Wikipedia: The Online Know-It-All

If you want to find out a piece of information about anything, the best place to search for it is Wikipedia. The name “Wikipedia” is from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”. This online encyclopedia (百科全书) is written by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with Internet access can write, add or make changes to Wikipedia articles if he or she finds it incorrect or not well written. In this way, people who know a lot about a certain subject can write about it even if they are not university professors. But contributions cannot damage Wikipedia because many experienced editors are watching pages and techies (技术专家) can write editing programs to keep track of or correct bad edits. Where there are disagreements on how to present facts, editors work together to arrive at an article that fairly represents current expert opinion on the subject.

Wikipedia is quite different from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedias, it is continually created and updated, with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years.

What’s more, Wikipedia includes articles written in about 285 languages. This fact makes it one of the few websites on the Internet that are truly international. It was started in 2001 by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales, as a free online English-language encyclopedia project. Since its creation, it has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference websites, attracting nearly 500 million unique visitors monthly. There are more than 77,000 active contributors working on more than 22,000,000 articles in different languages. As of today, there are 4,396,866 articles in English.

So, if you are looking for some information, why not try Wikipedia? It’s free, multilingual，and informative.

1.According to the passage, what is Wikipedia?

A. A free website encyclopedia.B. A computer game.

C. A free encyclopedia in book form.D. An online university.

2.From the passage we know that ______.

A. Wikipedia only charges users a small fee

B. Wikipedia catches a wide audience

C. incorrect editions might do great harm to Wikipedia

D. it will take long to update the information on Wikipedia

3.Where can we probably read the passage?

A. In a story book.B. In a research report.

C. In a science magazine.D. In a travel brochure.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。

Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways. 1. Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test. Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report. 2. Whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is a selective process. 3.

The following methods may work best for you.

●Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.

●Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

● Write your notes in your own words.

●4.

● Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.

As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand(速记). When you do, be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time. 5.

A. Use words, not complete sentences.

B. There are three practical note-taking methods.

C. You must write your notes on separate paper.

D. Otherwise, you may not be able to read your notes later.

E. You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.

F. That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.

G. First, the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从文后所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出一个可以填入空白处的最佳答案。

　　My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other , including her“sixth sense”, that she rarely gives the impression that she's anything.

　　Michelle looks after her children pretty much like the rest of us, that she doesn't push too hard on them, really benefit a lot from her relaxed attitude. She knows when to clean the house, and she moves around so fast that often don't realize she's blind.

　　I this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was excited about her finger-painting project.

　　“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle with us”.

　　To my great , my child had learned about color from a blind friend! Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment. She really what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never known how good finger paints felt Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.

　　I realized Kayla didn't know that Michelle was blind. It had just never in conversation. When I told my daughter that Michelle was blind, she was for a moment. At first, she didn't believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla . And I knew my child was because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her art work. Michelle had also heard Kayla's in her work.

　　We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle really did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my .”

　　Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.

1.A．senses B．meansC．methodsD．ways

2.A．enjoyedB．foundC．missed D．lost

3.A．insteadB．exceptC．sinceD．but

4.A．whoB．itC．sheD．which

5.A．guestsB．familyC．childrenD．friends

6.A．realized B．heardC．recognizedD．witnessed

7.A．sad B．satisfiedC．excitedD．enjoyed

8.A．especially B．not soC．a littleD．not at all

9.A．paintB．drawC．createD．mix

10.A．stayedB．painted C．talkedD．played

11.A．excitementB．surprise C．delightD．encouragement

12.A．attitudeB．colorC．picture D．paper

13.A．touchedB．distinguishedC．saw D．understood

14.A．afterB．beforeC．until D．when

15.A．turned out B．come up C．referred to D．talked about

16.A．curiousB．quiet C．puzzledD．worried

17.A．criedB．insisted C．complainedD．informed

18.A．right B．wrongC．worriedD．uncertain

19.A．shortcomingsB．difficulties C．pride D．description

20.A．paperB．eyes C．handsD．pens

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡相应位置。

Unprecedented Aviation Mystery

A Boeing 777 took off from Malaysia’s largest city of Kuala Lumpur at 0:41 am on March 8.

1._____destination was Beijing. But the flight never arrived, 2.______ （leave） friends and relatives of the passengers onboard weeping and worrying.

There were 239 people3.____ board the Malaysia Airlines flight，including China， Vietnam，the US，Singapore， and the Philippines 4._______ still ______ （search）for the missing plane.

Its 5.__________ （disappear）is an "unprecedented（史无前例的）aviation mystery”， Azharuddin Abdul Rahmanm，head of Malaysia’s Civil Aviation Authority，said on March 10.

