The young man arrived on the Massachusetts beach early carrying a radio, a shove
题型：不详难度：来源：
The young man arrived on the Massachusetts beach early carrying a radio, a shovel(铁锹), and a strange set of tools: a brick layer’s trowel, a palette knife, spatulas, spoons, and a spray bottle.
He walked down near the water — the tide(潮水) was out — and switched on the radio to listen to soft rock. Then he shoveled wet sand into a pile nearly four feet high and as many feet across. Then he created a square shape.
After that, he set to work with palette knife, spatulas, and spoons. He shaped a splendid tower, topped walls, fashioned beautiful bay windows, and carved (雕刻)out a big front gate.
The man knew his sand. He smoothly finished some surfaces and carved artistic designs on others. As the shapes began to dry, he gently kept them slightly wet with water from the spray bottle, in case they might break in the wind.
All this took hours. People gathered. At last he stood back, obviously satisfied with a castle worthy of the Austrian countryside or Disneyland.
Then he gathered his tools and radio and moved them up to drier sand. He had known for a while what many in the crowd still ignored: the tide was coming in. Not only had he practiced his art with confidence and style, he also had done so against a powerful, irresistible(不可抵抗的) deadline.
As the crowd looked on, water came at the base of the castle. In minutes it was surrounded. Then the rising flood began to eat into the base, walls fell, the tower fell, and finally the gate fell. More minutes passed, and small waves erased bay windows — soon no more than a small part was left.
Many in the crowd looked terribly sad; some voiced fear and discouragement. But the man remained calm. He had, after all, had a wonderful day, making beauty out of nothing, and watching it return to nothing as time and tide moved on.
小题1:In this passage, why did the young man start early in the day?| A．He needed the sun to help dry the sand. | | B．It gave plenty of time for the crowd to gather. | | C．He knew the tide was out on this particular morning. | | D．It was easier to begin his work with only a few people around. |
小题2:In this passage, what does the incoming tide signal?| A．It is time to begin working. | | B．It is the end of a day’s work. | | C．It is the busiest time of the day. | | D．It is time for lookers-on to leave. |
小题3:How did the lookers-on react when the tide began to come in?| A．They were disappointed to see the art ruined. | | B．They tried their best to save the sand castle. | | C．They were nervous about their own belongings. | | D．They helped the artist finish the castle. |
小题4:We can tell that the young man’s reward for his work is ___________.| A．payment for his work | | B．personal satisfaction | | C．popularity as an artist | | D．attention from the crowd |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:B |
解析
试题分析：文章大意：一位年轻人来到沙滩上做沙雕，潮水袭来，美丽的沙雕被冲吞噬。人们感叹沙雕就这样没了，但年轻人并不悲观，因为他见证了沙雕从无到有，从有到无的过程。
小题1:C 细节理解题。根据第二段句子… the tide(潮水) was out — and switched on the radio…Then he shoveled wet sand into…可知，年轻人等到潮水退去才开始听着轻音乐干起活来。所以答案选C、年轻人早来的原因是他知道这天早上潮水会退去。
小题2:B 细节理解题。根据倒数第三段句子He had known for a while… the tide was coming in…he also had done so against a powerful, irresistible(不可抵抗的) deadline.可知，虽然众人不知道但年轻人很清楚潮水正在袭来，所以他不仅用他的艺术作品体现了自己的自信与风格，而且战胜了潮水袭来之前的有限时间。所以答案选B、年轻人创作完沙雕，结束了一天的工作，潮水也正在袭来。
小题3:A 细节理解题。根据文章最后一段开头句子Many in the crowd looked terribly sad…可知，旁观者在看到潮水吞噬沙雕的时候都很伤心，失望。所以答案选A。
小题4:B 细节理解题。根据最后一段句子But the man remained calm… had a wonderful day, making beauty out of nothing, and watching it return to nothing …可知，年轻人很镇静，很满足，因为他见证了沙雕从无到有，从有到无的整个过程。所以他从自己的作品中得到的回报就是自我满足感。因此答案选B。 |
举一反三
Can you believe everything that you read? It seems as if every day, some new articles come out about a new discovery about this or that. For example, water is bad for you, or good for you. The answer depends on which scientific study has just come out. People cannot decide which food items are healthy, how pyramids were constructed, and why dinosaurs disappeared. When we look for answers we sometimes can believe persuasive researches and scientists. But how trustworthy are they really? Here are two examples of scientific hoaxes (骗局).
