Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.
I am one of those unfortunate people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the spot I was heading for.
I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit that they didn’t know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite direction to that in which you should be going.
If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.
Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.
Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.
1.Who showed the right way to the interviewee according to the passage?
A. A warm-hearted old lady did such a thing
B. The writer did it for himself.
C. The secretary did so.
D. Someone we don’t know.
2.Why did the writer consider himself to be an unlucky dog?
A. Because he always forget the way to home
B. Because of his poor sense of direction
C. Because he did not have any friend.
D. Because he used to be shy and dared not ask others the way.
3.How did the visitor feel when he was showed into the very room?
A. He felt astonished B. He felt embarrassed.
C. He felt very sad. D. He felt strange
4.What is the writer going to do when someone asks him for direction?
A. He will direct the right way to the person willingly.
B. He will give the very person long list of direction
C. He will reply to it by the means of being a stranger to the town
D. He is going to show the man an opposite direction.
Settled by the Celts, invaded by the Romans and the Normans, and ruled by the English, Wales’ population has regularly changed over the ages. Wales, particularly South Wales, became a melting pot of European nationalities and cultures. At first workers from England, Ireland and the rural areas of Wales rushed into the coalfields of South Wales. By 1911, workers from Ireland, Italy and Spain had joined the industrial workforce there. Many of these newcomers were prepared to work for less pay.
But during this period, workers, dissatisfied with regular pay cuts, poor safety, the growing trend of employers to pay workers with tokens (代币), which could only be spent in the company store, returned to the land. In 1891, the rural population of Wales was about 616,000 and by 1911 just over 649,000 people lived and worked in these areas.
The rural population continues to grow slowly even today. People from richer parts of the UK, particularly southern England, are buying holiday or retirement homes in Wales. In some areas this has led to a shortage of affordable housing for local people. This, combined with the lack of employment prospects in rural Welsh communities, has started a new movement of people in search of jobs and homes into the towns and cities of Wales and to other parts of the UK and Europe.
As so many Welsh people have migrated to other countries over the last 200 years, it’s really no surprise that many visitors come to see friends and relatives — there were 229,000 visitors in 1998. These visitors strengthen their links to their land of origin and continue to support the Welsh economy. During the hot summer days, about 28% of the visitors visit the countryside and nearly 70% visit the seaside.
1.Why was South Wales so attractive to people in the early 20th century?
A. Because its coal industry needed a large number of workers
B. Because people could get the highest pay there.
C. Because it was rich in many different kinds of culture
D. Because people could buy holiday or retirement homes there.
2.From the last paragraph, we learn that most visitors come to Wales for the purpose of _____.
A. visiting their friends and relatives
B. supporting the Welsh economy
C. enjoying a cool and pleasant summer
D. all of the above
3.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Wales, a land with a population on the move
B. Wales, a land with a promising past and future.
C. Wales, the biggest melting pot of Europe.
D. Tourism, the main economic source of Wales
4.What does the writer want to tell us in the second paragraph?
A. Welsh workers couldn’t get any pay for their work.
B. The working conditions were terrible at this time.
C. Many people got tired of city life at this time.
D. The rural population of Wales didn’t decline at this time
HIGHFIELD COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL SCHOOL REPORT Form Teacher: G. Baker Pupil’s Name: Simon Watkins Term: Summer 2014 Form: Ⅳ B
FORM TEACHER’S REMARKS HEADMASTER Basically satisfactory work and progress I shall be keeping an eye on his though he will now have realized, I hope, that progress in his weaker subjects in certain subject areas he needs to make speedy though his success in the sciences is improvement. most pleasing. |
1.Based on the school report, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Simon didn’t bother his teacher to revise French.
B. Simon is able to pay attention to history for long
C. Simon is a determined learner in English.
D. Basically, Simon did a good job in science
2.According to the comments of the Physical Education teacher, Simon_______.
A. likes to work with his classmates
B. is too talkative in the class
C. doesn’t exercise his body at the right time
D. becomes weak because he doesn’t exercise at all
3.Which of the following statements best describes Simon?
A. He needs to improve his attitude to certain subjects
B. His potential has been fully reflected in science classes.
C. His grade in maths makes him a born scientist.
D. He has made great progress in language classes
The first day our professor challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I looked around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady smiling at me.
She said, “Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I’m 87. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of children.” “No seriously,” I said. “I want to realize my dream!” she told me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and everyone liked to listen to this “time machine”.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet and I’ll never forget what she taught us. “There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are 19 and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn 20. If I am 87 and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn 88. We have less time to live on. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do.”
At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had dreamed about all those years. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over 2,000 students attended her funeral honoring the wonderful woman who taught us such an important message.
