The word “invent” comes from a Latin word which means “to find.” Garrett Morgan, an African-American, was one such inventor. His first job was repairing machines in a factory. By accident, he had invented the hair straightener. He sold his products and then continued with his career as an inventor.
Every day, Garrett Morgan watched traffic become more dangerous. Cars, bicycles and walkers all competed to cross the street. Police officers made simple “stop / go” signals at busy crossroads, but cars, bicycles and walkers still rushed into the crossroads at different speeds and many crashed into each other. One day he saw a traffic accident between a car and a bicycle at a busy crossroads. he realized ,the problem with the traffic light, was its poor design: the traffic signal lacked a transition (过渡) between “stop” and “go.”
Morgan invented a new traffic signal that added a “caution (警告)” light that made traffic move more smoothly and safely. His traffic light stood on a T-shaped pole (杆) with arms that flashed a red light to stop traffic in all directions, allowing walkers to cross safely. After walkers crossed, traffic could only go in one direction.
Soon, cities everywhere wanted his traffic light. In 1923, a popular electric company paid Morgan $40,000 to make and sell his invention. Traffic lights today work in the same basic way.
The traffic light is Morgan’s most famous invention. In 1963, the United States government gave Garrett Morgan an award for his life-saving idea.
1.What can we learn about Garrett Morgan from Paragraph 1?
A.He worked in a factory all his life.
B.He led a hard life in his early years.
C.He made money from hair straighteners.
D.He dreamed of being an inventor when he was a child.
2.What made Morgan invent the traffic light?
A.A traffic accident. B.A car driver’s advice.
C.Worry about his safety. D.Hard work of police officers.
3.According to the text, Garrett Morgan’s traffic light _____.
A.made cars move more slowly.
B.needed no help from police officers.
C.was special because it had a “caution” light.
D.was very different from the ones we use today.
I sometimes feel left out with my friends at the party. What can I do?
— Susan
Alice: Speak to your best friend before you arrive and ask her to make sure you don’t get left out of the group. That way, she will know to include you in all the fun. Make the effort to speak to some other people at the party. You might even make a new friend or two.
Sometimes I think parties get boring and I want to go home!
— Jenny
Alice: Even a great party will drag if you’re not enjoying yourself. Making the effort to dance and have a chat with your friends will beat the boredom! You don’t have to stay to the very end of the party.
Our school is having a Christmas dance party but I’m really shy. Shall I go or not?
— Emma
Alice: Part of you would like to go to the party, so give it a try. Let good friends know how you feel and make sure you’ll have people to dance with when the evening comes. Practice some fun dances so you’ll feel comfortable on the dance floor.
Whenever I go to a party, my dad comes to pick me up at 8 pm. I always have to leave earlier than the rest of my friends and I get really angry with my dad.
— Anny
Alice: Talk with your dad and let him know how you feel. It feels hard to have different rules from your friends but don’t worry too much — your friends are probably picked up soon after you anyway.
1.Alice advises Susan to _____.
A.stay with her friends. B.ask her friend for help.
C.leave the party at once. D.make fun of her friends.
2.The underlined word “drag” is closest in meaning to “_____”.
A.fail. B.improve.
C.be boring. D.be pleasant.
3.What worries Anny?
A.Her dad is strict with her. B.She always argues with her dad.
C.Nobody picks her up after the party. D.She can’t go to the party with her friends.
4.Where can you probably find the text?
A.In a notice. B.In a guidebook. C.In a famous novel. D.In a popular magazine.
短文改错
Dear Mr. Green,
I'm writing to tell you how is going on in our school--a basketball match to be holding next month. The match will be played between Xinhua middle School Basketball Team or ours. Now we are organizing a basketball team, included a teacher as a player. We honest think you are the right one, so I'd like invite you to join our team. We had also planned to do some training to build up our physical strengths and improve our skills. I am sure it will be a great fun. All of us are expecting him to come.
Yours,
Li Hua
All over the world people are hooked on sports, which help them to strengthen their body and build their character. 1. They improve the participants’ physical skills, and provide entertainment for the audience as well.
Many people like to watch others play games. 2. Often they get very excited when “their” player or team wins. If they are crazy about the game or the player, then they’ll become their die-hard fans. Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. 3. And think of people in cold countries. Masses of people love to skate or ski in Japan, Norway or Canada.
4. Chinese boxing, also has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new, which started in the late of the nineteenth century. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water skiing, as a modern game, is one of the newest in the family of sports.
People from different countries or races may not be able to understand each other, but after a game, they get to know each other better and they often become good friends. 5. They learn to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace. They also learn to be competitive and optimistic, which will equip them for life challenges in the future.
