Valentine’s Day is on Feb. 14, and Chinese call it “lovers day”. I don’t think the translation is an accurate one, since it doesn’t only belong to lovers. Valentine’s Day is for expressing affection of all sorts. But it is uniquely for the romantically involved who shine the brightest, who spend the most money, whose hearts are the most engaged.

When I was b boy, my mother would buy enough cheap cards with ugly drawings of butterflies and little rabbits and honeybees for me to give one to every kid in my class, about 20 or so. The cards came in bags, and each card had a few foolish words-“Be Mine” or “I like you” or “You’ve Got My Heart” or the uninteresting words, “Hi, Valentine!” I would sign my name on the cards quickly and the name of one of my classmates on each easily-broken envelope. I would lick （舔）each one shut, but they were so cheap that the envelopes rarely had enough glue. On Valentine’s Day, I would take the cards to school-everyone did. We would have a party in our classroom, with cupcakes（杯形蛋糕）and juice and tiny candy hearts, which also had Valentine messages printed on them-“You’re sweet” or “Cupid（爱神丘比特）”or “Love”.

Ah, love! That’s the Valentine’s Day message: love. No one knows for certain the origin of the holiday. Several, Catholic victims were named Valentine, but it’s difficult to separate legend from fact. One story tells of a priest（牧师）named Valentine who was imprisoned and may have been stoned to death around 270 for performing marriages in going against the orders of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. But it’s hard today to find any religious connection.

From the first paragraph, why does the author say that we Chinese call Valentine’s Day “lovers’ day ”is not accurate?

       A．Because only lovers would spend it.

       B．Because it is only spent on Feb. 14.

       C．Because it doesn’t only belong to lovers.

       D．Because only those rich people could enjoy it.

A priest named Valentine was stoned to death for the sake of           .

       A．his not attending a ceremony on time.

       B．his stealing something from the church

       C．his rude words to Roman Emperor Claudius II

       D．his not obeying the orders by Roman Emperor Claudius II

According to the passage, we can know Valentine’s Day may be related to          .

       A．religion    B．sports       C．entertainment   D．art

请阅读下列寓言小故事和故事寓意，从所给的六个选项（ A、B、C、D、E和F）中，选出附和各小题要求的最佳选项

下面是几则寓言小故事：

46. An ant went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, and being carried away by the rush of the stream, was on the point of drowning.  A dove sitting on a tree overhanging the water plucked a leaf and let it fall into the stream close to her.  The ant climbed onto it and floated in safety to the bank.  Shortly afterwards a birdcatcher came and stood under the tree, aiming at the dove.  The ant, perceiving his design, stung him in the foot.  In pain the birdcatcher shouted, and noise made the dove take wing.

47. Two men were travelling together, when a bear suddenly met them on their path.  One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and hid himself in the branches.  The other, seeing that he must be attacked, fell flat on the ground, and when the bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over, he held his breath, and pretended to be dead as much as he could.  The bear soon left him, for he will not touch a dead body.  When he disappeared, the other traveler descended from the tree, and asked his friend what it was the bear had whispered in his ear.  “He gave me this advice,” his companion replied.  “Never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger.”

48. A prince had some monkeys trained to dance.  Being naturally good at learning, they showed themselves excellent pupils, and in their rich clothes and masks, they danced as well as any of the courtiers.  Their performance was often repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier, bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and threw them upon the stage.  The monkeys at the sight of the nuts forgot their dancing and became (as indeed they were) monkeys instead of actors.  Pulling off their masks and tearing their robes, they fought with one another for the nuts.  The dancing spectacle thus came to an end in the laughter and ridicule of the audience.

49. A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he noticed something shining in the straw.  “Ho! Ho!” said he, “that’s for me,” and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw.  It turned out to be a pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard.  “You may be a treasure,” signed the cock, “to man, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn.”

50. An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around hi to give them some parting advice.  He ordered his servants to bring in a bunch of sticks, and said to his eldest son: “Break it.”  The son tried hard, but with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle.  The other sons also tried, but none of them was successful.  “Untie it,” said the father, “and each of you take a stick.”  When they had done so, he called out to them: “Now, break,” and each stick was easily broken.

