Weddings in the United States vary as much as the people do. There are church weddings with a great deal of fanfare； there are weddings on mountain-tops with guests barefooted； and there have been weddings on the ocean floor with oxygen tanks for the guests. But
many weddings, no matter where or how they are performed, include certain traditional customs.
Before a couple is married，they become engaged. And then invitations are sent to those who live nearby, their close friends and their relatives who live far away. When everything is ready，then comes the most exciting moment.
The wedding itself usually lasts between 20 and 40 minutes. The wedding party enters the church while the wedding march is played. The bride carrying a bouquet enters last with her father who will "give her away". The groom enters the church from a side door. When the wedding party is gathered by the altar， the bride and groom exchange vows. It is traditional to use the words "To have and to hold from this day forward， for better， for worse， for richer， for poorer， in sick
ness and in health， to love and to cherish， till death do us part". Following the
vows， the couple exchange rings. Wearing the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand is an old custom.
After the ceremony there is often a party, called a "reception" which gives the wedding guests an opportunity to congratulate the newlyweds.
The car in which the couple leaves the church is decorated with balloons, streamers and shaving cream. The words "Just Married" are painted on the trunk or back window. The bride and groom run to the car under a shower of rice thrown by the wedding guests. When the couple drives away from the church， friends often chase them in cars， honking and drawing attention to them. And then the couple go on their honeymoon. What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Introducing the kinds of wedding in the USA |
| B．introducing the whole procedure of the wedding in the USA |
| C．Introducing the traditional wedding ceremony in the USA |
| D．Introducing a forgetful wedding party in the USA |
Which of the following sentences is true?
| A．In American ,before a couple are married, they never get engaged. |
| B．It is an old custom to wear the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the right hand. |
| C．They don’t invite the relatives who live far away to the wedding party. |
| D．The couple will go on their honeymoon on the very wedding day. |
Which is the last but one step of the wedding ceremony?
| A．The bride carrying a bouquet enters with her father who will "give her away" |
| B．t he bride and groom exchange vows |
| C．the couple exchange rings |
| D．The wedding party enters the church while the wedding march is played |
Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family’s last vacation. It was my six-year-old son’s winter break form school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a weeklong trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York，So I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my nine-month-old and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport, to "earn" more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big-time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I've made living looking for the best deals and exposing （揭露） the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money’s worth. I’m also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.Why did Delta give the author's family credits?
| A．They took a later flight. |
| B．They had early bookings. |
| C．Their flight had been delayed. |
| D．Their flight had been cancelled. |
What can we learn about the author?
| A．She rarely misses a good deal. |
| B．She seldom makes a compromise. |
| C．She is very strict with her children. |
| D．She is interested in cheap products. |
What does the author do?
| A．She's a teacher. | B．She's a housewife. |
| C．She's a media person. | D．She's a businesswoman. |
What does the author want to tell us?
| A．How to expose bad tricks. |
| B．How to reserve airline seats. |
| C．How to spend money wisely. |
| D．How to make a business deal. |
Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a best student.By using your time properly,you can do your homework more quickly. Learning to study is not difficult.
The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn.It doesn’t mean that you must always like the subject.It does mean,however,that you must be willing to do whatever is necessary to learn. Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things.Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life. Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier.Sometimes,the subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly. Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them.
Here is some advice for you: have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study,so that you can concentrate on your study without interruptions; have everything ready before you sit down to study, a dictionary,paper,a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start; read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things; when memorizing,first find out the main parts and recite the whole thing, check your homework after you finish it; never forget the importance of review and preview.
Don’t try to spend a lot of time researching learning methods.There are many students who know many good learning methods but don’t study well. They forget that the most important useful learning method is to study hard.The main purpose of the article is to ________.
| A．prove that learning is not difficult |
| B．make parents interested in study |
| C．tell the importance of self-teaching |
| D．tell the students how to study well. |
The first thing to remember in study is that you must________
| A．like the subject | B．follow the teacher |
| C．enjoy learning | D．study hard |
The following advice is given in the article EXCEPT__________
| A．to put a pen,paper and books beside you before study. |
| B．to study at any possible time and place. |
| C．to review and preview. |
| D．to pay attention to the most important things. |
If there is one person who has left a deep impression on me, it’s my teacher Mrs. Pathak who was my class teacher for three years. In my childhood, how I wished I had a mother or a sister like her. One moment she could be tough (严厉的) and strict, another moment caring and compassionate (富有同情心的).
She always encouraged us to tell the truth. For instance, if one had not done the homework, he need not lie. She allowed us to make mistakes, saying we couldn’t be perfect all the time, but we should try.
