Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet ripe or finished. For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns(角) had not yet developed. A century later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.
Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from early nineteen hundreds. A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.
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Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling, jealousy(嫉妒). The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay rise and he does not.
1. A greenhorn now refers to ____.
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A.a person who is new in a job | B.a new solider |
C.a young horse | D.a cow without horns |
A.who is good at growing plants | B.whose thumbs are of green color |
C.whose garden is greener than others’ | D.who is younger than his neighbors |
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A.colors | B.language | C.politics | D.agriculture |
A.In about the 16th century, a greenhorn meant an experienced soldier. |
B.The Green Revolution may have some connection with green thumbs. |
C.The green-eyed monster was probably created by William Shakespeare. |
D.The green-eyed monster can be used to describe a person who is jealous. |
2 . A new collection of photos brings an unsuccessful Antarctic voyage back to life.
Frank Hurley's pictures would be outstanding—undoubtedly firstrate photojournalism—if they had been made last week.In fact,they were shot from 1914 through 1916, most of them after a disastrous shipwreck(海难), by a cameraman who had no reasonable expectation of survival.Many of the images were stored in an ice chest, under freezing water, in the damaged wooden ship.
The ship was the Endurance, a small, tight, Norwegianbuilt threemaster that was intended to take Sir Ernest Shackleton and a small crew of seamen and scientists, 27 men in all,to the southernmost shore of Antarctica's Weddell Sea.From that point Shackleton wanted to force a passage by dog sled (雪橇) across the continent.The journey was intended to achieve more than what Captain Robert Falcon Scott had done.Captain Scott had reached the South Pole early in 1912 but had died with his four companions on the march back.
As writer Caroline Alexander makes clear in her forceful and wellresearched story The Endurance, adventuring was even then a thoroughly commercial effort.Scott's last journey,completed as he lay in a tent dying of cold and hunger, caught the world's imagination, and a film made in his honor drew crowds.Shackleton, a onetime British merchantnavy officer who had got to within 100 miles of the South Pole in 1908, started a business before his 1914 voyage to make money from movie and still photography.Frank Hurley, a confident and gifted Australian photographer who knew the Antarctic,was hired to make the images, most of which have never before been published.
1. What do we know about the photos taken by Hurley?A.They were made last week. |
B.They showed undersea sceneries. |
C.They were found by a cameraman. |
D.They recorded a disastrous adventure. |
A.Frank Hurley. |
B.Ernest Shackleton. |
C.Robert Falcon Scott. |
D.Caroline Alexander. |
A.Artistic creation. | B.Scientific research. |
C.Money making. | D.Treasure hunting. |
West German astronaut Ulf Merbold disproved the theory during tests aboard the spaceship yesterday. His discovery is connected with the workings of the inner ear, the body’s balance mechanism(机制).
In l914 Professor Robert Barany won the Nobel prize for Physiology(生理学) and Medicine when he announced that temperature differences affected the inner ear and caused the eyes to blink(眨眼). His theory was accepted by scientists.
But Merbold carried out tests to find if the theory was correct and shocked himself and space officials when he proved it wrong.
According to Barany’s theory the eyes would blink when cold air was blown into one ear and hot air blown into the other.
But if this theory was correct such a movement would be impossible in zero gravity(重力).
Both Merbold’s eyes continually blinked when the test was carried out.
1. Tests were carried out in outer space in order to _______.
A.find what causes the eyes to blink |
B.shock the world |
C.win the prize |
D.prove the theory |
A.how our hearing mechanism works |
B.why we constantly move our eyes |
C.that eye movement is affected by temperature |
D.how hearing reacts(反应) |
A.having no weight | B.having no air |
C.the pull of gravity | D.hot and cold air streams |
4 . One of the most important things in the world is friendship. In order to have friends, you have to be a friend. But how can you be a good friend at school?
Listen — Listen when they are talking. Don’t say anything unless they ask you a question. Sometimes it’s not necessary for you to have anything to say; they just need someone to talk to about their feelings.
Help them — If your friend is ever in need of something, be there to help them. You should try to put them first, but make sure you don’t do everything they want you to do. Try to take an extra (额外的) pencil or pen with you to classes in case (以防) they forget one. Have a little extra money in your pocket in case they forget something they need.
Be there for them — Try to make something for your friend to help make them feel better in hard times. Making cards and encouraging them are among the nicest things you can do for a friend. Marilyn Monroe, a famous U.S. actor, once said, “I often make mistakes. Sometimes I am out of control. But if you can’t stay with me at my worst, you are sure not to deserve (值得) to be with me at my best.” Always remember this! If you don’t want to stay with your friends when they’re in hard times, then you don’t deserve to be with them when they’re having a good time!
______ — Try to make plans with your friends. Go shopping, go for ice cream, have a party, go to a movie and so on. Take time to know each other even better by doing something you both enjoy. By planning things together, you both can have a good time. And you’ll remember these things when you’re all old!
