Dad: OK, kid, what' s so important 1. we have to meet in secret?
Daughter :Well, it' s about the 22nd of next month. I- d like to have 2. surprise party for Mum but I need your help. I thought that maybe you could take her to a movie, you know, just the two of you. Then while you' re away I can decorate the family room 3. invite lots of friends.
Dad.That 4. (sound) great but how do I manage to get her back without 5. (go) out to dinner after the movie?
Daughter: Oh, that' s easy. You just say that you want to pick me up in order to make it a family 6. ( celebrate). After the movie is 7. , you send Mum in to get me and when she comes in the front door everyone shouts "Happy birthday" to surprise her.
Dad: What about food? You don't have time to cook it 8. (you) , do you?
Daughter: I’ll order everything to be 9. (send) from the restaurant nearby while you are enjoying the movie.
Dad: I'm so happy you have handled this so 10. (beauty).
A new mother was anxious to see her newly-born baby. But she was when the baby was in her arms. The baby had been born without ears.
With time going on, it that the baby' s hearing was perfect. It was only his that was damaged. When he rushed home from school one day and himself into his mother' s arms, she sighed, that his life was to be misfortunate.
He grew up and became a with his classmates. He might have been class president, that. The boy’s s father the family physician in secret if he could do to help his son. "I believed I could on a pair of outer ears, if they could be got," the doctor answered. So the began for a person who would ears.
Two years went by. Then the father said, "You are going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will give the ears you need. it a s a secret," said the father. The operation was very , and a new person appeared. " But I must know!" he urged his father. " Who gave me _? I could never do enough for him. " "I do not believe you could. " said the father.
The secret was for years till he stood with his father over his mother' s coffin. Slowly and , his father raised his mother' s thick brown hair to that his mother had no outer ears. "Mother said she was she never let her hair be cut," he whispered gently . "and nobody ever thought she was less did they?"
1.A.angiy B. confused C. astonished D. curious
2.A. turned out B. turned over C. took out D. took over
3.A. figure B. face C. ear D. appearance
4.A. threw B. got C. sent D. took
5.A. persuading B. knowing C. doubting D. wondering
6.A. enemy B. favorite C. stranger D. friend
7.A. ever since B. even if C. but for D. as for
8.A. asked B. advised C. ordered D. convinced
9.A. something B. everything C. anything D. nothing
10.A. transplant B. operate C. set D. fix
11.A. operation B. interview C. search D. examination
12.A. donate B. operate C. treat D. recover
13.A. So B. And C. But D. Or
14.A. normal B. useful C. difficult D. successful
15.A. so much B. so many C. too much D. too many
16.A. discussed B. hidden C. spread D. kept
17.A. desperately B. tenderly C. sadly D. excitedly
18.A. know B. find C. show D. notice
19.A. guilty B. glad C. worried D. regretful
20.A. beautiful B. ugly C. careful D. Fashionable
Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. They'll say, "This is my fate. I cannot change it.”
1. . You don’t have to suffer needlessly. Your fate depends on you, not on any other outside factors
We want to be happy and live our life to the fullest, but we have to do our share of making the effort to live the life of our dreams.
2. You just don' t sit around and wait for a million dollars to fall from the sky. You have to get off the couch, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone ( unless it contributes to your success), and get your mind and body to work I
If your life is not meant the way you want it to be, don't just say: "Our time will come. " or 3. " Don' t expect your luck to change, unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, don' t just regard it as a temporary setback; but use it as feedback. Learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem. It' s not enough to think positive; you also have to act positive.
If someone' s life is in trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! 4.
So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to DO your best. In other words, don't just stand (or sit) there. 5.
A. I think so.
B. Of course not.
C. You'd better let it be.
D. Things will get better someday.
E. Do something to improve your life.
F. Remember that you harvest what you sow.
G. You've got to do anything you can to save the person.
Some kinds of mental skills naturally decrease as people get older. Yet research seems to show that some training can improve such skills. A recently published study also appears to attest that the good effects of training can last for many years after that training has ended.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland wanted to learn how long memory and thinking skills would last in older people who were trained to keep them. The people were part of the ten-year research project. They were taught methods meant to improve their memory, thinking and ability to perform everyday tasks.
More than 2,800 volunteered for the study called ACTIVE — short for Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly. Most were studied when they were more than 70 years old.
The volunteers took one of several short training classes meant to help them keep their mental abilities. One class trained participants in skills including how to remember word lists. Another group trained in reasoning. A third group received help with speed-of-processing — speed of receiving and understanding information. A fourth group — the control group did not get any training.
Earlier results had established that the training helped the participants for up to five years. Now, leading study writer George Rebok says, the research showed most of the training remained effective a full ten years later.
Professor Rebok and his team found that the people trained in reasoning and speed-of- processing did better on tests than the control group.
“We are wondering whether those effects which endured over time would still be there ten years following the training, and in fact, that's exactly what we found.,,
The effect on memory, however, seemed not to last as long. Still, the old people in any of the three classes generally reported less difficulty in performing daily activities than the control group.The total training time for the older people was between 10 and 15 hours.
