There once was a goat and a donkey(驴), which lived __1.___ a farm. The donkey worked the hardest so the farmer fed it the ____2.__ (much) food. Sometimes the donkey was given more food___3.___it could eat. This made the goat so jealous ___4.___ it began plotting against(谋划对付)the donkey. "Hey, donkey," the goat said one day. "I think you do too much work on this farm. You carry such heavy things from morning to night. Why don't you pretend ___5.____ (get) sick so you can take a day ___6.____?'' The donkey thought the goat had a great idea. So the next morning, the donkey lay in the stable(畜栏) on its side with its eyes ____7.___(close). Right away, the farmer called the doctor. _8._____looking at the donkey, the doctor said it needed a special medicine ___9.____(make)from the heart of a goat. So the farmer killed ___10.____goat and gave the donkey medicine made from its heart.
The next time you go into a bank, a store, or a supermarket, stop and listen. What do you hear? 1. It's similar to the music you listen to, but it's not exactly the same. That's because this music was especially designed to relax you, or to give you extra energy. Sometimes you don't even realize the music is playing, but you react to the music anyway.
Quiet background music used to be called “elevator (电梯) music” because we often heard it in elevators. But lately we hear it in more and more places, and it has a new name “Muzak”. About one-third of the people in America listen to “Muzak” everyday. The music plays for 15 minutes at a time, with short pauses in between. It is always more lively between ten and eleven in the morning, and between three and four in the afternoon, when people are more tired. 2.
If you listen to Muzak carefully, you will probably recognize the names of many of the songs. Some musicians or songwriters don't want their songs to be used as Muzak, but others are happy when their songs are chosen. Why? 3.
Music is often played in public places because it is designed to make people feel less lonely when they are in an airport or a hotel. It has been proven that Muzak does what it is designed to do. Tired office workers suddenly have more energy when they hear the pleasant sound of Muzak in the background. 4. Supermarket shoppers buy 38 percent more groceries.
5. They say it's boring to hear the same songs all the time. But other people enjoy hearing Muzak in public places. They say it helps them relax and feel calm. One way or another, Muzak affects everyone. Some farmers even say their cows give more milk when they hear Muzak!
A. Some people don't like Muzak.
B. The music gives them extra energy.
C. Music is playing in the background.
D. Factory workers produce 13 percent more.
E. Muzak tends to help people understand music better.
F. They get as much as $4 million a year if their songs are used.
G. Muzak is played in most of the big supermarkets in the world.
基础知识运用(每题1分,共10分)
1.Last year she made a d________ of $200 to the flooded area.
2.Please leave your phone number so that we can get in touch with you in case of _____(紧急情况)
3.The price for the holiday includes flights and a_______________.
4.The singer was ____________(伴奏) at the piano by her sister.
5.We have a lot of s________(同情) for the children who lost their parents in the earthquake.
6.The foreign teacher found it difficult to a _______ himself to the local weather.
7.Repeated ________(缺席) from school have side effects on his study.
8.The team has been training hard in p_________ for the big game.
9.He is widely a___________ to be the best football player in the world.
10.Can you __________(推荐) a reasonably-priced hotel to me?
Stephanie McRae was used to driving in bad weather. Although still beat the windshield of her SUV(运动越野车), the worst of the day's storm seemed to have passed as she her 11-year-old daughter, Maddie, home at 8:30 pm.
Maddie in front, while two young kids sat strapped into their SUV in back. Driving along the mud by a river, McRae, 39, a terrifying sight: The road just ahead had been craved in and . She stepped heavily on the brake. The SUV into a flooded hole some 6 metres below, and was washed into the , which the storm had turned into a river 30 metres wide. Rocks and fallen tree knocked into her SUV, making it upside down. The pressure blew out the window.
No one was hurt, there was no way to escape either, The SUV was being towards the middle of the river, about 400 metres away. McRae helplessly and prayed aloud with Maddie: “Please, God, please, help us!” The SUV, submerged and with water, came to a stop when it parked at an angle in a logjam(浮木阻塞).
It was Maddie who took control. Pushing her way out of the back window, the slight but athletic Maddie onto the top of the SUV, which had righted itself, and yelled to her mother to hoist up the younger children. Soon the were crowded on the top of the SUV’s roof. to hold on as the water swept over them. McRae caught hold of the two-year-old kid to her chest while holding the three-year-old on her leg. Both children were so that MeRac wondered if they were all right. With her mother’s permission, the 11-year-old girl-Meddie got over lots of problems to ask for help in a village and fortunately they were saved.