A. They buy tickets or turn on the TV to watch the games.
B. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy!
C. Some sports or games date back thousands of years, like running or jumping.
D. Sports help to train a person’s character.
E. Chinese people liked doing sports even in ancient times.
F. Sports are competitive physical activities or games through casual or organized participation.
G. And the friendship may last for a life time.
Bats are the only mammals (哺乳动物) that can fly a great distance, but they have another ability. Many bats live a very long time for an animal of their size. European researchers are studying bats to understand why they live so long. They hope to make discoveries aimed at fighting the aging process in human beings.
Last week, the group of scientists said they had identified important biological qualities in some bat species. The group studied bat’s chromosomes (染色体), a line of genes found in the nucleus of cells. The scientists were most interested in structures connected to the ends of chromosomes. They are called telomeres (端粒), which protect the ends of chromosomes and shorten each time a cell divides (分裂). Scientists believed this shortening process causes cells to break down. They said this is what causes aging.
The European researchers studied 493 bats from four bat species. The group used information that had been gathered over more than 60 years. Of these animals, the greater mouse-eared bats generally lived the longest, an average of 37 years. The scientists said this and a related species, which are grouped together under the name Myotis, have telomeres that do not shorten with age. One Myotis bat holds the record for the oldest age, reaching 41 years. The scientists' findings suggested that these bats' cells have the ability to maintain and repair their telomeres. This, they said, helps guard bats against the aging process.
Based on its body size, a bat like the greater mouse-eared bat would expected to live four years. But, these mammals have been found to live nearly 10 times longer than that. The scientists found that only 19 species of mammals live longer than humans when their body size is considered. Eighteen of these are bats.
1.What's the main purpose of European researchers studying bats?
A.To learn the living habits of bats.
B.To find out why bats enjoy a long life.
C.To try to understand why bats can fly as mammals.
D.To discover a good way to prevent human beings from aging.
2.What does the second paragraph mainly explain to us?
A.The structures of bats' chromosomes.
B.What causes aging biologically.
C.The functions of telomeres
D.What causes cells to break down.
3.Why do the greater mouse-eared bats live so long?
A.Because they are grouped together under the name Myotis.
B.Because their telomeres decrease with age.
C.Because their cells are able to keep and fix their telomeres
D.Because their bodies produce more telomeres than human beings
4.What can we know from the last paragraph?
A.Bats live 10 times longer than human beings.
B.Bats enjoy the longest life among mammals
C.Bats like the greater mouse-eared bats should have lived longer.
D.Most of the mammals living longer than human beings considering their body size are bats.
I had often dreamt of the possibility of spending a year away from my hometown of Leeds in England, living in a foreign country. When I was old enough, however, I thought that my language was going to hold me back.
However, luckily for me, University of Leeds, where I was studying at the time, made it possible for any student, even people like me speaking only one language, to study abroad. Before I knew it I was boarding a plane for Salzburg, Austria. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of the experience ahead of me but I was prepared to accept the challenge.
The university was quite small but the classes were large. Also, Austrian students usually take five years to complete their courses, so studying there was somewhat more relaxing than at home. Austrian students go home quite often, too. Therefore, the foreign students had to socialise with each other quite a lot, which didn’t help with our language skills.
Salzburg itself is a picture-postcard Austrian city. It is also famous for being the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for The Sound of Music. As a result, it is usually very busy with tourists. I also found that it doesn’t have a lot of entertainment for young people, in comparison with Leeds.
There are, however, many advantages of living in Salzburg. For example, get on a train and you can be in Prague, Rome or Krakow within a matter of hours. By the end of my year in Salzburg, I had visited eight other countries in Europe.
After spending a year overseas, I went back to my courses in Leeds and I was much more focused on what I wanted to get out of my last year and more appreciative of the opportunity the university provided. The year in Salzburg really showed me that you get a lot more out of a place when you live there compared to when you are just travelling through. I’d recommend all students spend a year studying abroad if they can.
1.In the author’s opinion, what may have prevented his studying abroad?
A.His not being old enough. B.His fearing the culture shock.
C.His becoming homesick easily. D.His not knowing a foreign language.
2.Compared with University of Leeds, the university in Salzburg ________ .
A.provides more social events B.has longer university years
C.has more foreign students D.offers more small classes
3.One advantage the author mentions about Salzburg is that ________ .
A.it’s convenient for people to travel B.it has a high-speed rail network
C.it’s the hometown of Mozart D.it’s full of foreign tourists
4.What does the author think of his experience of studying abroad?
A.He benefited a lot from it. B.He thought it made no difference to him.
C.It was far from what he had expected. D.It badly affected his studies at home.
