We all have our ways of marking time. As a photographer, my life is measured from one story to the next. My oldest son was born in the middle of a long story about the Endangered Species Act. My daughter came along with a pack of gray wolves.
Twenty stories later, though, it’s the story in Alaska that I’ll remember best. It was the story about the loss of wilderness — and the story during which my wife Kathy got cancer. That’s the one that made time stand still. I stopped taking pictures on the day when she found that tumor (肿瘤). Cruelly, it was Thanksgiving. By Christmas, she had become very weak. Some days she was so sick she couldn’t watch TV.
Early examination saves time. But ours was not early. By the time you can feel it yourself, it’s often bigger than the doctor want it to be.
Cancer is a thief. It steals time. Our days are already short with worry. Then comes this terrible disease, unfair as storm at harvest time. But cancer also has the power to change us, for good. We learn to simplify, enjoying what we have instead of feeling sorry for what we don’t. Cancer even made me a better father. My work had made me a stranger to my three kids. But now I pay attention to what really matters. This is not a race. This is a new way of life and new way of seeing, all from the cancer.
In the end each of us has so little time. We have less of it than we can possibly imagine. And even though it turns out that Kathy’s cancer has not spread, and her prognosis (诊断) is good. We try to make it all count now, enjoying every part of every day.
I’ve picked up my camera again. I watch the sky, searching for beautiful light. When winter storms come, Kathy and I gather our children and take the time to catch snowflakes (雪花) on our tongues. After all, this is good. This is what we’re living for.As a photographer, the author used to ______.
| A．leave his daughter with a pack of gray wolves |
| B．express his love for his family in a special way |
| C．miss a great many important historical moments |
| D．devote much more to his career than his family |
Why did the author decide to stop taking pictures?
| A．To cure his own disease. | B．To spend more time with his wife. |
| C．To seek a better position. | D．To leave the wilderness alone. |
What is the biggest change the cancer has brought to the author?
| A．He treasured every bit of time with his family. |
| B．He has become a stranger to his children. |
| C．He takes his work more seriously. |
| D．He focuses more on medical care. |
The author and his family catch snowflakes on their tongues probably because ______.
| A．the snowflakes taste very good |
| B．snowflakes are what they feed on |
| C．they regard that as a way to enjoy life |
| D．there is beautiful light in the snowflakes |
One day while shopping in a small town in southern California，it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk whose personality conflicted with mine. He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase. I bought nothing，and marched angrily out of the store. My hostility（敌意） toward that clerk increased with each step.
On the outside，standing by the road，was a darkskinned young man in his early twenties. His expressive brown eyes met and held mine，and in the next instant a beautiful, dazzling smile covered his face. I gave way immediately. The magnetic（磁力的） power of that smile dissolved all bitterness within me，and I found the muscles in my own face happily responding（回应）.
“Beautiful day，isn't it？”I remarked，in passing. Then，I turned back.“I really owe you a debt of gratitude，”I said softly.
His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer．A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby．The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English．Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed（改变）．The young man's smile had made a big person of me．My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stood ten feet tall．
"Thank you?" The woman seemed slightly puzzled．
I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave．"Just tell him that," I insisted．"He'll understand．I am sure !"
Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning．From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art anywhere and everywhere, with everybody．Why did the author leave the store angrily?
| A．The clerk treated him unkindly． | B．He couldn't buy what he wanted． |
| C．The clerk didn't speak English． | D．The store's goods were too dear． |
By saying "I felt the muscles（肌肉） in my own face happily responding" （in Paragraph 2）, the author means __.
| A．he was still angry | B．he did not want to smile |
| C．he would thank the young man | D．he smiled back at the young man |
The author asked the woman to say "Thank you!" to the young man because the young man_____.
| A．had helped the author before | B．taught the author how to smile |
| C．was a kind employee of the store | D．taught the author a valuable lesson |
In the passage, the author seems to suggest that we should __ ___.
| A．be generous to strangers | B．practice smiling every day |
| C．smile at other people | D．help people in trouble |
Seventeenth-century houses in colonial North American were simple structures that were primarily functional, carrying over traditional designs that went back to the Middle Ages. During the first half of the eighteen century, however, houses began to show a new elegance. As wealth increased, more and more colonist built fine houses.
Since architecture was not yet a specialized profession in the colonies, the design of buildings was left either to amateur (业余) designers or to carpenters who were engaged in translating architectural handbooks imported from England. Inventories of libraries shows an astonishing number of these handbooks for builders, and the houses built during the eighteenth century show their influence. Nevertheless, most household architecture of the first-quarters of the eighteenth century displays a wide divergence of taste and freedom of application of the rules laid down in these books.
Increasing wealth and growing sophistication (文化修养) throughout the colonies resulted in houses of improved design, whether the material was wood, stone, or brick. New England still favored wood, though brick houses became common in Boston and other towns, where the danger of fire gave an impetus (推动) to the use of more durable material. A few houses in New England were built of stone, but only in Pennsylvania and areas nearby was stone widely used in buildings. An increased use of brick in houses and outbuildings is noticeable in Virginia and Maryland, but wood remained the most popular material even in houses built by wealthy landowners. In the Carolinas, even in closely packed Charleston, wooden houses were much common than brick houses.
