I ran into a local store today to pick up a few things. With an important meeting to attend, I was in a hurry , so I didn’t take a cart (手推车) on my way inside. As I walked between the shelves in the store, I passed by a young couple and their baby. I continued going through the store, picked up a few items I needed and ended up standing behind this couple in the checkout line.
While waiting, I noticed that the young father was holding his money tightly and nervously. The young mother was carrying a baby in her arms and asked the cashier (收银员) for a job application.
When the total was rung up, they had to pick items out of their cart because they didn’t have enough money. But all their items were basic necessities(必需品) that they needed most. It just broke my heart to watch the couple try to think about what they could do without. However, they were able to whittle down their items and paid the bill with the money that they had.
After they left, I quietly asked the cashier to add those items to mine. The cashier rang everything up, and then got me a shopping cart. We put in their items and I hurried over to their car. “This is for you,” I told them.
The young father just looked at me with such appreciation and thanked me. I will never forget the expression in his eyes. As I was getting into my car, they drove over. The young mother said, “Miss, thank you so much.”
Tears welled up in my eyes---as they are again now, while I write this. “You are so welcome. Pay it forward some day,” I replied.The underlined phrase “whittle down” in Paragraph 3 probably means “__________”.
| A．add to | B．break down |
| C．cut down | D．pay for |
The author felt __________ to watch the couple taking some items out.
| A．sad | B．angry | C．excited | D．interested |
It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
| A．the young father felt so sorry to accept help |
| B．the young mother didn’t have a job then |
| C．the cashier treated the young couple impolitely |
| D．the young couple bought something unnecessary |
The author’s main purpose in sharing the story is to tell us __________.
| A．what a great plan she made |
| B．to take a cart while shopping |
| C．how to pick out basic necessities |
| D．to help those who are in need |
YOUR mom might cook a bowl of noodles for you on your birthday. But in the US, a mom makes a cupcake for her children on their birthday.
Cupcakes are small, round cakes topped with frosting (糖霜). It has been an American tradition that moms bring cupcakes to the classroom to celebrate their child’s birthday.
But recently some doctors have called for this to be banned. They believe cupcakes contribute to child obesity.
Despite their good intentions, however, some people believe that experts are interfering (妨碍) with American culture. The cupcake is seen as American as apple pie — only prettier.
According to Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, the cupcake is the most democratic (民主的) of desserts. As they are small enough for one person, you don’t have to share your cupcake with anyone — it’s all yours. They are also all the same size, so there can’t be any cries of “she got the bigger piece!”
Each bite can taste different depending on how much icing you have. It is a lesson in self-determination. Some people eat only a little of the frosting every time, others have it all in just one bite.
In recent years, eating a cupcake has become as trendy as having a cup of Starbucks coffee.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton jokingly promised on a talk show that if she was elected president, she would give everyone a cupcake on her birthday.
Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, explains that the rise of the cupcake is very much about going back to American national identity in food, which is all about comfort. “People want to think about when they and their country were innocent,” she said. According to the passage, it has been an American tradition that ___________.
| A. a party for children on their birthday |
| B. A mom cooks a bowl of noodles for her children on their birthday |
| C. A mom makes a cupcake for her children on their birthday and brings it to the classroom |
| D. parents go travelling with their children on their birthday |
Why do doctors ask people to ban cupcakes on children’s birthday?
| A. Because they themselves don’t like cupcakes. |
| B. Because they think cupcakes are not so delicious. |
| C. Because they believe cupcakes will cause cries of “She got the bigger piece”. |
| D. Because they believe cupcakes are one of the causes to make children become fat. |
Which of the following is Not true according to Marion Nestle?
| A. The cupcake is more democratic than any other deserts in the US. |
| B. The cupcake is too small to share with others. |
| C. The sizes of cupcakes are the same so it’s equal to everyone. |
| D. Cupcakes will lead to child obesity so they should be banned. |
The underlined word “trendy” in paragraph 7 probably means ________.
| A. popular |
B. gentle |
C. delicious |
D. different |
Why did the writer mention Hillary Clinton and Ruth Reichl?
| A. To arouse the readers’ attention. |
| B. To show that cupcakes are becoming a popular to show kindness and comfort. |
| C. To make a comparison between them. |
| D. To give readers a general idea of cupcakes. |
Police fired tear gas and arrested more than 5,000 passively resisting protestors Friday in an attempt to break up the largest antinuclear demonstration ever staged in the United States. More than 135,000 demonstrators confronted police on the construction site of a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant scheduled to provide power to most of southern New Hampshire. Organizers of the huge demonstration said, the protest was continuing despite the police actions. More demonstrators were arriving to keep up the pressure on state authorities to cancel the project. The demonstrator had charged that the project was unsafe in the densely populated area, would create thermal pollution in the bay, and had no acceptable means for disposing of its radioactive wasters. The demonstrations would go on until the jails and the courts were so overloaded that the state judicial system would collapse.
