My nephew’s 10-year-old son came for a visit one hot, July weekend. I persuaded him to ____ inside and joined him in a game. After ____ for an hour, I suggested that we relax for a while. I ____ my favorite chair to let my neck relax. He left the room and I was catching a few enjoyable ____ of peace.
“Look, Alice,” he said excitedly as he ____ over to the chair where I was sitting. “I found a kite. Could we go outside and ____ it?” Looking out of a nearby window, I noticed it was ____ outside. “I’m sorry. Tripper,” I said, sad to see his ____ expression. “The wind is not ____ today. The kite won’t fly.”
The _____10-year-old boy replied, “I think it’s windy enough. I can get it to fly,” he answered ____ he hurried out to the back door.
He ran back and forth, as ____ as his ten-year-old legs would carry him, looking back ____ at the kite behind. After about ten minutes of unsuccessful trying, he came back in.
I asked, “How did it ____?” “Fine,” he said, not wanting to admit (承认) the failure. “I got it to fly some.”____, I heard him say secretly, “I guess I’ll have to wait for the _____.”
At that moment I heard another voice speak to my ____. “Alice, sometimes you are just like that. You want to do it your way ____ waiting for the wind.”
And the voice was ____. We usually want to use our own efforts to ____ what we want to do. We must learn how to make use of “the wind” in the first place!
1.A. live B. lie C. study D. stay
2.A. fighting B. resting C. playing D. selecting
3.A. fell into B. jumped off C. cleaned up D. went through
4.A. times B. hours C. moments D. periods
5.A. sent B. climbed C. left D. ran
6.A. decorate B. fly C. hang D. drop
7.A. hot B. fine C. noisy D. still
8.A. bright B. satisfied C. dull D. unhappy
9.A. staying B. blowing C. going D. stopping
10.A. determined B. talented C. clever D. generous
11.A. as B. unless C. after D. until
12.A. hard B. hardly C. actively D. gradually
13.A. angrily B. hopefully C. doubtfully D. nervously
14.A. make B. come C. go D. settle
15.A. Therefore B. Again C. Instead D. However
16.A. news B. order C. wind D. sunshine
17.A. dream B. memory C. heart D. world
18.A. because of B. instead of C. except for D. as for
19.A. strange B. boring C. serious D. right
20.A. imagine B. complete C. fancy D. decide
Teenagers earning money
In the United States, you can only get a full-time job if you are 16 years old or older. But there are things that teenagers can do to earn (赚得) some spending money. Here are a few ideas.
Parents with young children sometimes want to go out for dinner or to the movies, but they don't want to leave their children alone. 1. If the children go to bed early, you can do some of your homework!
Some adults have a dog, but they don't have time to take it for a walk. 2. So some teenagers work as dog walkers. It's a good idea — you earn money and you're outside in the fresh air. You get some exercise, too!
Teenagers can deliver (递送) newspapers. You usually ride a bike around a neighborhood and leave a newspaper at each house. 3.You have to get up early, too, because people want to read their newspaper with their breakfast.
4. Some companies pay teens to do online research. They want to know what teens are interested in. It's a fun and easy way to make money. You can also design web pages for friends or adults.
Sometimes adults pay teenagers to mow (修整) their lawns (草坪). It's a great job because you get fresh air and exercise. 5. Then you have regular customers (常客), because grass always grows!
A. Dogs need a lot of exercise!
B. It brings a lot of safety problems.
C. Normally you have to have your own bike.
D. Teenagers can work at home on their computers.
E. It's important to tell an adult where you're going.
F. Do your job carefully and people will want you to do it again.
G. So, they ask a teenager to stay in the house and look after their children while they are out.
If there is one person who has left a deep impression on me, it’s my teacher Mrs. Pathak who was my class teacher for three years. In my childhood, how I wished I had a mother or a sister like her. One moment she could be tough (严厉的) and strict, another moment caring and compassionate (富有同情心的).
She always encouraged us to tell the truth. For instance, if one had not done the homework, he need not lie. She allowed us to make mistakes, saying we couldn’t be perfect all the time, but we should try.
Another thing she taught me early on was punctuality. She set a good example with her own behaviour. She was always on time, so we students tried our best to be on time.
She surprised us with her sense of humour. Her classroom teaching was always humorous. After class, she talked to us and told us jokes.
We really felt free to ask questions and Mrs. Pathak would give the answers. If she did not know — there had been some occasions (场合) — she would say so. We all then tried to find out the answers. Whoever came up with the answer was appreciated and given the due credit (应有的称赞). Now I sometimes wonder whether Mrs. Pathak was pretending just to encourage us to explore and find answers by ourselves.
1.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT suitable for describing Mrs. Pathak?
A. Tough. B. Humorous. C. Compassionate. D. Careful.
2.The underlined word “punctuality” in the third paragraph probably means _____.
A. being on time B. being honest C. being patient D. being clean
3.The underlined word “so” in the last paragraph means that _____.
A. the answers were not right B. she didn’t know the answers
C. the answers were correct D. she would give the answers
4.In the author’s opinion, why didn’t Mrs. Pathak give the answers to the questions sometimes?
