Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving into History By Erik Slader and Ben Thompson. Ages 6 to 12. The first book in the Epic Fails series deals with one of the most ambitious goals humans have pursued: the quests to fly. Authors Slader and Thompson focus on life-or-death scenes, such as when the Wright brothers crashed their glider over and over on the sandy coast of North Carolina; it took them two more years to get it right. |
Epic Fails: The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff By Erik Slader and Ben Thompson. Ages 6 to 12 Today, everyone is familiar with Neil Armstrong’s famous words as he first set foot on the moon, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” He made it look easy, but America’s journey to the moon was anything but simple. Our first attempt was a failure. Still, we didn’t give up. We tried again. And again. And each time we failed, we failed a little bit better. |
Fantastic Failures: True Stories of People Who Changed the World by Falling Down First By Luke Reynolds. Ages 6 to 12. Teacher Luke Reynolds opens each chapter with a quick, impossibly perfect version of one person’s life and then says how that person actually had to face huge challenges to accomplish goals. In this book, Reynolds writes about various common men, women and children. |
Cyrus Field’s Big dream：The Daring Effort to Lay the First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable By Mary Morton Cowan. Ages 6 to 12. In 1853，it took at least a week to relay a message between the United States and Europe because people had to be transported on ships over the Atlantic Ocean. Cyrus Field tried to reduce that transmission（传送）time to just minutes by laying a long undersea cable. In this book，Cowan describes many failures Field suffered before he achieved this major breakthrough. |
1. Who are the four books intended for?
| A．Children. | B．Teenagers. | C．Adults. | D．Old people. |
| A．It was written by a famous actor. | B．It tells stories of ordinary people. |
| C．It is about science fiction stories. | D．It is a picture book by a teacher. |
| A．All roads lead to Rome. | B．Failure is the mother of success. |
| C．An early bird catches worms | D．Actions speak louder than words. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Waterways have played an important role in transportation throughout the history. The following are three of the most beautiful canal cities in the world.
Cape Coral, Florida, U. S.
Cape Coral city in Florida is known for its 400-mile-long waterfront. It is longer than the canal system of any other city in the world. The city has both freshwater and saltwater lakes. The long waterfront gives a unique look to the city. The man-made canals of Cape Coral were built back in the 1970s. The canal system also provides water for irrigation and protects the city from floods.
Birmingham, England
With 1.9 million residents, Birmingham is the largest city in England next to London. Apart from the busy side of this city, there are 100 miles of pretty, navigable canals.
The first canal in Birmingham city was built in 1769. Back in the 18th century, there were 174 miles of canal in the city. Only 100 miles of navigable canal is left today. A peaceful sail through the canals of Birmingham will bring you a magical view of the city.
Venice, Italy
Venice is a wonderfully unique city that lies on a group of 118 islands separated by canals. The islands of Venice are connected together by bridges. There are 170 canals and more than 400 footbridges in Venice. This geographically unique city can be termed as the most beautiful canal city on the planet.
Venice is the largest car-free city in Europe. The traditional boat is the main way of transportation in Venice. Your visit to Venice will not be complete without a boat ride. The 3,800-meter-long Grand Canal is the main waterway in Venice.
1. Which of the following cities has the longest waterfront?| A．Venice. | B．London. | C．Cape Coral. | D．Birmingham. |
| A．It is famous for boat rides. | B．It is surrounded by 118 islands. |
| C．It is named the most beautiful city on earth. | D．It has the largest number of cars in Europe. |
| A．To tell the history of famous cities. | B．To introduce three canal cities. |
| C．To show development of transportation. | D．To protect the ancient culture. |
【推荐2】Go Green Without a Green Thumb
If you’re anything like me, you manage to kill absolutely every plant that comes your way. Whatever the opposite of a green thumb is, that’s what I have. No matter how hard I try, I can’t manage to keep flowers alive for more than a few days.
So I’ve taken matters into my own hands and made a list of plants that even I couldn’t kill, and decided to share it with everyone out there who also lacks a green thumb.
1. Jade
We commonly think of jade as a beautiful stone, but it also happens to be a plant that requires hardly any care and will give your apartment an air of elegance. There are only two things you need to do to take care of this plant:
• Water the plant when the soil becomes moderately dry.
• Wipe down the leaves every once in a while to remove dust.
2. African Violet
Want to add a little color to your apartment? That can be challenging if you don’t have a green thumb—most flowering plants require a ton of care. Fortunately, African violets are not one of those plants.
