide to keep “pets” like chimpanzees, baby tigers, etc. Stupidity, definitely. Dogs are pets because of thousands of years of domestication. Even farm animals, which have been kept by humans for thousands of years as well, aren’t let in the house. So why keep animals that treat human contact with, at best, indifference(冷淡、不在乎) and, at worst, violence?In Ernst-Ulrich Franzen’s opinion, the woman lost her fingers because ________.
| A．the zoo keepers didn’t warn her of the danger |
| B．she didn’t know the bear was a wild animal |
| C．she was somehow influenced by cartoon characters |
| D．she climbed over the barriers and angered the bear |
TosaLeft thinks the wounded woman ________.
| A．may have been drunk |
| B．may be a little stupid |
| C．was addicted to wine |
| D．fed wine to the bear |
tk421 means a drunk person ________.
| A．should be forbidden to enter the zoo |
| B．usually gets himself into trouble |
| C．is often fond of making up stories |
| D．usually likes to show himself off |
What does Tristan Kloss think of people treating wild animals as pets?
| A．Kind. | B．Illegal. |
| C．Loving. | D．Stupid. |
One day in l965, when I worked at View Ridge School in Seattle, a fourth-grade teacher approached me. She had a student who finished his work before all the others and needed a challenge. "Could he help in the library?" She asked. I said, "Send him along."
Soon a slight, sandy-haired boy in jeans and a T-shift appeared. "Do you have a job for me?" he asked.
I told him about the Dewey Decimal System for shelving books. He picked up the idea immediately. Then I showed him a stack of cards for long-overdue books that I was beginning to think had actually been returned but were miss helved with the wrong cards in them. He said, "Is it kind of a detective job?" I answered yes, and he became working.
He had found three books with wrong cards by the time his teacher opened the door and announced, "Time for break!" He argued for finishing the finding job; She made the case for fresh air. She won.
The next morning, he arrived early. "I want to finish these books," he said. At the end of the day, when he asked to be a librarian on a regular basis, it was easy to say yes. He worked untiringly.
After a few weeks I found a note on my desk, inviting me to dinner at the boy's home. At the end of a pleasant evening, his mother announced that the family would be moving to neighbouring school district. Her son's first concern, she said, was leaving the View Ridge library. "Who will find the lost books?" he asked.
When the time came, I said a reluctant good-bye. I missed him, but not for long. A few days later he came back and joyfully announced: "The librarian over there doesn't let boys work in the library. My mother got me transferred back to View Ridge. My dad will drop me off on his way to work. And if he can't, I'll walk!"
I should have had an inkling(感觉) such focused determination would take that young man wherever he wanted to go. What I could not have guessed, however, was that he would become a wizard of the Information Age: Bill Gates, tycoon of Microsoft and America's richest man.What was the author when the story happened?
| A．A teacher. | B．A librarian. | C．A detective. | D．A professor. |
What was the boy told to do on his first day in the library?
| A．To rearrange the books according to the new system. |
| B．To put those overdue books back to the shelves. |
| C．To find out the books with wrong cards in them. |
| D．To put the cards back in the long-overdue books. |
The boy got transferred back to View Ridge because _______.
| A．he did not like his life in the new school |
| B．the transportation there was not convenient |
| C．he missed his old schoolmates and teachers |
| D．he was not allowed to work in the school library |
What impressed the author most was that the boy _______.
| A．had a thirst for learning |
| B．had a strong will |
| C．was extremely quick at learning |
| D．had a kind heart |
Want Kids to Eat Better? Get Them Cooking
Cooking programs and classes for children seem to positively influence children's food preferences and behaviors, according to a recent review. And, although the review didn't look at long-term effects of such programs, the findings suggest that such programs might help children develop long-lasting healthy habits.
This research comes at a time when childhood obesity（肥胖）rates have been rising rapidly. More than one-third of adolescents in the United States were obese in 2012, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This trend has been caused, at least in part, by a significant decrease in the amount of meals that people consume at home since the 1980s, according to background information in the study.
Cooking education programs, such as Food Explorers, teach children about new healthy foods and how to prepare them. They also stress the importance of eating five fruits and vegetables every day. A volunteer parent explains a new food to the group, and the kids make something based on the lesson, such as fruit or vegetable salad. Depending on the program, kids may be sent home with information about healthy foods to bring to their parents, the review explained.
The study team reviewed eight other studies that tested different types of cooking education programs. Children in these classes were between 5 and 12 years old, according to the review. The goal of the study team was to learn more about developing an efficient program to encourage healthy food choices that last a lifetime. The study found that it is particularly important to expose kids to healthy foods on a number of occasions. This makes them feel comfortable with the new foods, which helps them build healthy habits.
The study stressed the importance of getting parents involved in（参与）their children's eating habits. Parents who are unable to enroll their kids in a cooking class can achieve similar benefits by having their kids help them while they prepare meals at home. Children are more comfortable at home, which makes them more receptive to new foods because they will make the connection to a positive experience.What can we infer from the second paragraph?
| A．Eating out frequently causes obesity. |
| B．Childhood obesity is totally caused by eating habit. |
| C．Childhood obesity rates have been rising rapidly since 2012 |
| D．Food consumption has decreased significantly since the 1980s |
On cooking education programs, ________.
| A．children learn how to prepare foods from their parents |
| B．children will learn how to cook in the company of their parents |
| C．children may learn information unknown to their parents |
| D．children focus more on cooking skills than on information about healthy foods |
Which of the following is true according to the study?
| A．Parents should let their kids cook independently at home. |
| B．A greater willingness to try new foods helps building healthy habits. |
| C．Children who participate in cooking programs are less likely to become obese. |
| D．Children who take cooking courses are more likely to choose fruits and vegetables as adults |
Which of the following categories does this passage belong to?
| A．Education Systems |
| B．Science and Technology |
| C．Parent-child Relationship |
| D．Public Health Research |
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