As far back as 1726, Johann Beringer was fooled by his fellow scientists into thinking he had made an amazing discovery. The fossils of spiders, lizards, and even birds with the name of God written on them in Hebrew were unlike anything that had been found before. He wrote several papers on them and was famous for those only to have it revealed that they were planted by jealous colleagues to ruin his reputation.
When an early human being was discovered in 1912, scientists at this time were wild with excitement over the meaning it had for the theory of evolution. There were hundreds of papers about this Piltdown man over the next fifty years until it was finally discovered to be a complex hoax. The skull (头骨) of a man had been mixed with the jawbone of an orangutan (猩猩) to make the ape (猿) man.
The next time you read the exciting new findings of a study of the best scientist, do not automatically assume that it is true. Even qualified people can get it wrong. While we certainly should not ignore scientific research, we do need to take it with a grain of salt. Just because it is accepted as the truth today does not mean it will still be trustworthy tomorrow.
小题1:What does Paragraph 1 want to say?| A．Researchers and scientists are not perfect. | | B．Something that we read may not be true. | | C．Researchers and scientists know everything. | | D．People don’t know whether water is good or bad. |
小题2:What is the reason why Johann Beringer was fooled?| A．His fellow scientists wanted to make fun of him. | | B．His workmates are eager to become famous too. | | C．These scientists made a mistake because of carelessness. | | D．His colleagues envied him and did so to destroy his fame. |
小题3:The excited scientists thought that this Piltdown man ______.| A．was in fact a complex hoax | | B．was a great scientific invention | | C．contributed to the theory of evolution | | D．had the skull like that of an ape |
小题4:What does the underlined phrase “with a grain of salt” in Paragraph 4 mean?| A．Happily. | B．Generally. | C．Doubtfully. | D．Completely. |
小题5:What can we learn from the passage?| A．Hebrew is probably a kind of language. | | B．Truths of science will never be out of time. | | C．People believe scientists because they are persuasive. | | D．We are advised to believe famous scientists. |
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I am a person who doesn’t like waiting. I don’t like to wait in line, being put on hold when making a phone call, or arriving at an apartment to find that my companion will be . And of course, I don’t like waiting rooms.
, I realize that my agony(痛苦) will not be good for me, as an crowded world can only mean one thing – more waiting.
this, I have taken an action and decide to turn my frustration to productive ends. In short, I am looking for what I call “waiting-in-line” .
These are volumes that contain materials for being read in shortened words, so there is no extended story line to lose track of. Another is that they be enough to slip neatly into my back pocket.
The other day I went to the supermarket. that the rain would keep most people away, I was to see that the place was filled with . Every checkout was open – and jammed! But I can my pocket book and go to work.
The more the world demands that I , the more I learn from my waiting library. Look at the followings: One Hundred Things Every American Should Know; The Poetry of Robert Frost; Living Thoughts of Leading Thinkers; Still More Toasts. I have learned interesting and enriching things and much from these books.
On a recent visit to the general store, I placed my order at the along with six or seven people. The old female employee seemed to have her hands full as she rushed . “Young man, just be ,” she said to me.
