Childhood was an illusion (错觉）and the illusion was this: everything was bigger. No, I mean everything, not just houses and shops and grown-ups, but colors and flowers and journeys, especially journeys which seemed endless. “Are we there yet, Daddy?”
Funfairs (游乐场） were huge things that spread for miles around you with noise and lights and exciting danger. Rainy days at home when you were ill seemed to last for ever. Being a grown-up yourself was an unthinkable distant possibility. Every sound was louder, every game was grander, every pain unbearable.
As I’ve grown old, life has become smaller. Tastes have dulled. Surprises have turned into shocks. Days go by unnoticed. How can I regain childhood when it was an illusion?
I have only one repeatable and wonderful way and even in this way I can regain only part of that larger world. I can play upon the stage like a child and make the crowd laugh and laugh with them, sometimes helplessly like a child, and then, even though I’m a sixty-one-year-old man, I can almost catch the colors and sounds and stillness of those bigger years when I was little.
1.How does the author feel about his childhood?
A. It was endless. B. It was unpleasant.
C. He is glad that it is over. D. He misses it as a grown-up
2.The author thinks that everything was bigger in childhood because ________
A. children could not make proper judgments.
B. children were curious and eager about life
C. things appeared really big in children’s eyes
D. to grow up seemed so long for children
3.The world seems to have become smaller to the author because _______.
A. life is disappointing B. time goes by too fast
C. he has had too many surprises D. foods no longer taste delicious
4.The author enjoys playing on the stage so as to _______.
A. act like a child B. live an unusual life
C. make the crowd laugh D. regain his childhood
Instead of hitting the beach, fourteen high school students traded swimming suits for lab coats last summer and turned their attention to scientific experiments.
The High School Research Program offers high school students guidance with researchers in Texas A&M’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jennifer Funkhouser, academic adviser for the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management, directs this four-week summer program designed to increase understanding of research and its career potential.
Several considerations go into selecting students, including grades, school involvement and interest in science and agriculture. And many students come from poorer school districts, Funkhouser says, “This is their chance to learn techniques and do experiments they never would have a chance to do in high school.”
Warner Ervin of Houston is interested in animal science and learned how to tell male from female mosquitoes(蚊子）.His adviser, Craig Coates, studies the genes of mosquitoes that allow them to fight against malaria and yellow fever. Coates thought this experience would be fun and helpful to the high school students.
The agricultural research at A&M differs from stereotypes. It’s “molecular(分子）science on the cutting edge,” Funkhouser says. The program broadened students’ knowledge. Victor Garcia of Rio Grande City hopes to become a biology teacher and says he learned a lot about chemistry from the program.
At the end of the program, the students presented papers on their research. They’re also paid $600 for their work-another way this program differs from others, which often charge a fee.
Fourteen students got paid to learn that science is fun, that agriculture is a lot more than milking and plowing and that research can open many doors.
1.The research program is chiefly designed for _______.
A. high school advisers from Houston
B. college students majoring in agriculture
C. high school students from different places
D. researchers at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
2.It can be inferred from the text that the students in poorer areas ___________ .
A. had little chance to go to college
B. could often take part in the program
C. found the program useful to their future
D. showed much interest in their high school experiments
3.When the program was over, the students ________.
A. entered that college B. wrote research reports
C. paid for their research D. found way to make money
4.The underlined expression “on the cutting edge” in paragraph 5 means “on the most ___ position”.
A. important B. favorable
C. astonishing D. advanced
When a Swedish ship that sank in 1628 was recovered from the port of Stockholm, historians and scientists were overjoyed with the chance to examine the remains of the past. The ship construction showed how ships were built and operated during the seventeenth century. In this way, artifacts, objects made by human beings, provided a picture of daily life almost 400 years ago.
Underwater archaeology-the study of ships, aircraft and human settlements that have sunk under large bodies of water-is really a product of the last 50 years. The rapid growth of this new area of study has occurred because of the invention of better diving equipment .Besides the Swedish ship wreck(残骸），underwater archaeologists have made more exciting discoveries such as the 5000-year-old boats in the Mediterranean Sea.
