CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS? Every one of us gets so used to punctuation marks that not many of us give them a second thought. Actually, the ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks probably didn’t bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc. The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this: They • put • something • that • can • separate • words • in • a • sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a dot.
When the 5th century arrived, there were just two punctuation marks: spaces and points. The spaces separated words while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13th century, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicate a short pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma (逗号).
Since that time, other marks have enlarged the punctuation family. The exclamation mark (感叹号) comes from the Latin word io. It means “exclamation of joy.” The question mark originally started out as the Latin word questio, meaning question. Eventually, scholars put it at the end of a sentence to show a question.
Punctuation even keeps changing nowadays. New marks are coming into existence, and old punctuation marks are used in new ways. Take for example the “interrobang”. This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both. For example, “She did what?” or “How much did you pay for that dress?” Obviously, the interrobang is not widely used or recognized yet, but its invention shows that English is not yet finished with its punctuation.
1.From the first paragraph, we can know that _______.
A. good readers had trouble reading without punctuation marks
B. a sentence always read from left to right in ancient Greece
C. ancient Greeks switched the direction of punctuation marks
D. the use of punctuation marks can date back to ancient times
2. The passage is developed _______.
A. by time B. by space
C. by comparison D. by importance
3. We can learn from the passage that _______.
A. ancient Romans didn’t use any punctuation marks
B. exclamation and question marks came from Latin
C. spaces and slashes were already used before the 5th century
D. Aldus Manutius first started to use commas
4. What can be concluded from the last paragraph?
A. The combination of two marks will not work.
B. It takes time for people to accept new punctuation marks.
C. Old punctuation marks need to be standardized.
D. Punctuation marks are still changing today.
To most people, noise pollution is a jet flying over their head. For one Spanish woman, it is a neighbor playing the piano. The woman has taken her neighbor to court. Now she wants to send her neighbor to prison for over seven years on the charges of psychological damage and noise pollution.
In a country known for its noisiness, the case has raised eyebrows. Neighbors often complain about street noise in Spain, but people seeking prison time for someone practicing the piano is unheard of. At the trial, Sonia Bosom says she has been suffering noise pollution up to now due to the practice sessions of Laia Martin, who lives below her. Martin, 27, didn’t admit that she played at home that often, saying she took regular classes in other towns and mostly practiced at home on the weekends.
On the first day of the trial, the newspaper reported that Bosom told the court she now hated pianos so much that she couldn’t even stand seeing them in a film.
Bosom says years of hearing constant playing has caused her “psychological injury”. Medical reports show she has suffered from a variety of problems, including insomnia (失眠), anxiety, and panic attacks.
She says tests by local authorities have found that the sound levels made by the piano are up to 10 decibels (分贝) higher than the limit. City authorities have asked the family several times to either stop the piano playing or soundproof (隔音) the room. The family told the court they carried out soundproofing work twice but the complaints continued.
The court hasn’t made a final decision. A spokeswoman says the trial will end before May.
1.Bosom wants to send Martin to prison because _______.
A. Martin’s playing the piano damaged her health
B. Bosom suffered from heart attack
C. Martin refused to take regular classes in other towns
D. Martin flew a jet over her head
2.How did Laia Martin respond to the complaints?
A. She stopped playing the piano.
B. She soundproofed the room.
C. She didn’t admit she played at home.
D. She took her neighbor to court.
3.Which of the following may probably be the best title for the passage?
A. A 7-year Sentence Caused by the Piano
B. Pianist Charged with Noise Pollution
C. Health Problems of a Spanish Woman
D. Actions Against Noise by Local Authority
Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1742 to African American parents who were slaves. At the age of six months she was acquired, along with her sister, by John Ashley, a wealthy Massachusetts slaveholders. She became known as Mumbet or Mum Bett.
For nearly 30 years Mumbet served the Ashley family. One day, Ashleys wife tried to strike Mumbets sister with a spade. Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Furious(狂怒的), she left the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to make her return, Mumbet consulted a lawyer, Theodore Sedgewick. With his help, Mumbet sued(起诉) for her freedom.
