James Arruda Henry, a 98-year-old retired lobsterman, has written and published his first book, "In a Fisherman's Language", after learning to read at the incredible age of 91．

Mr. Henry spent most of his life without even his closest family members knowing he was illiterate (文盲）．Forced to quit school in the third grade to take some jobs, he kept the secret close to his chest - only telling to his late wife．

A family problem in his 90s sparked his encourage to restart his education．"He signed a document he could not read," Mr Henry's granddaughter said. And then, after hearing about George Dawson, a son of slaves who learned to read at the age of 98 and went on to write a book of his own, entitled "Life Is So Good" at the age of 101, Mr. Henry took up reading．

"If he can do it．I'm going to try," Mr. Henry said．Starting with his name, he eventually moved on to ABC’s and children's books. He put them down for four years after the tragic loss of his wife. But eventually he went back to reading and with the help of his tutor began to record his life．

He wrote about his family’s voyage from Portugal to the U.S. his many journeys at sea and how he was unable to save another fisherman who had fallen overboard. He became a carpenter and even a professional boxer - and eventually built his own home in Stonington Borough．

His life stories have become so popular, in fact, nearly 800 copies were sold in the first two weeks of the book's release last month．One thousand more have since been printed as requests for the book flood in from as far as Germany．And now even Hollywood producers have approached Mr. Henry about optioning the rights to his life story for a big screen adaptation．

1.Which of the following is true of Mr. Henry?

    A．He couldn't read when he was retired．

    B．He was not a good student at school．

    C．Only his family members knew he was illiterate．

    D．He published his book at the age of 91．

2.Mr. Henry made up his mind to study because he            ．

    A．had some trouble with his granddaughter

    B．couldn't sign the document he was given

    C．wanted to share his own experience with others

    D．was inspired by George Dawson's story

3.In his book, Mr. Henry didn't mention ____．

    A．his family story                     B．his school education

    C．his journeys at sea                  D．his work experiences

4.What's the main idea of the last paragraph?

    A．Nearly 800 copies of the book were sold．

    B．The book was sold well in Germany．

    C．His book was popular both at home and abroad．

    D．Hollywood has planned to adapt his book for a movie．

 

As a boy, Mark Twain caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play practical jokes on all his friends and neighbors. The nature of his jokes often led to violence (暴力). He hated to go to school and he constantly ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi. He liked to sit on the bank of the river for hours at a time and just gaze at the mysterious island and the passing boats. He learned many things about the river during those days. He learned all about its history and unusual people. He later made them part of the history of America in the book Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
Mark Twain received his genius (天才) from his mother. Obviously he didn’t get it from his father. He once stated that he had never seen a smile on his father’s face. On the other hand, his mother had the ability to say humorous things. The same ability made Mark Twain an extremely humorous public speaker.
【小題1】According to the passage, Mark Twain was a _______ boy.

A．shy

B．brave

C．naughty(調(diào)皮的)

D．poor

【小題2】Because of the nature of his jokes when he was a child, Mark Twain would _______.

A．ran away form school

B．cause his parents to quarrel with others

C．get into trouble with his friends and neighbors

D．like to sit on the bank of the Mississippi River

【小題3】It can be learned form the passage that      ______.

A．Mark Twain’s father was a cruel man

B．Mark Twain never attended school on time

C．Mark Twain often went boating in the nearby river

D．Mark Twain’s mother was something of a humorist

【小題4】In his book Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain wrote much about _______.

A．the Mississippi and the people living on it

B．his friends and neighbors

C．his school life

D．his parents

【小題5】It is inferred that what affected Mark Twain’s character mostly was _______ .

A．his practical jokes

B．his father’s seriousness

C．the history of the Mississippi

D．his mother’s genius for humor

Inventor，physicist，surveyor，astronomer，biologist，artist... Robert Hooke was all these and more. Some say he was the greatest experimental scientist of the seventeenth century. Once he worked with renowned（有名聲的） men of science like Christian Huygens，Antony van Leeuwenhoek，Robert Boyle，Isaac Newton and the great architect，Christopher Wren.

Hooke’s early education began at home，under the guidance of his father. He entered Westminster School at the age of thirteen，and from there he went to Oxford，where he came in contact with some of the best scientists in England. Hooke impressed them with his skill at designing experiments and devising（發(fā)明） instruments. In 1662，at the age of twenty－eight，he was named Curator of Experiments of the newly formed Royal Society of London. Hooke accepted the job，even though he knew that it had no money to pay him!

Watching living things through the microscope was one of his favorite occupations. He devised a compound microscope for this purpose. One day while observing a cork (軟木) under a microscope，he saw honeycomb－like structures. They were cells—the smallest units of life.In fact，it was Hooke who coined the term “cell” as the boxlike cells of the cork reminded him of the cells of a monastery(修道院)．

Perhaps because of his varied interests，Hooke often left experiments unfinished. Others took up where he left off and then claimed sole(獨占的)credit. This sometimes led to quarrels with colleagues. One work that he finished was his book MICROGRAPHIA，a volume that reveals the immense potential of the microscope. The book also includes，among other things，ideas on gravity and light which may have helped scientists like Newton while they were developing their own theories on these phenomena.

Hooke made valuable contributions to astronomy too. A crater(隕石坑) on the moon is named after him in appreciation of his services to this branch of science.

1.From the first paragraph，we can know that Robert Hooke __________.

A．was famous because he worked with many scientists

B．liked making friends with the famous people

C．received a lot from other scientists

D．made contributions to many different fields

2.Robert Hooke probably went to school in __________.

