Passage 13



Listening to the Stars



Karl Jansky was a young engineer (工程师) who worked for a telephone company. In l931, he was given a hard task. His company told him that it needed to know why so much noise, or static (静电干扰), came over its telephone lines. People could not hear over the roar (轰鸣).



To find the answer, Jansky built a funny-looking antenna (天线) He hoped the antenna would find the cause of the static. Up to that time, everyone believed that static came from thunderstorms (暴风雨). Jansky discovered that some of the static did, indeed, come from storms, both near and far. But one kind of static was always there and was not caused by thunderstorms. This static came from stars far out in space. Radio waves given off by the stars caused the static.



0ther men wanted to study these waves, too. They built other large antennas. The new antennas were the first radio telescopes (望远镜).



Today, radio telescopes are used to make new maps of the sky. Using them, men have found groups of stars that were too far away to be seen with other telescopes.



Radio telescopes can be used night and day and in all kinds of weather. Radio telescopes have another important use. They can be used to track rockets and spacecraft (跟踪火箭和宇宙飞船) as they circle the earth or climb out into space.



Length 226



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1.This passage mainly deals with ____.



A. radio waves and radio telescopes B. static that comes over TV sets



C. rockets and spacecraft in the sky D. planets going around the sun



2.Long, along ago, people believed that all static came from stars in space. T F



3.Today telescopes are used to maps of the sky. T F



4. Many new stars have been discovered since 1931. T F



5. Karl Jansky was the only one who interested in radio waves. T F



6. The first radio telescopes referred to the new antennas. T F



7. Karl Jansky's task was very easy to do. T F



8. In the second paragraph the word discovered means ____.



A. found out B. think about carefully



C. heard about D. wrote down



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 14



"Old Hickory"



Every four years the people of the United States elect a President. The President tries to keep in close touch with the people. We see him making speeches on television and hear him on the radio. We read about him in newspapers, and thousands of us write him letters every day.



At one time, Americans did not know so much about their President. Before radio and television, people rarely had a chance to see or hear him. When our first Presidents were elected, few people saw them take office. In fact, many people did not vote（投票）at all.



Andrew Jackson became our seventh President in 1828. He came from a poor family and worked at many trades. He was a soldier and war hero, a farmer, and a lawyer.



Most Americans liked Andrew Jackson very much. They thought he was lively and spirited, and he became their hero. They called him "Old Hickory（北美山胡桃）".



Three times as many people voted in 1828 as had voted four years before. Thousands of people came to Washington to see old Hickory become President. Men, women, and children crowded the muddy（泥泞的）streets. They wanted to cheer（为……欢呼）their President.



Length 198



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1.This passage is mainly about ___.



A. why people called Jackson "Old Hickory"



B. one of the American President---Andrew Jackson



C. hickory woods in America



D. how the Americans elected a President



2.The President tries to keep in close touch with people by writing



articles in newspapers and magazines. T F



3.The people gave Andrew Jackson the name "Old Hickory" because they



loved him. T F



4.At Andrew Jackson's time, people were not able to find out anything



about their President. T F



5.Andrew Jackson had done many kinds of jobs. T F



6.From the last paragraph we can see that Andrew Jackson was a



President loved by the American people. T F



7.It was raining hard the day when Jackson took office in Washington. T F



8.The word rarely in the second paragraph means ___.



A. from time to time B. not often



C. never D. over and over again



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 15



An Experiment



Animals seem to have the sense of eating when they are hungry and they do not eat more than their bodies need. It had been proved (证实) that rats will, when given a choice over a period of time, prefer water with vitamins (维他命) to water without vitamins, even though there is no difference in taste or smell between the two water bottles. When a fragrant flavor (香味) was added to the vitamin, the rats did seem to develop a taste for it and kept drinking it, even after the vitamins were switched (转) to the clear water. In time, however, they broke the habit and went back to where the necessary vitamins were.



In an experiment, babies of 6 to l2 months old were placed in a cafeteria (自助餐厅), with a wide selection(选择) of baby food before them. They were given whatever food they pointed to or appeared interested in. We are told that at first they showed some unusual eating patterns, but over a period of time they managed to select a well-balanced diet.



So, in selecting food, rats and babies do seem to know and act on what's best for them. Clearly, there is a kind of "body wisdom(智慧)" which humans soon 1ose. Most of us do not eat as wisely as we could. Some people eat foxes, dogs and blackbirds, while we eat cows and pigs. So what people eat and how much they eat seem to be greatly influenced by what is going on around them.



