What makes a house a home?
Not size, of course. I’ve been in some of the grandest houses in America and it’s readily apparent no one lives there. Earlier this year in a mud hut in Ethiopia, where we sat on chairs next to the hostess’s bed—a home that had more warmth than any house I’ve been in since.
Now John Edwards is exploring what makes a house a home in his just-released book-- The Blueprints of Our Lives. There Edwards writes, “ This is a book about homes, the values they rest on, the dreams they are filled with, and the people they have shaped. The houses and circumstances (环境) are different, but much of what you find inside will be familiar.”
Whether you’re sitting in an airport right now, waiting to fly to your childhood home for Thanksgiving, or in your own home waiting for the relatives to arrive, you know what he’s talking about.
We’ve lived in our townhouse for 21 years--the loose windows that make noise in the wind, the fireplace so shallow it holds only one log, the kitchen window that offers a view of the world passing by. It is where friends sit on the kitchen counter drinking wine while dinner is being fixed. I lived there for only 18, but it will always be my true home. Even the lamp in the west living room window, which I could see far down the road when driving home late at night, still shines.
While all this talk about childhood memories can be warm and comforting, home is whom you’re with, not where you are. As Edwards writes, “ Home is family. Home is safety. Home is faith.”
69. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Home means everything B. What’s inside makes us feel at home
C. Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives D. The importance of Houses
70. The purpose of the second paragraph is to _________.
A. mean the author likes living in grandest houses
B. prove the author got along with the hostess
C. mean the feeling of a home isn’t related to the size
D. show the author’s different feelings about houses
71. We know that The Blueprints of Our Lives ________
A. is the description of Edwards’s houses
B. is mainly about houses
C. helps us to understand the concept of home
D. is written by the author of the text
72. According to the text, which of the following can make a house a home?
A. The atmosphere you feel B. The color of the walls
C. The number of family members D. The position of the home
English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world’s books and three quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary—perhaps as many as two million words.
However, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no eggs in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes ( 探讨它的矛盾)， we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.
And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural(复数形式) of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be teeth? One goose, two geese—so one moose, two meese?
How can a slim chance and a flat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects( 反映) the creativity of human beings. That’ why, when stars are invisible. And why , when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.According to the passage ______.
| A．sweet-meats and sweetbreads are different things |
| B．there should be an egg in an eggplant |
| C．pineapples are the apples on the pine tree |
| D．boxing rings should be round |
Which of the following is the correct plural?
| A．Beeth | B．Greese | C．Meese | D．Tooth |
Which of the following includes two items which have the similar meaning?
| A．A wise man and a wise guy | B．Overlook and oversee |
| C．Quite a lot and quite a few. | D．Hot as hell and cold as hell. |
The underlined words “wind up” in the last paragraph probably mean “___”.
| A．blow | B．roll up | C．get hurt | D．finish |
Through the many paradoxes in the English language, the writer wants to show that human beings are _______.
| A．clever | B．crazy | C．lazy | D．dull |
There is no doubt that music plays a powerful role in our lives. It can calm our tired nerves after a busy day of work. Music even has the power to move us to tears when it stirs(激起) an emotional reaction. How then, does music play a role in special education?
If music has the ability to touch those hidden places we all carry inside, it proves an important tool for the special education teacher. For students with emotional problems, music can help soothe(抚慰) sadness. Consider the child that arrives in class depressed and upset. If music can indeed relax and calm him, he is more likely to focus and participate in class.
Dr. R. Joseph, author of Behavioral Neurology, writes, “It is well recorded that patients with left hemisphere(大脑半球) damage, who may be unable to speak or recognize words, can sing a melody(曲调).”
For this reason, some special education teachers have found it helpful to set their lessons to music. When students cannot understand or remember certain things, singing them helps make it easier.
Nature magazine reported “Music training helps underachievers. In Rhode Island, researchers studied eight public school first grade classes. Half of the classes became ‘text-arts’groups, receiving ongoing music training. After seven months, the students were given a test. The tested group had caught up with their fellow students in reading and surpassed(超过) their classmates in math by 22 percent. In the second year of the project, the tested students widened this even further. Students were also tested on attitude and behavior. Classroom teachers also noted improvement in these areas.”
It seems music does, indeed, play an important role in education. For the special education teacher, this is especially encouraging.The first paragraph is mainly about _______.
| A．the role of music in education |
| B．the importance of music in life |
| C．the relationship between music and work results |
| D．the relationship between music and behavior |
For students with emotional problems, music might be _______.
| A．a toy | B．a punishment | C．a medicine | D．a puzzle |
According to Dr. R. Joseph, people with left hemisphere damage _______.
| A．are unable to recognize people |
| B．can produce some musical sounds |
| C．can become special education teachers |
| D．might suffer right hemisphere damage too |
The tested students mentioned in the fifth paragraph _______.
| A．behaved badly after the study |
| B．Didn’t show any difference after the study |
| C．had done well in their reading and math before |
| D．received certain music education during the study |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The meaning of special education. |
| B．The history of music education. |
| C．The problem in music education. |
| D．The role of music in special education |
I was packed and ready to leave for my two days’ trip. My mind had been filled with work and with so many small things to deal with. As I got into the car to leave, my thoughts turned to my children. I’d been preparing for the trip for the last few days, and now I’d be away for a few days.