Simply water them once a week and enjoy their beautiful blue, pink and purple hues! Just do your best to avoid getting any water on the plants’ leaves, as this can cause water spots.
3. Aloe
Aloe is also a plant that even the worst gardener among us can manage to keep alive.
Step one: Acquire plant.
Step two: Water it when the soil is completely dry, about every two to three weeks.
Note: Aloe can be poisonous for your pet. If you have pets, make sure to only plant pet-friendly plants.
4. Lucky Bamboo
To bring some good fortune into your apartment, purchase some lucky bamboo. This houseplant does best in dim lighting, so keep it away from windows. Other than that, all you need to do is make sure the roots are always covered in water (an inch or two should do the trick).
1. What does the underlined phrase “a green thumb” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．An environmentally friendly lifestyle. | B．A talent to grow plants. |
| C．A way to kill all the plants. | D．An ability to decorate one’s apartment. |
| A．Jade. | B．African Violet. |
| C．Aloe. | D．Lucky Bamboo. |
| A．To introduce several plants that requires little special care. |
| B．To share with readers the author’s opinion on growing plants. |
| C．To attract readers to buy some of their products on the list. |
| D．To call on readers to protect the environment in daily life. |
【推荐3】Wimbledon is the most important sporting event of the British summer. Since the first tournament (锦标赛) was played in 1877, the competition has become a global sporting event attended by over half a million people, and watched on television by millions.
Although the Wimbledon tennis championship (锦标赛) has been around for more than a century, the sport of tennis has a much longer history. Most experts agree that the modern game has its origins in a courtyard ball game played by French monks in the 11th century.
Much has changed since the first Wimbledon Tournament in 1877. The first champion, Spencer Gore, won a prize of £12;this year the prize money is £630,000. Indeed, success in tennis championships is a very profitable (有收益的) business. 2004 Wimbledon champion, Roger Federer has won nearly $17,000,000 in prize money since 1998. Even more impressive, Serena and Venus Williams have won $30,000,000 between them over the last ten years.
Although Wimbledon has traditionally been dominated by Americans and Europeans, other countries are beginning to produce world-class players. Zheng Jie and Yan Zi won China’s first Wimbledon title on July 9, 2006. They beat Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Paola Suarez of Argentina in the women’s doubles final.
In the future all Chinese competitors will be under pressure to do well; their coach, Jiang Hongwei, has gone on record as saying, “My goal is to lift my players into the top 30.”
1. Where is the origin of the modern tennis game?| A．Germany. | B．China. | C．Britain. | D．France. |
| A．Spencer Gore. | B．Roger Federer. | C．Serena. | D．Zheng Jie. |
| A．Controlled. | B．Attended. | C．Accepted. | D．Arranged. |
| A．To explain the history of the Wimbledon Tournament. |
| B．To give an introduction to the Wimbledon Tournament. |
| C．To show the development of the Wimbledon Tournament. |
| D．To discuss the importance of the Wimbledon Tournament. |
【推荐1】Brianna was just 12 when her mother became severely ill, allowing her to know what it was like to care for someone else. Although many members of her family were nurses, taking care of her mum was what influenced her the most and helped her decide to become a nurse.
After she didn’t get into UW-Eau Claire’s nursing programme the first two times she applied, Brianna began exploring potential careers. She took several business classes, but quickly realized that business wasn’t the right choice for her and her real passion was in nursing. She applied for nursing again and finally started the nursing programme in the fall of 2019.
She was just months into her first semester as a nursing major when she hit the next bump in the road. Brianna became extremely ill, with symptoms ranging from difficulty breathing to a high fever. Eventually, breathing became so difficult that she had to go to the emergency room. Therefore, Brianna could not attend classes for the rest of that semester, focusing instead on regaining her mental and physical health.
While Brianna was still in hospital, she already had connected with fellow nursing majors as well as professors, who worked closely with her to make sure she stayed on her courses. Those connections made all the difference when she was trying to stay on track to graduate despite her illness.
In spring, COVID-19 added additional obstacles to her college journey, forcing her to find new ways to manage her time. What’s worse, she was also unemployed when stores were closed, making it more difficult to pay for college.
Despite all those obstacles, Brianna graduated successfully in December 2021 and has already planned for what comes after she earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing.
