Hallmark arrived in my hometown of Calcutta, India when I was 16. On Valentine’s Day(情人节), I waited in line with many other teenagers just for a chance to get into the store. I remember wishing two things. One of them is that the good-looking boy whom I could see through the store window was picking out a gift for me. Unfortunately, Valentine’s Day passed and I received nothing but a lecture from my father on how Western capitalism(资本主义) was ruining your culture.
The next Valentine’s Day, I still didn’t have a boyfriend, but I did receive a greeting card from a secret admirer. I can’t remember what it exactly said inside the card, but it hardly mattered. I know I’m not the only one who’s had the blues because of being single on Valentine’s Day.
It’s not just on Valentine’s Day that I’m reminded of these feelings. One night, my friend and I were at the subway station in New York City waiting for the local to arrive. The station was mostly full of college students, and later an older couple walked in. Just at that moment, a street musician started playing She’s Only a Woman to Me. The couple began dancing around the station and lost in their own world. On the train, I found myself recalling the time when I was with a date at the subway station, and there he picked me up in his arms like I was a ballerina(芭蕾舞女演员).
My view of romance has changed from when I was 16 in Calcutta to now, 23, and living in Manhattan. This year, I won’t focus all my romantic expectations on one particular day. I’ll spend Valentine’s Day with friends in New York City. But I won’t try to hide somewhere or turn off my cellphone. Instead, I’ll help my coupled-up friends pack for their weekend trips to Rome.The underlined word “Hallmark” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to a .
| A．city | B．street | C．store | D．man |
We can infer that in the opinion of the writer’s father .
| A．his daughter should have received a gift |
| B．people in India shouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day |
| C．people in India should welcome Western culture |
| D．his daughter should know more about capitalism |
According to Paragraph 2, if someone has the blues, he or she is probably .
| A．lucky | B．angry | C．excited | D．sad |
What is implied in the passage?
| A．The writer now has a boyfriend. |
| B．The writer now is afraid of Valentine’s Day. |
| C．The writer will go to Rome with her coupled-up friends. |
| D．The writer’s attitude towards Valentine’s Day has changed. |
The next time you get caught jumping on your bed you can tell your parents with a straight face that you are not playing, simply getting ready got a promising career in “Mattress Jumping”. Believe it or not, there are some people who actually get paid to do that! According to Reuben Reynoso, a professional mattress tester at San Francisco’s McRoskey Mattress Factory that still makes every mattress by hand, it is real work and needs some training. For a start, it’s not all about jumping to new heights or doing tricks like professional athletes, but rather about feeling each area of the mattress carefully to detect the filling. In order to do it right, every bit of the mattress has to be tested slowly and deliberately.
Over the years, Reynoso has figured out the perfect routine. He begins by placing a protective mat over the mattress so that it doesn’t get dirty or absorb the smell from his feet. Then begins the fun---he steps to the middle of an edge and then takes five steps back and five steps forward. In this way, he slowly but surely, covers the entire surface. The key according to him is to find the perfect number of jumps---Too many and he will end up destroying the mattress completely. Too few? And it will not fit into the giant machine for that final sewing! Who knew a job that sounds so simple could have so many skills!
While Reuben will not reveal how he got into this profession, he will admit that it is more fun than being a carpenter, roofer, construction worker and railroad engineer---all jobs he has tried previous to finding his true profession!We learn from the text that the McRoskey Mattress Factory ______.
| A．is the world’s oldest mattress factory |
| B．make mattresses for sports |
| C．produces mattresses by hand |
| D．hires athletes as mattress testers |
The protective mat is used to ______.
| A．prevent the tester getting hurt |
| B．keep the mattress as clean as possible |
| C．protect the mattress from being destroyed |
| D．make the mattress fit into the sewing machine |
According to Reynoso, the most important thing in his work is ______.
| A．the timing of his jumps |
| B．the height of his jumps |
| C．the number of his jumps |
| D．the frequency of his jumps |
We can learn from the text that Reynoso ______.
| A．has been injured several times in his work |
| B．liked mattress jumping in his childhood |
| C．didn’t choose mattress testing as his first job |
| D．dreamt about becoming a jumping athlete |
Four days after Dad’s 67th birthday, he had a heart attack. Luckily, he survived. But something inside him had died. His enthusiasm for life was gone. He refused to follow doctor’s orders, and his sour attitude made everyone upset when they visit him. Dad was left alone.
