I told my friend Graham that I often cycle the two miles from my house to the town center but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, ‘You mean fortunately.’ He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided.

My attitude to the hill has now changed. I used to grumble as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to lose weight and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. Finally as I wend my way up the incline I console myself with the thought of all those silly people who pay money to go to a gym and sit on stationery exercise bicycles when I can get the same value for free. I have a smug smile of satisfaction as I reach the top of the hill.

Problems are there to be faced and overcome. We cannot achieve anything with an easy life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to gain a University degree. Her activism and writing proved inspirational. She wrote, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”

One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity. From time to time we all face hardships, problems, accidents, afflictions and difficulties. Some are of our making but many confront us through no fault of our own. Whilst we cannot choose the adversity we can choose our attitude towards it.

Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs amputated following a flying accident. He was determined to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aces in the Battle of Britain with 22 aerial victories over the Germans. He was an inspiration to others during the war. He said, “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do this or that. That’s nonsense. Make up your mind, you’ll never use crutches or a stick, then have a go at everything. Go to school, join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible.”

The biographies of great people are littered with examples of how they took these kinds of steps to overcome the difficulties they faced. The common thread is that they did not become defeatist or depressed. They chose their attitude. They chose to be positive. They took on the challenge. They won.

The writer has a smug smile of satisfaction as he reaches the top of the hill because        .

      A．he was actually killing two birds with a stone

       B．compared with those silly people, he was smarter

       C．he lost weight by cycing to the town center every day

       D．he was informed of a short route from his house to the town

The writer quoted Helen Keller and her saying as an example to demonstrate        .

       A．one cannot achieve anything with an easy life

       B．only disabled persons can experience hardship deeply

       C．one’s success is determined by nothing but his / her attitude

       D．it’s rare for a deaf and blind person to gain a University degree.

From this passage we know that Douglas Bader was a person of         .

A．individual and creative character   B．stubborn yet charming personality

C．great bravery and strong will  D．excellent speaker with great influence

In writing style, the last paragraph serves as      .

A．an explanation         B．a demonstration

C．an introduction        D．a summarization

Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.

The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy alcohol (酒) in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you.

Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.

Thirdly crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of he road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings (人行横道) and do not take any chances when crossing the road.

My next point is about litter (throwing away waste material in a public place). It is an offence (违法行为) to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a litter bin.

Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco (烟草) if you are under 16 years of age.

I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact your local police station, who will be pleased to help you.

Now, are there any questions?

1.The main purpose of this speech would be to ____ .

2.From the speech we learn that ____

3. The underlined word contact in the seventh paragraph means ____ .

“Now I just don’t believe that.” Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It’s simply badly researched, or, the makers must think we’re fools.

If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they’d probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn’t explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis / Jackie Chan / Will Smith would most likely be in a coma(昏迷) after getting kicked in the head.

Recently, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on unconvincing tech moments from some top movies. Let’s see what they are all about.

Telegraph writer Tom Chivers’ first example is from the end-of-the-world movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus capable of destroying Windows, the computer system the alien(外星人的) spacecraft uses. “It’s a good thing they didn’t have Norton antivirus,” jokes Chivers.

It’s just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from Star Wars, where glowing beams of light traveling through space look very impressive. The problem is that in space there are no air particles(颗粒) for the light to reflect off. In reality, they’d not be seen, which wouldn’t look so cool on the big screen.

Chivers’ second piece of Star Wars nonsense is the sound the fighters make in the movies: “ the bellow(咆哮) of an elephant mixed with a car driving on a wet road”. But sound needs a medium to travel through, like air. In space, there wouldn’t actually be any sound at all.

Few people would deny that the mind-bending Matrix films make for great viewing, but for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little silly.

And finally: as Chivers points out, DAN is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die another Day by. In the film the villain(坏人) has “gene therapy” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible.

1.What does the text mainly deal with?

A. Plots of some famous movies.      B. Characters in space movies.

C. Popularity of space movies.          D. Mistakes made in some movies.

2.From the first two paragraphs we can know that some movie makers ____.

A. went against general knowledge of science

B. didn’t pay attention to the viewers’ real demand

C. overestimated viewers’ appreciation of movies.

D. didn’t try their best to improve the quality of the movies.

3.What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. The newspapers.                   B. Unconvincing tech moments

C. Some top movies.         D. Heroes in the movies.

4.We can learn from Paragraph 7 that ____.

