Everybody knows the saying “Two steps forward and three steps back”. That described my life pretty well as a single mom. I was raising two teenagers on a teacher’s aide’s salary. It wasn’t nearly enough to cover the bills, so I moonlighted as a waitress. Every time I thought that I had found a solution to my money worries, something would fall through and I would end up feeling worse off than before.
The next evening at the restaurant I tried on my apron, wishing I could be home with my kids. I walked up to my first table. Around it was a cheerful older couple. The woman gave me a smile that warmed me. I couldn’t help but notice her unusual glass ring. “What a beautiful ring,” I said. We chatted for a minute then I took their order and left. When I came back with their drinks, the woman held out her ring. “I would like to give this to you,” she said.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” I said, embarrassed.
She gently placed the ring in my hand and closed my fingers around it. “It’s yours,” she said. “Please accept it and your things are going to be okay.” Right there at their table in the middle of the restaurant I broke down in tears. “Thank you for giving me hope,” I said.
Long after that night, that sense of peace stayed with me. I knew the right job would come in time. Nine months later it did. I got a better position at another school and I started waitressing at a restaurant where I was allowed to spend more time with my kids.
Now in these tough times, I have money worries again, but they don’t get me down. I know things will turn out okay. And when I wear that unusual glass ring, I’m reminded I’m not alone.
From the saying “Two steps forward and three steps back”, it means the writer_______.
| A．liked stepping forward and backward |
| B．had difficulty raising her family |
| C．couldn’t walk regular like other people |
| D．wanted to look for a better job |
The writer worked as a waitress in the restaurant in order to_______.
| A．live with her children |
| B．serve the older couple |
| C．search for a glass ring |
| D．make more money |
Hearing the woman’s words, the writer felt .
| A．moved |
| B．embarrassed |
| C．puzzled |
| D．successful |
From the fifth paragraph we can know the writer believed that_______.
| A．her children loved her very much |
| B．she could find a better restaurant |
| C．the glass ring would bring her good luck |
| D．it was easy to get a right job |
Now the writer’s attitude toward her life is_______.
| A．positive | B．disappointed |
| C．proud | D．worried |
We considered a list of the best American books. Here are five that may help accurately show the national character. Most from a century or so ago, they still entertain, teach, and inspire:
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
First published in 1851, the adventure stories of Captain Ahab and his monomaniacal(偏执的) pursuit of the white whale draw us into a universe full of fascinating characters and stories.
The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
Published in 1918, the book was an autobiography. Born in one of America’s most famous political families, Adams provides insight into his family, including his experience as private secretary to his father, minister to England during the American Civil war.
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
When Whitman published Leaves of Grass in 1855, he wanted to accurately describe the American experience and reflect the great changes in the American literary world that had taken place during his lifetime.
Poems by Emily Dickinson
An enthusiastic poet whose works have had considerable influence on modern poetry, Dickson’s frequent use of dashes, occasional capitalization(大写) of nouns, and unconventional metaphors(隐喻) have contributed to her reputation as one of the most inventive poets of the 19th century American literature. However, most of her poems were not published during her lifetime.
The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
First published in 1855, this is Longfellow’s most popular and most recognized poem, the heroic life and death of a magic American Indian, sent by the Great Spirit to guide the nations in the ways of peace.Walt Whitman wrote Leaves of Grass in order to _______.
| A．show his talent and heroic life to us |
| B．draw us into a fascinating universe |
| C．provide insight into his family |
| D．reflect the great changes in the American literary world |
If you want to read a story about a magic American Indian, you can read _______.
| A．Moby-Dick | B．The Song of Hiawatha |
| C．Poems | D．Leaves of Grass |
Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Because the five books are from a century or so ago, they can’t teach and inspire us. |
| B．Herman Melville was considered as one of the most inventive poets of the 19th century American literature. |
| C．The Education of Henry Adams is a non-fiction book. |
| D．Of the five books, Moby-Dick was published last. |
Why did the author write the passage ?
| A．To introduce several best \American books to readers . |
| B．To make an advertisement for a book store . |
| C．To tell stories of several famous writers . |
| D．To talk about some knowledge about literature. |
If you haven’t heard or seen anything about Road Rage in the last few months, you’ve probably been avoiding the media. There have been countless stories about this new and scary phenomenon, considered a type of aggressive driving. You have most likely encountered aggressive driving or Road Rage recently if you drive at all.
While drunk driving remains a critical problem, the facts about aggressive driving are surely as disturbing. For instance, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, 41,907 people died on the highway last year. Of those deaths, the agency estimates that about two-thirds were caused at least in part by aggressive driving behavior.