1.Rose was considered a “time machine” because she _____.
A. always followed a strict time schedule
B. was never late for any of her classes
C. always appeared in time whenever she was needed
D. had lived a long and rich life
2.According to Rose, growing up is different from growing older because _______.
A. growing up means young people have enough time to waste
B. growing up means one has more chances or time to choose what one likes
C. there is no need for one to worry about death
D. growing up doesn’t need as much effort or talent as growing older
3.From the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2, we can learn that ______.
A. it is not polite to talk about a person’s real age in public
B. going to college at a very old age is looked down upon
C. Rose looked younger than her real age in the writer’s eyes
D. the writer didn’t believe Rose was as old as she said
4.Rose came to study in college at such an old age for the purpose of __________.
A. challenging her old age
B. meeting someone rich and attractive
C. realizing her long dream about college education
D. not having any regrets in her life
Tomorrow's World Book Day has inspired a slew of literary events throughout the capital. Xing Yi and Liu Zhihua report.
As World Book Day, April 23, approaches, various reading events are being held by government agencies, libraries and bookstores throughout the capital.
At the launch of the 5th Beijing Reading Season in Great Canal Park in Tongzhou district on Saturday night, 81-year-old Yin Zhiguang, head of Beijing Elocution Troupe, led the audience in reciting a poem.
Activities focusing on different readerships will highlight World Book Day in bookstores throughout Beijing, such as picture book sharing for children in Xidan Book Building, conversations with musicians and authors for young people in Sanlian Bookstore, talks with diplomats for people interested in international affairs in Wangfujing Xinhua bookstore, and a 12-hour late-night reading marathon for night owls at One-Way Space bookstore.
Recently, we conducted a survey about how many extra-curricular books students read per year. On average, each student read 5.34 books, which is definitely not adequate compared with their counterparts from the Western countries. It is upsetting to see the outcome. When asked what students in our school do in their spare time, they claim that they tend to watch TV and surf the Internet, for they can have great fun. Some students even complain that they are forced to attend some extra make-up classes so that they have no time to play, not to mention reading books.
School authority is planning to launch a campaign to encourage students to read more extra-curricular books.
写作内容
1. 用30个左右词概括上文的主要内容。
2. 分析学生课外阅读量不足的原因(至少两点)。
3. 谈谈读书的好处(至少两点); 以及你对增加课外阅读量建议(至少两点)。
写作要求
1.作文中可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子。
2.作文中不得出现真实姓名和学校名称。
任务型阅读（共10小题：每小题1分，满分10分）
The parents of a troubled teen may feel unsure as to whom to turn to in order to find help for their child. They may feel as if they have exhausted all of their options, and sometimes they are on the verge of giving up. But there is hope. Schools for troubled teens offer discipline and in some cases, drug treatment programs that can provide important life skills, and more importantly, a fresh start.
The following is a list of the most effective types of schools for troubled teens. Not every facility is a match for every child, but by knowing the differences between them, parents can make a better educated decision about where to send their teenager.
Boarding Schools
When a child is unable to deal with the relative freedom of a standard school day, boarding schools might be a good choice. At boarding schools, the child lives in a dorm setting, where almost every minute of the day is scheduled by school administrators.
Treatment Centers
When a teenager has an addiction to drugs or alcohol, a residential center that specializes in young people is an outstanding way to help them break the cycle of addiction. Treatment centers feature individual and group counseling to help identify the root causes of the drug problem and help develop the life skills needed to stay clean when the program is over.
Wilderness Programs
Designed to help improve the discipline and self-reliance of the child, wilderness programs send kids back to nature. By placing them in a foreign and sometimes uncomfortable setting, wilderness programs hope to improve children’s behavior. Programs generally include hikes, exercise programs and team building exercises.
Boot Camps
Boot camps are the most extreme style of school for troubled teens. These facilities are modeled after actual military boot camps, where the individual must get into shape, work as part of a team, and follow a long, hard set of rules and regulations. However, boot camps might not be the best choice for a teen with a drug addiction.
1._______ | Schools for Troubled Teenagers |
Problem | Having tried all the options, parents of troubled teens feel unsure about whom to 2._____ for help. |
3._______ of schools | ·Boarding schools have students’ time4.________ carefully. ·Treatment centres help students addicted to drugs return to 5.________. ·Wilderness programs are 6._______ to improve students’ behaviour by putting them in a foreign and sometimes uncomfortable setting. ·Boot camps are beneficial to 7.______ up their body and developing their sense of 8._____. |
9.________ | By learning about the differences between them, parents can make a better10.______ about where to send their teenagers for behavior modification. |
