May: Happenings from the Past
May 5, 1884
Isaac Murphy, son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby. He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.
May 9, 1754
Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon (漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces with the words “Join or Die” printed under the picture.
May 11, 1934
The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought (干旱), blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington, D.C.
May 19, 1994
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.
May 24, 1844
Samuel F.B Morse taps out the first message, “What hath God wrought,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Md.
1.We know from the text that Buchanan is ______.
A．Isaac’s father
B．a winning horse
C．a slave taking care of horses
D．the first racing horse in Kentucky
2.What is the title of the first American political cartoon?
A．Join or Die B．Pennsylvania Gazette
C．What Hath God Wrought D．Kentucky Derby
3.In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die?
A．1934 B．1960 C．1964 D．1994
4.Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history?
A. Washing to, D.C. B. New York City C. Kentucky D. Pennsylvania
Liverpool city council (市政厅) want to clear the city of fat pigeons (鸽子). They say that people are feeding the birds, which makes them fat. The pigeons get bigger because they normally eat seeds (种子) and insects (昆虫) for their main food, not high-fat junk food they are eating in the city centre.
The council want people to know that everyone who feeds the pigeons makes the streets crowded (拥挤)with these birds. They hope to encourage the birds to move away from the city centre and into parks and open spaces.
Ten robotic birds have been brought into the city centre to scare the pigeons away and visitors are asked not to give the pigeons any food. The mechanical birds—known as ‘robops’—will sit on the roofs of buildings. They can be moved around to different places. They look like a peregrine falcon, which is a bird that kills pigeons. They even make noises and flap their wings to scare the pigeons. They hope that the pigeons will go away before the city becomes the European Capital of Culture in two years.
1.Liverpool city council want to clear the city of fat pigeons because ______.
A．the pigeons are eating junk food
B．the pigeons might get killed
C．the pigeons make the city center crowded
D．the pigeons sit on the roofs of buildings
2.What do we know about a peregrine falcon?
A．It scares the robotic birds. B．It is an enemy of the pigeons.
C．It looks like a pigeon. D．It likes the food people give it.
3.Which of the following is probably true according to passage?
A．The robots will fly around the city center like real birds.
B．Pigeons get fat because they eat seeds and insects.
C．Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture.
D．The pigeons like the food that people give them.
Scientists would like to place a huge mirror in space above the earth. It might be sixty miles wide. It would be used to catch the rays (光线) of the sun. It would direct the sun’s rays upon the earth as a child might do to make sunlight dance on the wall with a hand mirror.
Why do they want to do this? The sun’s rays could be helpful in many ways. They could light up cities by night. The warm rays could stop frosts (霜冻) which might come at night and hurt fruit crops. They could melt (融化) dangerous icebergs in the ocean. Perhaps they could change cloud movements and bring rain where it is needed.
1.The huge mirror would ______.
A．stand 60 miles in height (高度) B．be 60 miles from side to side
C．cover 60 miles of the earth D．be 60 miles above the earth
2.The mirror would be used to ______.
A．reflect (反射) sunlight B．absorb (吸收) sunlight
C．see what the earth looks like D．see how clouds move
3.The strong light from the mirror could possibly ______.
A．hurt fruit crops B．set fire to cities
C．bring longer daytime D．shine through walls
4.The huge mirror is ______.
A．something in a story B．already made
C．just an idea D．to be made soon
In front of the big Shibuya train station in Tokyo, there is a life-size bronze (青铜) statue of a dog. Even though the statue is very small when compared to the huge neon (霓虹灯) signs flashing, it isn’t 21 to find. It has been used as 22 since 1934 and today you will find hundreds of people waiting there for their friends to 23 —just look for the crowds（人群）.
Hachiko, an Akita dog, was born in 1923 and brought to Tokyo in 1924. His owner, Professor Eisaburo Uyeno and he were close friends that cannot be 24 right from the start. Each day Hachiko would go with his owner, a professor at the Imperial University, to Shibuya train station when he left for work. When he came back, the professor would always find the dog 25 waiting for him. 26 , the professor died suddenly at work in 1925 before he could return home.
27 Hachiko was still a young dog, the bond between him and his owner was very strong and he 28 to wait at the station every day. Sometimes, he would stay there for days at a time, though some believe that he kept returning because of the food he was given by street vendors. Over time he became a 29 sight to people going to and from work every day. In 1934, a statue of him was put 30 the station. In 1935, Hachiko died at the place he last saw his friend alive.
1. A．difficult B．important C．pleasant D．polite
2. A．a parking place B．a training center
C．a starting line D．a meeting point
3. A．leave B．arrive C．die D．work
4. A．touched B．separated C．reached D．moved
5. A．nervously B．disappointedly C．patiently D．carefully
6. A．Sadly B．Clearly C．Luckily D．Honestly
7. A．Because B．Since C．Although D．Unless
8. A．decided B．agreed C．offered D．continued
9. A．familiar B．strange C．comfortable D．funny
10. A．inside B．outside C．behind D．above
______ good advice he gave us!
A．How a B．What a C．How D．What
—Sally doesn't like pop music, does she?
—_____. She is a fan of classical music.
A．No, she does B．Yes, she does C．No, she doesn't D．Yes, she doesn’t
