Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities. Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventures—those who have climbed the highest mountains, travelled into unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans(海洋). Now, however, there are more people who look for an excitement from a risky activity which may only last a few minutes or even seconds.
I would think bungee jumping to be a good example of such an activity. You jump from a high place (perhaps a bridge or a hot-air balloon) 200 metres above the ground with an elastic (有弹性的) rope tied to your ankles(脚踝). You fall at up to 150 kilometres an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground. It is said that about 2 million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping. Other risky activities include jumping from tall buildings and diving(跳水) into the water from the top of high places.
Why do people take part in such activities as these? Some psychologists suggest that it is because life in modern world has become safe and boring. Not very long ago, people’s lives were often in danger. They had to go out and hunt for food, diseases could not easily be cured, and life was harder than that of the present days.
Nowadays, to many people, life offers little excitement. They live and work in safe conditions; they buy food in shops; and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill. The answer for some of these people is to look for danger in activities such as bungee jumping.
1. More and more people today __________.
A. are trying activities such as bungee jumping
B. are climbing the highest mountains
C. are coming close to death in sports
D. are looking for adventures such as travelling into exciting parts of the world
2.In bungee jumping, you __________.
A. jump as high as you can
B. slide down(下滑) a rope to the ground
C. tie yourself to a rope and fall to the ground
D. fall towards the ground without a rope
3. People probably take part in dangerous sports nowadays because __________.
A. they have a lot of free time
B. they can go to hospital if they are injured
C. there isn’t so much excitement in life
D. they no longer need to hunt for food
4. What is the best title of this passage?
A. Modern Life is Boring
B. Dangerous Sports: What and Why
C. Bungee Jumping: Is It Really Dangerous?
D. Need for Excitement
If parents’ aim(目标) is only to make a child be a genius(天才), they will cause a disaster. Several leading educational psychologists(心理学家) say this is one of the biggest mistakes that can cause great problems to children.
However, if parents are a little gentler, the child may act successfully—especially if the parents can support him. Michael Li is very lucky. He is very fond of music, and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and inviting a teacher to give him personal piano lessons. They even drive him 59 kilometers twice a week for violin lessons. Although Michael’s mother knows very little about music, Michael’s father plays the piano very well. However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling.
Michael’s friend, Winston Chen, however, is not so lucky. Although both his parents are successful musicians(音乐家), they set too high a standard for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are, so they enter him in every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. “When I was your age, I used to win every competition I entered,” Winston’s father tells him. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint(使…失望) his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy.
1.One of the worst mistakes any parent can make is to __________.
A. pay much attention to their child’s education
B. push the child into trying to achieve too much
C. make their child become a musician
D. help their child to succeed in the future
2. Michael Li is lucky because __________.
A. his father knows music and teaches him much
B. his parents are rich enough to support him
C. his mother doesn’t know much about music
D. his parents help him in a wise way
3.The two examples show that __________.
A. it is important to let children develop in their own way
B. it is successful to let children develop without others’ help
C. successful parents often have unsuccessful children
D. the more you help your children, the less they can achieve
Dear Grandma,
How are you? I hope you are feeling well and your leg is improving. Can you walk a bit now? Is your neighbour, Mrs Lu, bringing you enough books to read? I hope so. You’d love our school library, Grandma. There are so many books on all kinds of subjects. The other day I found a book about engineering. I couldn’t really understand it but I hope to learn more about this topic sometime. This term I have three new subject classes, so I think I’ll tell you about them.
I study biology. It is a very interesting subject. I’m learning all about the human body, where everything is and what it does. Did you know that we have a kissing muscle? It’s called ‘orbicularis’ and it’s a circle muscle that closes your mouth and moves your lips forward. I love biology. It’s so interesting! Another new subject is religion (宗教). I didn’t think I would like this one, but actually it is very interesting to hear how different people worship (崇拜). We are learning about lots of religions from all over the world, not only Asia. My other new subject is Spanish. It’s really difficult to learn a new language but I know it will be useful for me in the future, if I want to travel around the world. Spanish is one of the official languages of the European Union and the United Nations. I’ve learnt that Spanish is not only spoken in Europe but in South America too. Countries like Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Mexico also speak Spanish. You know I’ve always wanted to go to Mexico, so if I can speak Spanish it would be really useful.
Did you study these subjects when you were at school? I suppose subject choice changes over time, doesn’t it? I’ll come to visit you again in the next holiday, which I think is in eight weeks’ time. I’ll bring you some of my new books if you like. I hope you can write back soon and tell me all the village news. I miss you very much.
Lots of love,
Sara
1.From the letter we can know that Grandma’s leg was ________.
A. improving B. lost C. getting worse D. hurt
2.The writer has learnt a lot except ________ since she began to study biology.
A. the human body B. a kissing muscle
C. orbicularis D. circles
3.Which of the following is Not True according to the passage?
A. Sara knows little about engineering.
B. Sara thinks Spanish is useful but not easy to learn.
C. Grandma probably doesn’t like reading books very much.
D. The subjects Sara learns are different from the ones her grandma did.
Tom walked into a shop. It had a sign outside: “ Second-hand clothes bought and sold. ” He was carrying an old pair of trousers and asked the owner of the shop, “ How much will you give me for these? ” The owner looked at them and said “ Two dollars. ”
“ What? ” Tom said, “ I had guessed they were worth at least five dollars. ”
“ No. ” said the owner, “ They weren’t worth a cent more than two dollars.”
“Well,” said Tom, taking two dollars out of his pocket. “ Here is your money. These trousers were hanging outside your shop. The list price was six dollars and a half. But I thought that was too much money, so I wanted to find out how much they were really worth.”
Then he walked out of the shop with the pair of trousers and disappeared before the owner could think of anything to say.
1.At first, the owner thought that Tom ____________ .
A. wanted to steal the trousers
B. wanted to sell the trousers
C. wanted to fool him
D. wanted to buy the trousers
2. In fact, the trousers ____________ .
A. were hanging inside the shop
B. were stolen by Tom from the shop
C. had been the shop owner’s
D. had been Tom’s
3.From the story we know that ____________ cheaper than the list price.
A. the owner sold the trousers two dollars
B. Tom sold the trousers one and a half dollars
C. the owner bought the trousers three dollars
D. Tom bought the trousers four dollars and a half
完形填空 先通读下面的短文，掌握其大意, 然后从每小题所给的四个选项中，选出可以填入相应空白处的最佳选项。(本大题共10小题，每小题1分，共10分)
Many of you are studying English and you may be why it is so difficult to learn. It’s actually not too difficult to learn you know some about the language and culture that it reflects（反映）. Perhaps the first thing you need to know about English is that it is made up of several other languages French, German, Latin, Greek and AngloSaxon. In addition, there are words Spanish in English and many American Indian words and names, even some Chinese and Japanese can be found in the English language. This borrowing of words other languages is of the key reasons some of the difficulities that people meet with they are learning English.
1.A. knowing B. wondering C. earning D. hearing
2.A. but B. and C. if D. unless
3.A. news B. facts C. truth D. information
4.A. such as B. the same as C. so as D. for example
5.A. in B. off C. of D. from
6.A. words B. culture C. language D. letters
7.A. for B. to C. from D. out
8.A. that B. something C. one D. this
9.A. why B. if C. what D. for
10.A.when B. before C. after D. While
—What are you going to do tonight?
— ______. If I am free, I may go to the cinema with my mother.
A. Forget it B. It depends
C. It doesn’t matter D. Don’t mention it
