Several years ago, Masaru Ibuka, chairman of Sony, was at a company planning a meeting. Suddenly he had a brilliant idea. He stopped the meeting and asked everyone present what would happen if Sony removed the recording function and speaker and sold headphones with a tape player instead. Almost everyone thought he was crazy. Still, Ibuka kept thinking about his idea and worked at improving it. The result, of course, turned out to be the wildly successful Sony Walkman.
Good ideas often start with a seemingly silly question. Bill Bowerman was making breakfast one day. As he stood there making waffles (华夫饼干)for his son, he wondered what would happen if he poured rubber into his waffle iron. Later ,he tried it and the result looked something like the bottom of most sports shoes we see today. Still, when he took this idea to several existing shoe companies, he was laughed at. In fact, every single company turned him down. Though rather discouraged, Bowerman insisted and went on to form his own company, making NIKE athletic shoes.
Sometimes good ideas grow out of frustration .When Fred Smith was a student at Yale University, he had some paperwork that he needed to have delivered across the country the next day. Smith was amazed to find out that overnight delivery was impossible. He sat for a long while, lost in thought. Why couldn’t there be a reliable overnight mail delivery service? He decided to design one. Smith did just that and turned his design into a class project. His business professor gave him only a C for his efforts. However, Smith was not through. He improved the idea in that class project and finally turned it into one of the first and most successful overnight mail service in the world — FedEx.
We know that each of these ideas led to a very successful product or service that has changed the way many of us live. The best questions are usually open-ended and are often silly, Children aren’t afraid to ask such questions, but adults frequently are. Think how different the world might be if people never asked “ silly” questions!
1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Sony Walkman achieved great success with its recording function and speaker.
B. Bill Bowerman was experimenting with rubber for large shoe companies.
C. Shoe companies rejected Bill Bowerman as they failed to see the potential of Nike.
D. Fred Smith got the idea of an overnight mail service from his own experience.
2.What do the three persons mentioned in the passage have in common?
A. They were all determined about carrying out their ideas.
B. They were good at answering other people’s silly questions.
C. They started their own company after discussing with others.
D. They had a very clear plan for their new ideas at the very start.
3.We can conclude from the passage that _______.
A. asking others for their silly questions leads to inventions
B. lots of creative ideas usually end up as “silly” questions
C. adults usually ask more silly questions than children
D. crazy ideas sometimes contribute to great inventions
4.The passage is mainly developed by_______.
A. analyzing possible reasons B. presenting different opinions
C. providing typical examples D. listing practical suggestion
March 21 has been declared World Sleep Day，a time to recognize and celebrate the value of sleep．Many sleep experts hope it will be a wake-up call．
According to a 2016 poll（民意调查）by the National Sleep Foundation，nearly 4 in 5 Americans don't get as much sleep as they should during the workweek．On average，adults are thought to need at least eight hours of sleep a night，although some can manage with less and some won't do well without more．But the survey found that，on workdays，only 21% of Americans actually get a full eight hours of sleep，and another 21% get less than six．
To many of us，the thought of spending more time sleeping is，well，a big yawn．On the other hand，the thought of being smarter，thinner，healthier and more cheerful has a certain appeal．And those are just a few of the advantages that can be ours if we consistently get enough sleep， researchers say．Also on the plus side： We're likely to have better skin，better memories，better judgment，and，oh，yes，longer lives．
"When you lose even one hour of sleep for any reason，it influences your performance the next day，" says Dr．Alon Avidan，director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center．
A study published last year found the same to be true even of children． When kids aged 8 to 12 slept for just one hour less for four nights，they didn't function as well during the day．
But sleeping has an image problem．"We see napping or sleeping as lazy，" says Jennifer Vriend，a clinical psychologist in Ottawa，Canada，and the leading author of the study with children．"We put so much emphasis on diet，nutrition and exercise．Sleep is in the back seat．" In fact，she adds，no matter how much we work out，no matter how well we eat，we can't be in top physical shape unless we also get plenty of sleep．
1.The underlined part in Paragraph 1 means ______ ．
A. To wake up the sleepers B. To draw people's attention
C. To serve as a morning call D. To declare the special day
2.From Paragraph 3 we can infer that ______ .
