Eric liked to save pennies.He saved pennies from jobs for his mother, and gifts from relatives.Whenever his grandfather came to visit, he told Eric that he could have all the pennies in his pocket.Grandpa always had quite a few.
He filled a small box with pennies.Then he put some into an empty bottle.The bottle was soon full of pennies, so he started another one.
When his uncle came to visit, Uncle Alan said, “What are you going to do with all those pennies, Eric? penny doesn’ buy much these days.Maybe you should start a collection.”
Uncle Alan took him to a store, and they bought two books.One book had little spaces for pennies made in different years.The other one told how much money a coin dealer would pay for rare pennies.Eric was amazed that a penny sometimes was worth much more than one cent.
“Let’ look through your pennies and see what you have here, ” Uncle Alan said.
They looked at the dates on the pennies and sorted them into piles by the years in which the pennies were made.Eric then chose the best one from each year to put into his collection book.He soon filled up most of the spaces with pennies.
One penny, however, was different.It was one Eric had found in his own backyard under a big bush.It had been there for a long, long time.He checked the date on the penny, and then looked into the book that told the value of pennies.
“Thirty dollars, ” the book said! Not many pennies had been made that year, so each one was rare.
“Well, what are you going to do, Eric?” his uncle asked:“Are you going to sell it so that you can have a lot of money?”
Eric thought of all the things he could buy with that much money.Then he said, “No, I would rather keep the penny as my own.”
(1)
What did Eric decide to do with the valuable penny he found?
[ ]
A.
He sold it for thirty dollars.
B.
He kept it so he could enjoy owning something so rare.
C.
He bought his family a treat at the store.
D.
He gave it to his grandpa for helping him save pennies.
(2)
Grandpa always had quite a few pennies in his pockets when he came to visit Eric’ family because ________.
[ ]
A.
he knew his grandson liked pennies
B.
he was a rich man, so he could give money away
C.
pennies do not buy much these days
D.
he wanted to play a trick on Eric so that he could make fun of him
(3)
What will probably happen in the future if Eric’ special penny is worth thirty dollars now?
[ ]
A.
The value will increase because collectors will want it more when it is older.
B.
People will not want it in the future, so the value will go down.
C.
Eric will not take very good care of it and will probably lose it.
D.
Grandpa will give it to one of his other grandsons.
(4)
A penny that is rare would be of greater value than one from a year in which many pennies are easy to get because ________.
[ ]
A.
collectors want to fill their books
B.
the value of pennies always rises
C.
there are not enough pennies for everyone who wants to own one
D.
people want to have something that belongs to someone else
Suppose we built a robot(机器人)to explore the planet Mars.We provide the robot with seeing detectors(探测器)to keep it away from danger.It is powered entirely by the sun.Should we program the robot to be equally active at all times?No.The robot would be using up energy at a time when it was not receiving any.So we would probably program it to stop its activity at night and to wake up at dawn the next morning.
According to the evolutionary(进化的)theory of sleep, evolution equipped us with a regular pattern of sleeping and waking for the same reason.The theory does not deny(否认)that sleep provides some important restorative functions(恢复功能).It merely says that evolution has programmed us to perform those functions at a time when activity would be inefficient and possibly dangerous.However, sleep protects us only from the sort of trouble we might walk into; it does not protect us from trouble that comes looking for us.So we sleep well when we are in a familiar, safe place, but we sleep lightly, if at all, when we fear that bears will nose into the tent.
The evolutionary theory explains the differences in sleep among creatures.Why do eats, for instance, sleep so much, while horses sleep so little?Surely cats do not need five times as much repair and restoration as horses do.But cats can afford to have long periods of inactivity because they spend little time eating and are unlikely to be attacked while they sleep.Horses must spend almost all their waking hours eating, because what they eat is very low in energy value.Moreover, they cannot afford to sleep too long or too deeply, because their survival(生存)depends on their ability to run away from attackers.
(1)
The author uses the example of the robot in space exploration to tell us ________.
[ ]
A.
the differences between robots and men
B.
the reason why men need to sleep
C.
about the need for robots to save power
D.
about the danger of men working at night
(2)
Evolution has programmed man to sleep at night chiefly to help him ________.
