One day, Mr. Arnold was teaching a lesson, and things were going as normally as ever. He was explaining the story of mankind to his pupils. He told them that, in the beginning, men were nomads; they never stayed in the same place for very long. Instead, they would travel about, here and there, in search of food, wherever it was to be found. And when the food ran out, they would move off somewhere else.
He taught them about the invention of farming and keeping animals. This was an important discovery, because by learning to cultivate(耕作)the land, and care for animals, mankind would always have food steadily available. It also meant that people could remain living in one place, and this made it easier to set about tasks that would take a long while to complete, like building towns, cities, and all that were in them. All the children were listening attracted by this story, until Lucy jumped up:
“And if that was so important and improved everything so much, why are we nomads all over again, Mr. Arnold?”
Mr. Arnold didn’t know what to say. Lucy was a very intelligent girl. He knew that she lived with her parents in a house, so she must know that her family were not nomads; so what did she mean?
“We have all become nomads again,” continued Lucy, “The other day, outside the city, they were cutting the forest down. A while ago a fisherman told me how they fish. It’s the same with everyone: when there’s no more forest left the foresters go elsewhere, and when the fish run out the fishermen move on. That’s what the nomads did, isn’t it ?
The teacher nodded, thoughtfully. Really, Lucy was right Mankind had turned into nomads. Instead of looking after the land in a way that we could be sure it would keep supplying our needs, we kept developing it until the land was bare. And then off we would go to the next place! The class spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what they could do to show how to be more civilized.
The next day everyone attended class wearing a green T-shirt, with a message that said “I am not a nomad!”
And , from then on, they set about showing that indeed they were not. Every time they knew they needed something, they made sure that they would get it using care and control. If they needed wood or paper, they would make sure that they got the recycled kind. They ordered their fish from fish farms, making sure that the fish they received were not too young and too small. They only used animals that were well cared for, and brought up on farms.
And so, from their little town, those children managed to give up being nomads again, just as prehistoric men had done, so many thousands of years ago.
【小题1】From Paragraph 2, we can know that______ .

One day, Mr. Arnold was teaching a lesson, and things were going as normally as ever. He was explaining the story of mankind to his pupils. He told them that, in the beginning, men were nomads; they never stayed in the same place for very long. Instead, they would travel about, here and there, in search of food, wherever it was to be found. And when the food ran out, they would move off somewhere else.

He taught them about the invention of farming and keeping animals. This was an important discovery, because by learning to cultivate(耕作)the land, and care for animals, mankind would always have food steadily available. It also meant that people could remain living in one place, and this made it easier to set about tasks that would take a long while to complete, like building towns, cities, and all that were in them. All the children were listening attracted by this story, until Lucy jumped up:

“And if that was so important and improved everything so much, why are we nomads all over again, Mr. Arnold?”

Mr. Arnold didn’t know what to say. Lucy was a very intelligent girl. He knew that she lived with her parents in a house, so she must know that her family were not nomads; so what did she mean?

“We have all become nomads again,” continued Lucy, “The other day, outside the city, they were cutting the forest down. A while ago a fisherman told me how they fish. It’s the same with everyone: when there’s no more forest left the foresters go elsewhere, and when the fish run out the fishermen move on. That’s what the nomads did, isn’t it ?

The teacher nodded, thoughtfully. Really, Lucy was right Mankind had turned into nomads. Instead of looking after the land in a way that we could be sure it would keep supplying our needs, we kept developing it until the land was bare. And then off we would go to the next place! The class spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what they could do to show how to be more civilized.

The next day everyone attended class wearing a green T-shirt, with a message that said “I am not a nomad!”

And , from then on, they set about showing that indeed they were not. Every time they knew they needed something, they made sure that they would get it using care and control. If they needed wood or paper, they would make sure that they got the recycled kind. They ordered their fish from fish farms, making sure that the fish they received were not too young and too small. They only used animals that were well cared for, and brought up on farms.

And so, from their little town, those children managed to give up being nomads again, just as prehistoric men had done, so many thousands of years ago.

1.From Paragraph 2, we can know that______ .

A．people got tired of living in the same place

B．people gradually got used to living in cities

C．people tended to settle down after learning farming

D．people spent a long time in learning to keep animals

2.In the teacher’s opinion, Lucy’s argument was______

A．shocking          B．ridiculous         C．puzzling           D．reasonable

3.Which of the following agrees with the message “I am not a nomad” (Paragraph 7)?

