Ridgewood is a small, quiet town 20 miles from Manhattan. It is a typical suburban town, perfect for raising children away from the fast pace of the city. However, some Ridgewood kids feel as upset as if they were on the city’s busy streets. In addition to hours of homework, Ridgewood’s children are occupied with afterschool activities — from swimming to piano to religious classes.
Out of desperation one day, the town decided to schedule another activity. This one was called “Ridgewood Family Night — Ready, Set, Relax!” Instead of schedules filled with sports, music, or overtime at the office, some of the town’s 25,000 residents decided to take the night off and stay home. For a few months before Family Night, a committee of volunteers worked hard to spread the word. Younger students took “Save the Date for Me” leaflets home to their parents. The mayor issued a statement, and schools and clubs agreed to cancel homework and meetings so families could relax and be together.
The tension between a hope for a more relaxed lifestyle and the knowledge that the benchmark for success has been raised in recent years weighs heavily on the minds of the townspeople. Some parents like to recall a different kind of childhood, one without so many scheduled afterschool activities. However, these same parents feel obliged to make sure their children are prepared to survive in today’s high-pressure work environment. They are afraid that any gap in their children’s physical or intellectual development might mean they won’t be admitted to the “right” universities and won’t succeed in a more and more competitive world.
Nevertheless, it seems that Family Night worked, at least to a point. Cars moved easily around Ridgewood’s normally busy downtown streets, and stores and restaurants saw a drop in business. Some families ate supper together for the first time in months.
Initially, there was great hope of taking back their lives. But sadly, few families believe that one night will change their lives. Many are sure that they will fall back into the habit of over-scheduling their children to be overachieving adults.The writer describes Ridgewood as a town where ________.
| A．residents take little notice of education |
| B．children are stressful and over expected |
| C．parents are concerned about children’s safety |
| D．children lead a life of relaxed, ordinary rhythms |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about the Family Night?
| A．Schools assigned no homework. |
| B．Fewer people ate in the restaurants. |
| C．The streets were less crowded. |
| D．People enjoyed meeting each other. |
According to the passage, the parents in Ridgewood ________.
| A．have conflicting desires about what experiences to offer their children |
| B．are happy with the lifestyle they have chosen for themselves and the children |
| C．believe that it is their duty to make a change for the stressful life style |
| D．are worried about their children’s lacking of big ambition |
We may get the conclusion from the passage that ________.
| A．the concept of Family Night will become a regular part of life in Ridgewood |
| B．Ridgewood people believe the Family Night will change their way of living |
| C．Family Night is not as popular as people have originally thought |
| D．schools are worried about students being given too much free time |
In the face of tragedy，you must of course let yourself feel: Cry without holding back, shake with fear, yell out in anger, accept and follow your feelings. This is part of the wise approach to tragedy: The Upward Path —the feeling of emotions, the acceptance of them, and the coupling of the emotional mind with wisdom. Along this path, you'll take the experience —no matter how sad or upsetting —as a learning event, just as a11 other points on your journey will prove to be. While tragic, you must recognize this is still a chance for all involved to grow. You should let both sadness and joy, fear and courage, dark and light fill your world, and learn to find your steady, calm center in the midst of the opposing forces. This is the Upward Path. Use the event as a chance to gain balance and discover wisdom —the wisdom of love and of letting go, of non-attachment and non-resistance, and using this experience to eventually help others in need of guidance.
Being able to relate to others who have also experienced tragedy and inspire in them hope — of recovery, and of moving forward —is perhaps the greatest gift you can receive from tragedy. Turn the negative into positive, the pain into connection. After you've taken appropriate time to be sad, to feel your own pain, you should make it your work，your goal, your purpose to connect with others who need help. Show them how you've experienced feelings, achieved
balance，and gained wisdom that you would never have otherwise had the chance to learn.
FEEL, but do not FEED on tragedy. Rather, let it inspire you to go beyond the person who you were before. With demise comes renewal, so let this loss be also your rebirth. No matter how hopeless it seems, no matter how difficult this becomes, you have the power to transform yourself into someone greater than you ever knew you could be.When following the Upward Path, the person facing tragedy should _______.
| A．free his emotions |
| B．hold back his feelings |
| C．fill his world with positive ideas |
| D．give in to tragedy and all opposing forces |
According to the author，the greatest gift one gets from tragedy is being able to _______.
| A．seek solutions from others |
| B．forgive others and move on |
| C．stay calm and resist change |
| D．understand and help others |
The purpose of the passage is to _______.
| A．analyze the causes of tragedy |
| B．suggest a way of dealing with tragedy |
| C．tell people how to prevent tragedy |
| D．encourage people to build friendship after tragedy |
Dear Mr. Watson,
CLAIM AL54323432–-STORM DAMAGE TO ROOF
I received a cheque for $623 dated 26 January in payment of my recent claim(索赔). However, I wish to tell you how upset I have been by the way your Claims Assessor, Mr. Michael Tan, handled this claim.
