A woman repeated a bit of gossip (流言) about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole neighborhood knew the story. The neighbor was deeply hurt. Later the woman spreading the gossip learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise old man to find out what she could do to repair the harm.
“Go to the marketplace,” he said. “and buy a chicken, and have it killed. Then on your way home, pluck (拔) its feathers and drop them one by one along the road. ” although surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told.
The next day the wise man said, “ Now, go and collect all those feathers you dropped yesterday and bring them back to me. ”
The woman followed the same road, but she was so discouraged when she found the wind had blown all the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand.
“ You see, ” said the old man, “it’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back . so it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a gossip, but once you do, you can never completely undo(弥补) the wrong.” The woman was very _________ the harm she had done to her neighbor.
| A．happy about | B．angry about |
| C．sorry for | D．excited about |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The gossip didn’t hurt anyone at all. |
| B．The wise man was not kind enough. |
| C．The woman found all the feathers at last. |
| D．The woman was given a lesson. |
What did the wise man ask the woman to do those for ?
| A．He wanted to fool her . |
| B．He wanted her to understand something . |
| C．He wanted her to learn how to kill a chicken . |
| D．He wanted her to help her neighbor. |
What’s the main idea of the passage ?
| A．A wise man is helpful . |
| B．Don’t spread the gossip unless it’s true . |
| C．It’s easy to hurt others , but it’s hard to repair the harm . |
| D．Never make any mistakes . |
There are many ways of putting out a fire. You may have seen people put out burning cigarettes by stepping on them. Stepping on cigarettes shuts off the air and puts out the fire.
Many fires are put out with water. Water cools the materials that are burning. It helps make the fire die out. Some of the water is changed into steam when it strikes the hot fire. The steam keeps air from the fire and helps put it out.
Some fires can not be put out with water. Suppose a tank full of gasoline(汽油)is on fire. Gasoline is lighter than water. If you poured water into the tank of gasoline, the water would sink to the bottom of the tank. The gasoline would float on top of the water on the fire and flow over the edge of the tank. Then the fire would spread. Gasoline fires should be put out with sand or with chemicals of some kind, such as that used in some fire extinguishers(灭火器).
A. the burning cigarettes are too hot to touch
B. it helps to stop smoking
C. it shuts off the air and makes the fire go out
A. Some of the water will turn into steam and keep air from the fire.
B. Most of the water will flow away.
C. The water will be absorbed by the fire.
A. with hot wate
B. with nothing but sand
C. with sand or chemicals
What is the hottest English word of 2014? It’s “selfie”, according to Oxford dictionaries. Selfie is a photo that one takes of oneself, according to the Oxford online dictionary. People usually take selfies with a smartphone(智能手机) and send them to a social media website.
The word was first used in 2004. In the past 12 months, its frequency (出现频率) in the English language has increased by 17,000 percent, said Oxford dictionaries. Now, almost everybody knows it.
“Almost every day, I take a photo of myself at school, and save it in my Qzone (QQ空间),” said Huang Xu, 13, from Hunan. These photos record her happy and sad moments.
Pop stars also take a lot of selfies. Li Chunping, 14, from Harbin, is a big fan of Yang Mi. “She has used many selfies to tell us what’s going on in her personal life,” said Li.
What makes people love selfies? Some people say it’s narcissism (自恋). “The rise of the selfie is a perfect symbol for our narcissistic culture. We’re crying out: Look at me!” said US psychiatrist(精神科医生) Carole Lieberman.
Young people are using selfies to make friends online, Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Guardian. “The usual purpose of taking a selfie is to share online. They express a human need to connect with others,” wrote Freedland.
Huang Xu agrees with that. “During summer vacation, my classmates and I shared many selfies online. Hair or clothes were not our interests. Through these photos, we got to know each other’s holidays and feelings,” said Huang Xu.According to the story, a “selfie” is __________.
| A．a person with a smartphone |
| B．a smartphone which can take photos |
| C．a photo taken by oneself |
| D．an English dictionary |
When was the word “selfie” first used?
| A．More than ten years ago | B．In 2014 |
| C．When smartphones appeared | D．Nobody knows |
We can tell from the story that __________.
| A．only famous people enjoy taking selfies |
| B．all people love selfies because of narcissism |
| C．people love to share selfies online |
| D．US psychiatrist Carole Lieberman hates selfies |
We put the sentence “But some people don’t see it that way” at the beginning of ___________.
| A．Paragraph 4 | B．Paragraph 5 |
| C．Paragraph 6 | D．Paragraph 7 |
What is the best title of this passage ?
| A．Selfies and narcissism |
| B．Selfies and sharing |
| C．Selfies and smartphones |
| D．Selfies, the hottest word in 2014 |
I used to hate my mother because she worked a lot and didn’t spend much time with me. Then one Friday morning I took part in a three-day self-help program for teenagers. Whether you believe it or not, that weekend changed my life.
