Most people today think of chocolate as something sweet to eat or drink and can be easily found in stores around the world. It might surprise you that chocolate was once highly treasured.
The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed a sweetened chocolate drink. Later, the popularity of the drink spread throughout Europe. Chocolate remained a drink that only wealthy people could afford to drink until the eighteenth century. During the period known as the Industrial Revolution, new technologies helped make chocolate less costly to produce.
Farmers grow cacao trees in many countries in Africa, Central and South America, but these trees are difficult to grow. They require an exact amount of water, warmth, soil and protection. After about five years, cacao trees start producing large fruits called pods, which grow near the trunk of the tree. The seeds inside these pods are harvested to make chocolate. Growing cacao is very hard work for farmers. Today, chocolate industry officials, activists, and scientists are working with farmers. They are trying to make sure that cacao can be grown in a way that is easy for the farmers and safe for the environment.
The market value of the yearly cacao crop around the world is more than five billion dollars. Chocolate is especially popular in Europe and the United States. Each year, Americans eat an average of more than 5 kilograms of chocolate per person. Specialty shops that sell costly chocolate are also very popular. Many offer chocolate lovers the chance to taste chocolate grown in different areas of the world.
1.We can learn from the passage that chocolate was .
A．served with a drink in old times
B．popular with people around the world
C．a drink enjoyed by the rich in old times
D．bought easily in stores in old times
2.What made it possible to produce chocolate inexpensively?
A．A warm climate. B．Official aid.
C．New technologies. D．Scientific protection.
3.What should ideal cacao farming be like？
A．Simple and time-saving.
B．Safe and labour-saving
C．Easy and labour-saving
D．Easy and environment-friendly.
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Scientists are trying to help people find various cacaos.
B．The chocolate industry is developing rapidly only in European countries.
C．People in America love to produce dear chocolate.
D．Chocolate making is probably a big international business.
Doctors have known for a long time that extremely loud noises can cause hearing damage or loss. The noise can be the sound of a jet airplane or machines in factories of loud music or other common sound at home and at work. A person only needs to hear the noise for little more than one second to be affected.
An American scientist has found that using aspirin (阿斯匹林) increase the temporary（暂时的）hearing loss or damage from loud noise. He did an experiment using a number of students at a university who all had normal hearing. He gave them different amounts of aspirin for different periods of time, then he tested their hearing ability. He found that students who were given four grams of aspirin a day for two days suffered much greater temporary hearing loss than those who did not use aspirin. The hearing loss was about two times as great.
The scientist said millions of persons in the U.S. use much larger amounts of aspirin than were used in his experiment. He said these persons face a serious danger of suffering hearing loss from loud noise.
1.Doctors have long known that .
A．one may lose his hearing when he hears a terribly loud noise.
B．one may become deaf when he hears a loud noise.
C．loud noises can cause damage to the hearing of the young people only
D．common sounds at home are not harmful to the ear
2.One conclusion you can draw from the passage is that aspirin .
A．makes hearing damage from loud noise worse
B．should never be taken more than four grams
C．can damage one’s hearing when it is given more than four grams daily
D．always increases hearing loss by two times
3.Millions of Americans are in danger of suffering hearing loss because they .
A．take too much aspirin
B．often take air trips
C．like listening to loud music
D．have too much loud noises at home and at work
4.The American scientist did his experiment in order to find .
A．how much aspirin would affect a person’s hearing
B．how much aspirin should be given in the treatment of the patients with hearing damage from loud noise
C．whether aspirin would increase the temporary hearing damage from loud noises
D．whether the people who had hearing damage should use aspirin
"Do you like my dress?" she asked a passing stranger. "My mommy made it just for me." She said with tears in her eyes.
"I think it’s very pretty, but why are you crying?"
With a quiver（颤抖）in her voice the girl answered "After Mommy made me this dress she had to go to the heaven（天堂）Finally the woman realized what the child meant. She gently held the child in her arms and together they cried for the mommy that was gone.
Then suddenly the little girl stopped crying, stepped back and began to sing. She sang so softly that it was almost a whisper. It was the sweetest sound the woman had ever heard almost like the song of a very small bird.
After the child stopped singing she explained to the lady: "My mommy used that song to me before she went away, and she made me promise to sing it whenever I started crying and it would make me stop."
"See," she said, "it did, and now my eyes are dry!"
As the woman turned to go, the little girl grabbed her sleeve（袖子）. "Madam, can you stay just a minute? I want to show you something."
"Of course", she answered.
Pointing to a spot on her dress, she said: "Right here is where my mommy kissed my dress and here," pointing to another spot, "and here is another kiss, and here, and here. Mommy said that she put all those kisses so that I would have her kisses for everything that made me cry."
Then the lady realized that she wasn't just looking at a dress, no, she was looking at a mother...who knew that she was going away and would not be there to kiss away the hurt that she knew her daughter would get. So she took all the love she had for her beautiful little girl and put them into this dress that her child now so proudly wore.
She no longer saw a little girl in a simple dress. She saw a child wrapped（包裹）… in her mother's love.
1.Why does the girl start to sing?
A．Because she wanted the woman to stay longer.
B．Because she wanted to stop the woman crying.
C．Because her mother had told her to sing when she was sad.
D．Because her mother had asked her to be nice to strangers.
2.The mother had put kisses on the girl's dress because she had hoped .
A．her daughter would wear the dress proudly all the time
B．her love could help her daughter get through the troubles
C．her love could get her daughter things
D．her daughter would think of her kisses while she was crying
3.What is implied between the lines of the story is .
