If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.

While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day ,few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.

But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学).Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.

So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well.

Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.

1.The opening paragraph is mainly intended to   .

A.provide some key facts about Confucius

B.attract the readers’ interest in the subject

C.show great respect for the ancient thinker

D.prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations

2.We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students   .

A.have a great interest in studying Chinese

B.take an active part in Chinese competitions

C.try to get high scores in Chinese exams

D.fight for a chance to learn Chinese

3.What is the best title for the passage?

A.Forgotten Wisdom in America

B.Huge Fans of the Chinese Language

C.Chinese Culture for Westerners

D.Old Thinker with a Big Future

4.The passage is likely to appear in   .

A.a biography                            B.a history paper

C.a newspaper                           D.a philosophy textbook

 

①Isaac Stern was more than a great violin player. He was one of the most honored musicians in the world. He was an international cultural ambassador. He was a major supporter of the arts in America and in other countries. He was a teacher and activist.

②Isaac Stern was born in 1920 in what is now Ukraine. His parents moved to San Francisco, California the following year. His mother began teaching Isaac the piano when he was six. He began taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument. Later, he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory (音乐学院).He progressed quickly. When he was 16, he played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York City and was praised by music critics.

③During World War Ⅱ, Mr. Stern played for thousands of American soldiers. It was the first time many of them had heard classical music. After the war, he was the first American violinist to perform in a concert in the Soviet Union. He also supported young musicians and cultural organizations in Israel.

④In 1979, Isaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese musicians and students. He taught them about classical Western music. His visit was made into a film, which is called From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.

⑤In 1984, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his gifts to American culture through music. He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life. He said he believed that music makes life better for everyone, especially children.

⑥Mr. Stern supported and guided younger classical musicians. They include violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Yo -Yo Ma, and pianist Yefim Bronfman.

⑦Isaac Stern died in 2001 at the age of 81.He was a major influence on music in the 20th century. He leaves the world richer with his many recordings.

1.Which of the following is the RIGHT time order for these events in Stern’s life?

a. He began learning music in an institution.

b. He received the Kennedy Center Honors Award.

c. He visited the Soviet Union.

d. He met with Chinese musicians.

e. He performed for American soldiers.

A.a, e, c, d, b         B.a, e, b, c, d         C.e, a, b, c, d         D.e, a, c, d, b

2.Paragraph 2 is mainly about _________ .

A.how Stern began to learn music

B.how Stern began his musical career

C.Stern’s early education

D.Stern’s achievement in music

3.The underlined word “cellist” in Paragraph 6 may refer to _________ .

A.someone who supports young musicians

B.someone who wants to be a musician

C.someone who has a gift for music

D.someone who plays a certain kind of instrument

4.Which of the following shows the RIGHT structure of the text?

A.①→②③④⑤→⑥⑦                    B.①→②③④⑤⑥→⑦

C.①②③④⑤⑥→⑦                      D.①②③→④⑤⑥⑦

 

A private group of scientists has announced plans to make an exact copy of a human being. An American member of the team says he and  the others will soon begin a serious effort to clone humans. Panos Zavos says the team hopes to manufacture the world’s first cloned baby within the next two years.

In recent years, scientists have produced exact genetic copies of sheep and a few other animals. They created these clones from a single cell of an adult animal.

Three years ago, another American doctor, Richard Seed, announced plans to clone a human being. However, there is no evidence that he has been successful.

Doctor Zavos says the new international group plans to offer human cloning only to women who are currently not able to become pregnant or produce children. He says the aim is to assist people who want to have their own biological child.

The technology would be similar to that used to clone animals. It would involve cleaning genetic material from a woman’s egg. Doctors then would place genetic material from the woman’s husband into the egg before putting it into the woman’s uterus(子宫).

Doctor Zavos says his group plans to do the work in a country near the Mediterranean Sea. He did not name the country. He says an Italian reproductive expert, Sevorino Antinori, is leading the team. Doctor Antinori has led the efforts to help many older women become pregnant. He is known for establishing pregnancies in women as old as sixty.

Many medical experts and other groups are opposed to the idea of cloning humans. Several countries ban or restrict work on human cloning. Several doctors criticize the announcement by Doctor Zavos. They say doctors do not know if cloning humans is possible or safe. They say it would be irresponsible to attempt to clone a human being. That is because the chances of success are too small and the risks are too great.

1.The underlined word “manufacture” in the first paragraph  means “_________”.

A.produce          B.oppose           C.attempt           D.experiment

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A.In theory, scientists are unlikely to clone humans.

B.Richard Seed has fallen behind other scientists in cloning humans.

C.Cloning human beings is good for men.

D.People have different ideas about cloning humans.

3.How do many medical experts and other groups like the idea of cloning humans?

A.They are in favour of the idea.

B.They are against the idea.

C.They have an optimistic attitude to the idea.

D.They think it is none of their business.

 

阅读下面短文并回答问题,然后将答案写到答题卡相应的位置上(请注意66至70四个小题后面的词数要求;每题2分,共10分)。

[1]Ashley Power’s mother bought a computer for her when she was eight. When she was thirteen, she was surfing the Internet regularly, but she couldn’t find anywhere for teenagers to meet and talk. And one day she thought, “If I had my own website, I’d make it a really interesting site for teenagers.”

[2]So, when Ashley was sixteen, she launched her own website, called GooseHead. She had no idea how big a success it would be, but three years later, the site was the most successful teen site in the USA! It was getting 100,000 hits every day, and Ashley had about 30 employees.

[3]After a few years, the website closed down. Then Ashley, who lives in Los Angeles, was asked to write a book called The GooseHead Guide to Life. The book is about how to design a website and start a business. It begins with a section called “All About Ashley,” where Ashley tells readers what it is like to be the boss of a company when you are only sixteen. “I was so happy. But it was crazy in a lot of ways. I got very stressed. I mean, I was only sixteen—I didn’t even have a car! If you were sixteen and you had your own company, you’d be stressed, too!”

[4]In an interview Ashley gave advice to teenagers who wanted to start their own business, “Just be strong and have your dreams and work hard at them. And don’t listen when  , because I heard ‘no’ a lot. Just keep going until you hear ‘yes’!”

1.For what purpose did Ashley create GooseHead? (within 10 words)

_________________________________________________

2.What is the main idea of Paragraph 2? (within 6 words)

_____________________________________________________

3.According to Paragraph 3, what did Ashley do after GooseHead closed down?(within 10 words)

_________________________________________________

4.How did Ashley feel as a young boss of a company?(within 5 words)

___________________________________

5.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words.

______________________________________

 

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