Another thing she taught me early on was punctuality. She set a good example with her own behaviour. She was always on time, so we students tried our best to be on time.
She surprised us with her sense of humour. Her classroom teaching was always humorous. After class, she talked to us and told us jokes.
We really felt free to ask questions and Mrs. Pathak would give the answers. If she did not know — there had been some occasions (场合) — she would say so. We all then tried to find out the answers. Whoever came up with the answer was appreciated and given the due credit (应有的称赞). Now I sometimes wonder whether Mrs. Pathak was pretending just to encourage us to explore and find answers by ourselves.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT suitable for describing Mrs. Pathak?
| A．Tough. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Compassionate. | D．Careful. |
The underlined word “so” in the last paragraph means that _____.
| A．the answers were not right |
| B．she didn’t know the answers |
| C．the answers were correct |
| D．she would give the answers |
In the author’s opinion, why didn’t Mrs. Pathak give the answers to the questions sometimes?
| A．Because she didn’t like answering the questions. |
| B．Because she didn’t know the answers to the questions. |
| C．Because she wanted the students to find them out by themselves. |
| D．Because she thought the students knew the answers already. |
Many teenagers(青少年) feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends．They believe that their family members don’t know them as well as their friends do．In large families, it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for some ideas．
It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a group of friends．Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone．This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something．These things are difficult to tell their family members．
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them．Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends．Have you ever thought of the following questions?
Who chooses your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?
Your answers are welcome．Many teenagers think that ____ can understand them better．
| A．friends | B．brothers | C．sisters | D．parents |
When teenagers have something difficult to tell their parents, they usually____．
| A．stay alone at home |
| B．fight with their parents |
| C．discuss it with their friends |
| D．go to their brothers and sisters for help |
The sentence (句子) “Your answers are welcome．” means _______．
| A．You are welcome to discuss the questions with us |
| B．We’ve got no idea, so your answers are welcome |
| C．Your answers are always right |
| D．You can give us all the right answers |
Part of the purpose of this passage is to ___.
| A．give information for the parents to make their own judgment (判断) |
| B．give advice to children who want to choose their friends |
| C．help parents to find better friends for their children |
| D．get some information from many readers |
Let’s face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games.And it’s driving their parents nuts.
Sure, there are real dangers connected with all this screen time—everything from cyberbullying(网络欺凌) to couch-potato obesity.Not to mention driving while texting, and shortened attention spans(持续时间).
Douglas Gentile, who studies the effects of media on children, says texting, Facebook and video games are not naturally bad.Nor are they naturally better or worse than watching TV, although they do lead to different risks, such as cyberbullying.
But research has shown that the more time kids spend in front of screens—whether it’s TV or instant-messaging—the worse their school performances are.“That doesn’t mean it’s true for every kid, but it makes sense, that for every hour a kid is playing video games, it’s an hour that they’re not doing homework or reading or exploring or creating,” he said.If screen time is taking the place of doing their homework, that’s bad.But if their homework is done, well, so what?
The study also found that the more time kids spend with media, the lower their grades and levels of personal satisfaction are.Gentile said the influence of screen time on school work can be reduced by what he calls “protective factors”.Those might include good teachers and a high-performing school, love of reading, coming from a family where education is valued.“If you had all these protective factors, then that one little risk factor, who cares?”
One thing parents should worry about is the way electronic devices encourage multitasking（多任务处理).
“As adults, your response speeds up, you’re quicker to look over your shoulder and notice little noises or lights.However this is not what the kids need when they get to the classroom.Scanning to see when the next message comes may not be good for kids.The more distractions(分心的事物) you have, the worse your performance is.” Getting kids to turn off their phones, iPods in order to let them concentrate（集中) on homework is a fight worth having.What statement may Gentile agree to?
| A．Kids get bad marks when using Facebook. |
| B．TV or texting affects kids equally. |
| C．Kids prefer video games to books. |
| D．Watching TV is better than playing video games. |
By saying “one little risk factor”, Gentile referred to ________
| A．love for reading | B．valuing education |
| C．screen time | D．good teachers |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that________.
| A．kids can give quick answer to questions if texting |
| B．Multitasks aren’t really good for every kid |
| C．electric devices increase the attention of kids |
| D．kids perform well if doing many tasks together |
What might be the most suitable title for the passage?
| A．Are kids suffering cyber bullying on Facebook? |
| B．Are texting and Facebook worse for teens than TV? |
| C．Are kids willing to turn off their electric devices? |
| D．Are texting causing kids to lose interest in reading? |
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