1.A.rain B.snow C.wind D.mud
2.A.walked B.drove C.ran D.rushed
3.A.stood B.lay C.cried D.sat
4.A.belts B.backs C.seats D.toys
5.A.worried B.thought C.saw D.feared
6.A.washed away B.taken away C.gone away D.moved away
7.A.changed B.fell C.jumped D.knocked
8.A.sea B.bank C.take D.river
9.A.rising B.leaving C.singing D.falling
10.A.leaves B.branches C.skins D.flowers
11.A.and B.or C.but D.so
12.A.carried B. set C.turned D.swept
13.A.begged B.screamed C.asked D.applied
14.A.filling B.burdening C.fighting D.talking
15.A.hidden B.closed C.broken D.covered
16.A.climbed B.slept C.rolled D.tied
17.A.two B.three C.four D.five
18.A.losing B.trying C.finding D.getting
19.A.noisy B.Happy C.excited D.quiet
20.A.remote B.close C.crowded D.unknown
When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved (毫无掩饰的).
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.
In adulthood the things that bring deep joy — love, marriage, birth — also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. For adults, happiness is complicated.
My definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.
I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband came home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.
Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work. I don’t think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.
We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we’ve got to have. We’re so self-conscious about our “right” to it that it’s making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.
Happiness isn’t about what happens to us — it’s about how we see what happens to us. It’s the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It’s not wishing for what we don’t have, but enjoying what we do possess.
1.As people grow older, they ___________________.
A. feel it harder to experience happiness
B. associate their happiness less with others
C. will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness
D. tend to believe responsibility means happiness
2.What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 5 and 6?
A. She cares little about her own health.
B. She enjoys the freedom of traveling.
C. She is easily pleased by things in daily life.
D. She prefers getting pleasure from housework.
3.What can be inferred from Paragraph 7?
A. Psychologists think satisfying work is key to happiness.
B. Psychologist’ opinion is well proved by Grandma’s case.
C. Grandma often found time for social gatherings.
D. Grandma’s happiness came from modest expectations of life.
4. People who equal happiness with wealth and success______.
A. consider pressure something blocking their way.
B. stress their right to happiness too much.
C. are at a loss to make correct choices.
D. are more likely to be happy.
5. What can be concluded from the passage?
A. Happiness lies between the positive and the negative.
B. Each man is the master of his own fate.
C. Success leads to happiness.
D. Happy is he who is content.
The United States government wants to know what the public think about its findings on the safety of cloned animals.
The Food and Drug Administration says meat and milk from clones of adult cattle, pigs and goats are safe to eat. An F.D.A. official called them "as safe to eat as the food we eat every day." And when those clones reproduce sexually (有性繁殖), the agency says, their offspring (后代) are safe to eat as well. But research on cloned sheep is limited. So the F.D.A. suggests that sheep clones not be used for human food.
The United States this year could become the first country to approve the sale of foods from cloned animals. First, however, the public will have ninety days to discuss three proposed documents. On December 28th the F.D.A. released a long report, called a draft risk assessment, along with two policy documents.
The agency says it must receive the public’s opinion by April second. The F.D.A. seemed ready to act several years ago, but an advisory committee called for more research. For now, the government will continue to ask producers to honor a request that they not sell foods from cloned animals.
Clones are still rare. They cost a lot and are difficult to produce.
The F.D.A. says most food from cloning is expected to come not from clones themselves, but from their sexually reproduced offspring. It says clones are expected to be used mostly as breeding animals to spread good qualities.
Public opinion studies show most Americans do not like the idea of food from cloned animals. But this research also shows the public knows little about cloning.
Cloning differs from genetic engineering. A cell taken from a so-called donor animal is grown into an embryo in the laboratory. Next, the embryo is placed into the uterus (子宫) of a female animal. If the process is successful, the pregnancy reaches full term and a genetic copy of the donor animal is born.
1.The main purpose of the text is to __________.
A. tell an interesting story
B. give some advice on foods
C. give a report
D. compare different opinions
2. From the passage we know that ___________.
A. foods from cloned animals are popular in America
B. according to F.D.A., some cloned adult animals are safe to eat
C. cloned animals will be easy to produce
D. most foods from cloning is expected to take place of other foods
3.Who believe that foods from cloning are safe to eat?
A. Most Americans B. An advisory committee
C. Critics D. The F.D.A.
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that __________.
A. cloning has much in common with genetic engineering
B. not every cell taken from a donor animal can grow into a genetic copy
C. the donor animal should be a female one
D. cloned animals grow faster than normal ones
5. Which of the following is TRUE about foods from cloning?
A. They come from the sexually reproduced offspring of cloned animals.
B. The government is in favor of foods from cloning now.
C. Only F.D.A. has the right to sell the food.
D. Many countries have sold foods from cloned animals.