With about 10 million new iPhone 6s ordered in the initial days on the market, a lot of old iPhones are bound to be thrown into the dustbins. Sure, you could sell, donate or recycle your old iPhone, but you probably will not. And there are better things to do with it.
One creative example: At the Missouri University of Science and Technology, a biology class is making old iPhones into microscopes. Using less than $10 worth of supplies, the old phones are mounted onto a lens and can magnify an object to 175 times its size.
Here are 5 smart-and-cheap uses for old iPhones.
Music for your car
Take your music library on the road. Some cars are equipped with docking ports for iPhones and have dashboard screens so you can choose your favourite music hands-free. Or you can just use the cigarette lighter for power.
Remote Control
Televisions, speakers and other devices now have apps that allow users to make their iPhones into fashionable remotes. Carm Lyman, 42, of Napa, California, transformed his iPhone 4 into a remote for his household sound system after his iPhone 5 arrived. Lyman can control the audio levels and activate speakers in various parts of his home as well as access different music services.
Cookbook
No need to go through recipe books or hunt around for other devices when you have a kitchen iPhone. Download a cookbook app, such as My Recipe Book (99 cents) or Big Oven (free), and just leave the device on the kitchen counter. It takes up almost no space and will hold far more recipes than any book.
Baby Monitor
Sure, you can spend $100 or more on a baby monitor, or you can just set your old iPhone up to watch video of your baby in real time as well as hear and even talk to him or her. Cloud Baby Monitor ($3.99) also allows parents to receive the signal on a wireless network or on WiFi so they do not have to be within a certain number of feet of the monitor.
Vehicle Tracker
Whether you need to find your car if it is stolen, record where you have traveled, or spy on your teenage driver, the built-in GPS in your phone can be used as a tracking device. An app like InstaMapper ($2.99) lets you watch the vehicle in real-time and have a record of it. Keep in mind that the phone can still dial 911, even if it does not have cellphone service, Smith said.
You can also use your old phone as a back-up in case your new model suffers irreparable harm. That said, the battery of a phone that sits in a drawer unused could be exhausted to the point where it is no longer workable.We can learn from the passage that an old iphone___________.
| A．can be used as a microscope |
| B．is necessary to be charged regularly |
| C．can light a cigarette in a car |
| D．is able to communicate with a baby |
Who will probably benefit the most from an old iphone?
| A．A housewife | B．A musician |
| C．A traveller | D．A phone user |
If you expect the uses to work properly, ___________.
| A．the wifi is a must |
| B．you are required to download apps |
| C．cellphone service is needed |
| D．some extra work must be done to your phone |
Which of the following statement is true?
| A．The uses mentioned above can’t funtion in an iphone6. |
| B．The uses can be available in a certain small area. |
| C．An old iphone may give you clues about a stolen car. |
| D．A cookbook app takes up no space of your old iphone. |
Amy Chua may well be very nuts. What kind of a mother will drag her then 7-year-old daughter’s dollhouse out to the car and tell her that it is going to be donated if the poor kid doesn’t master a difficult piano composition by the next day? What kind of a mother will inform her daughter that she is nothing but “garbage”? And what kind of mother will believe, as Chua tells readers, that “an A- is not always a good grade”? The only activities her children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually win a medal, which must be gold.
What kind of a mother she is? Why, a mother who is raising her kids in the typical Chinese way, rather than the Western way. In her new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua tells her adventures in Chinese parenting, and — so nuts as she may be — she is also mesmerizing (迷惑的). Chua’s voice is that of a happy, knowledgeable serial killer — think Hannibal Lecter — who’s explaining how he’s going to cut his next victim, as though it’s the most self-evidently normal behavior.
There is another attractive aspect of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. There are methods to Chua’s madness, enough method to stir up self-doubt in those readers who support the more educating parenting styles. It is trusted that Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is going to be a book club and parenting blog phenomenon; there will be fevered debate over Chua’s tough love strategies, which include unchangeable bans on such Western indulgences (纵容) as sleepovers, play dates, and any after class activities except practicing musical instruments, which must be limited between the violin or the piano.
