Being able to multitask-- doing several things at the same time--is considered a welcome skill by most people. But if we consider the situation of the young people aged from eight to eighteen, we should think again.
What we often see nowadays is that young people juggle a larger number of electronic products as they study. While working, they also surf on the Internet, send out emails, answer the telephone and listen to music on their iPods. In a sense, they are spending a large amount of time in fruitless efforts as they multitask.
Multitasking is even changing the relationship between family members. As young people give so much attention to their own worlds, they seem to have no time to spend with the other people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they eat at the family table.
Multitasking also has an effect on young people's performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinions of the effects of modern gadgets (器具) on their performance of tasks, many young people gave a positive (肯定的) answer. However, the response from the worlds of education and business was not quite as positive. Educators feel that multitasking by children has a serious effect on later development of study skills. They believe that many college students now need help to improve their study skills. Similarly, employers (雇主) feel that young people entering the job market need to be taught all over again, as modern gadgets have made it unnecessary for them to learn special skills to do their work.
1.What does the underlined word "juggle" most probably mean?
A. Want to buy.
B. Use at the same time.
C. Take the place of.
D. Search information from.
2.In Paragraph 3, the author points out that ________.
A. family members do not greet each other
B. family members do not eat at the family table
C. young people get on well with their families
D. young people hardly communicate with their family members
3.What's the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Young people must learn skills for future jobs.
B. Young people benefit (获益) a lot from modern gadgets.
C. Multitasking is an important skill to young people.
D. Multitasking influences young people's development seriously.
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Young people think multitasking is good for their study and work.
B. Employers consider it unnecessary for young people to be taught all over again.
C. Educators feel that young people don't need to improve their study skills.
D. People from the world of education believe multitasking has a good effect on children's later study skills.
5.The author develops (阐述) the passage mainly by ________.
A. providing special examples
B. following the natural time order
C. giving out a cause and analyzing (分析) its effects
D. comparing opinions from different worlds
In the 1920s and 30s the airlines were just beginning. It was unusual for people to travel by air because it was expensive and dangerous. In those days, there were no flight attendants to look after the passengers. Young men, or "stewards" helped the passengers onto the airplane and carried the passengers' luggage (行李) but they did not provide food and drinks. But then in 1930, a woman called Ellen Church invented the "stewardess".
Ellen Church was born in 1904 on a farm in Iowa. She was a different child. She didn't want to work on a farm or marry a farmer—she wanted a more adventurous (冒险的) life. Ellen studied to be a nurse at the University of Minnesota and then got a job in a hospital. For the next few years she stayed at the hospital but also took flying lessons and got her pilot's license.
Ellen was twenty-five years old when she first got in touch with Boeing Air Transport. She loved flying but she understood that airlines were a man's world. Although women like Emelia Earheart were becoming famous, she realized it was impossible for a woman to have a career as a pilot. But she had another idea. Most people were frightened of flying because flying was still an unreliable (不可靠的) way to travel. There were often delays (延误), many crashes and the bad weathers made many passengers sick. Ellen thought nurses could take care of passengers during flights and B.A.T. Agreed.
The young woman from Iowa and seven other nurses became the first air stewardesses.
At first pilots were unhappy because they did not want stewardesses on airplanes, but passengers loved the stewardesses. In 1940 there were around 1000 of them working for different airlines. The early "stewardesses" had to be under twenty-five-year old, single and slim. When a woman joined an airline, she had to promise not to get married or have children. It was hard job and not well paid. They worked long hours and earned $1 an hour.
In the 1970s, stewardesses were unhappy in their job and airlines had to make some changes. Since the 1970s, "stewardesses" have been called flight attendants. They are well paid and work fewer hours than in the past.
1.The last sentence of the first paragraph suggests that _________.
A.the word "stewardess" was made up by Ellen Church
B. Ellen Church was the first woman who flew a plane
C. Ellen Church was the first woman who worked on a plane
D. Ellen Church was the first woman passenger on a plane
2.From the second paragraph, we learn that ________.
A.Ellen did not behave in the same way as most as other girls
B. Ellen's family was not rich enough to support her education
C. Ellen was fond of working as a nurse in the hospital
D. Ellen has an unhappy childhood that changed her completely
3.The main reason for Boeing Air Transport offering Ellen the job was ________.
A.her flying experience B. her university education
C. her nursing experience D. her life attitudes
4.According to the passage, in the 1940s a woman had to ________ if she wanted to be a stewardess.
A.be a nurse B. be married
C. be a mother D. be young
5.The passage mainly talks about _______.
A. the background of early flying pilots
B. the experience of flying passengers
C. the history of early flight attendants
D. the development of airplanes
A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow(乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain(鄙视).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan. Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments(评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?”
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life…”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.
1.What’s the correct order of the following events?
a. The crow showed off its flying skills.
b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.
c. The crow laughed at the swan’s flying.
d. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.
e. The crow challenged the swans and a strong young swan accepted it.
A. e, c, d, a, b B. a, e, c, d, b
C. c, e, a, d, b D. e, a, d, c, b
2.What does the underlined word “exhausted” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. Tired. B. Angry.
C. Frightened.D. Regretful.
3.Why did the crow keep touching the water?
A. It was showing another flying skill.
B. It was struggling to keep itself from falling into the water.
C. It was thirsty and wanted to drink some water.
D. It was enjoying itself by doing so.
4.What can we infer(推断) from the passage?
