Passage 1-10阅读短文

A turning pointFor all of us, there comes a moment in life when we need to make a choice. It is a life-changing decision that is not easy to make. Such moments are called turning points. I remember such a moment when my life changed a lot.After four years of college life spent in an old and quiet city in the north of the country, I decided it was time to change. I thought that the capital was too crowded and noisy for me and my hometown was too small and ordinary, so going west was the only way.I started my new life. While I was looking for a highly challenging job, the offers were very poor. I had to tutorchildren to support myself.Six months had passed when I got a call from an old friend, asking me whether I was interested in a job in the capital. Accepting meant giving up my plan to live in the west on my own or admitting （承认）that I had failed. But under the circumstances（状况，条件）, I thought this was an opportunity I had to take.The next day I was on the train to the capital. In the big city, everything seemed so big and foreign to me. Two weeks later I started my first job in a tower in the city. It was a big change. I had many things to learn, a new world to adjust to（调整）, and a new life to begin. Even though sometimes I wish my life were simpler, I know that I made the right choice.阅读文章，根据文章回答下面的问题：1. What did the writer think of his hometown?2.What decision did the writer make after graduation?He decided ________________________________.3. Did the writer take a part-time job in the west?4. How long did the writer stay in the west?5. How did the writer know about the job offer in capital?6. What is the writer‟s turning point?Happy childhoodToday while I was sitting comfortably and enjoying the warm summer heat in the backyard (后院) of my office building, I couldn‟t help thinking of my happy childhood moments spent in the backyard of my fathe r‟s office.At that time, my mother always had to work during the weekends, and then I spent most of my weekends alone with my father. However, sometimes he got some urgent work to deal with during his day off. Therefore, I had to go with him back to his office and wait for him until he finished his work.Most of the time I liked to be in the office backyard to collect the dry branches (树枝) and leaves that had fallen to the ground and use them to build my own so-called tree house. I imagined that this tree house could be as strong as a real building to protect me from any bad weather.In fact, whenever it really started to rain, I always ran back into my father‟s office. At this moment, my father could always magically take out a big box of candies from one of his drawers (抽屉) and put it in front of me. I still remember the taste of those candies. They tasted very sweet and their taste was unforgettable. Now I have grown up into an adult. I understand that the candies tasted better at that time because I had a lot of childhood fun. Now I own a real house and we have a beautiful yard at the back, but I will never forget my happy moments with my so-called tree house.1.Where was the writer‟s mom at most of the weekends?2.Why did the writer have to go to his fat her‟s office for the weekend?Because his fa ther didn‟t want ______________________________________.3.How did the writer spend his time in the office backyard while waiting for hisfather?________________________________ with dry branches and leaves.4.Did the writer stay in his tree house when it rained?5.How did the writer like the candies from his father?6.What makes the writer‟s childhood so happy and special?Learn to listenOne day, an 11-year-old boy, Robby, came into my classroom for his first piano lesson. Over the months he tried very hard to learn the pieces, while I listened and encouraged him. However, he lacked a sense of tone and rhythm（节奏，韵律）.At the end of each week, he would always say, "My mother is going to hear me play some day." But it seemed hopeless. Then one day Robby stopped coming to my lessons. I thought he had decided to learn something else.Several weeks later our school planned to hold a recital（独奏会）. To my surprise, Robby came and asked if he could be in the recital. He said his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practising. I agreed to let him play.The night for the recital came. Robby was the last to play. I was surprised to hear him say he had chosen Mozart’s ConcertoNo21inCMajor.（莫扎特C大调第二十一号钢琴协奏曲）Never had I heard Mozart played so well by children at Robby‟s age. After six and a half minutes he ended with everyone on their feet in wild applause. In tears, I ran up on stage and hugged Robby, "I‟ve never heard you play like that, Robby! How did you do it?" Robby explained, "Well, Miss Hondorf, actually my mother had cancer and passed away this morning. She was born deaf, so tonight is the first time she has ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special."I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil. He was the teacher and I was the pupil. For it is he who taught me the meaningof perseverance and love.1. How old was Robby when he took his first piano lesson?2. Why did Robby stop the piano lessons?3. How long did Robby‟s performance last?4. Had Robby‟s mother ever heard him play?5. When did Robby‟s mother pass away?6. What do you think of Robby?Optional questions:7. Why couldn‟t Robby play well at first?8. What can we learn from Robby?My Unforgettable ExperienceHave you ever dreamed of running away and joining a circus（马戏）? At the age of 24, my childhood fantasy came true when I had the opportunity to do just that. Sometimes, a scene, sound or smell can still make me think back to the days when I performed with the circus.It all started when my friend, Carlos, a performer, invited me to try the trapeze (空中飞人), and I agreed to help him out during a three-day performance in Rochester, New York.It was the opening night of my first circus. While waiting for the show to begin, I shyly looked out at all the people in the darkened stadium. On this special night, instead of simply watching, I would be performing!While I was looking out, Carlos began carrying his equipment out to give the performance. I heard him calling, "Are you ready? We‟re on after the clowns.” It was show time!All I had to do was just pass some rings to Carlos, and I tried my best. The show turned out to go very well and, all too soon, we finished our performance.21 years later, I can still remember the excitement I felt that night, performing for a crowd in a huge stadium. Every morning when I wake up, I am still grateful to my friend for the opportunity he gave me.1. What was the writer‟s childhood dream?