So I asked Dad to come to live with me on my small farm, hoping the fresh air would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated. Something had to be done.
One day I read an article which said when given dogs, depressed patients would be better off. So I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. As soon as I got there, a pointer’s eyes caught my attention. They watched me calmly.
A staff member said: “He got here two weeks ago and we’ve heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow.”
I turned to the man in horror. “You mean you’re going to kill him?”
“Ma’am,” he said gently. “We don’t have room for every unclaimed dog.”
The police’s calm brown eyes awaited my decision. “I’ll take him,” I said.
I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. I was helping it out of the car when Dad walked onto the front porch. “Look what I got you!” I said excitedly.
Dad wrinkled his face. “I don’t want it,” he muttered, turning back towards the house. Then, suddenly, the dog pulled free from my grasp. He sat down in front of my Dad.
Dad’s anger melted, and soon he was hugging the dog.
This was the beginning of a warm friendship. Dad named the dog Cheyenne. Together they spent long hours walking down dusty lanes and relaxing on the banks of streams.
Dad’s bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne went on to make many friends. Then, late one night two years later, I felt Cheyenne’s cold nose burrowing (搜寻) through my bed covers. He had never before come into my bedroom at night. I ran into my father’s room and found that he had passed away.
Two days later, my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad’s bed. As I buried him near their favorite stream, I silently thanked the dog for restoring Dad’s peace of mind.After the author’s father survived the heart attack, he ______.
| A．ignored everyone who visited him |
| B．became unpleasant toward other people |
| C．was left alone to get full rest |
| D．no longer wanted to live |
Why did the author take the pointer home?
| A．It was a type that is known for its friendliness. |
| B．Its eyes made her think it was the best dog available. |
| C．It was good at getting people’s attention and entertaining them. |
| D．It caught her attention right away and she didn’t want it to be killed. |
From the last two paragraphs we can conclude that _______.
| A．the author’s father and Cheyenne formed a real connection |
| B．friendship and care is much more efficient than the medicine |
| C．more attention should be given to old people |
| D．dogs are so loyal that they usually die for their friends |
Which section of a newspaper is the source of the passage?
| A．Friends | B．Entertainment |
| C．Education | D．Health |
My name’s Geoffrey Chaucer. It was 16th April 1386, and I was in London at an inn in Southwark. Tomorrow I would go to Canterbury, to the shrine (圣地) of Saint Thomas Becket, together with twenty-nine other people. Before I say more, I want to tell you about some of the people with me.
First there was a knight, a good man who fought well and knew many different countries. He was a true friend to everyone, and always helped people when they needed it. His clothes were old, dark, and dirty from many years of fighting.
Then there was a businessman with an expensive hat on his head. The man, who looked wealthier than he truly was, always said, “I’m doing very well.” A very quick thinker, he talked about ships and the sea a lot, and showed much interest in changing money from different countries.
After the businessman came a franklin (乡绅) with a white beard. He asked people from near and far to visit him at home as he liked eating and drinking and having a good time with others. He was an important man, he knew right from wrong, and people listened to him.
There was a woman from Bath. Her face was open, and nice-looking, but she couldn’t hear very well. In her red dress, she was a big woman with a big smile and big teeth, laughing a lot and talking easily. She knew all about love.
So there we were, all thirty of us, at the inn. The landlord, a tall fat man, brought us the best dinner in London. He would also join our journey tomorrow. After we finished eating, the landlord smiled, suggesting “We’re going to Canterbury tomorrow, and that’s four days from here. One by one, let’s all tell a story on the road to make the time go quicker. And to the teller of the best story we can give a free dinner here at my inn when we get back. What do you say?” We all said “yes” happily to him. Then the question for us was: Who goes first?Which of the following can be described as kind-hearted?
| A．The knight. | B．The businessman. |
| C．The franklin. | D．The woman. |
Which is TRUE of the people described in the text?
| A．The knight always wore very expensive clothes. |
| B．The franklin usually spent time on his own. |
| C．The woman was deaf and loved the red color. |
| D．The businessman was not as rich as he seemed. |
The underlined sentence most probably means “______”.
| A．Who will be the first to be served at the inn |
| B．Who will be the first to tell a story on the road |
| C．Who will go at the front of the traveling group |
| D．Who will be the leader of the traveling group |
According to the text, Chaucer would probably arrive in Canterbury on ______.
