A metaphor is a poetic device that deals with comparison. It compares similar qualities of two dissimilar objects. With a simple metaphor, one object becomes the other: Love is a rose. Although this does not sound like a particularly rich image, a metaphor can communicate so much about a particular image that poets use them more than any other type of figurative language(修辭). The reason for this is that poets compose their poetry to express what they are experiencing emotionally at that moment. Consequently, what the poet imagines love to be may or may not be love we see it. Therefore, the poet’s job is to enable us to experience it, to feel it the same way as the poet does.
Let’s analyze this remarkably unsophisticated metaphor concerning love and the rose to see what it offers. Because the poet uses a comparison with a rose, first we must examine the characteristics of that flower. A rose is spectacular in its beauty; its petals(花瓣) are nicely soft, and its smell is pleasing. It’s possible to say that a rose is actually a feast to the senses of sight, touch, and smell. The rose’s appearance seems to border on(近似于)perfection, each petal seemingly symmetrical(對(duì)稱(chēng)的) in form. Isn’t this the way one’s love should be? A loved one should be a delight to one’s senses and seem perfect. However, there is another dimension added to the comparison by using a rose. Roses have thorns(刺). The poet wants to convey the idea that roses can be tricky(機(jī)警的). So can love, the metaphor tells us. When one reaches out with absolute trust to touch the object of his or her affection, ouch, a thorn can cause great harm! “Be careful,” the metaphor warns: Love is a feast to the senses, but it can overwhelm us, and it can also hurt us and cause acute suffering. This is the poet’s perception of love--a warning. What is the point? Just this: It took almost 14 sentences to clarify what a simple metaphor communicates in only four words! That is the artistry and the joy of the simple metaphor.
【小題1】According to the passage, what is a metaphor?

A．A comparison between two different objects with similar features.

B．A contrast between two different things to create a vivid image.

C．A description of two similar objects in a poetic way.

D．A literary device specially employed in poetry writing.

【小題2】 The main idea of this passage is that         .

A．rose is a good image in poetry	B．love is sweet and pleasing
C．metaphor is ambiguous	D．metaphor is great poetic device

【小題3】 It can be inferred from the passage that a metaphor is        .

A．difficult to understand

B．rich in meaning

C．not precise enough

D．like a flower

【小題4】 As is meant by the author, thorns of a rose_________.

A．protect the rose from harm	B．symbolize reduced love
C．a(chǎn)dd a new element to the image of love	D．represent objects of one’s affection

【小題5】 The meaning of the love-is–a-rose metaphor is that____________-

A．love is a true joy	B．true love comes once in a lifetime
C．love does not last long	D．love is both good and bad experiences

It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn’t really matter .If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech — “ I have a dream”, you may notice that he stumbles（結(jié)巴）his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don’t remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being imperfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.
【小題1】 The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ______ .

A．be smarter than you

B．notice your mistakes

C．do better than you

D．know what you are talking about

【小題2】 You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ___________.

A．your attention is on the content

B．you don’t fully understand the speech

C．you know what the speaker plans to say

D．you find the way of speech-making more important

【小題3】 It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.

A．giving a speech is like giving a performance

B．one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad

C．the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made

D．the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be

【小題4】 What would be the best title of the passage? 

A．How to Be a Perfect Speaker

B．How to Make a Perfect Speech

C．Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech

D．Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech

【小題5】Which of the following statements is true?

A．If you are careful enough, you can make a perfect speech.

B．Speech-making is a kind of performance.

C．Listeners are not judges and they pay more attention to the message.

D．Martin Luther King is not a good speaker.