_______________________________________________.2. How long did the performance in Rochester, New York last?______________________________________________.3. What performance did the writer and Carlos give?________________________________________________.4. What did the writer do in the performance?He______________________________________________.5. How did the writer feel while waiting for the show to begin?He was _____________ and _______________.6. How old is the writer now?________________________________________________.7. Why did the writer feel grateful to his friend?Because _________________________________________.Sweden‟s Classroom-Free School —the Future of Learning?The traditional system of school classrooms —straight rows of desks and chairs —doesn‟t do much to develop students‟ creativity. Many experts have suggested redesigning classroom furniture, but a Swedish school system wants to take things a step further. Vittra, which operates 30 schools in Sweden, is seeking to make sure that learning takes place everywhere on campus by getting rid of classrooms altogether.The newest Vittraschool, Telefonplan, opened its doors last August. Designed by the company, Rosan Bosch, the Stockholm-area campus seems more like a creative space than a school. Students can work independently on their laptops while relaxing on one of the "sitting islands". If they need to work with other students on a project, they can take advantage of spaces like "the village"—a tiny house for group work —or the more open "organic conversation furniture".JannieJeppesen, the head teacher of VittraTelef onplan, writes on the school‟s website that the design is intended to develop children‟s curiosity and creativity, and offer them opportunities for both independent time and teamwork. Vittra doesn‟t award traditional grades, either —students are taught in groups according to their level —so making the most of different teaching and learning situations is important.The open nature of the campus and the unusual furniture arrangements show the school‟s idea that "children play and learn on the basis of their needs, curiosity and interest.” That is true for children all over the world.1.How are the traditional classrooms usually arranged?They are arranged in ______________________________.2.What‟s the disadvantage of the traditional system of school classrooms?It‟s not good for __________________________________.3.When did VittraTelefonplan open to the public?_______________________________________________.4.Where do students in VittraTelefonplan have group discussions?_______________________________________________.5.What do students usually do on “sitting island”?______________________________________________.6.In Telefonplan students of different levels often learn together, don‟t they?________________________________________________________7.What matters most to children‟s play and learning?__________________________________________________matter most.The English teacher who influenced my lifeI was fourteen years old. It was my first day at secondary school and the next lesson was boring old English. When I was yawning(打哈欠), Mr. Gough, our English teacher, walked into the classroom. He was short, yet seemed very energetic. His piercing blue eyes were filled with love for language.To my surprise and delight, he held up a book, The Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe, and asked if anyone had read it. I put my hand up, because Poe was one of my favourite writers. Mr. Gough asked if I really understood what the author tried to say in his book. My reply made him smile, and he asked me to write an article on that subject.After that, English classes became a new interest for me. Mr. Gough brought pages of what at first seemed boring texts to life by getting his listeners to involve themselves in whatever the story was. He thought that students had to act out a play to truly understand it. "Don‟t just read it," he said. "Live it. Imagine how you would react to the things that the characters in the story have to face."As time passed, we developed a real friendship. He encouraged me to be a writer in the future. When I left school, he said to me, "You have a gift, Tony, and one day you‟ll come to realize how valuable it is. Make use of it if you want your life to be complete."Years have passed. Now, every time I sit down to write something new, I think of his piercing blue eyes. Mr. Gough was more than just an English teacher, because he also taught me invaluable lessons in life.1.What did Tony think of English at first?____________________________________________________________.2. How was Tony when he saw The Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe?_____________________________________________________________.3. What did Mr. Gough do to make the texts interesting?He tried to ____________________________________________________.4. What did Mr. Gough thinkcan help students truly understand a play?_____________________________________________________________.5.Why did Mr. Goughencourage Tony to be a writer in the future?Because he thought Tony ________________________________________.6. What are the “invaluable lessons” Mr. Gough taught Tony? Give one example._____________________________________________________________.The Forgotten OnesAfter many years of trying to make the Christmas season brighter for poor children, my husband and I found an Angel Tree for nursing home people by chance —the often forgotten, lonely ones in our society. Most of them had not had easy lives and were in their final years.My husband, Jerry, took a man‟s card from that very special Angel Tree, while I picked the name of an older woman. Then we went shopping. The only information we had was first name, age, and two wish lists.The man had simply asked for music CDs. There was no mention of what type of music, or any particular singer that he enjoyed. After doing a little maths, we knew which years he had been a teenager. We bought several CDs from that time. The woman had requested only a robe. After some thought, I chose a lovely robe with some pink decorations.Jerry and I were so excited that we couldn‟t stop with simply the items that had been requested. We also bought chocolates, flowers and some model cars. Then I took great care of wrapping all the items. All the while I imagined the light in their ageing eyes when they opened each gift, and hoped our efforts would create a very Merry Christmas for them.Each holiday season we discuss the joy that filled our hearts that year