1 . One of my favorite books is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. The story happens in a town in the US. It tells some exciting stories about a boy who has many adventures (冒险).
Tom, the hero of the book, lives with his aunt. He does not like people telling him what to do, so he always get into trouble. One day, Tom discovers the secret of a bad man named Injun Joe, so the bad man is looking for him. Tom firstly runs away to an island in the middle of the Mississippi River. Later, he runs into a cave (山洞) with a friend. They find Injun Joe’s treasure box unexpectedly and arrive home safely with it.
My favorite part of the book is when Tom and his friend start their adventures on the island in the Mississippi River. At first, they are happy. But hearing that everyone thinks they are dead, they feel very sorry. So they come back home. When they suddenly appear, the family and neighbors are surprised to see them, but very pleased to find that they are alive.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a great book. First of all, it tells a wonderful adventure story. It also tells how young people grow, how people love each other and how bad people pay for their actions. It is written in everyday English, and the dialogues sound especially real. Today, it is still read and loved by people all over the world, and is thought to be one of the greatest American stories.
根据短文内容判断正（A）、误（B）。
1. The writer of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an English writer, Mark Twain.
2. Tom may be unhappy when people tell him to do something.
3. The bad man is looking for Tom because he takes the treasure box away.
4. The family are surprised and sorry when Tom and his friend come back.
5. The greatness of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer leads to its popularity around the world.
1. The monkey’s paw can bring happiness to people.
2. The old soldier is happy to give the monkey’s paw to Mr. White.
3. Mr. White’s first wish is to have thirty thousand pounds.
4. Herbert comes back home in the end.
3 . Drmiinnggg! That’s the sound that kids all over the country hate to hear—the alarm bell. The new school year has just started and children across the UK have to wake up early in the morning to go to school.
But students at one school in north-cast England are lucky. They can lie in bed for an extra（额外的）hour before they go to school. Monkseaton High School has been allowing its pupils to come into school an hour later than other schools.
The headmaster, Dr Paul Kelley, says that this new way helps students pay more attention to their lessons in class. He feels that young people are more energetic and can perform better for the rest of the day. And he adds that for their school students, a late start at school may be better than an early one.
Dr. Kelley tells the BBC that teenagers don't perform very well in the morning and their need to sleep is biological（生物的）.
It seems that this new approach to teaching shows positive（乐观的） results. The number of students who sleep in class drops quickly. Besides, the school has already seen a drop in the number of pupils who play truant（逃学）by 27%. More importantly, Dr. Kelley also says that exam results have improved by 20%—30% over the past year.
Classes at Monkseaton High School begin at 10 a.m. and finish at 3:40 p.m. However, the school opens from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The students can come early and leave late if they want.
1. This passage is a speech given by a headmaster.2. The students in Monkseaton High School can go to school an hour earlier than the students in other schools.
3. According to the passage, Dr. Paul Kelley agrees with the new approach.
4. Thanks to the new approach, the number of pupils who play truant drops.
5. From the passage, we know that classes usually begin at 9:00 a.m. in schools in the UK.
| A Happy Rain on a Spring Night | |
| Good rain knows its time right; It will fall when comes spring. With wind it steals in night: Mute, it moistens each thing.  | O’er wild lanes dark cloud spreads; In boat a lantern looms. Dawn sees saturated reds. The town’s heavy with blooms. —Translated by Xu Yuanchong |
This famous poem, with four couplets (对句), was written by Du Fu (712—770), Tang Dynasty.when he was living and farming in Chengdu. His farming experience taught him to be thankful for nature.
The very first word, “Good”, shows the poet’s joy and love for the spring rain. The rain is good because it “knows” the proper time to come. Here the poet uses personification (拟人化), as if the rain were smart enough to come in time for the farmer’s busy season.
When the rain comes, it appears during the night without making any noise. Unlike the summer storms, the spring rain finishes is task without being known.
In the third couplet, the poet describes a peaceful scene to us. In the night sky, the clouds look dark and heavy. It’s a sign that there will be enough rain during the night. The light from the riverboat makes the dark scene a bit livelier.
Lastly, the poet starts to imagine. Tomorrow morning, he thinks, the city of Chengdu will become beautiful when all of the flowers bloom (盛开) after the rain.
