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 tbe 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. Are you still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communieating 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 knife of a negative person is put in you, you have 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 this 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 others at the start of the day can be attached to 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 Paragraph 1 is to .
| A．make a comparison | B．introduce a topic |
| C．offer an instructive story | D．tell a true story |
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 way of thinking |
| D．By comparing their attitude to life with ours. |
Some negative people base their happiness on —.
| A．their pity for other people | B．their respect for others |
| C．building up a positive attitude | D．making other people unhappy |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us, we are advised.
| A．to change negative people’s attitude to life |
| B．to show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| C．to make negative people feel as hamed of themselves |
| D．to communicate with negative people as little as possible |
If you travel to a new exhibition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, you will have chances to see some meat-eating plants. Take bladderworts, a kind of such plant, for example. They appear so small and grow in a quiet pond. "But these are the fastest known killers of the plant kingdom, able to capture a small insect in 1/50 of a second using a trap door!"
Once the trap door closes on the victim, the enzymes(酶）similar to those in the human stomach slowly digest the insert. When dinner is over, the plant opens the trap door and is ready to trap again.
Meat-eating plants grow mostly in wet areas with soil that doesn't offer much food nutrition. In such conditions, these amazing plants have developed insect traps to get their nutritional needs over thousands of years. North America has more such plants than any other continents.
Generally speaking, the traps may have attractive appearance to fool the eye, like pitcher plants, which get their name because they look like beautiful pitchers full of nectar(花蜜).
Hair-like growths along the pitcher walls ensure that nothing can escape, and the digestive enzymes can get to work. A tiny insect can be digested in a few hours, but a fly takes a couple of days.
Some of these pitchers are large enough to hold 7.5 liters. Meat-eating plants only eat people in science fiction movies, but sometimes a bird or other small animals will discover that a pitcher plant isn't a good place to get a drink.From Paragraph 1，we learn that bladderworts can_ .
| A．kill an insect in a second |
| B．digest a fly in a few hours |
| C．be found floating on a quiet lake |
| D．capture an insect in 1/50 of a second |
If the trap door of a meat-eating plant is closed, the plant is
| A．fooling insects into taking a sip |
| B．producing nectar |
| C．tempting insects to come close |
| D．enjoying a dinner |
Meat-eating plants can grow in wet and poor soil because they .
| A．can get nutrition from animals |
| B．don't need much food nutrition |
| C．can make the most of such conditions |
| D．have developed digestive enzymes |
What can be captured by meat-eating plants for food?
| A．A child. | B．A dog |
| C．A little bird. | D．A little fish. |
Our boat floated on between walls of forest. It was too thick for us to get a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must be passing through chains of hills from time to time. Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed: although the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us from going ashore. In any case, what would we have gained by landing? The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance slowly, cutting one's way with knives the whole way. So we stayed in the boat, hoping that when we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
As for water, there was a choice. We could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst. We drank the water. Men who have just escaped from what appeared to be certain death lost all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water. In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us. We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time: we might not be so lucky as to escape in a stolen boat again. TOC \o "1-3" \h \z What they could see on the boat was only.
| A．high walls | B．chains of hills |
| C．heavy woods | D．vast land |
They couldn't land because.
| A．the mud on the shore was too soft |
| B．they could not find anyone |
| C．they could not find the mark on the map |
| D．the forest was too thick to go through |
From the passage, we can learn that.
| A．they were in an uninhabited area |
| B．they were on a journey home happily |
| C．the country was a civilized society |
| D．the country was a tropical jungle coutry |
The best title for this passage might he______
| A．I he Problem of Landing | B．Escape in the Jungle |
| C．An Entirely New Experience | D．Exploration of a River |
A severe heatwave sweeping India, with temperatures of almost 44ºC, the highest in 52 years, has killed at least 80 people this month, officials said on Sunday. The hot weather, which officials say would continue over northern, north-western and central India in the next 48 hours, also may have some impact on wheat production, exporters and flour-mill associations said.
New Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 43.7ºC on Saturday, indicating a hot summer in the next two months in the nation’s capital and other parts of northern and eastern India. The highest temperature in the past 24 hours was 47ºC at Ganganagar city, in Rajasthan state. Summer temperatures have been 4ºC-6ºC above normal over most parts of northern and central India since March, weather officials said.
In the eastern state of Orissa, authorities have decided to shut down schools from next Tuesday, advancing the annual summer holiday. Authorities said they were investigating reports of 53 deaths from various parts of the state.
"District collectors have been asked to investigate and submit reports on other deaths," Bhimsen Gochhayat, a government official said. Other deaths were reported from northern state of Uttar Pradesh and central Madhya Pradesh states.
India is expected to produce about 82 million tons of wheat in 2009-2010, but there could be a shortage of 1-1.5 million tons due to the heatwave, said Veena Sharma, Secretary General of the Roller Flour Millers Federation of India. "Most of the harvesting is over, but there definitely will be a slight shortage of 1-1.5 million tons due to the extreme weather conditions," she told Reuters.
India is relying on an abundant wheat crop to make up for a 14.2% drop in rice output, the major summer-sown food grain, marred by the worst monsoon （季风）in 37 years last year. Weather officials say with summer temperatures in India set to remain above average, there were hopes of heavy rains at the start of the monsoon season that will help early sowing of rice, soybeans and lentils.
The purpose of the passage is ____________.
| A．to tell a piece of news of a heatwave |
| B．to record the highest temperature in India |
| C．to report the deaths in the heatwave |
| D．to inform people of a drop of rice output |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The highest temperature in the history of India was 44ºC.
B. Schools were closed because of the hot weather throughout India.
C. India is expected to produce about 82 million tons of rice in 2009-2010.
D. India has a good harvest of wheat while the rice output is decreasing.
The underlined word “marred” in the last paragraph probably means “___________”.
| A．reduced | B．damaged | C．blown | D．followed |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．A severe heatwave would continue over India. |
| B．At least 80% people were killed in the disaster this month. |
| C．A severe heatwave swept India with a great loss. |
| D．A slight shortage of 1-1.5 million tons is due to the heatwave. |
In much society, there is often greater acceptance of light skin than dark skin; Light skin may be seen as a mark of beauty, intelligence and success. These beliefs can lead to social pressures even within the same group, if some members are darker than others.
The result is that skin lightening has become very common across Africa, Asia and other areas of the world and more people with dark skin are using skin-lighting products, even if it means they may face health risks. They believe that having whiter skin will improve the quality of their lives. Many people think they will have a better family. Or they want to look like what their society generally considers beautiful.
Some beauty care（美容） products and soaps contain chemicals that make skin lighter. However, some of the chemicals are extremely dangerous. The chemicals in the products block and break down the natural barrier(障碍) to protect against sunlight. Then the skin can become thick and discolored. Usually the person will use more of the product in an effort to correct the problem, which just makes things even worse. Doctor Ly says some chemicals are so dangerous that they may lead to blackened fingernails, infections(感染) and serious skin damage.
And these are not the only problems. Experts say some people who change their skin color suffer emotional damage. They feel regretful and sad. They feel that instead of risking their health, they should have learned to live and accept their skin color as it was. What’s the result of the wrong understanding of darker skin?
| A．Many people with dark skin try to make their skin whiter. |
| B．Many people with whiter skin live a better life than others. |
| C．People with darker skin try to marry people with light skin. |
| D．People with darker skin try to protect themselves against social pressures. |
The third paragraph is about .
| A．some medical effects that skin-lightening products have brought about |
| B．the mental damage that skin-lightening products have caused |
| C．the physical damage that skin-lightening products have caused |
| D．the causes why skin-lightening products can make skin whiter |
Why are chemicals in beauty care products dangerous?
