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  I would like to tell you a story about my uncle Theo.He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else.He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned.Well, he applied a post in Camford University.It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.

  Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room.Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel.But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover.Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams.The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall.The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.

  Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room.He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping.Adams didn’t seem to do any preparation at all.You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him.He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall.He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.

  The day of the lecture arrived.They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform.And then, Theo discovered, to his horror, that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it.And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause.Adams bowed and smiled, and sat down.

  Now, it was Theo’s turn.But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture.His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way.With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently.There was hardly any applause when he sat down.

  The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be.Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”

  Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr.Hob dell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision.We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr.Adams.I was greatly impressed.But, you will remember, Mr.Adams read his lecture to us.When Mr.Hob dell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before.Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr.Hob dell must have! This is why we decided that Mr.Hob dell was exactly the man we wanted! ”

  As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr.Hob dell! But, my fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”

(1)

Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?

[  ]

A.

Good-mannered

B.

Modest

C.

Childish

D.

Bookish

(2)

What do we know about the post at Camford University?

[  ]

A.

The applicants had to sit for an examination.

B.

There was much competition for the post.

C.

The post requires a lot of teaching experience.

D.

The post offered quite high salary.

(3)

Adams did not bother to do any preparation because _________.

[  ]

A.

he was quite familiar with the subject.

B.

he knew the committee members well.

C.

he had a well-thought-out plan.

D.

he had full confidence in himself.

(4)

When Uncle Theo’s turn came, _________.

[  ]

A.

he felt so angry that he couldn’t see a word.

B.

he felt so upset that he could not remember anything.

C.

he had to put the same thoughts in another way.

D.

he had to repeat the speech, word by word from memory.

(5)

When the committee went out to make a decision, Adams _________.

[  ]

A.

could not help feeling worried.

B.

could hardly wait to show his joy.

C.

felt sorry for Theo and tried to cheer him up.

D.

felt ashamed and tried to chat with Theo.

(6)

Theo became successful because _________.

[  ]

A.

he had a better memory than Adams.

B.

he was more experienced than Adams.

C.

the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted.

D.

the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech.

答案:1.D;2.B;3.C;4.D;5.B;6.C;
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[  ]

A.it was too far away

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[  ]

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[  ]

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[  ]

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[  ]

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[  ]

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  In the world of fairy tales, great and powerful men are often helped to victory by the small and weak.But in the US it has happened for real.

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[  ]

A.

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B.

to be a volunteer in the presidential campaign

C.

to show his gift in the presidential campaigns

D.

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Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

[  ]

A.

Noah seems to have a very bright future because he supports Bush.

B.

Noah is the youngest of the Americans who support Bush.

C.

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D.

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[  ]

A.

Noah can surely succeed in the 2032 presidential campaign

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Noah’s polities are deeply affected by his parents

C.

Bush had known Noah well before the presidential campaign began

D.

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[  ]

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The Small and Weak Can Help the Big and Strong

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  I remembered the first day I saw her playing basketball.I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids.The boys always tried to stop her but no one could, though she seemed so small.She would practice shooting over and over again, sometimes until dark.

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How long has the girl probably been practicing basketball before she went to college?________.

[  ]

A.

At most 3 years

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About 2 years

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At least 6 years

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The underlined word in the passage referred to ________.

[  ]

A.

the person who finds new people to work in a company or a job

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the person w ho persuades others to do something

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the coach of a sports team

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the person who is in charge of admitting students into colleges

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What is the best title of the passage?________.

[  ]

A.

A way to success

B.

If the dream is big enough

C.

Basket ball-A way to success

D.

A determined girl

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Which of the following can lead a person to the goal according to this passage?________.

[  ]

A.

A good attitude

B.

A big dream, hard practices and opportunity

C.

Hard practice

D.

A big dream

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閱讀理解

  Mathematical ability and musical ability may not seem on the surface to be connected, but people who have researched the subject and studied the brain say that they are.Three quarters of the bright but speech-delayed children in the group I studied had a close relative who was an engineer, mathematician or scientist, and four fifths had a close relative who played a musical instrument.The children themselves usually took readily to math and other analytical subjects and to music.

  Black, white and Asian children in this group show the same patterns.However, it is clear that blacks have been greatly overrepresented(被過多的代表)in the development of American popular music and greatly underrepresented in such fields as mathematics, science and engineering.

  If the abilities required in analytical fields and in music are so closely related, how can there be this great discrepancy?One reason is that the development of mathematical and other such abilities requires years of formal schooling, while certain musical talents can be developed with little or no formal training, as has happened with a number of well-known black musicians.

  It is precisely in those kinds of music where one can acquire great skill without formal training that blacks have excelled(擅長)popular music rather than classical music, piano rather than violin, blues rather than opera.This is readily understandable, given that most blacks, for most of American history, have not had either the money or the leisure for long years of formal study in music.

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(1)

What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

[  ]

A.

Mathematical ability and musical ability are connected.

B.

Mathematical ability has more to do with the brain than musical ability.

C.

More people are good at music than math.

D.

More research should be done into the relationship between mathematical ability and math ability.

(2)

The word“discrepancy”(Para.3)most probably means ________.

[  ]

A.

difference

B.

excellence

C.

inborn ability

D.

inability

(3)

What can be inferred about opera?

[  ]

A.

It requires formal training.

B.

It is often enjoyed by those with strong analytical ability.

C.

It is disliked by blacks.

D.

It is more difficult to learn than classical music.

(4)

Which of the following statements is true according to the last paragraph?

[  ]

A.

Blacks have special innate ability in music.

B.

Unlike others, blacks do not have innate ability in music.

C.

Jazz is one of the narrow channels through which blacks express their ability in music.

D.

Those who have money and time choose mathematics over music.

(5)

Which of the following questions does the passage mainly concern?

[  ]

A.

Are musical ability and mathematical ability connected?

B.

Why have blacks been greatly overrepresented in the development of American popular music?

C.

What kinds of music require formal training?

D.

What are the contributions made by black musicians?

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