A Famous Writer
In her speech to Harvard students in 2008， J.K.Rowling said， “…seven years after my graduation day， I had failed on an epic scale.”She went on to say that “by every usual standard， I was the biggest failure I knew.”
It might surprise some readers to know which period of her life J.K.Rowling was talking about here. She is talking about her life when she was writing the first novel of the Harry Potter books. The idea came to her during a train ride in 1990. In December that year， her mother died. The next few years were difficult for her. In 1993， her first but short marriage ended. She didn’t have much money and life was not easy. As she said in that same speech， “That period of my life was a dark one and I had no idea that there was going to be…a kind of fairytale resolution.”
As we all know now， the Harry Potter books went on to become extremely successful and also made her very rich. So where does think this success came from? She thinks it is a direct result of her early failures. As she went on to say， “Failure meant I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that really mattered to me… I was set free. ”
Her Harry Potter series was completed with its final book in 2007. The books have become a very successful film series and three years after the final book was published， a Harry Potter theme park opened in the United States. She has written other books related to the Harry Potter series and her first book for adults was published in 2012. She has also remarried and now has three children.
1.Did J.K.Rowling give a speech to Harvard students in 2008?
2.When did J.K.Rowling’s first but short marriage end?
3.Where did J.K.Rowling think her success came from?
4.How many children does J.K.Rowling have now?
5.Why is J.K.Rowling famous?
My Brother the Babysitter(保姆)
1._____. He is fifteen years old. He always takes care of me， and now he takes care of my friend and classmates， too.
Colin likes his job and he tries very hard to be a good babysitter2.__. He learned many important things there. He learned to ask the parents a lot of important questions before they went out like “Where are you going? “3.______?” and “What is your cellophane number?”He also asks about fire exit. Sometimes the parents don’t know the answer， so they make the rules together.
Colin keeps a list of all the important phone numbers like the police， fire department， family doctor， and another adult who lives nearby.
Colin knows how to help someone stop choking. 4._____. He doesn’t use the oven when he is babysitting.
The best thing Colin does when he is babysitting me is he plays with me! He has many ideas about fun things to do. My friends tell me that my brother is a great babysitter. 5._____.
A. I think so， too B. When will you be back C. My brother Colin is a babysitter D. Last year， he took special classes at a babysitting school E. He also knows what to do if someone gets cut or burned |
Is your TV connected to the Internet? What about your chair or your fridge? It is possible that they are not. But in the future， most things in your home may be connected， as the so-called “Internet of things” is developing.
The Internet of things may be coming sooner than you think. It is reported that during his speech earlier this year， Samsung (三星) CEO BK Yoon spent a lot of time talking about the Internet of things. He said that five years from now， every Samsung product will be part of the Internet of things， whether it's a washing machine or a vacuum cleaner(吸尘器).
So， how do household(家用) objects that are part of Internet of things work? Well， think of a usual chair. When connected to the Internet， the chair warms up when it knows that the user has just walked into the room and is feeling cold.
An Internet-connected camera， like a smart-home camera， could help people feel safer in their homes. It can recognize people’s faces， and even can see when someone passes by in the dark. Then it can send you a message on your smartphone to let you know who's there. If the person is someone you don’t know， it can tell you that， too.
But according to MIT Technology Review， whether companies are connecting dog food bowls or security (安全) systems to the Internet， there may be problems. For example， many early connected-home devices (装置) don't have much built-in security， which means they could be hacked (被黑客攻击). In addition， it could be difficult to get these devices to work together because they are made by different companies. To fight this， many companies have joined the Open Interconnect Consortium， which had 45 members by late 2014.
So， picture this； you walk in through the front door of your home. The temperature changes to make you feel comfortable after a long day at school. Your favorite music starts playing for you. Do you think that this would be a good thing? It may happen sooner than you think.
1.The Samsung CEO’s speech is mentioned to prove that______.
A. Samsung has produced the Internet of things recently
B. the Internet of things will appear in our daily life sooner
C. he spent a lot of time talking about the Internet of things
D. Samsung products have been part of the Internet of things
2.What’s the problem about the Internet of things?
A. These new devices are produced by different companies.
B. Companies have difficulty connecting security system to the Internet.
C. Connected-home devices may not work together and can easily get hacked.
D. Companies which produce connected-home devices haven't joined together.
3. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. How to product the Internet of things.
B. The way of connecting the Internet of things.
C. The introduction to use the Internet of things.
D. The Internet of things is coming in the future.
This is a story about a boy called Sparky. For Sparky， school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He got a zero in physics. It made him the worst physics student in the school’s history. He didn’t do much better in sports. Although he tried to join the school’s golf team， he quickly lost the only important match.
He didn’t have friends， either. Other kids didn’t care about him. If a classmate said “Hello” to Sparky outside of school， he would feel very surprised. Sparky was a loser and everyone knew it. So he accepted (承认) it.
But one thing was important to Sparky-drawing. He was proud of his artwork. In senior high school， he sent some cartoons to the editors (编辑) of the yearbook but he was refused. Sparky was hurt. But he didn’t lose hope because he believed in his ability and he stuck to drawing. He decided to become a professional (专业的) artist.
