Have you got any wonderful plans for your coming winter vacation? Here are some wonderful films for you to kill time.
Away We Go With a baby on his way, a young couple, Burt and Verona, look at their lives and are puzzled about what they really want. So they hit the road and seek a place to call home. On their journey, they visit a handful of characters and learned a lot. It’s about taking the scenic route in life, preparing for the hope and excitement and fear of new beginnings, while never forgetting to look out of the window. |
Orphan Esther, a bright and well-behaved child, however, is not as innocent as she appears. Soon after being taken home, the peace of her adoptive family is completely changed… You want a good horror film about a child from hell? Then you got one! Do not, in any cases, take children to see it.
|
500 Days of Summer Tom is in love with Summer from the moment he sees her. Can he accept that she simply likes him for now, not for forever? The movie is about Tom wrestling with that reality. Tom remembers his love, Summer, as a series of joys and bafflements. But Summer is just herself and he cannot have her. Here is a rare movie that begins by telling us how it will end and is about how the hero has no idea why. |
2012 The director Roland Emmerich successfully dresses a corny story with an old Mayan prediction, which is believed by many to happen in the coming 2012 and as a result, attracts millions of people into the cinema. It’s just an entertaining Hollywood blockbuster(大片) with plenty of jokes, instead of a description of what the end of the world is really like. Don’t take it too seriously! |
This passage aims to __________.
A. make comments on films for a cinema
B. introduce films for a film corporation
C. recommend several films for fun
D. advertise several films for a website
【小题2】If you bring your seven-year-old sister to the cinema, which of the following film should you avoid?
A. Away We Go. B. Orphan.
C. 2012. D. 500 Days of Summer.
【小题3】Among all the characters mentioned in the passage, who directed films in Hollywood?
A. Roland Emmerich. B. Tom and Summer. C. Burt and Verona. D. Esther.
【小题4】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Orphan is a comedy about Esther adopted by a kind family.
B. 500 Days of Summer is a romance with a happy ending.
C. Away We Go shows beautiful scenery on the young couple’s journey.
D. The ancient Mayan prediction is going to happen in 2012.
Happiness is associated with smiling. But do we always smile when we are happy?
During the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, Spanish researchers analyzed the facial expressions of 22 gold medal winners at the medal ceremonies. The researchers were surprised to see that these medal winners didn't smile very much. In fact, throughout the different medal ceremonies, they only smiled about 10% of the time. But during the brief moment when the gold medal was put around their neck, the medal winners grinned (露齿笑) about 70% of the time.
The researchers interviewed the winners they had watched to find out how they felt. All the winners interviewed said that they felt intensely(强烈的)happy throughout the ceremony.
Though they were profoundly(衷心地)happy, they didn't smile a great deal. The researchers concluded that smiling was not the automatic expression of happiness. The fact that the gold medal winners smiled much more when they were actually being given their medals could be explained because, according to the Spanish researchers, smiling was a form of communication between individuals. The happy athletes were smiling at the people who were giving them gold medals. Perhaps we can support the findings of the Spanish researchers by making some observations of our own behaviors. When we are all alone, for example, do we smile at ourselves when we are happy? Probably not very often. If someone greets us with a friendly smile, do we respond with a smile? Yes, we probably do. When a friend gives us a beautiful present, will we show our appreciation with a smile? Yes, of course. But if we are sitting alone watching television, do we smile at a commentator (讲解员) who smiles at us?
How much of the time did the gold medal winners smile during the medal ceremonies?
A. 10%. B. 70%. C. 22%. D. 92%.
【小题2】According to the passage, when did the athletes smile quite a lot?
A. Throughout the medal ceremony.
B. When they were informed of their success.
C. When the gold medal was put around their neck.
D. When their national flag was raised.
【小题3】 According to the passage, on which of the following occasions would we most probably NOT smile?
A. When we are sitting alone watching TV.
B. When someone greets us with a friendly smile.
C. When a friend gives us a beautiful present.
D. When we feel intensely happy.
【小题4】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The gold medal winners were too nervous that they would hardly smile at the medal ceremonies.
B. People will always smile automatically when they feel happy.
C. Smiling is a way of communication.
D. When the gold medal was put around their neck, the gold medal winners were smiling at the audience but not at those who gave the medal.
A few years ago, I took a sightseeing trip to Washington, D.C.Standing outside the Ronald Reagan Center, I heard a voice say, “Can you help me?” When I turned around, I saw an elderly blind woman with her hand extended.In a natural reflex (反应), I reached into my pocket, pulled out all of my loose change and placed it on her hand without even looking at her.I was annoyed at being bothered by a beggar.But the blind woman smiled and said, “I don’t want your money.I just need help finding the post office.”
