Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school. She decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women.
1.Why couldn’t Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?
A. She couldn’t get admitted to medical school
B. She decided to further her education in Paris
C. A serious eye problem stopped her
D. It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United States
2.How many years passed between her graduation from medical school and the opening of her hospital?
A. Eight years B. Ten years
C. Nineteen years D. Thirty-six years
3.According to the passage, all of the following are “firsts” in the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, except that she ______.
A. became the first woman physician
B. was the first woman doctor
C. and several other women founded the first hospital for women and children
D. set up the first medical school for women
The man sitting opposite Robert was the Financial Controller. Everybody called him “the FC” for short. He made all the decisions about money. Robert needed some more. That was why he had to see him. The two men did not get on very well. In fact, they had always disliked each other.
“Your request is out of the question,” the FC said. Robert had difficulty in controlling himself, but he managed somehow. He explained that he wanted the money in order to make more programmes.
“And why do you want to do that?” the FC asked sharply. Again, Robert almost lost his temper. “Because more and more people are listening to my department’s programmes. There’s great demand for them,” he answered.
The FC did not seem to believe him. But Robert had a report on the numbers of listeners to all EBC programmes. The FC became less confident. Robert threw the report down on the table and told him to read it.
The FC looked at it in silence. The figures proved that he had been wrong, but he did not want to admit it. “Well,”he finally said, “I may have made a small mistake.”Robert noticed the word “may.” He got up to leave. But he had the feeling that he would get the money after all.
1. “Your request is out of the question.”Here “out of the question”means______.
A. without any question B. with some question.
C. impossible. D. possible.
2.Robert decided to make more programmes because________.
A. he wanted to meet the needs of the listeners.
B. “the FC”disliked him
C. the members of his department wanted him to do so.
D. he wanted to show himself off.
3.Why were more and more people listening to Robert’s programmes?
A. Because he always lost his temper.
B. Because he disliked “the FC.”
C. Because the programmes were rich and to the taste of the listeners.
D. It isn’t mentioned directly in the text..
4.Who do you think won the argument in the end?
A. The Financial Controller. B. Robert.
C. Nobody. D. The listeners.
Baths and bathing have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a water system for baths built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some baths, as many 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time.
Treating disease by taking bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700’s has also become popular in the United States.
For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to keep clean was avoided , and perfume was often used to cover up body smells!
By the 1700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became common.
In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “The Great Unwashed!” In one American city , for example, a person was only allowed to take a bath every thirty days! That was a law!
Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health, Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. As a result, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bathe once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential to good health.
1.A water system for baths was built by _______ over 3,000 years ago.
A. the Romans B. the Greeks
C. the Americans D. the Europeans
2.Dirty bodies can_______.
A. ruin one’s business B. cause disease
C. drive customers away D. cause good health
3. In the 18th century doctors believed that being clean was_______.
A. unimportant B. good for health
C. harmful D. important
4.The underlined word perfume probably means________.
A. a sweet smelling substance B. good health
C. a strange smelling substance D. large wealth
The Antarctica is actually a desert. It is the only continent on the earth without a river or a lake.
The Antarctica is all ice all year round. The warmest temperature ever recorded there is zero, at the South Pole. Explorers used to think that a place so cold would have a heavy snowfall. But less than ten inches of snow falls each year. That is less than half an inch of water. Ten times that much moisture (水份) falls in parts of the Sahara.
The little snow that falls in Antarctica never melts. It continues to pile up deeper and deeper year after year and century after century. When the snow gets to be about eighty feet deep it is turned to ice by the weight of snow above it .
1.Antarctica is called a desert because it_______.
A. is sandy.
B. has the same temperature as a desert.
C. has little moisture and no lakes or rivers.
D. there are no people there.
2.Antarctica has_______.
A. ten times as much moisture as the Sahara.
B. the same amount of moisture as the Sahara.
C. about one—tenth of the moisture of the Sahara.
D. none of the above.
3.The snow in Antarctica is very deep because it_______.
A. never stops falling. B. piles up year after year.
C. never melts. D. both B and C.
4.The snow turns to ice when______.
A. it gets wet.
B. the next snowfall comes.
C. the temperature gets colder.
D. the snow above it is heavy enough.
假如你是校学生会成员,校学生会将为来访的美国朋友举办一个晚会,要在全校通知此事,请你依据如下要点写一则通知:
目的:欢迎来访的美国朋友;
组织者:学生会;
时间:10月18日(星期六)晚上7:30,活动大概持续一个半小时;
地点:学校体育馆
活动内容:音乐、舞蹈、唱歌、游戏、交换小礼品;
参加人员:所有学生,特别是英语俱乐部的成员。
要求:请包装好礼品、签名并在包装外面写上祝愿词;准时参加。
注意: 1.词数120字左右;开头和结尾已经给出。
2.内容应包括以上要点,但不要逐字翻译,要组织成一篇通顺连贯的短文。
参考词汇:交换礼品 exchange of gifts 包装 wrap up
Notice
We are glad to ________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
The Students’ Union
Boys are not so good at English when there are girls in their class, a research student said. This finding disagrees with the widely held belief that girls always have a good influence on boys in school.
Boys do best with as few girls as possible in English lessons at primary and secondary schools, Steven Proud, a research student at Bristol University, told the Royal Economic Society’s conference.
But when it comes to math and science, both boys and girls at primary schools achieve up to a tenth of a grade higher when there is a greater percentage of girls in the class, Proud found.
Proud kept a record of boys’ and girls’ test results at the ages of 7, 11, and 16 in 16,000 schools in England. He studied the test scores to see whether the percentage of girls made a difference to the results of both boys and girls in math, science and English.
Boys always perform worse when the number of girls they study English with increases, which is especially the case at primary schools. Proud also found that girls are unaffected by the number of boys in their English class.
Proud said boys may do worse in English when there is high proportion(比例) of girls in their class because they think that the girls are better than them. It could also be that teachers use teaching styles more appropriate(适合) to girls when there are more girls than boys in the class.
Proud argues that his results show boys should be taught English in single-sex classes.
However, Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said, “Boys may be discouraged by how well girls are doing in English, but you can’t say that it means boys and girls should be separated. It has very little practical importance to schools.”
Theme | Boys may do _1.__ in English in a class with a higher percentage of girls. | |
Widely held ____2._____ | Girls always have a good influence on boys in school. | |
Proud’s ___3.___ | When there are more girls | both boys and girls at primary schools perform better in math and ___4.____. |
When the number of girls _5.____. | boys perform worse in English | |
When the number of boys changes | girls aren’t __6.___ in an English class. | |
Possible ____7.___. | Boys think that the girls are better than them. Teachers use ___8.___ styles more appropriate to girls. | |
Proud’s suggestion | Boys and girls should be taught English in _9.___ classes. | |
Alan’s opinion | Don’t ___10.____ the boys and girls. | |