Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding of black culture in America.
During the 1940’s and the 1950’s, Gwendolyn Brooks used her poems to describe conditions among the poor, racial (种族的) inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women.
But her skill was more than her ability to write about struggling black people. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.
Gwendolyn Brooks once said that she wrote about what she saw and heard in the street. She said she found most of her materials through looking out of the window of her second-floor apartment in Chicago, Illinois.
In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago, where many black people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was “A Street in Bronzeville” that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skills and her powerful descriptions about the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.
In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. She won the prize for her second book of poems called “Annie Allen”. “Annie Allen” is a collection of poetry about a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and a mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and poverty (贫穷).
Gwendolyn Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.
Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called “Maud Martha”. “Maud Martha” attracted little attention when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult lives of many women are popular among female writers today. Gwendolyn Brooks became world-famous because .
| A．she was an expert on the language of poetry |
| B．she introduced black culture by writing poems |
| C．she fought for black rights by writing poems |
| D．her poems showed the lives of black women |
Which of the following can we learn from the text?
| A．Gwendolyn Brooks’ poems focused on black people in Africa. |
| B．Winning the Pulitzer Prize for Literature was important to Brooks. |
| C．Gwendolyn Brooks used to suffer a lot from drugs. |
| D．Gwendolyn Brooks was very strict with herself. |
How did Gwendolyn Brooks get ideas for most of her poems?
| A．By observing life. | B．By having talks. | C．By reading widely. | D．By traveling. |
We can infer that the book “Annie Allen” mainly deals with .
| A．family life | B．inequality | C．adventure | D．failure |
For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed very busy with business，and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough，he rode out a great deal.
During this time，all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house，when he would sometimes pass me coldly， and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me，because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening，several days later，I was invited to talk to Mr. Rochester after dinner. He was sitting in his armchair，and looked not quite so severe，and much less gloomy. There was a smile on his lips， and his eyes were bright，probably with wine. As I was looking at him，he suddenly turned， and asked me，“Do you think I am handsome，Miss Eyre? ”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No，sir.” “Ah，you really are unusual! You are a quiet， serious little person， but you can be almost rude.” “Sir，I'm sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn't matter，or something like that，” “No，you shouldn't! I see，you criticize my appearance，and then you stab (刺) me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance (抵消) your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind，and said quickly，“Yes，you're right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one，and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you， and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man，take my word for it，but I have done wrong. It wasn't my character，but circumstances which were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you're the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to， because you're sympathetic and give them hope.”
It seemed he had quite a lot to talk to me. He didn't seem to like to finish the talk quickly，as was the case for the first time.
“Don't be afraid of me， Miss. Eyre，”he continued. “You don't relax or laugh very much，perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me，and laugh， and speak freely. You're like a bird in a cage. When you get out of the cage， you'll fly very high. Good night.”At the beginning Miss Eyre's impressions of Mr. Rochester were all except_________.
| A．busy | B．sociable | C．dull | D．changeable |
The underlined sentence means___________.
| A．Only by meeting him around the house sometimes did I know a little about him. |
| B．Only by coming to the house could I know about him. |
| C．I occasionally met him but my knowledge about him was poor. |
| D．What I knew about him was limited in the house. |
From what Mr. Rochester told Miss Eyre，we can conclude that he wanted to ___________.
| A．tell her all his troubles |
| B．tell her his life experience |
| C．blame her for misunderstanding him |
| D．change his circumstances |
At the end of the passage，Mr. Rochester sounded __________.
| A．rude | B．cold | C．polite | D．encouraging |
According to the passage，which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．Miss Eyre was atLowoodSchoolbefore she came to Mr. Rochester’s house. |
| B．Miss Eyre didn’t see Mr. Rochester often. |
| C．Miss Eyre was honest，brave and confident. |
| D．Miss Eyre was brave，polite and warm-hearted. |
Since 1950, the amount of information about the nutrition of food has increased by nearly 900 percent. Besides this fact, obesity has risen by 214 percent and nearly two out of every three adults in America are overweight or obese. Being overweight is not only an appearance problem, and it also increases the risk of various diseases including diabetes, sleep disorder and cancer.
