After my husband died, my world crashed around me. My six children were ten, nine, eight, six, three and 18 months, and I was overwhelmed(不知所措的) with the responsibilities of earning a living, caring for the children and simply keeping my head above water.
I was lucky to find a wonderful housekeeper to care for the children during the week, but from Friday nights to Monday mornings, the children and I were alone, and frankly(坦诚地) I was uneasy. Every unusual noise or any late-night phone call filled me with fear. I felt really alone.
One Friday evening I came home from work to find a big beautiful German shepherd(牧羊犬) on our doorstep. It was obvious he wanted to make the house his home. The children took an instant liking to “German” and asked me to let him in. I agreed to let him sleep in the basement(地下室) until the next day. That night I slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.
The following morning we made phone calls and checked lost-and-found ads for German’s owner, but with no results. Saturday night he was still with us.
On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic. Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case(以免) his owner came by, we drove off without him. When we stopped to get gas at a local station, we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us. He stayed again Sunday night.
Monday morning I let him out for a run while the children got ready for school. He didn’t come back. We thought we’d never see him again. On Friday evening, German was back again. We took him in, and again he stayed until Monday morning, when our housekeeper arrived. It went like this for almost 10 months. We looked forward to his coming. Each Monday morning he left home.
Each week, between German's visits, I grew a little braver, but every weekend I enjoyed being with him . Then one Monday morning we patted his head and let him out for what turned out to be the last time. He never came back. We never saw or heard from German again. I think of him often. He came when I needed him the most and stayed until I was strong enough to go on alone. I believe German was sent because he was needed, and because no matter how abandoned(被放弃的) and alone we feel, somehow, somewhere, someone knows and cares. We are never really alone.
1.What does the underlined part “keeping my head above water” in the first paragraph mean?
A．trying to keep calm in public
B．trying to get attention from other men
C．showing her high spirit in the face of trouble
D．trying to continue to live
2.When the author’s husband died, ______.
A．she couldn’t raise the six children on her own
B．she couldn’t relax at weekends
C．The housekeeper only came at weekends
D．she was too busy to feel lonely
3. Which of the following is WRONG according to the article?
A．German was fond of living with the family.
B．The writer felt safe and protected with German around.
C．The dog stayed until the writer was strong enough to go on alone.
D．The writer was too busy that weekend to go to find the dog’s owner.
4.Which is the best title for the passage?
A．A homeless dog B．A friend’s strength
C．How to keep a dog D．Keep up when in trouble
Taking away a city’s rubbish is a big job. Every day trucks come into a city to collect it. Most rubbish is made up of things we can’t eat or use. If we kept these things we would soon have a mountain of rubbish.
In some cities the rubbish is collected and taken outside of the city to a dump(垃圾站). Often the city dump is placed where the ground is low or there is a big hole. The kitchen rubbish is broken into small pieces and sent into the sewage system. The sewage system takes away the used water from toilets, bathtubs(澡盆) and other places.
To keep mice and flies away, some earth is used to cover the newly dumped rubbish. Later, grass may be planted on the rubbish-filled land. Finally, a house or a school may be built there, and then you’d never know that this had once been an old rubbish dump.
In other cities the rubbish is burnt in special places. The fire burns everything but the metal. Sometimes the metal can be used again in factories where things are made of metal. The food parts of rubbish are put in special piles where they slowly change into something called humus(腐殖土), which looks like black earth. It is rich with kinds of things that feed plants and help make them grow.
1.You can most probably read the passage in _______.
A．a history book B．a TV guide
C．a science book D．a telephone book
2.The underlined word “sewage” in the passage means_______.
A．排污 B．染色 C．洗涤 D．吸尘
3.How should we take care of a used metal box according to the passage?
A．By burning it off. B．By putting it in water.
C．By throwing it away. D．By reusing and recycling it.
One of my favourite things to do is hiking in mountains. Because nobody likes the idea of getting lost, I always prepare before every trip. But what’s the best navigation tool, a Global Positioning System (GPS) or a good old map and compass? Five of my friends and I hiked through the mountains on a trail I marked. One team of three carried a GPS, and the other team used a map and compass.
It took the GPS team 3 hours and 11 minutes to get through the whole hike, however, it took the map and compass team only 2 hours and 49 minutes. The biggest problem the GPS team met was that they lost the satellite signal (卫星信号) in some places. With no map or compass, they had to walk around until they were in a place where the signal was good. The map and compass team was able to spot (认出) different landmarks, compare them to their maps and then use the compass to point them in the right direction.
When I head out on my future hikes, I’m bringing a map, a compass and a GPS to show me the way.
1.The writer prepares before every trip because he doesn’t _________.
A．like the old map or compass
B．know how to use the GPS
C．want to get lost in mountains
D．want to get into the mountains alone
2.The two teams _________.
A．had the same navigation tool
B．went along the same trail
C．had the same problem
D．finished the whole hike at the same time
3.In the end, the writer found out _________.
A．the map and the compass were too old navigation tools to use any more
B．it wasn’t necessary to bring a map and a compass together with a GPS
C．the GPS had some bad points in hiking in mountains
D．he wouldn’t use a GPS any more
We surveyed 300 young people on what they like to do at weekends. One hundred people are from the age of 11–18, one hundred 19–26 and one hundred 27–35. The following chart shows their answers:
Favourite things to do (by ages)
1.According to the survey, which two activities do most people enjoy doing?
A．Playing computer games and watching TV
B．Playing computer games and taking a walk
C．Watching TV and going to movies
D．Going to movies and taking a walk
2. From the chart above, we can see the younger people are, the less they like ________.
A．taking a walk B．watching TV
C．going to the movies D．playing computer games
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the chart?
A．All the people like taking a walk most.
B．The people of 11–18 like taking a walk least.
C．The most people like going to the movies in the 19–26 group.
D．The people of 27–35 like playing computer games most.
One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite 1 at the answer. Thinking he had not made 2 understood or the girl had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.” But the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know 3 to say.
What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t 4 a compliment (恭维)in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She 5 understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the west, people will feel proud and 6 when they are praised(赞扬). So if someone says the dishes you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”
In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not 7 being proud, so sometimes you should be confident 8 being modest.
9 you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down on by others. When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try ”, he or she will 10 get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.
1. A．excited B．surprised C．relaxed D．frightened
2. A．her B．herself C．himself D．him
3. A．when B．which C．what D．how
4. A．accept B．receive C．refuse D．disagree
5. A．hardly B．really C．rarely D．badly
6. A．kind B．modest C．shy D．confident
7. A．think B．say C．ask D．mean
8. A．different from B．as well as C．instead of D．the same as
9. A．Unless B．Until C．Whether D．If
10. A．expect to B．fail to C．succeed in D．believe in
---I have some big news for you. You’ve been accepted as a member of our club.
---______ That’s great!
A．Have I? B．Pardon? C．Congratulations! D．Good idea!