No problem. I quietly opened my dictionary prose(散文) and poetical quotations. Perhaps the other customers me as a bookish, lonely soul. But did they realize that I was enjoying the of Shakespeare, Thoreau, Homer and Ben Johnson.
| 小题1: | | A．dismissed | B．delayed | C．disappeared | D．delighted |
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| 小题2: | | A．Furthermore | B．However | C．Despite | D．Besides |
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| 小题3: | | A．actually | B．importantly | C．increasingly | D．accurately |
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| 小题4: | | A．Instead of | B．Apart from | C．Rather than | D．Owing to |
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| 小题5: | | A．rooms | B．goods | C．reasons | D．books |
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| 小题6: | | A．searched | B．afforded | C．designed | D．charged |
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| 小题7: | | A．convenience | B．requirement | C．agreement | D．distinction |
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| 小题8: | | A．small | B．pretty | C．active | D．vivid |
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| 小题9: | | A．Believed | B．Determined | C．Puzzled | D．Convinced |
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| 小题10: | | A．surprised | B．worried | C．excited | D．satisfied |
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| 小题11: | | A．shoppers | B．readers | C．employees | D．volunteers |
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| 小题12: | | A．put out | B．set down | C．send for | D．take out |
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| 小题13: | | A．suffer | B．wait | C．watch | D．read |
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| 小题14: | | A．advantage | B．benefit | C．knowledge | D．patient |
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| 小题15: | | A．counter | B．pocket | C．market | D．service |
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| 小题16: | | A．about | B．away | C．over | D．across |
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| 小题17: | | A．polite | B．patient | C．careful | D．helpful |
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| 小题18: | | A．thought | B．looked | C．regarded | D．treated |
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| 小题19: | | A．certainly | B．obviously | C．secretly | D．hardly |
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| 小题20: | | A．relation | B．moment | C．company | D．novel |
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A tent can be one of the more costly items on your camping equipment shopping list. It is definitely something that you need to consider carefully.
By seeing a tent for real you will be able to get a better impression of its size and construction in the traditional shop. However，the downside is that，unless you are experienced，you may miss out some of the details that the manufacturer’s promotional material makes clear. Cheap tents often look similar to the quality models they are mimicking(模仿)，but you can be sure that they use inferior(次的) materials and probably have lower design standards.
Shop staff are often campers themselves. That means they usually can give lots of advice. If a shop assistant agrees with your own conclusions，that will be great；if they try to change your decision with a clear and reasonable argument，then that will be worth considering；if they just try to bamboozle(欺骗)，or even bully，you then walk away.
The Internet is a wonderful tool，and so long as you know how to make the most of search engines and put in a little effort，you really have the perfect answer waiting to be found. That answer will be different for every camper as each of us has different needs. Don’t be surprised to see your favorite criticized somewhere，but if you see too much criticism，then you had better start thinking again. No problem. You won’t have spent anything yet，so think of it positively as a large expense saved.
Probably the best approach，if you have the time，is to research tents online and make a short list. Then try to inspect those tents at nearby shops. Then you can make a final decision on where to buy your chosen model based purely on total cost.
小题1:The underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 2 means “________”．| A．disadvantage | B．instruction | C．argument | D．principle |
小题2:It can be concluded from the third paragraph that________.| A．shop assistants usually enjoy going camping | | B．shop assistants usually have practical advice | | C．you should consider your idea repeatedly | | D．it is impolite for you to trouble shop assistants |
小题3:You can make use of the Internet to________.| A．meet your different needs | | B．find the answer for every camper | | C．help you out of trouble | | D．find your favorite tent |
小题4:Which of the following would be the main idea of this passage?| A．It is good to buy your tent in the traditional shop. | | B．You’d better buy a tent with the help of the Internet. | | C．Better buy a tent combining seeing tents for real in shops and researching them online. | | D．Going camping is really beneficial to your health. |
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A person has to be sixteen to drive, seventeen to see certain movies, and eighteen to vote. People can get terrific discounts on all sorts of stuff－provided they’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we look there are age limits that define what people can and can’t do. But creativity has no boundaries, no limitations. Anyone can invent. And they do. Inventors are popping up at the youngest ages.
Sitting in the car waiting for her mom to return from shopping, Becky decided she might as well try to finish her math homework. But it was growing dark and getting hard to see the paper.
“I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’t want to open the car door because then the whole car would light up.” recalled Becky. “So I thought it would be neat to have my paper light up somehow, and that’s when the idea came to me.”