A. They can damage the skin’s color producing progress.
B. They can control people’s emotions and feelings.
C. They can make the fingernails and skin black.
D. They make more people decide to change their skin colors.
ACAB What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Different Colors of Skin B. The Dark Side of Skin Lightening
C. What Is Beauty? D. Light Skin or Dark Skin?
Loma just had to get in touch with someone：“I had to tell my best friend something important. I tried calling her but I couldn’t get through. So I sent her an e-mail and then I spoke to her on MSN. Without technology I would not have been able to tell her. ”
Staying connected with friends and family is important for us. That’s why we asked our readers to tell us how cell-phones, e-mail, blogs, text messaging, and personal pages help them keep in touch. More than 1,500 responded.
Most of them told us they couldn’t live without technology：80％of teens said they need technology to stay in touch. Almost 30％said they’d be completely out of their friends without their cell-phones and other methods of communication.
What do they do when they’ve got news they need to share now? Most teens say they try to reach their friends by phone. But if the
y don’t reach them, they use QQ, e-mails, and text messaging to get the words out.
Lots of people use one way of communication—like text messaging—to get a friend’s attention and then use another where they can talk more. “My friends and I always tell each other everything that happens. So I send them text messages to tell them to come online so we can talk about it,” said Sabeiha.
“W
hen planning to get together with friends”, Julian said, “the easiest and fastest way I know is to send a text message to my contact group.”Jocelyn said. “If I want to go to see a movie with a few friends, I usually send text message to them. By telephone, you have to call every single friend one by one. But text messaging allows you to send the same message to as many as you’d like, which saves a lot of time. ” Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．E-mails. | B．Blogs. | C．Personal pages. | D．Personal letters. |
What do most young people use first when they have news to tell their friends?
| A．MSN. | B．QQ. | C．Phones. | D．Text message. |
The underlined pa
rt “get the words out” means“ ”.
| A．send the message | B．send the e-mail |
| C．talk with their friends | D．meet their friends |
In which part of a newspaper can you find this passage?
| A．Sport. | B．Education. | C．Technology. | D．Culture. |
Spiderman is one of the most famous comic book heroes of all time．He was created by Stan Lee in 1963 and was first introduced to the world in the pages of Marvel comic books．
Spiderman’s story is the story of Peter Parker，a child who lost his parents and lives with his aunt and uncle．Peter is a shy，quiet boy wearing glasses and has few friends．One day，on a high school class trip to a science lab，he gets bitten by a special spider．Soon Peter realizes he has amazing powers：he is as strong and quick as a spider and also has a type of sixth sense．He no longer needs his glasses and he can use his super power to fly through the city streets! Remembering something his Uncle Ben has told him，that “with great power，there must also come great responsibility(责任)，”Peter decides to use his powers to fight enemies who do cruel things to people．And so，Spiderman is born．
Life is not easy for Peter even though he is a superhero．He is in love with Mary Jane but cannot tell her about his amazing powers．Besides，his best friend Harry hates Spiderman! Peter is also short of money and time．He has to sell photos of Spiderman(himse
lf!)to a newspaper and he keeps losing his other jobs because he’s so busy saving people! Yet he has to fight different kinds of cruel enemies．Who created Spiderman?
| A．Peter Parker． | B．Marvel． | C．Stan Lee | D．Superman． |
What happened to
Peter Parker after he was bitten by the spider?
| A．He could not see with his eyes． | B．He became a spider． |
| C．He was sick． | D．[He developed spider-like powers． |
What does “with great power，there must also come great responsibility” mean?
