If you want to be a volunteer, you have to answer the following typical questions. Do you want to work with people, animals or machines? Do you want to work indoors or outdoors, directly serve people in need or serve people behind the scenes? Every year, thousands of people in the west offer volunteer service. Volunteering greatly strengthens the community because it helps the old, the young, the weak, the sick, and the disabled and the injured to solve problems.
Volunteers usually help in many different ways. They may give people advice, offer friendship to the young, drive the elderly to church (if up to the driving age), advise kids against drugs, work as assistants in schools or nursing homes, raise funds, plant trees, help out in local libraries and do many other things. Volunteering can be a few hours a week or a few hours a month. Anybody who wants to serve people in need can become a volunteer.
In fact, the art of volunteering is a process of both giving and receiving. Volunteering allows volunteers to meet new people, make new friends and mix with people from all walks of life. Volunteering is an excellent way to experiment and try out new techniques and skills, discover your individual talents and explore career choice. Being a volunteer will take you on a wonderful journey and help you learn more than what you can get from books.As a volunteer, only when you grow old enough can you _______.
| A．plant trees on hills | B．drive the elderly to church |
| C．give advice to others | D．help out in local libraries |
How is the second paragraph mainly developed?
| A．By listing examples. | B．By comparing. |
| C．By giving explanations. | D．By discussing. |
It can be inferred from the passage that to be a volunteer, _______.
| A．you can do experiments |
| B．you must be very strong |
| C．you need to work very long |
| D．you can get something valuable |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．How to hunt for jobs |
| B．Volunteer service in the west |
| C．How to make friends |
| D．How to work with animals |
Before she appeared on the reality show(真人秀) Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middle-aged British woman. Now all this is going to change.
She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a tiny Scottish town. Because of learning difficulties, she doesn’t have much education. But what she does have is a very good voice. As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays. For a living, she sang at local pubs.
When she took the stage on April 10th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags. The audience laughed at her.
But then she opened her mouth. A few bars into the song and the laughing audience went silent. A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables. Everyone was amazed. At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and applauded wildly.
Almost overnight, Susan became a household name. She won fans and millions of admirers. Her online videos have drawn over 85.2 million hits.
Susan’s story proved the truth of an old saying: “Never judge the book by its cover.” Susan may look ordinary, and doesn’t have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.
Susan’s fans admire her courage, as much as they do her voice. She has experienced mockery and many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone’s respect.According to the passage, Susan Boyle _______.
| A．is a famous young actress |
| B．became famous after a show |
| C．used to be a good student |
| D．is good at dancing and has millions of admirers |
The underlined phrase “just one step up from” in the third paragraph probably means______.
| A．far from | B．close to |
| C．different from | D．the same as |
The audience jumped and applauded wildly because__________.
| A．her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from rags |
| B．she looked very funny |
| C．she sang so well that everyone was amazed |
| D．she made a foolish mistake in the end |
Susan Boyle has many fans now because of _______.
| A．her beautiful face |
| B．her knowing how to dress |
| C．her good education |
| D．her beautiful voice and courage |
The passage is mainly about___________.
| A．how to win fans |
| B．how to sing well |
| C．a woman’s sudden success |
| D．a woman’s simple life |
Talk about happiness
We should not hesitate too much during the first half of our lives, while we should not regret at what we’ve done during the other half. We should seize every opportunity to find a way out in our lives, for it goes off swiftly. We should say something urgent slowly, something serious clearly, something small humorously and something unsure cautiously. We should never say something that did not happen, something that you cannot do, something that does harm to others, and something that is disgusting. We should tell others our happiness on specific occasions and should not tell anyone our unhappiness. Do not easily say something about others. We should follow our own heart and interest, and fulfill what we should do instead of merely paying lip service and looking forward to the future.
Everyone is longing for a happy life, but owning wealth does not necessarily mean owning happiness. To truly reach happiness, we need to know how to get on with others. So we need to understand what happiness is really about and achieve what we desire.
We need to know and understand happiness before we finally get it. A smart man must know to do something good even though it may be small, and not to do something evil even though it may be tiny in the course of socializing. As long as we keep a kind heart and do everything morally and legally, we can live a peaceful life. But if we keep an evil heart and do whatever we want, we are indeed digging a tomb for ourselves. A smart man knows to learn a lesson from his falls, for he knows that every setback is a precious experience leading to happiness in the future. He will not waste his time in criticizing others. Instead, he tends to spend more time seeking his own happiness. He knows to keep a heart of conscience and not to spread others’ mistakes. He also knows to think before he leaps so that he will not feel regretful afterwards. Moreover, he knows to tolerate others, so he can naturally lead a happy life.