In an instant, I realized what I had done.I judged another person simply for what I assumed she had to be.I hated what I saw in myself.This incident re-awakened my belief in humility(谦恭), even though I’d lost it for a moment.
The thing I had forgotten about myself is that I am an immigrant.I left Honduras and arrived in the U.S.at the age of 15.I started my new life with two suitcases, my brother and sister, and a strong, serious-minded mother.Through the years, I have been a dishwasher, mechanic and pizza delivery driver among many other humble jobs, and eventually I became a network engineer.
In my own life, I have experienced many open acts of prejudice (偏见).I remember a time, at age 17 ----- I worked as a waiter, and I heard a father tell his little boy that if he did not do well in school, he would end up like me.I have also witnessed the same treatment of my family and friends, so I know what it’s like, and I should have known better.
But now, living in my American middle-class lifestyle, it is too easy to forget my past, to forget who I am and where I have been, and to lose sight of where I want to be going.That blind woman on the streets of Washington, D.C., cured me of my blindness.She reminded me of my belief in humility and to always keep my eyes and heart open.By the way, I helped that lady to the post office.And in writing this essay, I hope to thank her for the priceless lesson.
We can learn from the first two paragraphs that __________ .
A.the author regretted his act of prejudice
B.the blind woman needed the money badly
C.the author was as poor as the blind woman
D.the author was a native American
【小题2】According to Paragraph 4, hearing the father’s words, the author was probably _____ .
A.rather hurt B.very excited C.deeply moved D.greatly inspired
【小题3】According to the passage, the author probably agrees that one should ________ .
A.be nice to the elderly and the disabled
B.try to experience different kinds of life
C.treat others equally with love and respect
D.think about one’s past as often as possible
【小题4】Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A.Learn from your past
B.How my dream comes true
C.A belief that will never change
D.A priceless lesson in the street
When my father died, one of the tasks that fell to me was to sort through and decide which objects to save and which to throw away. Now I look at the 51 of my life as if I were dead, 52 what my children will do with the human skull(骷髅) that 53 on the bookcase next to my desk. I couldn’t 54 them if they threw it out. They’ve been wanting to do that for some years, 55 will they know how much can be learned from 56 with a skull? And what about my books? 57 they can find some place in their 58 for ten thousand books. However, I know they will look at the white, plastic head of a horse on my desk and 59 it into a Glad trash bag without any 60 , never knowing that it is the only place 61 from the first chess set (棋子)I owned.
How many boxes of mine will my children 62 ? Can I trust my children with my 63 ? Every object of our lives is a 64 , and emotion swirls(旋动) around it like fog, hiding and 65 a tiny truth of the heart.
I look at these objects that are mine and know, too, that they are 66 of how alone I am, how alone each of us is, 67 no one knows what any object means except he or she who 68 it. I have the memory of taking it home 69 one of my newly-born children from the hospital; only I have the memory of what it looked like when I lived in that apartment and where it sat in that house. I look at the objects that are mine, and the memories are 70 and permeated(渗透着)with love. I look at the objects that are mine and know that I’m going to miss me very much.
A. tasks B. objects C. books D. pictures
【小题2】A. wondering B. designing C. concluding D. weaving
【小题3】A. cries B. sleeps C. sits D. smiles
【小题4】A. educate B. understand C. blame D. strike
【小题5】A. and B. so C. or D. but
【小题6】A. helping B. living C. playing D. speaking
【小题7】A. Honestly B. Luckily C. Naturally D. Surely
【小题8】A. desks B. bags C. apartments D. hearts
【小题9】A. drag B. take C. move D. throw
【小题10】A. hesitation B. love C. care D. worry
【小题11】A. casting B. expanding C. remaining D. shining
【小题12】A. enjoy B. reserve C. find D. prepare
【小题13】A. life B. passion C. respect D. heart
【小题14】A. mark B. pleasure C. belief D. memory
【小题15】A. preventing B. spreading C. protecting D. encouraging
【小题16】A. symbols B. phenomena C. measures D. tracks
【小题17】A. when B. once C. unless D. as
【小题18】A. prefers B. repairs C. owns D. remembers
【小题19】A. like B. for C. with D. to
【小题20】A. strange B. warm C. new D. bitter
According to my grandparents, it is a good idea to eat chicken soup when you have a cold. __ , scientists agree with them.
A. Sooner or later B. Once in a while C. To be exact D. Believe it or not
Wind power is an ancient source of energy we may return in the near future.
A. on which B. by which C. to which D. from which