A. most people like Matrix films

B. the truth of Matrix films remains in doubt

C. few people think Matrix films silly

D. Chivers thinks science is unacceptable

Moreover, insofar as any interpretation of its author can be made from the five or six plays attributed to him, the Wake field Master is uniformly considered to be a man of sharp contemporary observation. He was, formally, perhaps clerically educated, as his Latin and music, his Biblical and patristic lore indicate. He is, still, celebrated mainly for his quick sympathy for the oppressed and forgotten man, his sharp eye for character, a ready ear for colloquial vernacular turns of speech and a humor alternately rude and boisterous, coarse and happy. Hence despite his conscious artistry as manifest in his feeling for intricate metrical and stanza forms, he is looked upon as a kind of medieval Steinbeck, indignantly angry at, uncompromisingly and even brutally realistic in presenting the plight of the agricultural poor.

Thus taking the play and the author together, it is mow fairly conventional to regard the former as a kind of ultimate point in the secularization of the medieval drama. Hence much emphasis on it as depicting realistically humble manners and pastoral life in the bleak hills of the West Riding of Yorkshire on a typically cold bight of December 24th. After what are often regarded as almost “documentaries” given in the three successive monologues of the three shepherds, critics go on to affirm that the realism is then intensified into a burlesque mock-treatment of the Nativity. Finally as a sort of epilogue or after-thought in deference to the Biblical origins of the materials, the play slides back into an atavistic mood of early innocent reverence. Actually, as we shall see, the final scene is not only the culminating scene but perhaps the raison d’etre of introductory “realism.”

There is much on the surface of the present play to support the conventional view of its mood of secular realism. All the same, the “realism” of the Wakefield Master is of a paradoxical turn. His wide knowledge of people, as well as books indicates no cloistered contemplative but one in close relation to his times. Still, that life was after all a predominantly religious one, a time which never neglected the belief that man was a rebellious and sinful creature in need of redemption, So deeply (one can hardly say “naively” of so sophisticated a writer) and implicitly religious is the Master that he is less able (or less willing) to present actual history realistically than is the author of the Brome “Abraham and Isaac”. His historical sense is even less realistic than that of Chaucer who just a few years before had done for his own time costume romances, such as The Knight’s Tale, Troilus and Cressida, etc. Moreover Chaucer had the excuse of highly romantic materials for taking liberties with history.

Which of the following statements about the Wakefield Master is NOT True?

[A]. He was Chaucer’s contemporary.

[B]. He is remembered as the author of five or six realistic plays.

[C]. He write like John Steinbeck.

[D]. HE was an accomplished artist.

By “patristic”, the author means

[A]. realistic. [B]. patriotic

[C]. superstitious. [C]. pertaining to the Christian Fathers.

The statement about the “secularization of the medieval drama” refers to the

[A]. introduction of mundane matters in religious plays.

[B]. presentation of erudite material.

[C]. use of contemporary introduction of religious themes in the early days.

In subsequent paragraphs, we may expect the writer of this passage to

[A]. justify his comparison with Steinbeck.

[B]. present a point of view which attack the thought of the second paragraph.

[C]. point out the anachronisms in the play.

[D]. discuss the works of Chaucer.

Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.

The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy wine in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you.

Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.

Thirdly, crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian(行人的) crossing and do not take any chance when crossing the road.

My next point is about rubbish. It isn’t lawful to drop rubbish in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a dustbin.

Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco if you are under 16 years of age.

I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact the police, who will be pleased to help you. You can call, write or directly go to ask any policeman.

1.Who do you think is most likely to make the speech?

A guide        B. A person who makes law

C. A teacher       D. An English officer

2.The main purpose of this speech is to _______.

A．tell people those above 18 can smoke and drink there

B．explain the laws of England

C．give advice to tourists to the country

D．warn people against going to the country

3.From the speech we have learnt that ________.

A．in the country, if you are under 18 years of age, you may not buy wine, but your friends can buy it for you

B．you may not buy cigarettes or tobacco unless you are above 16 years of age

C．because the traffic moves on the right side of the road, you must use pedestrian crossing when crossing the road

D．you can’t make a noise except at night