I once heard someone say, “We don’t remember days; we remember moments.”______， as the pace of life is getting ______， we often forget to enjoy small pleasures while we make big plans. In the ______ to become better or best, we sometimes______ moments that can provide pleasure in life. If we______long enough to enjoy, we will realize these moments are the essence (本质) of life.
I love fishing, ______ for a kind of largemouth fish. Three years ago, I was watching television late one night when I______ wanted to go fishing in the lake behind my house. My wife thought I was______ because it was almost midnight! I ______ that I was fine and that I just wanted to have some fun.
I walked out to a warm summer breeze and______ the starry sky and the breathtaking full moon. I allowed my ______to soak in every second — the sweet smell of flowers, the sound of every frog, the moon’s______ in the water. It was a perfect night.
After ______ across a small field, I took out a flashlight and selected a lure (鱼饵). On my first cast, I got a largemouth fish weighing over five pounds, one of the ______ I had ever caught. I ______ released it back into the water and continued my midnight ______. During the next two hours, I______seventeen fish, all between two and five pounds. Although I’ve fished for almost fifty years, no fishing memory can ______that warm summer night.
But that night provided ______ a fishing memory. It was a life memory. It provided me with a snapshot of what life could be like if I just______ to enjoy the moments.
1.A. Besides B. Otherwise C. However D. Moreover
2.A. faster B. duller C. lighter D. easier
3.A. ability B. race C. chance D. duty
4.A. look forward to B. get tired of C. pay attention to D. lose sight of
5.A. stop B. sleep C. wait D. wake
6.A. exactly B. really C. especially D. honestly
7.A. normally B. suddenly C. frequently D. constantly
8.A. confident B. interested C. crazy D. ambitious
9.A. explained B. hoped C. agreed D. warned
10.A. talked about B. looked for C. watched over D. looked up at
11.A. thoughts B. senses C. memories D. dreams
12.A. energy B. size C. reflection D. mystery
13.A. walking B. pointing C. driving D. swimming
14.A. youngest B. oldest C. longest D. largest
15.A. curiously B. gently C. personally D. nearly
16.A. research B. search C. adventure D. plan
17.A. noticed B. helped C. hurt D. caught
18.A. top B. affect C. attract D. change
19.A. less than B. more than C. rather than D. nothing but
20.A. looked down B. sat down C. slowed down D. calmed down
Kids with Special Needs
Kids with special needs refer to any kid who might need extra help because of medical, emotional, or learning problems. For example, disabled kids need wheelchairs. They not only need the equipment that helps them get around, but they might need to have ramps (斜坡) or elevators available. 1.
Kids with an illness would have special needs, too. 2. Kids with sight problems might need Braille books to read. Kids with hearing problems might need hearing aids.
3. It might be harder to do normal things — like learning to read or just getting around school. The good news is that parents, doctors, nurses, teachers, and others can help. The goal is to help kids be as independent as possible.
Other kids also can be a big help. How? By being a friend. Kids who use a wheelchair or have lots of health problems want friends just as you do. But meeting people and making friends can be difficult. 4. Be sure to tell a teacher if you see someone being bullied (欺侮) or teased.
5. You might carry the person’s books or do something simple, such as asking him or her to join you and your friends at lunch. It’s also important not to be “overly helpful” when no help is needed. Why? Because just like you, kids with special needs like to be as independent as they can be.
Being friendly to kids with special needs is one of the best ways to be helpful. As you get to know, they may help you understand what it’s like to be in their shoes. And you’ll be helping fill a very special need, one that everybody has — the need for good friends.
A．Some kids might laugh at or make fun of them.
B．They also might need to get a special bus to school.
C．Life can be challenging for a kid with special needs.
D．Someone could have trouble with anxiety, but you wouldn’t know it unless told about it.
E．Also try to be helpful if you know someone with special needs.
F．Kids with special needs usually live a harder life than normal kids.
G．They might need medicine or other help as they go about their daily activities.