The back story to Chua’s book is this — she is the daughter of a couple of Chinese immigrants and is now a professor at Yale Law School and the author of two best-selling “big-think” books on “free-market democracy” and “the fall of empires”. When Chua married her husband, her fellow Yale law professor and a novelist Jed Rubenfeld, they agreed that their children would be brought up in “the Chinese way,” in which punishingly hard work, enforced by parents produces excellence; excellence, in turn, produces satisfaction. The success of this strategy is hard to debate. Their older daughter is a piano talent who played at Carnegie Hall when she was 14 or so. The second, a more rebellious (叛逆的) daughter, Lulu, is a gifted violinist. Chua rode the girls hard, making sure they practiced at least three hours a day even on vacations, when she would call ahead to arrange access to practice in hotel lobby bars and basement storage rooms.
Chua also rarely refrained (抑制) from criticizing her daughters. She explains: Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable to Westerners. Chinese mothers can say to their daughters, “Hey so fatty, lose some weight.” By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue, talking in terms of "health" and never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in treatment for eating disorders and negative self-image. ... Western parents are concerned about their children’s minds. Chinese parents aren’t. They assume strength, not weakness, and as a result they behave very differently.The underlined word “nuts” in the first and second paragraphs most probably means _____.
| A．intelligent | B．crazy |
| C．difficult | D．eager |
Which of the following practices are tough love strategies EXCEPT _______.
| A．Children must get a medal if they attend a competition |
| B．Children should practice piano even on holidays. |
| C．Children are indulged to sleepover, play dates, etc. |
| D．Children are called “garbage” or “fatty” |
What’s the writer’s purpose of using the example of “weight problem”？
| A．To show Chinese parents can do unimaginable things. |
| B．To make a comparison between Western and Chinese mothers. |
| C．To make us believe the western way of parenting is much better. |
| D．To show that Chinese mothers care more about their children. |
From the passage we can learn that Chua’s way of parenting is _______.
| A．widely acceptable | B．very traditional |
| C．quite controversial | D．out of date |
Which is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The Chinese way of parenting has its advantages. |
| B．Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is a best seller. |
| C．The westerners are not good at raising children. |
| D．Tiger mothers raise their children in the Chinese way. |
Who cares if money can’t buy you love? But it can still be your best friend forever. That’s one of the surprising findings in a new research paper, “The Power of Money”, published in me journal Psychological Science.
Like any best friend forever, money demonstrated to researchers its ability to soothe us, reduce our sense of social exclusion and even reduce life’s painful moments.
“I was surprised” says Katherine Vohs, one of the researchers and professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “The findings were surprising because no one had connected the meaning of money to pain. The money wasn’t buying the subjects more friends; it was only psychologically helpful.”
In the research ,students were told they would be participating in a test of finger dexterity(敏捷度). One group was given some paper money to count, while the other group was given blank pieces of paper. Once the counting was complete, all the test subjects were asked to dip their fingers into bowls of water heated to 122 degrees--roughly the temperature of a very hot bath.
Result? Those who had been counting money reported less pain than those who had not. Subjects also were asked about their feelings. Those who handled actual money reported feeling stronger even 10 minutes after they put down the cash.
Combined with previous experiments, the findings confirmed what researchers have long doubted, that money acts as a general panacea(万能药) in the brain, giving us social self-confidence and reducing physical pain without having to spend a dime on aspirin.
