From poor beginnings to most expensive player

      ZINEDINE Zidane,who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month,has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words.

      Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany's Leverkusen 2一1.

      He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy's Juventus for US $ 66 million.And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3-O defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.

      But despite his success,Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground.He leads a quite family life,there is hardly any gossip about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight.

      “Just because I'm a public figure it doesn't mean I have to express myself on everything.I don't like to discuss some personal matters publicly.”he said.

      Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille,France,where he was raised by his Algerian parents,Zidane was shy.

      He loved football even as a little kid.“I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,”he said.

      Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread,Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich.

      Before he was 10 years old,it was obvious that he could become a great footballer.He was offered his first professional contract(合同)when he was just 20.Now,at the age of 29,he has already picked up two World Player  of the year awards.

      This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup.But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he'll do this time.

What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that_____________.

A.he could become a great footballer

B.he could become rich if he became a footballer

C.football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking

D.football is a favorite sport in the future

According to the article,what are Zidane’s main characteristics?

A.He is a shy but successful man.

B.H e loves his wife and children.

C.He doesn't like to speak in public.

D.He is a quiet,down—to earth person of few words.

When the writer says“Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”,he means_________.

A.Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days

B.Zidane is a down-to earth person

C.Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch

D.Zidane likes standing when he succeeds

The sentence“Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich”means___________.

A.football made Zidane's poor family wealthy when he was a child

B.Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child

C.football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family

D.Zidane knew that if he wanted to be  rich he must play football from childhood

Can storms in Africa cause asthma(哮喘) in the Caribbean(加勒比)? Islanders point to the desert insects that land on beaches after a 5,000-kilometer flight across the Atlantic. If they can use winds to get from one continent to another, so can clouds of dust that carry disease.

Scientists think that as Africa becomes drier, dust from expanding deserts is being blown away into Caribbean islands. A study in Barbados shows that asthma has increased 17 times since Africa’s drought(干旱) began in 1973.

Other forms of life are suffering, too. Among them are the Caribbean’s famous coral reefs( 珊瑚礁), which began dying in large numbers in the 1900s. Eugene Shinn of the U.S. Geiological Sudrvey(USGS) in Florida went to the virgin Islands to study the reefs. The tests he and his colleagues carried out showed that the coral was dying of disease caused by Africa microbes(微生物) from across the ocean.

William Sprigg of the University of Arizona is studying the problem as part of a major UN project. He says that dust is causing problems in the U.S., too.

“We are just beginning to collect the evidence of airborne(空气传播的) dust influences on human health,” he told The Washington Post.

Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

  A. Dangerous Dust                                        B. Dangerous Disease

C. Changing Weather                               D. Developing Technology

Where does the dust talked about in this passage come from?

  A. America.                     B. Africa.                            C. The Atlantic.             D. The Pacific.

The increase of asthma in the Caribean is probably related to _____ according to scientists.

  A. desert insects         B. strong winds             C. airborne dust            D. dry weather

Which of the following is NOT true about the Caribbean coral reefs?

  A. They are in Florida. 

B. They used to be very beautiful.

  C. They began dying in the past decades. 

D. The African microbes have bad effect on them.

Which of the following is TRUE about William Sprigg?

  A. He is a member of UN.

B. He thinks African dust also affects the US.

  C. He has collected enough evidence about dust influences.

  D. He is a reporter from The Washington Post.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about studying. Most students have not been taught the principles behind really effective working. Imagine a graph showing the amount a person learns against the number of hours he works in a day. If he doesn’t do any work, he learns nothing (point 0). If he does an hour’s work he learns a certain amount (point 1). If he does two hours’ work he learns about twice as much (point 2). If he does more work he’ll learn still more (point 3). However, if he tries to do twenty-three and a half hours’ work in a day, he will be so tired that he’ll hardly remember anything: what he learns will be very little (point 4). If he did less work he’d learn more (point 5).

Now whatever the exact shape of the graph’s curve(曲线), made by joining these points, it must have a high point. Point “X” is the very maximum anyone can learn in the day. And this represents the optimum(最适度), the best, amount of work to do. It is the best possible compromise between adequate time at the books and fatigue(劳累). Fatigue is an absolutely real thing; one can’t escape it or ignore it. If you try to ignore it and press yourself to work past the optimum, you will only get on this downward slope and achieve less than the best – and then become very tired and lose your power of concentration.