He wrote a letter to the Walt Disney Studios after graduating from high school. The studio asked him to draw some cartoons on a certain subject. Sparky spent a lot of time on the cartoons. Finally， the reply came from Disney Studios； they aren’t like cartoons.
Was it time to stop drawing? Sparky didn’t think so. He started to put his own life in the cartoons. He created his childhood self-a little boy loser； Charlie Brown. He wasn’t good at football. But Charlie Brown would soon become famous worldwide. Sparky， the boy who used to fail in school and who was refused again and again， was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip and the world-famous cartoon characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy.
1.Which of the following about Sparky is True?
A. He did well in his subjects.
B. He got a good grade in physics.
C. He didn’t accept he was a loser.
D. He didn’t lose the hope of drawing
2. The underlined words “stuck to drawing” (in paragraph 4) most probably mean _____.
A. Stopped drawing
B. Gave up drawing
C. Kept on drawing
D. Refused to draw
3.Who is Charlie Schulz according to the passage?
A. An editor of Walt Disney studios.
B. The boy who used to fail in school.
C. The boy who was good at everything.
D. The boy who was weak in everything.
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A. Stick to Your Dream.
B. A Cartoon Character.
C. A Professional Artist.
D. How to Be an Artist.
Seed（种子）of Kindness
Jim， a successful businessman， told the experience of his childhood.
When he was 12， his parents died. He was alone and didn’t get on well with others. People always laughed at him. No one showed kindness to him.
His only friend was a dog named Tige. He gave his dog enough to eat and drink， but sometimes he was not polite to it. He didn’t know that an unkind work sometimes could cut one’s heart like a knife.
One day as he walked down the street， a young lady was walking in front of him. Suddenly one of her bags dropped from her arms. As she stopped to pick it up， she dropped other bags. He came to help her. “Thank you， dear! You are a nice little boy!” she said kindly， smiling.
A special feeling came to him. These were the first kind words he had ever heard. He watched her until she went far away， and then he whistled （吹口哨）to his dog happily and went directly to the river nearby.
“Thank you， dear! You are a nice little boy!” he repeated the woman’s words. Then in a low voice he said to his dog， “You are a nice little dog!” Tige raised its ears as if it understood.
“Uhum! Even a dog likes it!” he said， “Well， Tige， I won’t say unkind words to you anymore.” Tige waved its tail happily.
The boy thought and thought. Finally he looked at himself in the river. He saw nothing but a dirty boy. He washed his face carefully. Again he looked. He saw a clean nice boy. He was amazed. From then on， he had a new life.
After telling this， the businessman stopped for a while， and then he said， “Ladies and gentlemen， this is the very place where that kind woman planted in me the first seed of kindness. All of us should learn about kindness. What a great power it has!”
1.Who was Jim’s only friend?
A. The dog.
B. The businessman.
C. The young lady.
D. The gentleman.
2.One day as Jim walked down the street， ______ .
A. he said kind words to the lady
B. he looked at himself in the river
C. he saw a young lady dropped her bags
D. he told the experience of his childhood
3.Jim was feeling ______ when he whistled to his dog.
A. funny B. excited C. sad D. lonely
4.Which of the following is True according to the passage?
A. Jim usually had many friends around him.
B. Jim often washed his dirty face in the lake.
C. Jim never took good care of his friend， Tige.
D. Jim thought the woman planted in him the first seed of kindness.
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The Weekend By Rosie | June 6， 2016 Hi! I’m on vacation here in London… and it’s fantastic! On Saturday I was in the British Museum for three hours. On Sunday I visited Tower Bridge. Where were you over the weekend? Tell me your news! | ||
| DISCUSSION | |
| Sophia·9；30 Glad you’re having a great vacation. I was in the Summer Palace in Beijing on Saturday. I was there for a flower show. It was amazing! And there were lots of people. But on Sunday it was rainy and I wasn’t very well. I stayed in bed for a whole day. | |
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| Steve·10；10 It was cloudy the whole weekend in Paris. On Saturday I was at a football game with my classmates. It was exciting! On Sunday I was at the shops with Ann for four hours. |
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| Jack·11；00 I wasn’t at home over the weekend. On Saturday I was in Scotland for a trip. It was a lovely， warm day and I had a picnic with friends. It was great! Sunday was boring. It took me five hours to get back home. It was a long journey. | |
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| Kate·11；20 On Saturday I was at Heathrow Airport. I met a friend there and we talked together for two hours. I was very happy. On Sunday I was in Sydney for a concert. It is winter in Australia， and it was windy and cold! | |
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1.On Saturday Rosie was ______.
A. in the Summer Palace
B. in the British Museum
C. at Tower Bridge
D. at Heathrow Airport
2.What was the weather like when Sophia was in Beijing on Sunday?
A. Cloudy. B. Warm. C. Rainy.D. Cold.
3.Kate talked with her friend for______.
A. Two hours
B. Three hours
C. Four hours
D. Five hours
4.Jack was in Scotland for ______.
A. a flower show
B. a concert
C. a football game
D. a trip
