These days, many passers-by always spot a beggar on the Jiaochangkou Street in Yuzhong District of Chongqing in southwest China.

The beggar’s name is Xia Haibo, and he was born in Meihe Village, Tianmen City of Hubei Province. Being 25 years old, he is quite a special beggar in some ways — he doesn’t beg on his knees, as other beggars do when begging. Rather, he often stands in the crowded street, either reading a book or thinking about something carefully. He also started a blog on the Internet which has been clicked more than 500,000 times. He likes reading — he has read many classical Chinese poems. He has kept writing and recently, he has planned to publish his writings.

In 1998, Xia entered Tianmen Middle School as the best student in his town. However, a year before he took the college entrance examination, he came down with a high fever and was later diagnosed (诊断) as having rheumatoid arthritis (类风湿性关节炎). In order to treat his disease, his father borrowed 60,000 yuan from relatives and friends. However, with this money, he didn’t recover from the disease. He did not want to become a burden (负担) to his family any more. So in July, 2006, he left his hometown and went to Wuhan to make a living by begging.

Begging has become a job to Xia now. However, he doesn’t plan to go on living like this. “By July 24, 2008, when I have been begging for two years, I will stop my begging life. I promise,” he said.

It is his plan that by using the money he “earns”, he will rent a small shop in his hometown and keep on writing in his spare time.

Right now, he is trying to finish a book of his own. The book, called Love Is With Me, tells about the people who helped him during his begging life.

1.The underlined word “spot” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to “______”.

A．forgive           B．record            C．beat             D．notice

2.When did Xia Haibo get the serious illness?

A．In 1998.          B．In 2001.           C．In 2000.           D．In 2006.

3.How does Xia beg in the street?

A．He begs on his knees in the street.

B．He writes Chinese poems for those who like poems.

C．He reads or thinks while standing in the street.

D．He teaches people how to surf the Internet.

4. Which of the following is NOT true about Xia Haibo?

A．His dream is to have his book published.

B．He will not stop begging until he earns enough money for his future life.

C．He is writing a book to express his thanks to those who helped him.

D．He will keep writing while running a small business.

 

Looking back on my childhood, I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were all brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon left their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental arithmetic.

Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim(模糊的) memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a clear memory of the dogs, the farm animals, the local birds, and above all, the insects.

I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world and my enthusiasm had led me into varied investigations（调查研究）. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious（清醒的） mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle, because it all seems to fit together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some might honor with the title of scientific research.

But curiosity, keen（敏锐的） eyes, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist: one of the excellent and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist, up to a certain point, can be made. A naturalist is born. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds.

The first paragraph tells us the author ______.

A. was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood

B. lost his hearing when he was a child

C. didn’t like his brothers and sisters    

D. was born into a naturalist’s family

The author can’t remember his relatives clearly because _______.

A. he didn’t live very long with them      

B. the family was extremely large

C. he was too young when he lived with them

D. he was fully occupied with observing nature

It can be inferred from the passage that the author was _______.

A. a scientist as well as a naturalist        B. a naturalist but not a scientist

C. no more than a born naturalist          D. first of all a scientist

The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he _______.

A. has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic

B. lacks some of the qualities required of a scientist

C. just reads about other people’s observations and discoveries

D. comes up with solutions in a most natural way

So the evening turned to night, and the night turned to morning. And before I knew it , the SAT was before me. I wasn’t sure  if I was ready, but I knew one thing: I wanted to get it over with.

SAT for the students is like tooth pulling. For those smart Asian kiddos, it’s like walking through the park: easy and carefree. For me, a Chinese American, …it’s: walking through the park and then tripping on a stone.

As I arrived outside of the dining hall, already a mob of students were sitting, talking, or standing silently waiting to get in. Jones students are lucky not only to have such a testing center at school, but also the feeling of their home school where it feels comfortable and familiar.

“ID, please,” my former math teacher asked at the door.

“Okay.” She looked over my ID, checked off my name on her list, and pointed towards the dining hall tables inside.

With hesitation, I picked up my feet and was directed to a large round table in the middle of the dinning hall. At least fourteen people could sit at this table but only four were allowed to take their test here.

