When I left home for college, I sought to escape the limited world of farmers, small towns, and country life. I long for the excitement of the city, for the fast pace that rural life lacked, for adventure beyond the horizon. I dreamed of exploring the city, living within a new culture and landscape, and becoming part of the pulse of an urban jungle.
Yet some of my best times were driving home, leaving the city behind and slipping back into the valley. As city life disappeared and traffic thinned, I could see the faces of the other drivers relax. Then, around a bend in the highway, the grassland of the valley would come into being, offering a view of gentle rolling hills. The land seemed permanent. I felt as if I had stepped back in time.
I took comfort in the stability of the valley. Driving through small farm communities, I imagined the founding families still rooted in their grand homes, generations working the same lands, neighbors remaining neighbors for generations. I allowed familiar farmhouse landmarks to guide me.
Close to home, I often turned off the main highway and took a different, getting familiar farms again and testing my memory. Friends lived in those houses. I had eaten meals and spent time there; I had worked on some of these farms, lending a hand during a peak harvest, helping a family friend for a day or two. The houses and lands looked the same, and I could picture the gentle faces and hear familiar voices as if little had been changed. As I eased into our driveway I’d return to old ways, becoming a son once again, a child on the family farm. My feelings were honest and real. How I longed for a land where life stood still and my memories could be relived. When I left the farm for college, I could only return as visitor to the valley, a traveler looking for home.
Now the farm is once again my true home. I live in that farmhouse and work the permanent lands. My world may seem unchanged to casual observers, but they are wrong. I know this: if there’s a constant on these farms, it’s the constant of change.
The good observer will recognize the differences. A farmer replants an orchard (果园) with a new variety of peaches. Irrigation is added to block of old grapes, so I imagine the vineyard has a new owner. Occasionally the changes are clearly evident, like a FOR SALE sign. But I need to read the small print in order to make sure that a bank has taken possession of the farm. Most of the changes contain two stories. One is the physical change of the farm, the other involves the people on that land, the human story behind the change.
I’ve been back on the farm for a decade and still haven’t heard all the stories behind the changes around me. But once I add my stories to the landscape, I can call this place my home, a home that continues to evolve and changes as I add more and more of my stories.
A poet returns to the valley and says, “Little has changed in the valley, and how closed-minded you all are!” He comments about the lack of interest in sports, social and environmental issues in the poverty and inequality of our life. He was born and raised here, so he might have the right to criticize and lecture us. Yet he speaks for many who think they know the valley. How differently would others think of us if they knew the stories of a grape harvest in a wet year or a peach without a home?What made the writer relax as he drove from the city to the country?
| A．The land seemed familiar to him. |
| B．The traffic moved more slowly. |
| C．He could see for miles and miles. |
| D．The people he passed seemed to be calmer. |
When he was in college, why was the writer sad when he returned to his family home?
| A．He remembered how hard he used to work. |
| B．He recognized the old housed and land. |
| C．He realized that he was only a visitor. |
| D．He remembered his next door neighbors. |
Which of the following most likely indicates that there is a sad human story behind a physical change on the farm?
| A．A new variety of peach is being planted. |
| B．A piece of land is being sold by a bank. |
| C．Irrigation is being added to a grape operation. |
| D．A farm is being sold to a large corporation. |
The fact that most upsets the writer with the poet is that________.
| A．the poet thinks that the folk people are backward |
| B．the poet’s criticism and comments are not objective |
| C．the poet says that little has changed in the valley |
| D．the poet prefers to live in the urban area |
Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩).
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. As the dog couldn’t see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words.
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before.
The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination(排除法). A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive.
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed (品种)known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.
It’s hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can’t talk back. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!From paragraph 2 we know that __ .
| A．animals are as clever as human beings |
| B．all dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees |
| C．chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills |
| D．all dogs have similar learning abilities as 3-year-old children |
Both experiments show that .
| A．Rico is smart enough to get all commands right |
| B．Rico can recognize different things including toys |
| C．Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics |
| D．Rico won’t forget the names of objects once recognizing them |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie’s mental abilities. |
| B．Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training. |
| C．The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects. |
| D．Rico is born to understand its owner’s commands. |
What does the writer want to tell us?
| A．To train your dog. |
| B．To talk to your dog. |
| C．To be friendly to your dog. |
| D．To be careful with your dog. |
Robert Owen was born in Wales in 1771. At the age of ten he went to work. His employer had a large private library so Owen was able to educate himself. He read a lot in his spare time and at nineteen he was given the job of superintendent(监工) at a Manchester cotton mill. He was so successful there that he persuaded his employer to buy the New Lanark mill in Scotland.