A. The crow didn’t know flying.
B. Flying skills were useless.
C. The swan saved the crow because they were good friends.
D. The swan was better at long-distance flying than the crow.
5.What does the story tell us?
A. Pride goes before a fall
B. The early bird catches the worm.
C. No pains, no gains.
D. Practice makes perfect.
Wildwood School Library Guide
This will ofter you some information about our school library. You can use this guide to help your kids use our library.
Service hours:
3:00 pm—5:30 pm on school days;
8:30 am—11：00 am on weekends
On school days, your kids may borrow or return books during opening hours only when his classroom teacher allows him to. At the weekend,our library is open to both you and your kids.
Borrowing
Each student can borrow one or two books at a time: More books can be borrowed only for class reading activities and school research.
Returning:
Books borrowed from the library can be kept for 15 school days. The books must be returned before the due (到期的）date or the kid can not borrow other books.
Damaged(受损的）or Lost Books
When a book is returned in a damaged condition,the kid will have to pay three dollars for the damage.Full price must be paid if a book is lost. We encourage students to carry their library books in plastic bags to protect them from rainy weather.
Please call us at 3362—1323 for more information.
1.Students can borrow more than two books at a time__________.
A.for sending exams
B.to do school research
C. for after-school activities
D. to read together with their parents
2.________must be paid when a student loses the book he borrows.
A. Three dollars B. Half the price of the book
C.Full price of the book D. Twice the price of the book
3.The students are advised to _________to prevent rain.
A.carry their library books in plastic bags
B. cover their library books with raincoats
C. put their library books into their pockets
D. keep their library books in their classroom
4.This library guide is for_______.
A.teachers from Wildwood
B. workers in Wildwood School Library.
C. visitors to Wildwood School
D. parents of the Wildwood School students
5.Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The library is open for two and a half hours every day.
B. Students parents can go to the school library on weekends.
C. Students can go to the library during opening hours as they like.
D. Students can keep the books that they borrow for fifteen school days.
It all started at the beginning of the ninth grade. Carmen found she couldn’t see things all the time. She became very worried, but she hoped would know that. When her mother asked her to see the eye doctor, she didn't . But her mother's mind was made up.
Three days later, Carmen got new glasses and instructions from her doctor. “All of the kids will think I'm silly.” Carmen said. Her mother and shook her head. “You look just as beautiful as before,” she said. But Carmen didn't believe her.
The next day, Carmen kept the glasses in her pocket as she walked into the schoolyard. She stood alone away from her friends, feeling . Suddenly, she heard her friend Theresa shout. Carmen ran over to the other girls. “What's the matter?” she asked. “My ring is gone!” Theresa cried. “My sister sent it to me from California. It's very and I can 't lose it.”
Carmen and her friends began to the ring in the grassy area of the playground. Carmen realized that she could do better if she could see better. She took the glasses out and put them on. Everything looked so ! So clear! She looked down at the ground and a bright light caught her . It was the ring.
"Here it is," she shouted. She handed it to Theresa. "Thanks, Carmen," she said. "I thought we'd find it." She paused. “Hey, 1 didn’t know you wore glasses. They look great!”
Carmen had forgotten that she was wearing the new glasses. “Thanks,” she replied.
"Maybe wearing glasses won't be so bad after all." Carmen thought.
1.A. clearlyB. carefullyC. freelyD. quickly
2.A. everybodyB. nobodyC. somebodyD. anybody
3.A. explainB. areC. understandD. agree
4.A. relaxedB. cheeredC. smiled D. jumped
5.A. tiredB. unhappyC. afraidD. serious
6.A. specialB. commonC. cheapD. heavy
7.A. ask forB. wait forC. look forD. pay for
8.A. newB. dirtyC. strangeD. different
9.A. earsB. eyesC. feetD. hands
10.A. stillB. everC. neverD. often
Dear Dad,
I am writing this letter to you because it’s too difficult to talk about it. I can’t stop about my uncle and how he died. In fact, I seriously want to ask you to stop smoking. I’ve looked up information about smoking and I’ve found out some disturbing(令人不安的) things.
You already know that smoking is bad for your breathing and can cause cancer. I’ve found out it causes many other illnesses as well. Did you know that over 100,000 people die from smoking every year in Britain? It’s the second cause of death in the world. I don’t want you to be one of these people.
When Mum you to smoke outside, you think she’s just being difficult. Well, it’s true that she doesn’t like the smell of smoke in the house and on our clothes. It’s not very pleasant. However, when you smoke, it’s also bad for me and Mum. In other words, when we breathe in your smoke, it’s like we are smoke . As a result, we can get diseases as well. Doctors are finding that more and more non-smokers are falling ill because of the effects of other people’s smoking.
I know that it is very difficult to stop smoking you mustn’t give in(屈服) to it. Please see the doctor and ask him for help. We will do anything we can you. You must try to save your own . You are important to us and we don’t want to lose you. Who else can I ask to help me my maths homework or fix my bike? Please don’t smoke!
Your loving daughter,
Kate
1.A. to thinkB. thinkingC. thinkD. thought
2.A. a lotB. manyC. lots ofD. a few
3.A. thatB. whichC. whyD. what
4.A. bigB. biggerC. biggestD. most big
5.A. will askB. askC. is askingD. asks
6.A. weB. usC. ourD. ourselves
7.A. butB. orC. andD. so
8.A. helpB. to helpC. helpingD. helps
9.A. lifeB. livesC. liveD. living
10.A. forB. withC. onD. to
