Kenyon Scudder once told me a story about his friend, Michael. Michael happened to be on a train sitting next to a young man who seemed worried. Finally the young man told the friend that he was a convict (罪犯) returning home from a prison far away. What he did had brought shame (羞耻) on his family, and they had neither visited him nor written to him. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too busy to write.
When he was set free he had written to tell them he wanted to go home. To make matters easy for them, however, he had asked them to put up a signal (信号) for him when the train passed their little farm. If the family had forgiven (原谅) him, they were to put up a white ribbon (丝带) in the big apple tree near the railway. If they didn't want him back, they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, and go far away.
As the train neared his hometown his suspense became so great that he was afraid to look out of the window. He asked Michael to watch for the big apple tree. They changed seats. In a minute, Michael put his hand on the young convict’s shoulder. "There it is," he said, his eyes filled with sudden tears. "It’s all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons."For which of the following reasons might the young man be worried?
| A．His family hadn’t written to him frequently. |
| B．His family would not remember him. |
| C．His family might not allow him to go home. |
| D．His family hadn’t visited him for a long time. |
According to the passage, the white ribbon in the big apple tree means ________.
| A．pleasure | B．education |
| C．happiness | D．forgiveness |
The word "suspense" underlined in the last paragraph can best be replaced by ________.
| A．worry | B．interest | C．pain | D．happiness |
Why did Michael cry at the end of the story?
| A．The young man couldn’t live with his family. |
| B．he young man was very sad. |
| C．He was moved by the young man. |
| D．There were many white ribbons on the apple tree。 |
Kids will often ignore your requests for them to shut off the TV, start their chores(杂事),or do their homework as a way to avoid following your directions. Before you know it, you’ve started to sound like a broken record as you repeatedly ask them to do their assignments, clean their room, or take out the trash. Rather than saying “Do your chores now.” you’ll be more effective if you set a target time for when the chores have to be completed. So instead of arguing about starting chores, just say, “If chores aren’t done by 4 pm, here are the consequences.” Then it’s up to your child to complete the chores. Put the ball back in their court. Don’t argue or fight with them, just say,“ That’s the way it’s going to be.” It shouldn’t be punitive(惩罚性的)as much as it should be persuasive. “If your chores aren’t done by 4 pm, then no video game time until chores are done. And if finishing those chores runs into homework time, that’s going to be your loss.” On the other hand, when dealing with homework, keep it very simple. Have a time when homework starts, and at that time, all electronics go off and do not go back on until you see that their homework is done. If your kids say they have no homework, then they should use that time to study or read. Either way, there should be a time set aside when the electronics are off.
When a kid wears his iPod or headphones when you’re trying to talk to him, make no bones about it；he is not ignoring you, he is disrespecting you. At that point, everything else should stop until he takes the earplugs out of his ears. Don’t try to communicate with him when he’s wearing headphones—even if he tells you he can hear you. Wearing them while you’re talking to him is a sign of disrespect. Parents should be very tough about this kind of thing. Remember, mutual respect becomes more important as children mature.According to the passage, it seldom happens that _______________________.
| A．kids turn a deaf ear to their parents’ requests |
| B．parents’ directions sound like a broken record |
| C．children are ready to follow their parents’ directions |
| D．parents are unaware of what they are repeating to their kids |
Parents will be able to deal with their children more effectively if they ________________.
| A．avoid direct ways of punishment |
| B．make them do things at their request |
| C．argue and fight with their children |
| D．allow their children to behave in their own way |
It can be inferred from the passage that _________________________.
| A．parents should take off his headphones when trying to have a talk with their child |
| B．it will make no difference that a kid is wearing his earplugs while talking to his parents |
| C．parents shouldn’t give in to their kid when he shows no sign of respect |
| D．kids’ purposely talking to their parents with iPod gives them a sense of power and control |
The main idea of the passage is ______________________________.
| A．that respecting each other is more important than anything else |
| B．how kids behave to ignore and disrespect their parents |
| C．that children should make choices and decisions on their own |
| D．how parents can deal with their kids’ behavior effectively |
My sisters and I have dreamt of a home in the city, but when the Alcott family found itself in a small house at the South End without a tree in sight, only a back yard to play in, and no money to buy any of the beautiful things before us, we children all opposed it and longed for the country again.