It isn’t every day that a ten-year-old invents a product eagerly sought by several businesses, but that’s exactly what Becky Schroeder did when she created a tool that enabled people to write in the dark. Her invention? The Glo-sheet.
That night Becky went home, trying to imagine different ways of making her paper glow in the dark. She remembered all sorts of glow-in-the-dark toys－like balls and Frisbees－and wondered how they were made. She was determined to find a solution. So they very next day, Beck’s dad took her on an outing to the hardware store. They returned with a pail (桶) of phosphorescent paint. She took the paint and stacks of paper into the darkest room in the house－the bathroom. There, she experimented.
“I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn it on,” said Becky. “My parents remember me running out the room saying ‘It works, it works! I’m writing in the dark!’ ”
She used an acrylic board and coated it with a specific amount of phosphorescent paint. She took a complicated idea and made it work rather simply. When the coated clipboard is exposed to light, it glows. The glowing board then illuminates or lights up the paper that has been placed on top. Two years after her initial inspiration, in 1974, Becky became the youngest female ever to receive a U.S. patent.
She didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet. She didn’t need to. The New York Times wrote an article about an incredible invention－patented by a twelve-year-old, and the inquiries and orders streamed in.
小题1:From Paragraph 1 , we can draw a conclusion that _________.| A．it is illegal for one to drive under sixteen | | B．people enjoy privileges when over sixty-five | | C．one is never too old or too young to invent | | D．people hate the limitations that define our behavior |
小题2:What caused Becky to invent Glo-sheet?| A．She was trying to do homework when it got dark. | | B．She was having trouble with math problems. | | C．She was trying to earn some money. | | D．She was working on a school project. |
小题3:What is the meaning of the underlined words “phosphorescent paint” in paragraph 5?| A．paint that acts as a glue | | B．paint that covers a mark | | C．paint that becomes hard | | D．paint that glows in the dark |
小题4:What does it mean that Beck “didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet” according to paragraph 8?| A．She kept the original one for her own use. | | B．Other people came to her for the Glo-sheet. | | C．Becky’s father tried to sell the Glo-sheet. | | D．She gave away patent to the government. |
小题5:With which statement would Becky most likely agree?| A．Experience is needed to be a good inventor. | | B．Only by inventing things can you know what people need. | | C．Always try to sell patent rights to large companies. | | D．You never know what you can do unless you try. |
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Many people believe the glare from snow causes snow-blindness. Yet, dark glasses or not , they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snow-blindness, when exposed to several hours of “snow light”. The United States Army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snow-blindness in troops in a snow-covered country. Rather, a man"s eyes frequently find nothing to focus on in a broad expanse of barren (少植被的) snow-covered terrain (地形). So his gaze continually shifts and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding nothing, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become sore and the eye muscles ache. Nature eases this irritation by producing more fluid which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until vision blurs (模糊), then is obscured (遮蔽), and the result is total, even though temporary, snow-blindness.
Experiments led the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts ahead of a main body of troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark colored objects ahead on which they too can focus. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop scouring the snow-blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snow-blind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a solid white terrain is overcome.
小题1:To prevent headaches, watering eyes and blindness caused by the glare from snow, dark
glasses are _________.| A．indispensable and essential | B．useful | C．ineffective | D．available |
小题2:When the eyes are sore tears are produced to _________.| A．balance the pain | B．treat snow-blindness | | C．clear the vision | D．loosen the muscles |
小题3:Snow-blindness may be avoided by _________.| A．concentrating on the solid white terrain | | B．searching for something to look at in snow-covered terrain | | C．providing the eyes with something to focus on | | D．covering the eyeballs with more fluid |
小题4:The scouts shake snow from evergreen bushes in order to _________.| A．prevent the men behind losing their way | | B．beautify the landscape of the terrain | | C．warm themselves in the severe cold | | D．give the men behind something to see |
小题5:A suitable title for this passage would be _________.| A．nature"s cure for snow-blindness | | B．snow-blindness and how to overcome it | | C．soldiers marching in the snow | | D．snow vision and its effect on eyesight |
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