E
A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute” someone might say, “are you talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”
The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two weeks to prepare, a period I spent searching for briefcase (公文包) and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class. I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.
I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.
“All right then,” I said. “Okey, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit at the edge of the desk, overlooking a forest of hands. Every student would yell. “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. Once at a time, once at a time!”
A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I inspected the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.
【小题1】The author took the job to teach writing because ______.

A．he had written some stories	B．he wanted to be expected
C．he wanted to please his father	D．he had dreamed of being a teacher

【小题2】Before he started his class, the author asked the students to ______.

A．write down their suggestions on the paper cards

B．cut maple leaves out of the construction paper

C．cut some cards out of the construction paper

D．write down their names on the paper cards

【小题3】What did the students do when the author started his class?

A．They began to talk.	B．They stayed silent.
C．They raised their hands.	D．They shouted to be heard.

【小题4】The author chose the composition topic probably because ______.

A．he got disappointed with his first class	B．he had prepared the topic before class
C．he wanted to calm down the students	D．he thought it was an easy topic

People living on parts of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In 1933, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their surprise that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliff (悬崖) on which they had been built. While ex??perts were studying the problem, the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the sea.

Erosion (侵蚀) of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be aban??doned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be eaten up by the hungry sea.

Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would merely make the waves and currents further along the coast, shifting the problem from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves reach an inland ar??ea of hard rock, which will not be eaten as limestone is. Mean??while, if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain fu??ture, apply to a house agent in one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a knock??down price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home.

1. What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast of England face?

A. The rising of the sea level.

B. The experts’ short of knowledge.

C. The washing-away of limestone cliff.

D. The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.

2. The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.

A. will soon become a problem for people living in central England

B. has now become a threat to the local residents

C. can be stopped if proper measures are taken

D. is quickly changing the map of England

3. The experts’ study on the problem of erosion can ________.

A. warn people whose homes are in danger

B. provide an effective way to slow it down

C. help to its eventual solution

D. lead to its eventual solution

4. It is not feasible to build sea defenses to protect against erosion because ________.

A. house agents along the coast do not support the idea

B. it is too costly and will endanger neighboring areas

C. the government is too slow in taking action

D. they will be easily knocked down by waves and currents

People living on parts of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In 1933, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their surprise that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliff (悬崖) on which they had been built. While ex??perts were studying the problem, the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the sea.

Erosion (侵蚀) of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be aban??doned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be eaten up by the hungry sea.

Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would merely make the waves and currents further along the coast, shifting the problem from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves reach an inland ar??ea of hard rock, which will not be eaten as limestone is. Mean??while, if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain fu??ture, apply to a house agent in one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a knock??down price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home.

What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast of England face?

A. The rising of the sea level.

B. The experts’ short of knowledge.

C. The washing-away of limestone cliff.

D. The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.

The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.

A. will soon become a problem for people living in central England

B. has now become a threat to the local residents

C. can be stopped if proper measures are taken

D. is quickly changing the map of England

The experts’ study on the problem of erosion can ________.

A. warn people whose homes are in danger

B. provide an effective way to slow it down

C. help to its eventual solution

D. lead to its eventual solution(www.nmet168.com)

It is not feasible to build sea defenses to protect against erosion because ________.

A. house agents along the coast do not support the idea

B. it is too costly and will endanger neighboring areas

C. the government is too slow in taking action

D. they will be easily knocked down by waves and currents

People often ask why“Uncle Sam”is a nickname（绰号）for the United Stated of America. The reason is strange but simple.

Once there was a man called Samuel Wilson. He was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, on September 3, 1766. He was called“Uncle Sam”. When Sam Wilson was 14 years old, he joined the army and fought in several battles. At the end of the war, he went to live in Troy in the state of New York. He opened a meat-packing（肉食品包装）business there.

Sam Wilson worked hard and loved his country. Everyone in the city liked him. One day in 1812, a reporter from a newspaper visited his business. The reporter looked at some boxes of meat. He saw the letters“EAUS”on the sides of the boxes.

“What do those letters mean?”he asked one of the workers.

“The EA stands for ‘Edward Anderson’,”the workman replied.“The boxes of meat are for him.”“What about the letters US?”the reporter asked.

These letters really stood for “United States”, but the workman wanted to have a laugh.“Oh,”he said .“They stand for Sam Wilson. He owns this company. We call him ‘Uncle Sam’.”

The worker did not think that the reporter would believe him. But the reporter wrote a story about his visit to Sam Wilson’s business. He wrote that his workers called him“Uncle Sam”and that“Uncle Sam”meant the United States.

Many people liked using the name“Uncle Sam”as a nickname for the United States and soon everyone was using it. In 1961, almost 150 years later, the United States government made the nickname“Uncle Sam”official（官方的）.

1. This passage is mainly about_____.

A. why the USA is called“Uncle Sam”

B. how to carry boxes with goods to other countries

C. a businessman in Troy, New York State

D. why people called Sam Wilson“Uncle Sam”

2. Many people liked Samuel Wilson because_______.

A. a reporter wrote a story about him

B. his nickname was “Uncle Sam”

C. he worked hard and loved his country

D. he had a meat-packing business

3. The reporter became important in this story because he________.

A. visited Sam Wilson’s business

B. wrote about Sam Wilson and the letters“US”

C. was Sam Wilson’s best friend

D. was good at advertising Sam’s business

4. From this passage, we can infer that________.

A. most Americans don’t like the nickname“Uncle Sam”

B. the British soldiers liked calling Americans“Uncle Sam”

C. the reporter made Americans nicknamed“Uncle Sam”on purpose（故意地）

D. the United States government has agreed to use the nickname“Uncle Sam”

 

 

       阅读下面短文并回答问题（请注意问题后的字数要求）

       Perhaps you are an average student with average intelligence．However, you can receive better grades if you want．Yes, even students with average intelligence can be top students without additional work．Here's how:

       1．Plan your time carefully．Make a list of your weekly tasks．Then make a schedule of your time．Be sure to set aside enough time to complete your normal reading and work assignments．Of course, studying shouldn't occupy all of the free time on the schedule．

       2．Make good use of your time in class．Listening to what the teacher says in class means less work later．Take notes to help you remember what the teacher says．

       3．Skim before you read．Look over a passage, quickly before you begin to read it more carefully．As you preview the material, you get some idea of the content and how it is organized．Later when you begin to read you will recognize less important material and you may skip some of these portions; Skimming helps double your reading speed and improve your comprehension as well.

       4．        ．Go over your notes as soon as you can after class．Review important points mentioned in class as well as points you remain confused．If you know what the teacher will discuss the next day, skim and read that material, too．If you review your notes and textbook regularly, the material will become more meaningful and you will remember it longer．Regular review leads to improved performance on tests．

       5．Develop a good attitude towards tests．The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject．The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't worry excessively （过分地） about a single test．

       There are other techniques that might help you with your studying．Improving your studying habits will improve your grades．

1.Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

       If you fail an ea-am, don't let it trouble you too much.

                                                                              

                                                                               

2.According to the passage, how can an average student improve his/her grades?

       （Please answer within 10 words．）

                                                                               

                                                                              

3.Please fill in the blank in the fifth paragraph with a proper sentence．（Please answer within 10 words.）

                                                                               

                                                                              

4.Which tip do you think is the most useful? Why? (Please answer within 20 words.)

                                                                               

                                                                              

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph into Chinese.