[ ]
A.
keep up a regular pattern of life
B.
prevent trouble that comes looking for him
C.
avoid danger and inefficient labour
D.
restore his bodily functions
(3)
According to the author, we cannot sleep well when we ________.
[ ]
A.
are worrying about our safety
B.
are overworked
C.
are in a tent
D.
are away from home
(4)
Cats sleep much more than horses do partly because cats ________.
[ ]
A.
need more time for restoration
B.
are unlikely to be attackers
C.
axe more active than homes when they are awake
D.
spend less time eating to get enough energy
(5)
Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?
[ ]
A.
Evolution has equipped all creatures with a regular pattern of sleeping and waking.
B.
The study of sleep is an important part of the evolutionary theory.
C.
Sleeping patterns must be taken into consideration in the designing of robots.
D.
The sleeping pattern of a living creature is determined by the food it eats.
阅读理解:
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.
[ ]
A.
Escape
B.
Scenes of a River
C.
How to Survive on a boat
D.
A New Experience
阅读理解:
Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains.Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed:where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore.In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way.So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization.
We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water.As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless.After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream.In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream.
As for water, there was a choice:we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst.We drank the water.Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water.In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result.
One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us.We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time:we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again.
(1)
What they could see in the boat was only ________.
[ ]
A.
high wall
B.
villagers from time to time
C.
vast land
D.
heavy woods
(2)
They couldn’t land because ________.
[ ]
A.
the mud on the shore was too soft
B.
the forest was too thick to let them go through
C.
they could not find the mark on the map
D.
they could not find anyone to lead them out of the forest.
(3)
The passage infers that the forest was ________.
[ ]
A.
rich of fruits and animals to be served as food
B.
not very thick as they could advance slowly by cutting the branches
C.
full of various dangerous beings
D.
full of ancient trees
(4)
The most proper title for this passage might be ________.
[ ]
A.
Escape
B.
Scenes of a River
C.
How to Survive on a boat
D.
A New Experience
阅读理解:
It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle.As Christmas drew near, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade, or so we thought.We bought the latest rages.Baby-Sitter’s Club dolls, and a doll house.Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd, she said that she “really wanted a bike more than anything else.”
It was just too late, what will all the details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying last-minute gifts, to take the time to select the “right bike” for our little girl.So here we were-Christmas Eve around 9∶00 p. m., with Almie and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, nested snug in their beds.Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child.“What if the bicycle out of clay(a kind of earth)and write a note that she could trade the clay model in for a real bike?” her dad asked.“This is an expensive item and she is ‘such a big girl,’ and it would be much better for her to pick it out.”So he spent the next four hours painstakingly working with clay to make a tiny bike.
On Christmas morning, we were excited for Almie to open the little heart-shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note.Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud.“Does this mean that I trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?”Beaming, I said,“Yes.”Almie had tears in her eyes when she replied,“I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me.I’d rather keep this than get a real bike.”At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy every bicycle on the planet!
(1)
Which is the right time order of the following events?
a.The girl asked for a new bike
b.The girl opened the little heart-shaped package
c.The parents bought the girl a modern and popular doll.
d.The father made the girl a bike with clay.
e.The girl would rather keep the clay bike than get a real one.
[ ]
A.
b, c, e ,d
B.
a, c, d, b, e
C.
a, c, b, d, e
D.
a, b, d, c, e
(2)
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
[ ]
A.
The parents wanted the girl to have the clay bike forever.
B.
Tears were in the girl’s eyes because she didn’t like the present at all.
C.
The girl never lost her desire for a bike.
D.
The parents paid little attention to the daughter’s desire for a bike.
(3)
Why did Dad make the clay bicycle?
[ ]
A.
Because he wanted to buy a real one, but he had no money.
B.
Because he didn’t want to disappoint his daughter.
C.
Because he thought his daughter would like it.
D.
Because he wanted to give his daughter a surprise.
(4)
What can be inferred from the last sentence of the text?
[ ]
A.
The parents were happy and encouraged.
B.
The parents felt comfortable and relaxed.
C.
The parents were moved and felt proud of the girl.
D.
The parents felt disappointed and sorry for the girl.