Governor Stanforth Thumper insisted that there would be no reconsideration of the power project and no delay in its construction set for completion in three years. “This project will begin on time and the people of this state will begin to receive its benefits on schedule. Those who break the law in misguided attempts to sabotage the project will be dealt with according to the law,” he said. And police called in reinforcements from all over the state to handle the disturbances.
The protests began before dawn Friday when several thousand demonstrators broke through police lines around the cordoned-off construction site. They carried placards that read “No Nukes is Good Nukes,” “Sunpower, Not Nuclear Power,” and “Stop Private Profits from Public Peril.” They defied police order to move from the area. Tear gas canisters fired by police failed to dislodge the protestors who had come prepared with their own gas masks or facecloths. Finally gas-masked and helmeted police charged into the crowd to drag off the demonstrators one by one. The protestors did not resist police, but refused to walk away under their own power. Those arrested would be charged with unlawful assembly, trespassing, and disturbing the peace.What were the demonstrators protesting about?
[A] Private profits.
[B]Nuclear Power Station.
[C] The project of nuclear power construction.
[D] Public peril.Who had gas-masks?
[A] Everybody.
[B]A part of the protestors.
[C] Policemen.
[D] Both B and C..Which of the following was NOT mentioned as a reason for the demonstration?
[A] Public transportation.
[B]Public peril.
[C] Pollution.
[D] Disposal of wastes..With whom were the jails and courts overloaded?
[A] With prisoners.
[B]With arrested demonstrators.
[C] With criminals.
[D] With protestors.What is the attitude of Governor Stanforth Thumper toward the power project and the demonstration?
[A] stubborn.
[B]insistent.
[C] insolvable.
[D] remissible.
Vocabulary
1.tear gas 瓦斯
2.passively resisting protestor 不抵抗的抗议者
3.stage 发起，举行，上演
4.break up 驱散，终止
5.cordon 警戒线，警戒
6.nuke （美俚）核武器，核电站
7.defy 公然蔑视/反抗
8.canister 罐，筒，榴霰弹筒
9.islodge 赶走
10.charge 冲锋，向前冲
11.trespass 非法侵入，扰乱
What can help you make a fortune in the future? Graduating from a top university might not be enough. A new study from the University of Essex in Britain has shown that the more friends you have in school, the more money you'll earn later.
The idea that popularity could have a serious impact on one's earning potential shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. The researchers noted that if you want to get ahead in life, social skills and networking are easily as powerful as talent and hard work.
“If a person has lots of friends, it means that he or she has the ability to get along with others in all kinds of different situations," said Xu Yanchun, 17, from Nantou High School in Shenzhen, who totally agreed with the recent finding. "Also, friends always help each other. They not only create wider social circles for you but lift your mood when you occasionally feel depressed," said Xu. She believed that all this helps you "earn a higher salary”.
Maybe that's why some people think the younger generations are in the age of Friendalholism (交友狂症). A woman even complained that the networking website Face book's 5,000-friend limit was too low for her large reserve of social contacts.
But what does a friend mean? Should friends be regarded as a form of currency?
“Call me uncoil, but I think of a friend as an actual person with whom I have an actual history and whom I enjoy actually seeing. It seems, however, that this is no longer the definition (定义) of ‘friend',” said Meghan Daum, who works with The Los Angeles Times in the US.The new study from the University of Essex in Britain shows that _________.
| A．if you have more friends you will not live happily. |
| B．the more friends you have in school, the more money you'll earn in your late life. |
| C．the less friends you have, the poor lives you will live. |
| D．friends can make more money for you. |
According to Xu Yanchun, when you have lots of friends, it means_____
| A．You have the ability to earn more money. |
| B．You will not feel lonely. |
| C．You are quite content with your life. |
| D．You have the ability to get along with others in various situations. |
What’s the main idea of the passage ?
| A．The passage mainly tells us something about the friendship. |
| B．Friends plays an more important part in our daily life than anything else. |
| C．Friends are currency. |
| D．Friends give you success. |
We can learn from the passage that _________.
| A．If you have more friends, you can make a fortune in the future. |
| B．Graduating from college means that you can make a fortune in the future. |
| C．Friends means a form of currency. |
| D．Friends can make you wider social circle and make you feel better when you feel depressed. |
British author JK Rowling was at the release of her latest Harry Potter book called “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” at the Natural History Museum in London, Friday July 20, 2007.