| A．Powerful people can do whatever they like． |
| B．People with power are always good． |
| C．Powerful people are to blame for all the bad things that happen． |
| D．Powerful people should have a responsibility to do good． |
阅读理解
The easy way out isn't always easiest . I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug , my husband of one month , to a special meal . I glanced through my cookbook and chose a menu(菜谱) which included homemade bread . Knowing the bread would take time , I started on it as soon as Doug left for work . As I was not experienced in cooking , I thought if a dozen was good , two dozens would be better , so I doubled（加倍）everything . As Doug loved oranges , I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl . Soon there was a sticky dough (面团) covered with ugly yellowish marks . Realizing I had been defeated , I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face Doug laughing at my work , I went on preparing the rest of the meal , and , when Doug got home , we sat down to eat Cornish chicken with rice . He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed . Twice he got up and went outside , saying he thought he heard a noise . The third time he left , I went to the windows to see what he was doing . Looking out , I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin , holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container . When I came out of the house , he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in our rubbish bin . Picking up the stick again , he held the lid up enough for me to see . I felt cold . But I stepped closer and l
ooked harder . Without doubt it was my work . The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast (酵母)made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing .It looked like some unknown being from outer space. I could see why Doug was so shaken. I had to admit what the 'living thing” was and why it was there . I don't know who was more embarrassed(尴尬)by the whole thing － Doug or me.The writer's purpose in writing this story is ___________
| A．to tell an interesting experience |
| B．to show the easiest way out of a difficulty |
| C．to describe the trouble facing a newly married woman |
| D．to explain the difficulty of learning to cook from books |
Why did the woman's attempt at making the bread turn out to be unsuccessful?
| A．The canned orange had gone bad. |
| B．She didn't use the right kind of flour. |
| C．The cookbook was hard to understand. |
D．She did not fo llow the directions closely. |
Why did the woman put the dough in the rubbish bin?
| A．She didn't see the use of keeping it |
| B．She meant to joke with her husband. |
| C．She didn't want her husband to see it . |
| D．She hoped it would soon dry in the sun. |
What made the dough in the rubbish bin look frighteni
ng?
| A．The rising and falling movement. |
| B．The strange-looking marks. |
| C．Its shape. |
| D．Its size. |
When Doug went out the third time , the woman looked out of the window because she was ______________.
| A．surprised at his being interested in the bin |
| B．afraid that he would discover her secret |
| C．unhappy that he didn't enjoy the meal |
| D．curious to know what disturbed him |
阅读理解。从ABCD中选出正确的答案。（每题2分，共40分）
It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.
The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour a week to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries（食品杂货）, saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.
I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity（人性） as a whole. And it has influenced（影响） us to be more mindful（注意的，留神的）of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting. Why was the bike so important to the couple?
| A．They used it for work and daily life. |
| B．It was their only possession. |
| C．It was a nice Kona 18 speed. |
| D．The man's job was bike racing. |
What does the underlined phrase mean?
| A．go very far to see someone |
| B．walk out on foot to greet someone |
| C．help someone with one’s best |
| D．enjoy the moment with someone |
We can infer from the text that ________.
| A．the couple worked 60 hours a week |
| B．people were busy before Christmas |
| C．the stranger brought over the bike |
| D．life was hard for the young family |
How did people get to know the couple's problem?
| A．From a stranger. |
| B．From a newspaper. |
C．From TV  news. |
| D．From radio broadcasts. |
What do the couple learn from their experience?
| A．Strangers are usually of little help. |
| B．One should take care of their bike. |
| C．News reports make people famous. |
| D．An act of kindness can mean a lot. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
D
The first MP4 player was born years ago. Soon many music fans were wondering how fantastic it is! If you have been into technology enough, perhaps you may have a knowledge of the MP4. If not, you do need to know something before buying one, even if you are familiar with MP3. MP3 is the CD-like disc with greater capacity. How about MP4? This small digital product will really enrich the joy from listening to music. You can even feel the “touch” of music to your soul!
Now, some similar digital products advertised as “MP4 player” are simply MP3 players, which do not play video and MPEG format and also lack other particular functions. These products confuse some buyers, as they may think the “MP4” players simply mean they can do more than MP3.
What is MP4?
It is a multimedia container. It is not only used to store digital audio and digital video streams, especially those of MPEG, but can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and pictures. As a most modern container format, it allows streaming over the Internet.