While serving the Ashleys, Mumbet had listened to many discussions of the new Massachusetts constitution. If the constitution said that all people were free and equal, then she thought it should apply to her. Eventually, Mumbet won her freedom---- the first slave in Massachusetts to do so under the new constitution.
Strangely enough, after the trial, the Ashleys asked Mumbet to come back and work for them as a paid employee. She declined and instead went to work for Segdewick. Mumbet died in 1829, but her legacy lived on in her many descendants(后裔). One of her great-grandchildren was W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founder of the NAACP, and an important writer and spokesperson for African American civil rights.
Mumbets tombstone still stands in the Massachusetts cemetery where she was buried. It reads, in part: She was born a slave and remained a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years. She could neither read nor write, yet in her own sphere she had no superior or equal.
1.What do we know about Mumbet according to Paragraph 1?
A．She was born a slave
B．She was a slaveholder
C．She had a famous sister
D．She was born into a rich family
2.What did Mumbet learn from discussions about the new consititution?
A．She should always obey her owners’ orders
B．How to apply for a job
C．How to be a good servant
D．She should be as free and equal as whites
3.What did Mumbet do after the trial?
A．She chose to work for a lawyer
B．She found the NAACP
C．She continued to serve the Ashleys
D．She went to live with her grandchildren
4.What is the test mainly about?
A．A story of a famous writer and spokesperson
B．The friendship between a lawyer and a slave
C．A trial that shocked the whole world
D．The life of a brave African American woman
When I was 13, my bedroom walls were covered with posters of the Monkees and Beatles. I wrote fan letters and daydreamed about meeting the objects of my affections. I begged my parents to attend every rock concert and watch every TV show featuring my favorite celebrities (名人) ; my friends and I discussed for hours all the things we would say and do when we met our favorite movie stars and pop singers. I drove my mother crazy! But after a few years, my obsession (迷恋) stars faded as I matured and gained the confidence to socialize with "real" boys.
In the 35 years since I was a teenager, celebrity worship (崇拜) has increased among teens due to the explosion of television celebrity gossip shows, and instant access to celebrity news on the Internet. It's no wonder that many teens are obsessed with stars when news programs often are filled with entertainment stories and the lives of celebrities.
Celebrity worship syndrome (综合征) is now considered a personality disorder. While it is normal for teenagers to follow the lives of their favorite stars, parents should try to monitor everything their child finds interesting. Parents should take action if they suspect a teen is too obsessed with celebrities and showing little interest in school or withdrawing from the family. When teens talk a lot about celebrities and view them as just means of entertainment, this is considered normal celebrity worship. However, when a teenager is obsessed with a star and often expresses a desire to have a close personal relationship with a celebrity or feels they have a special connection to a star, this may be the time for concern.
Recent studies have shown that teens who develop an unhealthy obsession with celebrities often suffer from low self confidence and depression. Teens who are overly obsessed with stars often have damaged relationships with their parents.
1.We learn from the second paragraph that ____.
A.teens today are not so obsessed with celebrities
B.the author is surprised at celebrity worship
C.the media greatly contributes to celebrity worship today
D.celebrities expose their lives too much
2.Parents should become concerned when their children ____.
A.talk a lot about celebrities with others
B.put up celebrity posters in their bedrooms
C.ask to go to their favorite star's concert
D.desire a close personal relationship with their favorite star
3.The last paragraph implies that ____.
A.parents should not care too much about a child's celebrity worship
B.children can normally get out of celebrity worship when they are older
C.children with celebrity worship usually have high opinion of themselves
D.celebrity worship syndrome can be a serious problem if left overlooked
4.What is most likely to be talked about in the paragraph following the passage?
A.The harm of celebrity worship syndrome.
