This Christmas, maybe different from previous years, a strong desire drives me to make my own Christmas gifts. Honestly speaking, I’ve promised myself this more than once. As a crafter (工匠), I’ve frequently thought I am supposed to turn it into action. However, this year I really plan to stick to it. It’s partly because I run short of money. More importantly, I’ve recently returned from an inspiring trip around Britain, collecting some information about crafting for BBC’s Newsnight.
Actually I planned the trip couples of months ago. The idea of traveling the country — making things as I went, meeting artists and craftspeople — sounded perfect to spend the summer. I’d pack a tent and a sewing machine and I’d set off. But by the time I determined my plans and hit the road, leaves made a sighing sound under foot. It seemed crazy to camp with winter on the way; Luckily, Newsnight viewers offered me accommodations in return for help with a craft task.
My tasks ranged from sewing worn-out clothes to making trousers. Textile students in Harpenden offered to pay for my petrol in return for a talk about hats. In Derby, Amy needed help to change an old pair of curtains.
I was really struck by people’s increasing enthusiasm for making things. When I asked some people if they could sew, only a few raised their hands. But when I asked who wanted to learn, nearly everyone responded positively, hoping to learn something practical.
Craft is definitely popular at the moment. But besides fashion, we’re learning to appreciate effort and quality again. Perhaps once people rediscover the pleasure to be gained from making something unique, it may stick.
Sue is director of quilts at the V&A, where next spring she’ll be putting on the museum’s first major quilting exhibition. Sue believes the return to crafting is related to how we rethink ourselves. “People, especially women, are beginning to think about the way they live their lives. It’s 40 years since the first women’s liberation(解放) conference was held in Oxford. Since then we’ve been in the workplace, and we’ve had the opportunity of choice. Now we’re carefully choosing to go back into the home.”
Whether you agree with that or not, there’s something about Christmas that brings out the artistic flavor(气息) in everyone. Whether it’s baking bread or pies or decorating the halls or rooms, we’re all prepared to have a try at any time. So if you fancy having a different and joyful party or holiday and making a few presents, try these really simple ideas, each inspired by my recent journey there. They make small and interesting gifts, and take no longer than 30 minutes each. Enjoy Christmas songs and settle down with a cup of hot cocoa, and the cold is gone. You’ll save yourself a small quantity of money and spread a little bit of love, too!Why did the author promise to make herself a Christmas gift this year?
| A．She wanted to enjoy a different Christmas. |
| B．She wanted to make more money. |
| C．She was inspired by her trip for a BBC TV program. |
| D．She hoped to present herself with a surprise. |
The author had her plans carried out and set out for Britain in ______.
| A．spring | B．summer | C．fall | D．winter |
What happened during the author’s trip to Britain?
| A．She met many artists and craftspeople on her way to Britain. |
| B．She spent a whole summer in Britain making crafts. |
| C．She was asked to sew clothes, and curtains and made much money. |
| D．Many people showed great interest in making things themselves. |
According to the passage, people learn to ______ through crafting.
| A．be grateful to what they have gained |
| B．keep up with fashion |
| C．stick to something interesting |
| D．know more information about craft |
What is the author’s opinion on homemade Christmas presents?
| A．Making Christmas presents can only convey a bit of your love. |
| B．People can find their artistic talent in making Christmas presents. |
| C．A cup of hot cocoa can inspire you to make a creative present. |
| D．It would take a long time to prepare a homemade Christmas present. |
I read a letter of a mother of a gifted child to an expert with gifted children stating that her son was always complaining that he doesn’t like his teacher for she talks in baby language and she lets them sing baby songs. Having an insufficient（不足够的） understanding of being different from their normally developing classmates, gifted children may find themselves wanting to learn more than being boxed with other kids of their age. They want to quench（解渴） their thirst for knowledge. However, in the process, they tend to develop negative（负面的） thoughts about school and teachers. Thus, they tend to exhibit behavioral problems.