When Mr. Tan first called me, he specifically told me that he believed I had been overcharged, and he would expect to pay that price for work on a double garage, rather than a single garage like mine. Mr. Tan suggested that I neither use nor recommend this contractor again. He continued to tell me it was unlikely for me to receive full payment. Never during this conversation did he mention that the reason for not receiving full payment was because of the nature of my insurance policy.
Consequently, I wrote to Mr. Lance Ashe to complain about his pricing, stating that I was very upset thinking that he could have taken advantage by overcharging a 73-year-old woman. Mr. Ashe telephoned me immediately and explained his charges in detail. He later reported back to me that Mr. Tan explained that I would not receive full payment because of the type of policy I hold, which does not cover wear and tear. This was the first time this issue had been brought to my attention, so you can imagine my surprise.
When I received Mr. Tan’s letter of 2 February, this situation was explained. If this had been explained in the first place I would have accepted it and would not have questioned Mr. Ashe’s charges. Instead, by telling me initially that I had been overcharged for this work, he caused a great deal of upset, not only for me but also for Mr. Ashe.
I believed this claim was handled badly by Mr. Tan from the beginning. Therefore, a great deal of embarrassment has been caused over this issue.
I felt you should know how disappointed and upset I am. I trust you will look into this and ensure that such claims are handled more appropriately in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. RichardThe author writes this letter to ______.
| A．inform the manager of a payment |
| B．complain about a mishandled case |
| C．demand an apology from Mr. Watson |
| D．require the manager to fire Mr. Tan |
The underlined words “the contractor” in Para.2 refer to ______.
| A．Mr. Tan | B．Mrs. Richard | C．Mr. Ashe | D．Mr. Watson |
The author could not receive full payment because _______.
| A．her policy doesn’t cover some of the items |
| B．the contractor overcharged her for the work |
| C．Mr. Watson doesn’t take the matter seriously |
| D．she spent too much money fixing her garage |
We can learn from the passage that Mr. Tan works in a/an _______.
| A．welfare organization | B．nursing house |
| C．local affairs office | D．insurance company |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before a huge pile of troublesome stuff they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn’t answer, in fact I dared not.
The clock struck 12."Oh, dear!" I cried, "ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.”
The clock struck one. I was quite hopeless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were heavy, so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were_____ .
| A．asleep | B．working in bed | C．outside | D．quietly laughing at him |
Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because ________. .
| A．it was too late at night |
| B．he was very tired |
| C．his eyes l ids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open |
| D．he hadn’t studied hard before the examination |
The best title for the passage would be __________ .
| A．The Night Before the Examination | B．Working Far into the Night |
| C．A Slow Student | D．Going Over My Lessons |
Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws (颌)on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture（穿刺） wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile. This passage is most likely to be found in _____.
| A．a travel guide | B．a newspaper | C．a textbook | D．a novel |
The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.
| A．swimming in the river |
| B．standing on the river bank |
| C．watching the crocodile |
| D．fishing in the water |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?
| A．Her eyes were badly poked. |
| B．She had eight wounds altogether. |
| C．One of her fingers also got hurt. |
| D．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT ______.
| A．brave | B．diligent | C．quick | D．humorous |
Some snakes eat other snakes, even poisonous ones. The poison does not do them any harm(伤害). Snakes can swallow(吞下) things that are bigger around than they themselves are. This is possible because the jawbones(腭骨) are loosely joined, and the mouth can stretch（伸展）to make room for a fat animal. The snake’s slim body stretches to make space for the animal when it is inside.
Many snakes eat birds’ eggs or frogs（青蛙）. Others eat pests（害虫）, mice and other animals that harm crops on farms. Because snakes do this valuable work, you should never kill one. It is too dangerous for you to kill a poisonous one. Leave that job to experts. Which of the following groups of food is usually had by a snake?
| A．Mice, crops, birds’ eggs. |
| B．Pests, frogs, some animals, plants. |
| C．Birds’ eggs, frogs, all animals, other snakes. |
| D．Mice, frogs, pests, some animals, other snakes. |
We should not kill a snake because
| A．it is poisonous |
| B．it can do something useful for man |
| C．it will strike you in return |
| D．we are not experts |
Snakes may do some valuable work by
| A．eating pests, mice and some harmful animals |
| B．doing harm to other animals |
| C．eating birds’ eggs and frogs |
| D．both A and C |
In writing this passage the writer mainly wants us to
| A．have a better impression(印象) about snakes |
| B．like snakes |
| C．kill snakes with the help of experts |
| D．regard snakes as one of man’s best friends |
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