Head held high, hands firmly gripping her walker, Mary Arnott, 99, walks slowly with dignity through the women’s changing room at the Etobicoke Olympium pool, past the teenage girls who have been blow-drying their hair for half an hour, into the mist of the showers, then out the door and first one into the heated pool. She jumps over to the shallow end, stopping to talk to friends—everyone knows Arnott here;she swims twice a week and treats it as a job—about their children, the viciousness（谬误）of bridge and their health.

 In fact, Arnott is an exception to the exception. Not only has she lived 20 years past the average lifespan for Canadians, she’s healthy, her mind is sharp and she lives independently.

Born in Brooklyn on May 28, 1909, Arnott was raised on Staten Island. She survived scarlet fever（猩红热）, helped bring up four siblings（兄弟姐妹）after her mother died in 1923 and worked as a secretary in New York City for 12 years, earning＄35 a week and a＄150 bonus at Christmas.

 Now she’s happy living in a one-room apartment with a kitchen and a bathroom in her daughter’s house. She wears a hearing aid, does the cryptic crossword（有隐义的纵横字谜）with a magnifying glass, and can’t really explain why she has lived so well so long.

Until recently, she has still liked to drink red wine—she used to drink two glasses before supper each day. It’s more likely genes, she admits. Her interest in other people and life in general may have had something to do with it. Asked if a star photographer can take her picture at the pool, Arnott seems cheerful.

“I look good in a swimsuit, ” she says, nodding her head firmly. “I look better in a swimsuit than I do in pants. ”

31. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A. Mary Arnott likes to swim and is known to the local people.

B. Mary Arnott is afraid to swim at the swimming pool.

C. Mary Arnott can’t swim but she likes water.

D. Mary Arnott just likes to talk to her friends at the bank of the swimming pool.

32. Which of the following is TRUE as for Mary Arnott as an exception to the exception?

A. She has lived 30 years past the average lifespan for Canadians.

B. She’s healthy and her mind is sharp.

C. She lives with her daughter.

D. She likes to live with her children and has a happy life.

33. What happened when Mary Arnott was 14?

A. She had a disease called scarlet fever but survived.

B. Her mother died and she had to help her father to bring up her sisters and brothers.

C. She found a job as a secretary in New York City.

D. She was born in Brooklyn.

34. What may Mary Arnott think of her living alone?

A. Bitter.                        B. Happy.

C. Meaningless.               D. Boring.

35. If someone asks about swimming, Mary Arnott may ________.

A. like pants                  B. like swimsuit better

C. like to sit at the bank         D. like to swim with girls

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 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 arithmetic．

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 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 led me into varied investigations．I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil while 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 might 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 requires not only self-discipline, but hard training, determination and a goal．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．

1.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 to a naturalist’s family

2.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

3.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

 

I am Sergey Brin! I was born in Moscow. In 1979, when I was 5, my family immigrated to the United States. I remember that on my 9th birthday I got my first computer “Commodore 64”.

Later I graduated with honors in the University of Maryland in Mathematics and IT. The main field of my science research was the technologies used to collect data from unsystematic sources as well as large quantities of texts and science data. I was the author of dozens of articles in leading American academic magazines.

The greatest event in my life happened when in 1998 I was preparing for the defense（论文答辩）of my Doctor’s degree in Stanford University. There the fate made me meet Larry Page—a young computer genius. Larry belonged to the intellectual society. Larry and I quickly became friends when we worked together.

We were searching day and night on the Internet. We were finding a lot of information but with the feeling we still couldn’t find enough of what we were looking for. Naturally the idea for a search engine that would allow specific information to be found in the endless pool of data was born like it came to us. It wasn’t our plans but we gave up the education at the university. You know the next part, maybe we managed to turn an ordinary garage in Meplo Park, California, the U. S. A. into our first office, in which Google was born. With excitement we typed the name of the thing which we created with love on September 14th 1998—www. google.com. Now, after those years we bought this garage. As a symbol it will always remind us that everything is possible.

1.Sergey Brin actually graduated from ＿＿＿.

A. the University of Maryland         B. the University of Moscow

C. the University of California         D. Stanford University

2. From the passage we know that Larry Page ______.

A. was Brin’s important partner in starting Google

B. was born in a rich merchant family

C. was once a student in the University of Maryland

D. was a professor from Stanford University

3. Which is the right order of what happened?

a. My family moved from Russia to the U. S. A.

b. I met Larry Page.

c. I was given a computer as a present on my 9^th birthday.

d. Google was born in an ordinary garage in California.

A. c-a-b-d                    B. c-b-a-d            C. a-c-b-d                          D. a-c-d-b

4.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. The History of Google                         B. The Great Contribution of Google

C. The Great Success of Google                    D. The Birth of Google

5. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The main field of my science research was computer.

B. I wrote many articles in leading American magazines.

C. Larry is one of my classmates.

D. When I was 5, I got my first computer “Commodore 64”.

 

I am Sergey Brin! I was born in Moscow. In 1979,when I was 5, my family immigrated to California, USA . I remember that on my 9^th birthday, I got my first computer “Commodore 64”.

Later I graduated with honors in the University of Maryland in Mathematics and IT. The main field of my science research was the technologies used to collect data from unsystematic sources as well as large quantities of texts and science data. I was the author of dozens of articles in leading American academic magazines.

The greatest event in my life happened when in 1998 I was preparing for the defense(论文答辩) of my Doctor’s degree in the Stanford University. There the fate made me meet Larry Page—a young computer genius. Larry belonged to the intellectual society. I and Larry quickly became friends when we were working together.

We were searching day and night on the Internet. We were finding a lot of information but with the feeling we still couldn’t find enough of what we were looking for . Naturally the idea for a search engine that would allow specific information to be found in the endless pool of data was born like it came to us. It wasn’t our plans but we gave up the education at the university. You know the next part ,maybe—we managed to turn an ordinary garage in Peplo Park, California , the USA into our first office, in which Google was born. With excitement we typed the name of the thing which we created with love on September 14^th,1998—www.Google.com. Now after those years we bought this garage. As a symbol it will always remind us that everything is possible.

Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

   A. The Birth of Google            B. The Founder of Google

   C. The Importance of Cooperation   D. The Great Contribution to the Internet

From the passage we know that Larry Page________.

A. was born from a rich merchant family        

B. was once a student in the Stanford University

C. published some academic articles when young

D. was Brin’s important partner in starting Google

Why did they found Google ?

A. Because they loved working with the Internet so much.

B. Because they wanted to make a lot of money through the Internet

C. Because they hoped to make it easy to find specific information online

D. Because they believed everything is possible.  

Which is the right order of what happened ?

   a. My family moved from Russia to the USA

   b. I met Larry Page

   c. I was given a computer as a present on my 9^th birthday.

   d. google was born in an ordinary garage in California.

   e. I graduated from the university in Mathematics and IT.

   A. a-c-e-b-d       B. c-a-b-e-d      C. a-c-b-d-e     D. c-b-a-e-d

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 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 arithmetic．

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 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 led me into varied investigations．I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil while 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 might 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 requires not only self-discipline, but hard training, determination and a goal．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 to 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

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