With the help of a piece of MP4 video equipment, you can change various programs such as MPEG to MP4, ASX to MP4, AVI to MP4 and so on, which can be done very quickly and easily without any effect on the sound quality. By installing DVD-MP4 software, you can transfer particular music from a DVD to an MP4 video file. It really excites your listening music experience.
Then, there is MP4 advanced and you can set your own collection of all the programs—TV shows, games, and music. You can even see movies which are still running in cinema. What else digital product could you possibly ask for? It is suggested here that you should ______ before buying an MP4 player.
| A．first be a music fan | B．have a knowledge of MP4 |
| C．get familiar with MP3 | D．buy a CD-like disc |
From the passage, we can see that MP4 is ______ MP3.
| A．much bigger than | B．just as advanced as |
| C．not so particular as | D．more functional than |
Which function of MP4 is NOT directly mentioned in this passage?
Ａ．Storing digital audio and video streams.
Ｂ．Recording some movies in cinema.
Ｃ．Playing TV shows, games and movies.
Ｄ．Transferring particular music from a DVD.From the last sentence, it’s clear that the writer tries to tell us it is ______.
| A．reasonable to buy other digital products |
| B．impossible to buy something else |
| C．a very wise choice to buy an MP4 |
| D．an exciting experience to buy an MP3 |
What’s your idea of a good time? What about dancing in a rainy field with one hundred and fifty thousand other people while a famous rock band plays on a stage so far away that the performers look like ants?
It may sound strange but that is what many hundreds of thousands of young people in the UK do every summer. Why? Because summer is the time for outdoor music festivals.
Held on a farm, the Glastonbury Festival is the most well-known and popular festival in the UK. It began in 1970 and the first festival was attended by one thousand five hundred people each paying an admission price of ￡1 — the ticket included free milk from the farm.
Since then the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength — in 2004 one hundred and fifty thousand fans attended, paying ￡112 each for a ticket to the three-day event. Tickets for the event sold out within three hours. Performers included superstars, such as Paul McCartney and James Brown, as well as new talent, like Franz Ferdinand and Joss Stone.
Although many summer festivals are run on a profit —making basis, Glastonbury is a charity event, donating millions of pounds to local and international charities.
Glastonbury is not unique in using live music to raise money to fight global poverty (贫穷). In July of this year, the Live 8 concerts were held simultaneously (同时) in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin. Superstars such as Madonna, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder performed in order to highlight (强调) international poverty and debt.What does the author mean by saying “the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength”?
| A．The festival has achieved growing success. |
| B．Great efforts have been made to hold the festival. |
| C．The festival has brought in a large amount of money. |
| D．There have been thousands of fans attending the festival. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The Glastonbury Festival is run on a profit-making basis. |
| B．Tickets for the 2004 Glastonbury Festival were in great demand despite the high price. |
| C．Both James Brown and Joss Stone were born in poor families. |
| D．In the 1970 Glastonbury Festival, one could have lunch on the farm for free. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that _____.
| A．the Glastonbury Festival is not so popular as the Live 8 concerts |
| B．the Live 8 concerts are held every year in London |
| C．London, Paris, Rome and Berlin are famous for outdoor music festivals |
| D．some superstars are concerned about global poverty |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．How to have a good time |
| B．Charity events around the world |
| C．The Glastonbury Festival |
| D．Superstars’ performances in charity events |
STRANGERS parties go wild these days. The main idea of them is to never let the people know who their matches are until the last minute. These are some popular practices that are storming the world’s youth on this V-day.
Speed dating
It’s exactly what the name implies. Complete with a timer, a whistle and 50 willing singles, speed dating is not the traditional dinner and a movie type of first date. Singles pay US $35 for three minutes with more than two dozen future dates. They ask questions and try to get to know each other. At the sound of a whistle, they do the same thing all over again―25 times in all.
Lock and key party
Women are given a lock and men are given a key, upon arriving at the party. Each key and lock has several matches. One can hunt for his/her later-to-be sweetheart in various groups, and try out the key or lock. Each time a lock and key match the pair are entered into a ballot (票数） for top prizes!
