It was a sunny day. A city man was driving along a country road with a new wagon (马车) and a beautiful pair of horses. He didn’t pay much _______ to where he’s going. Soon he realized that he was _______, but he continued to drive, _______ to re-find his way or to meet _______ who could tell him how to _______ to the town.
It was a long _______ road. The man kept on driving for many _______. When it’s almost dark, he saw a tall _______ ploughing (犁地) in the field. He then stopped his _______ team of horses near the fence and called out, “Hello, farmer.”
“Hello, yourself,” the farmer ________ , still ploughing.
“Where ________ does the horse go?” he asked without knowing his language mistakes.
“I haven’t seen it go anywhere. It ________ stays right where it is,” said the farmer, ________ stopping his work.
“How far is it to the next town?” said the city man, speaking a little ________ .
“Don’t know. I never________it,” replied the farmer. The city man was getting ________. “What do you know? You’re the biggest ________ I’ve ever seen.”
Finally ________, the farmer turned and looked for a long time ________ at the city man. Then he said, “Maybe I don’t know much and ________ I am a fool. But at least I’m not lost!”
1.A.love B.care C.attention D.money
2.A.lost B.missing C.gone D.done
3.A.starting B.planning C.deciding D.expecting
4.A.everyone B.someone C.none D.anyone
5.A.get back B.bring back C.take back D.return back
6.A.lonely B.busy C.dirty D.crowded
7.A.ways B.nights C.days D.hours
8.A.truck B.fisherman C.farmer D.machine
9.A.strong B.tired C.exciting D.confident
10.A.acted B.understood C.finished D.replied
11.A.on earth B.as a result C.at once D.right now
12.A.always B.often C.sometimes D.seldom
13.A.because of B.still C.without D.instead of
14.A.clearly B.lower C.more loudly D.more politely
15.A.judged B.measured C.saw D.studied
16.A.sad B.lovely C.friendly D.angry
17.A.fool B.man C.peasant D.problem
18.A.crying B.working C.carrying D.stopping
19.A.gladly B.immediately C.silently D.excitedly
20.A.really B.perhaps C.certainly D.fortunately
Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways. 1. Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test. Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.
You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report. 2. Whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is a selective process. 3.
The following methods may work best for you.
●Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.
●Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.
● Write your notes in your own words.
● 4.
● Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.
As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand(速记). When you do, be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time. 5.
A.Use words, rather than complete sentences.
B.There are three practical note-taking methods.
C.You must write your notes on separate paper.
D.Otherwise, you may not be able to read your notes later.
E.You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.
F.You have to make a choice to write down the important information.
G.First, the simple act will help you understand and remember it better.
Low-cost Gifts for Mother’s Day
Gift No. 1
Offer to be your mother’s health friend. Promise to be there for all doctor’s visits whether she has a disease or needs a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say there is no need, but another set if eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor’s visit. The best part? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what time she takes them. “Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother’s life,” Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected with general health conditions. “Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep,” Savard said. “We know that good sleep is very important to our health.”
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother’s Day by picking gifts, 10 percent of whose price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things — many of which are “green” — and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.
1.What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor’s visits?
A.To take notes. B.To be with her.
C.To buy medicines. D.To give her gifts.
2.Where can you find an idea for gifts to improve your mother’s sleep?
A.In Gift No. 1. B.In Gift No. 2.
C.In Gift No. 3. D.In Gift No. 4.
3.Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to ______.
A.enjoy good sleep B.be well-organized
C.get extra support D.give other help
LONDON — To get a mobile phone as a gift for 14thbirthday, Lucy declared to her parents that everyone else has one. Her parents gave in.
Curious to know how her daughter would use the phone, Jane Bidder, the mother, followed Lucy to the school bus in the morning. The bus seats 20, of whom half have a mobile phone. One rings and several adolescent owners fumble with their bags.
Many parents have just come to realize that the mobile phone is no longer for traveling businessmen — it is as likely to be found in school bags.
The mobile phone seems to have become something essential for today’s teens in Britain, according to a survey published last week, by NOP, a leading market research company in Britain. Research found that 66 percent of 16-year-olds now have access to a mobile phone.