Behavioral problems of gifted children could be mainly correlated（相关的） to their asynchronous（不同步的） development. This development means that the child has uneven（不均衡的） development in their mind, body and emotions. To explain further, a gifted child may live in different ages at once. He may show high intellectual（智力的） capabilities at some point but the time his emotions rule, he would go back to his true age going through tantrums（脾气发作） and endless sobbing（哭泣）. He maybe find it happy playing with kids his age but the next day, he would be bored with that and he would find conversing with older kids to be more challenging.
Because of high intellectual level, a gifted child often acts differently in his own classroom. He has the thinking of being above from the rest of his classmates when it comes to grades, academic awards and school recognitions. In classroom discussions, the child may be very cooperative（合作的） having advanced knowledge in the lessons but it is mostly that he will suffer from boredom as he is not challenged by the lessons and he would feel no improvement with them.Which of the following best explains the asynchronous development?
A A child has good development both in mind and body.
B A child cannot get along well with his classmates.
C A child is intellectually developed but not equal with emotionally.
D A child doesn’t feel happy with his school and teachers.What is most likely to be talked about in the paragraph following the passage?
A How a gifted child gets along with his classmates.
B How to get a gifted child involved（被卷入） in a classroom discussion.
C What can arouse（激发） a gifted child’s interest.
D How a teacher should handle a gifted child in class.We can infer from the passage that ______.
A we needn’t pay special attention to gifted children
B a gifted child is well above others in every way
C it’s best to teach a gifted child separately
D teaching a gifted child can be challenging
After Mom died, I began visiting Dad every morning before I went to work. He was frail（衰弱） and moved slowly, but he always had a glass of freshly squeezed（挤榨的） orange juice on the kitchen table for me, along with an unsigned note reading, “Drink your juice.” Such a gesture（表示）, I knew, was as far as Dad had ever been able to go in expressing his love. In fact, I remember, as a kid I had questioned Mom “Why doesn’t Dad love me?” Mom frowned（皱眉）, “Who said he doesn’t love you?”“Well, he never tells me,” I complained. He never tells me either,” she said, smiling. “But look how hard he works to take care of us, to buy us food and clothes, and to pay for this house. That’s how your father tells us he loves us.”
I nodded slowly. I understood in my head, but not in my heart. I still wanted my father to put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. Dad owned and operated a small scrap（小片） metal business, and after school I often hung around while he worked. Dad handfed scrap steel into a device（装置） that chopped （切）it as cleanly as a butcher（屠夫） chops a rack of ribs（肋骨）. The machine looked like a giant pair of scissors（剪刀）, with blades（刃） thicker than my father’s body. If he didn’t feed those terrifying blades just right, he risked serious injury. “Why don’t you hire someone to do that for you?” Mom asked Dad one night as she bent over him and rubbed（搓） his aching shoulders with a strong smelling liniment（涂剂）. “Why don’t you hire a cook?” Dad asked , giving her one of his rare smiles.
Many years later, during my first daily visit, after drinking the juice my father had squeezed for me, I walked over, hugged him and said, “I love you, Dad.” From then on I did this every morning. My father never told me how he felt about my hugs, and there was never any expression on his face when I gave them.What would be the best title for the passage?
A I just couldn’t understand my father B My father never loved me
C Silent fatherly love D My hard-working fatherThe author’s father always prepared a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for him because ______.
A that was the author’s favorite B he was sure the author would be thirsty
C the author was always complaining D that was a gesture of loveThe author’s father didn’t hire a helper because ______.
A his job was too dangerous B his job required high skills
C he wanted to save money D he was not good at communicating with othersWe may infer from the passage that ______.
A the author’s father lacked a sense of humor
B the author quite understood his father as time went on
C the author’s father didn’t love him very much
D the author’s father was too strict with him
The American local food movement has been all about buying seasonal food from nearby farmers. Now, thanks to the Web, it is expanding to include far-away farmers too. A new start-up, Foodzie, is an online farmers market where small food producers and growers can sell their products.