1. Which statement is false according to the text?
A. This kind of training can only have effects on people for a few years.
B. The people were trained during a period of ten years.
C. Most of the people who were studied were more than 70 years old.
D. The first group were trained how to remember word lists.
2. How would the old in the second group perform after receiving the trauung?
A. Remember more words.
B. Understand information more quickly.
C. Act as poorly as before.
D. Perform daily activities better.
3. What does the underlined word "attest" in the first paragraph mean7
A-Affect. B. Deny.
C. Prove. D. Improve.
4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Some Kinds of Mental Skills Naturally Decrease.
B. Mental Training Helped Elderly Stay Sharp for Years.
C. Four Groups of Old People Were Trained Mentally.
D. A Ten-year Research Affects Elderly.
British singer Sarah Brightman began training for a 2015 flight to the International Space Station where she hopes to become the first professional musician to sing from space, the company arranging the trip said on Tuesday.
Brightman, a famed soprano (女高音) who starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber' s "Phantom of the Opera" , will pay about $ 52 million for a 10-day stay aboard the orbital outpost, Tom Shelley, president of privately owned Space Adventures, said.
Brightman, who will become the eighth privately funded space tourist, is scheduled to fly in September 2015. Her training to fly on a Russian Soyuz capsule began last fall.
Brightman has planned to be the first professional musician to sing from space. But she faces competition from Lady Gaga, who, according to media reports late last year, intends to be the first when she performs one song in space in early 2015 on a Virgin Galactic flight. Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, plans to offer suborbital(亚轨道的) space flights.
Brightman said in 2012 that she would travel to the space station, but her plans haven't been confirmed until now. So far. Space Adventures has arranged for nine private missions to the space station, a $ 100 billion research laboratory that flies about 260 miles above the earth. Microsoft co-founder Charles Simonyi made two trips.
Brightman will be the first private citizen to visit the station since Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibarte paid about $ 35 million for an 11-day stay in September 2009.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has an option to fly on the next available Soyuz seat after Brightman, which most likely will be in 2017, Shelley told Reuters.
1. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To praise Brightman.
B. To persuade the readers that Brightman is more famous than Lady Gaga.
C. To instruct the readers how to begin a space flight.
D. To give some information about Brightman.
2. When did Brightman start training for her space travel?
A. Last winter. B. Last autumn.
C. Next spring. D. Next summer.
3. The underlined word "she" in Paragraph 4 refers to ____.
A. Brightman B. Lady Gaga
C. Andrew Lloyd Webber D. Tom Shelley
4. The fifth paragraph is mainly carried out ____.
A. in time order B. in space order
C. by giving examples D. by comparison
Considering Australia' s size and the fact that early settlements were far apart, Australian society is remarkably homogeneous ( 同种的). Its citizens are fundamentally prosperous and the way of life in the major cities and towns is much the same however many miles divide them. It takes a sharp ear to identify regional accents.
However, there is some difference in lifestyle between city settlers and the country people. Almost 90 percent of the population lives in the fast-paced cities along the coast and has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert. The major cities preserve images of colonial heritage, but the overall impression is modem, with new buildings reflecting the country' s youth. In contrast, the rural communities tend to be slow-moving and conservative. For many years, Australia was said to have "ridden on the sheep' s back" , a reference to wool being the country' s main money earner. However, it is no longer dominant ( 主宰的) . Much of Australia' s relatively sound economy is now achieved from natural coal and wheat, and by being the largest diamond producer in the world. Newer industries such as tourism and wine making are also increasingly important. Australians are generally friendly and relaxed, with a modest sense of humor.
Yet, contrary to widespread belief, very few Australians have true prisoner origins. Within only one generation of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia had become a nation of immigrants. Originally coming almost entirely from the British Isles, today one in three Australians comes from elsewhere. Australia' s liberal postwar immigration policies led to a flowing of survivors from war-torn Europe, most notably Greeks, Italians, Poles and Germans.
The emphasis has shifted in recent years and today the majority of new immigrants are from Southeast Asia. Today Australia is a "mixture of nations" and although some racism exists, it has generally been a successful experiment and the country is reasonably proud to have one of the most harmonious multicultural communities in the world.
1. What does the writer mean by saying "has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert" in the second paragraph?
A. The major population has a close relationship with the desert.
B. The fast-paced cities are just located by the desert.
C. The major population knows little about the desert.
D. The major population is familiar with the people living in the desert.
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The pace of life in the city is different from that in the country.
B. One third of people living in Australia come from Europe.
C. The Australian economy is dependent on sheep exports.
D. Most Australians have ancestors who were prisoners.
3. What used to be Australia' s main money earner?
A. Wheat. B. Wool. C. Tourism. D. Diamond.
4. We can infer from the passage that ____.
A. nothing about Australia' s colonial part in modem cities can be seen by visitors
B. tourism and wine making resulted in fast development in rural communities only
C. immigrants from Europe have brought racial problems
D. Australia' s recent immigration policy encourages immigrants from Southeast Asia