Underwater archaeology can provide facts about the past. In ancient ports all over the world are ships sunken in the past 6,000 years. There are also sunken settlements in seas and lakes telling of people’s way of life and their systems of trade in ancient times. Underwater archaeologists want to study these objects to add to the world's knowledge of history, but they have to fight two enemies. One enemy is treasure hunters who dive for ancient artifacts that they can sell to collectors. Once sold, these objects are lost to experts. The second enemy is dredging machines(挖掘机）often used to repair ports. These machines destroy wrecks and artifacts or bury them deeper under sand and mud. By teaching the public about the importance of underwater “museums” of the past, archaeologists are hoping to get support for laws to protect underwater treasures.
1.What purpose does Paragraph 1 serve in the passage?
A.To provide background information of the topic
B.To attract readers' attention to the topic
C.To use an example to support the topic
D.To offer basic knowledge of the topic
2.The aim of underwater archaeology is to _____.
A. exploit water bodies B. search for underwater life
C. study underwater artifacts D. examine underwater environment
3.Underwater archaeologists are worried because_____.
A.sea hunters have better diving equipment
B.their knowledge of world history is limited
C.dredging machines cause damage to the ports
D.sold artifacts can hardly be regained for research
4.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A.To introduce a young branch of learning.
B.To discuss the scientists’ problems.
C.To explain people’s way of life in the past.
D.To describe the sunken ships.
On August 26, 1999, New York City experienced a torrential downpour. The rain caused the streets to ____ and the subway system almost came to a stop.
Unfortunately, this happened during the morning rush hour. Many people who were going to work were ____ to go home. Some battled to ____ a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others faced the ____ bravely, walking miles to get to work.
I ____ to be one of the people on the way to work that morning. I went from subway line to subway line only to find that most ____ had stopped. After making my way ____ crowds of people, I finally found a subway line that was ____. Unfortunately, there were so many people waiting to ____ the subway that I could not even get down the stairs to the ____. So I took the train going in the opposite direction, and then switch back to the downtown train. Finally, after what seemed like a forever, the train ____ my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the increasingly heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was ____ through, exhausted and ____.
My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 pm，I was ready to go home. I was about to turn off my computer ____ I received an email from Garth, my Director:
I would like to thank all of you who made the effort and __ __ reported to work. It is always reassuring(令人欣慰), at times like these, when employees so clearly show their ____ to their jobs. Thank you.
Garth’s email was short, but I learned more from that ____ message than I ever did from a textbook. The email taught me that a few words of ____ can make a big difference. The rainstorm and the traffic ____ had made me tired and upset. But Garth’s words immediately____ me and put a smile back on my face.
1.A. break B. flood C. sink D. crash
2.A. forced B. refused C. adjusted D. gathered
3.A. order B. pay C. call D. search
4.A. climate B. scenery C. storm D. burden
5.A. used B. promised C. deserved D. happened
6.A. practice B. routine C. process D. service
7.A. to B. through C. over D. for
8.A. operating B. cycling C. turning D. rushing
9.A. check B. carry C. find D. board
10.A. street B. ground C. floor D. platform
11.A. paused B. crossed C. reached D. parked
12.A. wet B. weak C. sick D. hurt
13.A. ashamed B. discouraged C. surprised D. puzzled
14.A. while B. when C. where D. after
15.A. hardly B. casually C. absolutely D. eventually
16.A. devotion B. donation C. connection D. reaction
17.A. accurate B. urgent C. brief D. humorous
18.A. promise B. appreciation C. advice D. guidance
19.A. troubles B. signals C. rules D. signs
20.A. corrected B. supported C. amazed D. refreshed
A good story does not necessarily have to have a happy ending, but the reader must not be left
.
A. unsatisfied B. unsatisfying C. to be unsatisfying D. being unsatisfied
I won’t tell the student the answer to the math problem until he on it for more than an hour.
A. has been working B. will have worked C. will have been working D. had worked