请阅读下面的故事寓意，然后匹配与之对应的小故事。

A. Not everything you see is what it appears to be.

B. One man’s pleasure may be another’s pain. / One man’s meat is another’s poison.

C. Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

D. One good turn deserves another.

E. Union gives strength.

F. Precious things are for those that can prize them.

 

  Fifteen people were killed and 38 others injured in a road accident early Wednesday morning in Ens hi， Central China’s Hu bei Province．
The bus， travelling from Wanzhou in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality to  Shen zhen in South China’s Guangdong Province， had 53 passengers on board，three more than permitted．
At around 1 am on Wednesday， the bus increased speed gradually on a curve（弯路）and plunged（往前冲） more than 30 metres into a valley below． Thirteen people， including one of the two drivers， died at once． Two others died on the way to hospital．
Although the cause of the accident is still unclear， the local police said the driver paid no attention to the official warning signs on the expressway(高速公路)．
It hit a section which had been closed as a result of snow．
Because of the cold weather and icy roads，the expressway had been closed by police since Tuesday morning． But the bus drivers took the dangerous route, paying no attention to the warnings．
The rescue team， which included more than 30 medical workers and 120 local villagers，joined together and rushed to the scene at the news of the accident． By 5 am， all of the injured had been sent to three local hospitals for emergency treatment． A hospital source said most of the patients were in a stable（稳定的）condition but a few were still in danger．
According to a 2009 national public opinion poll， traffic accidents ranked as people’s third biggest security（安全） concern．
【小题1】 When the accident took place，＿＿＿＿．

A．the bus was on the way to Shenzhen

B．most of the passengers were sound asleep

C．all the passengers were given immediate rescue

D．it was snowing hard

【小题2】 The expressway was closed to ＿＿＿＿．

A．protect the passengers from being frozen

B．make the police have a good rest

C．stop cars traveling around

D．avoid（避免） the happening of traffic accidents

【小题3】 What the local villagers did showed that they were ＿＿＿＿．

A．curious（好奇的）

B．warm hearted

C．frightened

D．simple minded

Early this morning, I got up to make a batch of Rice Krispie Treats for my neighbor across the hall. She barely greets me when we see each other, and her sweet little boy, who's now four,  has picked up her mother's manner and will not talk to me, either．

Last Monday, she had called the firefighters when a pan I'd forgotten on the stove caused my flat to fog up while I was out taking a walk. When I came home, the street in front of our apartment house was blocked by a police car, a fire truck and an ambulance! The instant I saw them, I remembered the pan! Luckily, nothing serious had happened, and all my neighbors agreed with the firefighter who said, "It could have happened to anyone．" When I thanked the neighbor who had called the firefighters-let's call her Ivy-and apologized for causing the trouble, she just asked if my cats were all right．When I said they were fine, she said, "Well, that's ok then," and turned into her flat．l felt strangely safe, knowing that even though we don't get along, she'd done the right thing and didn't blame me．So, the Rice Krispie Treats．

Last Christmas, my neighbor carelessly let it out that she was holding a grudge （怨恨） towards me because of an incident we'd had four years ago．I had particularly apologized and asked if there was anything I could do to improve our relationship. She would not accept my apology．

It had taken me a lot of courage to apologize and ask that question instead of insisting that we both shared responsibility for what had happened．Her flat-out refusal to make amends（补偿） really shocked and saddened me．After that, I decided I'd just leave her be-a relationship takes two to work．So, you see, I was really scared she was going to refuse my offer again, leaving me standing on her doorstep, facing the closed door and holding my plate of treats． I know some people have a hard time understanding how the possibility of rejection can make an adult so afraid, but that's just the way I felt．

Then, I reminded myself of how loving and good I had felt yesterday when I'd done some random acts of kindness （thanks to helpothers．org）, after telling myself: Feet the fear,  and do it anyway! So I put the squares of Rice Krispie Treats on a beautiful plate, opened my apartment  door-and there she was, standing in the hallway．I smiled and said, "Hi," but when she saw me, she turned on her heels and went back inside, even though she seemed to have just stepped out．I went after her, regardless, and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I've got something for you ! I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you were paying attention on Monday．" When she heard me speaking, she turned around． As I held the plate towards her, explaining these were very sweet American treats, and that she could just try and see whether she and her family would like them, her eyebrows winged up-and she took the plate．l was so happy and excited．We then talked a bit about how she'd become aware of the smoke in my flat, and parted ways．

Back in my place, I did a "happy dance", because I had dared to be kind even though I hadn't been sure at all my kindness would be welcome．I do hope that our relationship will slowly get better; I know I was and still am biased（存有偏见）towards her at times, but even if we don't make amends, I want to be able to be kind without depending on other people's behaviors and reactions .

