A year ago, August, Dave Fuss lost his job driving a truck for a small company in west Michigan. His wife, Gerrie, was still working in the local school cafeteria, but it was hard for Dave to find work, and the price of everything was rising. The Fusses were at risk of joining the millions of Americans who have lost their homes in recent years. Then Dave and Gerrie received a timely gift—$7,000, a legacy(遗产) from their neighbors Ish and Arlene Hatch, who died in an accident. “It really made a difference when we were meeting difficulty .”says Dave.
But the Fusses weren’t the only folks in Alto and the neighboring town of Lowell to receive unexpected legacy from the Hatches. Dozens of other families were touched by what the Hatches had done. In some cases, it was a few thousand dollars; in others, it was more than $100,000.
It surprised nearly everyone that the Hatches had so much money, more than $3 million—they were an elderly couple who lived in an old house on what was left of the family farm.
Children of the Great Depression, Ish and Arlene were known for their habit of saving. They preferred comparison shopping and would go from store to store, checking prices before making a new purchase.
Through the years, the Hatches paid for local children to attend summer camps when their parents couldn’t afford it. “Ish and Arlene never asked if you needed anything,” says their friend Sandy Van Weelden, “They could see things they could do to make you happier, and they would do them.”
Even more extraordinary was that the Hatches gave away their farmland. It was the Hatches’ wish that their legacy—a legacy of kindness as much as one of dollars and cents—should enrich the whole community and last for generations to come.
Neighbors helping neighbors—that was Ish and Arlene Hatch’s story.
1.According to the text, the Fusses __________.
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A．were employed by a truck company |
B．led a difficult life |
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C．worked in a school cafeteria |
D．lost their home |
2.What can we learn about the Hatches?
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A．They had their children during the Great Depression. |
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B．They left the old house to live on their family farm. |
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C．They gave away their possessions（财产）to their neighbors. |
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D．They helped their neighbors to find jobs. |
3.Why would the Hatches go from store to store?
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A．They decided to open a store. |
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B．They wanted to save money. |
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C．They couldn’t afford expensive things. |
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D．They wanted to buy gifts for local kids. |
4.What Sandy Van Weelden said mainly tells us that the Hatches were __________.
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A．understanding |
B．kind |
C．childlike |
D．wealthy |
By 2050
Futurologists（未来学家）predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
TV channels（频道）will have disappeared. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer.
Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours. Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 hours.
Robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big computers prefer robots—they don’t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Medical technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there are devices（设备）that connect directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again.
Scientist will have discovered how to control genes（基因）. Scientists have already produced clones（克隆）of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how clever they are. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
1.According to the passage, the following can be realized today EXCEPT __________.
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A．reading newspapers on a computer |
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B．making a space shuttle go into space and land on Earth again |
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C．creating cloned animals |
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D．choosing TV programs freely from a “menu” |
2.We can learn from the passage that some big companies prefer robots to human workers, because human workers __________.
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A．can work 24 hours a day |
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B．often ask for more pay |
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C．are not clever enough |
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D．are often late for work |
3.From Paragraph 5 we can infer that __________.
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A．there will be no blind and deaf people by 2050 |
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B．few diseases will attack people by 2050 |
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C．devices are connected directly to the brain to help people hear |
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D．medical technology will be more effective by 2050 |
4.What is the author’s attitude towards the cloning technology?
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A．The author does not support the use of cloning technology. |
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B．The author thinks human cloning is impossible. |
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C．The author does not really support the idea of human cloning. |
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D．The author is quite excited about human cloning. |
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days：Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(墓地).On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.
1.Which of the following is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?
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A．Parents bring up children. |
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B．Parents give love and care to children. |
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C．Parents educate children to be good persons. |
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D．Parents pass away before children grow up. |
2.Which do you think is right about “carnation”?
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A．It has only two kinds of colors. |
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B．It refers to the special clothes people wear on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. |
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C．It’s a kind of flower showing love and best wishes. |
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D．People can wear carnations only on the second Sunday in May. |
3.What do you know from the passage?
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A．Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are both in May. |
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B．Fewer women worked outside the home in the past. |
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C．Not all the children respect their parents |
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D．Fathers are not as important as mothers at home. |
4.On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, _______.
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A．people usually have family parties |
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B．everyone goes to visit the cemetery |
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C．children always go to parents’ home |
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D．hand-made cards are the most valuable gifts |
King’s College Summer School
King’s College Summer School is an annual(每年的) training program for high school students at all levels who want to improve their English. Courses are given by the teachers of King’s College and other colleges in New York. Trips to museums and culture centers are also organized. This year’s summer school will be from July 25 to August 15.
