A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

Men often discover their affinity(亲密) to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

A good book is often the best urn(瓮)of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have been to sift(筛) out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.

Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were, in a measure, actors with them in the scenes which they describe.

The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed(加以防腐处理) in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens.

1.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “immortality”?

A.difficult to find B.last for a long time

C.very important D.hard to destroy

2.How do we get close to the greatest minds through reading?

A.by talking to them about what we thought

B.by experiencing what they have gone through in life

C.by sharing their feeling and reading their minds

D.by acting with them on the stage

3.What is the best title of this text?

A.Companionship of books

B.Life without books

C.Unforgettable books

D.Sorting out books

4.This passage is mainly developed by __________.

A.analyzing causes

B.making comparisons

C.examining differences

D.following the order of importance

Paris - A winter storm brought blanket of snow across Europe on Monday, forcing the closure of the icy Eiffel Tower in Paris and causing flight cancellations.

Up to four inches of snow was recorded in parts of France, the National Weather Service said.Most areas, including Paris, got around half that amount.French authorities issued traffic alerts in around 30 regions because of icy roads.The Eiffel Tower, one of the main tourist attractions in Paris, was closed because of slippery conditions.

" We can't put down salt because it's metallic," Eiffel Tower press officer Is a belle Snouts said." We can't use sand either, because it risks getting into the elevator cogs(嵌齿)." "The cold," she said, "is no problem, but snow can be dangerous."

A dozen flights were canceled at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, officials said.The Paris airport authority said bad weather in other parts of Europe continued to the cancellations.Workers had been sent since midnight Sunday to clear runways at Charles de Gaulle and the smaller Only Airport.

In Germaine, heavy snowfall snarled road traffic and flight delays and cancellations at the country}y s intimation airports.Glissando of Interactional Airport said no flights were allowed in or out between 6 -9 am Monday because clearing crew were unable to keep up with the snow.

More than 30 flights were canceled because of the bad weather, import spokesman Christian Witt said.Up to four inches of snow was reported in Tussled and around six inches in Potsdam, but none had struggled to the roads amid (在……环境中 ) heavy post - holiday traffic.

Germany's National Weather Service is forecasting subzero temperatures for the coming days.Snow also fell across Britain.Children built snowmen in parts of England, including Cambridge.

1.The winter storm brought of snow across Paris.

A.4 inches B.about 2 inches

C.half an inch D.6 inches

2.According to the passage, people usually use to avoid slippery conditions.

A.salt and wood B.sand and stone

C.salt and sand D.wood and stone

3.From the passage we know .

A. several flights from Frankfurt, international Airport were canceled

B. flights from Dtisseldorf International Airport probably could take off after 9 am Monday

C. it is getting warmer in the days to come in Germany

D. people can put down chemicals on the Eiffel Tower when it is slippery

Many years ago,my dad was facing a serious heart condition.He was unable to do a steady job.He fell suddenly ill and had to be admitted to the hospital

He wanted to do something to keep himself busy, so he decided to volunteer at the local children’s hospital.My dad loved kids.It was the perfect job for him.He ended up working with the seriously ill children.He would talk,play, and do arts with them.

One of his kids was a girl with a rare disease that paralyzed(瘫痪)her from the neck down.She couldn’t do anything,and she was very depressed.My dad decided to try to help her.He started visiting her in her room,bringing paints,brushes and paper.He stood the paper up,put the paintbrush in his mouth and began to paint.He didn’t use his hands at a11.All the while he would tell her, “See,you can do anything you set your mind to.’’

At the end of the day, she began to paint using her mouth,and she and my dad became friends.Soon after, the little girl was sent home because the doctors felt there was nothing else they could do for her.My dad also left the children’s hospital for a little while because he became i11.Some time later after my dad had recovered and returned to work,in came the little girl who had been paralyzed and only this time she was walking.She ran straight over to my dad and hugged him really tight.She gave him a picture she had done using her hands.At the bottom it read:“Thank you for helping me walk.’’

My dad would cry every time he told US this story and so would we.He would say sometimes love is more powerful than doctor, and my dad—who died just a few months after the little girl gave the picture--loved every single child in that hospital.

1.The author’s father worked at the local hospital to .

A.realize his childhood dream

B.ease his serious heart condition

C.earn money to pay for treatment

D.keep himself occupied and happy

2.How did the author’s father help the paralyzed little girl?

A.He helped her practice walking.

B.He visited her and made a toy for her.

He showed her she could still do things.

D.He painted special pictures for her.

3.According to paragraph 4.the paralyzed girl .

A.gradually recovered and walked

B.eventually became a unique painter

C.was sent home and never seen again

4.What message does the passage mainly convey?

A.It’s better to give than to receive.

