In early autumn I applied for applied for admission to college. I wanted to go nowhere but to Cornell University,but my mother fought strongly againsnst it. When she saw me studying a photograph of my father on the sports ground of Cornell,she tore it up.
“You can’t say it’s not a great university,just because Papa went there.”
“That’s not it at all.And it is a top university.”She was still holding the pieces in her hand. “But we can’t afford to send you to college.”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you for money.Do you want me to get a job to help suppont you and Papa?Things aren’t that bad,are they?”
“No,”she said. “I don’t expect you to help support us.”
Father borrowed money form his rich cousins to start a small jewellery shop,His chief customers were his old college friends.To get new customers,my mother had to help.She picked up a long-forgotten membership in the local league of women,so that she cound get to know more people. Whether those people would turn into customers was another question. I knew that my Parents had to wait for quite a long time before their small investment (投资) could show returns.What’s more ,they had not wanted enough to be roch and successful ；otherwise they cound not possibly have managed their lives so badly.
I was torn between the desave to help them and change,their lives,and the determinstion not to repeat their mistakes.I had a strong belief in my power to go what I wanted.After months of hard study I won a full college scholarship（奖学金）.My father could hardly contain his pride in me,and my mother eventually gave in before my success.The author was not allowed to go to Cornell University mainly because
his father grduated from the university
his mother did not thinks it a great university
his parents needed him to help support the family
his parents did not have enough money for himThe father srarted his small shop with the money from
| A．a local league | B．his university |
| C．his relatives | D．his college friends |
Why did the mother renew her membership in the league?
| A．To help with her husband’s business | B．To raise money for her son |
| C．To meet her long-forgotten friends | D．To better manage her life |
According to the text,what was the author determined to do in that autumn? To get a well-paid job for himself
To improve relations with his mother
To go to his dream university
To carry on with his father’s business
Why do people feel so rushed? Part of this is a perception (认知) problem. Generally, people in rich countries have more free time than they used to. This is particularly true in Europe, but even in America free time has been inching up. Women's paid work has risen a lot over this period，but their time in unpaid work，like cooking and cleaning, has fallen even more significantly, thanks in part to dishwashers, washing machines and microwaves, and also to the fact that men shift themselves a little more around the house than they used to.
The problem, then, is less how much time people have than how they see it. Ever since a clock was first used at a workplace to record labor hours in the 18th century, time has been understood in relation to money. Once hours are financially quantified (量化), people worry more about wasting, but tend to save or use them more profitably. When economies grow and incomes rise, everyone's time becomes more valuable. And the more valuable something becomes, the rarer it seems.
Once seeing their time in terms of money, people often grow stingy with the former to maximize the latter. Workers who are paid by the hour volunteer less of their time and tend to feel more upset when they are not working.
The relationship between time, money and anxiety is something Gary Becker noticed in America's post-war boom years. "If anything, time is used more carefully today than a century ago," he noted in 1965. He found that when people are paid more to work, they tend to work longer hours, because working becomes a more profitable use of time. So the rising value of work time puts pressure on all time. Leisure time starts to seem more stressful, as people are forced to use it wisely or not at all.Women's time in unpaid work has fallen partly because ______.
| A．men's ability to support a family has been improved |
| B．men's involvement in housework has increased |
| C．women's leisure time was taken up by heavy housework |
| D．women become more skilled at household equipment |
From the second paragraph, we learn that ______.
| A．labor hours were recorded with a clock |
| B．people haven't realized the value of time |
| C．more work hours bring in more money |
| D．The rise of incomes makes time less valuable |
The underlined phrase grow stingy with can probably be replaced by "______".
| A．refuses to delay |
| B．intend to kill |
| C．try to accumulate |
| D．hesitate to spend |
According to Gary Becker, what causes people feel anxious about time?
| A．The wrong way of time being spent. |
| B．People's willingness to work hard. |
| C．The increasing value of work time. |
| D．More and more leisure time. |
“You are going abroad and will live there? Oh, wonderful! You are so lucky.”
Perhaps your family and friends said similar things to you when you left home. But is it true all the time? Is your life in the new country always wonderful and exciting?
