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 |
The writer Margaret Mitchell is best known for writing Gone with the Wind, first published in 1936. Her book and the movie based on it, tell a story of love and survival during the American Civil War. Visitors to the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, Georgia, can go where she lived when she started composing the story and learn more about her life.
Our first stop at the Margaret Mitchell House is an exhibit area telling about the writer’s life. She was born in Atlanta in 1900. She started writing stories when she was a child. She started working as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal newspaper in 1922. One photograph of Ms. Mitchell, called Peggy, shows her talking to a group of young college boys. She was only about one and a half meters tall. The young men tower over her, but she seems very happy and sure of herself. The tour guide explains: “Now in this picture Peggy is interviewing some boys from Georgia Tech, asking them such questions as ‘Would you really marry a woman who works?’ And today it’d be ‘Would you marry one who doesn’t?’ ”
The Margaret Mitchell House is a building that once contained several apartments. Now we enter the first floor apartment where Ms. Mitchell lived with her husband, John Marsh. They made fun of the small apartment by calling it “The Dump ” .
Around 1926, Margaret Mitchell had stopped working as a reporter and was at home healing after an injury. Her husband brought her books to read from the library. She read so many books that he bought her a typewriter and said it was time for her to write her own book. Our guide says Gone with the Wind became a huge success. Margaret Mitchell received the Pulitzer Prize for the book. In 1939 the film version was released. It won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture.The book Gone with the Wind was _________.
| A．first published on a newspaper |
| B．awarded ten Academy Awards |
| C．written in “The Dump” |
| D．adapted from a movie |
The underlined phrase “tower over” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to_________.
| A．be very pleased with |
| B．show great respect for |
| C．be much taller than |
| D．show little interest in |
Why did Ms. Mitchell stop working as a reporter according to the passage?
| A．Because she was rich enough. |
| B．Because she was injured then. |
| C．Because her husband didn’t like it. |
| D．Because she wanted to write books. |
We can know about Margaret Mitchell from the passage that _________.
| A．her height made her marriage unhappy |
| B．her interest in writing continued as an adult |
| C．writing stopped her working as a reporter |
| D．her life was full of hardship and sadness |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Trip to Know Margaret Mitchell. |
| B． Gone with the Wind: A Huge Success. |
| C．An Introduction of the Margaret Mitchell House. |
| D．Margaret Mitchell: A Great Female Writer. |
Water, which covers about 74 percent of the earth’s surface, is man’s most precious resource. Without it we cannot live. Clean water keeps us alive; polluted water means disease and death.Keeping our water pure is by no means an easy task but it is something that must be done.
Hong Kong once prided herself on being the “Fragrant Harbour”. However, these days, it is not certain if Hong Kong’s harbour could still be called “fragrant”. For, like many other places, Hong Kong has not been spared water pollution. A visit to Tolo and Victoria Harbour, or any of the beaches in Hong Kong is enough to make one aware of the ugly truth that Hong Kong waters are indeed polluted.
The great threat to our water is bacteria pollution. Another great source of water pollution is poisonous chemicals. These substances, which are found in industrial waste and agricultural pesticides, make up unseen dangers that enter biological food chains.
Pollution control is a continuing problem for the government. It is believed that the most effective form of control is legislation（立法）. Most importantly, the present laws on pollution should be given more force. On the other hand, no amount of legislation can effectively control pollution unless those concerned are properly educated about the danger posed by pollution.
While a great majority of Hong Kong citizens and residents seem to be greatly concerned about ways to control water pollution, it is discouraging to note that there are, in our midst, some people who remain apathetic（无动于衷）about the problem. In a recent radio programme conducted on what people in the streets thought about the water pollution problem, one apparently unconcerned person said, “What do I care about water pollution? I don’t drink polluted water. As long as the water I drink is not polluted, I’m not bothered. Water pollution is too big a problem and let’s leave it to the government.”
