阅读理解
Maybe ten-year-old Elizabeth put it best when she said to her father. “But Dad, you can't be healthy if you're dead.”
Dad , in a hurry to get home before dark so he could go for a run, had forgotten to wear his safety belt--a mistake 75% of the US population make every day. The big question is why.
There have been many myths about safety belts ever since their first appearance in cars some forty years ago. The following are three of the most common.
Myth( 神话)Number One: It's best to be “thrown clear” of a serious accident.
Truth: Sorry , but any accident serious enough to “throw you clear” is also going to be serious enough to give you a very bad landing. And chances are you'll have traveled through a windshield(挡风玻璃)or door to do it. Studies show that chances of dying after a car accident are twenty-five times greater in cases where people are “thrown clear.”
　　Myth Number Two: Safety belts “trap” people in cars that are burning or sinking in water.
　　Truth: Sorry again. but studies show that people knocked unconscious(昏迷) due to not wearing safety belts have a greater chance of dying in these accidents. People wearing safety belts are usually protected to the point of having a clear head to free themselves from such dangerous situations, not to be trapped in them.
　　Myth Number Three: Safety belts aren't needed at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour
　　Truth: when two cars traveling at 30 mph hit each other. An unbelted driver would meet the windshield with a force equal to diving headfirst into the ground from a height of 10 meters.
【小题1】Why did Elizabeth say to her father, “But. Dad, you can't be healthy if you're dead”?

A．He was driving at great speed.

B．He was running across the street.

C．He didn't have his safety belt on.

D．He didn't take his medicine on time.

【小题2】The reason Father was in a hurry to get home was that he＿＿＿＿＿．

A．wasn't feeling very well

B．hated to drive in the dark

C．wanted to take some exercise

D．didn't want to be caught by the police

【小题3】 According to the text, to be “thrown clear” of a serious accident is very dangerous ,because you ＿＿＿＿＿．
A. may be knocked down by other cars
B may get seriously hurt being thrown out of the car
C. may find it impossible to get away from the seat
D. may get caught in the car door
【小题4】Some people prefer to drive without wearing a safety belt because they believe＿＿＿.

A．the belt prevents them from escaping in an accident

B．they will be unable to think clearly in an accident

C．they will be caught when help comes

D．cars catch fire easily

【小题5】What is the advice given in the text?

A．Never drive faster than 30 miles an hour.

B．Try your best to save yourself in a car accident.

C．Never forget to wear the safety belt while driving.

D．Drive slowly while you're not wearing a safety belt.

完形填空

　　The western world has always been divided into two types of people——the cool and the uncool. It is a division that __1__ in school. The cool kids are good at __2__. They are __3__ with the opposite sex. They are good-looking and people want to __4__ their style. They can do their homework but they don't make a big effort. That would __5__ be cool.

　　

　　The uncool kids are in the other corner of the playground. They are very bright, but they don't have great. __6__ skills and they are __7__ at sports. When they are not programming computers or doing calculus（微积分）in their heads, they are reading comic books and watching shows like the“X Files”. They are __8__ as the geeks.

　　

　　Here's the news. The geeks are __9__. Make friends with them now or they will put virus in your computer and __10__ your maths homework to ruin. Geeks might not be popular at school, yet they do pass their examinations, and they might not be too popular at university, but __11__ good degrees.

　　The most important __12__ of the 21st century, computers and IT, has been at least partly created by geeks. Geek heroes like Bill Gates __13__ others to follow their example. Being a geek is a way of earning good money. And the creation of the Internet gave them a __14__ of their own to work and play in, making them a global __15__. Besides, the effect of the geeks __16__ popular culture has started a new trend（趋势）. It is now cool to be __17__. Geek culture is becoming an important part of general popular culture, in which what you know is more important than __18__ you look like.

　　

　　But there are also __19__. Geeks were often bullied or laughed at in school. Now a geek may be your boss. Perhaps it is time for __20__.

(1)A.continues	B.makes
C.remains	D.starts
(2)A.computers	B.studies
C.sports	D.maths
(3)A.pleasant	B.popular
C.crazy	D.average
(4)A.copy	B.advance
C.take	D.act
(5)A.not	B.indeed
C.perhaps	D.actually
(6)A.speaking	B.operating
C.social	D.experiments
(7)A.speechless	B.sharp
C.active	D.hopeless
(8)A.known	B.referred
C.thought	D.admired
(9)A.taking 　　 on	B.taking 　　 up
C.taking 　　 over	D.taking 　　 in
(10)A.put	B.cause
C.bring	D.serve
(11)A.win	B.take
C.wish	D.finish
(12)A.industry	B.discovery
C.progress	D.development
(13)A.promise	B.discourage
C.demand	D.excite
(14)A.chance	B.space
C.world	D.career
(15)A.force	B.company
C.organizaiton	D.department
(16)A.of	B.on
C.in	D.for
(17)A.rich	B.attractive
C.handsome	D.uncool
(18)A.how	B.that
C.what	D.how 　　 much
(19)A.opportunities	B.dangers
C.possibility	D.question
(20)A.punishment	B.argument
C.competition	D.employment

High school dropouts（辍学者）earn an average of $ 9,000 less per year than graduates. Now a new study dispels a common belief why they quit. It’s much more basic than flunking out（不及格）.