Length 246



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1.The best title of this passage is ____.



A. Animals Are Cleverer Than Babies



B. The Eating Habit of Animals



C. Animals' Eating Habit Don't Change



D. Rats Like Vitamins



2. In the experiment on rats, a fragrant flavor was added to the rats' drinking



water to find out what kind of flavor rats prefer. T F



3.The expression 'the habit" in the first paragraph refers to drinking water



which has no smell. T F



4. Babies and rats have similar eating habits because they both have the



wisdom to choose a balanced diet. T F



5. In the experiment mentioned in the second paragraph, babies were



provided with various kinds of baby food. T F



6. According to the passage, adults' (成年人) eating habits differ from those



of babies because adults know better than babies what kinds of food are



good for their health. T F



7.From the experiment we can see rats like to drink the water without vitamin. T F



8.The word influence in the last sentence may mean ___ in Chinese.



A. 影响 B. 有关 C. 限制 D. 进步



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 16



A Policeman and a Girl



Police officer Fang was a generous (慷慨的) man. He always tried to help people when in trouble. Many policemen just arrested (逮捕) people whenever they did anything wrong, but Police Officer Fang really cared about people.



If he saw a beggar (乞丐) in the street he did not arrest him for begging. Instead, he gave him some money to buy a meal. If he saw children behaving (举止) badly he did not take them to the police station. Instead, he tried to find out why they were behaving badly and then lectured them on the importance of good behavior (行为).



One day he saw a small girl standing in the street. She was crying and tears were running down her face.



"Hello," he said to her, "and what's your problem?"



The small girl looked up at him through her tears.



"I've lost my money," she said.



"Oh dear!" Police Officer Fang said, "And how did you do that?"



"My purse (钱包) fell out of my pocket," the small girl said. "It had all my money in it."



And she continued crying.



"It's all right," Police Officer Fang said. "Don't worry. It's not the end of the world. Tell me how much money was in your purse."



"Ten dollars," the small girl said.



Police Officer Fang took out his wallet. He opened it, took ten dollars and gave it to the girl.



"Here you are," he said. "Here's ten dollars. Now you can stop crying."



But instead of stopping crying, the small girl cried even louder.



"Now what's the matter?" Police Officer Fang said.



"I wish I'd said I'd lost fifty dollars," the small girl replied.



Length 274



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?



A. Helping a Girl in Trouble B. Lost Her Money



C. A Generous Policeman D. A Strict Policeman



2. Police Officer Fang was different from other policemen.



3.If children did something wrong, he often took them to the station first.



4.The girl was crying because she had lost her way.



5.Police Officer Fang gave his wallet to the girl.



6.After getting the money, the girl stopped crying.



7.In this passage the word lectured means ____.



A. gave somebody a lesson B. wrote down



C. beat somebody hard D. ask somebody to remember



8.By saying "I wish I'd said I'd lost fifty dollars" the girl meant ___.



A. if she had said she lost fifty dollars she would have got fifty dollars.



B. she did not want to lose any money at all



C. Police Officer Fang should give her money.



D. she had really lost fifty dollars



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 17



A Good Reason



A man was sitting in the park watching the ducks on the pond (池塘), when a woman approached him. She had a little dog on the leash (链子).



She sat down on a bench, took out a magazine and began to read.



The dog was sitting between her and the man. After it had been sitting quietly for about ten minutes, the dog turned and looked up at the man.



"Excuse me," the dog whispered, "but you look like a kind man. Please buy me from this bad woman."



The man could hardly believe his ears. A dog was whispering to him in English.



"She is so mean (小气) to me," the dog continued. She never plays with me. She doesn't feed me properly and she often beats me when she's in a bad mood (情绪), which is most of the time."



The man was surprised to hear the dog say all this. He was even more surprised when the dog added, "And I'm really a very good dog. I'm quite famous, too. I won a medal (奖章) in the last war and was twice wounded in action. I've saved three children---two from drowning and one from a fire."



The man decided that he would try to buy the dog from the woman.



He would pay a lot of money if necessary. The dog would soon earn tens of thousands of dollars on television. It would be the world's first talking dog.



"Excuse me," he said to the woman, "but I love your little dog. Will you sell him to me?"