A．how much the mother had cared about the girl
B．how much the girl had depended on her mother
C．that the woman was very helpful to the girl
D．that no one can take the place of a mother
4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A．In a pretty dress with mother's kisses
B．With a crying girl in a pretty dress
C．From her mother with deep love
D．For love from a mother in the heaven
Many facts suggest that children are overweight and the situation is getting worse, according to the doctors. I feel there are a number of reasons for this.
Some people blame the fact that we are surrounded by shops selling unhealthy, fatty foods, such as fried chicken and ice cream, at low prices. This has turned out a whole generation of grown-ups who seldom cook a meal for themselves. If there were fewer of these restaurants, then probably children would buy less take-away food.
There is another argument that blames parents for allowing their children to become overweight. I agree with this, because good eating habits begin early in life, long before children start to visit fast food shops. If children are given fried chicken and chocolate rather than healthy food, or are always allowed to choose what they eat, they will go for sweet and salty foods every time, and this will carry on throughout their lives.
There is a third reason for this situation. Children these days take very little exercise. They do not walk to school. When they get home, they sit in front of the television or their computers and play computer games. Not only is this an unhealthy pastime, it also gives them time to eat more unhealthy food. What they need is to go outside and play active games or sports.
The above are the main reasons for this problem, and therefore we have to encourage young people to be more active, as well as steer them away from fast food shops and bad eating habits.
1.According to the text, what kind of children may eat more unhealthy food?
A．Those who often take exercise.
B．Those who often watch television.
C．Those who often have meals at home.
D．Those who often walk to school.
2.The author thinks that children are becoming overweight because ．
A．their parents often cook meals for them
B．they are too busy to go out and play
C．they can' t choose what to eat
D．there are too many fast food shops around
3.The word "steer" underlined in the last sentence most probably means .
A．force B．guide
C．expect D．observe
4.The main purpose of the text is to .
A．tell a story B．provide facts
C．give advice D．compare opinions
It was a cold December and Mrs. Bell wanted to do a lot of shopping. She waited until it was Saturday, when her husband was free, and she took him to the shops with her to pay for everything and to carry for her what she had bought. They went to a lot of shops, and Mrs. Bell bought everything she could think of.
She often stopped and said, “Look, Peter! Isn’t that beautiful?”
“All right, my dear. How much is it?” answered Mr. Bell, and then he took money out to buy it for her.
It was almost dark when they came out of the last shop, and Mr. Bell was tired. He was thinking about a nice drink by the side of a warm fire home. Suddenly his wife looked up at the sky and said, “Look at that beautiful moon, Peter!”
Without stopping, Mr. Bell answered at once. “All right, dear. How much is it?” Then he took his wallet out of his pocket.
1.Mrs. Bell took her husband to the shops because ．
A．he liked beautiful things
B．he liked to do shopping too.
C．she wanted him to pay money
D．he was always free
2.Mrs. Bell bought in the shops.
A．nothing
B．a drink
C．the most beautiful thing
D．a number of things
3.Mr. Bell shopping.
A．was addicted to
B．was thinking about
C．was tired of
D．was very interested in
4.According to the last paragraph, we know Mr. Bell .
A．wanted to buy the moon
B．did not really know what his wife was saying
C．was a millionair
D．did not like the idea of buying the moon
Rain was falling as my sister Jill and I ran out of the church, eager to get home and play with the that Santa had left for us. Across the street was a gas station where the bus stopped. It was for Christmas, but I noticed a family standing close to the locked door in an attempt to keep .
We were on the way to our grandparents’ house for the Christmas dinner. We were approaching our destination（目的地） my father U-turned in the middle of the road and said, “I can’t it! They are standing in the rain. They’ve got children. It’s Christmas. ”
When my father the gas station, he rolled down his window. “Merry Christmas. You are waiting for the ?” Father asked.
The man said that they were. They were going to Birmingham, where he had a brother and of a job.
“Why don’t you all get in the car and I’ll you up there. ”
After they settled in, Father looked back over his and asked the children if Santa had found them yet. Their sad faces gave him the .
“Well, I didn’t think so,” my father said, “ when I saw Santa this morning, he told me that he was having finding all, and he asked me if he could leave your toys in my . We’ll just them first before I take you to your destination. ” All at once, the three children’s faces shone with .
When we got out of the car at our house, the children the front door and straight to the Christmas tree. One of the girls picked up Jill’s doll and hugged it to her breast, and the other girl seized（抓住）something of mine.
All this happened many years ago, but the memory of it remains . That was the Christmas when my sister and I learned the of making others happy.
1.A．balls B．presents C．parcels D．trees
2.A. open B．familiar C．closed D．unexpected
3.A. clean B．energetic C．active D．dry
4.A．while B．when C．now that D．even if
5.A．understand B．admit C．deserve D．stand
6.A．pulled into B．drove away C．passed by D．looked at
7.A．truck B．brother C．bus D．driver
8.A．chances B．benefits C．emergencies D．discoveries
9.A．show B．seek C．bring D．drive
10.A．window B．head C．shoulder D．children
11.A．sympathy B．answer C．problem D．belief
12.A．because B．though C．as if D．so
13.A．pleasure B．trouble C．confidence D．suffering
14.A．company B．car C．shop D．house
15.A．recognize B．buy C．fetch D．find
16.A．doubt B．disappointment C．curiosity D．excitement
17.A．ran through B．stared at C．watched out D．looked through
18.A．shyly B．immediately C．quietly D．slowly
19.A．sensitive B．worthwhile C．fresh D．weak
20.A．joy B．award C．patience D．attention
