Edda, a Little Valkyrie’s First Day of School
Written and illustrated(配图) by Adam Auerbach.
32 pp. Christy Ottaviano/Holt. $15.50.
Edda’s home is in Asgard, “a land full of magic and adventure.” But Edda, the littlest Valkyrie, doesn’t have quite enough to do, until her father flies her “all the way to Earth for the first day of school.”
The contrast between home and school is hard to get used to (in one, she can ride reindeer; in the other she gazes guinea pig(天竺鼠) through glass at the classroom). In his first picture book, Auerbach mixes the two worlds perfectly. Children are likely to appreciate the joke.
Planet Kindergarten
By Sue Ganz-Schmitt. Illustrated by Shane Prigmore.
32 pp. Chronicle. $14.99.
After careful preparations and a successful blastoff, a boy finds himself in a very unfamiliar environment. “We’re aliens from many galaxies(星系) on Planet Kindergarten,” he reflects as he sees his very varied classmates for the first time.
Prigmore, who designs for the movie industry, uses black backgrounds and bright colors to give this space adventure visual excitement and humor.
The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade
By Justin Roberts. Illustrated by Christian Robinson.
42 pp. Putnam. $18.99.
It makes sense that the author of the long, rhyming lines in “The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade” is a children’s music performer. The story is about the power of one small person to fight prejudice.
Sally, whom no one ever seems to notice, is “paying super extra special attention” to the “terrible stuff” happening around her. When she decides to take action, she’s not alone for long.
And Two Boys Booed
By Judith Viorst.
32 pp. Margaret Ferguson/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $16.59.
Ever felt quietly confident one minute, and a shaking mess the next? In Viorst’s story about determination, a little boy wakes up thinking about singing his song in the class talent show.Which of the following is true about the book Edda, a Little Valkyrie’s First Day of School?
| A．Edda found it easy to apply herself to the life on earth. |
| B．The book was Adam Auerbach’s first picture book. |
| C．The book was illustrated by Shane Prigmore. |
| D．The story of the book was about a little boy’s determination. |
If you are interested in space adventure, you would probably choose______.
| A．Edda, a Little Valkyrie’s First Day of School |
| B．Planet Kindergarten |
| C．The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade |
| D．And Two Boys Booed |
The book The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade was published by__________.
| A．Christy Ottaviano/Holt. |
| B．Chronicle. |
| C．Putnam |
| D．Margaret Ferguson/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. |
All of the four books mentioned_______________.
| A．are for children |
| B．have the same number of pages |
| C．have colorful pictures in them |
| D．need reading under parents’ guidance |
To be punctual is important for us because people rather expect us to be on time for appointments. But it seems not easy to be on time every time. Here are some useful methods to help you be punctual.
Plan your route. If your destination(目的地) is unfamiliar, go online the night before to map out your route and see how long it’s going to take. Then you will know when you have to leave the house.
Do as much as possible the night before. Make your mornings less stressful（有压力的） by doing what you can the night before to make your time enough. Get your clothes ready. Set the breakfast table. Make your lunch if you need to take it.
Make a time table. You need to make a time table if you have lots of things to do in a day. For example, the time you get up, the time you leave the house, and the time you wait for the bus. You also need to estimate(估计) how long it takes.
Give yourself a gift of being early. If you plan to get to your destination 15 minutes early, you’ll probably never be late again. Being early seems a waste of time. But you can do something you love. Read the newspaper, read your favorite blogs and even call a friend. It really can be a gift.The underlined word “punctual” probably means .
| A．on time | B．at work | C．quiet | D．careful |
You need to plan your route when .
| A．you are busy in the morning |
| B．you have to take your breakfast |
| C．you have lots of things to do |
| D．you are unfamiliar with your destination |
What don’t you need to do to make your mornings less stressful?
| A．Get your clothes ready. | B．Set the breakfast table. |
| C．Make a time table. | D．Make your lunch. |
The writer gives us methods to help us be punctual.
| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
From the passage, we can know that .