    Society tends to think of high school dropouts as kids who just can’t cut it. They are lazy，and perhaps not too bright．So researchers were surprised when they asked more than 450 kids who quit school about why they left.

    “The vast majority actually had passing grades and they were confident that they could have graduated from high school.” John Bridgeland, the executive researcher said. About 1 million teens leave school each year. Only about half of African-American and Hispanic（美籍西班牙的）student will receive a diploma（证书），and actually all dropouts come to regret their decision. So， if failing grades don’t explain why these kids quit, what does? Again，John Bridgeland："The most dependable finding was that they were bored.” “They found classes uninteresting; they weren’t inspired or motivated. They didn’t see any direct connection between what they were learning in the classroom to their own lives, or to their career aspirations.”

    The study found that most teens who do drop out wait until they turn sixteen, which happens to be the age at which most states allow students to quit. In the US，only one state，New Mexico，has a law requiring teenagers to stay in high school until they graduate. Only four states: California, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, plus the District of Columbia, require school attendance until age 18, no exceptions, another researcher，says raising the compulsory（义务的）attendance age may be one way to keep more kids in school．

 　“As these dropouts look back，they realize they’ve made a mistake. And anything that sort of gives these people an extra push to stick it out and it through to the end, is probably helpful measure.”

    New Hampshire may be the next state to raise its school attendance age to 18. But critics say that forcing the students unwilling to continue their studies to stay in school misses the point－the need for reform. It's been called for to reinvent high school education to make it more challenging and relevant, and to ensure that kids who do stick it out receive a diploma that actually means something. 　

Most high school students drop out of' school because＿＿．

A. they have failing grades                                B. they take no interest in classes

C. they are discriminated against                        D. they are lazy and not intelligent

Acceding to the passage，which state has a law requiring school attendance until they graduate?

A. New Hampshire        B. Utah　　C. New Mexico  　　D. The District of Columbia

The underlined words “stick it out” probably means“＿＿”．

A. complete schooling                                      B. solve the problem

C. love having classes                                       D. believe in themselves

From the passage，we can infer the following EXCEPT that＿．

A. the grades of most dropouts at school were acceptable

B. about 500, 000 high school dropouts are black and Spanish

C. classes don't appeal to dropouts

D. on average dropouts cannot get good jobs

　　He lived his whole life as a poor man He suffered from a mental illness that led him to cut off part of his left ear in 1888 and to shoot himself two years later. But after his death, he achieved the world fame.

　　* And the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, home to the biggest collection of his masterpieces, is marking the anniversary with exhibitions throughout the year.

　　“He is a big fame like Einstein and Beethoven. He is such a great figure. We are always amazed by how popular he is and his popularity seems to be growing.” said Andreas Bluehm, the museum's head of exhibitions.

　　Van Gogh was the son of a pastor. He left school when he was just 15. By the age of 27, he had already tried many jobs including an art gallery salesman and a French teacher. Finally in 1880, he decided to begin his studies in art.

　　“Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes. I use colour more freely, in order to express myself more forcibly,” he wrote in a letter to his brother, Theo, in 1888.

　　Van Gogh sold only one painting during his short life. But now his works are sold for millions of dollars. His “Portrait of Dr. Gachet” was sold for US 89.5 million in 1990. It is the highest price ever paid for a painting.

1．The second paragraph mainly tells us that ________.

[　　]

A．the Van Gogh Museum is located in Amsterdam

B．the Van Gogh Museum has the biggest collection of Van Gogh'smasterpieces

C．exhibitions will be held in honor of Van Gogh

D．the Van Gogh Museum will hold exhibitions the whole year through for Van Gogh

2．The underlined word “figure” in the third paragraph means “________”.

[　　]

3．The writer cited a part of a letter written by Van Gogh to show Van Gogh's ________.

[　　]

4．Choose the right order of the given events.

a．He worked as a French teacher.

b．He achieved the world fame.

c．He left school. d. He cut off his left ear.

e．He shot himself. f. He began studies in art.

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