"I'll be delighted to sell him," the woman said. "You can have him for ten dollars."



"Ten dollars!" the man said "Only ten dollars? Why so little?"



"Because," the woman said "he is a trouble-making liar (说谎者)."



Length 296



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1. From what the dog said we can see that ____.



A. the woman was very fond of the little dog.



B. the woman was not very kind to the dog



C. the dog was best in the world



D. the woman got on well with the dog



2.The dog was sitting on the right side of the man.



3.The man was surprised when he heard the dog speaking.



4.According to what the dog said the woman was often in a bad mood.



5. The man wanted to make some money with the dog.



6. The man thought the dog was worth much more.



7. The word approached in the first paragraph means ____.



A. went away from B. came nearer to



C. asked somebody to leave D. had a word with



8.What does the word whispered mean in this passage?



A. shouted loudly B. cried out in tears



C. said with a smile D. said in a low voice



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 18



A Bad Neighbor



Mr. and Mrs. Brown were fed up with their neighbor. He was always borrowing things from them.



"It's not right," Mr. Brown said to his wife one evening "At some time or another that man has borrowed nearly everything we have. Almost every day he comes over to borrow something."



"You're quite right," his wife replied, "and most of the things he's never returned."



"What I want to know," her husband said, "is why can't he buy the things he needs, like everyone else?"



"Because people like us are foolish enough to lend him what he needs," she replied. "As long as we are willing to lend, he'll keep on borrowing.



"Then we'll never lend him anything again," Mr. Brown said. "The next time he asks to borrow something, I'll say no."



"We must have a good reason for saying no," his wife said, "and we must always try to be polite to him. We don't want to make an enemy of the man."



It was not long before their decision not to lend their neighbor anything ever again was put to the test.



The next morning there was a knock on the door. Mr. Brown went to answer it. Their neighbor was standing there. Mr. Wu knew he was going to ask to borrow something, and was ready to refuse him politely.



"Good morning," their neighbor said, "I'm sorry to trouble you, but I wonder if I could borrow your garden scissors."



"I'm sorry," Mr. Brown said, "but I'm afraid my wife and I will be using them today. We'll be spending all day working in the garden"



"Oh, I see," the neighbor said.



"In that case, may I borrow your golf clubs? You won't be needing them if you are working in the garden all day, will you?"



Length 300



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1. From this passage we can see that ____.



A. Mr. And Mrs. Brown did not like their neighbor



B. Mr. and Mrs. Brown thought their neighbor was very foolish



C. Mr. And Mrs. Brown had no reason to refuse their neighbor.



D. Mr. and Mrs. Brown didn't want to be friendly with their neighbor.



2.Their neighbor didn't like to buy what he needed. T F



3.Mr. and Mrs. Brown decided to refuse him when the neighbor when he



came again. T F



4.The next morning their neighbor came to borrow the golf clubs.



5.Mr. and Mrs. Brown will work in their garden all day. T F



6.Their neighbor managed to get what he really wanted by asking for



something else. T F



7.Their neighbor liked to borrow things, but seldom gave them back. T F



8.What does the phrase fed up with mean in this passage?



A. 特别厌倦 B. 吃饱了 C. 非常喜欢 D. 相处很好



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 19



The New Principal



Class 5A was the worst class in Hill Valley High School. The students were badly behaved and had no interest in their lessons.



When a new principal(校长) came to work at the school, he decided to do something about Class 5A.



On the second day of school, he left his office and walked to 5A's classroom. He did not need to know where it was. He could hear them.



He stood outside the classroom for a few moments and looked inside through the window. .



Some boys were fighting. Other students were throwing things at one another. No one was doing any work.



The principal had experienced badly behaved classes before. He knew what to do. He would go into the classroom, take hold of the biggest boy in the class and punish him. This would be an example to the others.



He took a deep breath and opened the classroom door. The students paid no attention to him.



"Silence!" he shouted at the top of his voice.



This time the students stopped what they were doing and looked at him.



Quickly he walked up to the oldest-looking boy in the room. He was also the noisiest and had been shouting at the others at the top of his voice.



He took hold of him by the ear and pulled him to the front of the class.



"I am going to punish you as an example to the others," he said. "Now go to my office and wait for me."



Then he turned to the class and lectured them about how they should behave in school.



When he had finished he said, "Does anyone have any questions?"