Dinner in the dark
Waiters wearing night vision glasses guide the guests through the pitch-black dining room. They are seated at the table and familiarized with the wine glass and plate. Food is handled with the fingers. People will not see the food they are eating or the guests at their table until the dessert course. At that moment, dining partners will appear.
Message party
Have A Cocktail, Leave A Message! When you arrive, you get a tag with a number and a pad of post-it notes. If you see someone you like, write a message on the message board. But wait… You’ve got a message… Go and collect it! You can make new friends and win lots of gifts. The more messages you leave on the bulletin board, the more chances you have of winning prizes. What do you think the similarities of these parties are?
| A．All the parties have very strict rules for their members. |
| B．If you want to go to any of the parties, you have to buy a ticket. |
| C．All the parties are aimed at strangers who want to be lovers. |
| D．All the parties are suitable not only for the young but for the old. |
In which party does a participant have to be careful with the time?
| A．Speed dating. | B．Lock and key party. |
| C．Dinner in the dark. | D．Message party. |
If you go to the Dinner in the dark, ____________.
| A．you have to wear night vision glasses |
| B．you have to eat with your hands |
| C．guests eat all the courses in the darkness |
| D．your dining partners will help you choose the food |
How many of the parties offer gifts or prizes?
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
Where do most writers get their ideas? For Yoshiko Uchida, it all began with Brownie, a five-month-old puppy. So excited was Yoshiko by Brownie’s arrival that she started keeping a journal, writing about all the wonderful things Brownie did and the progress he made.
Soon she was writing about other memorable events in her life, too, like the day her family got their first refrigerator. She also began writing stories, thanks to one of her teachers. Yoshiko wrote stories about animal characters such as Jimmy Chipmunk and Willie the Squirrel. She kept on writing, sharing the kitchen table with her mother, who wrote poems on scraps of paper and the backs of envelopes.
Yoshiko grew up in the 1930s in Berkeley, California. Her parents, both of whom had been born in Japan, provided a loving and happy home for Yoshiko and her sister. They also provided a stream of visitors to their home who later found their way into Yoshiko’s stories. One visitor who later appeared in several of Yoshiko’s stories was the bad-tempered Mr. Toga, who lived above the church that her family attended. Mr. Toga would scold anyone who displeased him. The children all feared him and loved to tell stories about how mean he was and how his false teeth rattled (咯咯响) when he talked.
Yoshiko also included in her stories some of the places she visited and the experiences she had. One of her favorite places was a farm her parents took her to one summer. The owners of the farm, showed Yoshiko and her sister how to pump water from the well and how to gather eggs in the henhouse. They fed the mules that later pulled a wagon loaded with hay while Yoshiko and the others rode in the back, staring up at the stars shining in the night sky. Yoshiko, who lived in the city, had never seen such a sight. As Yoshiko gazed up at the stars, she was filled with hope and excitement about her life. The images of that hayride stayed with her long after the summer visit ended, and she used them in several of her stories.
The experiences Yoshiko had and the parade of people who marched through her young life became a part of the world she created in over twenty books for young people, such as The Best Bad Thing and A Jar of Dreams. Because of such books, we can all share just a little bit of the world and the times in which this great writer grew up. The author tells about Mr. Toga’s false teeth in Paragraph 3 in order to ____________.
| A．show health care was not good enough in Berkeley during the 1930s |
| B．provide an interesting detail in Yoshiko’s life and stories |
| C．show Yoshiko’s young life was difficult and frightening |
| D．tell about a beloved relative who helped Yoshiko learn how to write |
In Paragraph 4 “the stars” probably refer to ____________.
| A．family relationships | B．terrors in the night |
| C．limitless possibilities | D．sacrifices to benefit others |
What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Yoshiko loved to write about parades. |
| B．Yoshiko met many interesting people. |
| C．Yoshiko liked to go for long walks with others. |
| D．Yoshiko preferred to talk to her pets instead of to people. |
What is the main idea of this story?