| A．being early is a waste of time |
| B．your friends will give you a gift if you’re on time |
| C．being late sometimes is good |
| D．doing something you love is a gift sometimes |
A number of recent studies have shown how making several small lifestyle changes could help you lose weight without losing the pleasure to enjoy the food you love．
1．Use a smaller plate
A Comell University study found that when a fixed portion（一份，一客） of food was eaten from a large plate, diners felt they had been given a smaller than average portion, so ate more．When the same portion of food was eaten from a smaller dish, the meal seemed more, so they ate less．
2．Eat with men
Eat with men if you're a woman．According to psychologist Meredith Young, women eat less if there are men around．She told The Atlantic: "It is possible that small food portions signal attractiveness．"
3．Avoid light at night
This includes late-night television and computer use．A study into the effects of bright light or darkness on weight-gain in mice found that those under a bright light at night gained 50 per cent more weight than those in darkness．
4．Be careful around friends
Children eat more with a friend than with a stranger, according to a study at the State University of New York at Buffalo．Researchers said that it ，which applies to adults too, can be blamed on the fact that friends act as so-called permission-givers, and encourage one to eat．
5．Be aware of skinny friends who eat a lot
Worse still, are thin friends who have large appetites．A study found that participants ate more during a movie when accompanied by a skinny person who ate a Jot, compared with those sitting next to a fat person who ate a lot．
6．Avoid advertisements for exercise
A study shows that participants who were shown advertisements encouraging exercise ate more than those who weren't．The same was true of participants exposed to words related to exercise during mealtimes．The underlined word "it" refers to ____．
| A．children eat more with a friend |
| B．adults eat more with a friend |
| C．friends act as permission-givers |
| D．people should be careful around friends |
In order to lose weight, everyone should _____．
| A．be exposed to words related to exercise |
| B．try to eat with men together |
| C．avoid watching TV at night |
| D．be always around skinny friends |
The purpose of writing the passage is ______．
| A．to make the readers amused |
| B．to give advice on losing weight |
| C．to introduce common sense |
| D．to attract more fat readers |
Any list of the world's top ten most famous paintings will surely include da Vinci's Mona Lisa．Part of the painting's attraction is its mystery（神秘）．
Those lucky enough to have a view of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre often stare in awe（敬畏）, surprised by the smile that seems to flicker（忽隐忽现）．Staring at a reproduction of the work produces the same effect．Now she's smiling, then she's not．
What's the deal with Mona Lisa's smile?
Harvard scientist Margaret Livingstone is pretty sure she's solved the puzzle．After careful studies on human brains, Livingstone reasoned that the famous painting's flickering smile is caused by the way human beings see．
Our eyes use two separate regions（部位） to see．One is central vision（视力；视觉）, used to see colors and pick out details such as fine print．The other is the vision around, used to observe lights, shadows, black and white contrasts．
When we look at a person's face, according to Livingstone, we usually focus centrally on the eyes．Staring at Mona Lisa's eyes, our less accurate vision notices the mouth, picking up shadows from the cheekbones．The shadows play tricks, looking like a smile．But when we look directly at the mouth, our central vision doesn't see the shadows, and so the smile suddenly disappears．As our eyes observe different parts of the painting, Mona's smile seems to show up or disappear．
Did da Vinci intend to create this flickering smile effect? Perhaps．In any case, he was talented enough to paint shadows so good as to puzzle viewers for centuries．Meanwhile, Mona Lisa will keep smiling．And not．Staring at Mona Lisa, people are amazed because _____．
| A．it is one of the world's top ten most famous paintings |
| B．Mona Lisa's smile seems to disappear sometimes |
| C．they are lucky enough to have a view at the Louvre |
| D．the reproduction of the work produces the same effect |
The central vision is used to see ______．
| A．colors and pick out details | B．black and white contrasts |
| C．lights and shadows | D．fine paintings |
While looking at a person's face, the first we focus on is ____．
| A．eyes | B．brains | C．mouth | D．cheekbone |
What can you infer from the passage?
| A．Da Vinci created the flickering smile effect by design． |
| B．The flickering smile effect is caused by the shadows． |
| C．Our eyes use many separate regions to see paintings． |
| D．Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world． |
The protest movement called Occupy Wall Street has struck a nerve．The demonstrators' （示威者） goals may not be obvious but their complaints are very real．
The truth is that millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes and their life savings because of the greed（贪欲） and illegal behavior of Wall Street．Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bemanke also said the protesters hold the view that the financial institutions are responsible for "getting the US into this mess", and added, "I can't blame those protesters．"
Where do we go from this movement? How do we calm the protesters' anger?