One of the students put up her hand. "Yes, sir, I have. When can we have our teacher back?"



Length 299



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1. From the story we can see that ____.



A. the principal took the teacher for a big naughty student



B. punished the teacher because he did not do his work well



C. none of the students were afraid when the principal came in



D. the teacher knew the principal would come



2. When the principal went to 5A's classroom, the students were making



a lot of noise. T F



3. The principal went straight into the classroom when he got there. T F



4. The teacher shouted at the boys but they did not listen to him. T F



5. The principal wanted to punish the teacher as an example to others T F



6. The teacher was standing in front when the principal was teaching the



students a lesson. T F



7. What does the word experienced mean in this passage?



A. never saw B. met with C. were afraid of D. drove away



8. The word silence in this passage means ___.



A. Hurry up B. Go away C. Be quiet D. work hard



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 20



African Women



When Europeans first came to Africa, they were amazed to find that many Africans had more than one wife. Because of this practice, many people thought that African men treated women like slaves (奴隶). But these first impressions proved to be false (不正确的) . Until about 50 years ago, most African women had more freedom and independence (独立) than women in Western nations did. In some places of Africa, women have owned most businesses and been the chief traders for many years. In Europe, however, there were many places where women were not even allowed to own property (财产).



How about African marriages? When there is more than one wife, each woman depends on her husband less. In a traditional (传统的) African home, each woman lives in her own hut and runs her own household (家庭). That kind of living arrangement (安排) gives the woman more independence. Each of the wives in an African family owns her own property and raises her own children. But some tasks, like cooking and baby-sitting (照看孩子), are shared with the other wives. Sharing these chores (家庭杂务) makes life easier for African women.



Length 201



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



From this passage we can see that ___



A. some Westerners had false impressions about African women at first



B. African women were treated like slaves at home



C. African women depend their husband at any time.



D. the wives often quarreled with each other at home



2.Many Europeans thought African women were not well treated when



they found many African men had more than one wife T F



3.African women were made to do everything in the house T F



4.These first impression proved to be false because some African women



have owned most businesses and been chief traders in some places. T F



5.A woman in an African home lives in her own hut and runs her own



household T F



6.From the last paragraph we can see that sometimes the others wives



help each other with the housework T F



7.Most African women are not satisfied with their marriages T F



8.In this passage the word amazed means ____.



A. interesting B. satisfied



C. surprised D. frightened



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 21



A LETTER



September 9, 1998



Dear Mr. Li,



I don't think there's anything wrong with your blood. If you didn't sleep for hours during the early part of the evening, you would be more ready to sleep at bedtime. If you didn't nap after dinner, you would not want to stay up so late, and you would not feel the need to take a sleeping pill. The pill is still working when you get up in the morning. That is why you feel tired all day.



You should get out of the habit (习惯) of sleeping during the evening. Right after your evening meal, get together with friends for an evening of cards (打牌) or something else. Then go to bed at your usual time or a little earlier, and you should be able to get a good night's rest without taking a pill. If you can get into the habit of spending your evenings this way, I'm sure you'll feel less tired during the day. At first it may be hard for you to go to sleep without taking a pill. If so, get up and watch TV or do some jobs around your house until you want to sleep. If you fall asleep and then wake up a few hours later, get up but do not take a sleeping pill. Read a while or listen to the radio, and make yourself a warm drink. Eat a sandwich or a cookie. Then go back to bed. Even if you get only a few hours' sleep that night, you will feel better in the morning than you usually feel after taking a pill. The next night you'll be ready to sleep at an earlier hour.



The most important thing is to avoid (避免) taking that nap right after dinner and to avoid taking pills.



Yours,



Frank



Length 303



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1. The letter is written to ____.



A. ask Mr. Li to avoid sleeping during the evening and taking pills



B. tell Mr. Li how to spend the evening



C. ask Mr. Li to sleep early in the evening



D. explain to Mr. Li that there is nothing wrong with his blood



2. Mr. Li may be a doctor who thinks there is something wrong with his blood. T F



3. If Mr. Li still can't go to sleep after he has spent an evening playing T F



cards with his friends, he should get up and watch TV. T F



4 The reason why Mr. Li feels tired all day is that the pill that he takes in



the evening is still working T F



5.The doctor advises Mr. Li to take some pills if he can't go to sleep T F



at night.