1. What inspired Brianna to be a nurse?| A．Her interest in caring for others. | B．The influence from nurses in her family. |
| C．Her part-time job in a local hospital. | D．The experience of tending to her mother. |
| A．Disease. | B．Barrier. | C．Plus. | D．Failure. |
| A．By connecting with her classmates and professors. |
| B．By attending classes with the aid of her classmates. |
| C．By taking more courses than other nursing majors. |
| D．By seeking help from medical experts on the Internet. |
| A．Actions speak louder than words. | B．Many hands make light work. |
| C．Nothing is difficult to a willing heart. | D．One good turn deserves another. |
【推荐2】A jobless man wanted very much to have the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test. “You have passed the test,” he said. “Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you the form to fill in and the date when you may start.” The man replied, “But I don’t have a computer, neither an e-mail.” “I’m sorry,” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an e-mail, that means you are not living. And anyone who isn’t living cannot have the job.”
The man left with no hope at all. He didn’t know what to do with only $10 in his pocket. He thought and thought. Then he went to the supermarket and bought 10 kilos of tomatoes. He sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he had 20 dollars. He repeated the operation three times, and started to go early every day, and returned home late. Shortly, he bought a cart , then a truck, then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles(运货车队). Five years later, the man was one of the biggest food retailers (零售商) in the US.
One day, one of his friends asked him for his e-mail. He said, “I haven’t got one.” His friend couldn’t believe his ears. “Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes, I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”
1. What did the man do for the test?| A．He sent e-mails. | B．He did the cleaning |
| C．He sold computers. | D．He filled in forms. |
| A．disliked such a job | B．didn’t pass the test |
| C．didn’t have an e-mail | D．knew nothing about computers |
| A．Because he had many friends to help him. |
| B．Because he was smart and worked very hard. |
| C．Because he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. |
| D．Because he wanted to show Microsoft he was living. |
| A．Computers are very important in our daily life. |
| B．Everyone can make a lot of money with only$10. |
| C．The HR manager didn’t find the ability of the man. |
| D．Nothing in the world is impossible if we work hard. |
【推荐3】If I have a goal in life, it isn’t to be driving a Rolls-Royce. It’s to be giving away more than $1,000,000 a year and having an impact on people’s lives. I have the success today because I always had to work for what I wanted. I grew up accustomed to risks and disappointments, so I was used to moving forward, no matter what.
In 2008, I went to Los Angeles where I tried to get hired as an agent, an analyst and a financial broker. Unfortunately, all these doors slammed in my face. The world’s economy was in a bad state, so I knew I would have to do a little spinning of my own.
Youth involves a certain innocence but also perseverance. The word “can’t” wasn’t in my vocabulary. I partnered with a friend buying distressed multifamily properties around Houston. Even though we were enthusiastic and backed with start-up sums, I didn’t make a deal work. My friend moved on to other projects. Alone, I put all my money into the next real-estate project. I put the time in, I dreamed it, but once again the deal fell through. Two months later, though, the deal came back around. That was when the path opened, luck changed, and I was ready to form my own company. I haven’t looked back. Only ahead.
I’m now able to give back to communities and causes. I donate about $500,000 a year, much of that going to research to cure rare diseases. We also support a lot of services for disadvantaged children in Houston and other places.
I have always been someone who can see the big picture and have never been distracted by things that get in the way. There are lessons to be learned, and the biggest of those is to keep going. You may have to change the path, but always keep that vision in front of you.
1. Which of the following about the author is true?| A．He donated a lot of money to improve his company’s image. |
| B．He often encountered difficulties in the process of growing up. |
| C．He started his own company together with a friend. |
| D．He changed jobs several times while in Los Angeles. |
| A．look for a part-time job independently | B．make his contributions to the economy |
| C．give in to the disappointing reality | D．be self-employed to develop his career |
| A．Perseverance. | B．Optimism. | C．Innocence. | D．Kindness. |
| A．Saying No to “Turning Back” | B．Tips for a Successful Business |
| C．Jumping over Economic Downturns | D．A Life-time Pursuit of Dream |
-- USA Today
"Amusing...Realistic...Rarely has China seemed less exotic and more accessible...The stories have the air of fable（寓言）."
--Los Angeles Times
"A vivid picture...of Chinese society in the era just after the Cultural Revolution."
-- Chicago Tribune
"Brilliant...delightful...Ha Jin's customs, ideas and landscapes might be of an Eastern persuasion, but his writing communicates universally. Without being didactic or condescending, these stories often resemble modern fables…”
--Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
"Beautifully understated short stories of life in modern China. Some of them are likely to break your heart."
--People
"A short story collection that offers readers...a dozen ways to enter the changing landscape of modern China...No one has ever captured the collision between the Communist society and the western culture quite like Ha Jin."
