题目内容
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B. disappointing
C. disappointed
D. disappointment
考前必练系列答案One fine afternoon, I was walking along Fifth Street when I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks. Why I wished to buy only one pair was unimportant. I turned into the first sock shop that caught my eye. A boy clerk, who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward. “What can I do for you, sir?” he said “I wish to buy a pair of socks.” I replied.
His eyes shone. There was a note of excitement in his voice. “Did you know that you had come into the finest place in the world to buy socks?” I had no idea of that, as my entrance had been accidental. “Come with me,” said the boy, eagerly. I followed him to the back of the shop, and he began to pull down box after box from the shelves, showing their contents (内装物)for my choice.
“Hold on, lad” I said “I am going to buy only one pair!” “I know that,” said he, “but I want you to see how beautiful these are. Aren’t they wonderful!” There was on his face an expression of seriousness and pride and delight as if he were showing me the secrets of his religion（宗教信仰）. I became far more interested in him than in the socks. I looked at him in surprise. “My friend, ” said I, “if you can keep this up, if this is not merely from having a new job, if you can keep up this high spirit and excitement day after day, in ten years you will own every sock in the United States.”
【小题1】What did the writer want to buy one fine afternoon?
| A．A pair of shoes. | B．A pair of socks. |
| C．Two pairs of socks. | D．A set of books. |
| A．The shop was on the Second Road. | B．The boy was 18 years old. |
| C．The boy was not in high spirits. | D．The writer entered the shop by chance. |
| A．if you don’t work hard, you will lose the job |
| B．you should keep on following your customs |
| C．if you keep up your great interest in your work, you will succeed in the future |
| D．if you are too hardworking, you will fail |
Any foreigner who has tried to learn Chinese can tell how hard it is to master the tones required to speak and understand. And anyone who has tried to learn to play the violin or other instruments can report similar challenges.
Now researchers have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese. Writing in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience，researchers from Northwestern University say that both skills draw on the same parts of the brain that help people discover changes in pitch(音调)．
One of the study’s authors，Nina Kraus，said the findings suggested that studying music “actually tunes our sensory system”．This means that schools that want children to do well in languages should hesitate before cutting music programs，Dr.Kraus said. She said music training might also help children with language problems.
Mandarin(普通话)speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding(编码) of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. This is because in Mandarin and other Asian languages，pitch plays a central role. A singlesyllable word can have several meanings depending on how it is intoned.
For this study，the res
earchers looked at 20 nonChinese speaking volunteers，half with no musical background and half who have studied an instrument for at least six years.
As they were shown a movie，the volunteers also heard an audio tape of the Mandarin word “mi” in three of its meanings：squint，bewilder and rice. The rese
archers recorded activities in their brain stems to see how well they were processing the sounds. Those with a music background showed much more brain activities in response to the Chinese sounds.
The lead author of the study，Patrick C．M.W
ong，said it might work both ways. It appears that
native speakers of tonal languages may do better at learning instruments.
【小题1】When learning Chinese，a foreigner will find ________.
| A．he has a difficult time learning music at the same time |
| B．he has an easier time learning music at the same time |
| C．it is hard to master the tones required to speak and understand |
| D．it is easy to use the brain to help him discover changes in pitch |
| A．Because there is the same difficulty in learning Chinese and music. |
| B．Because skills to learn the two make use of the same parts of the brain. |
| C．Because music training might help people with language study. |
| D．Because people who do well in Chinese study do well in music. |
| A．created | B．spelled |
| C．seemed | D．pronounced |
| A．Mandarin Speakers Are Smarter than English Speakers |
| B．Skilled Ear for Music May Help Language Study |
| C．Pitch Plays a Central Role in Chinese Learning |
| D．Schools Need to Develop Music Programs |
Students who want to study in the United States may find that their chances for financial aid are limited. They often have to pay for their education with their own savings or their family's money.
A recent report from the Institute of International Education in New York looked at 2008-2009 school year.
Colleges and universities in the United States had more than half a million foreign students. 63% of them paid for school mostly by themselves or with family help. 26% percent were supported by the school they attended.
There are other sources of financial aid for international students. These include a student's home government or university, or the United States government. Private sponsors, international organizations and employers may also provide support. Yet during the last school year, not many students were able to depend on any of these other sources. Current employers provided the most help. Still, they represented the main support for just four percent of international students.
Those at the graduate level, however, are more likely than undergraduates to receive financial aid in the United States. More than 80% percent of foreign undergraduates depended mostly on personal and family money to pay for school last year. The same was true of less than half of graduate students. Most of the others received financial aid from their college or university in the United States.