B.Love can sometimes bring great results.

C.Volunteering is a worthwhile thing to do.

D.A sick person should not focus on his disease.

“My work is done.” Those words were some of the last penned by George Eastman. He included them in his suicide note. They mark an ignoble end to a noble life, the leave taking of a truly great man. The same words could now be said for the company he left behind. Actually, the Eastman Kodak Company is through. It has been mismanaged financially, technologically and competitively. For 20 years, its leaders have foolishly spent down the patrimony of a century’s prosperity. One of America’s bedrock brands is about to disappear, the Kodak moment has passed.

But George Eastman is not how he died, and the Eastman Kodak Company is not how it is being killed. Though the ends be needless and premature, they must not be allowed to overshadow the greatness that came before. Few companies have done so much good for so many people, or defined and lifted so profoundly the spirit of a nation and perhaps the world. It is impossible to understand the 20th Century without recognizing the role of the Eastman Kodak Company.

Kodak served mankind through entertainment, science, national defense and the stockpiling of family memories. Kodak took us to the top of Mount Suribachi and to the Sea of Tranquility. It introduced us to the merry old Land of Oz and to stars from Charlie Chaplin to John Wayne, and Elizabeth Taylor to Tom Hanks. It showed us the shot that killed President Kennedy, and his brother bleeding out on a kitchen floor, and a fallen Martin Luther King Jr. on the hard balcony of a Memphis motel. When that sailor kissed the nurse, and when the spy planes saw missiles in Cuba, Kodak was the eyes of a nation. From the deck of the Missouri to the grandeur of Monument Valley, Kodak took us there. Virtually every significant image of the 20th Century is a gift to posterity(繁荣) from the Eastman Kodak Company.

In an era of easy digital photography, when we can take a picture of anything at any time, we cannot imagine what life was like before George Eastman brought photography to people. Yes, there were photographers, and for relatively large sums of money they would take stilted(不自然的) pictures in studios and formal settings. But most people couldn’t afford photographs, and so all they had to remember distant loved ones, or earlier times of their lives, was memory. Children could not know what their parents had looked like as young people, grandparents far away might never learn what their grandchildren looked like. Eastman Kodak allowed memory to move from the uncertainty of recollection, to the permanence of a photograph. But it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the sacred and precious times that families cherish. The Kodak moment, was humanity’s moment.

And it wasn’t just people whose features were savable; it was events, the precious times that families cherish. Kodak let the fleeting moments of birthdays and weddings, picnics and parties, be preserved and saved. It allowed for the creation of the most egalitarian art form. Lovers could take one another’s pictures, children were photographed walking out the door on the first day of school, the person releasing the shutter decided what was worth recording, and hundreds of millions of such decisions were made. And for centuries to come, those long dead will smile and dance and communicate to their unborn progeny(子孙). Family history will be not only names on paper, but smiles on faces.

The cash flow not just provided thousands of people with job, but also allowed the company’s founder to engage in some of the most generous charity in America’s history. Not just in Kodak’s home city of Rochester, New York, but in Tuskegee and London, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He bankrolled(资助) two historically black colleges, fixed the teeth of Europe’s poor, and quietly did good wherever he could. While doing good, Kodak did very well. Over all the years, all the Kodakers over all the years are essential parts of that monumental legacy. They prospered a great company, but they – with that company – blessed the world.

That is what we should remember about the Eastman Kodak Company. Like its founder, we should remember how it lived, not how it died. History will forget the small men who have scuttled this company. But history will never forget Kodak.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is to blame for the fall of Kodak?

A. The invention of easy digital photography

B. The poor management of the company

C. The early death of George Eastman

D. The quick rise of its business competitors

2.It can be learnt from the passage that George Eastman .

A. died a natural death of old age.

B. happened to be on the spot when President Kennedy was shot dead.

C. set up his company in the capital of the US before setting up its branches all over the world.

D. was not only interested in commercial profits, but also in the improvement of other people’s lives.

3.Before George Eastman brought photography to people, .

A. no photos has ever been taken of people or events

B. photos were very expensive and mostly taken indoors

C. painting was the only way for people to keep a record of their ancestors.

D. grandparents never knew what their grandchildren looked like.

4.The person releasing the shutter (Paragraph 5) was the one .

A. who took the photograph

B. who wanted to have a photo taken

C. whose decisions shaped the Eastman Kodak Company

D. whose smiles could long be seen by their children

5.What is the writer’s attitude towards the Eastman Kodak Company?

A. Disapproving B. Respectful

C. Regretful D.Critical

6.Which do you think is the best title for the passage?

A. Great Contributions of Kodak

B. Unforgettable moments of Kodak

C. Kodak Is Dead

D. History of Eastman Kodak Company

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