1. While your friend is talking to you about his or her feelings, you should _____.A.give him or her some advice | B.just listen unless asked |
C.calm him or her down | D.share your feelings as well |
A.try to do everything for them | B.put them before ourselves |
C.change their bad habits first | D.ignore their faults |
A.Life without a friend is death. | B.A friend is easier lost than found. |
C.A friend in need is a friend indeed. | D.A man is known by his friends. |
A.How to find a good friend. | B.How to help friends in trouble. |
C.How to be a good friend. | D.How to make more friends. |
5 . Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment. “We didn’t know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement .Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many, many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first. According to US government reports, emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9. Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with, the world is a safer and healthier place. A kind of “Green thinking” has become part of practices.
Great improvement has been achieved. In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs; today in 1995 there are about 6,600. Advanced lights, motors, and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution.
Twenty –five years ago, there were hardly any education programs for environment. Today, it’s hard to find a public school, university, or law school that does not have such a kind of program. “Until we do that, nothing else will change!” says Bruce Anderson.
1. According to Anderson, before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___.A.the social movement | B.recycling techniques |
C.environmental problems | D.the importance of Earth Day |
A.The grass –roots level. | B.The business circle. |
C.Government officials. | D.University professors. |
A.They have cut car emissions to the lowest. |
B.They have settled their environmental problems. |
C.They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities. |
D.They have reduced pollution through effective measures. |
A.Education. | B.Planning |
C.Green living | D.CO reduction |
With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品).As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter—the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.
1. What can be inferred about the author as a child?
A.He never watched TV. |
B.He read what he had to. |
C.He found reading unbelievable. |
D.He considered reading part of his life. |
A.an idea |
B.a sound quality |
C.a way of writing |
D.a world to write about |
A.It helps him to realize his dream. |
B.It opens up a wider world for him. |
C.It makes his college life more interesting. |
D.It increases his interest in worldwide travel. |
A.Why do I read? |
B.How do I read? |
C.What do I read? |
D.When do I read? |
I was going to have my examination the next day. “When can I go to bed?”I asked myself. I didn't answer, in fact I dared not.
The clock struck twelve. “Oh, dear!”I cried. “Ten more books to read before I can go to bed!”We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite desperate (绝望的) now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.
1. When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were ________.
A.asleep | B.working in bed |
C.outside | D.quietly laughing at him |
A.it was too late at night |
B.he was very tired |
C.his eyes lids were so heavy that he couldn't keep them open |
D.he hadn't studied hard before the examination |
A.He went to a church to pray again. |
B.He passed the exam by sheer luck. |
C.He failed in the exam. |
D.He was punished by his teacher. |
A.The Night Before the Examination |
B.Working Far into the Night |
C.A Slow Student |
D.Going Over My Lessons |
8 . Kids' health:Four steps for fighting stress
Everybody gets stressed from time to time.
Try taking these four steps the next time you are stressed:
(1)Get support. When you need help, reach out to the people who care about you. Talk to a trusted adult,such as a parent or other relatives.
(2)Don't take it out on yourself. Sometimes when kids are stressed and upset they take it out on themselves. Oh, dear,that's not a good idea. Remember that there are always people to help you. Don't take it out on yourself.
(3)Try to solve the problem. After you're calm and you have support from adults and friends,it's time to get down to business.
(4)Be positive. Most stress is temporary (暂时的). Remember stress does go away, especially when you figure out the problem and start working on solving it.
These steps aren't magic,but they do work. And if you can stay positive as you make your way through a tough time,you'll help yourself feel better even faster.
A.Ask for a helping hand to get you through the tough situation. |
B.Notice your friends' feelings and find a way to help them. |
C.Different people feel stress in different ways. |
D.Ah, it feels so good when the stress is gone. |
E.You need to figure out what the problem is. |
F.And don't forget about your friends. |
G.Then, find a way to calm down. |
It was New Year’s Day. Mr. Lang didn’t go to work. He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again. He called his friends and they came soon. But they were afraid the police would come. He told his five-year-old son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside. They waited for a long time and didn’t think the police would come and began to gamble. Suddenly opened the door and in came a few policemen.
“I saw there weren’t any policemen outside, daddy,” said the boy, “so I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”
1. Mr. Lang was paid much because _______.
A.he was a driver |
B.he worked in a factory |
C.he had a lot of work to do |
D.he had worked there for a long time |
A.she couldn’t find any work |
B.she thought her husband was tired |
C.her husband spent all time in gambling |
D.she wouldn’t stop her husband gambling |
A.Mr. Lang often gambled |
B.Mr. Lang was late for work |
C.Mr. Lang didn’t help his wife at home |
D.Mr. Lang wasn’t polite to the police |
A.he didn’t love her any longer |
B.he wouldn’t stop gambling |
C.he had been put into lockup |
D.he was hardly sent away by the factory |
A.The boy hoped his father to be put into lockup again. |
B.The boy thought his father needed some policemen. |
C.The boy hoped his father to stop gambling soon. |
D.The boy hoped his mother to come back. |