By the year 1869 when the first transcontinental railroad was finished, over 350,000 pioneers had taken the Oregon Trail to head west and start a new life, which is known as the Gold Rush Period in American history. Many of these were women and most were accompanied by children.
Before heading west, many women often spent their day doing nothing more than visiting, needlework, and the occasional gardening of flowers. Others were not from as wealthy families and had to work alongside their men as laborers. Neither type was in most cases prepared for the hardships that lay ahead. 
Once they did reach their destination, the work was far from over. A house would need to be built. Women quickly learned to use all kinds of tools right alongside their husbands. At the first sign of spring, a garden would need to be planted. Pioneer women also had to deal with dangerous wild animals, including bears and lions. Indians were also a concern, and some did fall to their deaths by the Indians’ hand. Where were the men when all this was being done? Working the fields and mining were the two most usual occupations. Their remaining work, which there was plenty of, fell to the women and the oldest children if there were any.
Women who headed west learned quickly that there was much more to life than teas and visiting. They had no choice but to struggle for survival. This was their life.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Changes in the Gold Rush Period. |
| B．New life in the West. |
| C．Great people in American history. |
| D．Pioneer women to the West. |
By mentioning women’s life before heading west in paragraph 2, the author implies (暗示) that .
| A．it was a real struggle for women to adapt to the hard life in the West |
| B．it was not reasonable for women to give up their comfortable life |
| C．it was a better choice for women to experience a new and hard life |
| D．it was necessary for women to change their lifestyle completely |
According to the passage, which was NOT the problem women faced when heading west?
| A．They had no choice but to throw away many of their beloved things. |
| B．They could not take their children along because of the hard journey. |
| C．It was common that they lost their husbands in some accidents. |
| D．They suffered from diseases or even lost their lives. |
Women were kept busy with all the following work EXCEPT _________.
| A．building a house |
| B．planting a garden |
| C．driving wild animals away |
| D．caring for the Indians |
The financial crisis is reminding Americans of a lesson they first learned in childhood: Share and share alike. They are sharing or swapping tools and books, cars and handbags, time and talent.
The renewed desire to share shows up in a variety of examples: A car-sharing service has had a 70 percent membership increase since the crisis occurred. Some companies encouraged his employees to take vanpooling. Governments are putting bikes on the street for public use. How-to-swap Web sites are increasing quickly.
The economy reflects the way Americans have cut back, especially on daily items: Department store sales dropped 1.3 percent in June. People are not buying cars, and as a result, auto sales dropped 27.7 percent last month. They are not paying others to do what they can do themselves — Home Depot reports increased attendance at in-store do-it-yourself clinics. And although paint sales are down in general, according to Sherwin-Williams, individual consumers are still buying.
When Tom Burdett needed to cut some tiles at his home outside Annapolis, he refused to buy expensive tools. So he asked his neighbors and friends for help. Sure enough, someone had just what he needed. And when that friend needed help fixing a satellite dish, Burdett volunteered to help.
The sharing mind-set is not new to the American culture, but many Americans give it up when the nation changed from an agricultural society to an industrial one, said Rosemary Hornak, a psychology professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. They moved farther from their families and did not have time to connect with new neighbors because they worked so much, she said.
Neighborhood conversations tell more of the story as the movement grows organically (持续地) in communities across the Washington region and the nation. On one street in Arlington, for example, neighbors are collecting their separate money for mulch (覆盖料) and dividing it among themselves.What is the text mainly about?
| A．Introducing a new way of life. |
| B．Sharing in the financial crisis. |
| C．How to reduce the living expense. |
| D．How to handle the financial crisis. |
Why do people in modern times give up the sharing mind-set?
| A．Because they don’t need it at all. |
| B．Because they aren’t interested in it. |
| C．Because they are busy with work. |
| D．Because they hate being disturbed. |
The underlined phrase “cut back” in Para. 3 probably means ________.
| A．shared | B．helped |
| C．abandoned | D．reduced |
It can be inferred from the passage that _________________________.
| A．more and more Americans solve problems in their daily life by helping each other . |
| B．if the prices of service goes down, individual consumers won’t do something themselves. |
| C．the sharing-mind set is a strange to many Americans. |
| D．when the crisis ends, Americans will abandon the sharing-mind set. |
Some people like modern art, while others say that is rubbish. But a cleaner who works in the Tate Gallery in London isn’t able to tell the difference. The woman, whose name isn’t known, mistook a work of art by the German painter Gustav Metzger for a bag of rubbish, and threw it out with other bags. The plastic bad, which contained pieces of paper and cardboard, was later recovered outside the gallery, but the artist thought that it was too damaged to be put on show again. 78-year-old Mr Metzger explained that the exhibit, which he said was a copy of a similar work he had created in 1960, was meant to show that all art is temporary and “finite”(有限的).
