Ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? A group of time-challenged Canadian women are wishing for a 25-hour clock．
Jessie Behan，president of the 25th Hour Coalition(联盟)which is a group of Canadian women who have changed to a longer day，said the struggle for women to maintain work-1ife balance motivated her to research the body’s natural clock．“Many of my girlfriends are having kids，getting married，and I see the sufferings of dealing all that when you’re a working woman，”she said．“Women like myself are sick of living their lives by a 24-hour clock．”
A 2007 study by Charles Czeisler found a switch to longer days could be beneficial，especially for frequent travelers，shift workers，astronauts and those who experience trouble sleeping or waking．
In a similar study，Czeisler showed the body’s natural clock averages 24 hours and 11 minutes in both young and older people．The current 360-degree clock has 720 minutes，giving each minute 0．5 degree．With the new 25-hour day，30 minutes is added to each 12-hour period making each minute 0.48 degree．
While still a relatively small movement—the 25th Hour Coalition has 160 Facebook members，Behan is hoping for large changes．“The goal is to get as many women on board；there’s no harm in just trying it out and seeing．If it gets big，maybe the government will decide to standardize it．”
A recent online survey by Reader's Digest，which included 150 people in each of the 13 countries，suggests it's not just Canadians looking for longer days．Readers were asked“what would you do with an extra hour”if given a choice between sleep，work，exercise and family time．In Spain，half of respondents(被访者)said they’d like an extra hour in the day to devote to family time．The same was found for respondents in Brazil，the US and Britain，who chose family time over sleep，which came in at a close second．Only in India did work top the list with 50 percent of respondents claiming they could use an extra hour at the office．Some Canadian working women are campaigning for the 25-hour day in order to_______．
| A．have more chances at work |
| B．keep a balance between life and work |
| C．experience something new |
| D．have a better sleep |
Jessie Behan want more women to join the 25th Hour Coalition because she________．
| A．intends to make more Facebook friends |
| B．hopes to get benefits from more people |
| C．considers it is harmless to form such an organization |
| D．thinks it can help those women to realize their dreams |
What is implied in the last paragraph?
| A．Respondents from most nations want more family time． |
| B．Respondents from developed countries experience more stress． |
| C．Most Canadian respondents claim that they need more family time． |
| D．Indians are the most hardworking of the 13 nations． |
Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname.
Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother’s care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn’t like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi(密西西比河). He was nearly drowned nine times.
After his father’s death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a printer, a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full time writer.
In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him great fortune.
Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments(投资) and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his children passed away.
At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.In his childhood, Mark Twain, ________.
| A．learned a lot at school |
| B．he often went swimming with other boys |
| C．his mother often worried about his safety |
| D．he often played games with other boys |
Which of the following shows the right order about Mark Twain?
a. He became a miner. b. He worked as a printer.
c. He got into debts. d. His father died.
e. He became a full-time writer. F. He joined the army.
| A．a—d—b—c—e—f | B．d—b—f—a—e—c |
| C．d—a—f—e—b—c | D．c—b—d—f—e—a |
In order to make a living, Mark Twain _______.
| A．first worked as a printer | B．did many kinds of work |
| C．wrote stories in the beginning | D．joined the army after he worked in a mine |
From the passage we can see that Mark Twain _______.
| A．had a happy childhood |
| B．was a good boy and always did what he was asked |
| C．was very naughty when he was young |
| D．lived a pleasant life |
Before his death, Mark Twain _______.
| A．became a white man | B．was in low spirits |
| C．liked to buy all kinds of clothes | D．had nothing on |
Driving In America
Keep Right
The traffic follows the “keep right rule”. While driving, drive on the right side of the road. On one-way, multiple lanes(车道) road, the right-most lane would be slowest and left-most lane is fastest.
Hand Signals
Though indicators(车的指示灯) are used for the purpose of showing which direction you are going, knowing some hand signals is very important and are usually always asked in a driving test. When you want to turn right, you can put your left hand out of the window and point upward. When you want to make a left turn, you can reach your left arm out of the window and point to the left. If you want to slow down or stop, you can just point downward.
School Buses
Yellow school buses have flashing red lights and stop signs that reach out from the driver’s side. The drivers use these warning signals when letting pupils on and off. No matter which side of the road you are traveling on, if you come upon a school bus with its lights flashing and a stop sign used, you must stop. It’s the law. Remain stopped until the lights stop flashing or the stop sign is removed.