The amount of carbon taken in by growing plants increased from 1982 through 1999 as
temperatures rose and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased. But a new study
in Friday ’ s edition of the journal Science found a drought - related decline in such plant growth
from 2000 to 2009，even though temperatures continued to climb.
As drought caused by warming reduces the land ’ s ability to take in carbon，the result could
be more carbon dioxide left in the atmosphere，and thus more warming，Zhao Maosheng from the
University of Montana explained in a telephone interview.
“This is a pretty serious warning that warmer temperatures are not going to endlessly improve
plant growth ’” co - author Steven Running，also from the University of Montana ’ said in a
statement. “ We see this as a bit of a surprise，and potentially significant on a policy level because
previous interpretations suggested global warming might actually help plant growth around the
world, “ he said.
Instead, he and Zhao found a small but measurable decline of about 1%，compared to a6%
increase in the past decade.
Their study，based on the data collected by NASA satellites，found that north areas continued
to increase plant growth，thanks to warmer temperatures and a longer growing season.
Someone commented, "This past decade’ s net decline in earthly productivity suggests that a
complex relationship between temperature, rainfall, cloudiness, and carbon dioxide, probably in
combination with other factors such as nutrients(營(yíng)養(yǎng)）and land management，will determine
future patterns and trends in productivity.，^，
【小題1】From the first paragraph, we can learnin the recent decade or so.

A．the emission(排放)of carbon hasn’ t been reduced

B．draught has been causing loss of soil and water

C．carbon dioxide levels have been rising

D．the rise of temperature doesn' t promote the plant growth

【小題2】Zhao Maosheng really worried that .
E.     more and more land will be abandoned
F.    the climate becomes warmer and warmer
G.   the emission of carbon dioxide increases
H.   draught further reduces the number of the plants
【小題3】Steven Running made his statement to  .
I.      confirm Zhao' s views on the influence of temperature rise
J.     urge the government to take necessary measures
K.    warn the people to strengthen the plant protection
L.    support Zhao* s views on lhe plant production
【小題4】We can infer from the passage that  .

A．global warming will determine the future productivity

B．various factors play a key role jointly on future productivity

C．earthly productivity actually increased in the past decade

D．temperature rise has had no effect on future producticity patterns

The Touchstone
When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for very little money.
The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”! The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.
The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.
The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are careful, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand, and it’s just as easy to throw it away.
【小題1】The man bought the book because _____________.

A．he wanted to read it	B．it was very interesting
C．there was a secret in the book	D．he wanted to find the touchstone

【小題2】We can learn from the passage that the touchstone is _________.

A．pure

B．cold

C．magic

D．big

【小題3】Why did the man throw the pebbles into the sea?

A．Because he didn’t want to get the same pebbles.

B．Because he didn’t want others to pick them up.

C．Because he didn’t like their ordinary looks.

D．Because he didn’t like the cold feelings.

【小題4】What does the author want to tell us in the passage?

A．We should offer opportunities in our life.

B．We should seek for opportunities in the world.

C．We may seize opportunities when we are watchful.

D．We may discover opportunities when forming habits.

Tourism probably started in Roman times. Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman Empire. But when the empire broke down, this kind of tourism stopped.
In the early 17^th century, the idea of the “Grand Tour” was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel（英吉利海峽）. They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The “Grand Tour” was an important part of young people’s education---but only for the rich.
In the 18^th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to “take the waters”. They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns.
In the 19^th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s, it was easier for people to travel towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier.
Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to faraway countries.
The 20^th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them.
Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything---plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food----and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born.
The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949. But tourism did not take off until 1978. In 2002, the industry was 500 billion yuan and became an important part of China’s social development.
【小題1】 In the early times, the travelers _____.

A．a(chǎn)ll came from Roman	B．were very young and strong
C．had lots of money	D．traveled by boat

【小題2】 Which is NOT true about “Grand Tour”?

A．It was a long journey.	B．The young men learned a lot from it.
C．Those who took the tour weren’t rich.	D．Most of its destinations were in Europe.

【小題3】 _____ played the most important role in the tourism development.

A．Education

B．Money

C．Transportation

D．People’s ideas

【小題4】 Modern tourism was born _______.

A．in 1949

B．in Roman times

C．in the early 17th century

D．in the early 19th century

【小題5】The underlined phrase “take off” in the last paragraph means ______.