Eighteenth-century houses showed great interior improvements over the former ones. Windows were made larger and shutters removed. Large, clear panes replaced the small leaded glass of the seventeenth century. Doorways were larger and more decorative.
Fireplaces became decorative features of rooms. Walls were made of plaster or wood. White paint began to take the place of blues, yellows, greens, and lead colors, which had been popular for walls in the earlier years. After about 1730, advertisements for wallpaper styles in scenic patterns began to appear in colonial newspapers.What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．The improved design of eighteenth-century colonial houses. |
| B．A comparison of eighteenth-century houses and modern houses. |
| C．The decorations used in eighteenth-century houses. |
| D．The role of carpenters in building eighteenth-century houses. |
What was one of the main reasons for the change in architectural style in eighteenth-century
North America?
| A．More architects arrived in the colonies. |
| B．The colonists developed an interest in classical architecture. |
| C．Bricks were more readily available |
| D．The colonists had more money to spend on housing. |
According to the passage, who was responsible for designing houses in eighteenth-century
North America?
| A．professional architects | B．customers | C．interior decorators | D．carpenters |
The passage implies that the rules described in architectural handbooks were ____________.
| A．generally ignored | B．broken by professional architects |
| C．not strictly stuck to | D．only followed by older builders |
The underlined word “divergence”欧 is closest in meaning to ________.
| A．description | B．developing | C．difference | D．interest |
It’s high time someone spoke up for today’s college students. They’re probably the most hardworking, ambitious people in America and their problems are not properly appreciated.
People like the Secretary of Education simply don’t know what they’re talking about when they knock students. Nor do those who complain about falling academic standards.
The vast majority of the nation’s 12 million students are struggling to pay for their educations. They are part of the invisible workforce. Many hold down full-time jobs. They’re frying hamburgers, photographing weddings, working in construction, and waiting on tables. The fact that they even show up for classes is a wonderful event.
The financial situation of most students explains a lot about what is happening in schools. Why are the traditional courses so unpopular? Why are students flocking to accounting and computer science and any professional programs that seem to lead to careers?
Answer: Today’s working student has been forced into a kind of premature matter-of-fact way of viewing things. Romance is gone. The notion of transforming one’s self through study alone has disappeared. Today’s students seek freedom from manual labor, and the status conferred by a good job.
There are other consequences. Today’s students don’t have much time or energy to be devoted, and carry out independent research or even do serious homework. That’s the secret behind falling academic standards. Students have become consumers. They want grades and certifications. Their professors can’t be expected to give a grade of failure to students who are clearly tired from the effort to pay their bills.
There’s a lot wrong with this situation. It’s twisting the definition of education out of shape. Worse, it’s creating a generation that is totally unpleasant. The brightest students turn out to be yuppies (雅皮士). The vast majority are, at least, good-natured semi-literates.
The time has run out for philosophical debates about fixed courses of study. What this country needs is someone to stand up and say that being a full-time student during one’s formative years is an honorable calling worthy of support. If families can’t or won’t give it to their children, then the government should.The author’s purpose in writing this article is to __________.
| A．awaken the whole society to the problems today’s college students face |
| B．warn Americans that academic standards are falling |
| C．advise college students to study hard |
| D．provide a suggestion that only full-time students be enrolled |
The most suitable word to describe the author’s feelings about today’s college students is _________.
| A．criticize | B．sympathize | C．complain | D．urge |
Which of the following cannot be learned from the passage?
| A．Many students are often absent from classes. |
| B．Traditional courses are not popular. |
| C．Students commit crimes with computers. |
| D．Students don’t devote much time and energy to their homework. |
By saying “Romance is gone” in paragraph 5, the author means ____________.
| A．today’s students do not believe in love stories any more |
| B．today’s students become more practical in dealing with things |
| C．students think there is no affection any more and break up with their lovers |
| D．today’s students hold matter-of-fact opinions on love |
Which of the following suggestions will the author not agree with?
| A．We should encourage students to give up full-time jobs. |
| B．Families should offer their children more help financially. |
| C．We should stand up and say something for today’s college students. |
| D．We should make more strict regulations to force students to study hard. |
The teacher was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry. The miller at Cresscombe lent him the small cart and horse to carry his goods to Christminster, the city of his destination, such a vehicle proving of quite enough size for the teacher’s belongings. For his only article, in addition to the packing-case of books, was a piano that he had bought when he thought of learning instrumental music. But the eagerness having faded, he had never acquired any skill in playing, and the purchased article had been a permanent trouble to him.
The headmaster had gone away for the day, being a man who disliked the sight of changes. He did not mean to return till the evening, when the new teacher would have arrived, and everything would be smooth again.
The blacksmith, the farm bailiff and the teacher were standing in confused attitudes in the sitting room before the instrument. The teacher had remarked that even if he got it into the cart he should not know what to do with it on his arrival at Christminster, since he was only going into a temporary place just at first.
