Pulling heavy suitcases all day in the summer is hard work, especially when you’re a thin 14-year-old. That was me in 1940—the youngest and smallest baggage boy at New York City’s Pennsylvania Railway Station.

   After just a few days on the job, I began noticing that the other fellows were overcharging passengers. I’d like to join them, thinking, “Everyone else is doing it.”

   When I got home that night, I told my dad what I wanted to do. “You give an honest day’s work,” he said, looking at me straight in the eye. “They’re paying you. If they want to do that, you let them do that.”

   I followed my dad’s advice for the rest of that summer and have lived by his words ever since.

   Of all the jobs I’ve had, it was my experience at Pennsylvania. Railway Service that has stuck with me. Now I teach my players to have respect for other people and their possessions. Being a member of a team is a totally shared experience. If one person steals, it destroys trust and hurts everyone. I can put up with many things, but not with people who steal. If one of my players were caught stealing, he’d be gone.

   Whether you’re on a sports team, in an office or a member of a family, if you can’t trust one another, there’s going to be trouble.

What can be inferred about the baggage boys?

   A. They could earn much, but they had to work hard.

   B. Many of them earned money in a dishonest way.

   C. They were all from poor families.

   D. They were all thin, young boys.

What does the father’s advice imply?

   A. It is wrong to give more pay to the passengers.

   B. Don’t believe them if they are paying you more.

   C. Don’t follow others to overcharge the passengers.

   D. It is difficult to work hard and live as an honest boy.

The writer can’t put up with stealing because he thinks that ___.

   A. it is a totally shared experience

   B. it is considered as the most dangerous

   C. it does great harm to human relationship

   D. it may lead to the loss of his sports team

It can be concluded from the text that ___.

   A. his father’s advice helped him to decide which job to take up

   B. working in the sports team was his most important experience

   C. he learnt much from his shared experience with his team members

   D. his experience as a baggage boy had a great influence on his latter life

In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of a comet（彗星）. When the fragment（碎片）landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions were watched by scientists here on earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?

       The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.

       On 17 July, a fragment four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.

       Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth, but the north won’t escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.

       Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs（恐龙）were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn’t survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?

Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author’s description of the disaster in 2094?

The whole mankind becomes extinct.

All the coastal cities in African are destroyed.

The whole world becomes extremely cold.

The visit of the comet results in wars.

Why does the author mention dinosaurs at the end of the passage?

A. Because they could only live in the warm climate.

B. Because they once dominated the Earth.

C. Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age.

D. Because their extinction indicates future disasters

In writing the passage, the author intends to __________.

A. give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future

B. warn of a possible disaster in the future

C. tell the historical development of the Earth

D. prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed

It can be concluded that the passage is most probably part of a(n) __________.

A. horror story                                                      B. news report

C. article of popular science                                     D. research paper

In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of a comet（彗星）. When the fragment（碎片）landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions were watched by scientists here on earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.
On 17 July, a fragment four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.
Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth, but the north won’t escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs（恐龙）were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn’t survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?
【小题1】 Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author’s description of the disaster in 2094?
The whole mankind becomes extinct.
All the coastal cities in African are destroyed.
The whole world becomes extremely cold.
The visit of the comet results in wars.
【小题2】Why does the author mention dinosaurs at the end of the passage?

Can trees talk? Yes, but not in words. Scientists have reason to believe that trees do communicate (交际) with each other. Not long ago, researchers learned some surprising things. First a willow tree attacked in the woods by caterpillars (毛虫) changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them. Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special smell---a signal (信号) causing its neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty.
Communication, of course, doesn’t need to be in words. We can talk to each other by smiling, raising our shoulders and moving our hands. We know that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals, flying in certain patterns that tell other bees where to find nectar (花蜜) for honey. So why shouldn’t trees have ways of sending message?
【小题1】 It can be concluded from the passage that caterpillars do not feed on leaves that ______.

A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading. It is remarkable first for what it contains: the range of news from local crime to international politics, from sport to business to fashion to science, and the range of comment and special features(特定 )as well, from editorial page to feature articles and interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre and music. A newspaper is even more remarkable for the way one reads it: never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there  in and out glancing at one piece reading another article all the way through , reading just a few paragraphs of the next.A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any one reader is interested in. What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality(时事性 ) , its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now. But immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it mean also that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than transient (短暂的  ) value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each person does is to put together out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and sequence, his own newspaper . For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently,  which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands  skill and self-awareness as you modify and apply the techniques of reading.

1. A modern newspaper is remarkable for all the following except its______.

A. wide coverage         B. uniform style

C. speed in reporting news  D. popularity

2.According to the passage the reason why no two people really read the “same” newspaper is that _______.

A. people scan for the news they are interested in

B. different people prefer different newspapers

C. people are rarely interested in the same kind of news

D. people have different views about what a good newspaper is

3. It can be concluded from the passage that newspaper readers ______.

A. apply reading techniques skillfully

B. jump from one newspaper to another

C. appreciate the variety of a newspaper

D. usually read a newspaper selectively

4.A good newspaper offers “ a variety” to readers because____.

A. it tries to serve different readers

B. it has to cover things that happen in a certain locality

C. reader are difficult to please

D. readers like to read different newspapers

5. The best title for this passage would be _____.

A. The Importance of Newspaper Topicality

B. The Characteristics of a Good newspaper

C. The Variety of a Good Newspaper

D. Some Suggestions on How to Read a Newspaper