Glynis Davis:

I first piled on the pounds when I was in the family way and I couldn’t lose them afterwards. Then I joined a slimming club. My target was 140 pounds and I lost 30 pounds in six months. I felt great and people kept saying how good I looked. But Christmas came and I started to slip back into my old eating habits. I told myself I’d lose the weight at slimming classes in the new year… but it didn’t happen. Instead of losing the pounds, I put them on. I’d lost willpower and tried to believe that the old bag of fish and chips didn’t make any difference — but the scales don’t lie.

Roz Juma:

To be honest, I never weigh myself any more. I’ve learnt to be happy with myself. It seemed to me that I would feel sorry about every spoonful of tasty food that passed my lips. My idea is simple. You shouldn’t be too much thinking about food and dieting. Instead, you should get on with life and stop dreaming of a super thin body. This is obviously the size I’m meant to be and, most of all, I’m happy with it.

Lesley Codwin:

I was very happy at winning Young Slimmer of the year. I’d look in the mirror unable to believe this slim lady was me! That might have been my problem — perhaps from then on I didn’t pay any attention to myself. Winning a national competition makes everything worse, though. Because you feel the eyes of the world are fixed upon you. I feel a complete failure because I’ve put on weight again.

Ros Langfod:

Before moving in with my husband Gavin, I’d always been about 110 pounds, but the pleasant housework went straight to my waist and I put on 15 pounds in a year. Every so often I try to go on a diet… I’m really good in a few days, then end up having the children’s leftovers or eating happily chocolate — my weakness. I’d like to be slim, but right now my duty is the children and home. I might take more exercise when my kids are older.

1.What do you think the four women were talking about?

A．Different diets they prefer.

B．Their life after marriage.

C．Tex books for students.

D．Their own slimming matter.

2.Where are these short passages most likely to be taken from?

A．Talks on the air.

B．Advertisements on the wall.

C．Books in a library.

D．Magazines for children.

3.What does the underlined word “scales” possibly mean?

A．The coach in the slimming club.

B．Some tool to measure weight.

C．Glynis Davis’ dear husband.

D．The salesperson in a food shop.

4.Which of the following best describes each of the four women’s attitudes towards slimming?

① Glynis Davis        a. I put on weight soon after I got married.

② Roz Juma            b. Frame doesn’t necessarily mean success.

③ Lesley Codwin       c. Facts speak much louder than words.

④ Ros Langfod         d. I like myself as I am, and to be what you are.

A．①-a; ②-d; ③-b; ④-c                   B．①-c; ②-b; ③-d; ④-a

C．①-c; ②-d; ③-b; ④-a                   D．①-a; ②-b; ③-c; ④-d

 

 

A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics, and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions, and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors — or of people very different from our own — can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.

In history books, objective(客观的) information about the political life of a country is presented; that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective(主观的): it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May, 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its misuse of power over people. Over a hundred years later, symbolic images were used in Pablo Picasso’s Guernica to express the horror of war. Meanwhile, on another continent, the powerful paintings of Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros — as well as the works of Alfredo Ramos Martinez — depicted these Mexican artists’ deep anger and sadness about social problems.

In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art was almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that depicted people and stories from the Bible.  Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand biblical stories in the pictures on church walls.  By contrast, one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues are unholy(不圣洁的).

1. More can be learned about a culture from a study of art history than general history because art history ____________.

A. shows us the religious beliefs and emotions of a people in addition to political values

B. provides us with information about the daily activities of people in the past

C. gives us an insight into the essential qualities of a time and a place

D. all of the above

2. Art is subjective(主观的) in that _________.

         A. a personal and emotional view of history is presented through it

         B. it can easily rouse our anger or sadness about social problems

         C. it will find a ready echo in our hearts 

         D. both B and C

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

         A. Unlike Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso and several Mexican artists expressed their political opinions in their paintings.

         B. History books often reveal the compilers’ political views.

         C. Religious art remained in Europe for centuries the only type of art because most people regarded the Bible as the Holy Book.

         D. In the Middle East even today you can hardly find any human and animal figures on palaces or other buildings.

4. The passage mainly discusses __________.

         A. the difference between general history and art history     

         B. the making of art history    

         C. what we can learn from art        

         D. the influence of artists on art history

5. It may be concluded from this passage that __________.

         A. Islamic artists have had to create architectural decoration with images of flowers or geometric forms

         B. history teachers are more objective than artists

         C. it is more difficult to study art history than general history

         D. people and stories from the Bible were painted on churches and other buildings in order to popularize the Bible

 

As late as 1800, women’s only place was in the home. The idea of woman in the business world was unthinkable. Men were certain that no woman could do a good job outside her home. This was such a widely accepted idea that when the well-known Bronte sisters began writing books in 1864, they had to sign their books with men’s names instead.

Teaching was the first profession open to women soon after 1800. But even that was not an easy profession for women to enter because most schools and colleges were open only to men. Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college in America to accept women.

Hospital nursing became respectable work for women only after Nightingale became famous. Seeing that she was not only a nurse but also a rich and well-educated woman, people began to believe it was possible for women to nurse the sick and still be “ladies”. Miss Nightingale opened England’s first training school for nurse in 1860.