But can we get the same effect by using credit cards? “No, credit cards do not have the same effect, ” Vohs says. “They are scary for most people, and they in fact represent debt m many ways.” The findings could have an interesting effect in the business world, where recent trends have been to issue non-monetary rewards and bonuses instead of what was thought of as “cold, hard cash”.The underlined word “soothe” in Paragraph 2 is the closest in meaning to“_________” .
| A．encourage | B．remind |
| C．calm | D．trust |
What’s Katherine Vohs’s attitude towards the result of the study?
| A．He found it totally unexpected. |
| B．He had no doubt about it. |
| C．He thought it needed further experiments. |
| D．He thought it was not convincing. |
What do we know about the students involved in the study?
| A．They were divided into two groups according to their ages. |
| B．One group was given paper money while the other was given coins. |
| C．They were holding the money while dipping fingers into hot water. |
| D．Both groups were asked to dip fingers into hot water. |
We can 1earn from the passage that_________.
| A．the effect of money can only last until we put it down |
| B．money is both psychologically and socially helpful to us |
| C．the result of the research hasn’t been confirmed（证实）by experts |
| D．credit cards have the same effect on us as money |
The last paragraph suggests that___________.
| A．the recent trend in the business world is to give cash as rewards |
| B．employers should give non-monetary rewards to employees |
| C．cash is a better way to reward employees than credit cards |
| D．more and more employees prefer non-monetary rewards to cash |
Brighton is in the county of East Sussex, on the South coast of England. Situated between the English Channel and the South Downs, Brighton is 90 km from London. Brighton's nearby neighbor, Hove, is seen by some as a more desirable location than Brighton and it is often referred to by locals as "Hove, actually".
Brighton is a small city but there's probably as much going on here as anywhere in the country except London. Brighton has numerous entertainment facilities, which additionally serve a considerable business conference industry. There's a huge range of entertainment venues, including comedy at the Brighton Komedia, world music, opera and ballet at the Brighton Dome, jazz at the Joogleberry, top stars at the Brighton Centre and pre-West End shows at the Theatre Royal. The live music scene is also alive and well with several bands originating from the Brighton area going on to have commercial success in recent years.
Every year in May, Brighton hosts the "Brighton Festival" ------the largest arts festival in England. Brighton's theatres, concert halls, streets and some of the city's most extraordinary venues host an array of art, entertainment and extravaganza (盛大表演). The earliest feature of the festival, "Open Houses" -----homes of artists and crafts people, opened up to the public as galleries and usually sell the works of the inhabitants and their friends.
Students at the two universities in the area give the city a youthful vitality (活力), and in the summer, thousands of young students from all over Europe gather in the city to attend language courses. In addition to the usual coastal attractions, vacationers are drawn to the city's Georgian architecture, trendy shops, and fine restaurants. Points of interest also include the Edwardian Preston Man or, the ornate Royal Pavilion, the engaging Sea Life Center, and a variety of museums and art galleries.What's the author’s purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To introduce Brighton to the readers. |
| B．To attract foreign students to study in Brighton. |
| C．To show his admiration for the city of Brighton. |
| D．To list entertainments in Brighton. |
What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．The term of "Hove" |
| B．The situation of Brighton. |
| C．The county of East Sussex. |
| D．The distance between Brighton and London. |
According to the passage, where can you go if you enjoy watching opera?
| A．Brighton Komedia. | B．Joogleberry. |
| C．Theatre Royal. | D．Brighton Dome. |
Why do people in Brighton have a good time in May every year?
| A．Because they can enjoy all kinds of music played by top artists. |
| B．Because top stars from the world will go to Perform there. |
| C．Because the largest arts festival in England is held there. |
| D．Because the local people can appreciate works in the Open Houses. |
How many of the followings that attract people to Brighton are mentioned?
a. two universities
b. the summer language courses
c. the coastal attractions
d. the city's Georgian architecture
e. the fine restaurants
| A．2 | B．3 | C．4 | D．5 |
Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by providing instruction for 10-15 minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically teach it for 60 to 70 minutes a day --which really for handwriting is pretty much.
Many adults remember learning that way--by copying letters over and over again. Today’s thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express ideas. After all, that is why we write.
Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can be read. The other is fluency --writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to develop up until high school.
