While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.

The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to compete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.

I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I’m not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold – his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.

I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.

But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.

No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout “Come on, you can do it!” and he did.

A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.

Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.

In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals feeling they have somehow been cheated out of gold, or when they act so proudly in front of their competitors , it is nice to watch an underdog.

1.From the passage we can learn that the young man        .

A．made his turn to start back pitifully

B．was skillful in freestyle in the game

C．swam faster than the average swimmer

D．was not capable enough to win the medal

2.The crowd changed their attitudes because         .

A．they felt sorry for the young man

B．they were moved by the young man’s courage

C．they wanted to show their sympathy

D．they meant to please the young man

3.According to the passage, “it is nice to watch an underdog” probably means         .

A．it’s amazing to watch an ordinary man challenging himself

B．it’s amusing to watch a man with awful swimming skills

C．it’s cheerful for athletes to act proudly before their competitors

D．it’s brave enough for some athletes to remove the silver medals

4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The event started with three men, two of whom were disqualified later.

B．The crowd started to laugh at the athlete’s arms waving in an attempt at freestyle.

C．The athlete, as well as the author, is an expert swimmer.

D．The swimming event is a show of courage rather than a fierce competition.

5.What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Compete for Gold!                      B．Try again!

C．Break a Record!                        D．Go for it!

 

It's not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used as verbs? We all use them, often without noticing what we're doing.

   I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said “I’ll pencil it in my diary”, and my friend said “You can ink it in”, meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!

   Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we'd fax it immediately. Then along came email, and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we do without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily emails.

   Email reminds me, of course, of my computer and its software, which has produced another

couple of new verbs. On my computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I'll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don't bookmark; I favorite—coming from “favorite pages”, so the verb is derived from an adjective not a noun.

  Now my children bought me a mobile phone, known simply as a mobile and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone, that is, I can leave a message for them on their phone. Or I can text them, write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them, that is, phone them using my mobile? I haven’t heard that verb yet, but I’m sure I will soon. Perhaps I’ll start using it myself!

1. “I’ll pencil it in my diary” in the second paragraph probably means          .

       A. it was a firm arrangement

　　　 B. it was an uncertain arrangement

       C. the arrangement should be written as a diary

D. he prefers a pencil to a pen

2.A website address can be easily found if it has been______.

       A. emailed    B. messaged    C. favorited      D. texted

3.Which of the following has not been used as a verb, yet?

       A. message    B. page        C. email         D. mobile

4.The best title for this passage is____.

       A. New Verbs from Nouns

　B. The Development of the English language

       C. New Technology and New words

   D. Technology and Language.

 

It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The streams were long gone back into the earth. If we didn’t see some rain soon we would lose everything.

I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He was obviously walking with a great effort... trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house.

Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful long step toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey.

He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill(溅出) the water he held in them. Branches and thorns slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much greater purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.

Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. And I saw a baby deer laying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water and heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort to lap(舔) up the water cupped in my beautiful boy’s hand.

I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have ever known working so hard to save a life. As the tears that rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, Himself, was weeping with pride.

1.What can be learned from Paragraph 1?

A．The writer lived in the hottest place.

B．It wouldn’t rain during the dry season.

C．All the crops in the area were dead.

D．People were in great need of rain.

2.Billy walked carefully to the woods because ______.

A．he was not old enough to walk freely

B．he didn’t want to be followed by his mother

C．he tried not to spill the water in his hands

D．he wanted to attract his mother’s attention

3.Why did the writer almost scream for Billy to get away?

A．Because she saw the most amazing site in the woods

B．Because those large deer appeared dangerous

C．Because she saw a baby deer laying on the ground

D．Because the deer suffered from heavy loss of water

4.After learning about the truth, the author felt _______.

A．curious and confused                    B．scared and excited

C．moved and curious                      D．proud and moved

5.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．The Water of Life                       B．Importance of Water

C．How to Save Animals                     D．Animals in Danger

 

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。

The Winner’s Guide to Success

How do successful people think? What helps them to make success? To find out the answers, an American scholar recently visited some of the most successful people in America.    1  

Be responsible for yourself

Sometimes you may want to blame others for your failure to get ahead.    2    You’re saying, “You have more control over my life than I do.”

Live life “on purpose”

Almost all successful people live life “on purpose”— they are doing what they believe they should and want to do. When you live your life on purpose, you’ll try your best to do your job or study as well as you can. You love what you do and you can find pleasure in what you do.

Write a plan

It is very difficult trying to get what you want without a good plan.     3    A good plan is like a map to you. Without this “map”, you may waste your time, money and also your energy; while with the “map” you’ll enjoy the “trip” and get what you want in the shortest possible time.

