Every people has its own way of saying things, its own special expressions. Many everyday American expressions are on colors.
Red is a hot color. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their color and their fiery taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.
Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pick when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health.
Blue is a cool color. The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful. Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song – Mood Indigo – about the deep blue color, indigo. In the words of the song: “You ain’t been blue till you’ve had that Mood Indigo.” Someone who is blue is very sad.
The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has a sick feeling stomach may say she feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.
Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the color of the back side of the paper money.
The color black is used often in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day. A blacklist is illegal now. But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.If you had your wallet stolen while doing some shopping, you may call it .
| A．a white day | B．a black day | C．a red day | D．a green day |
Suppose a Mr. Brown says he is very happy because his three children are all in the pink, this means all his children are .
| A．lucky and wealthy | B．gentle and modest |
| C．fit and healthy | D．creative and energetic |
When she got home and found nothing had been done by her husband, Jane was really .
| A．red hot | B．green | C．blue | D．black |
In the following paragraph, the writer might tell the reader something about .
| A．unpopular polarizations in the world |
| B．people’ response towards a black day |
| C．the influence of the traditional blues |
| D．more words about color, such as brown |
Once again, I had run away and really did not know why. I walked out of the gate to go to school and then kept walking, and walking, and walking. I was 11years old. It was almost dark; I was tired, cold, and all alone. I had not eaten all day and was afraid to turn myself over the police. I knew I would receive another beating once I returned to the Children’s Home Society. There was nothing for me to do, except keep on walking.
As darkness fell, I entered the darkened area in a city park sat down on a wooden bench hoping to avoid the police cars. It was cold and I began to tremble uncontrollably. All was quiet except for the passing cars in the distance.
“Well, hello young man.” A voice came from behind me. I jumped, almost falling off the park bench. My heart was beating ninety miles per hour. I gasped and I could hardly catch my breath. I looked up and saw a woman standing behind me in the shadows.
“You look cold and hungry,” she said. She took off her scarf, wrapped it around my shoulders and asked me to follow her. We walked about twenty feet, and then stopped under one of the park streetlights.
She held out her hand and said, “Here, you take this letter.” Seeing nothing in her hand., I stood still.
“Reach out and take the letter from my hand,” she insisted. Slowly I reached out, acting as though I was taking something from her hand. “Now hold the paper tightly and take it to any store owner,” she instructed.
I closed my thumb and finger as though I were grasping the letter and began walking toward Five Points. Several blocks down the road, I came to a store with a woman sitting behind a counter. I opened the door, walked in, and stopped directly in front of her. Very slowly I held out my hand toward her. I watched her face to see if she might think I was crazy or something.
She reached out and as her hand touched mine, I opened my tightly closed fingers and stood there waiting. She pulled back, smiled, and looked down at her hands.
She immediately turned and walked to the back of the store. After a while, the woman returned holding a paper plate.
“Here is something for you to eat.” She smiled and signaled to me to eat. Within two or three minutes, I downed the entire plate of food and several Coca Colas.
Before I left, she held out her hand and asked me to take the letter. Again seeing nothing, I held out my hand and closed my thumb and finger as though I were taking something from her. Tightly grasping nothing more than air, I walked out into the street and headed back to the park. The old woman was still there.
“It is really magic. Can I have the letter so I can be magic too?” I asked her.
She reached out, took my hand, and opened my tightly closed fingers. Whatever was being held between my fingers, she took and placed into her apron pocket. “Would you help someone if they were hungry?” she asked me.
“Yes Ma’am.”
“Would you help someone if they were hurt, cold or scared?”
“Yes Ma’am. I would be their friend.”
“You are a very lucky little boy. You will never need the magic letter,” she responded.What can we learn about the boy?
| A．Though lost in the city, he didn’t feel worried or lonely. |
| B．He had nowhere to go and wandered aimlessly in the street. |
| C．He avoided the police for the fear that he would be sent to prison. |
| D．He had to run away because of his bad performance at school. |
What can we infer from paragraph 3?
| A．The boy was out of breath as he did some exercises. |
| B．The boy felt excited at the appearance of the woman. |
| C．The boy was scared by the sudden voice of the woman. |
| D．The boy held his breath, waiting for the woman to come. |
Why does the store owner offer the boy a good dinner?
| A．Because she had great sympathy for him. |
| B．Because she knew the boy and his parents. |
| C．Because he was a kind boy who deserved it. |
| D．Because the woman in the park had paid for it. |
What does the writer want to tell us through the story?
| A．It's better to give than to take. |
| B．Kindness is a universal language. |
| C．Don't cry even if life cheats you. |
| D．Life is full of the getting over of suffering. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．A Kind Woman. | B．A Sleepless Night. | C．A Magic Letter. | D．A Lucky Boy. |
An idea that started in Seattle's public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The idea is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same time.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起）the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book " project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.
