We were on the way from Hutchinson to Chicago for a short spring break. For many years I had wanted to take my family on the train. We all had been to Chicago four years ago, and the kids loved it. Chicago is one of my favorite cities, too, so the thought struck me again last fall to ride the train to Chicago. Of course, flying would have been faster. But I don’t think flying is easier, especially these days, with all the security and waiting in lines at airports.
Though we were tired in the middle of the night, the kids got on the train with the exhilaration of this adventure. “We’re moving,” my son William shouted happily with big eyes as the train began to pull away from the Hutchinson station.
I removed my shoes and lay down to try to finish my night’s sleep. The sleeper car would have better enabled that, but the ordinary train seats were not too bad. An airline flight is a harder experience for me: not enough room, two hours of pain with my knees almost touching my mouth. On the train I could almost outstretch all of my 6-foot-2-plus body in the generous legroom.
The journey didn’t feel at all as long as it was. We all found the train ride a joy. The car ride would have felt every minute of 13 hours. But on the train you are free to walk around, sit in the observation carriage for a while and enjoy the scenery out the windows, have a nice meal in the dining car, read a book, or play a board game.
In short, the train is all about enjoying the trip, which isn’t something I do so much when traveling by airline or by car, when the trip seems more of a mission (任务) to get there than an experience to enjoy along the way.
Chicago offers much to do for a family. This time, getting there was half the fun.
1.We can learn from the first paragraph that _____.
A. the kids love the train journey
B. it was the first time that the kids were taken on the train
C. the author didn’t enjoy the long train journey
D. Chicago is one of the kid’s favorite cities
2.What does the underlined word “exhilaration” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. Tiredness. B. Relaxation.
C. Excitement. D. Worry.
3.In the third paragraph, an airline flight experience is mentioned to show _____.
A. a train ride is more comfortable
B. a train ride is too long
C. an airline flight is miserable
D. an airline flight is easier
4.Which of the following words best describes the whole family’s feeling about the train journey?
A. Moved. B. Nervous.
C. Disappointed. D. Delighted.
Something in chocolate could be used to stop coughs and lead to more effective medicines, say UK researchers.
Their study found that theobromine, found in cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs than codeine, which was considered the best cough medicine at present.
The Imperial College London researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatment. “While coughing is not necessarily harmful, it can have a major effect on the quality of life, and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem,” said Professor Peter Barnes.
Ten healthy volunteers were given theobromine, codeine or placebo, a pill that contains no medicine, during the experiment. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill. The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin, which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicine is stopping coughs.
The team found that, when the volunteers were given theobromine, the capsaicin needed to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group. When they were given codeine they need only slightly higher levels of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo.
The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a nerve activity (神经活动), which causes coughing. They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no side effects such as sleepiness.
1.According to Professor Barnes, theobromine ______.
A. cannot be as effective as codeine
B. can be harmful to people’s health
C. cannot be separated from chocolate
D. can be a more effective cure for coughs
2.We learn from the text that volunteers in the experiment _______.
A. were patients with bad coughs
B. were divided into three groups
C. received standard treatments
D. suffered little side effects
3.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Codeine: A New Medicine
B. Chocolate May Cure Coughs
C. Cough Treatment: A Hard Case
D. Theobromine Can Cause Coughs
I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”
At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket.
I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth...?
She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room-- if you do anything to upset my husband , out you go!”
Then she turned to me, kissed me, and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control.” With that, she left the room.
After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood（情绪）had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly.
1.Why did the author shout at the telephone?
A. He was mad at the telephone.
B. He was angry with his agent.
C. He was anxious about his wife.
D. He was impatient with the secretary.
2.What made the author laugh?
A. His own behavior.
B. His wife’s suggestion.
C. His changeable feelings.
D. His wife’s sweet kiss.
3.What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?
A. Smart words.
B. Unusual actions.
C. Surprising looks.
D. Anxious feelings.
写作
Paragraph 1:After a while, my brother brought the police to our house.
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Paragraph 2:By the time my parents had come home, they lectured us that,
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用所给短语的适当形式填空，其中两项是多余的。
have fun with feast one’s eyes on play tricks on in memory of keep one’s word remind…of… attach….to break up pay attention to turn up look forward to set off for |
1.Our government set up a museum________________the people who died in the war.
2.___________________each other on April Fool’s Day is not our custom that we shouldn’t advocate.
3.Our English teacher is so busy with his work that he spends little time __________________
his own child.
4.The tourist _________________the breathtaking scenery of the West Lake in spring and forgot to go home.
5.We________________ Torreya Grandis Ridge with our teachers’ accompany on April 9.
6.The old picture_________me_________the sweet memory at university.
7.I promised to give my daughter a gift and I must _______________.
8.My mother often _________the importance _________being an upright person.
9.It was half past seven in the morning and one of my classmates finally________________at the school gate.
10.The day I have been comes at last.
单词拼写
1.Daisy had always longed to help e______________ species of wildlife.
2.An antelope said sadly, “We are being killed for the wool beneath our s__________ .”
3.It is said that the drug c__________ a powerful function has much effect on human beings.
4.Weather p ____________, we will go hiking next week.
5.I am native to Zhuji so I am f _____________ with almost every street in the city.
6.When I entered the classroom, the naughty boy p____________to be reading the book.
7.In the old society, thousands of people s__________ to death for lack of food.
8.During the Qingming Festival, people show respect for their dead a_____________.
9.Since the i_____________from UK, America has been developing very fast.
10.Although we are close friends, I don’t share her r___________beliefs