More information is as follows:
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Application (申请) date ·Students in New York should send their applications before July 18, 2008. ·Students of other cities should send their applications before July 16, 2008. ·Foreign students should send their applications before July 10, 2008. |
Courses ·English Language Spoken English: 22 hours Reading and Writing: 10 hours ·American History: 16 hours ·American Culture: 16 hours |
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Steps ·A letter of self-introduction ·A letter of recommendation(推荐) ﹡ The letters should be written in English with all the necessary information. |
Cost ·Daily lessons: $200 ·Sports and activities: $100 ·Travels: $200 ·Hotel service: $400 ﹡You may choose to live with your friends or relatives in the same city. |
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Please write to: Thompson, Sanders 1026 King’ s Street New York, NY 10016, USA E-mail: KC-Summer-School@ yahoo, com |
1.You can most probably read the text in ________.
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A．a travel guide |
B．a newspaper |
C．a textbook |
D．a telephone book |
2.Which of the following is true about King’ s College Summer School?
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A．Only top students can take part in the program. |
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B．Visits to museums and culture centers are part of the program. |
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C．King’ s College Summer School is run every other year. |
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D．Only the teachers of King’ s College give courses. |
3.If you are to live with your relatives in New York, you will have to pay the school ________.
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A．$500 |
B．$400 |
C．$200 |
D．$900 |
4.What information can you get from the text?
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A．The program will last two months. |
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B．You can get in touch with the school by e-mail or by telephone |
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C．As a Chinese student, you can send your application on July 14, 2008. |
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D．You can write to Thompson only in English. |
Light for the City
Edison and his assistants came to New York to set up an electric power system. They hoped it would provide enough electricity to light up a part of the great city.
They bought several machines with them. These were called generators(发电机), which produced electricity power for lamps in Edison’s building.
Soon there were lights for the building. Edison lived in a room facing the street and he often worked over night. The light burned brightly and steadily and he often worked over night. People often came and stopped their horse-drawn carriage to look. Everyone knew that Thomas Edison was in town.
First, the inventor and his assistants produced several large generators. A great deal of power would be needed to light up even a small part of the city. Then the workers were busy digging deep trenches in the hard earth below the city streets, and Edison had fourteen miles of wire laid into the trenches. The wire connected each building to a generator.
Setting up an electric power system was not an easy job. It took a year and a half. In September, 1882, the job was finished.
A small group of men stood around Edison inside the power house. The big moment came at last. The inventor, taking a deep breath, pulled a switch. The electric lights flashed up.
“Very good! Very good!” a man nearby shouted to praise Edison for what he had done.
“Sir,” said Edison, “this is only the beginning!” And Edison was right. Soon Edison’s lamp were lighting up cities all over the world.
1.The generators they brought with them could produce as much as electricity as ______ needed.
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A．Edison’s building |
B．a small part of the city |
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C．the whole city |
D．the world |
2.Trenches were dug to ______.
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A．set up generators |
B．lay wires |
C．built city streets |
D．build a power house |
3.It took a year and a half to ______.
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A．set up the electric system |
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B．produce several large generators |
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C．dig the deep trenches |
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D．lay fourteen miles of wire into the trench |
4.Edison took a deep breath before pulling a switch, which showed that he was ______.
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A．excited |
B．frightened |
C．uneasy |
D．light-hearted |
Last weekend, my kids along with few other kids from the neighborhood volunteered to help me wash my car. My 10-year-old daughter came up with the idea of 36 other people’s cars as well. It was pretty 37 outside and I had no plans to 38 being in the bright sun. She 39 wanted to give lemonade（柠檬汽水）to passers-by for free. I had seen little kids 40 and sell fresh lemonade for a small cost but not free. Although I felt 41 , I decided to help her.
42 she asked me, “What if we 43 this a smile car wash?” I couldn’t hold back my tears and 44 her and the other kids to go outside the house and come up with 45 ideas. While I kept myself busy in drying the car, the gang walked up to me with a（n） 46 with beautiful images of smiles. They had “Free Car Wash” written on it and the 47 of their exercise was “smile”. It was pretty neat to see a team of kids ranging 5-11 years with the 48 to do something for others.
All that seemed 49 and came right from their heart. Nothing seemed to 50 to them: their playtime, the heat outside—they just wanted to 51 others and do something nice in the community!
I helped them make some fresh lemonade and brought out some additional 52 to help clean cars. Passers-by were 53 and one even shouted back to them saying “God Bless You, my kids…” One of them even tried giving them 5 dollars, which they refused. A pretty heartwarming 54 !
I feel blessed by being 55 by such wonderful and loving souls.
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