Embarrassed officials at the museum said that they had had to call a meeting with cleaners to explain which things should not be touched. They would not say whether Mr Metzger would be paid any compensation for the incident. However, to make absolutely sure the same thing would not happen again, they decided to cover Mr Metzger’s work every evening with a colored cloth. In this way the cleaners arriving after the gallery had closed to the general public would realize they should not touch it.
This is not the first time that museum cleaners have had trouble distinguishing exhibits from rubbish. In 2001, in another London gallery, a cleaner threw away a work by the well-known British artist Damien Hirst. It was an arrangement of empty beer bottles, coffee cups, and overflowing ashtrays, which were meant to indicate the chaos in the life of an artist.
However, cleaners don’t always throw things away—sometimes they clean them! This was the case with a dirty asking what the bath was doing in the gallery, the cleaners simply scrubbed it clean.What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Cleaners mistake modern art for rubbish |
| B．Modern art shouldn’t be cleaned |
| C．What makes a great work of art |
| D．Cleaners don’t always throw things away |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．People have different opinions on modern art |
| B．Mr Metzger would be paid much compensation |
| C．A work of Damien Hirst was thrown away by a cleaner in 2001 |
| D．Some modern work is about artists’ chaos of their life |
The last paragraph is written to show that____________.
| A．cleaners often make exhibits as clean as possible |
| B．cleaners can’t always differ exhibits from rubbish |
| C．exhibits are usually difficult to clean |
| D．exhibits are not always so beautiful |
If you want to know how crazy people can be about their pets, you might remember that Helmsley left $12 million to her little Maltese dog when she died last year.
The dog's name is Trouble. And apparently Trouble is still alive. Of course, I would hang on, too, if someone left me $12 million. Look! Top-shelf dog food, soft pillows everywhere, drivers walking me in nice leafy parks. I would live to be 110 in dog years.
The dog's story is still fresh in my mind the other night when I leave a steak house after a superb meal. Then I notice a woman carrying a small bag out of the door behind me.
Once outside, she walks over to where a man is holding a tiny dog and it's a baby. The dog looks like a Maltese, too, barking and annoying, with a cute haircut,
And now I am treated to an absolute astonishing sight. Because now the woman reaches into the bag and begins pulling out little pieces of meat, which she puts on a plastic spoon and feeds to the dog.
This is no cheap steak house. It's actually, way out of my league --I'm there only because it's a special occasion. I can tell you this: if I walked out of the place with any leftover steak, it sure wouldn't go to a dog. Not at those prices.
So now the woman is Spoon-feeding the dog and the man is just standing there, holding this dog and looking as if this is the most normal thing in the world. And the dog is calmly chewing these pieces of steak as if he's a little king. And this dog is in no hurry. He's having a great time.
A few minutes go by, and now the dog finishes all of his steak. At this point, I hear the woman say to the man "Think he's still hungry?" And she glances behind her at the restaurant, as if she might go back in there to get more steak for the dog.
Watching all this, I'm afraid I'm going to shout, "Are you out of your mind? Feeding all that pricey steak to that little dog? Did you see what our American life is like today? We're all going to be eating dog food if this keeps up!"Why would the author live to be 110 in dog years?
| A．Because he is always in poor health and falls ill. |
| B．Because a Maltese dog lives longer than a human being. |
| C．Because his grandparents left him a large sum of money. |
| D．Because he thinks the dog is treated extremely well. |
What is the story mainly about?
| A．An American family's happy life. |
| B．A Maltese dog getting $12 million from its owner. |
| C．A New Yorker spending $ 8 billion for a few banks. |
| D．A pet dog being fed with expensive food. |
The underlined sentence "It's actually way out of my league. " (in Para. 6) means __
| A．the restaurant is too expensive for the author |
| B．the author hates the dog being taken there |
| C．the superb restaurant is about to be out of service |
| D．the dog doesn't belong to the author's group |
Seeing the dog is being treated to expensive steak, the author becomes extremely ____
| A．indifferent | B．annoyed |
| C．concerned | D．envious |
As we know, many teen celebrities(名人) feel and think that having a slimmer figure can do great good to them. But, does size really matter? Are teenage fans trying hard to become like their celebrity idols(偶像)? Do celebrities really have the power to influence people, especially teenagers?
