―But, young man, don‘t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can‘t
possibly make a difference!‖
The young man listened politely, then he bent down, picked another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, ―It made a difference for that one.‖
There isa difference. And if we can know that gift, we will gain through the strength of our visions the power to shape the future.
We must each find our starfish. And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the world will be better.
59. One day, the wise man saw the young man A. dancing along the beach B. walking with a dancer
C. picking up starfish for sale D. trying to save as many starfish as possible
60. Near the end of the passage, ―something very special‖ refers to .
A. the gifts from friends B. the strength of making decision
C. our own starfish D. the ability of shaping one‘s own future
61. From the last two paragraphs, we can learn that A. the wise man realized something new and important
B. the wise man thought it was foolish of the young man to throw starfish into the ocean
C. the young man had the ability to make a difference
D. it is necessary for us to save starfish on the beach
62. The writer told this story in order to show us A. how and where we can write a good article
B. everyone can do something for the future
C. wise men are sometimes stupid D. young people are actually wiser than old people
C
Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask. But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history. Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history.
The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past. I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that
can do a small part in changing this.
A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context. We cannot even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less (更不必说) try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be.
I teach my children history, for one more reason. I purchased a set of historical audio (录音机) tapes for our children. My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over. It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself. I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr. if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished. I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for.
63. What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?
A. Many people aren't clever enough to learn well from the past.
B. Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes.
C. Many people feel it hard to understand history.
D. Many people have no interest in studying history.
64. In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because ___________.
A. it makes the current political situation go smoothly
B. it helps us realize the importance of historical events
C. it helps us understand why things are the way they are
D. it helps people accept the present situation where they live
65. What would be talked about in the following paragraph?
A. How to teach history effectively. B. Some negative reasons for studying history.
C. How to get more people to study history. D. Some bad historical figures.
66. The main purpose of this passage is to ____________.
A. inspire the parents to teach their children history
B. show the importance of history in politics
C. explain the reasons why children study history
D. introduce the writer‘s own way of teaching history
D
During his life Dr James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught P.E and wrote several books. While he never thought it very important, Dr Naismith is today best known for one thing. He was the inventor of basketball.
Dr James Naismith was born in Canada in 1861 and his first job was at a special sports school in the USA. One day the school principal told James he was having a problem with the students. Because of heavy snow, the students could not go outside. He told James that they needed a sport the boys could play indoors and gave the teacher two weeks to think of something.
It was on the very last day that James came up with his idea. The ―birth of basketball‖ is said to be on December 21, 1891, when two teams from the school played the first game. It was quite different from the basketball games of today. It had 9 players on each team and footballs were used instead of basketballs. Soon after, the game changed to 5 players on each side, using special ―basketballs‖ through nets.