A little boy of eleven, who had been assisting in the packing, joined the group of men, and said, “Aunt has got a fuel-house, and it could be put there, perhaps, till you’ve found a place to settle in, sir.”
“Good idea,” said the blacksmith.
The smith and the bailiff started to see about the possibility of the suggested shelter, and the boy and the teacher were left standing alone.
“Sorry I am going, Jude.” said the latter gently.
Tears rose into the boy’s eyes. He admitted that he was sorry.
“So am I,” said Mr. Phillotson.
“Why do you go, sir?” asked the boy.
“Well ----- don’t speak of this everywhere. You know what a university is, and a university degree? It is the necessary hallmark of a man who wants to do anything in teaching. My scheme, or dream, is to be a university graduate. By going to live at Christminster, I shall be at headquarters, so to speak, and if my scheme is practicable at all, I consider that being on the spot will afford me a better chance.”
The smith and his companion returned. Old Miss Fawley’s fuel-house was practicable; and she seemed willing to give the instrument standing-room there. So it was left in the school till the evening, when more hands would be available for removing it; and the teacher gave a final glance round.
At nine o’clock Mr. Phillotson mounted beside his box of books, and waved his friends good-bye.It can be inferred that the teacher _______.
| A．was not getting on well with the headmaster |
| B．had lived a rather simple life in the village |
| C．was likely to continue to practice playing the piano |
| D．would get a rise in the city on arriving there |
The motivation of the teacher’s moving lay in his _________.
| A．ambition | B．devotion | C．admiration | D．inspiration |
The boy named Jude may be described as _________.
| A．polite, generous and cheerful | B．active, modest and friendly |
| C．kind, bright and helpful | D．calm, confident and humorous |
From the passage, we could get a general idea of the teacher’s ______.
| A．love for music and his dislike for musical instruments |
| B．hard work in the village and his strong interest in city life |
| C．friendship with some villagers and also conflicts with others |
| D．eagerness to go to the city and his love for the village |
Which person does the underlined “his companion” refer to?
| A．Mr. Phillotson | B．Miss Fawley | C．The bailiff | D．The headmaster |
Susan Sontag (1933 ------ 2004) was one of the most noticeable figures in the world of literature. For more than 40 years she made it morally necessary to know everything----- to read every book worth reading, to see every movie worth seeing. When she was still in her early 30s, publishing essays in such important magazines as Partisan Review, she appeared as the symbol of American culture life, trying hard to follow every new development in literature, film and art. With great effort and serious judgment, Sontag walked at the latest edges of world culture.
Seriousness was one of Sontag’s lifelong watchwords (格言), but at a time when the barriers between the well-educated and the poorly-educated were obvious, she argued for a true openness to the pleasure of pop culture. In Notes Camp, the 1964 essay that first made her name, she explained what was then a little-known set of difficult understandings, through which she could not have been more famous. Notes on Camp, she wrote, represents “a victory of ‘form’ over ‘content’, ‘beauty’ over ‘morals’”.
By conviction she was a sensualist (感觉论者), but by nature she was a moralist, and in the works she published in the 1970s and 1980s, it was the latter side of her that came forward. In Illness as Metaphor ------published in 1978, after she suffered cancer ------ she argued against the idea that cancer was somehow a special problem of repressed (被压抑的) personalities, a concept that effectively blamed the victim for the disease. In fact, re-examining old positions was her lifelong habit.
In America, her story of a 19th century Polish actress who set up a perfect society in California, won the National Book Award in 2000. But it was as a tireless, all-purpose cultural view that she made her lasting fame.
“Sometimes,” she once said, “I feel that, in the end, all I am really defending… is the idea of seriousness, of true seriousness.” And in the end, she made us take it seriously too.It is implied but not stated in the first paragraph that Sontag _________.
| A．was a symbol of American cultural life |
| B．developed world literature, film and art |
| C．published many essays about world culture |
| D．kept pace with the newest development of world culture |
She first won her name through _________.
| A．publishing essays in magazines like Partisan Review |
| B．her story of a Polish actress |
| C．her explanation of a set of difficult understandings |
| D．her book Illness as Metaphor |
From the works Susan published in the 1970s and 1980s, we can learn that ________.
| A．she was more of a moralist than a sensualist |
| B．she was more of a sensualist than a moralist |
| C．she believed repressed personalities mainly led to illness |
| D．she would like to re-examine old positions |
According to the passage, Susan Sontag would agree to the ideas except _________.
| A．We should try hard to follow every new development in literature, film and art. |
| B．Cancer can be defeated because it is a special problem of repressed personalities. |
| C．‘Form’ should be over ‘content’, ‘beauty’ should be over ‘morals. |
| D．We should defend the idea of seriousness, of true seriousness. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A lifelong watchword: seriousness |
| B．Susan Sontag is the symbol of American culture |
| C．How Susan Sontag became famous |
| D．An introduction to Susan Sontag and her watchword |
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