Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona. He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his new place and meet his friends.
My earliest memories of my father are of a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and family, but uncomfortable with his children. As a child I loved him; as a school girl and young adult I feared him and felt bitter about him. He seemed unhappy with me unless I got straight A's and unhappy with my boyfriends if their fathers were not as "successful" as he was. Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard.
On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father's friends for lunch at an outdoor café. We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate on the street table, and laughed over my son's funny facial expressions. Gone was my father's critical(挑剔的) air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?
The next day my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment. After so many years, I'm at last seeing another side of my father. And in so doing, I'm delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his new home in Arizona, is back to me from where he was.
| 1． |
Why did the author feel bitter about her father when she was a young adult?
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| 2． |
When the author went out with her father on weekends, she would feel.
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| 3． |
What does the author think of her father after her visit to Tucson?
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| 4． |
The underlined words "my new friend" in the last paragraph refer to. |
Most people think that the older you get, the harder it is to learn a new language. That is, they believe that children learn more easily and efficiently than adults. Thus, at some point in our lives, maybe around age 12 or 13, we lose the ability to learn languages well. Is this idea a fact or myth(悬念)？
Is it true that children learn a foreign language more efficiently than adults? On the contrary, research studies suggest that the opposite may be true. One report, on 2,000 Danish children studying Swedish, concluded that the teenagers learned more, in less time, than the younger children. Another report, on Americans learning Russian, showed a direct improvement of ability over the age range tested; that is, the ability to learn increased as the age increased, from childhood to adulthood.
There are several possible explanations for these findings. For one thing, adults know more about the world and therefore are able to understand meanings more easily than children. Moreover, adults can use logical(逻辑的) thinking to help themselves see patterns in the language. Finally, adults have more self-discipline (self-control) than children.
All in all, it seems that the common idea that children are better language learners than adults may not be a fact, but a myth.The main idea of the passage is that .
| A．teenagers are more difficult to teach |
| B．Danish teenagers can learn Swedish faster than younger children |
| C．adults are more logical than children |
| D．the ability to learn languages increases with age |
If most people’s idea of learning languages is true, people may lose ability to learn languages well .
| A．at an early age | B．when they reach their twenties |
| C．at an old age | D．after they become young men |
According to the passage, teenagers can learn a foreign language __________ than younger children.
| A．harder | B．more efficiently | C．more slowly | D．more carefully |
The reason why adults understand meanings more easily than children is that .
| A．adults have more self-discipline |
| B．adults like to play more than children |
| C．adults have more knowledge than children |
| D．adults accept new things more easily than children |
The explanation for older student’s better achievement not mentioned in the above passage is that.
| A．adults know more about the world. | B．adults can use logical thinking |
| C．adults have more self-discipline. | D．adults can read better. |
There is an English saying that “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter can really improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works on several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effects of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated（忍耐）the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain which diminishes both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.According to the passage, the following statements are true except.
| A．Laughter is good for health |
| B．Laughter can make you become old quickly |
| C．Laughter helps to reduce pain. |
| D．Laughter, just like physical exercise, is good for our body. |
The underlined word “diminishes” in the third paragraph means “”.
| A．delays | B．prevents | C．increases | D．reduces |
Some doctors hold laughter clinics because .
| A．they want to earn more money. |
| B．they think they will help the patients recover from illnesses. |
| C．they want to improve their patients’ condition. |
| D．they want their patients to practice how to laugh |
According to the author, we should .
| A．laugh as much as possible | B．watch more funny films |
| C．smile all the time | D．spend more time in laughter clinics |
The best title for this passage may be .
| A．Both laughter and physical exercise are good for health |
| B．Laughter clinics help patients improve their condition |
| C．Laughter can reduce the effects of pain |
| D．Laughter is the best medicine. |
In most of the time, I am devoted to my research in the lab with my friend Dave, who loves traveling very much. To make our life colorful and relax ourselves, in July, my friend and I are taking a camping trip. We will travel for four weeks and will tour the United States and part of Canada. We have decided to camp because it does not cost as much as vacationing (度假) in hotels.