When he arrived at New Lanark it was a dirty little town with a population of 2,000 people. Nobody paid any attention to the workers’ houses or their children’s education. The conditions in the factories were very bad. There was a lot of crime and the men spent most of their wages on alcoholic drinks.
Owen improved the houses. He encouraged people to be clean and save money. He opened a shop and sold the workers cheap, well-made goods to help them. He limited the sale of alcoholic drinks. Above all, he fixed his mind on the children's education. In 1816 he opened the first free primary school in Britain.
People came from all over the country to visit Owen’s factory. They saw that the workers were healthier and more efficient than in other towns. Their children were better fed and better educated. Owen tried the same experiment in the United States. He bought some land there in 1825, but the community was too far away. He could not keep it under control and lost most of his money.
Owen never stopped fighting for his idea. Above all he believed that people are not born good or bad. He was a practical man and his ideas were practical. “If you give people good working conditions”, he thought, “they will work well and, the most important thing of all, if you give them the chance to learn, they will be better people.”For Owen, his greatest achievement in New Lanark was _____________.
| A．improving worker’s houses |
| B．helping people to save money |
| C．preventing men from getting drunk |
| D．providing the children with a good education |
From the passage we may infer that Owen was born ___________.
| A．into a rich family | B．into a noble family |
| C．into a poor family | D．into a middle class family |
We may infer form the passage that no children in Britain could enjoy free education until ___.
| A．1771 | B．1816 | C．1825 | D．1860 |
Wouldn’t it be great if you could just look up at the sky and read the weather forecast right away? Well, you can. The forecast is written in clouds. If you can read that writing, you can tell something about the atmosphere. With some practice, you can become a pretty good weather forecaster. Who knows, you might even do as well as meteorologists（气象学家）.
Meteorologists use much more information than just the appearance of the clouds to make their forecast. They collect data（数据）from all over the world. Then they put it into powerful, high speed computers. This does give the meteorologists an advantage, because they can track（追踪）weather patterns as they move from west to east across the country. But you have an advantage, too. You can look at the sky and get your data directly. A meteorologist uses a computer forecast that’s several hours old to make a local forecast.
What are you seeing when you look at a cloud? “A picture of moisture(水汽)is doing in the atmosphere,” says meteorologist Peter Leavitt. There’s moisture throughout the atmosphere. Most of the time you don’t see it, because it’s in the form of an unseeable gas called water vapor. Sometimes, the temperature of the air gets cold enough to cause the waster vapor to change to liquid water. It’s called condensation(凝结), and we see it happen all the time (for example, when humid air from the shower hits the cold glasses of a mirror). When enough water vapor condenses（冷凝）, droplets(小滴）come in the air. These droplets scatter(分散) light. A cloud is seen.
Watching clouds over a day or two tells you a lot more than a single cloud about the weather to come. Changes in clouds show changes in the atmosphere. You should begin to notice patterns. Certain clouds, following each other in order, can signal an approaching storm. But don’t take our word for it; see for yourself.According to the passage, an ordinary person might read the weather forecast as well as meteorologists _________.
| A．with some simple practice looking up at the sky |
| B．with the help of the high-speed computers |
| C．through complex (复杂的) instruments |
| D．by visiting a weather station |
Meteorologists can make their weather forecast .
| A．by using information of the appearance of the clouds only |
| B．by collecting data from parts of the world |
| C．by collecting and analyzing（分析）the data |
| D．by watching the sky |
According to the passage, your advantage in weather forecast is that .
| A．you have a high-speed computer |
| B．you observe the sky and get your data directly |
| C．you have more instruments at home |
| D．you can track weather patterns as they move from west to east across the country |
This passage mainly tells us about how to .
| A．train ourselves as meteorologists |
| B．be an assistant to a meteorologist |
| C．forecast the weather by ourselves |
| D．broadcast the weather forecast |
It was 8:35 am. My girls and I were rushing through the front door of the school as I yelled, “Hurry up! The bell was about to…” RIIIIIIIING! The girls froze and their eyes widened. My shoulders sagged(下垂). We were too late.
