When Charles Strattion was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P.T.Barnum, and thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled around the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a new name, general Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.
Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about two thousand guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding carriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon, just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored “Tom Thumb” weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
1.“the talk of the town” means _________ .
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A．they were in the newspaper |
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B．people spread mean rumors about them |
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C．they were the most popular things happening |
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D．they were discussed in a city meeting |
2.What does the author think about Tom Thumb’s wedding?
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A．People gave it too much of their attention. |
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B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time. |
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C．It was funny and ridiculous. |
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D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid. |
3. Which of the following is the best clue to the fact that Tom was smart?
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A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five. |
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B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age. |
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C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon. |
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D．He married a school teacher. |
4. It was very funny when Tom danced on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because ________ .
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A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom were tap dancing |
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B．it made Tom feel taller |
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C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted |
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D．the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller |
5. What does the author imply in the last paragraph?
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A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine. |
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B．People are always disappointed during wartime. |
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C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose. |
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D．People should be married even if they are small. |
Four hundred years ago, an Italian scientist named Galileo Galilei became the first person to see the craters（环形山） on the moon. Galileo was one of the first people to use a telescope to study the sky. Since then, telescopes have become the most important tool used by astronomers. Scientists never stop finding new ways to make these instruments more powerful. In the next several years, two new telescopes with different purposes are to be used.
One of the telescopes, called Pan-STARRS, could save humans from dying out. Nick Kaiser, a scientist who works on the project, says the Pan-STARRS telescope has been designed to find “90 percent of all killer asteroids(小行星) near Earth”.
Pan-STARRS, like most telescopes, uses mirrors and lenses(透镜) to provide pictures of outer space. Giant mirrors are used to “gather” light. They reflect the light onto the lens of a camera, which can then record the image.
When completed, Pan-STARRS will include four telescopes which will be put on top of a mountain on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Only one telescope is in place and working now. Each telescope will take pictures of one patch of sky for about 30 seconds, and then move on to another patch. Every night, each telescope will take pictures of about 1,000 patches. Every week, each telescope will have photographed the whole sky.
Each of the four telescopes will take pictures of the same patches of sky. One telescope, working alone, may sometimes incorrectly show an asteroid. If there are three other telescopes working, astronomers can use them to see if there really is an asteroid coming our way. By using four telescopes instead of one, scientists hope to get a better picture of space. If a giant asteroid was identified, astronomers would try to break it up long before it reached Earth.
1. Galileo Galilei is mentioned to ____________.
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A．tell us the history of telescopes |
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B．introduce the topic of the passage |
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C．show people his contributions |
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D．tell us about the craters on the moon |
2. For what purpose is Pan-STARRS designed?
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A．To find more asteroids around Earth. |
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B．To help scientists know Earth better. |
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C．To find killer asteroids coming towards Earth. |
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D．To learn about asteroids in outer space. |
3.What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
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A．The use of mirrors in a telescope. |
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B．Why Pan-STARRS is different. |
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C．How telescope “gather” light |
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D．How a telescope works. |
4.How many patches is the whole sky divided into when Pan-STARRS is working?
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A．1,000 |
B．7,000 |
C．21,000 |
D．28,000 |
5. The four telescopes will take pictures of the same patches of sky because _____.
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A．one telescope often takes unclear pictures |
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B．one telescope may provide incorrect information |
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C．information from just one telescope is usually incorrect |
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D．no information is allowed to be identified based on single information |
The Global Heritage Fund organization recently released a list of cultural treasures in the developing world that are in danger of disappearing. These“On the Verge” places face many threats. They included war, development pressures, stealing and misuse by visitors. The Global Heritage Fund says these places are important because they are records of our human civilization. And the group says countries can learn to use these treasures to help support responsible development in the future.
One such place is the town of Lamu. Lamu was once a very important trading center in East Africa. This ancient city became part of the United Nations Heritage list in 2001. But it still faces threats. For example, a modern port might be built nearby.
Other endangered places include Ani, a city in Turkey, the town of Maluti in India, the ancient city of Ninevah in northern Iraq, the Sans-Souci palace in Haiti, and the former capital of Ayutthaya in Thailand.
The Global Heritage Fund is nonprofit organization based in California. The group says it only focuses on developing countries which often have few resources to protect places of cultural importance. And, other major cultural organizations often pay more attention to protecting places in the developed world. For example, the fund points out the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has forty-five World Heritage places in Italy. UNESCO has forty-two in Spain. But Peru, famous for its ancient Incan buildings, has only nine World Heritage places. Guatemala has only three.
The Global Heritage Fund says its new report tries to place a value on cultural places so that they can also be considered as economic resources. It estimates that by 2025 these places of cultural importance could produce one hundred billion dollars a year in income for developing countries.
