It has taken 90 years since she was born in a poor house in County Limerick for a woman considered America’s oldest illegal immigrant to get her Irish passport.It will be a few more months before Josephine Stout will finally be declared a US citizen, entitling(赋于…权力) her to a pension and other benefits.
Despite having lived in America for most of her life since she arrived in 1923, the great-grandmother was declared an undocumented alien(华侨)in 1999, when she tried to claim state aid to help raise her seven grandchildren, who were left orphaned when her daughter was killed by a robber over$20.
Even though she has never considered herself Irish, noting “I don’t even have an accent,” she didn’t officially exist as an American when officials in Chicago insisted that she prove her citizenship in order to qualify for benefits. But she had no birth certificate or passport when she arrived on an immigrant ship from Ireland from Ireland with her parents, who had 12 other children.
She never gave the matter much thought until 1999, when she was in her late 70s and needed assistance to raise her grandchildren. For 12 years, Mrs. Stout managed to support the family by doing various jobs. But her life was hard and marked by tragedy. Her husband died in 1996, and her son Thomas died in a car accident with his girlfriend in 1985. Her only surviving child, Rosemary, died of cancer in 2009.
A Catholic charity referred her case to Chicago Irish Immigrant Support(CIIS), which alerted the Irish Consulate(领事馆). Through them, they tracked down her birth certificate, the website irishcentral.com reported. The document, in turn, allowed her to receive her Irish passport, and eventually her American green card in September 2011, which was dated back to November 1, 1923.What will happen to a person if he has no green card in the US?
| A．he cannot get any chance to get education |
| B．he can’t have a pension and other benefits |
| C．his citizenship will be taken away |
| D．he has to take illegal part-time job |
Josephine couldn’t be a legal immigrant because ______.
| A．she was named an undocumented alien |
| B．she arrived in American in a secret way |
| C．She couldn’t find her proper certificates |
| D．She has too many brothers and sisters |
We can imply from the 4th paragraph that ______.
| A．Josephine lived a lonely life for many years |
| B．Thomas was always driving carelessly |
| C．Josephine was a strong-willed woman |
| D．Mrs. Stout, Josephine’s friend, helped her a lot. |
Please arrange the following events in the correct order according to the text.
a. Josephine’s birth certificate was found.
b. Josephine received her green card.
c. The Catholic charity contacted CIIS.
d. The birth certificate was shown on a website.
e. Josephine was offered her Irish passport.
| A．a-b-c-d-e | B．c-d-e-a-b | C．a-d-c-b-e | D．c-a-d-e-b |
Is the ‘Go to College’ Message Overdone?
Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” Ms. Sawhill said. “On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don’t graduate, that is a very bad situation.”
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April’s national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn’t attended college was 7.4%, compared with 3.9% for those with a bachelor’s degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16-24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists cautions that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one’s major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two avenues for improving the situation: increasing vocational(职业的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe’s focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. “The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized(资助).”
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.People usually think that _____.
| A．the cost of technical schooling is a problem |
| B．one will not succeed without a college degree |
| C．technical skills are most important for landing a job |
| D．there is an increased competition in getting into a college |
What does the underlined part “taking a page from” mean?
| A．Hearing from. | B．Changing from. |
| C．Differing from. | D．Learning from. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Public institutions charge more for education. |
| B．European universities are stricter with students. |
| C．Students with certain skills are in great demand. |
| D．Canadian students prefer to major in engineering. |
Ms. Sawhill may probably agree that _____.
| A．too much stress has been put on the value of college degrees |
| B．technical training is more important than college education |
| C．a college degree will ensure promising employment |
| D．it’s easier for art students to find favorite jobs |
The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound(白蚁堆).
Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air-conditioning and almost no heating. The building—the country’s largest commercial and shopping complex—uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building of its size. The Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning plant didn’t have to be imported.
The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glass-roofed atrium(天井) open to the air. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents(通风口). As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exists through forty-eight brick chimneys.
During summer’s cool nights, big fans blow air through the building seven times an hour to cool the empty floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building, to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.
This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature swings—days as warm as 31℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn’t do this in New York, with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters,” Pearce said.
The engineering firm of Ove Arup&Partners monitors daily temperatures. It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23℃ and 25℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. And the air is fresh—far more so than in air-conditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled. Why was Eastgate cheaper to be built than a conventional building?
| A．It was designed in a smaller size. |
| B．No air conditioners were fixed in. |
| C．Its heating system was less advanced. |
| D．It used rather different building materials. |
What does “it” refer to in Paragraph 3?
| A．Fresh air from outside. | B．Heat in the building. |
| C．Hollow space. | D．Baseboard vent. |
Why would a building like Eastgate Not work efficiently in New York?
| A．New York has less clear skies as Harare. |
| B．Its dampness affects the circulation of air. |
| C．New York covers a larger area than Harare. |
| D．Its temperature changes seasonally rather than daily. |
The data in the last paragraph suggests Eastgate’s temperature control system_____.
| A．allows a wide range of temperatures |
| B．functions well for most of the year |
| C．can recycle up to 30% of the air |
| D．works better in hot seasons |
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What do we know about 1234 PENS?