In Chicago, the mayor appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighborhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.
The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致）can be achieved .Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point, putting all their energy and passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
As Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word.What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?
| A．To invite authors to guide readers. |
| B．To encourage people to read and share. |
| C．To involve people in community service. |
| D．To promote the friendship between cities. |
Why was it difficult for New Yorkers to carry out the project?
| A．They had little interest in reading. |
| B．They were too busy to read a book. |
| C．They came from many different backgrounds. |
| D．They lacked support from the local government. |
According to the passage, where would the project be more easily carried out?
| A．In large communities with little sense of unity |
| B．In large cities where libraries are far from home |
| C．In medium-sized cities with a large population |
| D．In large towns where agreement can be quickly reached |
The underlined words “shared a word” in Paragraph 5 probably mean .
| A．exchanged ideas with each other |
| B．discussed the meaning of a word |
| C．gained life experience |
| D．used the same language |
According to Nancy, the degree of success of the project is judged by .
| A．the careful selection of a proper book |
| B．the growing popularity of the writers |
| C．the number of people who benefit from reading |
| D．the number of books that each person reads |
Have you got a Facebook account? Are you thinking of getting one? Jamie Simmonds has just signed up. Let's see how she's getting along.
My Diary
MONDAY: I'm officially a Facebooker. I find a few people I used to know and I've soon got seven friends. I've never felt so popular! I wonder if my old university flatmate Steve is on here…What do you know! He is! Maybe Facebook has its uses.
TUESDAY: I've received lots of nice welcoming messages on my wall. Later, I meet up with Steve for a drink after not seeing him for five years. We get on really well! Then, he uses his Facebook app for iPhone to suggest me as a friend to some other former classmates. Some of them even come to the pub and it's just like old times – possibly a bit too much like old times. During the night, photos are uploaded to Facebook.
WEDNESDAY: Disaster! My mum's on Facebook! Has she seen the photos of me dancing on the table last night? Has she shown them to dad? Oh. And I have a friend request – mum again!
THURSDAY: There's a message from my boyfriend, “so, it's over then, is it?” Obviously I haven't changed my settings to show I'm “in a relationship”, and I haven't even added him as a friend. Ah, well, I wonder what my ex-boyfriend is doing… Whoops! I accidentally type his name into my status box instead of the search and now every one can see it on their news feed.
FRIDAY: Time to update my status: “Work is boring. Can't wait for the weekend!” Oh, look, I've received a comment! Someone must feel the same way. Lots of my friends now “like” this status.
SATURDAY: Good news! I've got 100 friends. But wait! Someone has “un-friended” me! I look through my “friend list” to try to work out who it was. Why did they do that? Am I really such a terrible person? I never knew Facebook could be this cruel.
SUNDAY: Wake up. Check my Facebook page. Make coffee. Check my Facebook page again. Get ready to leave. Change my mind and check my Facebook page … again. I am becoming addicted to it! I think it's time to end it all before it takes over my life. I delete my account. Back to good, old, simple e-mails. Oh, look, I've got a message: A friend invited you to join Twitter. . .