A．People eat young fish for its delicious taste.

B．Foresters leave the place where wood is not available.

C．Fishermen move elsewhere when there is no fish left.

D．People use recycled materials as much as possible.

4.The writer tries to make us believe that ______.

A．mankind has been progressing mainly through traveling about

B．it’s unwise for mankind to use the land in an uncontrolled way

C．it’s quite good for students to learn more about the history of mankind

D．in the beginning men were nomads.

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　At first Kate thought the Romanian girl could not speak and understand English. Nadia would not reply to anything Kate said. Kate was in charge of showing Nadia around on her first day at Buckminster Grade School. Kate could not figure out why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what people were saying.

　　“Why did they do this?” Kate wondered aloud. “I mean, you can't learn if you can't understand the teacher.”

　　Nadia's voice was a whisper. “I understand English. I will learn.” Nadia's English was perfect.

　　Kate was perplexed. She couldn't understand why Nadia did not like to speak. Then she realized that moving to a new country probably wasn't the easiest thing to do. There were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual things to learnall at the same time.

　　“There're a lot of new things to learn, huh?” said Kate.

　　Nadia nodded rapidly. In a quiet voice she replied, “Many things people say, I do not understand. I have been speaking English and Romanian all my life, but I do not know what some children are saying. For example, yesterday a boy asked if I could help him find the USB port on a thin black box he was carrying. Isn't a port a place for ships? It made no sense to me.”

　　“Don't worry,” said Kate. “You'll figure everything out in time. You see, that thin black box was a computer. A USB port is a place where you can connect other machines to a computer.”

　　Nadia and Kate were quiet after that. They took notes while the teacher gave a maths lesson. To Kate's surprise, Nadia put up her hand and offered to answer questions at the blackboard.

　　Nadia handled every question the teacher gave her. Some of the questions were really difficult, and no one understood what was going on except Nadia and the teacher. When the teacher said that Nadia answered everything correctly, the whole class clapped their hands.

　　Nadia was smiling when she sat back down next to Kate. “Some things,” she said in a normal voice, “are the same all over the world.”

1．At the beginning of Nadia's first day at school, she was ________.

[　　]

2．The underlined word “perplexed” probably means ________.

[　　]

3．We can infer from the passage that ________.

[　　]

A．Nadia did not like Kate

B．Nadia had lived by the sea before

C．Nadia had never seen a computer before

D．Nadia spoke in a soft voice out of politeness

4．Which of the following statements is true?

[　　]

A．Nadia was better at maths than other students.

B．Nadia found some of the maths questions difficult.

C．Nadia was encouraged to answer questions in class.

D．Nadia understood the maths teacher better than other teachers.

5．What is the message of the story?

[　　]

A．Talking about something familiar gives you confidence in communication.

B．Answering questions in class makes you better understood by classmates.

C．Language plays an important role in communication between cultures.

       I was hurrying to our basketball game one morning when Hillary Barnes , the most popular girl in school , stopped me .  “ Are you the twin who won the art competition ? ” she asked .  

       “ No , that’s Christine .  I’m Katie , ” I said

       We were not identical twins ; we looked quite different .  She could defeat Snow White in a beauty contest ! Compared to Christine I felt like one of Cinderella’s stepsisters .  

       One Saturday Christine gave me a painting lesson because I was always attempting to be artistic too .  But I knocked over the vase of flowers , spilling water onto Christine’s painting .  Instead of becoming angry , though , she turned the whole mess into a dreamy masterpiece (杰作) .  You could look at it five different ways and see five different things .  With this brilliant creation , the won Firs Prize in the art competition .  I really envied her , but I knew it wasn’t her fault and I was the one with wild , unmanageable hair and no talent .  

       Joining Christine’s basketball team was my latest effort to be like her .  

       One the way to gym , I’d made up my mind to give my best performance in that day’s game .  I made preparations with great enthusiasm .  “ Christine , here ! ” I tossed her a ball .  But it was too high , she leapt for it ; it slipped through her fingers and crashed into the tape recorder that was used to play the national anthem before each game .  

       I muttered apologies as I picked up the broken pieces of the recorder .  Coach looked at the mess and asked , “ How are we going to play the song now ? ”

       Christine suggested , “ Let Katie sing it ! She’s always singing at home .  ”

       Coach asked , “ Would you ? ” I found myself nodding .  