Be willing to pay the price

Nothing great is easy to get. So you must be ready to work hard — even harder than you have ever done. If you are not willing to pay the price, you won’t get anything valuable.

Never give up

   4   When you are doing something, you must tell yourself again and again: Giving up is worse than failure because failure can be the mother of success, but giving up means the death of hope.

   5   

Once an American writer was writing a novel. He could not have a good ending for his book until one night when he had a very good idea. He was so excited that he made a phone call to one of his best friends. “I’ve got a perfect idea,” he said, “I’ll put it down later and show it to you.” But he never did, because he died that night. His book was left without a perfect ending. So remember, do what you can right away. Never delay at all. 

A．In fact, when you say someone or something outside of yourself is stopping you from making success, you’re giving away your own power.

B．It is just like trying to drive through strange roads to a city far away.

C．Some people achieve success much later in life because they fail to realize earlier the importance of hard work.

D．Here are some keys to success that they give.

E. Someone else’s opinion of you doesn’t have to become your reality.

F. It seems to us that everyone knows this. But it is easier said than done.

G. Don’t delay

 

Have you got a Facebook account? Are you thinking of getting one? Jamie Simmonds has just signed up. Let’s see how she’s getting along.

My Diary

MONDAY: I’m officially a Facebooker. I find a few people I used to know and I’ve soon got seven friends. I’ve never felt so popular! I wonder if my old university flatmate Steve is on here…What do you know! He is! Maybe Facebook has its uses.

TUESDAY: I’ve received lots of nice welcoming messages on my wall. Later, I meet up with Steve for a drink after not seeing him for five years. We get on really well! Then, he uses his Facebook app for iPhone to suggest me as a friend to some other former classmates. Some of them even come to the pub and it’s just like old times – possibly a bit too much like old times. During the night, photos are uploaded to Facebook.

WEDNESDAY: Disaster! My mum’s on Facebook! Has she seen the photos of me dancing on the table from last night? Has she shown them to dad? Oh. And I have a friend request – mum again!

THURSDAY: There’s a message from my boyfriend, “so, it’s over then, ;is it?” Evidently I haven’t changed my settings to show I’m “in a relationship”, and I haven’t even added him as a friend. Ah, well, I wonder what my ex-boyfriend is doing… Whoops! I accidentally type his name into my status box instead of the search ‘ and now every one can see it on their news feed.’

FRIDAY: Time to update my status:“Work is boring. Can’t wait for the weekend!” Yeah, that about sums it up. Oh, look, I’ve received a comment! Someone must feel the same way. Lots of my friends now“like” this status.

SATURDAY: Good news! I’ve got 100 friends But wait! Someone’s “un-friended” me! I look through my “friend list” to try to work out who it was. Why did they do that? Am I really such a terrible person? I never knew Facebook could be this cruel.

SUNDAY: Wake up. Check my Facebook page. Make coffee. Check my Facebook page again. Get ready to leave. Change my mind and check my Facebook page … again. I am becoming addicted to it! I think it’s time to end it all before it takes over my life. I delete my account. Back to good, old, simple e-mails. Oh, look, I’ve got a message: A friend invited you to join Twitter. . .

In July 2010, Facebook had more than 500 million active users. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. Facebook is translated into more than 70 different languages. The world spends 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page says he’s a Harvard graduate, even though he actually dropped out to focus on Facebook. The site is valued at between $7.9 and $11 billion.

1. Why did Jamie’s boyfriend ask her whether she had broken up with him?

    A. He had seen photos of Jamie dancing on the table.

    B. She showed in her facebook that she was still not dating anyone.

    C. Her boyfriend was angry that she refused to add him as her friend.

    D. He saw the name of her ex-boyfriend on his news feed.

2.Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

    A. Visiting Facebook website took up a large part of Jamie’s time and energy.

    B. Jamie is enthusiastic about her present job.

    C. Facebook was created by a Harvard graduate, Mark Zuckerberg.

    D. Compared with Facebook, Twitter is a better choice for Jamie.

3.What does the word“un-friend” mean in“Someone’s ‘un-friended’ me!”?

    A.  Being unfriendly to others.

    B.  Having a quarrel with somebody.

    C.  Removing a name from the friend list.

    D.  Ending friendship with somebody.

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage ?

   A. Steve was Jamie’s boyfriend in the university.

   B. People all over the world spend 700 billion minutes a week on Facebook.

   C. Jamie’s mother has seen the photos of her dancing on the table.

   D. Jamie felt enthusiastic about Facebook at first.

5.It can be learned from the passage that the writer’s attitude towards Facebook is ______  .

    A. approval          B. objective           C. negative        D. positive