For starters, we should break up the super financial institutions．Left to their own selfish will．Wall Street bankers will continue to gamble（赌博） with other people's money．There also is a sound economic argument against too few owning far too much．The idea that six super financial institutions （Bank of America, CitiGroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs） can take control over the economy frightens anyone who believes in a competitive free-market system．Good Republican presidents like William Howard Taft and Teddy Roosevelt broke up Standard Oil, the Railroad Trusts ．and other huge companies a century ago．
Real unemployment is more than 16%．Average family income has declined by $3,600 over the last decade．A record 46 million Americans live in poverty．The gap between the very rich and everyone else, the widest of any major country, is growing wider．Now is the time for us to end the financial oligarchy（寡头） that has been so harmful to our economy．If a bank is too big, it is too big to exist．Millions of Americans lost their jobs as a result of _____．
| A．the decline of average family income |
| B．illegal behavior of Wall Street |
| C．wider gap between the very rich and everyone else |
| D．the protest movement called Occupy Wall Street |
Which of the following belongs to the super financial institutions?
| A．Standard Oil | B．Federal Reserve |
| C．JP Morgan Chase | D．Teddy Roosevelt |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The protest movement has very clear aims． |
| B．Wall Street bankers manage people's money well． |
| C．Super financial institutions should be broken up． |
| D．Average family income is always in decline． |
What is the attitude of the writer towards the financial institutions?
| A．critical | B．supportive |
| C．indifferent | D．enthusiastic |
She was born to wealth and power in a time when money and politics were left to the men． Later, as The Washington Post's publisher, Katharine Graham became one of America's most powerful women．
Despite a privileged（有特权的） background, Katharine had to deal, while growing up, with the high demands her mother placed on her children．Katharine's love of journalism, which she shared with her father, led to her career after college at The Washington Post, the newspaper her father bought in 1933．At the Post, Katharine met Phil Graham, a young, charming lawyer who became her husband．When, in 1945, Katharine's father chose Phil over her to take over his struggling paper, Katharine didn't object and stayed at home as a wife and mother of four．
While Phil's successful efforts to restore the Post to fame made the Grahams popular members of the Washington social scene, Katharine privately suffered great pain from her husband's increasingly harmful behavior caused by severe depression．When Phil committed suicide（自杀）, the 46-year-old Katharine found herself thrown into a new job, that of newspaper publisher．But determined to save the family paper for her children, Katharine rose to the challenge of running the Post, attending meetings in every department, working endlessly to prove herself to her critics, and becoming the toast of Washington．
In 1971, Katharine ordered the Post to print a copy of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret documents telling the truth about the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War．What's more, her courageous decision and support for her journalists prepared the Post to break the most important political story in modem history: Watergate （水门事件） , one of the greatest scandals （丑闻） in American political history．Katharine managed to keep control over the most disorganized situation when it was reported, all the time insisting the news stories be accurate and fair．Watergate made the Washington Post an internationally known paper and Katharine was considered as the most powerful woman in America．．Katharine Graham was born in a time when ______．
| A．women were not given the chance to receive education |
| B．women were not considered as intelligent as men |
| C．women were not permitted to achieve their goals |
| D．women were not allowed to enter every field |
When her husband was chosen to take charge of the newspaper, Katharine Graham ___．
| A．was strongly against the idea |
| B．was not happy to be refused |
| C．was willing to take her share of responsibility |
| D．didn't believe her husband would do a good job |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．It was Katharine Graham's husband who made the greatest contributions to the Post． |
| B．When Katharine Graham first took over the Post, her critics doubted her ability． |
| C．Katharine Graham was successful in her career but suffered severe depression． |
| D．Katharine Graham was free to do whatever she liked in her early life． |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Ups and Downs of The Washington Post |
| B．Katharine Graham and Her Husband |
| C．Katharine Graham: From Housewife to Successful Publisher |
| D．Katharine Graham: A Woman Who Shaped American Journalism |
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