| A．April 19th | B．April 20th |
| C．April 24th | D．April 28th |
Movies coming soon
The Croods
Length of time:1 hour 32 minutes
Style: Family, Action
Release date(上映日期): November 22, 2014
Directors: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds
Summary
A prehistoric family are forced to flee their cave after it’s destroyed by a disaster that threatens to change their lives forever in this animated(动画制作的) film featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone.As a protective caveman father leads his family out of harm’s way, the clan(家族) crosses paths with a clever teen named Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds), who offers to help them reach a distant land where they will be safe from a terrible disaster that will soon change the entire world.
Admission
Length of time: 1 hour 47 minutes
Style: Comedy
Release date: November 22, 2014
Director: Paul Weitz
Starring: Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Nat Wolff
Summary
Tina Fey and Paul Rudd star in director Paul Weitz’s comedy about an honest Princeton admissions officer.The officer meets a teenager who may be her long-lost son while recruiting(招收) students from an alternative high school.Years ago, Portia Nathan(Fey) quietly gave her newborn son up for adoption.Now she’s got a great career recruiting students for Princeton university.Then, one day, she receives an unexpected call from her close college classmate John Pressman(Rudd), who runs an alternative high school that is home to some very gifted students.One such student is Jeremiah(Nat Wolff), who John believes could be the son that Portia gave up for adoption back in her youth.Meanwhile, as Portia puts her career in danger by changing Jeremiah’s transcript(成绩单), an unexpected love story begins to happen.Who is a film director?
| A．Paul Weitz. | B．Emma Stone. |
| C．Paul Rudd. | D．Nicolas Cage. |
In the movie The Croods, the escaping family is led by____________.
| A．Ryan Reynolds | B．a smart teen |
| C．the father | D．the mother |
It can be inferred that John Pressman____________.
| A．is played by Nat Wolff |
| B．has adopted Portia’s child. |
| C．changes Jeremiah’s transcript |
| D．knows about Portia’s experience |
In which section of a newspaper can we most probably read the text?
| A．New movies. | B．Movie reviews. |
| C．Adventure movies. | D．Movie Stars. |
Cursive(草书) writing is about to become extinct.Do we raise the red flag? To teach or not to teach cursive writing is a question that several state education departments are meeting with.
Before you read this text, do a simple exercise.Pick a pen and paper and start writing in cursive.Yes, that fancy handwriting that you learned in grade school.You may not have forgotten the good times you had while writing curly(弯曲的) Ms and Ns.However, the chances are that you won’t be able to write it as excellently as you used to.Some people are good at making the perfect curls, while some are bad.I am still terrible at it.
Cursive writing is hardly used by kids anymore as even adults don’t write in this style, unless they are using it for their signature.Learning it was a usual practice in school for several decades.However, in 2011, the Indiana Department of Education made it optional(可选择的) for schools to teach cursive writing to the students.In fact, there are 46 more states that have also done the same.
There are some who believe that it is high time for cursive writing to retire from school curriculum.After all, if we don’t leave the past behind, we cannot make way for new things.If you walk into any classroom, you would find children using keyboards to communicate in the written form.On the other hand, fans of cursive writing insist on its usefulness.They remind us that if we stop teaching and learning cursive writing in school, very soon most of our historical documents will become hard to us.Where do we stand on this subject? Is it the right time to erase an almost forgotten writing style and live in the keyboarding world? Or can we do both without compromising on our school curriculum? Let me know your thoughts on this matter by leaving a comment in the section below.From the second paragraph, we know that the author ___________.
| A．didn’t learn cursive writing in grade school |
| B．is poor at making the perfect curls |
| C．often writes in cursive |
| D．often does physical exercise |
In Indiana schools, children ___________.
| A．must learn cursive writing |
| B．are interested in cursive writing |
| C．can choose to learn cursive writing |
| D．learn cursive writing every day |
It can be inferred that the author __________.
| A．prefers to learn cursive writing |
| B．is a cursive writing teacher |
| C．welcomes people to show their opinions |
| D．is a very famous expert in education |
Which of the following could be the best title for the text?
| A．Is cursive writing necessary? |
| B．Is the keyboarding world good? |
| C．How to write in cursive |
| D．How to improve cursive writing |
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