With so much nutritional knowledge easy to find, we cannot simply ignore our present obesity epidemic(流行病). We know that fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin. Though we are overweight, many of us choose junk food over healthy food out of habits. One explanation for our strong desire for junk food is that we learn to connect junk food with positive feelings when we are young, and changing this attitude requires a huge amount of confidence and determination. Fortunately, new research published in May 2012 has shown a simple and accessible way to make healthier food choices- the one that doesn’t rely on great determination.
The research was based on two separate studies and it was carried out by T. Bettina Cornwell of the University of Oregon and Anna R. McAlister of Michigan State University. In the first study, 60 adults between the ages of 19 and 23 were questioned about the role of food and drinks. The survey tells us that adults prefer sweetened drinks with high-calorie, salty foods, to sweetened drinks with vegetables.
In the second study, 75 children between the ages of 3 and 5 were gathered for some experiments including drinks served with vegetables. The preschooler experiments were carried out under different situations and on different days. The researchers found that the children chose to take more green vegetables when they were served with water instead of a sweetened drink.
According to Cornwell, children learn to connect high calorie, sugary drinks such as cola, with high fat foods such as French fries, from a very early age. McAlister adds that early taste development appears to play an important role in food choices later in life. Meals served at home and meals offered at restaurants, set the stage for this idea and for the preference to choose junk food over healthy food, when beginning to take sweetened drinks.
“Our taste preferences are heavily influenced by regularly eating particular food and drinking particular drink,” states Cornwell. “If the drink on the table goes against both adults and children eating their vegetables, then perhaps it is time to change that drink… and to serve water with all meals. Restaurants could easily use water as free drink for children’s meals and charge extra money for other drinks.” Both McAlister and Cornwell are confident that serving water with meals could effectively reduce the nation’s obesity rates, diabetes rates and ever rising healthcare costs.What may cause the risk of diseases according to the text?
| A．Over nutrition. | B．Obesity. | C．Unbalance diets. | D．Junk food. |
What makes many of us choose junk food according to the author?
| A．Positive feelings about food. | B．High calorie of junk food. |
| C．Nice taste. | D．Eating habits. |
The underlined word “accessible” in Paragraph 2 means”_________”.
| A．quick | B．useful | C．easy to change | D．easy to get |
From Paragraph5, we know that __________.
| A．children may like sugary and high-calorie drinks even from an early age |
| B．early preference for food and drink may influence food choices later in life |
| C．easy preference for drinks should not be allowed in most of the restaurants |
| D．restaurants should provide the same food and drink as those at home |
Which would be the best title for this text?
| A．Stop children drinking sugary drinks |
| B．Drink water to eat more healthy |
| C．Change eating habits to lose weight |
| D．Eat healthy food at home |
You wake up in the morning，the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings，you say hello, and the drama starts．The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to．You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness．It may not change what you think，but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time．
Life brings ups and downs，but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer．They only feel glad when they make others feel bad．No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect．
When you communicate with positive people，your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted．When the dagger(匕首) of a negative person is put in you，you feel the heavy feeling that all in all，brings you down．
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people．This could be a co-worker，or a relative．In this case，say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person，but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that．
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized．The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to(附着) you throughout the rest of your day，which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness．Life is too short to feel negative．Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible．The purpose of the first paragraph is to ___________.
| A．make a comparison | B．offer an evidence |
| C．introduce a topic | D．describe a daily scene |
How can negative people have effect on us?
| A．By influencing our emotion． |
| B．By telling us the nature of life． |
| C．By changing our ways of thinking． |
| D．By comparing their attitudes to life with ours． |
Some negative people base their happiness on _____________.
| A．other people’s pity for them | B．making other people unhappy |
| C．building up a positive attitude | D．other people’s respect for them |
According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us，we are advised to _____.
| A．change negative people’s attitudes to life |
| B．show our dissatisfaction to negative people |
| C．make negative people feel ashamed of themselves |
| D．communicate with negative people as little as possible |
What is the author’s attitude towards negative people?
| A．Favorable． | B．Critical. | C．Indifferent. | D．Supportive. |
A man was on the side of the road hitchhiking（搭便车）on a very dark night in the middle of a terrible rainstorm, with no cars on the road．The storm was so strong that the man could hardly see a few feet ahead of him．Suddenly, he saw a car come towards him and stop．The man, without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door and only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the steering wheel（方向盘）!