Anna soon found little pupils, and walked away each morning to her daily task, pausing at the corner to wave her hand to me in answer to my greet with the duster（抹布）. My father went to his office downtown, mother to her helping the poor, the little girls to school, and I, Lousia, was left to keep house, feeling like an aged sea-gull as I washed dishes and cooked in the basement kitchen where the only thing I could hope for was someone talking with me.
Good drill, but very hard, and my only comfort was the evening reunion where all met with such various reports of the day’s adventures, we could not fail to find both amusement and instruction.
Father brought interesting and attractive news from the upper world; mother, usually in low spirits because she would give away her clothes with sad tales of suffering from the darker side of life; gentle Anna gave a modest account of her success as a teacher, for even at seventeen her sweet nature won all who knew her, and her patience gained her the support of the most naughty pupil.
My reports were usually a mixture of sadness and happiness, and the children poured their small joys and troubles into the family where comfort and mercy were always to be found.We know from this passage that the Alcott family was __________.
| A．a happy and united family |
| B．an extremely poor family |
| C．a family with lots of serious problems |
| D．a family that remained in the country |
Anna was a successful teacher because_________.
| A．she had a strong sense of duty | B．she was obviously intelligent |
| C．she knew her subjects well | D．she had wonderful character |
Lousia’s daily responsibility was_____.
| A．to help the poor | B．to run the house |
| C．to go downtown | D．to feed the seagulls |
According to the passage, what Lousia enjoyed most is _________.
| A．the evening reunion | B．moving to the city |
| C．joining Anna at her school | D．telling others her stories |
London, Dec.17 (Xinhua) “Drivers on London Underground trains have started reading out sayings from great thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi , Frindrich Engels, and Albert Einstein in a bid to cheer up passengers ,” officials said. As well as the usual announcements urging passengers to “mind the steps” and warning of delays, the sayings such as “ an ounce ( 盎司) of action is worth a ton of theory” have taken the place of commercial ad in the underground carriages .
New York, Oct.8 (Xinhua) Once as a famous actor, now the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to abandon textbooks in favor of digital ones. He plans to launch this program in August next year when California’s high-school pupils will have access to online math and science text. But some teachers wonder whether his idea of getting rid of textbooks might end up costing more not less, with digital textbook going for $300.
Amsterdam, Nov.30 (Xinhua) A few cups of coffee a day may not only help to put off the disease—dementia(痴呆) but also can treat it, according to Dr. Arendash, who led the research. After giving mice with memory damage water containing caffeine, he found the mice developed better memories and quick thinking. The reason is that caffeine is a safe drug for most people. It easily enters the brain and directly affects the disease process. He suggested people should drink five eight–ounce cups of ordinary coffee, two cups of strong ‘coffee shop’ coffee, 14 cups of tea, or 20 cola drinks to get the same amount of 500 milligrams of caffeine.What’s the purpose of putting up sayings on the underground carriages in London?
| A．to help passengers to kill time. |
| B．to encourage passengers to learn. |
| C．to lift the spirits of passengers. |
| D．to make money as a commercial ad. |
What can we conclude from the second news?
| A．digital textbooks will replace traditional textbooks. |
| B．online math is already available to high-school pupils . |
| C．digital textbooks are convenient to carry anywhere. |
| D．Not all the teachers support their governor’s idea. |
Which of the following statements is true from the third news?
| A．The more coffee you drink, the less chance there will be for dementia. |
| B．Caffeine can make mice become more and more intelligent and energetic. |
| C．Caffeine can affect the process of the disease—dementia and treat it. |
| D．Caffeine is a safe drug for all the people for everyday use so enjoy it. |
When I worked as a waitress in Chicago, US, my coworkers and I would sigh whenever we heard someone with a foreign accent coming into our restaurant. We knew what it meant to serve a non-American: no tip. We would work just as hard as we always did, but we might not get paid.
Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who offers them a service of some kind. Americans tip their waiters, barbers and taxi drivers. An appropriate tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service (But the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. The customer is expected to add it himself/herself.) Tipping less than this sends a message to your waiters that you think they’ve done a bad job serving you. And to leave no tip at all is simply unacceptable.
It’s not that American waiters are greedy. In many countries, waiters are paid a salary for their work. They’ll earn money even if no one comes into the restaurant. This system offers much more safety for waiters than the American version. In the US, waiters know that a night without customers means a night without pay.
Some countries include a tip for waiters – a “service charge” – on the bill itself. Since the tip is included with the other charges, waiters don’t need to worry about people forgetting to tip. But in the US, waiters do not receive a salary, and service charges only appear on bills when there are six or more customers at the table.
Since almost all American customers are familiar with the system, they know to add a tip without being told. But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill.
So much as we waiters loved hearing stories about other places from our foreign customers, we were always nervous when they got ready to leave the restaurant. We were never sure what to expect.If you order $200 worth of food, which of the following is a proper total payment?
| A．$200 | B．$215 | C．$220 | D．$230 |
Why don’t some foreigners tip a waiter according to the writer?.
| A．because they are unfamiliar with the American tip system . |
| B．because they are too mean to give tips to any waiter. |
| C．because they have difficulty communicating with waiters. |
| D．because they are not really easy to become satisfied. |
What can we learn from the passage?
A. The service charge never appear on the bill in the USA.
B. Customers are usually expected to tip waiters in the USA.
C. Dining out in other countries is much more expensive than in the USA.
D. Waiters in other countries earn much more money than those in the USA.What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To complain about the difficult life of American waiters. |
| B．To warn other waiters not to serve any foreign customer. |
| C．To call on foreign customers to leave tips for American waiters. |
| D．To tell us something about American waiters’ salary system. |
When people talk of a virus these days, chances are that they are talking about computer virus that have the power wipe out all the valuable work people may have stored in their computers. Imagine, the virus has the power to make military systems, giant banks, airports, hospitals and traffic system come to stop!
What does a computer virus do? It targets electronic objects that are programmed. The virus spreads through connections between these electronic objects. For virus spreading experts, e-mail is a favorite method of sending their destructive (破坏性的) weapon.
But scientists warn that this is not the worst that can happen. There is more. People are also connected through phones. The next virus may actually target mobile phones, especially those that are programmed to do many tasks apart from just communicating. It would then be easy for a virus to infect those programs and create major disorder.
For example, these virus may have the power to record your phone conversations and make others hear them. They create problems with your electronic money accounts, or they could create a mountain of telephone bills for calls you never made. And that would be a disaster. A report on this was published in the New Scientist recently.
One way out would be to have simpler phones with not so many different functions. This would mean there would mean there would be fewer programs for the virus to attack. But mobile phone producers are in a fix. People on longer want an electronic item to perform just one task. They want more and more functions added. That would mean more software programs to make the mobile phone perform all those functions. And that means the possibility of more viruses.It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
| A．computer viruses are not so as destructive as mobile phone viruses |
| B．people should be careful when receiving e-mails |
| C．people find it difficult to use electronic equipment correctly |
| D．having electronic money accounts brings people a lot of convenience |
Which of the following shows that your mobile phone is infected with a virus?
| A．You can’t hear the person who answers the phone clearly |
| B．You can’t send e-mails with your mobile phone |
| C．your phone bill increases for unknown reasons |
| D．You can hear other people’s phone conversations |
What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Mobile phone producers have made no progress. |
| B．Mobile phone producers are proud of their products. |
| C．Mobile phone producers are faced with a difficult situation. |
| D．Mobile phone producers refused to fight against virus. |
For whom is the passage written?
| A．Government officials | B．Virus spreading experts |
| C．Electronic scientists | D．Mobile phone users |
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