A．a(chǎn) plane rising into the air	B．develop very fast
C．remove hats and clothes	D．bring down the prices

Dear Michelle:
Why can't my daughter manage her life better? She is 17 and an honor student, but she seems to be wasting her life away with a boyfriend who is holding her back.
He consumes every waking, minute of her precious time and smooth-talks her as well.
His goal is to get her to agree to go to the college of his choice, not her choice, and because his grades are lower, his choice will be limited.
I feel like I want to rescue her, but she pushes me away and shuts me out. She has only brought us pride and joy; and now this! Help!
A worried mother
Dear Mother of a 17-year-old Girl:
Hmmmmm. What's the matter with kids today? Remember that song from "Bye Bye
Birdie"?
Well if you do not, let me fill you in about teenagers and their life-management skills.Do not expect too much too soon because at the ripe age of 17, life-management is not within their reach, not should it be.
Life experience creates both the conditions and the skills for management, and if management went before experiene, there would be tittle of it.
Your daughter is an honor student for good reasons. She is smart, studies with
intelligence and you have given her good Values.
When the time comes for her to apply for college, and she visit the ones that were specifically desigened for student the top of their grade, she will most likely break away from her boyfriend's influenee.
It is rare for an honor student to change the path of their academic career for puppy love. That being said, them might be some adoldscent wisdom in her behavior after all.
Perhaps she is choosing to worry you, her parents, for unconscious reasons. Being such a good girl and being a steady source of joy might have become a bit too much for her.
Let your daughter have her own private moment of 11^th grade rebellion. She deserves a break from perfection.
Michelle
【小題1】From the mother's letter we can learn that her daughter             

A．is being fooled by the boy	B．has fallen behind in her studies
C．doesn't talk much with her mother	D．has chosen which college to attend

【小題2】 According to Michelle; 17-year-teenagers              .

A．a(chǎn)re too young to manage their life

B．a(chǎn)re old enough to live their own life

C．should have managemnent before experience

D．have reached the age of an adult

【小題3】 The underlined word"puppy-love"refer to          

A．false love

B．foolish love

C．pure love

D．a(chǎn)dolescent love

【小題4】Michelle seems to believe that the daughter will finally          

A．come up with the right decision

B．follow her boyfriend's advice

C．worry her parents for unconscious reasons

D．influence her boyfriend's behavior

【小題5】 The best title for the passage would be          

A．College of kids' own choice

B．How can I help my girl?

C．How to manage teenagers' life?

D．A 17-year-old girl and her mother

After our early morning wake-up, we are still a couple of
hours away from the overlooks.It is pitch black.I can feel the
heavy humid fog left behind my last night's rain. This is why
the tour memo listed "flashlight". Unfortunately; the majority
of our hiking party of nine must have missed the memo, so we
have only four flashlights between us.
An hoar later,we are on the trail. It is dark, foggy, wet and the rocks are alippery.We alternate places between the flashlights "haves" and "have-nots". As we march, the only voices heard are from the "haves": "Step up, step down, watch out for the rock on your left."
We reach Intipunku with only 15 minutes to spare. The view at sunrise is not what we were told in the travel brochures. Three feet in front of our faces is a white substance called "fog".
As we walk towards the Machu Picchu ruins, my anticipation is mounting. When will the fog lift? Slowly, as if someone is cranking up a curtain, Huayna Picchu begins to appear,overlooking Machu Picchu. First there are fleeting glimpses, and then finally, there is, in its full splendor.
When I envisioned going to Machu Picchu, I always thought of mysterious ruins and the famous postcard picture looking toward Huayna Picchu. But there is more to this man-made / natural wonder of the World. It is the adventure of getting there. I knew I wanted to experience the feel of the Inca culture and the energy of this sacred valley, I also knew I didn't want to take the train, but needed to hike. Depending on your starting point,the Inca Trail is 25 to 33miles of semi-arid desert, breathless mountain passes and stunning tropical cloud forest. Our hike took us four nights and 25 miles to finish.
Our local guide MaurO keeps telling us "no worries, the hike is 90 percent mental and only 10 percent physical. "I am not convinced that the physical percentage is correct, but I definitely become more and more excited as we are now getting closer to Machu Picchu.By getting myself into good shape, running 20 miles and hiking a 500-foot-high hill five to seven times per week before I left for Peru, I was able to enjoy the beauty of the hike and not worry much about aching muscles and lungs.
【小題1】 About flashlights, which of the following statements is true?