Without happiness, one will feel terribly miserable, for he always insists that he has done the right thing all the time and that others often do wrong to him. He blames every mistake on others or the environment instead of reflecting on himself, which keeps him farther and farther away from happiness. A celebrity once said, “Nobody intends to make mistakes. One makes mistakes because of his ignorance.” Therefore, if someone makes mistakes, we need to care about him, forgive him and enlighten him by setting a good example to him instead of losing temper and hating him. Otherwise, we are also ignorant like him, for we also make a stupid mistake that leads us farther from happiness.
In order to possess a happy life, we need to know more about others, about the society, about our culture and history. We should be patriotic(爱国的), obey the law and realize our own responsibility, and then we will definitely have a happy life.
| Title |
Talk about happiness |
| Wise actions in life |
●Do things without ●Seize every opportunity to do the things we should. ●Avoid saying or doing what we are not ●Don’t comment on others easily. |
| Things about happiness we should |
●Getting on well with others is necessary. ●Doing good things with a kind heart may make us live ●Knowing future happiness ●Thinking twice before action and tolerating others can |
| Reasons for lack of happiness |
●He blames everything wrong on others or the ●His |
| ●We should care about the people who make mistakes instead of losing temper and set an example to them. ●We should have a rich ●We should obey the law and shoulder our own responsibility. |
As we drove along, my spirits went up again, and I turned, with pleasure, to the thought of the new life which I was entering. But though it was not far past the middle of September, the heavy clouds and strong north-easterly wind combined to make the day extremely cold; and the journey seemed a very long one, so that it was nearly one o’clock before we reached the place of our destination. Yet when we entered the gateway, my heart failed me, and I wished it were a mile or two farther off. For the first time in my life I must stand alone: there was no retreating now. I must enter that house, and introduce myself among its strange people. But how was it to be done? True, I was near nineteen; but, thanks to the protecting care of my mother and sister, I well knew that many a girl of fifteen, or under, was gifted with a more womanly address, and greater ease and self-possession, than I was. Yet, anyway. I would do very well, after all; and the children, of course, I should soon be at ease with them.
"Be calm, be calm, whatever happens," I said within myself; and truly I was so fully occupied in steadying my nerves and keeping down the rebellious beat of my heart that when I was admitted into the hall and into the presence of Mrs. Bloomfield, I almost forgot to answer her polite greeting; and it afterwards struck me that the little I did say was spoken in the tone of one half-dead or half-asleep.
With due politeness, however, she showed me my bedroom, and left me there to take a little refreshment for a little while and led me into the dining-room. Some beefsteaks and potatoes were set before me; and while I dined upon these, she sat opposite, watching me (as I thought) and trying to keep something like a conversation— consisting chiefly of commonplace remarks. In fact, my attention was almost wholly absorbed in my dinner: not from appetite, but from the toughness of the beefsteaks, and the numbness of my hands.
“I have had so little time to attend to their education myself, but I think they are clever children, and very willing to learn, especially the little boy; he is, I think, the flower of the flock— a generous, noble-spirited boy, one to be led, but not driven, and remarkable for always speaking the truth.” “His sister Mary Ann will require watching,” continued she, “but she is a very good girl on the whole, though I wish her to be kept out of the nursery as much as possible, as she is now almost six years old, and might acquire bad habits from the nurses. I have ordered her bed to be placed in your room, and if you will be so kind as to look after her washing and dressing, and take charge of her clothes, she needs to have nothing further to do with the nursery maid.”
I replied I was quite willing to do so; and at that moment the children entered the room. Tom Bloomfield was a well-grown boy of seven. Mary was a tall girl, for her age of six, somewhat dark like her mother. The second sister was Fanny, a very pretty little girl, looking little younger than Mary. The remaining one was Harriet, a little broad, fat, merry, playful thing of scarcely two, whom I had more desire for than all the rest — but with her I had nothing to do.Which of the following statements best describes how the writer felt when she entered Mrs. Bloomfield's home?
| A．She was nervous, dissatisfied with her manners but still confident. |
| B．She was cold, hungry but eager to see all the children in the family. |
| C．She was frightened, nervous and regretful about her decision. |
| D．She was calm, confident and very happy with all the family. |
What job would the writer take in Mrs Bloomfield's home?
| A．A nursery maid. | B．A house cleaner. | C．A home cook. | D．A family teacher. |
Which of the following was TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer had some difficulty with her lunch because of the tough food and the cold. |
| B．The delicious food took the writer's attention away from Mrs. Bloomfield’s words. |
| C．All the children were well educated before the writer came to the family. |
| D．All the children in the family were looked after by Mrs Bloomfield herself. |
From the passage, we can infer that ___________.
| A．Mrs Bloomfield would treat the writer kindly and help her a lot |
| B．The youngest girl Harriet would be the writer’s favorite student |
| C．the writer would take on more responsibilities than she should |
| D．Tom Bloomfield would be the cleverest of all the children |
Death Valley, one of America’s great national parks, is a place of strange and silent beauty. As beautiful as this place is, its name provides evidence of very real danger. Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. There are mountains that reach more than 3,000 meters into the sky. There is a place called Badwater that is the lowest area of land in the Western Hemisphere. If there were water there, it would be 86 meters below the level of the ocean.
Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley. The air temperature during the summer has been as high as 57℃. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as 74℃. The extreme heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. It will continue to kill those who do not honor this extreme climate. Death Valley does not forgive those who are not careful.
Death Valley is a good example of the violence of nature. It contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide.
In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black. Other areas of rock look as if some huge creature violently broke and twisted the Earth to create unusual, sometimes frightening shapes.
In other parts of Death Valley there are lines in the rock that show clearly that this area was deep under an ocean for many thousands of years. Much of the Valley is flat and extremely dry. In fact, scientists believe it is the driest place in the United States.
Death Valley, part of the Great Mojave Desert, is a huge place. It extends more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of California, and across the border with Nevada.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The water in Badwater is 86 meters below the level of the ocean. |
| B．The highest air temperature in summer can reach as high as 74℃. |
| C．The ground has been pushed up violently by explosions of volcanoes. |
| D．There might have been marine lives living in Death Valley. |
Why were some people killed by Death Valley?
| A．Because they didn’t respect Death Valley and thus they were punished. |
| B．Because it is extremely hot in summer and dangerously cold in winter. |
| C．Because they were not careful enough to take with them what they needed. |
| D．Because several volcanoes erupted and caused huge explosions. |
The underlined word “twisted” in Paragraph 4 most possibly mean ______.
| A．bent and turned | B．created and developed |
| C．built and shaped | D．changed and ruined |
The purpose of the article is to _______.
| A．encourage people to visit Death Valley, a beautiful national park in America |
| B．warn people not to visit Death Valley because it is quite dangerous there |
| C．introduce to us readers a special national park in America, Death Valley |
| D．raise money for the protection of Death Valley because it is in danger now |
The Oxford Mal, England
Most prisons are the kind of place you’d be desperate to escape from, not somewhere you’d possibly conceive of escaping to.
But this former Oxford prison has been converted into a boutique hotel by the fashionable Malmaison chain and offers the kind of luxurious living that former convicts could only have dreamed of.
Rates: Double room £140 (US$233). Breakfast £12.95 per person
Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States
Originally a research laboratory, the world’s only underwater hotel sits at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon in Florida, and can only be reached by scuba diving down six meters.
The lodge can accommodate two couples and is kitted out with showers, a microwave and a fridge.
The real attractions are the fish; the lodge is like a goldfish bowl in reverse, where you sit and watch angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda and snappers peering in at you through the window.
Rates: From US$400
Das Park Hotel, Austria
Stay overnight in a concrete sewer pipe on the banks of the River Danube.
The drainpipes are two meters in diameter and two and a half meters long, with a porthole to look out of, a front door to close and a cozy nest to snuggle into, which includes a low-slung futon, bedside lamp, woolly blanket and light sleeping bag.
Rates: You pay as much, or as little, as you want.
Sant` Angelo Luxury Resort, Italy
“Four-star boutique cave-hotel” is the proud boast of the Sant’Angelo in the city of Matera, which is famous for its sassi-houses dug into the rock. Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses as their ancestors did 9,000 years ago. The rooms have been fashioned from old sassi stables and workshops. There are two restaurants, a bar and an art gallery.
Rates: A three-night package costs from US$560 per person including some meals, a walking tour and car hire, but not flights.
La Balade Des Gnomes, Belgium
A truly out-of-this-world experience, this hotel makes you feel like you’re on the moon.
You can sleep in a moon buggy, bathe in a lunar capsule, and the walls and ceilings are covered in twinkling stars and planets.
Other themed rooms include a newly opened Trojan Horse, a Troll Forest, a South Seas sailing ship and a Wine Room.
Rates: From €115 (US$170) per double
Das Park Hotel is different from the other hotels in that __________.
| A．it is underwater | B．you decide the pay |
| C．it used to be a prison | D．it is not in Europe |
If you want to experience the life on the moon, most probably you will choose to stay in __________.
| A．Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States | B．La Balade Des Gnomes, Belgium |
| C．Das Park Hotel, Austria | D．The Oxford Mal, England |
If Mr. and Mrs Smith put up at the Oxford Mal for one night and have breakfast there, they will have to pay at least _____________.
| A．£165.9 | B．£152.95 | C．£258.9 | D．£305.9 |
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