But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any more because of computers and voice recognition programs.
But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school, especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75 percent of students choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive.We can learn ________ from Paragraph 1.
| A．teaching handwriting is a basic requirement in teaching job |
| B．most teachers prefer to teach handwriting |
| C．teachers spend little time in teaching handwriting |
| D．a keyboard has taken the place of the handwriting entirely |
Which of the following is WRONG for traditional handwriting in the USA?
| A．The students are taught by practicing a long period. |
| B．The letters are repeated many times. |
| C．Handwriting includes two skills. |
| D．To write in cursive is taught first. |
The underlined word “legibility” in Paragraph 3 means ________.
| A．easy to read | B．complex |
| C．unexpected | D．unreadable |
The best title for the passage is ________.
| A．How to improve handwriting in school |
| B．Right or wrong: the death of handwriting |
| C．Handwriting involves two skills |
| D．Handwriting lessons are on the way out |
The author’ s attitude towards whether still to learn handwriting in school is________.
| A．negative | B．objective |
| C．critical | D．optimistic |
阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每小题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship. Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.The passage mainly talks about .
| A．road politeness | B．traffic jams |
| C．good manners | D．modern drivers |
Troubles on the road are often caused by .
| A．traffic jams | B．the behavior of the drivers |
| C．great speed | D．terrible road conditions |
According to the writer, a good driver should .
| A．beat back when forced to face rude driving |
| B．be able to recognize politeness when he sees it |
| C．encourage old ladies to cross the roads whenever they want to |
| D．join in traffic stream quickly however other people feel |
The following statements are right EXCEPT that .
| A．some modern drivers are not good at driving |
| B．road politeness is good sense as well as good manners |
| C．it is also right to have a tiger in the driver’s seat |
| D．a friendly driver should nod or wave thanks in answer to an act of politeness |
It is not always right for drivers to .
| A．master roadman ship |
| B．recognize politeness when they see it |
| C．wave a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path |
| D．give a friendly nod in answer to an act of politeness |
The research carried out by the University of Bari in Italy could help clarify hospitals who are charged with wasting money on art and decoration as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients overcome discomfort and pain.
A team headed by Professor Marina de Tommaso at the Neurophysiopathology Pain Unit asked a group of men and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered most ugly and most beautiful from a selection of 300 works by artists such as Lenoardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. They were then asked to watch either the beautiful paintings, or the ugly paintings, or a blank panel while the team struck a short laser pulse at their hand, creating a sensation as if they had been hurt by a pin. The subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with when considering the ugly paintings or the blank panel.
Electrodes (电极) measuring the brain’s electrical activity also confirmed a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings. While distractions(娱乐), such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital, Prof de Tommaso says this is the first result to show that beauty plays a part. The findings, reported in New Scientist, also go a long way to show that beautiful surroundings could aid the healing process.
“Hospitals have been designed to be functional, but we think that their aesthetic(审美能力) aspects should be taken into account too,” said the neurologist. “Beauty obviously offers a distraction that ugly paintings do not. But at least there is no suggestion that ugly surroundings make the pain worse. I think these results show that more research is needed into how a beautiful environment can reduce suffering.”
Pictures they liked included Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticellis’ Birth of Venus. Pictures they found ugly included works by Pablo Picasso, the Italian 20th century artist Anonino Bueno and Columbian Fernando Botero. “these people were not art experts so some of the pictures they found ugly would be considered masterpieces by the art world,” said Prof de Tommaso.According to the first paragraph, people didn’t approve_______________.
| A．hospitals spend money on medical equipment |
| B．hospitals decorate their rooms with works of art |
| C．hospitals make their environment pleasant to patients |
| D．hospitals treat patients with works of art |
How did the researchers make the research?
| A．By asking the subjects to listen to music. |
| B．By requiring the subjects to draw paintings. |
| C．By ordering the subjects to choose which picture is beautiful and ugly. |
| D．By aching the subjects’ hands while they are watching paintings. |
According to the research, when designing a hospital, we should consider its____________.
| A．convenient facilities |
| B．functional operating room |
| C．pleasing environment |
| D．bright waiting room |
The best title for the passage may be__________.
| A．Patients Don’t Like Pictures |
| B．Arts Can Be Used As a Medicine |
| C．Ugly Patients Feel Less Pain |
| D．Beautiful Art Can Ease Pain |
As the new semester begins, millions of college students across the country are trying hard to remember how best to write a paper or, more likely, how best to delay that paper.
