For Canaan Elementary's second grade in Patchogue， N．Y．，today is speech day ，and right now it's Chris Palaez's turn． The 8﹣year﹣old is the joker of the class． With shining dark eyes， he seems like the kind of kid who would enjoy public speaking．
But he's nervous．"I'm here to tell you today why you should …should…"Chris trips on the"﹣ld，"a pronunciation difficulty for many non﹣native English speakers． His teacher ，Thomas Whaley ，is next to him， whispering support．"…Vote for …me …"Except for some stumbles， Chris is doing amazingly well． When he brings his speech to a nice conclusion ，Whaley invites the rest of the class to praise him．
A son of immigrants， Chris started learning English a little over three years ago． Whaley recalls（回想起）how at the beginning of the year，when called upon to read，Chris would excuse himself to go to the bathroom．
Learning English as a second language can be a painful experience． What you need is a great teacher who lets you make mistakes． "It takes a lot for any student，" Whaley explains，"especially for a student who is learning English as their new language，to feel confident enough to say，'I don't know，but I want to know．'"
Whaley got the idea of this second﹣grade presidential campaign project when he asked the children one day to raise their hands if they thought they could never be a president． The answer broke his heart． Whaley says the project is about more than just learning to read and speak in public． He wants these kids to learn to boast（夸耀）about themselves．
"Boasting about yourself，and your best qualities，" Whaley says，"is very difficult for a child who came into the classroom not feeling confident．"
（1）What made Chris nervous？
A． Telling a story．
B． Making a speech．
C． Taking a test．
D． Answering a question．
（2）What does the underlined word "stumbles" in paragraph 2 refer to？
A． Improper pauses．
B． Bad manners．
C． Spelling mistakes．
D． Silly jokes．
（3）We can infer that the purpose of Whaley's project is to ．
A． help students see their own strengths
B． assess students' public speaking skills
C． prepare students for their future jobs
D． inspire students' love for politics
（4）Which of the following best describes Whaley as a teacher？ C
A． Humorous．
B． Ambitious．
C． Caring．
D． Demanding．
You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts. The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to. You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.
Life brings ups and downs, but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect.
When you communicate with positive people, your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger(匕首) of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down.
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a co-worker, or a relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person, but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to(附着) you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible.The purpose of the first paragraph is to_______.
| A．make a comparison | B．offer an evidence |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe a daily scene |
How can negative people have effect on us?
| A．By influencing our emotion. |
| B．By telling us the nature of life. |
| C．By changing our ways of thinking. |
| D．By comparing their attitudes to life with others. |
Some negative people base their happiness on ______.
| A．other people’s pity for them |
| B．making other people unhappy |
| C．building up a positive attitude |
| D．other people’s respect for them |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us, we are advised to ______.
| A．change negative people’s attitudes to life |
| B．show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| C．make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
| D．communicate with negative people as little as possible. |
US researchers have found traces of an ancient lake on Mars recently, increasing hopes of discovering evidence that billions of years ago the Red planet hosted life.
The lake, which dates back some 3.4 billion years, appears to have covered as much as 80 square miles and was up to 1,500 feet deep, said the team from the University of Colorado.
“This is the first clear evidence of shorelines on the surface of Mars,” said Boulder’s research associate, Gaetano Di Achille, in a study published in the latest edition of Geophysical Research Letters.
“The identification of the shorelines and accompanying geological evidence allows us to calculate the size and volume of the lake, which appears to have formed about 3.4 billion years ago.”
Analysis of the images has shown the water carved out the canyon (溪谷) in which it was found, which then opened out into a valley depositing (使淤积) sediment (沉积) which formed a delta(三角洲).
“Finding shorelines is a great discovery to us,” said assistant professor Brian Hynek, adding it showed the lake existed at a time when Mars was thought to have been cold and dry.
Scientists believe the oldest surfaces on Mars formed during the wet and warm era known as the Noachan epoch, about 4.1 billion to 3.7 billion years ago.
The newly discovered lake is believed to date from the Hesperian era and postdates the end of the warm and wet period on Mars by 300 million years, according to the study.
