As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself” (DIY) trend in the US continues to grow.
“we needed furniture for our living room,” says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe-making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $520. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I have finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-youselfer”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.
1.We can learn from the text that many newly married people_______.
A. find it hard to pay for what they need
B. have to learn to make their own furniture
C. take DIY courses run by the government
D. seldom go to a department store to buy things
2. John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to ______.
A. run a DIY shop B. make or repair things
C. save time and money D. improve the quality of life
3. Jim decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when______
A. his car repairs cost too much
B. the car repair class was not helpful
C. he could not possibly do two jobs
D. keeps house and looks after his children
A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly(老年人) and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions（养老金）. Furthermore, some in-situation should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options（选择）have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. The problems faced by the old in society.
B. Why we should take responsibility for the old.
C. How we can improve the lives of the old.
D. Where the old can go to get their pensions.
2.According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?
A. Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire.
B. Increase savings levels of people during their working years.
C. Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old.
D. Make available pensions for those who have retired.
3.The underlined word “viable” most probably means “__________”.
A. impossible B. practical C. useful D. successful
4.What can be concluded from the passage?
A. Taking care of the old is mainly an issue of money.
B. Employers should allow their workers to retire at a later age.
C. Becoming independent should be the goal of most old people.
D. There is no single solution to the problems of the old.
5.What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?
A. To point out the need for government support for old people.
B. To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.
C. To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.
D. To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.
Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor. Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say, “My spoken English is poor.” However, their spoken English does not have to remain “poor”! I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English.
First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary. Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary. However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive. Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know.
Second, they are afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous. Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY（准确性）. Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly. However, in speaking your aim is fluency. You want to get your message across, to talk to someone in English, as quickly and as well as you can, even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense, but it doesn’t matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances for any mistakes he hears.
The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening. You have one mouth but two ears! All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking.
Fourth, most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners. Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English, they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor. If you have this proactive outlook, then you will see English opportunities wherever you go.
If you do not use your English beyond the classroom, you will forget what English you know. Remember: USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more.
1.What is most probably the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?
A．To improve your reading.
B．To improve your listening.
C．To improve your spoken English.
D．To improve your vocabulary.
2.It can be inferred from the third paragraph that______.
A．don’t be fluency , Just be accuracy
B．don’t be nervous ,don’t be shy . Just write!
C．don’t be afraid of making mistakes . Just speak!
D．don’t be shy ,don’t be fluency. Just listen and write!
3.The last paragraph is possibly close to the meaning of “_____”.
A．more hurry, less speed B．better late than never
C．silence is gold D．practice makes perfect
4.The text is most probably taken from a ______.
A．teacher’s diary B．report on study
C．sports newspaper D．movie magazine
Detectives often look for footprints when they try to solve crimes. Scientists use footprints, too—dinosaur footprints when they try to figure out how dinosaurs lived and moved.
Dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago. Today scientists work to solve the mysteries of these ancient animals.
Footprints, or tracks(脚印), are an important way to learn about dinosaurs. Christian Meyer of the Natural History Museum in Basel, Switzerland, calls dinosaur tracks “the closest thing to a movie” of dinosaurs.
“They tell us something about the size of the animal, the way they were walking…they tell us something about their speed,” Meyer said.
Tracks also show that dinosaurs sometimes traveled in groups. Traveling in groups probably helped dinosaurs protect themselves from enemies. Plus, some meat-eating dinosaurs may have hunted in groups, much like wolves do today. Being in a group could help dinosaurs work together to kill large animals.
Dinosaur footprints can be as small as a few inches across, but they can also be as big as a few feet across. Dinosaur footprints have been found throughout the world at over 1,500 sites, including a T. Rex footprint in New Mexico. “Trackways” are groups of footprints.
And scientists aren’t the only ones finding dinosaur tracks—kids can, too! Eleven-year-old Mark Turner and nine-year-old Daniel Helm discovered dinosaur tracks in British Columbia, anada. Soon scientists began studying the tracks.
Scientists and other people interested in studying dinosaurs are working to save the trackways from activities like construction and mining.
1.The passage mainly tells us that_______.
A. there were really dinosaurs on the earth millions of years ago
B. dinosaurs were the most frightening animals in the past
C. dinosaur footprints are important in learning about dinosaurs
C. why dinosaurs died out millions of years ago
2.By studying footprints scientists can know the following EXCEPT _______.