The invention of the typewriter in 1867 helped to bring women out of the home and into the business world. By 1900, thousands of women were working at real jobs in schools, hospitals and offices in both England and America. Some women even managed to become doctors or lawyers. The idea that women could work in the business world had been accepted.

Why couldn’t women become teachers easily? Because___________

the first profession open to them was writing.

most schools and colleges were open only to men.

they wanted to be nurses instead.

they had to work in the business world.

The article is mainly about __________.

women are in the business world

the famous Bronte sisters

schools and colleges in America

rights for American women

Which fact does the article lead you to believe?

The Bronte sisters thought that they were men.

England’s first training school for nurses was in Ohio.

There are more men than women in professional jobs.

Women find it necessary to work harder than before.

French novelist Jules Verne (1828—1905) is often called the father of science fiction. Although he was not a great traveler himself, his characters travelled to the moon (in From the Earth to the Moon), under the sea (in Twenty thousand leagues under the sea), into a volcano (in A journey to the centre of the earth), around the world (in Around the World in Eighty Days) and to many other places.

　　Jules Verne was born in the French city of Nantes in 1828. When he was a boy he ran away from home to work on a ship. However, his father soon found him and brought him home. After that he decided that any future travel he did would be in books. In 1847 his father sent Jules to Paris to study to be a lawyer. Even though he was busy writing, Verne passed his exams in 1849 with high marks.

　　When Jules told his father he did not want to be a lawyer, his father was very angry. He stopped sending his son any money, so Jules had to earn a living by his writing. Over the next few years he wrote many stories and plays, which brought him only a little money. Then, in 1856, he met Honorine de Viane, a rich, young widow with two children. The couple married the next year.

After his marriage, Verne worked as a businessman in Paris. However, he was not very successful at his job and spent most of his time writing books and doing research for the next one. In 1863 he published his novel Five Weeks in a balloon and the following year he published A Journey to the centre of the earth which made him famous. His books became so popular and earned him so much money that he was able to leave his job and work full time on his writing.

In his Lifetime, Jules Verne wrote more than 50 books and he became a rich man. Many of this imaginative novels have been turned into films.

1.When Jules Verne was brought home by his father, he decided that ________.

A．he would devote himself to writing

B．he would go on more travels in the future

C．he would stop writing about future travels

D．he would do what his father required

2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．He was not good at his schoolwork.

B．He went to Paris because he wanted to be a lawyer.

C．His early stories and plays didn’t bring in much money.

D．He got married in 1856.

3.Jules Verne became rich mainly because of his ________.

A．family            B．marriage          C．business          D．writing

4.Which book can be considered as a turning point in Jules Verne’s life?

A. From the Earth to the Moon.

B. Five Weeks in a Balloon.

C. A Journey to the Center of the Earth.

D. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

5.Which can we infer from the passage?

A．Jules Verne’s stories and plays were liked by film makers.

B．Jules Verne was not clever enough to learn law.

C．Jules Verne’s wife helped him a lot in his writing career.

D．Jules Verne’s stories and plays made him famous in the 1850s.

 

For many of us, printed books are satisfying in ways beyond the words they contain． Billions of printed books have been published, read and saved in the 600 years since movable type was invented, so why mess with a good things?

         Sony Electronics is doing just that, betting that readers will be won over by the convenience of readability of its new electronic book devices． Sony's reader, the PRS-505, can hold 160 books in its fixed memory, enough to line the shelves on a good-sized wall in the average American home． The $299 device is about the size of a paperback book, but a half-inch thick and weighs less than a pound．

The Sony book reader is revolutionary not only in its storage capacity． The font（字体） is highly readable and adjustable by size． Unlike laptop computers, you can put the Sony in your purse, read it in direct sunlight and even bookmark the pages． And you can connect it to your PC to download books．

Surprisingly, though the reader has liberated the book from paper, electronic books aren't always a bargain． For example, David Baldacci's "Stone Cold" download retails（零售） for $15．19 at the Sony site, while Amazon（卓越网） will deliver a hard copy to your mailbox for $16．19．

The Sony reader also lets you store and play or display music． So what's not to like about the Sony? Well, for many bibliophiles, a lot． Book lovers like to have, hold and keep their volumes, which don't need charging． You can write notes in the margins, and enjoy the ambience they provide on your book shelves．The need for electronic reading devices is likely to grow as more people worried about the billions of tons of paper used for printed material． Many believe the time will come when devices like the Sony reader are as common as printed newspapers and magazines today．

1.According to the passage, the Sony book reader _________．

         A． is as light as a laptop computer

    B． can hold more than 200 books

         C． is convenient to carry around

         D． cannot be connected to a PC

2.What is the author’s point when he mentions “Stone Cold”?

            A． Amazon’s printed books are very cheap

            B． “Stone Cold” can be got from the Sony site and Amazon

            C． The Sony book reader is not very cheap to use

            D． The Sony book reader can benefit its buyers a lot

3.The underlined word “bibliophiles” in Paragraph 5 refers to “__________”．

            A． music lovers                                                          B． book lovers

            C． electronic reading devices                                D． Sony readers

4.According to the author, what’s the future for the electronic reading devices?

            A． They’ll replace printed newspapers and magazines

            B． They’ll still be more expensive than printed newspapers

            C． They’ll become a must in people’s daily life

            D． They’ll become more popular as time goes on