The mobile phone has been turned into a secret messaging service by teen users. When they are talking on the mobile, their parents are not able to eavesdrop on the second line.
The interview with 2,019 young people aged 7 to 16 found that they favor the text messaging service because they offer a secret way of keeping in touch. The days of secret notes in the classroom are dying out.
For example, “cul” means “see you later”; “lol” means “laugh out loud’; and “2nite” is the abbreviation of “tonight”. All these are based on shorthand phrases on the Internet.
Many schools have banned students using mobile phones. But they are not very successful. Still phones ring in the class and disturb study. Besides, people are worried about the health risk to kids using mobile phones.
Scientists believe children are especially vulnerable (易受伤的) mobile radiation.
1.The story of Lucy is told to show us .
A.British parents always meet their children’s needs
B.how British parents accept the truth of teenagers owning a mobile phone
C.British kids have good relationship with their parents
D.why every child gets a mobile phone as a birthday present in UK
2.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A.People worry about the harm to the kids’ health by using mobile phone.
B.Teenagers want to have their own secret.
C.Teenagers like to send messages to each other
D.Lucy does not get the mobile phone she wants
3.The underlined word “eavesdrop” means .
A.join in actively B.interrupt rudely
C.listen secretly D.watch carefully
4.Interviews discover children like to send messages instead of .
A.calling each other B.playing games online
C.writing to each other D.greeting each other
It is very common that many students complain they lack concentration. For example ,“I can’t concentrate.” “My mind wanders when I try to study.”
We all have the ability to concentrate. Think of the times when you were attracted to a super novel or the times when you were playing your guitar or piano. But at other times your mind races from one thing to another. Here are some tips.
Rest from time to time. Remember to take short breaks. Lectures are usually 50 minutes long, and that’s about the length of time most people can direct their attention to one task. But that’s just an average. Your concentration time might be shorter (20-35 minutes) or longer (perhaps 90 minutes). When you take a break, you get more oxygen to your brain! When we sit for long periods, blood tends to be pooled in our lower body and legs. Get up and walk around the room for a couple of minutes. As a result, more oxygen is carried to the brain and you can concentrate better.
If you study one subject for a long time, you may find it hard to concentrate. Many students improve their concentration by changing one subject to another every one to two hours. In this way you can pay more attention to something that’s different.
Reward yourself. Give yourself a reward when you’ve completed a task. The task might be small, such as staying with a difficult paper until you’ve finished. But giving yourself a reward can help you be more interested in doing other tasks.
Increase your activity level. Your concentration wanders more easily if you just read an article straight through. Instead, take the heading for each part and turn it into a question. For this part, that would be, “How can I increase my activity level while studying?” Then study that part to answer that question. Do this routinely. The questions give us a focus for each part and increase our involvement (参与).
1.According to Paragraph 3, what’s the purpose of walking around?
A.To help us stay fit.
B.To provide the brain with more oxygen
C.To benefit our lower body.
D.To increase our concentration time to 90 minutes.
2.What’s the best title for Paragraph 4?
A.Study for one hour each time.
B.Do something difficult.
C.Change subjects.
D.Study in different ways.
3.In the last paragraph, the writer suggests that______.
A.we just read the heading of some articles
B.we do our best to read an article straight through
C.we ask other people questions about the article we are reading
D.we ask ourselves questions about what we are reading
4.The writer wrote the passage to______.
A.encourage us to try to concentrate
B.give us the reasons for a lack of concentration
C.teach us how to concentrate while studying
D.list the benefits we can get from concentration
The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.
1.According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.
A. his special tricks and supernatural power B. his unusual ability and a skeleton key
C. his magic tricks and supernatural powers D. his wisdom and magic tricks
2.In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.
A. his first prison escape B. the year 1898
C. the publicity D. Harry Houdini’s success
3.It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.
A. in 1894 B. before he married
C. at the age of 17 D. when he was about 24
4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. A Skeleton Key B. A Man of Many Secrets
C. World-wild Fame D. Great Escape
