A mother had two daughters. She loved them very much, but two girls would fight with each other from their earliest years. As they grew older, they became total strangers. They had no contact with each other when they were adults.
This caused the mother great pain. Then, later, she had an idea. She decided to write a letter to them. In this letter, she told them how much she loved them, and how she wanted them to love each other in this way. She also gave them news of herself and some guidance on how to live happier lives.
When the letter was ready, she wrote out one copy for each daughter, but these copies were special. Each copy contained only every second sentence of the original letter: the copy for one daughter had only the even (双数的) sentences, and the other daughter’s copy contained only the odd sentences. Neither contained the fullness of the mother’s message.
When the two daughters received their letters, they were puzzled. To understand the half-letter, they would have to put the two letters together and read them as one, which meant they must approach one another again in love and respect. But they each blamed the other for not helping them when trying to read the half-letter.
For a long time, the mother waited in vain. Then one day, when the mother had almost given up hope, there was a knock at the door. There they stood, together. “We’ve come home,” they said at the same time. “We’ve finally put our letters together, and we’ve come to say how much we love you, Mum.” Then she hugged them both, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, and welcomed them back home.The mother gave her daughters incomplete letters mainly to ______.
| A．tell them her news | B．offer them advice |
| C．mend their relations | D．win their hearts |
Upon receiving their letters, the two daughters ______.
| A．complained about each other as usual |
| B．put the letters together and read them |
| C．blamed her mother for the half-letter |
| D．understood the mother’s purpose at once |
Why did the two daughters visit their mother at last?
| A．They missed home very much. |
| B．They felt grateful for the mother. |
| C．They wanted to apologize. |
| D．They had put the letters together. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Two Special Daughters |
| B．A Mother’s Endless Love |
| C．A Sincere Apology to Mother |
| D．An Unusual Letter |
One of the latest trends（趋势） in American Childcare is Chinese au pairs．Au Pair in Stamford, Conn, for example, has got increasing numbers of request for Chinese au pairs from aero to around 4, 000 since 2004．And that’s true all across the country．
“I thought it would be useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age” Joseph Stocke, the managing director of a company, says of his 2-year old son．“I would at least like to give him the chance to use the language in the future, ” After only six months of being cared by 25-year-old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says．
Li Drake, a Chinese native raising two children in Minnesota with an American husband, had another reason for looking for an au pair from China．She didn’t want her children to miss out on their roots．” Because I am Chinese, my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to(接触) the language and culture．” she says．
“Staying with a native speaker is better for children than simply sitting in a classroom, ” says Suzanne Flynn, a professor in language education of Children．”But parents must understand that just one year with au pair is unlikely to produce wonders． Complete mastery demands continued learning until the age of 10 or 12．”
The popularity if au pairs from china has been strengthened by the increasing numbers of American parents who want their children who want their children to learn Chinese．It is expected that American demand for au pairs will continue to rise in the next few years．
What does the term” au pair” in the text mean?
| A．A mother raising her children on her own |
| B．A child learning a foreign language at home |
| C．A professor in language education of children |
| D．A young foreign woman taking care of children． |
Li Drake has her children study Chinese because she wants them ______．
| A．to live in China some day |
| B．to speak the language at home |
| C．to catch up wit other children |
| D．to learn about the Chinese culture |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Learning Chinese is becoming popular In America, |
| B．Educated woman do better in looking after children |
| C．Chinese au pairs need to improve their English Skills． |
| D．Children can learn a foreign language well in six months． |
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment ．“We didn’t know at that time that there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it, ”says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA．
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement ．Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement．“The understanding has increased many, many times, ”says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first Earth Day．
According to US government reports , emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10．3 million tons a year to 5．5 tons ．The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 ．Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place ．A kind of “Green thinking ” has become part of practices ．
Great improvement has been achieved ．In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs , ; today in 1995 there are about 6, 600 ．Advanced lights , motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution ．
Twenty –five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment ．Today , it’s hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program ．” Until we do that , nothing else will change! ” say Bruce Anderson ．According to Anderson , before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___
| A．the social movement |
| B．recycling techniques |
| C．environmental problems |
| D．the importance of Earth Day |
Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?
| A．The grass –roots level |
| B．The business circle |
| C．Government officials |
| D．University professors |
What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?
