阅读与表达1

（1）

If you do not use your arms or legs for a long time, they become weak. When you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. But many people do not know that memory works in the same way.

When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it a chance to become strong.

If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault(过错). But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame (负责), and few of us know that it is just his own fault.

Have you ever noticed that some people who can’t read or write usually hav e better memories? This is because they can’t read or write and they have to remember things with their mind – they can’t write them down in a little notebook. They have to remember days, names, songs and stories, so they are always exercising their memories.

So if you want to have a good memory, learn from those people: practice remembering.

1. Does memory work in the same way as arms and legs?

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2. Do your arms and legs become strong or weak when you use them a lot?

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3. What does the writer think of the people with poor memories?

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4. Why do the people who can’t read or write usually have better memories?

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5. What is the main idea of the passage?

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―If I had one million Yuan, I would buy you a palace! Do I have one million Yuan? No, I don’t! So I only can spend ten fen on this short message, sending you my best wishes!‖

Today, SMS—Short Message Service is popular, and China Mobile says that every second, there are 410 messages being sent.

Look around you! People are watching their mobiles, smiling or laughing. Thumbs are moving quickly on mobiles, bringing happiness to their friends. Through SMS, we know the weather report, share jokes and news, express love and friendship.

SMS is becoming more and more popular. It is reported that 67% of young people like to send short messages to greet each other. Internet SMS will be more helpful to people. I am thankful for the progress because SMS saves me much money. Just on the top end of a thumb, so much joy can be found!

1. Is SMS—Short Message Service very popular in China?

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2. How much does one short message cost according to the passage?

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3. Which finger plays the most important role (角色) when sending short messages on mobiles?

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4. Who like SMS better, the young or the old?

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5. The passage is mainly about

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BASEBALL. It’s just a word, but for millions of Americans it brings to mind so many images(印象).

Hog dogs. Cold beers. Sunny afternoons. Baseball is the game of fathers and sons. Fathers and sons have been playing catch with each other on lawns（草坪）for generations in the US. A father’s favorite team becomes his son’s. Grandfathers talk to their grandsons, about games played long ago.

Many American kids collect baseball cards. The cards have pictures of their favorite players on them. In schools, friends trade baseball cards just like they trade lunches.

Players are known as ―the boys of summers‖ because the sport is most often played in the warm months. You don’t need to be of a certain size or shape to play baseball. You don’t have to be tall like a basketball player or strong like an American footballer. You just need to want to have fun. Baseball is not as fast a game as basketball. But when you go to see a game there’s time to relax, talk and get to know other people.

Baseball may not be the most popular sport in the US but it is the most traditional（传统的）. It’s not just a game any more, but a key part of American culture, like apple pie and grandma’s house.

1. Who have been playing catch with each other on lawns for generations in the US?

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2.Do kids trade baseball cards just like they trade lunches in schools?

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3. Why are baseball playe rs known as ―boys of summers‖?

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4. Which game is faster? Baseball or basketball?

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5. What’s the main idea of the passage?

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Americans love sports—they love to play them, to watch them on television, and to talk about them. But this hobby sometimes has serious results—at least to the players. For example, when people play tennis, sometimes they hurt their elbow（肘部）and in this way they develop ―tennis elbow‖. Also it is easy to hurt a knee in a football game. These injuries happen while the player is having fun, but they still hurt.

A few months ago, Kathleen Simmons, who loves playing volleyball, hurt her knee in a volleyball game. Her doctor told her that she needed a very difficult operation or she might not be able to play again. She felt very sad and didn’t know what to do.

Then Simmons learned about ―video operation‖. With the help of this new scienc e in medicine, doctors can now repair many injuries and get people back on the playing field and back to their jobs much faster. Simmons found a hospital that was using this new science and went to see the doctor there. The doctors told her the operation could help.

For this operation, her doctor didn’t have to open her knee. Instead he put a very small camera lens（镜头）inside her knee. The lens sent back pictures, which appeared on a television screen. As he worked, he could see the inside of her knee on the TV. With the help of the large pictures on the screen, the doctor knew exactly what to do when he was making the repairs.

Simmons started walking five days after her operation. ―My knee hurt a lot the first few days,‖ she said. ―But I felt better very quickly.‖ Now, six months after her operation, Simmons can do everything she did before her injury. ―It feels like a new knee,‖ she said. ―I can even play volleyball again.‖

1. Do Americans love sports?

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2. What sport is Kathleen interested in?