A. The thought of being healthier is not very attractive
B. Sleeping has nothing to do with one's expectations
C. Enough sleep is the guarantee of the appealing things
D. Spending more time on sleeping is a waste of time
3.What Jennifer Vriend said in the last paragraph implies that ______ ．
A. People care little about sleeping B. Sleeping is not important
C. Lazy people tend to sleep long D. Sleeping is only part of our life
4.What is the purpose of the passage？
A. To talk about people's sleeping problems．
B. To provide an investigation result of sleeping．
C. To stress the function of sleeping at night．
D. To raise the awareness of enough sleeping．
It's that time of year when people need to lock their cars．It's not because there are a lot of criminals running around stealing cars．Rather，it's because of good-hearted neighbors who want to share their harvest．Especially with this year's large crop，leaving a car unlocked in my neighborhood is an invitation for someone to fill it with zucchini（西葫芦）．
My sister，Sharon，recently had a good year for tomatoes．She and her family had eaten and canned so many that they had begun to feel their skin turn slightly red．That's when she decided it was time to share her blessings．She started calling everyone she knew．When that failed，she began asking everyone in the neighborhood，eventually finding a neighbor delighted to have the tomatoes．"Feel free to take whatever you want，"Sharon told her．Later that day，Sharon found that her garden had indeed been harvested．She felt happy that she could help someone and that the food didn't go to waste．
A few days later，Sharon answered the door．There was the neighbor，holding a hot loaf of bread．The neighbor smiled pleasantly，"I wanted to thank you for all of the tomatoes，and I have to admit that I took a few other things and hoped you wouldn't mind．"
Sharon couldn't think of anything else in her garden that had been worth harvesting and said so．"Oh，but you did，"the neighbor said．"You had some of the prettiest zucchini I've ever seen．"
Sharon was confused．They hadn't even planted any zucchini．But her neighbor insisted that there really were bright-green zucchini in her garden．Sharon felt curious and decided to go to see where the zucchini had grown．The two of them walked together into the backyard．When the neighbor pointed at the long green vegetables，Sharon smiled．"Well，actually，those are cucumbers（黄瓜）that we never harvested，because they got too big，soft and bitter for eating．"
The neighbor looked at Sharon，shock written all over her face．She gulped（哽住）a few times，and then，smiling，held out the bread，part of a batch she had shared all over the neighborhood．"I brought you a nice loaf of cucumber bread．I hope you like it．"
1.Why does the author warn people in the neighborhood to lock their cars？
A. They might be stolen by thieves at night．
B. They might be moved away by the police．
C. Their neighbors might fill them with their harvest．
D. Their neighbors might throw cucumbers into them．
2.How did Sharon's friends react to the invitation to take her tomatoes？
A. They did not accept her kind offer．
B. They were all delighted to have the tomatoes．
C. They said they would go when they were free．
D. They began to tell everyone they knew about it．
3.What did the neighbor do in Sharon's garden？
A. She only harvested some tomatoes．
B. She took some cucumbers mistakenly．
C. She took something with Sharon's help．
D. She harvested a few zucchini by accident．
4.We can infer that the neighbor's bread would taste _______ ．
A. soft and sweet B. hard and sour
C. funny and bitter D. fragrant and delicious．
China’s government has been trying all measures to reduce pollution in the past few years. Now people can enjoy a fresh environment everywhere. The following two graphs are adopted from the column of “City Information” on the webpage of Beijing Review.
Graph 1: Olympic Cities Air Quality Report
City | Date | API | Major Pollutant | Air Quality Degree | Quality Condition |
Beijing | Sep. 8 | 37 | N/A | Ⅰ | Very good |
Qinhuangdao | Sep. 8 | 52 | PM10 | Ⅱ | Good |
Qingdao | Sep. 8 | 68 | PM10 | Ⅱ | Good |
Shanghai | Sep. 8 | 67 | PM10 | Ⅱ | Good |
Shenyang | Sep. 8 | 88 | PM10 | Ⅱ | Good |
Tianjin | Sep. 8 | 54 | PM10 | Ⅱ | Good |
Graph 2: Chinese National Standard
API Values | Levels of health concern | Colors |
When the API is in this range: | ...air quality conditions are: | ...as symbolized by this color: |
0 to 50 | Very good | Blue |
51 to 100 | Good | Green |
101 to 150 | Slight pollution | Yellow |
151 to 200 | Moderate pollution | Orange |
201 to 250 | Medium pollution | Red |
251 to 300 | High pollution | Purple |
301 to 500 | Hazardous | Brown |
Notes:
**API stands for Air Pollution Index(指数).
**Particulate matter (PM10) is a major component of air pollution that threatens both our health and our environment. It consists of very small liquid and solid particles floating in the air.
**Sulfur dioxide(SO2) acts as an acid．Inhalation(吸入) results in labored breathing, coughing, or a sore throat and may cause permanent lung damage.
1.If your city is symbolized by either red or purple, the pollution in your city is _______.
A. Moderate or high. B. Moderate or slight.
C. Medium or high. D. Medium or slight.
2.Which of the following statements is TURE?
A. With API value below 150 the air is free from being polluted.
B. The colors from purple to Yellow indicate the air quality is becoming much worse.
C. When there are floating solid particles and dust in the air, it is dangerous pollution.
D. On September 8th the color-symbol of Beijing City’s air quality is ‘Blue’.
3.When more citizens are beginning to have labored breathing soon after they are in the open air, it suggests that_______.
A. there is a large amount of sulfur dioxide in the air
B. it is so cold that they may have caught a cold
C. they are starting to cough or have a fever
D. they must be infected with permanent lung disease
_______ in the regulations that you shouldn’t tell other people the password of your e-mail account.
A. As is required B. It is required
C. It requires D. What is required
Walking out of the theatre，the famous singer found himself ________by his fans．
A. surrounding B. surround
C. surrounded D. being surrounded