1. The Chinese title of the poem is “Ye Yu. Ji Bei”.2. The rhyme (韵律) for thus poem is ab—ab—cd—cd.
3. The word “quiet” can be used to describe the rain in thus poem.
4. Xu Yuanchong wanted to show that he’s thankful for nature in this poem.
5 . Do you know what you’d like to be when you grow up? It takes most people many years to find this out. For the young artist Alexandra Nechita, it never really seemed to be a question. From the day she began drawing at the age of two, she was an artist.
Alexandra Nechita was born in Romania in 1985 and moved to California when she was still a baby. As a little child, she loved colouring in her colouring books. Her parents hoped she could spend more time playing with other children, so they took away her colouring books. Alexandra began drawing her own pictures and colouring them in.
By the time Alexandra was seven years old, she had begun painting with oil paints. When Alexandra took a local art class, her teacher was amazed at the young artist’s unusual style of painting. Alexandra’s work was similar in some ways to the paintings by famous artists like Picasso. These artists did not use a realistic style of painting. They allowed their imaginations to play an important part in their work. The interesting thing was that little Alexandra had never seen the work of these artists. People called her “Little Picasso”. This was a great honour, but Alexandra’s style of painting was all her own.
Alexandra’s first public show was held at a Los Angeles public library when she was only eight years old. People were amazed at how young Alexandra was, but mostly they loved her imaginative artwork. It did not take long for Alexandra and her work to become famous. She appeared on television programs and in newspapers and magazines all over the world. The sale of a single piece can earn the young artist thousands of dollars. But that is not why Alexandra creates artwork. She just cannot imagine doing anything else that would bring her such joy and satisfaction.
Today, Alexandra is a full-time artist. She also works to help support the arts in schools. Alexandra is a strong believer in the power of art as a tool of communication and a bridge to building peace throughout the world.
正确写A，错误写B。
1. Alexandra’s paintings are especially realistic so she became very famous.2. Alexandra was called “Little Picasso” because she studied the artist’s artwork.
3. Nothing but painting can make her happy and satisfied.
4. Making lots of money is one of the reasons why Alexandra creates artwork.
5. Alexandra’s first public show was held in Los Angeles at the age of 8.
| album BrE/'ælbəm/; AmE/'ælbəm/(noun) 1. a collection of several pieces of music, made available as a single one on a CD, the internet, etc. Have you heard their new album? 2. a book with plain pages, used for collecting together and protecting photos, stamps, etc.) We’ve put our best party photos in the album? arrange BrE/ə'reɪndɜ/; AmE/ə'reɪndɜ /(verb) 1. to plan, prepare for, or organize something They arranged to have dinner the following month. 2. (put something somewhere) to put a group of objects in a certain order She arranged her birthday cards along the shelf. | carpenter BrE/'ka:pɪntər/; AmE/'ka: rpɪntə/(noun) a person whose job is making and repairing wooden objects and structures conclusion BrE/kən'klu:ɜən/; AmE/kən'klu:ɜən /(noun) The opinion you have after considering all the information about something Did you come to any conclusions at the meeting this morning? groan BrE/grəʊn/; AmE/'groʊn/(verb) 1. to make deep, long sound showing great pain or unhappiness 2. to complain or speak unhappily “Not again” he groaned(=said in a low, unhappy voice). |
1. The word “album” is a noun.
2. The word “arrange” is pronounced differently in British English and American English.
3. A carpenter may build things out of wood.
4. When someone groans, he is usually very happy.
5. We can get the word spelling, parts of speech, pronunciation, meaning and some sentences in the dictionary.
7 . Nemo, a cute orange-and-white fish, and Shrek, a huge green monster have won the hearts of young people in China and all over the world. The characters of popular cartoons are everywhere, on office desks, handbags, and computer screens.
But there are some older cartoon favorites. For example, the Monkey King. He is the character of a story called Havoc in Heaven. He leads a group of monkeys against the Emperor of Heaven and his guards. He is brave, clever and humorous. Parents and children laugh together as Monkey King makes a terrible mess in heaven. He makes a mess in each room in heaven. But it is above all the jokes played by the monkey that people remember. “Havoc in heaven” has become a common expression used by a parent when they return to the house or office and see a mess. They always expect to seemore Monkey King Cartoons.