In July 2010, Facebook had more than 500 million active users. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. Facebook is translated into more than 70 different languages. The world spends 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook page says he's a Harvard graduate, even though he actually dropped out to focus on Facebook. The site is valued at between $7.9 and $11 billion.Why did Jamie's boyfriend ask her whether she had broken up with him?
| A．He had seen photos of Jamie dancing on the table. |
| B．She showed in her Facebook that she was still not dating anyone. |
| C．Her boyfriend was angry that she refused to add him as her friend. |
| D．He saw the name of her ex-boyfriend on his news feed. |
Which of the following is expressed in this article?
| A．Visiting Facebook website took up a large part of Jamie's time and energy. |
| B．Jamie is enthusiastic about her present job. |
| C．Facebook was created by a Harvard graduate, Mark Zuckerberg. |
| D．Compared with Facebook, Twitter is a better choice for Jamie. |
What does the word “un-friend” mean in “Someone has ‘un-friended' me!”?
| A．Being unfriendly to others. |
| B．Having a quarrel with somebody. |
| C．Removing a name from the friend list. |
| D．Ending friendship with somebody. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage ?
| A．Steve was Jamie's boyfriend in the university. |
| B．People all over the world spend 700 billion minutes a week on Facebook. |
| C．Jamie's mother saw her dancing on the table last night. |
| D．Jamie felt enthusiastic about Facebook at first. |
It can be learned from the passage that the writer's attitude towards Facebook is _________ .
| A．subjective | B．objective | C．negative | D．positive |
There are some topics that readers never grow bored with, and the search for a suitable partner（伴侣） is one of them. Pride and Prejudice（傲慢与偏见）by Jane Austen, first published in 1813, tells the story of five young women, all of whom are looking for a husband. In order to fully understand the novel, the readers must know that at the time when Jane Austen was writing, if a family was not rich, the daughters needed to marry well in order to live a comfortable, independent life. That is the reason why Mrs Bennet, the mother of the five girls, is so eager to have her daughters married.
The heroine of the story is Elizabeth Bennet, and as in all good romantic novels, she and Darcy, the man she finally marries, remain separate until the very end of the story. The wealthy Darcy is a proud, unsociable man, and when Elizabeth hears that he has insulted（侮辱） both her and her family, she dislikes him very much. Poor Darcy then falls head over heels in love with Elizabeth, and has to work terribly hard to persuade her to change her mind about him. He succeeds of course, and they live happily ever after.
Set at the turn of the 19th century, the novel is still attractive to modern readers. It has become one of the most popular novels and receives great attention from literary scholars（学者）.Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramas（戏剧）and a lot of novels and stories modeling(模仿) after Austen’s memorable (难忘的)characters or themes. To date, the book has sold some 20 million copies worldwide.
Jane Austen is rightly famous for her style. Her sentences have a wonderful rhythm（韵律）, and she makes such clever, true comments about people. It is not surprising that Pride and Prejudice has lasted. In the 19th century, a poor girl in Britain was often encouraged to .
| A．master the skills of writing | B．marry the one she loved |
| C．change her life by marrying rich | D．obey her parents |
What do we know about Elizabeth and Darcy?
| A．They both come from poor families and wish to marry rich. |
| B．They’ve experienced ups and downs but get married in the end. |
| C．They get separated from each other shortly after being married. |
| D．Darcy falls over and gets hurt but Elizabeth still loves him. |
According to the passage, Pride and Prejudice _________.
| A．inspired many other novels and many plays have been produced based on it. |
| B．was first published in 1813 and sold 20 million copies soon |
| C．tells a sad love story which moves generations of readers |
| D．is set at the turn of the 19th century and not well received worldwide |
Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels (松鼠), for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.
They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut (黑胡桃) trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.
Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls “death traps for seeds”.
Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their numbers began to decrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.
The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause.The study done by Rob Swihart and Jake Goheen is to ________ .
| A．find out the living conditions for squirrels |
| B．do something to get rid of squirrels |
| C．learn squirrels’ influence on black walnut trees |
| D．save the forests in the American state of Indiana |
The difference between gray squirrels and red squirrels mainly lies in ________ .
| A．the way they gather the walnut |
| B．the place they store the walnuts |
| C．the time they have winter sleep |
| D．the place they have winter sleep |
When Professor Swihart says “death traps for seeds”, he actually means that ________ .
| A．nuts above the ground will not develop into plants |
| B．red squirrels eat more nuts than gray squirrels |
| C．gray squirrels and red squirrels will have severe fights |
| D．seeds can be traps for other animals in the forest |
According to the passage, which of the following is true?
| A．Gray squirrels do more harm to the forest than red squirrels. |
| B．Red squirrels and gray squirrels have helped the spread of walnut trees. |
| C．The cleaning of forest land benefits red squirrels directly. |
| D．The black walnut is equally attractive to both gray and red squirrels. |
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