Scientists in Argentina have created the world’s first cow with two human genes that will enable it to produce humanlike milk.
Genetic engineering was used to introduce the “mothers’ milk” genes into the animal before birth, according to the National Institute of Agribusiness Technology in Buenos Aires.
As an adult, the cloned cow “will produce milk that is similar to that of humans”， which will prove “a development of great importance for the nutrition of infants (婴儿)”， said the institute. “The cloned cow, named Rosita ISA, is the first in the world with two human genes that contain the proteins present in human milk，” said the statement.
In April, scientists in China published details of research showing that they had created dairy cows which produced milk containing proteins found in human breast milk. But the Argentine team said the Chinese only introduced one human gene, while their research involved two, meaning the milk will more_closely_resemble that of humans.
“Our goal was to raise the nutrition value of cows’ milk by adding two human genes, which do good to the immune system of infants，” said Adrian Mutto, from the National University of San Martin which worked with the institute.
Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina, said the scientific institute made all Argentines proud. She also said that she had rejected the “honor” of having the cow named after her. “They came to tell me that the name is Cristina, but what woman would like to have a cow named after her? It appeared to me to be more proper to call it Rosita.”
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. The importance of genetic engineering.
B. Ways to improve mothers’ milk.
C. A cloned cow to produce humanlike milk.
D. Advanced agricultural technology in Argentina.
2.Which of the following can best replace “more closely resemble” in Paragraph 4?
A. have more varieties than
B. be more similar to
C. have more nutrition than
D. be more different from
3.What can be inferred from Cristina Kirchner’s statements?
A. She was quite satisfied with the research done by the institute.
B. She considered it an honor to name the special cow.
C. She felt it improper to be named after the cow.
D. She refused to give a name to the cow out of selfrespect.
It is a live celebration of the lasting power of letter writing!
Letters Live, which started in December 2013, was held at the Freemasons’ Hall in London from March 10 to 15. The show invited various great performers who read remarkable letters that had been written around the world over the centuries.
“Bringing letters alive through outstanding performances is one of the most powerful ways in which the joy and pain and humor and tragedy of being human can be shared，” Jamie Byng, managing director of Canongate Books publishing firm, told the Nowness video channel.
British actor Benedict Cumberbatch agreed. “Letters are windows into the love, beauty, pain and humor of their creators and receivers，” he told The Guardian. “Letters Live makes us stop and imagine the lives behind the letters read and where they came from. It’s a privilege to read this most ancient of communications live to an audience.”
This year, the movie Sherlock star treated the audience by playing the part of a 17year Tom Hanks. He put on the young actor’s voice when he read his letter to the Hollywood director George Roy Hill, a letter that urged Hill to “discover” him. The letter revealed that twotime Oscar winner Hanks’ teenage dream was not to “be a bigtime Hollywood superstar” but to one day own a Porsche car and call his favorite US actor Robert Redford his nickname “Bob”．
Other famous faces at the event included Carey Mulligan, who played a fictional laundry worker, a female activist fighting for women’s rights in the 2015 movie Suffragette. The British actress once again played the role of a suffragette, when she read a very enthusiastic letter demanding the vote for women. The suffragette sent a precious 1913 note to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“Everyone seems to agree upon the necessity of putting a stop to Suffragist anger, but no one seems certain how to do so，” Mulligan read out. “There are two, and only two, ways in which this can be done. Both will be effectual. One, kill every woman in the UK. Two, give women the vote.”
1.What was Cumberbatch’s attitude towards Jamie Byng’s opinion?
A. Doubtful. B. Positive.
C. Optimistic. D. Cautious.
2.Which of the following was a dream of Tom Hanks as a child?
A. To become an actor.
B. To call himself “Bob”．
C. To win Oscar Awards.
D. To have a famous car.
3.A “suffragette” is a woman who ________.