Tintin is another favorite cartoon character. He has been popular ever since the artist invented him in 1929. Tintin has red hair and a small white dog. He works for a newspaper and has lots of exciting experiences. Fans have bought about 200 million copies of Tintin’s stories in more than fifty languages. Tintin appeared in China in the 1980s. Many Chinese still collect these black-and-white Tintin books.
Finally, Snoopy, a cute dog, celebrated his 60th birthday in 2010. Snoopy lives in his own private world and finds real life hard to understand. Charles Schulz created Snoopy and his friends, and drew the cartoons to satisfy older people as well as children.
判断正(A)误(B)
1. The cartoon character Tom and Jerry are not mentioned in the passage.
2. “Havoc in Heaven” means making a mess at home or in the office.
3. Tintin has been popular for about seventy-one years.
4. Snoopy was created in 1950.
5. Charles Schulz likes drawing cartoons only for children.
It was raining hard and nearing dark. I was late for an appointment (预约) in a nearby city that I know only by GPS. And now my phone has died. The usual exits (出口) were closed. I didn't know how to get where I was going or how to let my appointment know I might not make it there.
I stopped at a KFC in a poor part of town and walked up to a mother and her teen daughter.
“I'm sorry, but is it possible for me to look up a number on your phone and then call the place and let them know I'm lost?” She handed me her phone and then told me I was lucky she had her phone, for it was getting ready to be turned off because she didn't have enough money to pay the phone bill.
The young girl and the mother didn't pay me much attention when I made a call. The appointment told me how to get there by another road.
Before I left. suddenly, I reached into my wallet where I don't usually have cash (现金) and pulled out all I had, a $20 bill. I gave it into the mother's hand and then turned to leave quickly. I heard her daughter calling after me, “Thanks, sir. You have no idea how you just helped us.” And yet, they really helped me.
Judge the following sentences true (T) or false (F) according to the passage.
1. The writer asked the mother and her daughter for help because his phone didn't work.
2. The woman said the writer was lucky because he had enough money to pay the phone bill.
3. From the passage we know the mother and her daughter were also in great need of help.
4. The writer paid the mother $20 as the cost of using the phone.
5. When the writer got help from others, he also passed on his kindness at the same time.
“I am Miss Jean,” said the camp counselor. “Welcome to Camp Dream.”
Miss Jean and the campers sat by the fire. “Tell me what you like to do,” said Miss Jean.
“I like to cook,” said Dean. “I dream of being a great cook one day.”
“I can draw!” Sam cried. “I drew this with a lot of colors. I will be a great artist one day. I will have a show with all my drawings.”
“I play sports,” said Jess. “I can kick a ball very far. My dream is to be on a great soccer team.”
“Look over here and let's read this sign,” said Miss Jean. “How can you reach your dream?”
Becoming an artist means following your dreams. TomiedePaola always wanted to write books. He also wanted to draw the pictures for the books. He wrote a lot and drew a lot when he was in school. Now that he is grown up, Tomie writes and draws children's books. You may have read some of his books. One of his books is called Strega Nona. TomiedePaola followed his dreams.
1. The campers were talking about how they will make dreams come true.2. Dean wanted to be a great cook when he grew up.
3. Sam dreamt of going to different drawing exhibitions.
4. Jess wanted to be a soccer player.
5. TomiedePaola's story is an example of how people reach their dreams.
10 . There is an English saying, "Laughter is the best medicine. " Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to study laughter and the influence it has on the human body. They have found that laughter can really improve people's health.
Tests were carried out to study the influence of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts , blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar influence to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works on several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be very helpful.
Other tests have shown that laughter seems to be able to reduce the influence of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that stood the pain for the longest time was the group that listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain that makes both stress and pain less.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics （诊所） , in which they help to improve their patients' condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce useful influence.
1. Many people were serious about the saying "Laughter is the best medicine. "2. Laughter has the same influence on the body as physical exercise do.
3. It seems that the group without listening to funny programs can stand the pain a little longer.
4. The brain can produce a kind of chemical to make both stress and pain less.
5. Some doctors encourage their patients to laugh to make their patients condition better.