We have to plan very carefully in advance. First, the car we are going to drive is very small, so we have decided to take only one small suitcase each and as few camping things as possible. We will take some medicine with us to prevent insects (昆虫) from hurting us, and also food for picnics. Second, there is a lot to see in the United States and Canada, so we have to decide on the direction (方向) we want to drive.
The date we are leaving is July 2, from which day we will have two months off. We want to see and do many things on our camping tour. We want to climb in the mountains, visit famous caves, and swim in cool mountain rivers. We want to visit many cities and talk to many people, which I am sure can enrich our experience greatly. We also want to find a hotel room if it rains at night. We expect to have an exciting trip. The two friends are going to take a camping trip ________.
| A．if they have four weeks’ time off | B．though it will be a long trip |
| C．so that they can save money | D．because it will be warm enough in July |
Which of the following statements is possibly true?
| A．They are now on the trip | B．They are going to make a tour all over the U.S and Canada. |
| C．They are quite rich. | D．July is drawing near. |
We learn from the second paragraph that ________.
| A．they must be ill. | B．they will bring a lot in the car. |
| C．they must have studied the map carefully. | D．they must have been hurt by insects. |
It is quite clear that ________.
| A．there will be no insects at all. | B．they are sure to take some medicine on the trip. |
| C．the two friends will take turns to drive. | D．the two friends will share a suitcase. |
If they are caught in the rain , they will ________.
| A．talk to their families while it rains. | B．ask others for help. |
| C．have to stop climbing. | D．have to stay in a hotel for the night. |
Jack was so excited about getting a new backpack because his old one had a broken zipper(拉链) and a hole in the bottom.
Jack’s elder brother took him to buy a new backpack. There were so many cool ones. How would he ever decide? He saw blue ones—his favorite color. He saw ones with his favorite action hero on the front. And then Jack saw a backpack with a black square design. When he opened it, he saw it had a hidden, secret small bag. He liked it, which made it different from others.
“This is the one,” he said, then carried it to the check-out counter.
That evening, Jack carefully filled his new backpack with his school things. He put his special pen in the secret small bag. The next day in English class, Mr. Mack said, “Let’s write an essay about earthquakes!” Jack looked for his pen in his backpack, but he couldn’t find it! He rummaged through his desk and his pockets, but no pen.
Jack asked if anyone had seen his pen, but no one had. Mr. Mack lent him a pencil, but Jack was feeling anxious because he lost his pen. When he got home, Jack told his brother he couldn’t find his favorite pen. His brother said, “You must have put it in that secret small bag.”
Jack laughed and said, “That small bag was so secret that I forgot all about it.”The backpack that Jack bought is__________.
| A．a blue one. | B．one with a black square design. |
| C．one with an action hero. | D．a small one. |
Jack decided to buy that backpack because __________.
| A．it had his favorite color | B．he liked the black square design |
| C．the secret small bag made it special | D．his brother suggested he get that one |
The underlined word “rummaged” in Paragraph 4 probably means “________”.
| A．forgot to look at | B．searched really well | C．turned sideways | D．threw away |
When Jack realized what he had done, he thought it was ________.
| A．funny | B．annoying | C．surprising | D．cool |
This text mainly tells us ________.
| A．a story of Jack’s old backpack | B．that Jack was studying earthquakes |
| C．that Jack was old enough to do shopping | D．a story of Jack’s pen and new backpack |
七选五：根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
A man came home from work late, tired and found his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man. “If you must know, I make $20 an hour.”“Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down. Then he looked up and said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10?” The father was angry, “If the only reason you asked for that is to borrow some money to buy a silly toy, then you should go to bed.”
After about an hour or so, the man calmed down, and started to think. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. “Are you asleep, son?” He opened the door and as
ked. “No, Daddy,” replied the boy. “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was 
too hard on you just now.” said the man, “Here’s the $10 you asked for.”“Oh, thank you, Daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some small change.
“Why do you want more money if you have already had some?” the father asked angrily.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do.” The little boy replied, “Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home earlier tomorrow, I would like to have dinner with you.”
| A．Silently the little boy returned the money to his father with tears. |
| B．The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. |
| C．“Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” |
| D．“Daddy, how much do you spend a day?” |
E. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room.
F. The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
G. The little boy sat straight up, smiling.