Procrastination is the thief of time and a lot of students suffer from it. They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space, eating snacks, surfing the Internet, watching videos and looking at other students sitting around them, who, most likely, are doing nothing either.
Paralyzed (使失去活力) by their habit to procrastinate, they write micro blogs about their fears, asking their online friends if they sometimes have the same issue. But this does nothing to break the spell (魔咒).
According to a recent report, 95 percent of us procrastinate at some point and 20 percent of the world’s population are always procrastinating. The figures are disappointing. Procrastinators are less wealthy, less healthy and less happy than those who don’t delay. Procrastinators like to find excuses to justify their behavior, but BBC columnist Rowan Pelling says they are all wrong.
Many procrastinators tell themselves they are perfectionists who work best under pressure. Pelling says this is nonsense, as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time. The behavior of procrastinators often makes them feel ashamed, inconveniences others and annoys loved ones.
Pelling also points out that procrastination feels particularly delinquent (过失的）in a society that thinks of speedy action as admirable, and, at times, even as a moral good.
Fortunately, social scientists have thrown their weight behind efforts to understand this behavioral mistake and offer strategies to control it. Piers Steel, a Canadian social scientist and author of The Procrastination Equation, believes human is “designed” to procrastinate. Nevertheless, he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand.From the first two paragraphs we can learn that_________.
| A．procrastination is beneficial to many students |
| B．many students are under great pressure in their study |
| C．many students have the habit of delaying finishing their tasks |
| D．lots of college students work hard to write good essays on time |
Which behavior belongs to procrastination?
| A．Never dream away the time. |
| B．Always complete the tasks ahead of time. |
| C．Never put off till tomorrow what should be done today. |
| D．Always wait to work until the “good mood” or “good time”. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is not true?
| A．Procrastination makes people waste their time. |
| B．Procrastinators usually complete their tasks perfectly. |
| C．Speedy action is considered as a moral standard in the society. |
| D．Procrastination is common among people. |
What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Measures to deal with procrastination. |
| B．Approaches to handling the study pressures. |
| C．More examples to illustrate procrastination. |
| D．Introduction to the book The Procrastination Equation. |
Well, parents, surprise! Lots of us are using Twitter and Facebook to find rides, and not just to school. It’s awkward to call a friend and ask for a ride, and half the time they’ll say, “Sorry, my car is full.” But with Twitter, you just tweet (贴子,留言) and look for other people heading the same way.
It may sound risky, but many teens stay within their own social circles to find rides, and don’t branch out beyond friends of friends when asking on Twitter. For me, I only rideshare with people I know, but to some young people, especially those taking longer trips, stranger danger is less of a concern.
The sharing economy got big during the recession（经济衰退）. It allows people to access more goods and services using technology, while also allowing them to share cost. And that technology, for me, is what the car was for my mom, a gateway to more freedom.
According to the researchers at the University of Michigan, 30 years ago, eight in ten American 18-year-olds had a driver’s license. Today it’s six in ten. So it’s not that surprising that on my 16th birthday I wasn’t rushing to get a license. All I wanted was an iPhone. Juliet Schor (Sociology professor at Boston College) knows people my age love being connected and for young people driving means they have to disconnect from their technology, and that’s a negative. So if they could sit in the passenger side and still be connected, that’s going to be a plus.