Specialists say that it isn’t that easy to get used to life in a new culture. “Culture shock” (冲击) is the term specialists use when talking about the feelings that people have in a new environment. “There are three stages of culture shock,” say the specialists. In the first stage, the newcomers like their new environment. Then, when the fresh experience dies, they begin to hate the city, the country, the people, and everything else. In the last stage, the newcomers adapt to their surroundings and finally enjoy their life there.
Culture shock arises from many obvious factors. The weather may be unpleasant. The customs may be different. The public service systems such as the telephone, post office, or transportation may be difficult to work out. Even the simplest things become headaches. Still worse, the language may be difficult.
Who feels culture shock? Everyone does in this way or that. But culture shock surprises most people. Very often the people having the worst culture shock are those who never had any difficulties in their home countries and were successful in their community. Coming to a new country, these people find they do not have the same established positions. They find themselves without a role, almost without an identity. They have to build a new selfimage.
Culture shock leads to a feeling of disorientation (迷惘). This feeling may be homesickness. When homesick, people feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the strange environment, and create and escape inside their room for a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to make the person familiar with the culture. Getting to know the new environment and gaining experience are the long term solutions to the problem of culture shock.
When people move to a new country, they ________.
| A．find their new life always wonderful and exciting. |
| B．dislike the new surroundings from the beginning. |
| C．quickly get accustomed to the new culture there. |
| D．will get used to the new life with certain difficulty. |
Based on the passage, which of the following results from culture shock?
| A．weather conditions and customs |
| B．public service and transportation |
| C．feeling homesick and disoriented |
| D．language communication issues |
According to the passage, the more successful you are at home, ________.
| A．the fewer difficulties you will meet with abroad |
| B．the more problems you may have to face abroad |
| C．the greater success you are likely to make abroad |
| D．the less homesick you will eventually feel abroad |
Which of the following statements is correct according to the passage?
| A．Cultural shock affects and surprises those who live in a new culture. |
| B．A new culture makes everything difficult except the simplest things. |
| C．Since culture shock is painful, we can never get over it completely. |
| D．Escaping by staying inside does solve the problem of culture shock. |
John was waiting for the girl whose heart he knew，but whose face he didn’t，the girl with the rose．Thirteen months ago，in a Florida library he took a book off the shell and found himself interested in the notes in the margin(页边)．The soft handwriting showed a thoughtful soul and insightful(有洞察力的)mind．
In front of the book，he discovered the name，Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he got her address．He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to keep in touch．
During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail．A romance started．John requested a photograph，but she refused．She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like．Later they agreed on their first meeting—7:00 pm at Grand Central Station in New York．
“You’ll recognize me,” she wrote，“by the red rose I’ll be wearing my coat.” So at 7：00 he was in the station looking for the girl with the red rose．
A girl in a green suit was coming toward him，her figure long and slim and her eyes were blue as flowers．Almost uncontrollably came to her，and just at this moment he saw Hollis Maynell—a woman well past 40．The girl was walking quickly away．
He did not hesitate(犹豫)，saying，“I’m John，and you must be Miss Maynell．I am so glad you could meet me. May I take you to dinner?”
The woman smiled, “I don’t know what this is about，son，” she answered，“but the young lady in the green suit begged me to wear this rose on my coat．And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner，I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the restaurant across the street．She said it was some kind of test!”
It’s not difficult to admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive.
John was attracted by Miss Hollis Maynell because ________.
| A．John believed her one of her old friends |
| B．she took good notes with a soft handwriting |
| C．John thought her a considerate and thinking lady |
| D．she was beautiful with a slim figure and blue eyes |
Why did John uncontrollably go up to the young girl in the green suit?
| A．Because he knew it was Miss Hollis Maynell. |
| B．Because she was the very lady he was waiting for. |
| C．Because he was drawn to her beautiful appearance. |
| D．Because John didn’t want to meet Miss Hollis Maynell |
We can find John was a person who ________.
| A．was easy to change his mind |
| B．was casual and independent |
| C．judged a person by his looks |
| D．valued a person’s inner spirit |
What’s the theme of the story?
| A．The wisdom is shown in one’s action. |
| B．Love can be met by chance if you like. |
| C．You should never judge a book by its cover. |
| D．A noble heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. |
Many people believe that all ice cubes are created equal, but they are not. At least that’s what the folks at California’s Glace Luxury Ice Company would like us to believe. The Davisbased company says that the ice cubes they make are healthier and last longer than the ones that we throw into our drinks on a daily basis. What’s more, the company also says that their ice cubes do mot leave behind an aftertaste(余味)in drinks, like regular ones do.