The skill in being a student consists of getting one’s daily study as near the optimum point as possible. I cannot tell you what the optimum is. It differs with the type of work, it differs from person to person, and even in the same person it varies from week to week. You must try to find your own. Every day you study, bear this principle of the optimum in mind. When you feel yourself getting fatigued, if you find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again and not taking it in, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve reached your highest point for the day and should stop. Most ordinary students find their optimum at five hours a day. Yours may be a little more or a little less – but if you get in five hours’ good work a day, you will be doing well.

Now, what are you doing with yourself when you aren’t working? Before examinations some students do nothing at all except sit in a chair and worry. Here is another misunderstanding. People often think that the mind works like the body; it does not. If one wanted to save one’s physical energy in order to cut the maximum amount of firewood, one would lie flat on a bed and rest when one wasn’t chopping. But the mind cannot rest. Even in sleep you dream, even if you forget your dreams. The mind is always turning. It gets its relaxation only by variety. That is what makes the mind rest.

When you’ve finished your optimum number of hours you must stop. You must not then sit around in the chair thinking about the work – that only tires without any learning. You must get out and do something. It doesn’t matter what – anything so long as you are actively doing something else but work.

1.According to the passage, _______.

A.the longer you study every day, the more you will learn

B.you’ll achieve better learning results if you work three hours every day

C.the less work you do, the better you will learn

D.your work efficiency will decrease once you exceed a certain point of work

2.Fatigue can result in ________.

A.loss of memory

B.a need for relaxation

C.a lot of anxiety

D.loss of concentration

3.The passage tells us that a person’s optimum number of working hours _______.

A.follows a regular pattern with each individual

B.changes regularly from week to week

C.can be partly determined by the sort of work he is doing

D.should be determined before he gets too tired

4.The only way the mind can relax is by ________.

A.doing a variety of things in turn

B.not thinking about anything

C.turning continuously

D.getting oneself in a state of fatigue

5.After you have reached the optimum point of study in a day, you should ________.

A.lie in bed and rest

B.do something else actively

C.do some physical labor

D.stop thinking about your studies

 

A Book Review—The Snake-Stone by Berlie Doherty

The setting: Urban England (the cities), but also rural England (the countryside) including remote English villages.

The theme: The main theme is a teenage research of self-discovery, in this case the search for a mother from whom the hero was separated at an early age.Its other concerns are love, getting on with others, being persistent and courageous and trying to deal with doubts, troubles and worries.As the book moves to a close, James’ swimming coach says to him: “You are not like a kid obeying instructions any more.You are diving like a young man who knows where he is going.”

The characters: James is the hero of the story.He is a championship diver, and has a comfortable life with his foster parents (养父母).Yet he also has the qualities to take him on a long journey to find his birth mother.The other characters in The Snake-Stone, James’ parents, his diving instructor, best friend, the villagers, people he meets on his journey, are pictured realistically.

The turning point: The turning point in the story comes while James’ foster parents are away in London, and he wonders about the identity of his birth mother.The only clue he has is a fossil, “the snake stone” which she left behind along with a note on which she had written: “Take good care of Sammie.It was written on a torn envelope with parts of an address still there.

The journey: Instead of going to London, James decides to find his birth mother.With help from his geography teacher, James sets out for the remote country village where his mother might be found.James has painful, challenging, but also humorous and happy travels.The mother he finally meets, Anne, has a minor yet powerful voice in the novel.He comes to understand why she left him at a stranger’s door fifteen years before.Although the meeting is not long, it leaves him with a feeling of completeness.As a journey of self-discovery The Snake-Stone also provides its readers with a happy ending.Its hero says, on returning to his foster parents, “I was home.”

1.What is the main theme of the novel?

    A.A journey of self-discovery.       

B.Life in the world of diving.       

C.Life with foster parents.          

D.A travel around the country.

2.What do the coach’s words in Paragraph 2 suggest?

    A.James is a successful diver.       

B.James is an independent young man.

    C.James is an outgoing young man.    

D.James is a hopeful swimmer.

3.The snake stone in the novel is        

    A.a stone with an address on it       

B.a gift from the swimming coach

    C.a clue left by the birth mother     

D.a fossil left by the foster parents

4.Which of the following is true about the novel?

    A.The story has a sad ending.        

B.The story takes place in the city of London.

    C.The characters are vividly described.                  

D.The turning point comes after the hero meets his birth mother.

5.It can be concluded that James’ journey is _________.

    A.disappointing      B.boring       C.comfortable      D.worthwhile

 

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