Foodzie was started by Mr LaFave and two of his friends, who met during college at Virginia Tech, where they would pay frequent visits to farmers markets. Last year, while living in North Carolina, one of them, Emily Olson, now 24, came up with one idea. She was working as a brand manager for a gourmet grocery chain and realized that people who enjoyed fine food but didn’t work in the business had no way to discover handmade foods outside their local farmers markets. Small farmers had no way of finding or selling to faraway customers, either.
Mr LaFAve and the third co-founder, Nik Bauman, both 25, worked in corporate sales and software development. “With business, food and computer science backgrounds, we figured we had everything we needed.” Mr LaFAve said.
The three quit their jobs, and opened this site to the public in December and the site has had 43,000 visitors in the past month. So far, 29 sellers have opened shops and 41 are in the process of opening them. The founders recently hired a fourth employee to help Ms Olson recruit(吸收) new food producers at farmers markets and food shows. Mr LaFAve is convinced that the recession(经济衰退) will not reduce people’s interest in buying locally grown and handmade food. “There is misunderstanding that all these foods are more expensive than mass-produced alternatives,” he said. “People are pouring their heart and soul into these products, and they are of the highest quality. ” The passage is mainly about _______________.
| A．how an online farmers’ market works |
| B．the American local food movement |
| C．three youths starting an online farmers’ market |
| D．the reasons why people are interested in local food |
Why did the founders start the online farmers’ market?
| A．Because it met the need of the market. |
| B．Because the founders were interested in seasonal food. |
| C．Because some people wanted to buy locally grown food. |
| D．Because farmers wanted to sell their foods. |
The underlined word in Paragraph 2 can be used to describe ______________.
| A．food of high quality | B．terrible food | C．food of low fat | D．fried food |
The founders of the site employed another person to help _______________.
| A．open new shops in faraway markets |
| B．buy locally grown and handmade food |
| C．find more food outside their local farmers’ markets |
| D．find more food growers to open shops on their site |
About the three founders, we know that ________________.
| A．they are of the same age | B．to start the website they gave up their work |
| C．they used to be colleague | D．they majored in farming at college |
A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher emphasized(强调) the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusingexperience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate(适当的) topic. “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him. “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent.”He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his words：“You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so, ”he answered, greatly surprised.I said, “Didn’t you say’ you don’t say？”Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, ‘You don’t say’ actually means ‘really!’It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.”Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students. A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms because ____________.
| A．English idioms were not important | B．I was not careful with English idioms |
| C．my teacher didn’t emphasize the importance of them | D．I had no interest in them |
At first, on hearing “You don’t say,” I thought the foreigner meant _____________.
| A．he was not interested in the topic | B．he was only interested in the Great Wall |
| C．I had talked too much | D．I had to stop talking |
Which of the following is true according to the passage？
| A．The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall. |
| B．The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it. |
| C．The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide. |
| D．The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting. |
After the Englishman explained the idiom, ________________.
| A．I thought the Englishman had made me a fool | B．the Englishman became a real fool. |
| C．I felt very silly | D．I became more carefully in everything |
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The book deals with the key challenges of our life. It is a must-read for anyone who is trying to balance work success, family joy and daily life.
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This book explains what holds us back from being happy in our lives. Holden analyzes these similar questions and inthe process you will become more informed about what’s really going on in your mind. This is a must-have book for anyone wanting to understand how your thoughts keep you from your happiness.
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If you find it hard to get along with others, which book can offer you help?
| A．Happiness Now | B．Balancing Work & Life |
C．Shift Happens | D．The Secrets of Relationships |
All of these books mainly help people ______________.
| A．to make friends easily | B．to improve their quality of life |
C．to find a better job | D．to achieve their goals |
If you want to buy two copies of Balancing Work & Life and one copy of Happiness Now online, how much would you have to pay?
| A．$29 | B．$23.20 | C．$26.50 | D．$22.40 |
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