It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers(生产商) follow certain uniform standards for various features(特征) of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s from the left. Considering most of the world’s population—men and women—are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women’s clothes button from the left?
History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men’s shirts button form the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.
Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts.What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?
| A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years. |
| B．It fails to consider right-handed people. |
| C．It woks better with men than with women. |
| D．It is different for men’s clothing and women’s. |
What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?
| A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons. |
| B．They drew their swords from the left. |
| C．They were mostly dressed by servants. |
| D．They were interested in the historical matters. |
Women’s clothes still button from the left today because .
| A．adopting men’s style is improper for women |
| B．manufacturers should follow standards |
| C．customs are hard to change |
| D．modern women dress themselves |
The passage is mainly developed by .
| A．examining differences | B．making comparisons |
| C．analyzing causes | D．following the time order |
When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write my own books. Half the students sneered（冷笑）, the 36 nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. “Don’t be silly, only 37 can become writers, ” the English teacher said, “And you are getting a D this term. ” I was so 38 that I burst into tears.
That night I wrote a short 39 poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the newspaper. To my 40 , they published it and sent me two dollars. I was a published and 41 writer. I showed my teacher and fellow students. They 42 . “Just plain dumb luck. ” the teacher said. I tasted 43 and I’d sold the first thing I’d ever written. That was more than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was 44 with me.
During the next two years I sold dozens of 45 , letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I 46 from high school, with a C minus average, I had scrapbooks（剪贴簿） filled with my published works. I 47 mentioned my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again. They were dream killers and 48 people must choose between their friends and their dreams, they must always choose their 49 .
I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. I wrote what I felt. It 50 nine months, just like a pregnant woman. I mailed it without a self addressed stamped 51 and without making a copy of the manu script.
A month later I received a（n） 52 , and a request to start working on another book. The worst year I earned two dollars. In my best year I earned 36, 000 dollars. 53 years I earned between five thousand and ten thousand. No, it isn’t enough to live 54 , but it’s still more than I’d make working part time. People ask what college I 55 , what degrees I had and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is： “None. ” I just write. I’m not a genius.
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Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate. But according to a new report, African farmers also have ideas that could help the world fight hunger and poverty. Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute in Washington spent a year visiting twenty-five countries south of the Sahara. In Nairobi, Kenya, for example, Ms Nierenberg found women farmers growing vegetables just outside their doorsteps in the Kibera settlement. She says they are finding ways to make their lives better. The women feed their families and sell their surplus. They use the money to send their children to school.
Last year, about 925,000,000 people worldwide did not get enough to eat. Half of all people in the world now live in and around cities. Researchers like Ms Nierenberg are looking increasingly at creative ideas to feed those who don’t have enough good food to eat. She says there are a lot of lessons that people in the Western world can learn from Africa. And what they are doing can certainly be done in other developing countries.
Farmers in the developing world lose between twenty and forty percent of their harvest before it ever reaches market. There are many reasons why food gets wasted. Farmers are without electricity and cold storage. They lack good seeds and fertilizer. They lack good roads. Conditions like these keep small farmers in poverty. Ms Nierenberg says more attention needs to be paid to protecting harvests. She says, “Given all that we invest in producing food in the first place, we need to devote the same amount of attention to making sure that it is not wasted.”
In Nigeria, village processing centers are helping farmers reduce their losses and earn more money. They centers process cassava, a root vegetable, into basic food products. In Uganda, the Worldwatch report says some schools are teaching children how to grow local kinds of crops. And in South Africa and Kenya the report praises the breeding(培育) of local kinds of livestock. These animals may produce less milk or meat than other breeds, but they can survive heat and drought conditions.We could learn from the new report in Para.1 that .
| A．sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate |
| B．African farmers have ideas to help fighting hunger and poverty |
| C．women farmers grow vegetables in the Kibera settlement |
| D．women farmers grow vegetables to send their children to school. |
The underlined word “surplus” in Para.1 is closest in meaning to .
| A．private vegetables | B．side products |
| C．leftover vegetables | D．home-made products |
Ms Nierenberg suggests that .
| A．the women spend more money on education instead of farming |
| B．more and more African people should live in and around cities |
| C．researchers find creative ideas to feed the people suffering hunger |
| D．people in the Western world do the same as the Africans have done |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Farmers in developing world often lose some of their harvest |
| B．Small farmers in developing countries often suffer poverty. |
| C．Farmers should pay more attention to protecting their harvest |
| D．Attention should be paid to saving food instead of producing food |
The best title of this passage should be .
| A．A New Report About African Farmers Fighting Hunger |
| B．Creative Ideas to Feed Those Who Have No Enough Food |
| C．Looking to Africa for Ideas About How to Fight Hunger |
| D．Animals That Can Survive Heat and Drought Conditions |
I never thought I would have a life-changing experience at Wal-Mart.
Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn't moving as quickly as I wanted, and I glanced toward the cashier.
There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he's an old guy!
For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, "How's it going?" But he did something different--he actually listened to people. Then he would respond to what they had said and engage them in brief conversation.
I thought it was odd. I has grown accustomed to people asking me how I was doing simply out of robotic conversational habit. After a while, you don't give any thought to the question and just mumble something back. I could say, "I just found out I have six months to live," and someone would reply, "Have a great day!"