| A．It has a history of over 30 years. |
| B．It has built up a large pen market. |
| C．It has its name printed on each pen. |
| D．It charges a low price for extra service. |
What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 3?
| A．The different types of the products. | B．The high quality of the products. |
| C．The quick service of 1234 PENS. | D．The trade shows of 1234 PENS. |
What is special about the pens produced in 1234 PENS?
| A．They are designed in 16 styles. |
| B．They come in 48 different colours. |
| C．Their material is less harmful to the earth. |
| D．Their price is much lower in the pen market. |
The main purpose of the passage is to _____.
| A．persuade people to order the products |
| B．explain the process of making logo pens |
| C．show people how to choose different pens |
| D．introduce the different services of 1234 PENS |
In the 19th century, there used to be a model of how to be a good person. There are all these torrents of passion flowing through you. Your job, as captain of your soul, is to erect dams to keep these passions in check. Your job is to just say no to laziness, lust, greed, drug use and the other sins.
These days that model is out of fashion. You usually can’t change your behavior by simply resolving to do something. Knowing what to do is not the same as being able to do it. Your willpower is not like a dam that can block the torrent of self-indulgence. It's more like a muscle, which tires easily. Moreover, you're a social being. If everybody around you is overeating, you’ll probably do so, too.
The 19th-century character model was based on an understanding of free will. Today, we know that free will is bounded. People can change their lives, but ordering change is not simple because many things, even within ourselves, are beyond our direct control.
Much of our behavior, for example, is guided by unconscious habits. Researchers at Duke University calculated that more than 40 percent of the actions we take are governed by habit, not actual decisions. Researchers have also come to understand the structure of habits—cue, routine, reward.
You can change your own personal habits. If you leave running shorts on the floor at night, that'll be a cue to go running in the morning. Don’t try to ignore your afternoon snack craving. Every time you feel the cue for a snack, insert another routine. Take a walk.
Their research thus implies a different character model, which is supposed to manipulate the neural networks inside.
To be an effective person, under this model, you are supposed to coolly examine your own unconscious habits, and the habits of those under your care. You are supposed to devise strategies to alter the cues and routines. Every relationship becomes slightly manipulative, including your relationship with yourself. You're trying to arouse certain responses by implanting certain cues.
This is a bit disturbing, because the important habitual neural networks are not formed by mere routine, nor can they be reversed by clever cues. They are burned in by emotion and strengthened by strong yearnings, like the yearnings for admiration and righteousness.
If you think you can change your life in a clever way, the way an advertiser can get you to buy an air freshener, you’re probably wrong. As the Victorians understood, if you want to change your life, don’t just look for a clever cue. Commit to some larger global belief.Which of the following is the first-to-none element in the 19th-century character model?
| A．Action. | B．Capacity. | C．Resolution. | D．Enthusiasm. |
The research at Duke University indicated that ________
| A．One’s behavior is tough to change. |
| B．Habit has an unidentified structure. |
| C．Habit plays a vital role in one's behavior. |
| D．Both habit and will power are of significance. |
According to the new character model, personal behavior could be altered through
| A．techniques to break old routines. |
| B．techniques to provide different physical cues. |
| C．cues to change all the former unconscious habits. |
| D．cues to manipulate the habitual neural responses. |
Something that makes sense is happening in Washington, D.C! Public school kids surrounded by museums and monuments are putting the ready-made learning tools to use — and actually learning.
A trip to see painter Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series is one of almost 200 trips that Wheelock will organize this year through the nonprofit group Live It Learn It. “For many kids, school is disconnected,” says one of four full-time workers and tour leaders. “With the program, they see how what they are learning is connected to their communities.”
Seven years ago, Wheelock changed a job as a lawyer for one as a four-grade teacher. When he learned that D.C.’s public schools ranked behind those of other cities in many ways, he knew he had to do something different. He took his class to Capitol Hill for a lesson on the three branches of government — and saw his students’ interest develop quickly.
With seed money from a local couple, Wheelock developed detailed lesson plans for trips to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Lincoln Memorial. The group also has classes for trips to the Anacostia River, boat rides to historical forts. Word spread, and now fourth, fifth, sixth graders from the neediest public schools in the District participate.
“I’m not brave enough to take my class to a museum for over an hour!” says teacher Cathy McCoy, gesturing toward her students. “But look With Live It Learn It, what the kids learn today they’ll remember for a lifetime.” Matthew Wheelock once had an occupation as a _______.
| A．teacher | B．printer | C．leader | D．lawyer |
According to the first two paragraphs, public school kids in Washington D.C. _______.
A. like to have school disconnected
B. are warmly welcomed by museums and monuments
C. are making the resources at hand available
D. are learning by going to different communitiesMatthew Wheelock started the new change for the reason that _______.
A. he saw his students’ interest develop quickly
B. more graders from the neediest public schools wanted to participate
C. D.C.’s public schools ranked behind in many ways
D. a local couple sponsored him a sum of seed money What will the lessons be like with Live It Learn It in Cathy McCoy’s opinion?
| A．Eye-catching. | B．Challenging. | C．Forgettable. | D．Impressive. |
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