It is a common thing to forget to return a book to the library after you’ve borrowed it. Maybe, you’ll you’ll realize it has been some 1. (month) since you borrowed it and decide to return it. 2. (similar), when Ron Webster borrowed a book from the library of the University Of Liverpool, he too forgot to return it. When he was 30, back in 1953, he was working 3. a research assistant in the university. It was during this time 4. he loaned a book titled “Structure and Function in Primitive Society.” Shortly after he borrowed this book, he 5. (call) to London to continue his research. Just as you might have expected, Ron Webster completely forgot the whole thing.
Ron had a 6. (success) career and worked for Ford before retiring and leading a relaxed life. Recently when he took 7. look at his collection of books, he discovered the old book. He contacted University officials to ask about the 8. (possible) of returning the book.
University Librarian was 9. (amaze) to see Ron arrive at the University Of Liverpool, 10. (try) to return a book that he borrowed 61 years ago.
Just in case you were wondering, the total fine that Ron Webster had accumulated over the years amounted to ￡4,510.
Before he sailed round the world single-handed, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to ______ round the world but failed. That was in 1931.
The years passed. He ______ flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo ______ race across the Atlantic. His ______ dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail. His friends and doctors thought it was a(an)______ attempt, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to ______ his plan. In August, 1966, at the age of nearly 65, an age at which many men ______, he began his greatest ______ of his life.
Chichester covered 14,100 miles ______ stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed ______. On shore, he could not walk ______ help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done ______; he must not go any further.______ he did not listen.
After ______ in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of lots of ______. The second half of his voyage was by far the more ______ part, during which he sailed round the risky Cape Horn. After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the following radio message to London: “I feel as if I had waken up from a nightmare (噩梦). Even a wild horse could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that Ocean ______.”
Just before 9 o’clock on Sunday evening 28 May, 1967, he arrived ______ in England, where tens of thousands of people were waiting to welcome him. Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ honored him with a very valuable sword. The whole voyage from ______ and back had covered 28,500 miles. It had taken him nine ______, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.
1.A. run B. travel C. fly D. ride
2.A. picked up B. gave up C. lifted up D. made up
3.A. sailing B. flying C. horsing D. running
4.A. new B. horrible C. ambitious D. old
5.A. crazy B. reasonable C. acceptable D. hopeless
6.A. find out B. put forward C. carry out D. bring out
7.A. settle down B. retire C. go sightseeing D. entertain
8.A. work B. flight C. task D. voyage
9.A. after B. before C. until D. since
10.A. together B. happily C. alone D. successfully
11.A. without B. for C. with D. beyond
12.A. little B. all C. much D. enough
13.A. Even though B. Otherwise C. But D. So that
14.A. planning B. working C. resting D. sailing
15.A. help B. preparations C. discussion. D. objections
16.A. rainy B. dangerous C. interesting D. comfortable
17.A. again B. then C. finally D. quickly
18.A. forward B. back C. shortly D. opposite
19.A. England B. America C. France D. Australia
20.A. seasons B. weeks C. years D. months
What do they really mean?
Food manufacturers and retailers are letting shoppers down. This the view of the CWS, which has just brought out a new report.
According to the report, shoppers believe food labels(标签) because they think there are strict regulations in place. 1.. So the food industry can get away with all sorts of tricky strategies to make products look bigger and sound better than they are.
The report has identified the different ways in which shoppers are misled.2.. Descriptions on packaging are sometimes inaccurate in an attempt to oversell the product. One example given in the report is the phrase “haddock fillets”, used for a product that is in fact cut from big blocks of fish rather than individual slices.
3.. These include “traditional”, “wholesome”, or “premium”. The claim that a brand is “90% fat-free” hides the fact that it contains 10% fat, which above recommended levels. Phrases such as “free from preservatives” make a virtue out of a normal attribute of food.
Labels have a wide variety of text sizes on them. You sometimes need a magnifying glass (放大镜) to read the small print. 4..
Another deliberate type of misinformation lies in the image. Many pictures on packets use small plates to make the product look bigger. 5..
However, misleading messages on packaging could soon be a thing of the past. The CWS recently produced a code which, if used, would end the current inaccuracies and half truths. It has called on the government to support it as a way of improving food standards.
A. Meaningless adjectives are often used to give a positive message.
B. An officer says the labels will receive very serious consideration.
C. Photographs are sometimes retouched (修饰) to achieve the same effect.
D. By contrast, the hard sell (强行推销) information is given emphasis.
E. The rules are, in reality, very weak at present.
F. This result has not pleased the food industry.
G. The most common of these is poor labeling.
Sidewalks in Chicago were packed during the rush hour. I marched along as quickly as I could. If I didn’t get to the station fast I would miss the early train out of the city. That meant even less time to spend at home with my baby.
On my left was Saint Peter’s Church. I’d passed it on the way to the station many times, but today I stopped. Other commuters (使用月票乘车者) rushed around me. I knew I should follow them since my train wouldn’t wait. But I had the strangest compulsion to go into the church instead. I hesitated for a moment, but the feeling was strong. I went inside.