| A．People who live in the city should spend as much time as they can in the country. |
| B．Writers like Yoshiko Uchida must communicate with as many writers as possible. |
| C．Those who move to the United States often miss their homelands for many years. |
| D．Writers like Yoshiko Uchida look to the richness of their lives for material. |
A father sat at his desk poring over his monthly bills when his young son rushed in and announced, "Dad, because this is your birthday and you’re 40 years old, I’m going to give you 40 kisses, one for each year!" When the boy started making good on his word, the father cried out suddenly, "Oh, Andrew, don’t do it now; I’m too busy!"
The youngster immediately fell silent as tears welled up in his big blue eyes．Apologicaliy the father said, "You can finish later．"
The boy said nothing but quietly walked away, disappointment written over his face．That evening the father said, "Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew!" But the boy didn’t respond．
Unfortunately, a few days later after this incident, the boy had an accident and was drowned．His heartbroken father wrote．．．
"If only I could tell him how much I regret my thoughtless words, and could be sure that he knows how much my heart is aching．"
Love is not only giving．Any loving act must be warmly accepted or it will be taken as rejection and can leave a scar．If we are too busy to give and receive love, we are too busy! Nothing is more important than responding with love to the cry for love from those who are near and precious to us, because there may be no chance at all as in the case of the little boy．What does the underlined phrase "poring over" mean?
| A．looking in on | B．looking out for |
| C．looking through | D．looking around |
The boy is going to give his father 40 kisses because ______．
| A．his father is very busy |
| B．this is the boy’ birthday |
| C．the boy wants to play with his father |
| D．this is his father’ birthday and he’s 40 years old |
What happened to the youngster later?
| A．His heart was broken． | B．He died unexpectedly． |
| C．He ran away from home． | D．He fell silent all the time． |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Love Story | B．Love Your Son |
| C．A Father and a Son | D．Love is a Two-way Street |
Unbelievable view appealed to me by accident．Just then, I checked once again: the somewhat tiny wood was having a leaf．Could I trust my own eyes? Had the hot sun annoyed me? After all, it as summer in Costa Rica, a country in Central America.
I left off, wiping sweat from my eyes．Then I moved the wood with my finger．It stopped．It looked up at me with big triangular eyes．Surprise! It was a mantid, a kind of insect, instead of a piece of wood．
The mantid was hanging upside down on a branch．Its wings made it look like a piece of tree bark．Then I noticed something else．The leaf wasn’t a leaf at all．The hungry mantid was really eating another insect—a katydid．By now, all that was left of the katydid was a pair of wings．A few moments later, the wings dropped to the ground．The mantid folded its long legs．It sat still．Now it looked even more like a piece of wood than when I had first seen it．
I thought about how I had been fooled by these clever animals．Then I thought about how the two insects go about trying to trick each other．Both mantids and katydids are masters of make-up．Katydids are particularly good at it．Many look like something they are not．Katydids often look like plants．Many seem to be leaves．Others look like leaves of grass．All day, the bugs try to stay perfectly still．Because their bodies look like plants, most animals interested in killing them don’t bother them while katydids eat plants．What is the main topic of the text?
| A．An experience of watching insects． |
| B．The fake image of mantids and katydids． |
| C．The fight between mantids and katydids． |
| D．The living habits of mantids and katydids． |
What caused the author amazed at first?
| A．The hot sun in summer．’ |
| B．The quick moving of the wood． |
| C．The sight of wood eating a leaf． |
| D．The fight for food between mantids and katydids- |
When the mantid was hanging upside down on a branch, it was ____．
| A．waiting for its other food | B．enjoying its food- katydid |
| C．eating a leaf from the branch | D．having a break under the tree |
Based on the passage, it can be inferred that the mantid ____．
| A．is a kind of meat-eafer | B．is easy to be found by a katydid |
| C．looks more like a green leaf | D．mainly lives on the green leaves |
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