“I’m glad it’s multiple choices.” I heard one student say. All the questions on the test have five choices except for one math section where they have only four. If you get an answer wrong, you don’t get any point, plus you get a penalty of a 1/4 point. If you don’t answer a question, you don’t get any point, nor penalties.

When everyone had a seat and the actual SAT I booklet in front of them, the proctor of the test called for our attentions. “In front of you, you should have a SAT I test and a scantron（答题卡）. Please do not open the test booklet until I say so.” He then went on to talk about the procedures, the amount of time, signature of honesty, etc. After thirty minutes of instruction reading, he gave us all a solemn expression before saying, “You may begin now. Good luck.”

I could hear a hundred booklets being opened and pencils scratching the surface. I looked to my right, I looked to my left, I did a quick prayer for whoever was in charge up in the heavens, and started my test. At least I wouldn’t know my score until summer time.

1.How did the author feel before the test?

A．Confident.         B．Carefree.          C．Confused.         D．Nervous.

2.Jones students are lucky because __________.

A．they can take the test in a dining hall

B．they can talk during the test

C．they can take the test in their home school

D．they have their math teacher supervising the test

3.By the underlined sentence, the writer intends to say that_________.

A．the test would be so difficult that she might not pass it

B．the test seemed easy but she still needed to be careful with it

C．the test would be much easier for her than for the other Asian students

D．she found herself not as smart as the other Asian students

4.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．Fourteen students sat around a large round table, taking the test.

B．There were four math problems on the test.

C．You will lose more points if you get the answer wrong than if you give up the question.

D．The proctor announced the instructions as soon as the test began.

 

请阅读以下相关的职业或兴趣爱好:

A．The person works in a hospital emergency room. His/her job is to assist doctors to rescue patients who are seriously ill.

B．The person likes sports activities the most. For him/her, having sports activities is very interesting.

C．The person works for himself/herself at home. He/She writes for others.

D．The person doesn’t like other things such as gardening. But he/she really likes music, especially classical music.

E.     The person likes collecting all kinds of things, such as baseball cards and stamps.

F.     Many people may like collecting things, such as collecting cards or stamps. But he/she likes reading very much.

请阅读以下个人信息，然后匹配与他们相关的职业或兴趣爱好：

1. Mary: I never used to like stamp collecting. I read almost everything I can: books, magazines, newspapers. I go to the public library about twice a week. If you’d like to send me something, maybe books are my favorite.

2. Tom: My wife says I should take up gardening. We have a big garden and she loves working in it. But the truth is, it bores me. My friends and my wife think I’m really boring, because I’m always listening to music. I go to concerts all the time. I love Mozart and all that classical staff.

3. Mike: I don’t really like video games and that sort of things. I prefer being outdoors, hiking or playing sports. I always go out with my family playing baseball and stuff all the time. I think most sports are pretty interesting.

4. Lisa: I’m a free writer, and a lot of people think my job is easier because I don’t have to go to the office every day. And I don’t have to deal with office politics. But, you know, my job is very hard. I have to be very organized and much disciplined. And pretty self-motivated. And when I have a problem, there is no one around to help me.

5. Victor: My life is very stressful. In my working place, everyone is in a hurry and under tremendous pressure. The doctors are demanding, and there is always too much to do to save a dying patient.

 

Looking back on my childhood. I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental maths.     

Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.  

I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together .This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books. Which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research.  

But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist? One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds. 

1.According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be _____           

A. full of ambition               B. self-disciplined

C. full of enthusiasm           D. knowledgeable 

2.The first paragraph tells us that the author _____

A. lost his hearing when he was a child

B. didn’t like his brothers and sisters

C. was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood

D. was born to a naturalist’s family

3.The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he __     . 

A. just reads about other people observations and discoveries.

B. Lacks some of the qualities required of scientist.

C. Has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic.

D. Come up with solutions in most natural ways.

4.The author can’t remember him relatives clearly because__

A. He didn’t live very long with them

B. He was too young when he lived with them.

C. The family was extremely large.

D. He was fully occupied with observing nature.

5.Which of the following statements is true?

A. The author believes that a born naturalist cannot be scientist. 

B. The author read a lot of books about the natural world and oil industry

C. The author’s brothers and sisters were good at music and languages.

D. The author spent a lot of time working on riddles.