       Coach announced the national anthem and everyone stood .  Standing before a microphone , I looked up to the flag .  The notes seemed to flow from deep inside me , and my voice was steady and clear .  When I finished , the gym was silent .  Then it was filled with applause .  As the game started , teammates patted my back and gave me the “ thumbs up ” sign .  Laura Jamison said , “ You should try out for the school musical ! ” I nodded and said that I might .  

       The next morning , Hillary Barnes stopped me in the hallway and asked , “ Are you the twin who sings ? ”

       “ Yes , that’s me , ” I answered , grinning (露齿笑) as I walked to class .  

60. The author uses “ Snow White ” and “ Cinderella’s stepsisters ” to show _______

A. how dissimilar the twins were in appearance

B. why Christine could win the art competition

C. who was the most popular girl at school

D. what the twins’ characters were like

61. What can we learn from Paragraph 4 ？

A. Christine was unpleasant to her sister

B. Katie showed a lot of ability in painting too

C. The masterpiece was painted by the two sisters

D. Katie took a reasonably balanced view of her sister

62. Christine recommended Katie for the national anthem because _______

A. she knew perfectly well what Katie had a gift for

B. she wanted to repair the damage she had caused

C. she thought Katie should be punished

D. she would like to help the coach

63. What is the message of the story ?      

A. Bad situations help become popular

B. People are talented in different ways

C. People should always be nice to others

D. Unsuccessful attempts are well worth the effort

I was hurrying to our basketball game one morning when Hillary Barnes, the most popular girl in school, stopped me. “Are you the twin who won the art competition?” she asked.

“No, that’s Christine. I’m Katie,” I said.

We were not identical twins; we looked quite different. She could defeat Snow White in a beauty contest! Compared to Christine, I felt like one of Cinderella’s stepsisters.

One Saturday Christine gave me a painting lesson because I was always attempting to be artistic too. But I knocked over the vase of flowers, spilling water onto Christine’s painting. Instead of becoming angry, though, she turned the whole mess into a dreamy masterpiece （杰作）. You could look at five different ways and see five different things. With this brilliant creation, she won First Prize in the art competition. I really envied her, but I knew it wasn’t her fault and I was the one with wild, unmanageable hair and no talent.

Joining Christine’s basketball team was my latest effort to be like her.

On the way to the gym, I’d made up my mind to give my best performance in that day’s game. I made preparations with great enthusiasm. “Christine, here!” I tossed her a ball. But it was too high, she leapt for it; it slipped through her fingers and crashed into the tape recorder that was used to play the national anthem before each mage.

I muttered apologies as I picked up the broken pieces of the recorder. Coach looked at the mess and asked, “How are we going to play the song now?”

Christine suggested, “Let Katie sing it! She’s always singing at home.”

Coach asked, “Would you?” I found myself nodding.

Coach announced the national anthem and everyone stood.  Standing before a microphone, I looked up to the flag. The notes seemed to flow from deep inside me, and my voice was steady and clear. When I finished, the gym was silent. Then it was filled with applause. As the game started, teammates patted my back and gave me the “thumbs up” sign. Laura Jamison said, “You should try out for the school musical!” I nodded and said that I might.

The next morning, Hillary Barnes stopped me in the hallway and asked, “Are you the twin who sings?”

“Yes, that’s me,” I answered, grinning （露齿笑） as I walked to class.

1．The author uses “Snow White” and “Cinderella’s stepsisters” to show          .

       A．how dissimilar the twins were in appearance

       B．why Christine could win the art competition

       C．who was the most popular girl at school

       D．what the twins’ characters were like

2．What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

       A．Christine was unpleasant to her sister.

       B．Katie showed a lot of ability in painting too.

       C．The masterpiece was painted by the two sisters.

       D．Katie took a reasonably balanced view of her sister.

3．Christine recommended Katie for the national anthem because         .

       A．she knew perfectly well what Katie had a gift for

       B．she wanted to repair the damage she had caused

       C．she thought Katie should be punished

       D．she would like to help the coach

4．What is the message of the story?

      A．Bad situations help become popular.

       B．People are talented in different ways.

       C．People should always be nice to others.

       D．Unsuccessful attempts are well worth the effort.