A. sends a valuable note to newspaper
B. reads out a letter to the audience
C. advocates women’s right to vote
D. plays a famous role in a movie
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Famous People Gathering
B. Letters of Great Performers
C. Letters Brought to Life
D. Rights Given to Women
The discovery of a dwarfed (矮个的) “human being” who lived in Flores, Indonesia (印度尼西亚), up to 18,000 years ago is changing the way we think about the human family. This “Flores Human” was three feet tall and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp (黑猩猩), yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives. They seemed to have made tools, worked together to find food and cook it, and perhaps even buried the dead with ceremony.
It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the new human family member. The tools are like those formerly seen only with European fossils (化石) from our own species, Homo sapiens (智人), and the oldest of them were made 94,000 years ago. Homo sapiens is thought to have arrived in the island about 40,000 years ago, much too late to be responsible for the tools. If this_tiny_human made the tools, then the inside structure (结构) of its brain must have been more like our own than a chimp’s, despite being just a third the size of ours.
This “new human” was suspected to be a dwarfed branch of Homo erectus (直立人). When creatures are separated in regions with rare resources but few enemies, being big is a disadvantage, and evolution tends to shrink them, a process known as island dwarfing. Could natural selection make a human smaller while keeping — even improving — mental ability? Quite possibly, believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.
Has the “Flores Human” even shown the ability of language? “I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools, use fire, and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication.” says Wills. Did “Flores Human” possess the basic components of human culture，such as the burying of the dead with ceremony? Emiliano Bruner of the Institute points out that Indonesia’s hot, wet environment is bad for fossilization. It is reasonable to assume, he says, that the 18,000yearold bones of the most complete Flores woman were well preserved because she was buried with special care.
1.According to the passage, “Flores Human” ________.
A. lived a partly human life
B. was a branch of Homo sapiens
C. used tools before Homo sapiens arrived
D. had a brain as a common chimp’s
2.The underlined part “this tiny human” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.
A. a chimp B. Flores Human
C. Homo sapiens D. Homo erectus
3.This passage mainly talks about ________.
A. the tools made by “Flores Human”
B. the language used by “Flores Human”
C. the evolution of “Flores Human”
D. the major surprising findings about “Flores Human”
4.According to the passage, it is believed that “Flores Human” ________.
A. was dwarfed by its enemies
B. could use language
C. left a lot of fossils in hot and wet environment
D. reached Flores 40,000 years ago
Memory, they say, is a matter of practice and exercise. If you have the wish and really make a conscious effort, then you can quite easily improve your ability to remember things. But even if you are successful, there are times when your memory seems to play tricks on you.
Sometimes you remember things that really did not happen. One morning last week, for example, I got up and found that I had left the front door unlocked all night, yet I clearly remember locking it carefully the night before.
Memory “tricks” work the other way as well. Once in a while you remember not doing something and then find out that you did. One day last month, for example, I was sitting in a barbershop waiting for my turn to get a haircut, and suddenly I realized that I had got a haircut two days before at the barbershop across the street from my office.
We always seem to find something funny and amusing in incidents caused by people’s forgetfulness or absentmindedness. Stories about absentminded professors have been told for years, and we never get tired of hearing new ones. Unfortunately, however, absentmindedness is not always funny. There are times when “tricks” of our memory can cause us great trouble.
1.If you want to have a good memory, you should ________.
A. force yourself to remember things
B. make a conscious effort of practice and exercise
C. never stop learning
D. try hard to remember things
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. One night the writer forgot to lock the front door.
B. One night the writer forgot having locked the front door.
C. The writer remembered to lock the door.
D. The writer remembered unlocking the front door.
3.Which can be inferred from the text?
A. If you improve your memory, memory can’t trick you.
B. The author went to the same barbershop to get a haircut.
C. Memory can trick people in different ways.
D. Absentmindedness surely causes us trouble.
4.Which of the following could be the best title for this passage?
A. The Key to a Good Memory
B. “Tricks” of Memory
C. The Dangers of Forgetfulness
D. The Dangers of Absentmindedness
