There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in different countries. The origins of most of the days are unknown. They were certainly not created by individual people. Other days, however, especially those celebrated in western countries, often owe their origins to a particular person. One of the most popular of these, even though it is fairly recent, is Mother’s Day. Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures. The ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria, during which children took presents to the temple of the “Mother of the Gods”. The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday. However, over the years this custom was gradually forgotten and almost disappeared by the end of the 19th century.
Born in 1864 in Virginia, USA, Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude to their mothers for all their love and care. Encouraged by a friend, she wrote to thousands of important people—politicians, churchmen, doctors, city officials—and asked them to support her idea: a special day of the year for thanking mothers.
In 1910 the Governor of West Virginia introduced Mother’s Day into the state. The date chosen was May 10—the second Sunday in May, which is still observed in America today. This date was chosen because May 10 was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis’s mother had died. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10 the official date for Mother’s Day throughout the United States.
Soon there was a Mother’s Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.
Anna Jarvis, a sad and disillusioned（失望的） woman, died in 1948. The custom she had worked so hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose. It had been taken over by business. Like Christmas, the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multi-million-dollar industry.
1.The story is about .
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A．Mothering Sunday for Christmas |
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B．the origin of a special day for mothers |
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C．President Wilson and Anna Jarvis |
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D．how people celebrate Mothers Day |
2.Anna Jarvis wanted to .
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A．thank her mother for her care |
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B．introduce a celebration for mothers |
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C．meet thousands of important people |
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D．make her pupils celebrate her on Mother’s Day |
3.May 10 became the date for Mother’s Day because .
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A．May is in the American spring |
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B．it was the second Sunday in May in 1910 |
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C．President Wilson liked the date |
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D．this was the date on which Anna Jarvis’s mother died |
4.Unfortunately, Anna Jarvis was not happy with Mother’s Day when she died because .
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A．her mother was not there to see it |
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B．she had never been a mother herself |
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C．people were too interested in making it a business |
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D．no one gave any presents or cards to their mothers |
Recently, a professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book called MoneyandtheMeaningofLife. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our daytoday life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.
He says that our relation with others often becomes clearly defined when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you have a very good friend. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend you some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before. Or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn't. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.
Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich?
Answer: The most surprising thing is why people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I do not know much. All I am is rich.
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.
1.The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money ________.
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A．is a good way to test your friendship |
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B．will do harm to your friendship |
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C．will strengthen your friendship |
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D．is a good way to break off your friendship |
2.What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview?
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A．He does not feel that he is well educated. |
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B．He does not think that he is a very important person. |
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C．He does not think that being rich is worth so much attention. |
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D．He does not consider himself to be very successful. |
3.What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?
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A．Money is an end. |
B．Money is a means. |
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C．Money is everything. |
D．Money is unimportant. |
4.Which of the following might the author disagree with?
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A．Money is important in modern society. |
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B．The meaning of life does not completely lie in money. |
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C．Wealth will surely bring the owner happiness |
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D．Happiness is not necessarily the result of wealth. |
William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright (剧作家). Although he died in 1616, people still go to see his plays. Among the most popular are Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ, Ａ Ｍｉｄｓｕｍｍｅｒ Ｎｉｇｈｔ’ｓ Ｄｒｅａｍ and Ｈａｍｌｅｔ — the story of a prince who struggles to respond to the crimes around him.
Shakespeare, who was born in 1564, was an actor as well as a writer. Most of his ideas for plays were taken from history, people’s conversation, ancient stories, and also from other writers. He wrote not only about kings and queens and princes, but also about friends and ordinary people. He wrote about the cruelty of war and the bravery of heroes, as well as about jealousy, joy, hate, ambition and love. His stories live on. The tragedy Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ was reborn as the musical Ｗｅｓｔ Ｓｉｄｅ Ｓｔｏｒｙ and more recently as the movie Ｒｏｍｅｏ ａｎｄ Ｊｕｌｉｅｔ with the wonderful performance of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.
He invented a number of great characters: powerful magicians, thrilling witches, smart women and both wise and wicked men. He also invented some great phrases. If you’ve ever said, “Oh, for goodness sake!” you can thank Shakespeare for that. “To be, or not to be: that is the question,” Hamlet says. “Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it is morrow,” says Juliet to her Romeo.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t understand everything when reading Shakespeare or watching one of his plays because the meanings of many words have changed over the years. And Shakespeare’s characters speak in poetry, so their speeches can be complicated.
It does help to find out a little bit about the story before reading a Shakespeare play. It’s worth the effort. As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world is a stage.” And in his plays you’ll find that an entire world is waiting for you.
1.Shakespeare created the following characters EXCEPT ________.
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A．Juliet |
B．Hamlet |
C．Claire Danes |
D．Romeo |
2.From Paragraph 3 we can learn that ________.
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A．most of the characters created by Shakespeare were negative ones |
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B．most of the phrases used today were invented by Shakespeare |
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C．“Oh, for goodness sake!” is what Juliet says to Romeo |
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D．Shakespeare contributed greatly to the development of English |
3.Which of the following is a reason why it’s difficult to understand some of Shakespeare’s plays?
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A．There are many new words in his plays. |
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B．He wrote his plays using uncommon words. |
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C．The characters in his plays speak in poetry. |
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D．Most of the words in his plays are outdated. |
4.We can infer from the passage that ______.
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A．most of Shakespeare’s plays have been made into films |
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B．language changes with the development of society |
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C．Shakespeare made lots of money from his works |
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D．it is more useful to read Shakespeare’s works than to watch them |
A thousand years ago Hong Kong was covered by a thick forest like the forests we now find in Malaysia and Thailand. As more and more ___36___ came to live in Hong Kong, these trees were cut down and burnt. Now there is no forest left, ___37__ there are still some areas covered with trees. We call these __38__.
Elephants, tigers, monkeys and many other animals used to live in the __39__ forests of Hong Kong, and there were even crocodiles in the ___40__ and along the coast. When people came to live in Hong Kong, the animals began to __41___ out. Early farmers grew rice and kept pigs and chickens in the valleys.
They ___42___ the trees and burnt them. They needed fires to keep themselves ___43___ in the winter, to cook their food, and to keep away from dangerous animals. Elephants quickly disappeared because there was not enough ___44___ for them. So did most of the wolves, and tigers. Monkeys, squirrels and many other animals soon died out in the same __45____.
You might think that there are ___46___ any animals in Hong Kong, except in the __47_____. You might think there can’t be any wild animals in such a __48___ place with so many cars and buildings. But there is __49_____ a good deal of countryside in Hong Kong and New Territories, and there are still about thirty-six different kinds of animals living there.
One of the most interesting of Hong Kong’s ____50___ is the barking deer. They are beautiful little creatures with rich, brown coat and a white patch under the tail. They look like deer but they are much ___51___. They are less than two feet high. The male barking deer has two small horns but the female has none. They make a __52____ rather like a dog barking.
Barking deer live in thick shrub（灌木） country and are very good at __53___. They eat grass and shrubs, mainly in the very early morning and late afternoon and evening. This is when you are most likely to see one but you will need to be very quiet and to have very ___54___eyes. In Hong Kong the barking deer has only one ___55_____ ---- man. Although it is illegal, people hunt and trap these harmless little animals. As a result there are now not many left. There are a few on Hong Kong Island but none in the New Territories.
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Laura wanted to play a joke on her father but gave herself________by laughing.
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A．out |
B．away |
C．off |
D．up |
The hurricane did damage to many houses and business buildings. ,it caused 20 deaths.
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A．However |
B．But |
C．After all |
D．What’s more |