Scientists believe deltas next to the lake may well hold secrets about past life on Mars as such places on Earth have become the natural deposits of organic carbon and other markers of life.The size of the lake found on mars is_____.
| A．80 square miles | B．1,500 square miles |
| C．3.4 billion square miles | D．300 million square miles |
When the lake existed, the weather on Mars was_____.
| A．hot and wet | B．wet and warm | C．cold and dry | D．cold and wet |
Why do scientists think deltas near the lake may hold secrets about past life on Mars?
| A．Because similar places on Earth have become natural deposits of markers of life. |
| B．Because someone has put secrets about past life on Mars there. |
| C．Because past life has been found in other deltas on Mars. |
| D．Because some people are said to have already seen life marks there. |
Which of the following statements is Not true according to the passage?
| A．The Noachan epoch was a wet and warm era. |
| B．The lake might have existed 3.4 billion years. |
| C．The discovery can’t fully prove that the Mars once hosted life. |
| D．The lake traces prove that there exists life on Mars now. |
I was reading these interesting stories behind a group of great logos (标志) in the world. Personally Nike is my favorite one—it’s so simple. And I liked the stories behind them, which made me forget all other things. McDonald’s, Apple, Mercedes Benz and Adidas own great logos as well, and they are among my favorites.
Nike
In the Greek myth, Nike is the goddess of victory and the source of inspiration for soldiers. This logo represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek goddess. Nike’s logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for $ 35, and was registered as a trademark in 1995.
McDonald’s
The logo was designed in 1962 by Jim Schindler to resemble the archshaped(拱形的) signs on the side of the company’s then walk-up hamburger stand. Later on, the two golden arches were combined together to form the M. The McDonald’s name was added to the logo in 1968.
Apple
There are different stories behind Apple’s logo. The first logo was a reference to the religious story of Adam and Eve, in which the apple represented the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One year later, the second logo was designed in 1977 by Steven Jobs and Ronald Wayne, and it described Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. This logo didn’t stay long. One year later it was replaced almost immediately by graphic designer Rob Janoff’s “ rainbow apple”, a rainbow- colored silhouette (轮廓) of an apple with a bite taken out of it. And then the rainbow- colored apple was replaced by the one- colored logo in 1998. It has not been changed so far.
Mercedes Benz
The Mercedes Benz logo, which was originally created by Gottlieb Daimler in 1909, consists of a simple description of a three- pointed star that represents its rule of the land, the sea and the air. The company was founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Marcedes is the name of Maybach’s elder daughter, while Benz came as a result of a combination with Benz, Cie.and DMG in 1926.
Adidas
The Adidas logo, which was created by the founder of the company Adi Dassler, represents mountains, pointing towards the challenges that are seen ahead and goals that can be achieved. The logo was used for the first time in 1976.What does the author think of the stories of the great logos?
| A．They are boring | B．They are out of date. |
| C．They are attractive | D．They are practical |
What does Nike’s logo stand for?
| A．The goddess of victory |
| B．The source of inspiration for soldiers |
| C．The statue of the Greek goddess |
| D．The wing of the Greek goddess. |
We can learn that Apple’s present logo is______.
| A．the religious story of Adam and Eve |
| B．a bitten apple with only one color |
| C．Newton’s sitting under an apple tree |
| D．the rainbow- colored bitten apple |
Which of the following time orders describes the births of the great logos?
| A．Mercedes Benz – McDonald’s – Nike – Apple. |
| B．Nike – McDonald’s – Apple – Mercedes Benz. |
| C．McDonald’s – Apple – Nike – Mercedes Benz. |
| D．Nike –Mercedes Benz –McDonald’s – Apple, |
I appreciate how biking to work allows me to be outside for at least a small part of my day. I’m a senior program director. If I didn’t bike to work, I’d spend my weekdays almost entirely indoors—underground tunnel. On the bike, I get trees, air and a great way to get to know city neighborhoods. Of course, I also get bad weather and city traffic. But it’s worth the trade-off. The weather’s not often bad, and rain and snow have their charms.