A．The local guide had asked them to take flashlights for the hike.

B．They had taken enough flashlights for the hike.

C．Before they got to Intipunku, they depended a lot on their flashlights.

D．They used flashlights all the time.

【小題2】 Put the following events into the right order.
a. They reached Intipunku,
b. They read the travel brochures.
c. They walked on the trail in the dark.
d. They advanced to get closer to Maehu Picchu.
e. They enjoyed the splendor of Huayna Picchu.

A．ebade

B．bacde

C．a(chǎn)bced

D．bcaed

【小題3】 What does the underlined word "anticipation" in Paragraph Four mean?

A．expectation

B．excitement

C．disappointment

D．enthusiasm

【小題4】 What can NOT be inferred from the text?

A．The writer made good preparation for the tour.

B．The Inca Trail took them four nights.

C．Machu Picchu is in the country of Peru.

D．They reached Intipunku ahead of time.

【小題5】 According to the writer, what attracted him most in the tour?

A．Mysterious ruins.	B．The famous post-card picture.
C．The hiking.	D．The Inca culture.

The Harvard Student—led Walking Tour
Let a student show you Harvard···on a free walking tour．
We welcome our neighbours to stop by the Harvard University Events＆Information Centre,
located in the Holyoke Centre Arcade at 1350 Massachusetts Avenue in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge．
Let a student take you and your family, school，or organization on an engaging，hour-long free historical tour of the Harvard Campus. The tours leave from the Events＆Information Centre．Not only will you discover the location of fascinating exhibition and programmers on campus，you will also see Harvard’s rich sampling of American history and architecture from the Colonial period to the present.
Schedule of Tours
Tours leave the Events＆Information Centre at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday through the academic year (February4 through May 2；September 23 through December 16).Summer tours(June 24 through August 15)are offered at 10 a.m.,11：15 a. m．，2p.m．，and 3：15 p.m. Monday through Saturday．Reser—vacations for special tours of 20 or more people may be made by calling the Events＆Information Centre at (617)495-1573 or emailing icenter@ camail Harvard, edu. Tours are suspended March23 through April2 for Spring Break．May3 through June23 for Spring intercession(禱告),and August16 through September 22 for Summer intercession．
NOTE：Prospective(未來(lái)的)students may take tours originating at the Harvard Admission Office, located at Byerly Hall on 8 Garden Street in Cambridge．From April through August，the Admissions staff conducts an information session at l0a.m. followed by an 11 a.m. tour．Monday through Friday On Saturdays．there is no information session but the 11 a．m．tour is still scheduled．Another session is held year-round at 2 p.m. with a 3 p.m. tour following. For more information on tours for prospective students，please call at(617)495-1551．
Harvard University Events＆Information Centre
Location：Holyoke Centre Arcade．1350 Massachusetts Avenue，Cambridge MA 02138
Phone：(617)495-1573
【小題1】A person can join in a tour at ________on Saturday through the academic year．

A．10 a.m.

B．2 p.m.

C．11：15 a.m.

D．3：15 p.m.

【小題2】If you want to go for an information session, you can go on __________.