Why is this phenomenon occurring more than ever now, and why is it something that seemed almost nonexistent a few short years ago? Experts have several theories, and all are probably partially correct. One suggestion is extreme overcrowding. In the last decade, the number of cars on the roads has increased by more than 11 percent, and the number of miles driven has increased by 35 percent. However, the number of new road miles has only increased by 1 percent. That means more cars in the same amount of space; and the problem is severe in urban areas. Also, people have less time and more things to do. With people working and trying to fit extra chores and activities into the day, stress levels have never been higher. Stress creates anxiety, which leads to short tempers. These factors, when combined in certain situations, can spell Road Rage.
You may think you are the last person who would drive aggressively , but you might be surprised .For instance , have you ever yelled out loud at a slower driver ,sounded the horn long and hard an another car , or sped up to keep another driver from passing ?If you recognize yourself in any of these situations , watch out !.
Whether you are getting angry at other drivers, or another driver is visibly upset with you, there are things you can do to avoid any major conflict. If you are easily influenced by Road Rage, the key is to release your emotion in a healthy way. If you are the target of another driver’s rage, do everything possible to get away from the other driver safely, including avoiding eye contact and getting out of their way. The first sentence in Para. 1 implies that ______.
| A．RoadRagehasreceivedmuchmediacoverageinthelastfewmonths |
| B．themediacreatedtheterm“RoadRage”onlyafewmonthsago |
| C．onemaybeangeredbymediareportsandwantstoavoidthem |
| D．peoplenotinterestedinthemediaknowlittleaboutrecenthappenings |
The underlined word “spell” in Para. 3 means ________.
| A．relieve | B．cause | C．spread | D．prevent |
Which of the following characterizes aggressive driving?
| A．Talking while driving. | B．Driving at high speed. |
| C．Shouting at another driver. | D．Sounding the horn when passing |
The last paragraph is intended to _________.
| A．tellpeoplehowtodealwithRoadRage |
| B．informpeoplehowaggressivedriverscouldbe |
| C．showpeoplehowtocontrolthemselveswhenangry |
| D．warnpeopleagainsteyecontactwithanotherdriver |
I first heard this story a few years ago from a girl. Probably the story is one of those mysterious bits of folklore that reappear every few years. However, I still like to think that it really did happen, somewhere, sometime.
They were going to Fort Lauderdale-- three boys and three girls -- and when they boarded the bus, they were carrying sandwiches and wine, dreaming of golden beaches and sea tides as the gray, cold spring of New York vanished behind them.
As the bus passed through New Jersey, they began to notice Vingo. He sat in front of them, dressed in a plain ill-fitting suit, never moving, his dusty face masking his age. He kept chewing the inside of his lip a lot, frozen into complete silence.
Deep into the night, the bus pulled into Howard Johnson's, and everybody got off except Vingo. He sat rooted in his seat, and the young people began to wonder about him: perhaps he was a sea captain, a runaway from his wife, an old soldier going home. When they went back to the bus, one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.
¨We're going to Florida," she said brightly. “I hear it's really beautiful. "
"It is," he said quietly, as if remembering something he had tried to forget.
“Want some wine?" she said. He thanked her and retreated again into his silence. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep.
In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson's, and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he began to tell his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home.
¨Are you married?"
“I don't know. "
“You don’t know?" she said.
“Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife," he said. ¨‘I told her that I was going to be away a long time, and that if she couldn't stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, she could just forget me. I'd understand. Get a new guy, I said - she's a wonderful woman – and forget about me. I told her she didn't have to write me. And she didn't. Not for three and a half years. "
"And you're going home now, not knowing?"
" Yeah," he said shyly. ‘‘Last week, when I was sure the parole was coming through, I wrote her again. There's a big oak tree just as you come into town, I told her that if she didn't have a new guy and if she'd take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd get off and come home. If she didn't want me, forget it - no handkerchief, and I'd go on through. "
"Wow," the girl exclaimed. "Wow. "
She told the others, and soon all of them were in it, caught up in the approach of Brunswick, looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children.
Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seats, waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, as if fortifying himself against still another disappointment.
Then Brunswick was 10 miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming and shouting and crying. All except Vingo. Vingo sat there stunned, looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs —20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds. As the young people shouted, the old con slowly rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the bus to go home. According to the passage, which statement is TRUE?
| A．The young people are travelling from Florida to New York. |
| B．Vingo was put in prison ten years ago, and now he was set free to go home. |
| C．The young people around Vingo were quite curious about his silence. |
| D．At last, Vingo went home together with the three boys and three girls. |
From the underlined sentences in Para 3, we can infer that _____.
| A．Vingo was nervous because he didn't know whether his wife would accept him. |
| B．Vingo was very disappointed because his wife didn't answer his letter. |
| C．Vingo was very shy because he knew someone was watching him. |
| D．Vingo was excited because he could go home and meet his wife and children. |
The underlined word "fortify" in the passage has the same meaning as that in Sentence___.