How to keep in touch with you
r kids during busy time is often a father’s problem. Men tend to focus on one thing extremely well for long periods, but this can lead to trouble. Shifting(移开) from work to your family life isn't always the easiest thing to do. And if you don’t show your kids that you’re thinking about them, they may think that you are not.
As I started down the road, I suddenly stopped the car and turned around. I drove back to my house, found a couple of cards, and wrote a short message to each of my children. I put each in a “secret” place where I knew they’d find it.
When I called the next night, it was clear that they’d received the cards. “Daddy, I got your card,” they both said excitedly. “When did you do that?”
My heart was warmed when I heard this. It was such a small thing. But it had a big impact(影响) on my kids. It was their “proof” that I was thinking about them. And it was encouragement for me to continue to do the small things that have a big impact. From the passage we can infer that the author thinks a father should _____
_.
| A．care for his kids, no matter how busy he is |
| B．have a big impact on his kids |
| C．spend some time playing with his kids |
| D．stay at home as long as possible |
Before leaving for the trip the author considered ________.
| A．preparing some food for the trip |
| B．buying some nice gifts for his children |
| C．doing something to show his concern for his kids |
| D．telling his children to be careful at home |
The author’s kids were excited when they answered the phone because _______.
| A．their father had thought highly of them |
| B．they had found the cards from their father |
C．they had done  something good at home |
| D．their father told them he would be back soon |
What does the underlined word “that” in the fourth paragraph refer to?
| A．Packing luggage. |
| B．Reaching the hotel. |
| C．Writing short messages. |
| D．Going back home. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．All for the children |
| B．Play with your children |
| C．A father and his kids |
| D．Show love to your kids |
American is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side
feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while—then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their
holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time.Sometimes , we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine (常规). They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome w
ill be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!The writer of this passage must be ____.
| A．an American | B． a Chinese | C．a professor | D．a student |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their family. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last t
wo paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friends, we will probably be ___.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport | B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home | D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
From the underlined sentence, we can know the Chinese people ____.
| A．are strict with time | B．don’t take time seriously |
| C．don’t know how to use time | D．are willing to spend time for friends |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “____”
| A．Friendships between Chinese | B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’ hospitality | D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendship |
After moving to the United States, immigrant group
s trying to fit in tend to choose high calorie fatty foods in an attempt to appear more American，a new study finds．That's one reason why immigrants approach US levels of obesity within 15 years of moving to America．
The researchers also did an experiment that measured whether or not the threat of appearing un-American influenced respond
ents' food choices．After being questioned about their ability to speak English，75 perce
nt of Asian-Americans identified a typical American food as their favorite. Only 25 percent of Asian-Americans who had not been asked if they spoke English did the same.
When their American identity was called into question during a follow-up study, Asian-American participants also tended to choose typical American dishes，such as hamburgers and cheese sandwiches．In that experiment, 55 Asian-Americans were asked to choose a meal from a local Asian or American restaurant. Some participants were told that only Americans could participate in the study. Those who chose the more typical American fare ended up consuming an extra 182 calories，including 12 grams of fat and 7 grams of saturated fat（饱和脂肪）.
"People who feel like they need to prove they belong to a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in，"said Sauna Cheryan，an author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington." If immigrants and their children choose unhealthy American foods over healthier traditional foods across their lives，this process of fitting in could lead to poorer health." Cheryan added．
Social pressures，the study concluded, are at the heart of the problem．"In American society today, being American is associated with being white．Americans，who don't fit this image even if they were born here and speak English，feel that pressure to prove that they're American," said Cheryan．The author wants to show that __________.
| A．more and more Asians enjoy high-calorie snacks |
| B．immigrants tend to eat American junk food to fit in |
| C．most Americans are at the risk of heart disease |
| D．all the American people have a bad eating habit |
According to the survey, __________.
| A．Asian-Americans care less about their health |
| B．25 percent of Americans like junk food |
| C．choosing food is related to Asian-Americans' situation |
| D．immigrants are forced to eat junk food |
The underlined word "fare" in Paragraph 4 most probably means" __________".
| A．food offered as a meal | B．a person taking a taxi |
| C．money spent on food | D．an arranged thing to do |
According to Sauna Cheryan, __________.
| A．what immigrants have done is ridiculous |
| B．American traditional foods are healthier |
| C．immigrants risk their health in order to fit in |
| D．American culture affects immigrants deeply |
Which of the following should take the blame for the bad eating habit?
| A．The situation of employment. | B．The traditional culture. |
| C．The American government. | D．The pressures from society. |
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