We were often late for school last year, and every time we ran breathlessly into the attendance I heard myself making silly excuses to Beth, the long-suffering secretary: our alarm didn’t go off; there was so much traffic; it was my husband’s fault; the dog…I didn’t know-something about the dog!
As time passed by, my lying became a habit, and it raised a red flag for me. Lying - even in the form of “harmless” excuses - means we’re ashamed. Shame is different from guilt. Healthy guilt is fair and helpful. But shame can be dangerous. Nothing ruins the connection between two people more quickly than shame and lies do. Anyone trying to live a healthy and honest life must avoid shame at any cost. I was trying to live a healthy and honest life, but my excuses were keeping me from reaching my goal. So I vowed（发誓）to do something different .
The next time we were late, I went to the attendance office. When Beth asked me to fill in a form with the reason for being late, I told the truth. “These days, we are very tired and disorganized,” I wrote. Beth looked down at that form, and the slowly looked up at me. She gave us a warm and big smile and her blue eyes twinkled. She started laughing. So did my kids and I.
We’re all imperfect human beings. We make mistakes. Everyone does make mistakes. However, it’s OK to tell the truth about them. It’s OK to forgive ourselves and promise to try again.By writing Paragraph1, the author wants to show that .
| A．her daughters were not easy to deal with |
| B．she didn’t have an organized lifestyle |
| C．her daughters didn’t like going to school |
| D．she lived a lazy life with her daughters |
What do we know about the author from Paragraph2?
| A．She lived an extremely busy life. |
| B．She liked complaining about life. |
| C．She liked making fun of other people. |
| D．She liked making excuses for her lateness. |
We learn that as time went by, the author .
| A．found that other people liked lying to her |
| B．realized the harm of lying and wanted to change |
| C．found that shame had a positive effect on her life |
| D．realized that she could no longer live a healthy life |
The last paragraph shows when we make a mistake we should .
| A．blame it on different things |
| B．never let others know it is our fault |
| C．never forgive ourselves for making it |
| D．forgive ourselves and try harder next time |
As weather cools across the United States, a growing number of Americans visit farms. They harvest fruits, enjoy hay wagon rides and walk in the fields. These people are called “agri-tourists.” They improve the economy of rural areas and help farmers increase their profits.
School children are walking in a corn field maze. The corn is cut into tricky passageways that make it difficult to find a way out. The children are from Yorktown Elementary School in Bowie Maryland. They have traveled to Montpelier Farms in Prince George’s County which is also in Maryland. The farm is about 40 kilometers from The White House.
Debbie Pierson is the student’s teacher. “We go on these kind of field trips so that the children will have a hands-on experience of what it’s like to be on a farm,” Pierson said.
In Loudoun County Virginia, there are farms where grapes are grown for use in making wine. Many of the farms let people visit, and drink the wine that is made there. Bill Hatch owns the Zephaniah Farm Vineyard. He holds wine tastings in his home. “We are doubling the number of visitors to our farm every year. We have an average of 250 people on a weekend,” Hatch said.
As more people visit farms, more farmers are adding activities in which visitors can take part.
Malcolm Baldwin owns WeatherLea Farm and Vineyard in Loudoun County. Six years ago, he began letting people be married at his farm. They can also sleep at the farm overnight. Mr. Baldwin says the money he makes from these activities let him keep his small farm operating. “But without the animals, and without the vines, the wedding business wouldn’t be as profitable (有利可图的), because people like to see the vines. They like to see the animals and without which I don’t think this will be a popular place,” Baldwin said.We can infer from the first paragraph that people always go for field trips in _______.
| A．Spring | B．Summer | C．Autumn | D．Winter |
The underlined word “maze” in the passage is similar to “_______”.
| A．puzzle | B．trip | C．house | D．activity |
On Malcolm Baldwin’s farms, visitors can ________.
| A．taste the wine made in the USA |
| B．raise and hunt animals |
| C．do wedding business |
| D．have fun as well as bring him money |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号