6. The doctor asks him not to drink or eat anything during the night. T F



7. A sleeping pill is something that ____.



A. stops somebody from sleeping too much



B. can make somebody sleep



C. can be put under the head when sleeping



D. can be taken when sleepy



8.The word nap in the first paragraph means ___.



A. a short rest B. a short sleep



C. something hot to drink D. something cool to drink



Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 22



Alberta Hunter.



By day she looks like so many other older women out shopping, going slowly along on feet that move as though they hurt. She likes to ride the city's buses, often singing softly to herself as she rides. If you hear her, listen carefully, for the little old lady is the famous jazz(爵士音乐) singer Alberta Hunter. After over twenty years away from the stage (舞台), the eighty-three-year old singer is a star once again, and, says she, "I'm the happiest woman in this world."



At night Ms Hunter is on stage, wearing large round gold earrings, and singing the blues (sad songs) for the people who crowded into the theater.



Ms Hunter, who has loved music all her life, began her life's work when she was only eleven years old. She ran away from her home in Memphis, Tennessee, because she'd heard that singers in Chicago were making ten dollars a week. Even though she was young and small, she was able to get a job, and people began to recognize her great talent (天才). She traveled all over the world and became famous not only as a singer, but also as a songwriter.



During all those years, Ms Hunter was very close to her mother, whom she brought from Memphis to live and travel with her. But when her mother died in 1954, there was a sudden and complete change in Alberta Hunter's life.



A few days after her mother's death, Ms Hunter attended school and became a nurse. She gave up singing forever. She thought.



For more than twenty-three years, she worked happily as a nurse at a New York hospital, where no one had any idea of her unusual past. Nor did they have any idea of her age. When she finally retired(退休), they believed she had reached age seventy. "I was eighty-two," Ms Hunter says with a smile. She became terribly bored(无聊) and told some of her old friends. One of them suggested that she should go back to singing. She did and she had been busy ever since.



Length 338



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1.This passage mainly tells us ____.



A. something about the famous jazz singer---Alberta Hunter



B. why Alberta Hunter ran away from home when she was young



C. how she stopped singing



D. when she changed her job



2.Many people don't recognize Alberta Hunter in the daytime because T F



she doesn't look different from other old women



3. That Alberta Hunter often sings to herself shows that she is happy. T F



4. Alberta Hunter is famous for wearing large round gold earrings T F



5. Alberta Hunter ran away from her home at eleven years of age in order T F



to make money by singing T F



6. Ms Hunter has been on the stage for less than forty years. T F



7. When she worked as a nurse at a New York hospital, Alberta never talked T F



about her past



8."She did and had been busy since then" means ____.



A. She gave up singing and was very busy.



B. She began to sing again and it kept her busy.



C. She did much housework and she was busy.



D. She sang and she was the busiest woman in the world. Words per minute ______



%Comprehension _______



Passage 23



Above the Frozen Layer



There are still places in the world that need settlers. One of these places is Alaska, our largest state. Settlers are important if Alaska is to become a strong and growing state.



A man can become a pioneer（先驱）in Alaska for very little money. To help settlers, the government will give each pioneer as much as 160 acres （亩） of land free. The settler can build a log cabin （木屋） from his own trees. But to make a living from the land takes hard work.



Because Alaska is so far north, its crops have a short growing season. Only a few weeks separate（分开） the frosts（冰冻）of spring and fall. Corn, tomatoes, apples, and peaches need more time to become ripe. Another problem for the settler is that much of Alaska has a layer of soil under the ground that is always frozen （结冰）. This layer is called permafrost.



However, during June and July, the sun shines both night and day, and some crops grow rapidly. Cabbages weigh as much as 45 pounds. Beets (甜菜), lettuce,（莴苣） strawberries（草莓）, and potatoes are other crops that do well. Alaska grows some of the world's finest vegetables.



For those willing to work hard, Alaska offers a chance for rewarding（有报酬的）life.



Length 205



Total Reading Time ___



_____________________________________________________________________



Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:



1. The passage is mainly about ___.



A. growing crops in the largest state of the US



B. building lag cabin in Alaska



C. the government's rulers to people of the US



D. the seasons in Alaska



2. From this passage we can see that there are not enough people in the



state of Alaska T F



3. The government will give pioneers in Alaska everything that they need to



start their farms T F



4.Free land helps new settlers to come and live in Alaska. T F



5.Crops with long

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