There was no sign of 6.____ crash.

About two hours of after taking off，air traffic control suddenly lost contact with the plane. The weather was clear，the pilots didn't make any distress calls，7. no debris 碎片） was found in the area 8.______ the flight last made contact.

Besides，airplane crashes9.________ （typical）occur during takeoff or landing. Only 9 percent of fatal accidents happen 10. ______ a plane is at cruising（平稳行进的）altitude，according to a report by Boeing in August.

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加，删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（^）, 并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

We middle school students have had many tests or exam. We have achieved success and suffer failure. Different students take different attitudes to failure. Some is in low spirits when they don’t do well in the exams. They usually lose their heart and no longer study so harder as before. But most students take an active attitude towards failure. They encourage themselves to be confidently. They try to find out but analyze the causes so that they will no longer make same mistakes. I agree with those which have active attitudes. As we are all know, failure is the mother of success.

假设你是李华, 距高考还有2个月左右，现在你正在备战高考, 中学生活即将结束, 在这个特殊时期, 请根据以下内容给自己的父母写一封信。

内容要点：

1. 感谢父母多年来, 特别是高三这一年来的关怀。

2. 向父母简要汇报自己的学习情况。

3. 高考之后帮父母做些家务和自己的打算。

注意：1. 词数100左右；2. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。

Dear parents,

Now I know clearly that you both are expecting me anxiously.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________

Yours

LI Hua

A few days ago，I went to school with lots of books，hoping to get a locker (锁柜)．Suddenly，it started raining heavily. I hurried to pay for my locker，but I was disappointed when they informed me they only accepted cash. I was $7.00 short，which meant I had to carry the books back home. It would be an exhausting (令人筋疲力尽的) two?hour journey back home with all those books.

An elderly gentleman nearby noticed my problem. He asked how much cash I needed. When I told him I was $7 short，he quickly took out the money from his wallet. “You don’t have to pay me back，”he said. I was speechless；I didn’t know whether to take the money or come back with the books the next day. A young student who was working there noticed my hesitation. “He’s really nice，” said the student. “I was starving this morning and he bought breakfast for me. He always helps people in different ways.”

The next day，I went to him and thanked him for trusting me and lending me the money. He said he forgot about it and didn’t expect I would give it back. “I’m very happy，”he said，“not because I’m getting my money back，but because this is the right way to go—whatever you get from this world，give it back as much as you possibly can. Spread kindness around the world with the smallest things you can do.”

Later，I found out he wasn’t involved with any charity organizations. He has been performing these types of acts for years. Earlier，someone had done something incredibly kind for him and he has been spreading the kindness ever since. He taught me a very important lesson in life—we come to this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing. Whatever we own，it will become somebody else’s and whatever we leave，it will become somebody else’s.

1.When the old gentleman offered the money，the writer was________.

A．touched B．hesitant C．amazedD．embarrassed

2.From Paragraph 3 we learn that________.

A．the gentleman worked in the school

B．the gentleman was kind but forgetful

C．the gentleman refused to take back the money

D．the gentleman thought it right to give back to society

3.Why had the gentleman been doing acts of kindness?

A．He wanted to join the charity organizations.

B．He managed a lot of other people’s money.

C．He had received help from others before.

D．He thought money was of little importance.

I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.

     I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows (誓约) mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today.

So here's what I wanted to tell you today: get a life. A real life, not a desire of the next promotion (提升), the bigger paycheck, the larger house.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love，and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure(休闲) but work. Pick up the phone. Send an e?mail. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.

It is so easy to waste our lives，our days，our hours，and our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of living. I learned to live many years ago. Something really，really bad happened to me，something that changed my life. If I had my choice，it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what，today，seems to be the hardest lesson of all.

I learned to love the journey，not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and tried to give some of it back because I believed in it，completely and totally. And I tried to do that，in part，by telling others what I had learned.

By telling them this：read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a deadly illness，because if you do，you will live with joy and passion(激情) as it ought to be lived.

1.How did the author form her view of life?

A．Through social experience.

B．By learning from her friends.

C．Through an unfortunate experience.

D. From her children and husband.

2.By the underlined sentence “It is so easy to exist instead of living.” in the fifth paragraph，the author really means that people tend to________.

A．make a living rather than live a real life

B．work rather than enjoy life

C．waste a lot in life

D．forget the most important lesson in life

3.What’s the author’s attitude toward work?

A．Do it well to serve others.

B．Earn enough money to make life better.

