Once upon a time there was a painter who had just finished his course from a great painter. He wanted to assess his skills, so he decided to display one of his best works on a busy street.
He put his painting at a busy street-crossing. And below it a board read — "Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new, I might have made some mistakes in my work. 1. "
When he came back in the evening to collect his painting, he was completely shocked to see that the whole painting was filled with crosses.
2. He burst into tears and said sadly, "I'm useless and if this is what I have learned to
paint, I'm not worth teaching."
The master smiled and suggested, "My son, I will prove that you are a great artist." The master told him, "Just paint the same painting once again and give it to me."
Then they went to the same street the next morning and displayed the same painting. The master took out another board which read — "Gentleman, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new, I might have made some mistakes. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please dome a favor. 3. "The master and the young painter went back home.
They visited the place in the evening. The young painter was surprised to see that actually there was not a single correction done! 4. If you want to help people improve their behaviors, it is worth investing your effort in learning how to help people change their behaviors, attitudes and skills. Also, always remember not to get carried away or judge yourself by someone else's criticism and feel depressed as you are the best judge to judge yourself!
A．It is easy to criticize, but difficult to improve.
B．Please put a cross wherever you see a mistake.
C．Discouraged and broken, he ran to his master's place.
D．If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it.
E. Criticizing has the function of helping people improve themselves.
Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding of black culture in America.
During the 1940’s and the 1950’s, Gwendolyn Brooks used her poems to describe conditions among the poor, racial (种族的) inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women.
But her skill was more than her ability to write about struggling black people. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.
Gwendolyn Brooks once said that she wrote about what she saw and heard in the street. She said she found most of her materials through looking out of the window of her second-floor apartment in Chicago, Illinois.
In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago, where many black people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was “A Street in Bronzeville” that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skills and her powerful descriptions about the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.
In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. She won the prize for her second book of poems called “Annie Allen”. “Annie Allen” is a collection of poetry about a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and a mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and poverty (贫穷).
Gwendolyn Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.
Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called “Maud Martha”. “Maud Martha” attracted little attention when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult lives of many women are popular among female writers today.
1.Gwendolyn Brooks became world-famous because .
A．she was an expert on the language of poetry
B．she introduced black culture by writing poems
C．she fought for black rights by writing poems
D．her poems showed the lives of black women
2.Which of the following can we learn from the text?
A．Gwendolyn Brooks’ poems focused on black people in Africa.
B．Winning the Pulitzer Prize for Literature was important to Brooks.
C．Gwendolyn Brooks used to suffer a lot from drugs.
D．Gwendolyn Brooks was very strict with herself.
3.How did Gwendolyn Brooks get ideas for most of her poems?
A．By observing life. B．By having talks. C．By reading widely. D．By traveling.
4.We can infer that the book “Annie Allen” mainly deals with .
A．family life B．inequality C．adventure D．failure
There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. Sadly, she went to the holy man and asked, “What magical things do you have to bring my son back to life?”
Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, “Fetch me a mustard (芥菜) seed from a home that has never known sadness. We will use it to drive the sadness out of your life.” The woman happily went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.
She first came to a splendid house, knocked at the door and said, “I am looking for a home that has never known sadness. Is it such a place? It is very important to me.”
They told her “You’ve certainly come to the wrong place” and began to describe all the tragic things that had happened to them recently.
The woman said to herself, “I have had misfortune of my own. Who is able to help these poor, unfortunate people?” She stayed to comfort them, and then went on in search of a home that had never known sadness. But wherever she went, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune. She became so involved in other people’s sorrow that finally she forgot about her search for the magical mustard seed, never realizing that it had, in fact, driven the sadness out of her life.
1.Which of the following does the story lead us to believe?
A．Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
B．Time passed cannot be called back again.
C．You can’t feel happy unless compared with others.
D．You can’t expect to know the result until you have tried.
2.Instead of sending the woman away, the holy man .
A．asked her to help him first
B．tried to comfort her with kind words
C．asked her to look for a thing that didn’t exist at all
D．tried to encourage her by talking with her
3.Leaving the holy man, the woman .
A．was full of hope B．was filled with sadness
C．was determined to try again D．became discouraged
4.The best title for the text would be “ ”.
A．A woman’s misfortune B．A nice surprise C．The holy man’s faith D．Cure for sadness
Summerfest Arts Faire 2010
Summerfest Arts Faire is an arts festival in Logan, Utah, celebrating local, regional and national artists. Visitors can expect to see high quality artworks from nationally recognized artists. Summerfest also features live entertainment and a variety of delicious food.
Place: 50 North Main Street, Logan, UT 84321
Dates: June 17-June 19, 2010
Time: Thursday-Saturday 1:00 pm-10:00 pm
Venture Outdoors Festival
The 5th Annual Venture Outdoors Festival is a celebration of outdoor recreation (娱乐). This unique festival is designed to increase knowledge and understanding of and participation (参与) in the many recreational activities available in Utah. This family-friendly event features live music, guest speakers, giveaways, creative children’s activities, and great food all day long.
