Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe is born 10 feet high and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over its legs under its body. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its children to the reality(现实) of life.

In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a new-born giraffe learns its first lesson.

The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she puts herself directly over her child. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable(不合情理的) thing. She throws her long leg and kicks her baby, so that it’s sent sprawling(四脚朝天).

When it doesn’t get up, the process is repeated again and again. The struggle to rise is important. As the baby giraffe grows tired, the mother kicks it again. Finally, it stands for the first time on its shaky(摇晃的) legs. Then the mother giraffe kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, a baby giraffe must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with its group, where there’s safety.

Another writer named Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing stories about such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin.

Stone was once asked if he had found something that runs through the lives of all these great people. He said, “I write about people who sometime in their life have a dream of something. They’re beaten over the head, knocked down and for years they get nowhere. But every time they stand up again. And at the end of their lives they’ve realized some small parts of what they set out(着手) to do .”

1.What does the underlined part “a tall order” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A.A happy thing.                          B.A difficult task.

C.A big dream.                           D.A beautiful scene.

2.What does the book A View from the Zoo talk about?

A.A new-born giraffe’s first lesson.

B.A mother giraffe’s story.

C.The lives of some great people.

D.The way for a giraffe to stand up.

3.Why were some great people mentioned in the passage?

A.Because they all worked hard.

B.Because they all liked to read some special stories.

C.Because they were born with some illnesses.

D.Because they were similar to giraffes in some ways.

4.Which of the following statements is True according to the passage?

A.This passage is a description of giraffes’ living habits.

B.Baby giraffes can’t stand up until three months old.

C.Irving Stone spent a lifetime studying and writing stories about great people.

D.The great people can’t stand up after they’re knocked down for years.

5.What would be the best title for the passage?

A.How to Raise a Baby Giraffe.

B.Learning to Get Back Up.

C.Stories about the great people.

D.A Mother Giraffe and Its Baby Giraffe.

 

I think the most terrible(最糟糕的) thing in life for my little brother is getting up in the morning. He is always ___1___ when my mother calls,  “John! It’s seven o’clock! ___2___ up!”

John ___3___,  “I’m coming!” and goes right back to ___4___.

I’m not ___5___ my brother. I don’t like to go to bed ___6___ but I don’t mind getting up in the morning. I ___7___ wake up before my mother calls me.

But not John. He ___8___ sleeps. After calling a few more times my mother has to come upstairs(到楼上) and pull(拉)John out of ___9___. He always says,  “I was going to get up in ___10___ minute. Really I was.”

 

(      ) 1. A. glad       B. surprised (惊讶) C. unhappy    D. happy

(      ) 2. A. Look      B. Get           C. Climb      D. Put

(      ) 3. A. answers    B. asks          C. wonders     D. means

(      ) 4. A. work      B. study          C. play        D. sleep

(      ) 5. A. as         B. like           C. different    D. same

(      ) 6. A. at night     B. at last         C. quick       D. slowly

(      ) 7. A. never      B. usually        C. sometimes   D. only

(      ) 8. A. just        B. alone         C. finally      D. really

(      ) 9. A. the door    B. the window    C. bed         D. the room

(      ) 10. A. another    B. other         C. the other     D. others

 

Americans think much about time. Form childhood they learn to value (珍视)

time. They are taught to be on time to go to school, to work and to do everything. When they are having a good time,  they say that time goes easily. When a person is dying,   they say he is living on a borrowed time.

Time is money.  Time is knowledge. Time is everything in America. A working American has to work hard for eight hours a day or forty hours a week.  This is the working time. In his free time, he also works hard for more money.  Even on Saturday and Sunday he also works hard as usual.   In the street you can hardly see a man walking slowly.  They walk very fast. In fact, they are running.

They love time because time can bring them money and lots of things. But sometimes they also hate time,  because they feel they have become servants (仆人)of the clock.

 

 1. What do the Americans mean by "Time is money"?

    A. It is not easy to make money.

    B. It takes quite a lot of time to make money.

C. Working hard can bring people health.

  D. ff someone has time and works hard, he can make much money.

2. Americans think it wrong _____________.

   A. to work late                 B. to get up early

   C. to be late for school

   D. to be on time to do everything

3. This passage says that a dying person___________.

A. is having a good time

B. is living on a borrowed time

C. thinks time goes easily

D. is saving time

4. From this passage we can be sure that

   A. Americans live a hard life

   B. Americans always walk fast

   C. Americans live in a quick rhythm (节奏)

   D. Americans are good at saving time

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

  A. Americans' ideas about time

  B. Never waste time

  C. Time is money

  D. Learn to be on time

 

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