1.The neighbor held a grudge towards the writer most probably because_____．

A．the writer's cats disturb her neighbor frequently

B．the writer didn't thank her for calling the firefighters

C．the writer never apologized to her for her misbehaviors

D．the writer had an unpleasant experience with the neighbor long ago

2. From Paragraph 4, we can learn that the author_____.

A．was afraid of being rejected again by her neighbor

B．didn't know how to get along with her neighbor

C．didn't admit it was her fault in the last incident

D．refused to forgive her neighbor's rude behavior

3. After the writer said "Feel the fear, and do it anyway!", she decided to_____.

A．do an act of kindness

B．leave her neighbor be

C．apologize to her neighbor once more

D．do something to let her neighbor down

4.What can we learn about the writer?

A．She was a professional dancer．

B．She often had quarrels with her neighbor．

C．She had a bias against her neighbor sometimes．

D．She had an unpleasant experience at Christmas this year．

5. What does the author try to tell us?

A．Don't punish yourself because of other's mistakes．

B．We should be kind to others, regardless of their behavior．

C．We must keep a good relationship with our neighbors．

D．When we make a mistake, we should have the courage to admit it．

 

 

E

Research on the human brain has been attracting more and more scientists in recent years, just like the booming hi-tech industry. One of the latest research topics is how to change the human brain or combine the computer and the human brain, i.e. to transplant a chip into a human brain. This idea may make everyone’s dream come true. If we compare a human brain to a hard disc（硬盘）, what the scientists are doing is to enlarge the capacity of the hard disc. For the time being, there are some difficulties in such transplant experiments, but scientists never give up.

Experiments have started on animals. In 1996, a transplant experiment performed at the Defense and Military Physiology Research Institute in the U.S. turned a bear into a dolphin.

The dolphin was named Ted, and the bear was named Tallin. Using the most advanced technology available, deep and detailed images were made of the memory area in Ted’s brain containing information about swimming by the scientists. They obtained a series of useful information, the signals transferred by the nervous system. Such information was saved into a button-sized chip, which was then transplanted into the action memory area in Tallin’s brain. The information saved on the chip was released by means of electric power.

Recently, another comprehensive memory transplant was performed at the Motor Nerve Research Institute of the University of California. The comprehensive memory transplanted in the experiment included actions, moods, logic, words, images, etc. The experiment involved an entire transplant of the memory area. This was the largest such experiment done so far.

The transplant was performed making a transfer from a dog named “Genius” to a dog named “Idiot”. “Genius” could understand and follow up to 100 gestures and orders made by its master. It was a real genius in memorizing. “Idiot” was the younger brother of “Genius”. It had no contact with people at all since its birth. It became an animal with nothing in its brain, without any memory.

The operation was a complete success. When the two dogs woke up, “Idiot” had grasped all the abilities “Genius” possessed; it was good at memorizing and sensible. It could follow every gesture and any command given by its master. But “Genius” gave no response to its master, and in fact did not recognize him at all.

57. The purpose of the experiment is _____.

A. to combine the computer and the human brain    

B. to enlarge the capacity of human brain

C. to make some stupid dog turn clever          D. to make bear swim

58. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The scientists transferred a button-sized chip with useful information in Tallin’s brain.

B. The first comprehensive memory transplant was performed at the Motor Nerve Research University.

C. The second experiment wasn’t an entire transplant of the memory area.

D. The Idiot was an animal with memory before brain experiment

59. What does the underlined word “success” refer to?

A. The two dogs woke up.

B. They were both good at memorizing.

C. The Idiot grasped all the abilities of Genius.

D. The Genius grasped all the abilities of Idiot.

60. According to the text, we can infer _____.

A. a person can know more after the experiment

B. a bear can swim after being transferred a chip with related useful information

C. a dog can become clever after entire transplant of the memory area

D. it is really good for animals to have been involved in the transplant experiment