It’s not often a tomato that is described as so sweet “whenever people see it they just want to hug”-but this was no ordinary piece of fruit.

The heart-shaped tomato was grown by the retired worker, Rod Matless, who said he was surprised when he noticed it in his field. Mr. Matless, 69, who had a heart attack a few years ago, was so taken aback by the fruit that he decided to sell it and donate the money to the British Heart Foundation. The 64 g tomato was bought for$16 on eBay by woman from Wales - who said she planned to give it to someone special.

Mr. Matless, of Wymondham, near Norwich, said:“I spent a couple of days thinking about what to do with it and I wasn’t really sure, but this seems like a good use. I hope it will do someone somewhere a bit of good.” He added:“It’s very sweet - whenever people see it they just want to hug it.” But with the tomato’s freshness a key factor, Mr. Matless was up against the clock to send it to its new owner before it went bad. He said:“I didn’t want to send someone something horrible. I probably could have raised a bit more money with more time but I was worried about it.”

“It will certainly make a nice present for a loved one. I hope that they like it and I’m glad I got to help. It’s all been very good fun and I’ve really enjoyed growing this very special tomato.”

1.We can learn from the text that the tomato grown by Rod Matless ______.

A.is very big B.is very tough

C.is very special D.is good for health

2.The underlined part “taken aback by” in Paragraph 2 means ______.

A.satisfied with B.nervous about

C.surprised by D.frightened by

3.According to the text, the main problem for Rod Matless was ______.

A.how to advertise the tomato

B.how to keep the tomato fresh

C.how to get a good price for the tomato

D.how to find a good owner for the tomato

阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

It was a cold Saturday morning.An old man walked slowly into the ____.With shoulders bent forward,he leaned on his trusty stick with each ___step.

His shabby clothes and warm personality made him ___out from the usual breakfast crowd.Unforgettable were his eyes that shone like diamonds and thin lips _____in a steady smile.

A young waitress named Mary_____him drag toward a table by the window.She ran over to him,and said,“Here,sir.Let me give you a ___with that chair.”

Without saying a word,he smiled and _____.She pulled the chair away from the table.Steadying him with one arm,she helped him get comfortably_____.Then she moved the table up close to him,and leaned his ___against the table where he could reach it.

In a soft,clear voice,he said,“Thank you for your__1___.”

“You’re welcome,sir.” She replied_____.“And my name is Mary.I’ll be back in a moment,and ____you need anything at all in the meantime,just wave at me!”

After he had finished his breakfast,Mary brought him the change from his ticket.Then she ___him out from behind the table.She handed him his stick,and walked ____him to the front door.Holding the door open for him,she said,“Come back and see us,sir!”

He turned with his whole body and nodded with a ____smile.“You are very kind,” he said softly.

When Mary went to clean his table,she was ____to find that under his plate there was a business card and a note on a napkin(餐巾纸).Under the napkin was a one hundred dollar bill!

The note on the napkin _____,“Dear Mary,I respect you very much,and you respect yourself too.It shows by the way you ____others.You have found the secret of happiness.Your kind gestures will _____through those who meet you.”

The next day she was told that the man she had ____on was the owner of the restaurant where she was working.

1.A.restaurant B.shop C.hospital D.bank

2.A.big B.quick C.urgent D.unhurried

3.A.get B.look C.stand D.keep

4.A.held B.made C.remained D.put

5.A.felt B.noticed C.discovered D.realized

6.A.table B.cushion C.place D.hand

7.A.nodded B.obeyed C.sat D.hesitated

8.A.moved B.stayed C.seated D.rested

9.A.chair B.spoon C.stick D.plate

10.A.quickness B.kindness C.cleverness D.politeness

11.A.happily B.sadly C.nervously D.angrily

12.A.until B.though C.because D.if

13.A.called B.helped C.took D.made

14.A.in B.around C.with D.towards

15.A.confident B.grateful C.relieved D.delicate

16.A.embarrassed B.satisfied C.disappointed D.astonished

17.A.read B.told C.wrote D.showed

18.A.please B.admire C.follow D.treat

19.A.pass B.shine C.go D.pull

20.A.depended B.served C.waited D.agreed

Why do young adult children become independent so much later than they did in 1970,when the average age of independent living was ? Why have reduced class sizes and increased per-pupil expenditures (花销)not 36 higher academic achievement levels? Why is the mental health of today’s kids so poor when with that of children in the 1960s and before? Why do today’s become defensive when told by teachers that their children have misbehaved in school?

The answer in two words: parental . Those two words best summarize the between “old” child raising and new, post-1960s parenting. Then, the overall philosophy was that parents were not to be involved with their kids. They were available crisis, but they stood a (an) distance from their kids and allowed them to experience the benefits of the trial-and-error process. It was the child’s , back then, to keep his or her parents from getting involved. That was children learned to be responsible and determined.

Today’s parents help their kids with almost everything. These are parents who are when it comes to an understanding of their purpose in their kids’ lives. Their involvement leads them to personalize everything that happens to their kids; , the defensiveness. But given that schools and mental health professionals have been pushing parent involvement for nearly four decades, the confusion and defensiveness are .

University researchers analyzed three decades of data relating to parent participation in children’s academics. Their conclusions what I’ve been saying since the 1980s: parental help with homework a child’s academic achievement and is not reflected on standardized tests.

Parents who manage a child’s social life interfere with the of good social skills. Parents who manage a child’s after-school activities grow kids who don’t know how to their own free time. Parents who get involved in their kids, with peers grow kids who don’t know how to avoid much less trouble.

These kids have anxieties and fears of all sorts and don’t want to leave their . And their parents, when the time comes, don’t know how to being parents. You can imagine what will become of their fu ture.

1.A. counted on B. resulted in C. touched on D. taken in

2.A. associated B. linked C. compared D. matched

3.A. parents B. adolescents C. psychologists D. youths

4.A. assistance B. protection C. involvement D. preference

5.A. differences B. similarities C. choices D. relations

6.A. slightly B. passively C. highly D. fairly

7.A. in case of B. in spite of C. in view of D. in fear of

8.A. equal B. safe C. long D. short

9.A. fault B. turn C. job D. attitude

10.A. when B. how C. why D. what

11.A. confused B. disappointed C. amazed D. satisfied

12.A. however B. still C. yet D. thus

13.A. unreasonable B. changeable C. understandable D. avoidable

14.A. confirmed B. convinced C. realized D. reflected

15.A. decides B. lowers C. helps D. stimulates

16.A. appearance B. performance C. establishment D. development

17.A. value B. devote C. fill D. save

18.A. communication B. conflicts C. cooperation D. competitions

19.A. start B. ignore C. consider D. stop

20.A. home B. school C. career D. profession

D

The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert (警觉). Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus — until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns: she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?

Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise (同样地)when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.

1.Babies are sensitive to the change in______.

A. the size of cards

B. the colour of pictures

C. the shape of patterns

D. the number of objects

2.Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats?

A. To reduce the difficulty of the experiment.

B. To see how babies recognize sounds.

C. To carry their experiment further.

D. To keep the babies’ interest.

3.Where does this text probably come from?

A. Science fiction.

B. Children’s literature.

C. An advertisement.

D. A science report.

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