If all residents in Hong Kong will take such an indifferent attitude, all the government’s attempts to control pollution, let alone the anti-pollution legislation, will prove useless. The best form of pollution control each citizen can employ is to be aware of his surroundings. We hope that someday, the problem of water pollution in Hong Kong will cease to alarm us. By the underlined sentences, the writer wants to show that ______.
| A．we should not use polluted water |
| B．it is our responsibility to keep our water clean and safe |
| C．clean water is vitally important to the survival of human beings |
| D．water is abundant but very expensive |
What can you infer from the second paragraph?
| A．Hong Kong indeed deserves the name. |
| B．Hong Kong never deserves such a name. |
| C．Hong Kong can’t avoid the damage of pollution. |
| D．Hong Kong has failed to live up to such reputation. |
The writer quotes the words in the programme to show us that a block to the solution of the problem is _________.
| A．people’s lack of education |
| B．people’s I-don’t-care attitude |
| C．people’s wait-and-see attitude |
| D．people’s over-dependence on the government |
In the final analysis, the best approach to the problem of water pollution is ________.
| A．legislation |
| B．rapid development of modern science |
| C．mass education |
| D．everybody taking care of his own surroundings |
It’s 10:30 p.m., and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: “R U awake?”
But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can’t imagine life without them. “If I didn’t have a cell phone, I wouldn’t be able to talk to my friends or family as often,” he told the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Brandon’s use of technology doesn’t stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles（控制台）in his room. With so many devices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by TFK, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That’s about an hour more than just five years ago.
The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. “These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it’s on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor,” says Rideout.
Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. “If you’ve got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?” Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. “It’s a matter of balance,” says Olson.
Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. “It’s important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply,” says Rideout.
With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use in check is more important than ever. “Kids should try,” adds Rideout. “But parents might have to step in sometimes.”It can be learned from the text that _________.
| A．many teenagers lack friends in their middle school |
| B．kids have too many electronic devices to choose from |
| C．Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night message |
| D．Olson is against teenagers’ using mobile phones |
Which of the following is an example of multitasking?
| A．Watching TV when using the computer. |
| B．Talking on the phone when lying on the sofa. |
| C．Playing video games after having lunch. |
| D．Listening to loud music while relaxing. |
The underlined phrase “in check” in the last paragraph can be replaced by _________.
| A．in order | B．in store | C．in control | D．in sight |
According to the text, Victoria Rideout would probably agree that kids should ______.
| A．do homework while watching TV |
| B．have less homework |
| C．spend more time on homework |
| D．do homework in a place without disturbance |
St. Paul’s Cathedral
Ludgate Hill, EC4
Underground: St. Paul’s; Bus: 6, 8, 11, 15, 22, 25
Open: Daily 8:00-19:00 (17:00 from Oct. to Mar.)
Entrance free
Designed by the great architect, Sir Christopher Wren, St. Paul’s Cathedral was built following the Great Fire of London of 1666, which destroyed the gothic cathedral on the site at that time. It is an inescapable attraction for all travellers to this great city and the most recognisable gothic cathedral in England. Its choir（唱诗班）is internationally famous. Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married here in 1981.
Buckingham Palace
South end of the Mall (SW1)
Underground: St. James’s Park, Victoria, Hyde Park Corner, Green Park; Bus: 2, 11, 14, 16, 19, 22, 24, 29, 30, 38, 52, 73, 74, 137
Buckingham Palace is Queen Elisabeth II’s official residence（住所）, and has been the official residence of Britain’s monarch（君主）since 1837. The State Rooms at Buckingham Palace have been opening to the public for the Annual Summer Opening, in August and September, since 1993. The Queen is not at Buckingham Palace when it is open to the public; she goes to one of her country residences. The State Rooms are extremely grand. You can see many of the treasures of the Royal Collection: paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens and Canaletto; and beautiful examples of English and French furniture.