A. The French soldiers are working hard to fortify airbase.
B. The food has been fortified with Vitamin C.
C. People in the whole city were fortified by the moving story about their hero.
D. We had to drink some more coffee to fortify ourselves for the journey. Which word do you think can best describe Vingo's wife?
| A．humorous | B．loyal | C．generous | D．hard-working |
After reading the whole story, we can probably make a conclusion that_____.
| A．Young people are always curious about everything new around them. |
| B．Home is always the first place a person wants to go. |
| C．Don’t laugh at a person who has no home. |
| D．It is impolite to ask questions about one's privacy that he or she doesn't want to tell. |
What's the best title for the passage?
| A．A story of a poor man | B．The power of love |
| C．Help from strangers | D．Going home |
To some, it's a dream job---eating delicious meals for free and then writing about them. But for some food critics, their eyes aren't the only thing that gets wide with yet another feast.
Karen Fernau, a food writer for The Arisona Republic, said when she first started her job –she began to gain weight. “I always looked forward to lunch before this job, then all of a sudden lunch was all day every day. " she says. Nine years later, keeping her weight steady and her health intact （完好无损的）is a daily battle. If she knows she will be going to a tasting at a bakery or eating a four-course meal, she usually eats fruits or salads throughout the day. Now she is always keeping track of what's in the food she eats and she says most people don't even look at or consider it. At one tasting task alone, she says, upward of l,000 calories is often added to her day. That's about half of the recommended total calories per day for the average adult.
But even though she's thought of a special eating method, Fernau says sticking to it is a daily battle. And food editors, writers and critics across the country couldn't agree more. “When I'm at home or not eating for work, it's healthy food to the extreme," says Phil Vettel, who's been a restaurant critic for the Chicago Tribune for 19 years.
Vettle, who eats dinner at four restaurants each week, says unlike most professions, he has no right to choose. "If I'm going out to eat, I can't choose the healthiest thing on the menu, I have to eat when they're bringing me. " While Vettel exercises when he can, Joe Yonan, a food editor at The Washington Post, has strengthened his exercise habits since he started the job two years ago. Yonan says he realized early on that he was gaining weight and immediately hired a personal trainer to meet with three times a week, on top of his body training three to five times a week.
Still, it's a struggle that many Americans might envy. After all, it's one thing to get your calories from lobster（龙虾） tails or a delicate（精致的）chocolate cookie and quite another to get them from sodas and fast-food burgers. What does the underlined sentence mean in Para l?
| A．The food critics are always impressed by the delicious food in the restaurant. |
| B．The food critics are shocked to learn they have to have one more feast. |
| C．There is a wide variety of choices for the food critics to choose from. |
| D．The food critics eat delicious food, which also tends to result in gaining weight. |
What can we learn about the job of being a food critic?
| A．They enjoy free and delicious dishes and make comments on them. |
| B．They only work for local magazines and newspapers. |
| C．Once they become food critics, they tend to stay in the job. |
| D．Their excellent sense of taste makes them qualified for the job. |
What is mentioned to be a method that food writers use to keep fit?
| A．Not eating anything except for the free meals. |
| B．Writing down everything they put into their mouth. |
| C．Hiring a personal trainer for special exercise instructions. |
| D．Choosing only the healthy food on the menu. |
What can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．No matter whether the food is expensive or not, the gaining of calories is the same. |
| B．The calories that lobster tails and chocolate cookies contain are less harmful. |
| C．Americans envy those food critics since they enjoy delicate and tasty food. |
| D．Everybody should take the calories in their food carefully. |
What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．A job offering free meals may not be as desirable as it sounds to be. |
| B．Dishes in the restaurant usually contain too many calories. |
| C．Eating fruits and vegetables every day is the best way to lose weight. |
| D．Food writers work hard to maintain their health and weight. |
Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer(征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the united kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived(复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.What does the author tell us in paragraph 1?
| A．How the Irish fought against the English. |
| B．How Ireland gained independence. |
| C．How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland. |
| D．How two “Irelands” came into being. |
We learn from the text that in Ireland .
| A．food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population |
| B．people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside |
| C．it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker |
| D．different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments |
The last paragraph is mainly about .
| A．the Irish character |
| B．Irish culture |
| C．Irish musical instruments |
| D．a famous Irish writer |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Life in Ireland |
| B．A Very Difficult History |
| C．Ireland, Past and Present |
| D．The Independence of Ireland |
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