In order to create these unique ice cubes, Glace Luxury begins with water that has been rid of the hazardous impurities(杂质)that the company says can lead to cancer and exist in regular ice. They then freeze it in large blocks. Once ready, the ice is carved into perfect cubes and each cube measures 2.5 inches across. Besides being healthier, these ice cubes apparently also take longer to melt. The company says that each ice cube can last up to 30 minutes.
Of course, those ice cubes do not come cheap. Those that wish to have a taste of this “tasteless” frozen perfection will have to pay $325USD for a bag of 50 ice cubes. That comes to $6.50USD for a single cube of ice!
The unique product is the brainchild of Robert Sequeira, a former business school lecturer who said that he wanted to establish a profitable business that could be easily scaled. Given that he can make as mush Glace Luxury ice as he needs for as little as $0.12USD per cube, he thinks that the idea certainly meets the standard. Now, if he can find that the few people can afford to buy this Glace Luxury ice, life would be great!People at California’s Glace Luxury Ice Company probably want consumers to believe that _____.
| A．ice cubes are healthy for people to use |
| B．their ice cubes add tastes to drinks |
| C．all ice cubes are created the same |
| D．their ice cubes are different |
What does the underlined word “hazardous” in paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Active | B．Regular | C．Dangerous | D．Powerful |
Compared with regular ice cubes, the ice cubes created by Glace Luxury Ice Company_____.
| A．taste much bette |
| B．look much more beautiful |
| C．have more different shapes |
| D．are healthier and melt more slowly |
What does the author think of the ice cubes created by Glace Luxury Ice Company?
| A．They will be a big success |
| B．They are too costly to make. |
| C．They are just regular ice cubes. |
| D．They are too expensive for consumers |
Elizabeth’s Second!
In 60 years, the Queen has never put a foot wrong in public. And for the last 24 of them, it turns out she’s had a secret weapon — the nice Ella Slack. The former BBC manager has, unknown to anyone except a handful of key advisers, spent the last quarter of a century acting as the Queen’s official stand-in at rehearsals (排练) for royal events. The 69-year-old has never accepted a penny for her royal service, considering it “a pleasure and an honour” to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the Queen. “How many people in the world have had a chance to sit in a royal landau (马车) or walk onto the dais (讲台) at Windsor Castle even before the Queen has done so?” she said.
While Miss Slack may not resemble the Queen facially, she has a similar figure to the Queen, standing just 5 foot. The Queen is 5 foot 2 inch. She began her remarkable role in 1988, when she was working as manager of the BBC’s sports and events department. A producer asked her if she could stand in for the Queen to check camera angles at a rehearsal — and her second career was born.
Since then, from the State Opening of Parliament (议会) to the 50th anniversary of Victory day, wherever the Queen is on duty Miss Slack is likely to have been there first. She has perfected her own version of the Queen’s clothes, including a black patent handbag she bought in a charity shop for ￡1, and even styles her hair like the Queen.What’s the Queen’s secret weapon?
| A．She often meets people in public. |
| B．She actively attends social activities. |
| C．She has a nice lady to act as herself. |
| D．She and Miss Slack have a lot in common. |
Miss Slack’s words in Paragraph 1 indicate that ___________.
| A．she thinks the job honorable and worthy |
| B．she thinks she can do the job better |
| C．she thinks frequently of her role |
| D．she is determined to carry the job on |
How did Miss Slack get the job?
| A．The Queen invited her to do so. |
| B．The BBC appointed her to finish the job. |
| C．She was invited to have an accidental try. |
| D．The advisers offered her the chance. |
In which section of a newspaper may you find the passage?
| A．Education. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Sports. | D．Health. |
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