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3. When did one of Kathleen’s knees hurt?

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4. Why did the doctor put a very small camera lens inside her knee?

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5. What’s the advantage of the new science?

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(5)

The 1990s saw great changes in the way people communicate. People could send mail without going to the post office, and go shopping without leaving home. Words like e-mail and download become part of people’s vocabulary. The cause of this great change was the Internet.

The idea for the Internet began in the early 1960s in the United States. The Department of Defense wanted to connect their computers together in order to share private information. In 1969, the Arpanet (an early form of the Internet) first connected computers at four American Universities. One computer successfully sent information to another. In 1972, scientists shared Arpanet with the world. They created a way to send person-to-person messages using Arpanet. This was the beginning of e-mail.

Over the next few years, there was a lot of progress made in the world of computing, but most people were not using the Internet. Then, in the 1980s, personal computers became more common. In the early 1990s, two important things happened: the birth of the World Wide Web in 1991, and the creation of the first Web browser in 1993.The Web made it easier to find information on the Internet, and to move from place to place using links. The Web and browser made it possible to see information as a web site with pictures, sound, and words.

Today, millions of people connect to the Internet to send e-mail, visit websites, or store information on servers. Computers are now an important part of our lives and are changing how we learn, work, shop, and communicate.

1. Has the Internet changed people’s life a lot?

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2. Was E-mail first sent in 1972 or in the early 1960s?

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3. When was the World Wide Web created?

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4. What do people do on Internet today?

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5. What does the passage talk about?

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Surfing is the name for riding ocean waves on special boards. Did you know that surfing has been around for more than 200 years? At first the sport was rougher (粗野的) and harder than it is today.

For one thing the early surfboards were heavy. They weighed as much as 150 pounds. A surfer needed great strength (力量) just to get the board from the beach to the water! Also the early surfers didn’t ride standing up. They rode just lying on their stomachs. That was the only way to control the large boards.

Those surfers lived in the islands of Polynesia, in the South Pacific. In 1778 the surfers took the sport to Hawaii. There surfing quickly became popular. The beaches and waves of Hawaii are perfect for surfing.

In 1907 George Freeh was the first person to ride a wave in the United States. He surfed in Redondo Beach in California.

For years the sport of surfing spread slowly. In the 1950s surfing was known as a young people’s sport because mostly young people seemed to enjoy it. In 1961 rules for surfers were written. The surfers themselves, along with some surfboard companies, made up the rules.

Today surfers are looked upon as sportsmen. Southern California is still the surfing center of the United States. Thousands of people surf there. Thousands more are fans of famous surfers. Surfing is here to stay.

Surfers must still be strong. To surf, a person should be able to swim well, both on top of and under the water. A surfer must also be able to float (漂浮) for a long time. A good surfer must keep his or her eyes open at all times, even underwater.

1. Was surfing an easy sport at first?

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2. How did the early surfers control the surfboard?

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3. Why did the sport of surfing quickly become popular in Hawaii?

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4. Who made up the rules for surfers?

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5. What is the main idea of this passage?

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What will the home of the future look like? A team of architects(建筑师) in Hong Kong say that city homes will be tiny, as populations continue to grow and space becomes more expensive. They have designed "space flats" that are just 30 square meters in size. These flats have three small rooms: a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom, as well as a balcony (阳台), but everything is carefully planned to make good use of the limited space.

The living room is the main room of the flat. It can be used as an office, a kitchen even a second bedroom. There is a sofa that can be changed into a bed. The dining table can be changed into a computer desk. And, if not needed, both the sofa-bed and the table can be folded away and stored into a small space in the wall. There is a flat-screen TV, which can also serve as a computer monitor. In one of the room, a small cooker, a microwave oven and a miniature( 微型) refrigerator are hidden out of sight.

The other rooms are small but practical. The bathroom contains a toilet and a shower. The double bed in the bedroom can also be a sofa, if necessary .The balcony has enough room for two people to sit and enjoy the view from the block of flats. All the rooms have high ceiling to provide as much storage space as possible, while the flat has large windows to let in plenty of sunlight. "Space flats" are now being tested in a building in Hong Kong. "It's wonderful,"

said one resident (居民) ."The flat is so well designed that you feel that there is plenty of space.

1. Do the architects think that ―Space flat‖ will be important in the future?

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2. Is the ―Space flat‖ big or s mall?