A. Because she didn’t like answering the questions.
B. Because she didn’t know the answers to the questions.
C. Because she wanted the students to find them out by themselves.
D. Because she thought the students knew the answers already.
Elephants are able to know the difference between a man and a woman, and can tell an adult (成年人) from a child—all from the sound of a human voice. This is according to a study in which researchers played voice recordings to wild African elephants.
The animals showed more fear when they heard the voices of adult Masai men. Usually Masai people hunt elephants, and this suggests that animals have grown to listen for and avoid them.
Prof. Karen McComb and Dr Graeme Shannon from the University of Sussex led the study. They explained that in former research they had used similar experiments to show that elephants could tell—from the sound of a lion—whether the animal was a female (雌性) or a more dangerous male (雄性).
Prof. McComb wanted to find out if the animals used their very sharp sense of hearing to recognize danger from humans.
The scientists recorded Masai men, women and children saying, in their own language, “Look, look over there, a group of elephants are coming.” They also recorded Kamba men saying this phrase.
Masai people often come across elephants, which can result in violent (暴力的) hunting. Kamba people, however, mainly feed on agriculture, which does not generally bring them into violent touch with the animals.
When the team played recordings of these different voices through a hidden speaker, they found that elephant family groups showed more fear in response to the voice of a Masai man, than to a Kamba man’s voice. And the adult male Masai voices caused far more violent response than the voices of women or boys.
1.An elephant can tell a man from a woman by sense of ________.
A. touch B. sight C. smell D. hearing
2.How did the researchers get to know the elephants’ special ability?
A. By watching the elephants in the zoo. B. By playing voice recordings to them.
C. By recording the behaviors of elephants. D. By communicating with them in a special way.
3.We can learn from the passage that elephants are especially afraid of ________.
A. Masai men B. Masai women C. Kamba men D. Kamba women
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Elephants and Human Beings B. Differences Between Human Voices
C. Elephants Recognize Human Voices D. Elephants at War with Human Beings
A few months after Wu Xingu was congratulated by teachers for graduating from the university, the 23-year-old has been making his dream of relieving tens of thousands of teachers in China from drowning in marking papers(改卷) a reality.
Yitiku, an online software system based on Wu’s idea, eases the workload of teachers by doing many of the functions that they did, such as selecting the test questions, forming an exam paper, and preparing exercises for the students.
The features of Yitiku may sound quite simple, but this idea won his company millions of dollars from China’s Internet giant Tencent in January. The unexpectedly successful fund raising story became a popular conversation starter among the people in the education business.
“I can say it’s quite an achievement for me and our company. As far as I know, I’m the first CEO born after 1990s that Tencent has invested (投资) in, and we are the first online education company they have invested in.” Wu Xingyu told China Daily.
Different from other online companies that treat students as clients (客户), Yitiku has chosen teachers as their focus. “ We make the work of teachers easy. Usually it takes two to three hours for them to prepare a new exam paper. Now it’s just three clicks.” said Wu. He is quite satisfied with the major feature of the software.
Sitting in his 10-square-meter office in Zhonguancun, a hub of innovation (创新) in Beijing, Wu looks confident and chatty when talking about his business. His fast-speed answers give people an impression that he has years of experience in the online education sector. The fact is that he had been putting most of attention in directing courses at an art college until about a year ago.
1.The best title for this passage might be .
A. 23-year-old wants to ease workload of teachers B. the achievement made by a boy born after 1990s
C. Yitiku, an online software system loved by teachers D. A 23-year-old surprises the China’s Internet giant
2.Yitiku has the following function EXCEPT .
A. designing test papers B. choosing the test questions
C. teaching the students D. grading papers
3.The underlined word “hub” in the last paragraph means .
A. special center B. small house
C. big market D. supermarket
4.What will be continued after the last paragraph?
A. Wu’s family background B. how Wu got the great idea
C. what Wu studied in an art college D. Wu’s experience in directing courses
Hilton English Language Center
Information for New Students
Class time: 8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m.-12:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
The Language Center is open Monday to Friday. Each class has one afternoon free per week. On the first day, go to the lecture hall to check your timetable.
Self-access (自习): The language laboratory (Room 1110) is open Monday to Friday from 3:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for all full-time students.
You can learn how to use computers for language games. There are tapes for students to borrow to practice their English. Go in and ask the teacher to show you. If you plan to take public examinations, there are listening comprehension tapes for you to practice with. There are other kinds of exercises on the computers. Ask your class teacher for a list of past exam essays. Students can borrow tapes to take home but they must be returned after two days.
Attendance (出勤): All students are expected to attend classes as it is required. Students who do not attend classes will be reported to OSS. Eighty percent attendance is required for students to receive their certificates (证书) when they finish their courses.
Books: If students are given course books, the books are their responsibility. If a book is lost, the student will be expected to pay for it. If students wish to buy books, there is a bookshop in the college specializing in English books (Room 3520).
1.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. No teachers are in the language lab.
B. Books can’t be taken out of the center.
C. 90% attendance is required for the students.
D. Students can prepare for exams by listening to tapes.
2.Timetable can be seen in _____.
A. the lecture hall B. Room 3520 C. the classroom D. Room 1110
3.Where can students buy books?
A. Room 1110. B. Room 3520. C. The language lab. D. OSS.