1. The underlined part “On the Verge” in Paragraph 1 is used to show the places are _____.
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A．popular |
B．famous |
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C．endangered |
D．dangerous |
2. The town of Lamu faces danger from ________.
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A．development pressures |
B．stealing |
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C．misuse by visitors |
D．a war |
3. We can know that The Global Heritage Fund organization mainly _____.
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A．protects places of cultural importance in developing countries |
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B．protects places of cultural importance in developed countries |
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C．provide resources to protect cultural places in every country |
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D．helps people know the importance of protecting cultural treasures |
4. Which of the following countries has the fewest World Heritage places?
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A．Italy |
B．Guatemala |
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C．Peru |
D．Spain |
5. According to The Global Heritage Fund organization, saving the places of cultural
importance_______.
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A．has attracted a lot of attention worldwide |
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B．will start to benefit developing countries in 2015 |
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C．is mainly to increase income of developing countries |
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D．can help developing countries make money out of them |
The significant words found on an old key —"If I rest, I will rust"—would be an excellent motto for those who are tired of their slightest bit of idleness
(懒散).
Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their abilities polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gates that guard the entrance to the professions, to science, art, literature, or agriculture —- every department of human efforts.
Industry(勤奋) keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement.
If Hugh Miller, after working hard all day in a mine, had devoted his evenings to rest and relaxation, he would never have become a famous geologist. The outstanding mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to the science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness. Had the little Scottish boy, Ferguson, allowed his busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the positions of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.
[写作内容]
1. 以约30个词概括以上短文的内容要点；
2. 以约120个词就“业精于勤荒于嬉”这一主题进行议论，内容包括：
（1）文章对你的启示；
（2）描述你自己或他人通过勤奋取得成功的事例。
[写作要求]
1.可以使用亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子。
2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
[评分标准]
概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，语篇连贯。
假如你是新华中学的学生李华。某学生英文报正在招聘兼职的学生记者，你向应聘。请根据以下要点给该报社写一封自荐信。信的开头已经给出。
写信目的 对兼职记者感兴趣，决定应聘。
自身优势 知识面广, 英语水平高，写作能力强；
有过类似的经历（学校广播站记者）；
性格外向，善于交际，乐意与他人合作。
个人要求 希望能收到回复，并被聘用。
[写作要求]
1．只能使用5个句子表达全部内容；
2．文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
[评分标准]
句子结构准确，信息内容完整，篇章结构连贯。
Dear Sir,
I am a student from Xinhua Middle School and I am glad to learn that you need a few more part-time English reporters. …
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
请阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。
BAIDU (www.baidu.com) is a daily miracle to millions of people. It is one of the most popular search engines on the web, a challenging competitor to Google! Type words, names of pictures or videos into the space given and in a second it can comp up with hundreds of related resources. Baidu leads to the entrance to the entrance to vast information.
A. In 1993, “the father of NetEase” ( www.163.com )—Ding Lei wanted to make Internet-surfing easy for Chinese. At that time, most websites are run in English and only few in Chinese at a low speed but high price. To enable Chinese people remember this new website name, instead of English letter, he chose Arabia Number---“163.com”, which provides users with the largest e-mail and network hard disk.
B. YAHOO( www.yahoo.com) was the first wonder of the web. It started in January 1994 by two students, but before the end of the year, it had become famous as Yahoo we know today.
C. Taobao(www.taobao.com), which deals with companies online trading services, is one of the largest Internet companies where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide. It has opened up a global marker=place where the online service allows sellers or buyers to bargain.
D. Gamedom(www.7k7k.com) started out as a fun world, offering a variety of games which suits people in different ages. It also does some business like selling popular computer games. Software. Or download hot music at a certain price.
E. To meet the wordwide common belief-saving energy, news provided in electronic form is becoming necessary. News center (www.chinaenglish.com) can update the latest news daily and store old news. Pictures, comments, videos are offered as well.
1. Zhang Lin is always proud of being a Chinese and he never buys anything made in foreign countries. The net world set up by Chinese certainly is his favorite choice. Can you guess what will be his “e-mail address”?
2.Everybody knows that “Rome is not built in one day”, but what surprised Sam is that a famous website is setup by two students and become world=known within one year. Which web will he really admired most?
3.Li Lei has got an assignment from his teacher to write an essay. He’d like to surf the Internet to search for rich information. A search engine with fast speed and various resources will be of great help to him. Which web will he refer to?
4. Safeguard TianJun is lying in bed because of his brave fighting against several robbers. Being bored of reading books or sleeping, he borrowed a laptop to play computer games to relax himself and kill time. Which website suits his taste?
5.As a busy white-collar girl, Susan hardly has much time to go window shopping. But it no longer upsets her because during her working break, she can search for different goods online and even bargain. Where can she do this?