The Tower of London
Tower Hill, EC3
Underground: Tower Hill; Bus: 42, 78
Open: Mon.— Sat.9:00-18:00; Sun.8:00-19:00
Parts of the Tower of London are over nine centuries old, as building began under William the Conqueror in 1078. Famous as a prison in the distant past, the Tower has also been a royal residence, a zoo and an observatory（瞭望台）. It is now a museum and many thousands of people visit it every year in particular to see the Crown Jewels. Only by going inside can you experience nearly a thousand years of history and hear the myths and legends that make it “a day out to die for”.
Westminster Abbey
Broad Sanctuary, SW1
Underground: Westminster, St James’s Park; Bus: 3, 11, 12, 24, 29, 39, 53, 59, 76, 77, 88, 109, 155, 168, 170, 172, 184, 503
Open: Daily 8:00-18:00 (Mar. — Dec., Tuesday till 20:00)
Entrance free
Located next to the Houses of Parliament in the heart of London, Westminster Abbey is a gothic church and place of worship. The building of the present Abbey was started by King Henry III in 1245. The oldest parts of the building date back to 1050. Westminster Abbey has hosted many royal weddings including the wedding of The Queen and Prince Philip in 1947 and the wedding of Prince William and Kate in 2011. It is a traditional place of coronation（加冕礼）and burial for English monarchs—38 monarchs have been crowned at the Abbey. There are many tombs there, including those of Queen Elizabeth I, “Bloody” Queen Mary, naturalist Charles Darwin, many poets and writers.You can see the inside of all the buildings all the year around except ______.
| A．St. Paul’s Cathedral | B．the Tower of London |
| C．Westminster Abbey | D．Buckingham Palace |
The two places you can visit by getting off at the same underground station are ______.
| A．Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey |
| B．Buckingham Palace and St. Paul’s Cathedral |
| C．Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London |
| D．the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral |
Where is the text most probably taken from?
| A．A history book about London. |
| B．A guidebook for visitors to London. |
| C．A book about London’s development. |
| D．A book about London’s churches. |
The space shuttle Discovery has had a long and busy career. For 27 years, it has worked for NASA, carrying astronauts to space and back on 39 missions. On March 9, 2011, after returning from its final voyage, the world’s most traveled spaceship was retired.
A crowd of shuttle workers, reporters and schoolchildren waited to greet Discovery at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Three minutes before noon, they watched as the shuttle appeared in the sky and made one last touchdown. “For the final time: wheels stop,” Discovery’s commander Steven Lindsey said when the shuttle rolled to a stop.
Discovery’s final trip was to the International Space Station (ISS), a giant space lab in the sky. Discovery’s crew took care of the last U.S. construction project at ISS. They delivered 10 tons of supplies for the ISS. The six-person crew also dropped off an unusual companion for ISS’s researchers: a human-like robot named Robonaut 2. Astronauts will assemble（组装）R2 at the ISS over several months.
Now, NASA is winding down its shuttle programme. NASA is to begin work on new spaceships that can travel longer distances. Discovery’s retirement is the first of three. Endeavor, another shuttle, is scheduled to make its final voyage soon. And Atlantis’s last trip is planned for the end of June.
Museums across the country have requested the retired shuttles. The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, in Washington, D.C., was the lucky recipient（接收者）of Discovery. The museum’s collection contains hundreds of NASA artifacts.
Where will the other shuttles go? You’ll have to wait to find out. NASA will announce its decision on April 12, the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launching. Stay tuned!As part of the final mission, Discovery’s crew___________.
| A．carried researches to space |
| B．assembled the Robonaut 2 at the ISS |
| C．brought supplies to the ISS |
| D．went on a spacewalk |
The underlined phrase “winding down” in Paragraph 4 probably means _________.
| A．improving | B．ending | C．changing | D．testing |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Discovery completed 39 missions during its two decades of space travel. |
| B．The ISS is a big project and six researchers live on the station. |
| C．American space exploration will focus on longer missions. |
| D．The shuttles Endeavor and Atlantis will make their last missions next month. |
According to the text, we can learn about ___________.
| A．people’s opinions of Discovery’s retirement |
| B．the government’s concern about the shuttles’ future |
| C．the shuttles’ final homes after retirement |
| D．museums’ great interest in the retired shuttles |
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