For the longest time, many parents blame teen idols for influencing the way their kids act. Have you noticed how teens idolize the celebrities these days? Even, their personal affairs are being followed by kids these days. Take for example the case of Lindsay Lohan of Mary Kate Ashley. They are definitely famous teen stars. But, since they are trying to project an image to satisfy a lot of people in show business, their health and body suffer. Many kids are aware of this problem. But they are easily influenced by these celebrities to exercise and eat less.
It is a fact that the media, and especially famous teen celebrities, can influence people powerfully. But teenagers are easily influenced because teenage years are the period when our personality and identity developments take place. Teens watching TV shows and reading magazines are easily pulled into the dieting and harmful eating habits because the media have some ways to pull these acts. They use thin models and celebrities to endorse(做广告宣传) products or to star in an up-and –coming shows or movies. With fierce competition, celebrities are forced to eat less and do extreme exercise routines to get the roles or offers that come their way.
Living in today’s time and generation is a bit disturbing to a lot of parents. Media, especially as well as the celebrities, have a very powerful influence to drive teenagers to good or bad. It’s good that we can control ourselves to avoid bad things from happening. If not, parents should really be aware and guide their teens to determine what’s in ad what’s out.From the passage we can find Lindsay Lohan .
| A．lives an unhealthy lifestyle |
| B．lives a rich and happy life |
| C．doesn’t get any exercise |
| D．sets a good example for teenagers |
According to the writer, why are teenagers easily influenced by some TV shows?
| A．They are tired of school. |
| B．Their celebrity idols appear in many TV shows. |
| C．They’re in their development period. |
| D．They have nothing to do in their spare time |
What’s the title of the passage?
| A．Parents’ responsibilities. |
| B．Advice on self-control. |
| C．Bad influences of celebrities. |
| D．Media’s bad influences. |
When Major Mary Jennings Hegar was serving as a captain in Afghanistan, her aircraft was shot down by enemy fire while she and her crew were taking back injured soldiers. Though injured, she completed the rescue mission (任务) while under fire on the ground and received the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross for “outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty.”
However, Hegar did not get prizes for serving in combat (战斗), for it is illegal for women to be in official combat(作战) positions and to get the benefits that come with them. Hegar and three other service women filed a lawsuit(诉讼) in federal court in San Fransico on Nov. 27 in a long-overdue challenge to the Pentagon's (五角大楼) ban.
Many military women who constitute 14% of the 1.4 million active members of the military object to the policy because it stops them from applying for some 238,000 jobs and excludes (排除) them from certain promotions. It is particularly unfair because it doesn't protect women in service. Fully 85% of women, who have served since Sept.11, report having served in a combat zone or an area where they were faced with combat or immediate danger according to the lawsuit, and half reported being involved in combat operations. At least 860 female troops have been wounded and 144 killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The ban does another bad thing: drive talented women out of service. Hegar says she is asked to leave the Air National Guard for a Reserve Liaison position because she is excluded(不包括，排除) from jobs she would like to apply for. Another woman who is suing, Captain Alexandra Zoe Bedell who was sent twice to Afghanistan, left active duty last year, because of the combat exclusion policy.
It is hard to see how the Pentagon could meet this burden. Clearly, women are capable of taking challenging, dangerous combat assignment, because as the careers of Hegar and others like her have shown they are doing it now. The Pentagon's policy is based on “outdated idea of women”, just the sort of thing the Constitution forbids.
But the Pentagon should not wait for the courts to order it to treat female service members equally. There can be little doubt that a court will eventually do just that and little doubt that, in the very near future, the no-combat rule, like the racial segregation (隔离) of troops and “Don't ask, don’t tell,” will seem like an ancient relic (遗物) of unenlightened (愚昧无知的) times.What can we know about Major Mary Jennings Hegar from the first paragraph?
| A．She failed in the rescue mission. |
| B．Her deeds were awarded by authorities |
| C．While taking back the injured soldiers some crew died. |
| D．When she was serving as a captain her aircraft crashed. |
The underlined word “constitute” in the fourth paragraph means_______ .
| A．take up | B．make up | C．set up | D．build up |
Many military women objected to the policy mainly because _______ .
| A．it had an effect on women’s rights |
| B．it was unfair to protect women in service |
| C．it prevented them from some jobs and promotions |
| D．it was opposed to women’s volunteering for combat |
What does the writer want to tell us in the last two paragraphs?
| A．Pentagon should stop the ban immediately. |
| B．Pentagon will not obey the court's decision. |
| C．Pentagon should have more women soldiers. |
| D．The public should be patient with the Pentagon. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号