The car started to move very slowly. The man looked at the road and saw a curve （拐弯处）coming his way. Terrified, he started to pray, begging for his life. He had not come out of shock when, just before the car hit the curve, a hand suddenly appeared through the window and moved the wheel. The man, paralyzed with fear, watched how the hand appeared every time the car was drawing near a curve．Finally, although terrified, the man managed to open the door and jump out of the spooky （幽灵般的）car. Without looking back, the man ran through the storm all the way to the nearest town. In a state of complete horror, the man walked into a nearby bar and asked for two glasses of Scotch whisky.
Then, still shaking with fright, he started telling everybody in the bar about the horrible experience he just went through in the spooky car. Everyone in the bar listened in silence and became frightened, with hair standing on end, when they realized the man was telling the truth because he was crying and he was certainly not drunk!
About half an hour later, two other young men walked into the same bar and one said to the other, “Hey, there’s a stupid man who jumped into the car while we were pushing it!”After he entered the car, the man found ____________.
| A．it didn’t move at all. | B．it moved very quickly. |
| C．there was no driver in it. | D．someone was pushing it. |
When the car was first drawing near a curve, the man _______________ .
| A．felt very curious | B．was extremely frightened |
| C．cried for help | D．remained as calm as possible |
According to the passage, what made the man’s experience believable?
| A．His reasonable behavior. | B．His vivid description. |
| C．His plain appearance. | D．His honest attitude. |
We can infer from the passage that ____________ .
| A．it is unsafe for people to take a free ride |
| B．the man was telling a lie to his listeners |
| C．the car probably broke down on the way |
| D．the two young men were familiar with the man |
As a whole , the story of the man can best be described as ______________ .
| A．strange | B．puzzling | C．mysterious | D．funny |
“Just take a deep breath.” “Don’t think about it.” “You’re more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash.” These are just some words given to people with a fear of flying. But as Tom Cruise, playing Lt. Daniel Kaffee in the movie A Few Good Men, said, “I get sick when I fly because I’m afraid of crashing into a large mountain. I don’t think Daniel will help.”
But there’s a new application that just may. Today, the VALK Foundation, a Dutch group that’s a partnership between KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the University of Leiden, launches the app in the US. The VALK Foundation was one of the first centers for research and fear-of-flying treatment in the world and is the organizer of three world conferences on fear of flying.The foundation said the app, called Flight App VALK, is the first scientifically-developed, web-based treatment for people who suffer from mild to moderate fear of flying.
“The fear of flying application we have created aims to transfer all of the knowledge we have developed through our program into a mobile application that will help ease travelers’ fears,” said Dr. Lucas van Gerwen, director of the VALK Foundation. Dr. van Gerwen is also a psychologist and professional pilot with more than 30 years experience.
The foundation said up to 30% of adults are fearful fliers. The Flight App is designed to help relax passengers before and during flights by educating users about flight safety and turbulence. It explains the sounds and sensations they can expect during departure, flight and landing. And, if a passenger’s flight stress reaches a panic level, they press a special panic button which provides audio and written information to help decrease stress levels. Most importantly, the Flight App can be used during the flight in the airplane mode. Once downloaded, the program does not require Internet connection in the air.By saying the words at the beginning of the passage, people are expected to ______.
| A．decrease their fear of flying |
| B．get rid of their doubt about plane |
| C．have a good time on their flight journey |
| D．use some medicine to cure their fear of flying |
Flight App VALK is aimed to ______.
| A．help passengers experience the fear of flying |
| B．help relax passengers before and during flights |
| C．treat people who suffer from mild fear of flying |
| D．teach people the basic knowledge of taking flight |
According to the passage, the VALK Foundation ______.
| A．is a group focusing on psychology on the flight |
| B．was the first center to do research into fear of flying |
| C．organize the world conferences on fear of flying annually |
| D．focuses on researching and offering treatment on fear of flying |
What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．Many adults are suffering from fear of flying |
| B．It’s convenient for people to use the Flight App |
| C．Many planes will be installed with the Flight App. |
| D．The Flight App can decrease stress levels effectively |
In which column of a newspaper can we read this passage?
| A．Culture | B．Entertainment | C．Technology | D．Education |
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