| A．hey have cut car emissions to the lowest |
| B．They have settled their environmental problems |
| C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities． |
| D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures ． |
What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?
| A．Education |
| B．Planning |
| C．Green living |
| D．CO reduction |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项 （A 、B 、C 和 D ）中，选出最佳选项。
Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband , Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children．
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping．He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone．He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport．
He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one．
Late in the evening, the phone rang．It was a stranger．He was trying to pronounce my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions．Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶）that had been left out on the footpath．
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents．Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers．Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents．At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend．
That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people．We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way．
What did Rashid plan to do after his arrival in Sydney?
| A．Go shopping |
| B．Find a house |
| C．Join his family |
| D．Take a vacation |
The girl’s parents got Rashid’s phone number from_______．
| A．a friend of his family |
| B．a Sydney policeman |
| C．a letter in his papers |
| D．a stranger in Sydney |
What does the underlined word “restored” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Showed |
| B．Sent out |
| C．Delivered |
| D．Gave back |
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．From India to Australia． |
| B．Living in a a New Country． |
| C．Turning Trash to Treasure |
| D．In Search of New Friends． |
“We need carbohydrates, protein and fat — they are like the wood in the fireplace．The vitamins and minerals are like the match, the spark, for the fuel,” she explains．“We need them all, but in a very different proportions．And if the fuel isn’t there, the spark is useless.”
From the first paragraph we know that working women .
| A．think cooking is especially complicated |
| B．do not share the same views with registered dietitians |
| C．are busy and not interested in cooking |
| D．are likely to eat healthfully |
Orange juice is different from orange drink in that .
| A．it contains only a small percentage of real juice |
| B．it is natural, nutritious and prepared from real oranges |
| C．it is largely orange-colored sugar water |
| D．it produces nothing but calories |
In Paragraph 4, “a fruitless search” means .
| A．an effort with no results |
| B．a search for a diet without fruits |
| C．a research on fruitless diet |
| D．a diet serving as medicine |
Justin Bieber may have millions of fans worldwide, but Russia’s bears don’t appear to admire the pop singer’s music --- which proved fortunate for one lucky fisherman.
Igor Vorozhbitsyn had his life saved by a Justin Bieber ringtone, when his mobile phone went off during a dangerous attack by a brown bear.
The 42-year-old was attacked as he was walking to a favourite fishing spot in northern Russia’s Yakutia Republic and firmly believed that he was going to be killed.
Wildlife experts believe the ringtone must have frightened the bear into stopping its attack.
‘Sometimes a sharp shock can stop an angry bear in its attack and that ringtone would be a very unexpected sound for a bear,’ explained one．
Mr Vorozhbitsyn suffered from cuts and severe wounds and was rescued when he was found by other fishermen after using the phone to call for help.
Mr Vorozhbitsyn ---now recovering from his wounds---explained: ‘I had parked my car and was walking towards the spot I’d marked out when there was a tremendous impact on my back and the bear was on top of me.’
‘I couldn’t believe my luck when the phone went off and it run away.’
‘I know that sort of ringtone isn’t to everyone’s taste but my granddaughter loaded it onto my phone for a joke,’ he added.
Adult brown bears can weigh as much as 600kg and have been known to kill wolves and even Siberian tigers.
Finally, this is a proof that Justin Bieber is unbearable
Igor Vorozhbitsyn was attacked when____.
| A．he was fishing at his favourite fishing spot. |
| B．he was walking towards his favourite fishing spot. |
| C．he was phoning his granddaughter. |
| D．he was driving to his favourite fishing spot. |
The bear stopped attacking because___.
| A．Justin Bieber came to rescue Igor Vorozhbitsyn. |
| B．Justin Bieber sang to it. |
| C．Justin Bieber’s ringtone was a sudden fright to it. |
| D．Igor Vorozhbitsyn’s mobile phone was a sudden fright to it. |
What is the writer’s attitude towards Justin Bieber?
| A．positive |
| B．negative |
| C．neutral (中立的) |
| D．not mentioned |
What does the last paragraph imply?
| A．Justin Bieber’s music is popular all over the world. |
| B．Justin Bieber’s music is life-saving. |
| C．Justin Bieber’s music is threatening. |
| D．Even bears cannot stand Justin Bieber’s music. |
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