Place: 3100 South 2900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84109
Date: June 19, 2010
Time: Saturday 3:00 pm -10:00 pm
The Days of ‘47 KSL 5 Parade (游行)
The parade is one of the largest and oldest parades in the United States. Colorful floats, bands, horses and clowns thrill tens of thousands of people each year. Many parade-goers camp out on the streets the night before just to make sure of a great position to catch it all.
Place: 900 South 700 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84105
Date: July 24, 2010
Time: Saturday 9:00 am
Taylorsville Dayzz 2010
Experience Taylorsville Dayzz 2010, a celebration of the city’s birthday. Enjoy a 5K Family Run, Carnival, Food and Exhibit Booths and Fireworks. Listen to a live concert by Taylorsville Symphony and Utah Symphony, and a live performance of Jayson Hewlett (an American entertainer).
Place: 5100 South 2700 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84118
Dates: June 25-June 28, 2010
Time: Monday 8:00 pm, Friday 7:00 pm, Saturday 7:00 pm-10:00 pm
1.If you have to go to work in the afternoon, you can only take part in .
A．Summerfest Arts Faire 2010 B．Venture Outdoors Festival
C．The Days of ‘47 KSL 5 Parade D．Taylorsville Dayzz 2010
2.A person who wants to watch fireworks can go to .
A．50 North Main Street, Logan, UT 84321
B．3100 South 2900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84109
C．900 South 700 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84105
D．5100 South 2700 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84118
3.Which of the following time is proper for one to enjoy a live concert?
A．Monday 8:00 am. B．Friday 6:00 pm. C．Saturday 9:00 pm. D．Sunday 10:00 pm.
4.We can learn from the text that .
A．The Days of ‘47 KSL 5 Parade attracts a large crowd
B．Summerfest Arts Faire 2010 is mainly intended for writers
C．people can take part in various matches at Taylorsville Dayzz 2010
D．Venture Outdoors Festival will become more and more popular
Honey(蜂蜜)from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest(巢)and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals looking for honey have a strange and unexpected helper一a little bird called a honey guide.
The honey guide does not actually like honey, but it does like the wax (蜂蜡) in the beehives (蜂房). The little bird cannot reach this wax, which is deep inside the bees’ nest. So, when it finds a suitable nest, it looks for someone to help it. The honey guide gives a loud cry that attracts the attention of both passing animals and people. Once it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting from time to time for the curious animal or person as it leads them to the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get at the delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always falls to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.
Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very determined in its efforts to get it. The birds seem to be able to smell wax from a long distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit.
1.Why is it difficult to find a wild bees' nest?
A．It's small in size. B．It's hidden in trees.
C．It's covered with wax. D．It's hard to recognize.
2.What do the words "the follower" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A．A bee. B．A bird.
C．A honey seeker. D．A beekeeper.
3.The honey guide is special in the way____________。
A．it gets its food B．it goes to church
C．it sings in the forest D．it reaches into bees' nests
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A．Wild Bees B．Wax and Honey
C．Beekeeping in Africa D．Honey-Lover's Helper
It was early in the morning, on a lonely road. It's 1 heavily. A 9-year-old boy was in the car with his mother, who was 2 him to school. Suddenly, the car went off the road, rolled several times, and came to rest upside down in a ditch (沟渠) filled with water.
Luckily, both the mother and son were 3 seatbelts. The mother suffered a blow to her head and was unable to move. The boy was frightened but 4 . As water came through broken windows in the car, he 5 unbuckled (解开) himself, climbed out of the passenger window, made his way around to the driver's side, and reached inside the 6 to free his trapped mother. With great effort, he managed to 7 her, pull her through the window and up to the road, where they were soon 8 .
His mother later recalled her experience of the 9 . Being unable to move or even speak to offer instructions (指导) or encouragement to her son, she was 10 by her little son's action. She recalled hearing her boy saying out loud as he pulled her through the water, “I think I can, I think I can!”
It seemed clear that this little boy's act of courage was from one of his favorite books: The Little Engine that Could. In that 11 , when everyone else had 12 hope, the Little Engine carried the heavy load of toys and good things to eat over the hill to the children waiting on the other side. He had 13 and took action. Obviously this book had left a 14 impression before the accident that rainy 15 and motivated (激励) the son to take action if the terrifying moments.
1. A．snowing B．smoking C．blowing D．raining
2. A．ordering B．driving C．pushing D．flying
3. A．making B．watching C．wearing D．missing
4. A．afraid B．dead C．tired D．unhurt
5. A．quickly B．carefully C．nearly D．happily
6. A．box B．room C．car D．ditch
7. A．respect B．introduce C．recognize D．free
8. A．accepted B．rescued C．welcomed D．fed
9. A．accident B．experiment C．travel D．fire
10. A．excited B．frightened C．wounded D．amazed
11. A．poem B．notice C．story D．dream
12. A．realized B．waken C．kept up D．given up
13. A．courage B．food C．space D．time
14. A．bad B．deep C．false D．general
15. A．afternoon B．night C．morning D．evening