Using the Horn
Using horns is not common in America. Actually they are very rarely used. You may use your horn to warn walkers or other drivers of possible trouble or to avoid accidents. Do not use your horn to express anger or complain about other drivers’ mistakes or to try to get a slow driver to move faster.If Freddy is asked to go to Florida in the shortest time from Missouri, on which lane in the picture below should he drive his car according to Paragraph 1?
| A．Lane ①. | B．Lane ②. | C．Lane ③. | D．Lane ④. |
What could a driver do in America when turning left?
| A．Place left hand out of the window pointing upward. |
| B．Put left hand out of the window pointing downward. |
| C．Reach left arm out of the window pointing to the left. |
| D．Place left hand out of the window pointing backward. |
According to the passage, which of the following is possibly accepted in America?
| A．Use horns sometimes to warn passers-by of danger. |
| B．Drive on before the stop sign on a school bus is removed. |
| C．Use hand signals instead of indicators to show which direction you are going. |
| D．Do not use warning signals in the school bus until all the pupils get on the bus. |
Who is the passage most probably written for?
| A．Passers-by. | B．Pupils. | C．Policemen. | D．Drivers. |
Sometimes teens (十几岁的少年) need to have some time away from their families. They may want to move out of the family or home for a while.
Many parents will say no to this demand. But experts say it might be a good idea to let your teens live with a friend or a relative. “It was the break I needed at the time,” said Richard Lerne. He is talking about the time he spent living with his grandmother when he was 15. “It allowed me to be a more different person than I was with my parents.” Lerne said. He now heads the Institute for Children, Youth and Families at Michigan State University.
Experts say teens living away from their families can test new ways of thinking and getting along with people. They may see new ways to problems. Some teens who want some time away from family attend a structured summer program. Others live for a while with a relative or with the family of a friend.
If there is conflict (冲突) at home, having a teen live elsewhere can benefit other family members. It gives everyone space to develop better relationships.
Joseph Kett teaches history at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He says living at home until the late ten years has become the norm (准则) only in recent times. “In the 17th century, children were often sent to live in other people’s home when they were about 10 or 11”, he said.
Peter Sheras teaches education at the University of Virginia. He says parents should listen when a child wants to move out. They should try to find out why the child wants some time away. According to this passage, many parents may think it _____ for their children to live away from them.
| A．right | B．happy | C．unsafe | D．reasonable |
When children seriously disagree with their parents, experts suggest that parents should ______.
| A．punish them |
| B．let them live away from their family |
| C．send for a teacher |
| D．keep them in the house |
In the third paragraph the word “structured” means ______.
| A．built | B．stuck | C．organized | D．drunk |
In history, ______.
| A．teens never left their families |
| B．teens often left their parents |
| C．teens never went to school |
| D．teens never make friends with each other |
When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble—a word game—against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 15 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.
It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life; to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.
It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字处理). This proved to be a bigger challenge(挑战) to her, so I gave her some homework. I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.
“Are you demanding this with your kindergarten pupils?” she said.
“No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”
My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(过敏反应). For as long as I remember, and time I called, my mother would answer, Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years. What does the author do?
| A．She is a cook. |
| B．She is a teacher. |
| C．She is a housewife |
| D．She is a computer engineer. |
The author decided to give her mother a computer__________.
| A．to let her have more chances to write letters |
| B．to support her in doing her homework |
| C．to help her through the bad times |
| D．to make her life more enjoyable |
The author asked her mother to write her a letter__________.
| A．because her mother had stopped using the telephone |
| B．because she wanted to keep in touch with her mother |
| C．so that her mother could practice what she had learned |
| D．so that her mother could be free from housework |
After the computer was brought home, the author’s father__________.
| A．lost interest in cooking |
| B．took more phone calls |
| C．played more games |
| D．began to use it |
Two brothers, Herbert and James, lived with their mother and a cat named Edgar. James was particularly devoted to the cat, and when he had to leave town for several days, he left Herbert careful instructions about the pet’s care. At the end of his first day away, James telephoned his brother, “How is Edgar?”
“Edgar is dead.” Herbert answered. There was a pause. Then James said, “Herbert, you’re insensitive (漠然的). You know how close I was to Edgar. You should have broken the news to me slowly. When I asked about Edgar tonight, you should have said, ‘Edgar’s on the roof , but I have called the fire department to get him down.’ And tomorrow when I called, you could have said the firemen were having trouble getting Edgar down, but you were hopeful they would succeed. Then when I called the third time, you could have told me that the firemen have done their best, but unfortunately Edgar had fallen off the roof and was at the veterinarian’s (兽医站). Then when I called the last time, you could have said that although everything possible had been done for Edgar, he had died. That’s the way a sensitive man would have told me about Edgar. And, oh, before I forget,” James added, “how is mother?”
“Oh,” Herbert said, pausing for a moment, “She’s on the roof.” James telephoned his brother at the end of his first day away because he wanted to know _____.
| A．what he was doing |
| B．whether he was good |
| C．whether the cat was good |
| D．where his mother was |
Why did James say his brother was insensitive?
| A．Because he told him the news directly. |
| B．Because he killed their pet. |
| C．Because his mother was on the roof. |
| D．Because he missed the truth about the cat. |
From the last paragraph of the passage, we can know that the mother was probably _____.
| A．on the roof | B．ill or even dead |
| C．repairing the house | D．playing games |
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