A．May 2

B．June 23

C．August 20

D．September 1

【小題3】A student who wants an information session may _________for more information．

A．call (617)495-1573	B．call (617)495-1551
C．email icenter@ camail. Harvard.edu.	D．go to the Events＆Information Centre

【小題4】The above ad．is mainly intended for________．

A．foreign visitors	B．freshmen
C．high school students	D．those living near Harvard University

There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They probably came about just to give children something to do .
In the ancient world , as is today ,most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another .In societies where social roles are rigidly determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls are being prepared, even in play , to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world .
What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same . The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship ,mechanics, and technology . It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing .In Egypt ,America ,China ,Japan and among the Arctic (北極的)people, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Variations depended on local customs and way of life because toys imitate their surrounding. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles.
Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize inventions for adult use .The progress from the wheel to the cart to the automobile is a direct line of ways up. The progress from a rattle (拔浪鼓) used by a baby in 3000BCto one used by an infant today , however , is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the times and subject to the limitations of available materials.
【小題1】The reason why the toys most boys play with are different from those that girls play with is that       .

A．their social roles are rigidly determined

B．they like challenging activities

C．most boys would like to follow their fathers’ professions

D．boys like to play with their fathers while girls with their mothers.

【小題2】One aspect of “the universality of toys ”lies in the fact that          .

A．the basic characteristics of toys are the same all over the world

B．technological advances have greatly improved the durability of toys

C．the exploration of the universe has led to the creation of new kinds of toys

D．the improvement of craftsmanship in making toys depends on the efforts of universities

【小題3】Which of the following is the author’s view on the historical development of toys?

A．Toys are playing an increasingly important role in shaping a child’s character.

B．The toy industry has witnessed great leaps in technology in recent years.

C．The craftsmanship in toy-making has remained essentially unchanged.

D．Toys have remained basically the same all through the centuries.

【小題4】Regarded as a kind of art form, toys          .

A．reflect the pace of social progress

B．a(chǎn)re not characterized by technological progress

C．follow a direct line of ascent

D．a(chǎn)lso appeal greatly to adults

A friend of mine, in response to a conversation we were having about the injustices of life ,asked me the question,“Who said life was going to be fair, or that it was even meant to be fair?” Her question was a good one. It reminded me of something I was taught as a youngster :life isn’t fair. It’s a disappointment, but it’s absolutely true .One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others ,thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be .It’s not and it won’t be .
One of the nice things about surrendering (屈從)to the fact that life isn’t fair is that it keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have . We know it’s not “l(fā)ife’s job ”to make everything perfect :it’s our own challenge .Surrendering to this fact also keeps us from feeling sorry for others because we are reminded that everyone is dealt a different hand ; everyone has unique strengths and problems in the process of growing up, facing the reality and making decisions; and everyone has those times that they feel unfairly treated.
The fact that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives or the world as a whole. To the contrary , it suggests that we should .When we don’t recognize or admit that life isn’t fair ,we tend to feel pity for others and for ourselves .Pity ,of course ,is a self –defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone ,except to make everyone feel worse than they already do .When we do recognize that life isn’t fair, however ,we feel compassion (熱情)for others and for ourselves. And compassion is a heartfelt emotion that delivers loving-kindness to everyone it touches .The next time you find yourself thinking about the injustices of the world, try reminding yourself of this very basic fact .You may be surprised that it can make you out of self-pity and into helpful action.
【小題1】The writer thought of his friend’s question as a good one because          .

A．he also wanted to know who held such an opinion

B．it made him recall something during his childhood

C．like his friend , he also thought life was unfair

D．he learned something from the question as a youngster

【小題2】The second paragraph of the passage mainly tells us that          .

A．it’s nice to accept the injustice of life	B．it’s nice to surrender to life
C．we should not feel sorry for everything	D．we should not surrender to life

【小題3】From the passage, we can learn that the author’s attitude to life is          .

A．negative

B．positive

C．self-pity

D．indifferent

【小題4】Which of the following could be the best title of the text ?

A．A Helpful Action: Try to Feel Compassion	B．A Good Question: Why Life Isn’t Fair
C．Do Our Best to Improve Ourselves	D．Surrender to the Fact That Life Isn’t Fair