To me, another plus is ridesharing represents something much bigger than trying to save money. I see it as evidence that people still depend on each other. My generation shares their cars and apartments the way neighbors used to share cups of sugar. For the system to work, some of us still need our own cars. But until I get my own version of the silver Super Beetle, you can find me on Twitter.The writer usually rideshares with _____.
| A．anyone heading the same way | B．people he knows |
| C．friends of friends | D．strangers of his age |
Fewer young people choose to ride by themselves because _____.
| A．driving means offering free rides to others. |
| B．getting a driving license becomes more difficult. |
| C．driving one’s own cars causes a negative impression. |
| D．driving makes them disconnected from technology. |
We can conclude from the passage that _____.
| A．the writer rideshares just to save money |
| B．people under 18 are not allowed to drive |
| C．silver Super Beetle is the writer’s favorite |
| D．the older generation had to fight for freedom |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Teens use Twitter to thumb rides. |
| B．Tips on reducing risks in ridesharing. |
| C．Car is no longer a gateway to freedom. |
| D．New generation knows how to save money. |
“Everybody loves a bargain.” One person's useless, ugly, or broken object can be another person's bargain. That is why so many Americans do not throw things away. They put them outside their houses. They put on a “For Sale” sign. And, as simple as that, they have a yard sale.
The sellers put a paid announcement(付费通告) in a local newspaper. It tells when and where the yard sale will take place. These sales are very popular during weekends in spring, summer, and autumn. Early in the morning, all the things to be sold are carried out of the house. Then they sit all day in the sunlight----like tired guests at a party----waiting for someone to take them home.
Just about anything can be sold at a yard sale. Sometimes, there are more clothes than anything else. Cooking equipment is also popular. So are old toys, tools, books, tables and chairs. Then there are objects called “white elephants”. A white elephant is something you think is extremely ugly or useless. It may be an electric light shaped like a fish. You feel a sharp pain whenever you look at it. To someone else, however, it might be a thing of beauty and joy.
Some people go to yard sales to find a special thing that they collect. It may be old toy trains, for example, or painting of dogs. Experts say more Americans are collecting old things now than ever before. Most people who go to yard sales, however, are not looking for anything special. They might buy an object simply because it costs so little. They enjoy negotiating(谈判) over prices, even if they really do not need the object. Later, they may hold their own yard to sell all the things they have bought.What kind of things will go to a yard sale?
| A．Cheap and ugly things. |
| B．Things people no longer use. |
| C．Things out of season. |
| D．Things of great value. |
A white elephant refers to _________.
| A．something that can cause a feeling of pain |
| B．something disliked by the owners while appreciated by others |
| C．something sold at the lowest prices |
| D．a toy shaped like a fish |
Most people go to yard sales to________.
| A．find valuable paintings |
| B．look for something special |
| C．find a bargain |
| D．kill their time |
We can infer from the last paragraph that__________.
| A．people may find something of great value on a yard sale |
| B．yard sales only attract those who have a low income |
| C．things on a yard sale can cost people a lot |
| D．most people don’t want to go to yard sales. |
阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分, 满分40分）
阅读下列短文, 从每篇短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中, 选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was a cold night in Washington, D.C., and I was heading back to the hotel when a man approached me. He asked if I would give him some money so he could get something to eat. I'd read the signs: "Don't give money to beggars as most of them are swindlers." So I shook my head and kept walking.
I wasn't prepared for a reply, but with no hesitation, he followed me and said, "I really am homeless and I really am hungry! You can come with me and watch me eat!" But I kept on walking.
The incident kept bothering me for the rest of the week. I had money in my pocket and it wouldn't have killed me to hand over a dollar or two even if he hadn’t been a real beggar. On a freezing cold night, no less, I assumed the worst of a fellow human being.
Flying back to Anchorage, I couldn't help thinking of him. I tried to reason my failure to help by supposing government agencies, churches and charities were there to feed him. Besides, you're not supposed to give money to beggars.