J.K. Rowling has been spotted at cafes in Scotland working on a detective novel, a British newspaper reported Saturday.
The Sunday Times newspaper quoted Ian Rankin, a fellow author and neighbor of Rowling's, as saying the creator of the "Harry Potter" books is turning to crime fiction.
"My wife spotted her writing her Edinburgh criminal detective novel," the newspaper quoted Rankin as telling a reporter at an Edinburgh literary festival.
"It is great that she has not abandoned writing or Edinburgh cafes," said Rankin, who is known for his own police novels set in the historic Scottish city.
Rowling famously wrote initial drafts of the Potter story in the Scottish city's cafes. Back then, she was a struggling single mother who wrote in cafes to save on the heating bill at home.
Now she's Britain's richest woman - worth $1 billion, according to Forbes magazine - and her seven Potter books have sold more than 335 million copies worldwide.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Rowling said she believed she was unlikely to repeat the success of the Potter series, but confirmed she had plans to work on new books.
"I'll do exactly what I did with Harry - I'll write what I really want to write," Rowling said. What is JK Rowling famous for?
| A. detective novels |
B. crime fiction |
C. Harry Potter books |
D. love stories |
Which of the following is Not rue about Ian Rankin?
| A. He is a writer famous for police novels. |
| B. Most of the stories in his novels happened in the historic Scottish city. |
| C. It was Rankin himself who witnessed JK Rowing writing her Edinburgh criminal detective novels. |
| D. He told the British newspaper The Sunday Times about JK Rowling’s novels. |
Why did Rowling like to write the “Harry Potter stories” in the cafes?
| A. Because she was a romantic woman and the atmosphere in the cafes gave her lots of inspiration. |
| B. Because she was a single mother at that time and she wanted to find a husband there. |
| C. Because her children were so naughty at home and she had to go to a quiet place for her writing. |
| D. Because she thought that writing in a cafes could help her save some money. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A. The seven Harry Potter series made JK Rowling a success. |
| B. JK Rowling had made enough money so she decided to stop writing. |
| C. Rowling planned to write new books because Harry Potter was not exactly what she wanted. |
| D. Ian Rankin and his wife earned money by telling reporters news about JK Rowling. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A. Harry Potter and JK Rowing |
B. Ian Rankin, A Neighbour of JK Rowling |
| C. A Successful Woman JK Rowling |
D. JK Rowling writing Detective Novels |
We're all connected. You can send an e-mail message to a friend, and your friend can pass it on to one of his or her friends, and that friend can do the same, continuing the chain. Eventually, your message could reach just about anyone in the world, and it might take only five to seven e-mails for the message to get there.
Scientists recently tested that idea in a study involving 24,000 people. Participants had to try to get a message forwarded to one of 18 randomly chosen people. Each participant started by sending one e-mail to someone they knew. Recipients could then forward the e-mail once to someone they knew, and so on.
Targets, who were randomly assigned by researchers from Columbia University in New York, lived in 13 countries. They included an Australian police officer, a Norwegian veterinarian, and a college professor.
Out of 24,000 chains, only 384 reached their goal. The rest petered out, usually because one of the recipients was either too busy to forward the message or thought it was junk mail.
The links that reached their goal made it in an average of 4.05 e-mails. Based on the lengths of the failed chains, the researchers estimated that two strangers could generally make contact in five to seven e-mails.
The most successful chains relied on casual acquaintances rather than close friends. That's because your close friends know each other whereas your acquaintances tend to know people you don't know. The phenomenon, known as the strength of weak ties, explains why people tend to get jobs through people they know casually but aren't that close to.
So, start networking and instant messaging now. As they say in show business: It's all about who you know. If you want to get into touch with a stranger in the world, how many e-mails might it take for the message to reach him/her?
| A. 5 to 7 |
B. 18 |
C. 13 |
D. 384 |
Which of the following is Not true about the test?
| A. 24,000 people took part in the study and sent e-mails to people they knew. |
| B. The 18 targets were chosen by chance. |
| C. About 98.4% of the mails didn’t reach their goal because some people were too busy or they mistook the message for junk mail. |
| D. The targets come from 13 countries, such as Australia, Norway and New York. |
What does the word “estimate” mean in the passage?
| A. make sure |
B. suppose |
C. think over |
D. imagine |
Why do people tend to get jobs more easily through casual acquaintances than close friends?
| A. Because close friends don’t talk with each other so much. |
| B. Because casual acquaintances can help you know more people and make more friends. |
| C. Because close friends don’t spend so much time gathering together. |
| D. Because casual acquaintances are kinder and more willing to help others. |
In which part of a newspaper will readers read this passage?
| A. Culture |
B. Entertainment |
C. Information and Technology |
D. Health |
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