--Baton Rouge Magazine
1. "Ha Jin", is probably a _____.
| A．name of a place in China |
| B．name of a writer of ancient China |
| C．name of a writer of modern times |
| D．name of a book |
| A．newspapers and magazines |
| B．different places in America |
| C．different organizations that sell books. |
| D．book critics. |
| A．The "People" doesn't like the stories because they will break people's heart. |
| B．The "USA Today" suggests that Ha Jin should work as a school teacher. |
| C．Ha Jin's book has many beautiful paintings. |
| D．Ha Jin's book has successfully described a modern China to western readers. |
| A．attract more tourists to China |
| B．attract more students to a university |
| C．sell more books of Ha Jin |
| D．sell more copies of Los Angeles Times |
【推荐2】Holmes had taken out his watch, and as minute followed minute without result, an expression of the utmost annoyance and disappointment appeared upon his features. He bit his lip, drummed his fingers upon the table, and showed every other symptom of acute intolerance.
So great was his emotion that I felt sincerely sorry for him, while the two detectives smiled derisively (嘲弄地), by no means displeased at this check which he had met.
“It can't be a coincidence,” he cried, at last springing from his chair and pacing wildly up and down the room. “It is impossible that it should be a mere coincidence. The very pills which I suspected in the case of Drebber are actually found after the death of Stangerson. And yet they are inert (惰性的). What can it mean? Surely my whole chain of reasoning cannot have been false. It is impossible! And yet this wretched dog is none the worse. Ah, I have it! I have it!” With a perfect shriek of delight he rushed to the box, cut the other pill in two, dissolved it, added milk, and presented it to the terrier (㹴犬). The unfortunate creature's tongue seemed hardly to have been moistened in it before it gave a convulsive shiver in every limb, and lay as rigid and lifeless as if it had been struck by lightning.
Sherlock Holmes drew a long breath, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.“I should have more faith,”he said,“I ought to know by this time that when a fact appears to be opposed to a long train of deductions, it uncertainly proves to be capable of bearing some other interpretation. Of the two pills in that box, one was of the most deadly poison, and the other was entirely harmless. I ought to have known that before ever I saw the box at all.”
This last statement appeared to me to be so startling that I could hardly believe that he was in his sober senses. There was the dead dog, however, to prove that his conjecture (推测) had been correct. It seemed to me that the mists in my own mind were gradually clearing away, and I began to have a dim, vague perception of the truth.
1. Judging by Holmes’ facial expressions from the first paragraph, he appeared to be _______.| A．impatient | B．worried |
| C．amazed | D．satisfied |
| A．On arriving on the spot. | B．When testing the dog. |
| C．After the death of Stangerson. | D．After Holmes’ thinking for so long. |
| A．By taking the pills. | B．By sending for others to test the pills. |
| C．By testing himself. | D．By doing the experiment with the dog. |
【推荐3】Four newest novels
If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal
What Animal Intelligence Reveals about Human Stupidity
by Justin Gregg. Little, Brown, 2022 ($29)
The book is a snappy read but lingers: it left me wondering why we don’t respect signals of intelligence from other species-and more deeply consider how our own intelligence works against us. -Darcy B. Kelley
Meet Us by the Roaring Sea
A Novel by Akil Kumarasamy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2022 ($27)
Set in a future of eye scans, carbon credits and advanced Al. Akil Kumarasamy’s new novel nonetheless feels surprisingly like home-even as it tests the boundaries of self and story.
Doctors and Distillers
The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine, Spirits, and Cocktails
by Camper English. Penguin Books, 2022($18, paperbound)
Your favorite cocktail may very well have its roots in medicine of generations past. With immense wit and charm, author Camper English traces millennia to explore how civilizations used the fermented and distilled beverages to do everything from hydrating the workforce to fending off the Black Death.
The Milky Way
An Autobiography of Our Galaxy by Moiya McTier
Grand Central Publishing, 2022 (26)
Moiya McTier assumes the role of cosmic interpreter to let our galaxy tell her own story. As a character the Milky Way is a cross between a Greek goddess and GLaDOS. the artificially super intelligent computer system from the Portal video-game series.
1. Which book talks about the theme of intelligence of species?| A．Doctors and Distillers | B．The Milky Way |
| C．If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal | D．Meet Us by the Roaring Sea |
| A．They are all hard-covers. |
| B．They come out in the same year. |
| C．They share the same topic. |
| D．They are published by the same publishing. |
| A．$44 | B．$54 | C．$56 | D．$53 |