A. how big the dinosaur was B. what color the dinosaur was
C. how fast the dinosaur could run D. how the dinosaur walked
3. By working in groups, some meat-eating dinosaurs_______.
A. made the hunting of large animals easily
B. could travel a long way without being lost
C. could protect themselves from being hunted by wolves
D. could get to a place faster
4. From the last paragraph we can infer that some human activities like mining_______.
A. are helpful to the study of dinosaurs
B. can help scientists solve many mysteries
C. can lead to the discovery of the footprints
D. can destroy the footprints of the dinosaur
We often hear the phrase: "You've a greater chance of being struck by lightning." It is used to describe something that hasn't got much chance of happening. However, the common saying undermines(掩盖) the very real dangers of lightning.
Last Friday, at least 5 people were killed by lightning in Nepal(尼泊尔).
Lightning strikes are the second most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the US. The first is floods. Around 400 people nationwide are struck by lightning each year, and of those, 73 people die. There are more people killed by lightning than by tornadoes and hurricanes.
Because lightning kills only one or two people at a time, its danger does not receive as much attention as other disasters.
So to raise awareness, the US has made June 22-28 National Lightning Safety Week. It aims to warn the public of the dangers of lightning and provide safety tips during thunderstorms.
"If you hear thunder, you are in danger of lightning," said Rocky Lopes, a disaster educator at the American Red Cross.
"Thunder means that lightning is close enough to hit you at any minute, so you should move indoors immediately and stay there until after the storm has ended. The single most important thing to remember is to seek a hiding place," Lopes said.
Summer is the high time for lightning storms, so when lightning strikes across the sky, remember these safety tips:
Stop working, fishing, swimming or playing in open fields.
If you can count less than ten seconds between a thunder and a lightning flash, take cover inside the nearest building.
Do not stand under a tree.
Get off bicycles or motorcycles.
Crouch down(蹲下)if there is no hiding place.
Avoid open spaces, wire fences, metal objects and electrical objects such as hair driers.
1. The popular opinion about being struck by lightening is that ______.
A. there’s a greater chance for being killed by lightening than any other natural disaster
B. it is the most dangerous among all the natural disasters
C. the chance for a person to be struck by lightening is very small
D. it is impossible for people to be killed by lightening
2.The average death rate of being struck by lightening in US is about _______.
A.18% B.50% C. 30% D. 73%
3.thunder in the open air______.
A. just stand by your bicycles and motorcycles
B. quickly find a place to go inside
C. count ten seconds between a thunder and a lightening
D. don’t have a hair drier in your hand
4.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. There are more people killed by tornadoes and hurricanes than by lightening in US each year.
B. There are on average 5 persons killed by lightening in Nepal each day.
C. The death rate of being stuck by lightening is much higher than by other natural disasters.
D. The National Lightening Safety Week is made to warn the public against the lightening.
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
Some people who find themselves unable to solve a problem react by just giving up. But it is not good to 36 problems by giving up or make excuses for 37 . You may be sure that all young people 38 the same difficult process that you are going through: meeting new situations, developing new skills, and testing their abilities.
If you are unhappy about something, face it. Try to 39 the problem in a few words, so that you will know exactly what you are 40 . Then see if you can “put you finger” on the 41 of your unhappiness.
In many cases, we only “think” there is no 42 to a particular problem. But often we can 43 the problem and achieve the goal by making a direct 44 .
For example, a boy wanted to be a debater(辩论家). When he tried for the debating team as a 45 , the coach thought he was 46 . He was shy; he had a high-pitched voice and his posture(姿态) was poor. Although he was given little hope of success, he took 47 of every 48 to debate. He studied from successful speakers and 49 his own weakness and assets. Then he 50 many hours learning all the facts on the topics for the debate, and worked at developing good posture and at speaking clearly. In his junior year, he made the school 51 team, and in his senior year, he was on the winning team in his state. He 52 his goal because he had made a direct attack on his problem.
53 direct attack is often the best way to face problems, we have to be 54 in judging situations and sometimes it is necessary to 55 the goal. So it is important to study the situation and make a wise decision about what to do.
1. A. escape B. notice C. clear up D. dismiss
2.A. success B. failure C. change D. himself
3. A. go through B. experienced C. escape from D. give up
4. A. say B. state C. find D. solve
5. A. dealt with B. up to C. escaping D. up against
6. A. cause B. purpose C. point D. statement
7. A. way B. solution C. method D. hope
8. A. give up B. think of C. consider D. overcome
9. A. attack B. method C. change D. catch
10. A. director B. instructor C. adviser D. freshman (新人)
11.A. hopeful B. great C. hopeless D. grateful
12. A. use B. advantage C. value D. effect
13. A. minute B. opportunity C. effort D. other
14.A. sized up B. thought up C. made up D. gave in
15. A. cost B. found C. spent D. wasted
16. A. speaking B. successful C. debating D. member
17.A. gave up B. escaped C. caught D. achieved
18.A. Although B. Since C. Because D. However
19.A. false B. realistic C. hopeful D. valuable
20.A. give up B. change C. attack D. strike