Somewhere over Seattle, I started to write my weekly garden column for The Anchorage Daily News. Out of the blue, I came up with an idea. Bean's Cafe, a local charity service kitchen, feeds hundreds of hungry local people every day. Why not try to get all my readers to plant one row of vegetables or flowers in their gardens for Bean's? Plant a row for Bean's. It’s clean and simple.
We didn't keep records back then, but the idea began to take off. Folks would fax me or call when they took something in. It’s food for the spirit and comfort for my conscience.
In April 1995, the Garden Writers Association of America(GWAA) held their annual meeting in Anchorage and after learning our program, Plant a Row for Bean's became Plant a Row For The Hungry. The idea then was to have every member write or talk about planting a row for the hungry, which brought the program to national attention.
As more and more people participated, new variations cropped up. Many companies gave free seeds to customers and displayed the logo for the program. Donations poured in. It was then that I could really stop feeling guilty.The underlined word “swindlers” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．policemen | B．writers | C．cheaters | D．beggars |
Why did the author think he assumed the worst of a fellow human being?
| A．Because he didn’t show fair respect to a beggar treating him badly. |
| B．Because he could have helped a hungry man but he passed by. |
| C．Because he believed that no people begged because of real hunger. |
| D．Because he thought that charity work was the government’s duty. |
How did the author make up for what he had done?
| A．He set up a local kitchen to help the poor. |
| B．He planted a row of vegetables for charity. |
| C．He called on people to donate money to the Bean’s. |
| D．He initiated the idea of Plant a row for Bean’s. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The beggar gave up the first time he was turned down by the author. |
| B．The author invented the program inspired by the Anchorage Daily News. |
| C．GWAA expanded the program concept and made it nationwide in 1995. |
| D．The program was later taken over by some seeding companies. |
In Britain in the 1890s there was a postcard “craze(热潮)”. People formed clubs and collected and exchanged postcards. Even Queen Victoria had her own private collection.
When Edward was the king, the British had a cheap and good postal system. If anyone wanted to tell a friend that they were coming for tea in the afternoon, they would send a postcard in the morning. “Drop me a card” was as common then as “give me a ring” as now.
In 1902 an important step was taken. The government said that half of the side that was used for the address on the postcard could be used for messages, and the whole of the other side could be used for a picture. It was then that the simple postcard, as we know now, was created.In Britain in the 1890s, _______.
| A．people were interested in sending cards |
| B．people were interested in playing cards |
| C．people were interested in collecting postcards |
| D．people were interested in buying postcards |
Which statement is TRUE?
| A．Postcards were not used in the 19th century. |
| B．It was not until 1902 that the simple postcard as we know was created. |
| C．Postcards were used only for collection in the 1890s. |
| D．There was no message on the old postcard. |
Choose the best title for the passage.
| A．Postcards Old and New |
| B．Postcard Clubs in the 1890s |
| C．Creation of the Present Postcard |
| D．Postal System in Britain |
Read the following time table and then answer the following question.
Train Time Table
lv. (Leave) Boston Ar. (Arrive) Midway Ar. New York
5:10 AM EX.(Except)Sun. 7:00 AM 10:45 AM
7:10 AM Daily 9:00 AM 12:45 PM
9:10 AM Ex. Sat. & Sun. 11:00 AM 2:45 PM
10:00 AM Ex. Hol.(Holiday) 11:45 AM 2:55 PM
1:15 PM Daily 3:15 PM 5:45 PM
3:40 PM Ex. Hol. 5:40 PM 8:15 PM
5:20 PM Daily 7:20 PM 9:55 PMWhat is the shortest time between Boston and New York by train?
| A．5 hours 35 minutes |
| B．5 hours 5 minutes |
| C．4 hours 30 minutes |
| D．4 hours 25 minutes |
How many trains have to spend over five hours on the way from Boston to New York?
| A．5 | B．3 | C．7 | D．2 |
On Christmas Day, how many trains can you certainly take from Boston to New York?
| A．2 | B．4 | C．5 | D．3 |
I Don’t Think I Wrote Wrong
Lao Yang was born in a small town. He liked reading when he studied at school. He thought the writers were respected(尊敬) and could get a lot of money. He wrote a lot of stories and posted them to the editorial departments (编辑部) but didn’t receive any answers.