But that wasn't the end.
He gave them the change, walked around the counter, and extended his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked the customers in the eyes. "I sure want to thank you for shopping here today," he told them. "You have a great day. Bye-bye."
The looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. There were smiles and some sheepish grins. All had been touched by his simple gesture--and in a place they never expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.
Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name--Marty.
Who was that guy? It was as if Sam Walton had come back from the dead and invaded this old guy's body.
I had never walked away from that shop feeling like that.What was most customers' reaction to Marty's behavior?
| A．They thought it priceless. |
| B．They thought it awful and odd. |
| C．They felt somewhat offended. |
| D．They were in some way moved. |
The checkout line the writer was standing in moved slower than expected because______
| A．the cashier did more than scanning the items |
| B．the cashier couldn't work as fast as others |
| C．there were some big purchases |
| D．the writer was not patient enough |
What can we infer about Sam Walton?
| A．He might be Marty's father or grandfather. |
| B．He might have died while working in the market. |
| C．He might be friendly and devoted to Wal-Mart. |
| D．He might have come back from the dead once before. |
According to the writer, when common people ask you "How's it going?"
| A．they are just practicing their conversation ability |
| B．they are inquiring about your private information |
| C．they don't expect to hear any negative answers |
| D．they don't really care what you may answer |
What does the writer intend to express through the text?
| A．Our everyday life is always full of surprises. |
| B．Being different is a good way of doing business. |
| C．A little positive action can make a big difference. |
| D．Most customers enjoy being treated this way. |
Hospital emergency rooms treat injured fingers all the time. Without treatment, a bad cut can lead to permanent damage. But how should a person know when a bleeding cut is serious enough to require medical attention? We asked Dr Martin Brown, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Virginia.
First, the medical term for a cut or tear in the skin is a laceration(严重划破，撕裂伤). Dr Brown says the length is usually not as important as the depth. He says a long cut on a finger can likely be treated without a visit to a doctor if the wound is not very deep. “If you have a short but deep laceration where there’s been a structure underneath that’s been damaged － a tendon, a nerve, a blood vessel,” says Martin, “it may, in fact, need professional attention.”
Some injuries － like a fingertip that gets cut off － might even require surgery to repair. That requires a specialist to either file(锉平) down the bone or reattach the fingertip. More often, filing down the bone is what is done because reattaching a fingertip is often not successful.
How a wound bleeds can be a sign of how serious it is. Minor cuts usually produce what is known as venous (静脉) bleeding. This means the blood flows steadily from the injury. The bleeding will often stop when pressure is put on the wound. Dr Brown says in most cases holding direct pressure with clean gauze or a cloth for four to five minutes should stop the bleeding. With a cut finger, holding the hand above the heart can reduce the loss of blood. But if a cut appears to be pumping blood out with some force, this may be a sign of arterial(动脉) bleeding. This kind of injury should be treated by a medical professional as soon as possible.
Even a cut that does not require medical attention must be kept clean to prevent infection. Small cuts should be cleaned gently with clean water. Use a washcloth to clean the area if the wound is dirty. Dr Brown says cuts should be covered with a clean, dry bandage.What does the writer want to tell the readers in the first paragraph?
| A．Hospital emergency rooms always treat injured fingers. |
| B．A bleeding cut is serious enough to require medical attention |
| C．Dr Martin Brown is in charge of Inova Alexandria Hospital. |
| D．It is important for us to be able to tell how serious a finger cut is. |
According to the passage, .
| A．a finger cut without treatment can lead to permanent damage |
| B．the length of a cut on a finger is more important than the depth |
| C．a long but not very deep cut often doesn’t need professional attention |
| D．a short but deep laceration that has been damaged need professional attention. |
The underlined word “reattach” in Para.3 is closest in meaning to .
| A．repair | B．rebuild | C．reconstruct | D．reconnect |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A .How a wound bleeds can show us how serious the wound could be.
B Venous bleeding will often stop when we put pressure on the wound.
C. Holding up the hand with a finger cut can reduce the loss of blood.
D. Arterial bleeding should get professional treatment as soon as possible.The best title of this passage should be .
| A．Hospital Emergency Treatments For Injured Fingers |
| B．When a Cut Finger Is More Serious Than It Might Seem |
| C．Serious Finger Cut That Requires Medical Attention |
| D．Keep Finger Cuts Clean to Prevent Serious Infection |
The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, self-improvement.
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure , excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.Raising children, in the author’s opinion, is .
| A．a moral duty | B．a thankless job |
| C．a rewarding task | D．a source of inevitable pain |
According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because .
| A．he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities |
| B．he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single |
| C．he finds more fun in dating than in marriage |
| D．he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement |
To understand what true happiness is, one must .
A have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime
B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain
C. put up with pain under all circumstances
D .be able to distinguish happiness from funFrom the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes results from .
| A．hatred | B．misunderstanding |
| C．prejudice | D．ignorance |
.What is the author trying to tell us?
| A．How to get happiness |
| B．Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain |
| C．The importance of happiness in our lives |
| D．Happiness equals fun |
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