I’ve been cycling to work since the late 1990s. I started when the city was doing some construction in the subways and rerouting passengers, which would have lengthened my trip considerably. I tried riding my sister- in- law’s bike to work one day and liked it, so I bought my own. Even though I hadn’t biked since I was a child, I got back into it right away.
I bike during all four seasons. In summer, I wear shorts and a T- shirt and carry a messenger bag over my shoulder for my lunch and anything else I need. Once at the office, I change into business- casual clothes. In winter, I wear layers and a thin hat under my helmet. A cold winter day can be the best time to be on a bicycle. When the air is clear, free of oppressive summer haze, the city can look beautiful.
Biking to work also comes in handy during the workday itself. I have a rack (网架) on the back of my bike that accommodates panniers that allow me to pick up groceries. During work hours, a colleague will occasionally need to send or retrieve documents by messenger. If I have the time, I volunteer. Pedaling 30 blocks and back is a nice way to take a break from work—and to save the office a few bucks on messenger fees.
I’m sure that some people thinking my mode of transportation might be afraid of Midtown traffic. I’m no hero; I don’t want to get hurt riding to work. It just takes time getting used to it. There’s a risk, but all travel has risks. They’re worth it to me.Which is the reason for the author cycling to work?
| A．To save money | B．To lose weight |
| C．To smell the roses outside | D．To protect the environment |
What made the author began to ride a bike to work?
| A．The author bought his own bike. |
| B．His sister- in- law lent him a bike. |
| C．There were few bikes on the street then. |
| D．The subway construction in the city was under way. |
The underlined phrase “come in handy” most probably means ______ ?
| A．useful | B．available | C．valuable | D．economical |
In the last paragraph, the author implies that _______.
| A．He is not a hero. |
| B．He will go on cycling to work. |
| C．All travel has risks. |
| D．He is afraid of Midtown traffic. |
The cruelty and inhumanity (残暴) of the war is just as cruel an inhumane through the eyes of a horse. Or at least in the eyes of Joey, the star of War Horse (《 战马》). The film has come out in cinemas on February 28, 2012 on the Chinese mainland.
The story starts on a farm in Devon, southwest England. The Narracott family—Dad, Mum, and their teenage son Albert – rent the farm. When Dad buys a beautiful horse, Albert falls in love with him. He trains him and names him Joey. They become as close as it is possible for a human and an animal to be.
But World War I breaks out. Dad has to sell the horse to an English Army officer to pay the rent. Joey and Albert can no longer be together. Albert promises Joey that they’ll find each other again one day. Then Albert goes on a journey to search for his friend.
But the four years of war are about Joey’s journey. He starts as the mount (坐骑) of the English officer. Then he becomes a German workhorse. He is given to a French teenager and her grandpa. He has to face the tanks on the front line. The story ends in a sunset scene on the battlefield. Albert has become a soldier. The two are reunited.
Battle scenes are part of the story , but the movie’s Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg said that War Horse is not a war movie.
“I consider it to be a love between a horse and a young man… It’s about the connectivity (联系) that an animal can bring to human characters,” Spielberg said.
Roger Moore of the Chicago Tribune said Spielberg manages in the film to “measure a man by how he acts toward animals”.
In one scene, a British soldier and a German soldier join hands to vindicate Joey.
“ Men on opposing (对立的) sides of war find their shared humanity in their love of animals in War Horse, I appreciated this work.” Moore concluded.Why did Albert’s father sell the horse to an English Army officer?
| A．to make money for his son’s school fees. |
| B．to earn the officer’s admiration. |
| C．to pay the rent of the farmland. |
| D．The family could not afford the horse’s cost. |
According to the director’s description, which statement is true?
| A．The movie was just talking about war. |
| B．The movie reflected the love between the human being and animal. |
| C．The movie fully represented human’s cruelty. |
| D．The key role of the movie was only the young man. |
The underlined word “vindicate” refers to ______.
| A．rescue | B．support | C．beat | D．catch |
Judging from the last paragraph, what’s Moore’s attitude towards the movie?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. | C．Neutral. | D．Supportive. |
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