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3. How many rooms does a ―Space flat‖ have?

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4. Why does the resident like that flat?

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5. What do you think are the good points about living in a ―space flat‖?

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Now and then we all get ill. Then we usually go to see a doctor. Doctor knows a lot about what makes us ill. They may give us something to take. The medicine often makes us well again.

But sometimes the doctor's medicine doesn't work. A sick person does not get well. The pain will not go away. This happened to one man. He was in hospital, but he was not getting well. Then he found a new "doctor" inside himself. This "doctor" was his own sense of humor. He saw funny films. He read funny books. And something wonderful happened. Laughing took away his pain. Then he was able to sleep and rest. His own happy feeling helped him to feel well again. He said laughing was his best "medicine‖. His doctor thought so, too.

Another man was ill, and he had a terrible pain in his back. The doctors could not stop it from hurting. So the man began to "picture ―his pain. In his head ―drew" a picture of a dog.He imagined it as a real dog. And he made friends with the dog. And his pain went away!

These stories may surprise you. But more and more people are getting well in this way. So visit the "doctor" inside your own head and you can stay happy and well.

1. Does medicine often make sick people well?

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2. Who is the first sick man's new "doctor"?

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3. Did the second patient get well again in this way or not?

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4. Why does the writer ask us to visit the "doctor" inside our head?

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5. What can we learn from this story?

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The computer makes doing schoolwork easier for me than it was for my mom and dad. For example, when writing book reports and stores, I use Microsoft Word instead of a pen and paper. That way, after my teacher edits my work, I can go back and make revisions without having to rewrite the whole thing. And Microsoft Word has a spell check! I use it all the time.

For English class, we’re reading The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton. As a pre-reading assignment (作业), my teacher asked us to research teenage groups on the Internet. I tried Google, Encarta, and Yahoo first, and finally found an article on https://www.360docs.net/doc/5f1903556.html,.

For a geography assignment on the United States, I used Encarta to learn about the Mississippi River. I needed to find out how deep the river is, how its widths and depths are different, what states it runs through, and what kind of fish live in it. I used the information to show how the geography of a country influences its economy (经济). For example, the river’s trade paths, the number of fish caught in it, and the tourists it attracts directly influence Southerners’ jobs and incomes (收入).

I never go to the library to do research. It takes too much time. Since I live in New York City and both my parents work, getting to the library isn’t always easy. For a big assignment or research project, I used to stay at the library to read, or sign out whatever books or magazines I needed. Now being able to find the information in my own living room makes everything a lot simpler. Online dictionaries and encyclopedias (百科全书) also save time.

Sometimes, I think the computer spoils young people because it’s so easy ——at least physically. But computers are not like television, which does the thinking for you. You still have to use your mind. I prefer using a computer. Easy, fun, and fast.

1. Does the computer make doing schoolwork harder for the writer?

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2. What does the writer use when he writes book reports and stories?

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3. How does the writer complete a big assignment or research project?

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4. What does the underlined word ―spoils‖ mean in English?

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5. What’s the main idea of this passage?

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(10)

It was Mother’s Day, but the young mother was a little unhappy, because she was 800 miles away from her parents. In the morning she phoned her mother to wish her a happy Mother’s Day, and her mother told her about the beautiful lilacs (丁香) in the garden. Later that day, when she told her husband about the lilacs, he said, ― I know where we can find all that you want. Get our children Peter and Lily, and come on. ‖ So they went, driving down the country roads.

There on a small hill, they saw a lot of beautiful purple lilacs. The young woman ran quickly to enjoy the flowers. Carefully, she picked a few here and a few there. On their way home there was a smile on her face.

When they were passing a nursing home (敬老院), the young woman saw an old granny sitting in a chair. She had no children with her. They stopped the car and the young woman walked to the old woman, put the flowers in her hands, and smiled at her. The old granny thanked her again and again. She smiled happily, too.

When the young mother came back to her car, her children asked her, ―Who is that old granny? Why did you give our flowers to her?‖

―I don’t know her, ‖ their mother said. ―But it’s Mother’s Day, and she has no children. I have both of you, and I still have my mother. Just think how much those flowers meant to her. ‖

1．Was the young woman happy on Mother’s Day?

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2．How many children did the young woman have?

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3．Where did they find many beautiful purple lilacs?

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4．Why did the young woman give the flowers to the old granny?

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5．What do you think of the young woman?

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