A list of American schools that offer financial aid to foreign students can be found at a useful Web site. The address is edupass.org. This site also provides information about scholarship programs. But it warns foreign students not to pay if there is any charge for scholarship application forms. You could be cheated out of your money.
【小题1】Most foreign students depend on _______ to pay for their education.
| A．the home universities | B．personal or family money |
| C．the American schools | D．international organization |
| A．9 | B．3 | C．6 | D．12 |
| A．Foreign students have no chance to get money from American schools. |
| B．Most foreign graduate students depend on their own savings. |
| C．Edupass.org offers financial aid and scholarship information. |
| D．Usually the present employers provide the most financial help. |
| A．financial aid for foreign students in US |
| B．the hard life for foreign students in US |
| C．the variety of educational choices in US |
| D．the disadvantages of studying in US. |
It has been said that Lincoln was always ready to join in a laugh at himself. There is one particular story that he always told with great delight.
In his early days as a lawyer, Lincoln went from town to town to hear and judge legal(法律的)cases. During one of these trips, he was sitting in a train when a strange man came up to him. The stranger looked at the tall clumsy(笨拙的)lawyer and said that he had something he believed belonging to Lincoln. Lincoln was a bit puzzled. He had never seen the man before. He didn’t see how a total stranger could have something of his. Lincoln asked how this could be. The stranger pulled out a penknife and began to explain. Many years before, he had been given the pocketknife. He had been told to keep it until he was able to find a man uglier than himself.
Lincoln’s eyes always sparked when he reached this part of the story. The story always brought smiles to the faces of those who heard it. The tale itself was funny. But even more delightful was the fact that a man as great as Lincoln could still laugh at himself.
【小题1】This passage is about .
| A．a stranger and his strange knife |
| B．Lincoln’s favorite story |
| C．meeting stranger in a train |
| D．Lincoln’s favorite penknife |
| A．liked to make friends | B．liked to tell jokes |
| C．collected penknives | D．was not handsome |
| A．his appearance | B．a good laugh |
| C．being a lawyer | D．being good-humored |
| A．Lincoln, even though great, was not proud. |
| B．Lincoln was a great and proud man. |
| C．Lincoln lacked self-respect. |
| D．Lincoln had a good sense of humor. |
| A．闪耀 | B．暗淡 | C．无神 | D．忧伤 |
Work is a part of living —my grandparents understood that. They lived and worked on a farm that has been in my family for 150 years. They raised chickens for eggs , pigs and cattle for meat . Cows were kept for milk and the cream, from which Grandma made butter and cheese. What little yard they had became a garden.
The Depression, therefore, didn’t make much change in their lives. But it did bring an unending flow of men out of work, drifting from job to job, to the farm. The first to show up at the door of the kitchen was a man in rags. He took off his hat and quietly explained that he hadn’t eaten for a while. Grandpa stood watching him a bit , then said , “There’s a stack of firewood against the fence behind the barn (谷仓). I’ve been needing to get it moved to the other si
de of the fence . You have just about enough time to finish the job before lunch .”
Grandma said a surprising thing happened. The man got a shine in his eyes and he hurried to the barn at once. She set another place at the table and made an apple pie. During lunch, the stranger didn’t say much, but when he left, his shoulders had straightened. “Nothing ruins a man like losing his self-respect,” Grandpa later told me.
Soon after, another man showed up asking for a meal. This one was dressed in a suit and carried a small old suitcase. Grandpa came out when he heard voices. He looked at the man and then offered a handshake.” There is a stack of firewood along the fence down behind the barn I’ve been meaning to get it moved. It’d sure be a help to me . And we’d be pleased to have you stay for lunch.” The fellow set his suitcase aside and neatly laid his coat on top. Then he set off to work.
Grandma says she doesn’t remember how many strangers they shared a meal with during those Depression days-or how many times that stack of wood got moved.
【小题1】When he was asked to move a stack of firewood, the first man who asked for a meal got a shine in his eyes for he was glad that .
| A．he had found a good job |
| B．he would have something to eat |
| C．he would no longer suffer from the Depression |
| D．he would get what he wanted without losing his self-respect |
| A．he didn’t want them to have a meal free of charge |
| B．he had been needing to get it moved |
| C．he wanted to help them in his own way |
D．he wanted to show them his kindness and  respect |
| A．kind | B．thoughtful | C．wealthy | D．sympathetic |
A．The Depression B．The Pleasure of Helping Others
C
．No Pains , No Gains D．Work-A Part of Living