School Activities
Each school holds certain yearly activities, such as homecoming, prom night, holiday celebrations, etc. Homecoming is celebrated each fall, usually on a weekend. It usually includes a parade and ends with a football game and school dance. The prom night is a formal dance for students in grades 11 and 12. At the prom, students dance, have snacks and drinks, and chat. Besides holding events for holidays such as Independence Day and Halloween, some high schools often have their own special events. Sports
Most high schools have at least one sports team that enters local competitions, and all students are encouraged to take part in sports. Schools often offer football, baseball and softball, basketball, volleyball, tennis and soccer. Some may even have sports like golf, swimming, and cross-country skiing. 31. Students are asked to take ___________as one of the certain subjects. A. music
B. art
C. science
D. Chinese
32. We know from the reading that_______________. A. all students must take part in sports
B. the prom is a dance for everyone in the high school C. middle school includes grades 9 through 12 in America D. homecoming is usually celebrated on a weekend of each fall 33. We can most probably find this passage in a ___________. A. magazine
B. poster
C. storybook
B
For years people have enjoyed following the life of Garfield the cat. Garfield is a popular comic book character, known for being lazy and fat. But the cat was back in the news recently for something you might not expect.
A man in the United States changed the gender (性别) of Garfield to ―none‖ on the cat’s Wikipedia (维基百科) page. After that lots of people got angry and kept changing Garfield’s Wikipedia page. They argued about whether the cat was a boy, girl or neither.
Wikipedia finally locked the page to stop people editing it. Jim Davis, Garfield’s creator, settled (解决)
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D. postcard
the argument.
―Garfield is male,‖ he simply told the Washington Post. The 71-year-old artist said he liked working with animals because they didn’t have to be old, young, boys or girls. He was angry that some people cared so much about Garfield’s gender.
It seems like quite an unnecessary argument to have. But it is not the only recent example of argument about gender.
To celebrate International Women’s Day in Australia earlier this year, the city of Melbourne made 10 traffic lights with a figure (人形) dressed in a skirt. They were designed to celebrate women and give them more confidence in public.
But not everyone thinks the idea is necessary. Some people think it is important for women to be treated fairly in Australia, but that this idea is silly.
―I’m all for doing anything we can for gender equity (公平), but really?‖ Melbourne mayor (市长) Robert Doyle told the Herald Sun. The mayor said this idea is more likely to be laughed at than bring respect to women.
34. What put Garfield the cat back in the news recently?
A. The cat’s lazy character. B. Being included in Wikipedia.
C. The cat’s image being changed on Wikipedia. D. The cat’s gender being changed on Wikipedia. 35. According to Jim Davis, _____.
A. Wikipedia should lock the page about Garfield B. Garfield can be a boy or a girl, and young or old C. artists don’t care about animals’ age or gender D. it’s unnecessary to take Garfield’s gender seriously
36. Why did Melbourne make 10 traffic lights with a figure dressed in a skirt? A. To laugh at women in public
B. To celebrate International Women’s Day C. To bring more chances to women D. To treat women fairly in Australia
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37. What did Melbourne mayor Robert Doyle think of the traffic light idea?
A. It would give women more confidence in public. B. It would help women be treated fairly in Australia. C. It would bring respect to women. D. It was not a good idea for gender equity.
C
When I was 14, I left school with learning disabilities and decided to surf the biggest waves in the world, first in California and then in Hawaii. One morning, I met an old man, a bum, on the street corner. He asked me if I was running away from home. I told him, ―Not exactly, sir, because my father had given me a ride to the train station and said, ― It is important to follow your dream, son.‖
After talking for a while, he told me that he had something to show me and share with me. We walked several blocks until we reached a public library.
The bum asked me to sit down and wait for a moment. Later he returned with some old books and sat beside me. Then he said, ―There are two things that I want to teach you, young man. Number one is to never judge a book by its cover, for a cover can fool you. I’ll bet you think I’m a bum, don’t you?‖ I said, ―I guess so, sir.‖
―Well, young man, I've got a little surprise for you. I am one of the richest men in the world. But a year ago, when my wife passed away, I realized there were certain things I had not yet experienced in life, one of which was what it would be like to live like a bum on the streets. For the past year I have been going from city to city doing just that. Number two is to learn how to read, for there is only one thing that people can’t take away from you, and that is your wisdom（智慧）. ‖At that moment, he gave me the books he’d pulled from the shelves.
The bum took me back to the street where we first met. He asked me never to forget what he taught me when we left each other.
38. The boy________________ when he was 14. A .liked running B. left school
C. did well in study D. traveled around the world 39. The underlined word ―bum‖ means a person who is __________.
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