I sat down in a comer. It seemed like ages since I’d sat down to think. Mary Ellen had been born in October, on the very date of her due date, in fact, October 16. A month before my husband, Rick, had lost his job. I often worked as a designer, but I’d planned on taking time off after the baby was born. With Rick out of work, I didn’t have the choice. One of us had to find a job fast. I was lucky to find the job I had now. Unfortunately, it wasn’t one I could work on at home. Every day I had to take the train into Chicago, a two-hour commute in both directions. I left the house so early and came home so late, so I felt like I barely got to see my baby.
I was grateful that Rick was at home caring for her, but it was not her mother. Every minute away from her I felt like I was abandoning her.
Looking around at the windows, I remembered when Rick and I bad first decided to try for a baby. My friend Renee was almost as excited as I was when I told her about it.
“I’ve got something for you,” she said one afternoon when I her for lunch. She pulled a medal out of her purse.
“Fix this to your clothes every day,” she said. “You’ll have a baby in no time.”
Not long after I learned I was pregnant, I was thrilled at first. But little by little I started to worry: Was my baby okay? What if something happened? The doctor assured me things were going smoothly. My family gave me support. Rick tried to encourage me. I even continued to wear my medal. But no matter what anyone said, I couldn’t shake off my worries.
Now that Mary Ellen was born I had new worries about motherhood. Is this how life was going to be from now on, with every stage of my child’s life bringing new fears and anxieties?
I thought of Renee and her gift of the medal, feeling hopeful. On my way to the door I stopped at the gift counter. I’d missed the early train, so there was time to look around. I went over to a box full of angel cards, thinking of Renee. So many things could happen in the future as Mary Ellen grew up, went to school and went out on her own. So many things to worry about. It would take an army of angels to cover them all.
I saw a familiar face in the box. It almost felt like I was looking at a friend, someone who cared about my baby as much as her father and I did: On the back of the card was a date. “October sixteenth?” I said, not believing my eyes.
“That’s the angel’s birthday,” the woman at the counter told me. I nearly burst out laughing right there. Mary Ellen’s birthday! Maybe I couldn’t be with Mary Ellen every minute. But never again would I worry that she was out of the angers protection, or doubt that she had a special friend.
1.The writer hurried to the station because .
A. there were so many commuters around
B. there was only one train to send her home
C. she was eager to see her baby
D. she tried to get a seat
2.The underlined part “strangest compulsion” in Paragraph 2 may refer to .
A. the pressure from work
B. the guilt about motherhood
C. the lack of patience with the train
D. the worry about Rick’s unemployment
3.When the writer learned that she was going to have a baby, .
A. her husband found a nice job to support the family
B. she quit her job and decided to care for the baby
C. her friend Renee sent her a beautiful medal
D. she was very excited at first but then worried
4.What would be the best title of the passage?
A. Blessed to be born at the right time
B. Endless fears and anxieties
C. A beautiful medal
D. My miserable life
In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.
It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
1.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they .
A. want to be as rich as their neighbours
B. want others to know or to think that they are rich
C. don’t want others to know they are rich
D. want to be happy
2.It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to .
A. live outside New York City B. live in New York City
C. live in apartments D. have many neighbours
3.Arthur used the name “Jones” in his series of short stories because it is .
A. an important name B. a popular name in the United States
C. his neighbour’s name D. not a good name
4.According to the writer, it is to keep up with the Joneses.
A. correct B. interesting
C. impossible D. good
Growing up in one of the poorest communities with most crimes in Los Angeles, US, being raised by a poorly-educated single mother and attending the worst-quality public school, not many people expected much of me, so I chose to expect something of myself.
On my 12th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard University to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became my dream: I saw myself attending class in Sanders Theater, studying in Widener Library and eating in Annenberg Hall. Driven by this dream, I kept studying hard. I’d begin my day by asking myself these two questions: “What do I want in my life?” and “Are the things I am doing today going to get me closer to that life?”
Asking myself the questions gave me the courage to ask over 50 Harvard, students for advice on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when others were asleep; and it gave me the determination to apply for just one more scholarship when already refused many times. Moreover, reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices my friends made, because they would never get me closer to my goal. I found that even being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my life.
Every day I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship offers started coming in. On March 31st, 2011, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!”. Tears of joy filled my eyes.
Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?
1.What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?
A. It describes the author’s early living conditions.
B. It proves that the author once lived an unhappy life.
C. It shows how many people treated the author badly.
D. It shares the author’s dreams with readers.
2.How did the author push himself to get closer to his goal?
A. By hanging a poster of Harvard in his room.
B. By making the same choices with his friends.
C. By asking himself the questions each day.
D. By increasing his scores and getting scholarships.
3.What is the author’s attitude to the hardship?
A. Disappointed. B. Positive.
C. Thankful. D. Sorrowful.
4.What did the author want to tell us most?
A. A famous university, a successful life.
B. The earlier you set yourself a goal, the better.
C. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
D. Your choices determine who you are.