A．1647　　　    　B．1634           C．1662          D．1640

3.Robert Hooke made himself known to some of the best scientists in England by __________.

A．learning by himself with his father’s help

B．introducing himself to them

C．designing experiments and instruments

D．refusing any reward from Royal Society of London

4.Robert Hooke couldn’t get along well with his colleagues because __________.

A．he couldn’t finish his work on time sometimes

B．he had all kinds of interests in his daily life

C．he was too proud to look up to them

D．the other scientists took the fruits of his experiments

 

These days, many passers-by always spot a beggar on the Jiaochangkou Street in Yuzhong District of Chongqing in southwest China.

The beggar’s name is Xia Haibo, and he was born in Meihe Village, Tianmen City of Hubei Province. Being 25 years old, he is quite a special beggar in some ways — he doesn’t beg on his knees, as other beggars do when begging. Rather, he often stands in the crowded street, either reading a book or thinking about something carefully. He also started a blog on the Internet which has been clicked more than 500,000 times. He likes reading — he has read many classical Chinese poems. He has kept writing and recently, he has planned to publish his writings.

In 1998, Xia entered Tianmen Middle School as the best student in his town. However, a year before he took the college entrance examination, he came down with a high fever and was later diagnosed (診斷) as having rheumatoid arthritis (類風濕性關(guān)節(jié)炎). In order to treat his disease, his father borrowed 60,000 yuan from relatives and friends. However, with this money, he didn’t recover from the disease. He did not want to become a burden (負擔) to his family any more. So in July, 2006, he left his hometown and went to Wuhan to make a living by begging.

Begging has become a job to Xia now. However, he doesn’t plan to go on living like this. “By July 24, 2008, when I have been begging for two years, I will stop my begging life. I promise,” he said.

It is his plan that by using the money he “earns”, he will rent a small shop in his hometown and keep on writing in his spare time.

Right now, he is trying to finish a book of his own. The book, called Love Is With Me, tells about the people who helped him during his begging life.

1.The underlined word “spot” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to “______”.

A．forgive           B．record            C．beat             D．notice

2.When did Xia Haibo get the serious illness?

A．In 1998.          B．In 2001.           C．In 2000.           D．In 2006.

3.How does Xia beg in the street?

A．He begs on his knees in the street.

B．He writes Chinese poems for those who like poems.

C．He reads or thinks while standing in the street.

D．He teaches people how to surf the Internet.

4. Which of the following is NOT true about Xia Haibo?

A．His dream is to have his book published.

B．He will not stop begging until he earns enough money for his future life.

C．He is writing a book to express his thanks to those who helped him.

D．He will keep writing while running a small business.

 

A recent survey shows that the alarming rate of child suicide(自殺) in Hong Kong, raising levels of stress and anxiety among young people, increasing conflicts between children and teachers, and children’s complaints that their parents do not understand their problems—all point to a drop in “emotional quotient” (EQ) (情商), the ability to handle relationships.
EQ is defined as the ability to deal with oneself and others effectively. High EQ, psychologists say, is easy to spot. Some of the greatest humanitarian (人道主義的) leaders have high EQ, along with successful managers and inspirational and respected teachers. The problem is not how to spot high EQ but to improve on low EQ, so society as a whole can benefit.
In the United States, declining EQ among young people is seen as one of the factors behind rising young people’s crime because youths fail to understand others’ feelings—one of the key components of EQ. While the situation in Hong Kong is not so bad, there are warning signs that the levels of anxiety among youth may become critical. Declining EQ among Hong Kong teenagers has been acknowledged by several studies including a key study by the education concern group, the Learning-Teacher Association, which found a high degree of anxiety among students over the future and also that young people lacked confidence in dealing with problems. Parents and teachers will also need to develop their own EQ skills in order to deal with them effectively.
Daniel Goleman cites a number of basic elements of high EQ: first, awareness of your feelings as you experience them which is very important to making good decisions in life; second, feeling or awareness of what others are feeling. “90% of emotional information is expressed non-verbally and people vary in their ability to pick it up,” Dr. Goleman says in his book.
Dr. Goleman argues that without high EQ even highly-educated, highly-intelligent people will not find success in life. Or those with low EQ, even though they may be brilliant, tend to lack feeling and impulse control. They fail easily, and they are easily intolerant and often aggressive in interpersonal relations. Some educational psychologists believe work on EQ may be important in Hong Kong with its high rate of suicide among school children. EQ test may be able to help predict those most at risk, and those least able to deal with their own emotions or unable to deal with others, including parents and teachers.
【小題1】According to the passage, children in Hong Kong commit suicide at an alarming rate as a result of _______.

A．parents not understanding their children

B．the rising levels of stress and anxiety among young people

C．the inability of dealing with relationships

D．increasing conflict between children and teachers

【小題2】We can infer from the passage that people with low emotional quotient _______.

A．a(chǎn)re least likely to become good leaders

B．can deal with oneself and others effectively

C．a(chǎn)re beneficial to society

D．a(chǎn)re more likely to be respected

【小題3】The word “its” in the last paragraph refers to ________.

A．the work on EQ

B．Hong Kong

C．EQ

D．China

【小題4】Daniel Goleman believes that _______.

A．one can be just as successful without having a high EQ

B．only people with both high EQ and high IQ will be successful in life

C．people with low intelligence will not get a successful life

D．people not having high EQ may not be successful in life despite being extremely intelligent