Now he works in a factory. He’s busy at work. When he’s free, he always reads something. He always remembers he hoped to be a writer when he was young. One day, Xiao Ping, his ten-year-old daughter, came back. She looked worried and didn’t eat anything. She said Miss Gao, her Chinese teacher, told them to write a solicit article(征文) “My Father” that evening. But she did not know what to write.
“That’s easy,” said Lao Yang. “Let me help you.”
Then he sat down to write the solicit article at once. He easily finished it on time. He was sure Miss Gao would like it. But one afternoon he asked his daughter if the article had been chosen to post to the editorial department.
“My teacher said your article digressed from the subject(离题),” said the girl.
“I don’t think so,” Lao Yang shouted angrily. “I described(描写) just my father!”Lao Yang wrote a lot of stories because _______.
| A．he likes reading |
| B．he learned much at school |
| C．he wanted to be a writer |
| D．he wanted to help others |
Lao Yang posted the stories to the editorial departments, _______.
| A．and he got a lot of money |
| B．and he became a famous man |
| C．and he was respected |
| D．but he failed |
As _______, Lao Yang decided to help his daughter.
| A．he was a writer |
| B．he was free |
| C．he wanted to realize his ideal(理想) |
| D．he wanted to make his daughter happy |
Lao Yang’s solicit article digressed from the subject _______.
| A．because he couldn’t write it at all |
| B．because he didn’t know his father well |
| C．because it was too bad to be chosen |
| D．just because he described his father |
Do you know what Street Sense is? It’s a newspaper in Washington D.C. about homeless people and problems that affect them. Homeless, or formerly homeless, Washingtonians write many of the articles. The newspaper’s business model is based on homeless sellers who sell the newspaper. You can hear them call out “Street Sense for sale!” near subway entrances, lunch places and other areas around the city.
The Street Sense newspaper is housed in an office in a Christian church in Washington. Every other Wednesday about fourteen thousand copies are printed. The newspaper expresses the thoughts and experiences of people who call the streets home.
Four staff members work at Street Sense and two of them are paid. The staff members write the first two pages of the paper. Interns--students working as part of their studies--and volunteers help. Homeless writers provide the rest of the material. This includes poems, stories and essays.
Street Sense provides training for the homeless people who want to become part of the sales team. After the training, each student is given ten free copies of Street Sense. Once those are sold, trainees become real salespeople. They buy papers for thirty-five cents each and sell them for a dollar.
Lisa Gillespie is the managing editor of Street Sense, She says the newspaper plays a part in homeless people’s lives that other media can not. With the help of the newspaper, a lot of homeless people have become confident again, and their lives have also been improved a lot.What does the writer mainly tell us in Paragraph 1?
A. Something about the Street Sense.
B. Homeless people in Washington D.C.
C. How Street Sense solves homeless people’s problems.
D. Where you can buy Street Sense.How often is Street Sense printed?
| A．Once a week | B．Twice a week |
| C．Every two weeks | D．three times a month |
What do the staff members mainly do at Street Sense?
| A．They sell newspapers along the street. |
| B．They write the first two pages of the paper. |
| C．They edit the newspaper after they receive articles. |
| D．They provide the last two pages of the paper. |
What can we infer from this passage?
A. If you are one of the trainees of Street sense, you can get ten dollars from selling all of your newspapers.
B. There are too many homeless people in Washington D.C. for the government to help.
C. Most articles of Street Sense are about Washingtonians’ lives.
D. If you become real salespeople of Street Sense, you can get thirty-five cents from a copy of the newspaper.
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