B. What to do with children's celebrity worship syndrome.
C. More signs of celebrity worship syndrome.
D. Who will suffer most from celebrity worship syndrome.
For the last couple of weeks, I had been stuck in front of my computer working on a project that was very important to me. My every waking hour was consumed by the project and although I imagined that I would feel happy after completing parts of the project, I was confused to find that instead, I was feeling rather depressed. I tried a range of methods to help cheer myself up. I had a relaxing bath, cooked a delicious meal to enjoy with my family and even watched a lighthearted movie, but to no avail. It was only when I turned to meditation(沉思)for a solution that the answer came to me: turn to nature!
The very next day, I grabbed my camera and a bottle of water and set off to spend a few hours walking in a nature reserve, even though it was pouring with rain. Within a couple of minutes I felt alive again. To be honest, I felt like a young school girl again and had to stop myself from hopping along the path singing, "I'm singing in the rain", a song I used to sing when I was a child. I think as adults we often try too hard to control our inner children and as a result we restrain(限制) our own spirits, which only leads to depression and stress.
Interestingly, it has been shown that people who spend 40 minutes walking in a nature reserve have a drop in their blood pressure levels, but this does not happen when they spend a similar amount of time walking in a busy city centre.
If you feel a little low in spirit and know that you have spent too much time indoors, relax completely, remove your shoes and let your inner child come out and play.
1.The author walked in a nature reserve in the rain in order to__________.
A. take photos
B. cheer herself up
C. hop along the path
D. find a solution to the project
2.The underlined part "to no avail" in Paragraph 1 probably means " __________".
A. uninteresting B. unrelated
C. unsuccessful D. unexpected
3.In the author's opinion, __________.
A.a bath can make people relaxed
B. adults should express their inner feelings freely
C. walking in a busy city centre harms people's health
D. depression is usually caused by hard work
4.The last paragraph mainly serves as a(n) __________.
A. suggestion B. explanation
C. introduction D. reminder
Once upon a time when there was a famine (饥荒), a rich baker sent for twenty of the poorest children in the town, and said to them, ''In this basket there is a loaf for each of you. it, and come back to me every at this hour till better times come. ''
The hungry children eagerly around the basket, and quarreled for the bread, each wished to have the largest loaf. At last they went away without even the good gentleman. But Gretchen, a poorly-dressed little girl, did not or struggle with the rest, but remained modestly in the distance. When the ill-behaved children had left, she took the loaf, which alone was left in the basket, the gentleman's hand, and went home.
The next day the children were as as before, and poor, shy Gretchen received a loaf only nearly half the of the one she got the first day. When she came home, her mother cut the open, many new, shining pieces of silver fell out of it. Her mother was very much , and said, ''Take the money back to the good _ at once, for it must have got into the loaf _. Be quick, Gretchen! Be quick! ''
But when the little girl gave the rich man her mother's , he said, ''No, no, my child, it was no . I had the silver pieces put into the smallest loaf to you. Always be as contented, peaceable, and _ as you now are. Go home now, and the is your own. ''
1.A. Take B. Buy C. Order D. Smell
2.A. month B. week C. day D. year
3.A. stood B. sat C. gathered D. looked
4.A. but B. so C. since D. because
5.A. hearing B. thanking C. thinking D. looking
6.A. play B. laugh C. quarrel D. speak
7.A. crying B. standing C. quarreling D. singing
8.A. best B. oldest C. largest D. smallest
9.A. kissed B. took C. seized D. waved
10.A. hungry B. angry C. eager D. rude
11.A. size B. number C. length D. amount
12.A. letter B. bread C. basket D. bag
13.A. surprised B. pleased C. terrified D. excited
14.A. policeman B. teacher C. gentleman D. child
15.A. by accident B. by heart C. by hand D. by itself
16.A. letter B. apology C. money D. message
17.A. luck B. use C. good D. mistake
18.A. test B. reward C. thank D. attract
19.A. careful B. grateful C. beautiful D. enthusiastic
20.A. loaf B. basket C. world D. money