About 100 other teenagers were there. During the first two days I met a lot of great people. I was glad because I made so many friends there.
On Sunday, the leader did an interesting exercise called “Chocolate or Toys”. He asked a girl which she liked better, chocolate or toys. She chose chocolate. Then he asked her to choose again between chocolate and chocolate. Of course, she didn’t have a choice.
This exercise told us that sometimes we don’t have a choice in life, and that sometimes we have to accept something, rather than complaining(抱怨).
A girl stood up and started talking about her mom who was a drug addict (吸毒者)and how much she hated her mother.
“I want a new mom,” she cried.
“Unluckily, you can’t have one,” the leader replied.
“You have to accept the mother that you have.”
This hit me hard. I realized that, for better or worse, my mom was my mom. I couldn’t choose another mom, but I could try to make the best of the situation.The writer used to hate his mother because ________.
| A．she didn’t care for him. |
| B．she had no time to be with him |
| C．she was a drug addict. |
| D．she was too strict with him. |
The self-help program for teenagers lasted ___________.
| A．a week | B．two days |
| C．three days | D．only one day |
The writer started to change his thinking ___________.
| A．during the first two days of the program |
| B．after the exercise named “Chocolate or Toys” |
| C．as soon as he came to the program |
| D．after he left the program some time |
From the end of the passage, we can know that ____________.
| A．the writer used to love his mom for years |
| B．the writer’s mom is a very bad person |
| C．the writer’s mom loves her son very much |
| D．the writer will try to get along with his mother |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Choices can be made as we like |
| B．Everyone should take part in a self-help program |
| C．Chocolate can influence one’s attitude toward things. |
| D．We should try to accept things instead of complaining about them. |
Have you ever heard of Weifang, Shangdong Province? What is it known for? There is an international kite festival every April in Weifang that is a modern city with many traditions. People from all over the world compete in the kite flying. There are also competitions for the best kites. The kites in the competition are all made by hand.
Most people have flown a kite. It makes people happy. It’s easy to make it. It’s made of bamboo and paper. But not so many people know that kites were first made in China thousands of years ago. The ancient Chinese made and flew kites even before they could write.
A long time ago, the Chinese made kites to use in wars. They would fly these war kites in the dark. The kites were fixed and they made strange sounds in wind. Men who were at war against them would hear these sounds and run away. They thought those strange sounds were made by gods in the sky.
The ancient Chinese also flew kites to bring good luck and to make their crops grow rich and tall. Sometimes they tied long strings and hooks(钩子) to their kites. Then they would fly the kites over water, letting the hooks hang down to catch fish.
The Chinese use sticks, string and paper for their kites. Some of these kites look like animals or trees and others look like houses.Chinese made and flew kites ___________.
| A．two thousand years ago | B．before they could write |
| C．after they write | D．three thousand years ago |
The main idea of the first paragraph is “____________”.
| A．the city Weifang | B．the international kite festival |
| C．how to make a kite | D．how to fly a kite |
In ancient China kites could be used for __________.
| A．helping people fly | B．playing games |
| C．watering crops | D．catching fish |
The ancient Chinese used kites in wars because the kites __________.
| A．could bring good luck |
| B．looked like animals. |
| C．could make strange sounds and help them in a war. |
| D．could brought light in the dark for them. |
_________ are used for making kites by the Chinese.
| A．Paper and plastic | B．String and paper |
| C．Sticks, string and paper | D．String and hooks |
A new language exchange program is helping Brazilian students practice their English and it helps cheer up the lonely lives of elderly American retirees(退休人员).
FCB Brazil developed the Speaking Exchange Project and CAN school in Brazil, put it into practice . They help the students have conversations with the retirees in Chicago . Chatting on the Internet about their families, hobbies, futures make them form special friendship in the process.
To help the students improve their English, the video conversations are recorded, allowing students to review them and improve. One heart-warming conversation in the video is between an old lady and a girl talking about travel.
“Are you planning some day to go to Brazil?” The girl asks the lady. “Oh, I would love to!” She says. The girl then tells her,“ You can stay in my home if you want, ”making the lady laugh happily. At the end of their conversation, the girl expresses her grattitude(感激) for her help in improving her language skills.“ I want to thank you for this exchange of experience, ”she says . The lady put her hand to her heart and says, “Girl, if you were here, I’d give you a big hug.”The students in Brazil chat online with the students in America.
FCB Brazil developed the Exchange Project to help students to improve their English..
The conversations between the students and the retirees aren’t allowed to recorded.
The old lady invites the girl to live with her.
The girl expresses her thanks to the lady for improving her English by chatting .
粤公网安备 44130202000953号