as we attempted to make the Christmas season brighter for two aged, forgotten souls. They remind us of the reason for the season.1． Who are the forgotten ones?2． What is probably written on a card from Angel Tree?3． What did the man want for the Christmas?4. The writer and her husband chose the gifts very carefully, didn‟t they?5. What do you think of the couple?6. What is the reason for holiday seasons?Last Saturday evening I was watching the evening news on television. The news was about a prize for some scientific discovery. I forget what it was. The announcer, his name was Ralph Story, said something that caught my attention. “All great discoveries,” he said, “are made by people between the ages of twenty-five and thirty.” Being a little over thirty myself I wanted to disagree with him. Nobody wants to think that he is past the age of making any discovery. The next day I went to the public library and spent several hours looking up the ages of famous people and their discoveries. Ralph was right.First, I looked at some of the scientific discoveries. One of the earliest discoveries, the famous experiment that proved that bodies of different weights fall at the same speed, was made by Galileo when he was twenty-six. Madame Curie started her research that led to a Nobel Prize when she was twenty-eight. Einstein was twenty-six when he published his world-changing theory of relativity. Well, enough of that. Yet I wondered if those …best years‟ were true in other fields. Then how about the field of politics? Surely it took the wisdom of age to make a good leader. Perhaps it does, but look when these people started their career. Winston Churchill was elected to the House of Commons at the age of twenty-six. Abraham Lincoln gave up the life of a country lawyer and was elected to the government at what age? Twenty-six.But why don‟t best years come after thirty? After thirty, I guess, most people don‟t want to take risks or try new ways. Then I thought of people like Shakespeare and Picasso. The former was writing wonderful works at the age of fifty, while the latter was still trying new ways of painting when he was ninety!1. How old is the writer?He is in his _________________________________________.2. Did the writer think he is past the age of making discoveries?__________________________________________________.3. What did the writer do to try to prove Ralph was wrong?__________________________________________________.4. What does “best years” refer to?It refers to the ages__________________________________.5. What did Madame Curie achieve at the age of twenty-six?__________________________________________________.6. What did Lincoln do before he became a governor?__________________________________________________.7. What might be the reason that “best years” don‟t come after thirty?__________________________________________________.8. Why did the writer mention Shakespeare and Picasso in the last paragraph?__________________________________________________.The Hardest ProblemAt Duke University,there were four sophomores(大学二年级学生) taking Organic Chemistry.They were doing so well on all the quizzes,midterms and labs,etc., that each had an“A”so far for the semester.These four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals they decided to go out of town and party with some friends.They had a great time,but after all the hearty partying,they slept all d ay Sunday and didn‟t make it back to Duke until early Monday morning.Rather than taking the final then,they decided to find their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed it.They explained that they had gone out of town for the weekend with the plan to come back in time to study,but,unfortunately,they had a flat tire on the way back,didn‟t have a spare,and couldn‟t get help for a long time.As a result,they missed the final.The professor thought it over and then agreed they could make up the final the following day.The guys were relieved.They studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had told them.He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet,and told themto begin.They looked at the first problem,worth five points.It was something simple.“Cool,”they thought at the same time,each one in his separate room,“this is going to be easy.”Each finished the problem and then turned the page.On the second page was written: (For 95 points) Which tire?1.What did the four sophomores major in at Duke University?2.What did the four sophomores do on the Saturday before finals?3.The four sophomores didn‟t take the final on Monday morning, did they?4.Did the professor believe what the four students said?5.What might be the first problem?6.Will the four students pass their finals? Why or why not?This is goodAn old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever happened in his life, whether good or bad, and say ing, “This is good!”One day, the king and his friend were out on a hunting journey. The friend was responsible for loading and preparing the guns for the king. The friend had done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off（炸掉）. Examining the situation the friend said as usual, “This is good!” But the king shouted, “No, this is NOT GOOD!” The king was so angry that he sent his friend to prison.About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to keep away from. Cannibals(食人族) caught him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, piledsome wood, set up a stake（（刑柱）and tied him to it. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious(迷信的), they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.As the king returned to his castle, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt sorry for what he had done to his friend. Immediately, he went to the prison to visit his friend and told him what had happened.“You were right,”the king said.“It was good that my thumb was blown off. And I am very sorry for sending you to prison for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”The king said with guilt（内疚）in his voice.“No,”his friend replied,“this is good!”“What do you mean by…This is good‟?How could it be good that I sent my friend to prison for a year?”the king was confused.“If I had NOT been in prison, I would have been with you.”1. What did the king's friend always say after something happened in his life?2. What did the friend do for the king before hunting?3. Why didn‟t Cannibalseat the king?4. How did the king feel after his experience in the Cannibals‟ village?5. How long had the king‟s friend been in prison?6. What would happen to the friend if he was with the king?。