C．Try your best to get higher position and pay.

D．Don’t let it affect your real life.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．the author is a success in personal life

B．the author doesn’t try her best to work well

C．the author spends all her time caring for her children

D．the author likes traveling very much

A tent can be one of the more costly items on your camping equipment shopping list. It is definitely something that you need to consider carefully.

By seeing a tent for real you will be able to get a better impression of its size and construction in the traditional shop. However，the downside is that，unless you are experienced，you may miss out some of the details that the manufacturer’s promotional material makes clear. Cheap tents often look similar to the quality models they are mimicking(模仿)，but you can be sure that they use inferior(次的) materials and probably have lower design standards.

Shop staff are often campers themselves. That means they usually can give lots of advice. If a shop assistant agrees with your own conclusions，that will be great；if they try to change your decision with a clear and reasonable argument，then that will be worth considering；if they just try to bamboozle(欺骗)，or even bully，you then walk away.

The Internet is a wonderful tool，and so long as you know how to make the most of search engines and put in a little effort，you really have the perfect answer waiting to be found. That answer will be different for every camper as each of us has different needs. Don’t be surprised to see your favorite criticized somewhere，but if you see too much criticism，then you had better start thinking again. No problem. You won’t have spent anything yet，so think of it positively as a large expense saved.

Probably the best approach，if you have the time，is to research tents online and make a short list. Then try to inspect those tents at nearby shops. Then you can make a final decision on where to buy your chosen model based purely on total cost.

1.The underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 2 means “________”．

A．disadvantage B．instruction C．argumentD．principle

2.It can be concluded from the third paragraph that________.

A．shop assistants usually enjoy going camping

B．shop assistants usually have practical advice

C．you should consider your idea repeatedly

D．it is impolite for you to trouble shop assistants

3.You can make use of the Internet to________.

A．meet your different needs

B．find the answer for every camper

C．help you out of trouble

D．find your favorite tent

4.Which of the following would be the main idea of this passage?

A．It is good to buy your tent in the traditional shop.

B．You’d better buy a tent with the help of the Internet.

C．Better buy a tent combining seeing tents for real in shops and researching them online.

D．Going camping is really beneficial to your health.

A huge cloud of dust rose and an overpass disappeared. This was the scene in Zhuzhou，Hunan Province on May 17.Nine people were killed and 16 injured.

Things were similar last year in the Sichuan earthquake. Thousands of people were buried in the ruins and lost their lives. What if we could have warned them?

People are always racking their brains to find a way of preventing buildings’ collapse. Better materials and technology help，but they are not a solution.

Just like humans，a building has its own life cycle from “birth” to “death”．If we know when a building is going to collapse，we can repair it in advance or get out of it before it falls.

Now，scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a material that turns red before it breaks. The invention could be used in things like climbing ropes or bridge supports.

The research was led by Nancy Sottos，a professor at the university’s Beckman Institute，and Douglas Davis，a graduate research assistant.

The secret behind the color?changing material is a type of molecule (分子)．A molecule is a group of atoms held together by chemical bonds. Imagine you and your friends standing in a circle，holding hands. Each person stands for one atom，your hands represent the bonds，and the entire circle represents a molecule. If one person lets go of his or her hands，the molecule changes color.

The research team put the molecule into a soft material. When the researchers stretched the material，it turned bright red for a few seconds before it broke into two pieces. When they repeatedly stretched and relaxed the material，without breaking it，it only turned a little red.

The major problem is that light can get rid of the red color. When the team shone bright light on the molecule，the broken bond was fixed，and the color disappeared.

If the bright light keeps the red color from appearing，the material’s warning system will be useless. Scientists still have a lot of work to do before the color?changing molecules can be used outside the lab.

1.What does the passage mainly introduce?

A．The collapse of an overpass in Zhuzhou，Hunan Province.

B．The Sichuan earthquake

C．A material that turns red before it breaks.

D．A way of preventing building from collapsing.

2.The underlined words “racking their brains” in the third paragraph mean ________.

A．suffering a lot B．collecting beyond imagination

C．losing a lot D．thinking very hard

3.Which of the following is a WRONG statement?

A．Thousands of people died from the collapse of buildings in the Sichuan earthquake because they hadn’t been warned.

B．There is no building that will never collapse.

C．A new material has been applied to buildings to warn people of collapse.

D．A color?changing material can turn red before it breaks.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．The color?changing molecules are certain to be used outside the lab.

B．There will be no collapse with the help of the color?changing material.

C．There is a long way to go before the material can be applied.

D．The problem caused by bright light will be solved by scientists.