I was six when I joined my father and two brothers at sunrise in the hayfields of Eufaula,Oklahoma.By the time I was eight I was helping Dad fix up low-income rent properties.He gave me a penny for every nail I pulled out of old boards.
I got my first real job,at JM’s restaurant in town,when I was 12.My main responsibilities were cleaning tables and washing dishes,but sometimes I helped cook.
Every day after school I would head to JM’s and work until ten.On Saturdays I worked from two until eleven.At that age it was unlucky going to work and watching my friends run off to swim or play.I didn’t necessarily like work,but I love what working allowed me to have.Because of my job I was always the one buying when my friends and I went to the local bar Tastee Freez.This made me proud.
Word that I was honest and hard-working got around town.A local clothing store offered credit to me although I was only in the seventh grade.I immediately charged a $68 sports coat and a $22 pair of trousers.I was making only 65 cents an hour,and I was already $90 in debt!So I learned early the danger of easy credit.I paid it off as soon as I could.
My first job taught me discipline,responsibility and brought me a level of personal satisfaction few of my friends had experienced.As by father,who worked three jobs,once told me,“If you understand sacrifice and commitment,there are not many things in life you can’t have.”How right he was!When the author was a child,he was made to help his father work because_________.
| A．the retaurant was short for hands |
| B．his family belonged to the low-income group |
| C．he wanted to earn some money |
| D．he was stronger than his two brothers |
At the age of 12,the author got a job at a restaurant and often worked till late at night because_________.
| A．he liked that work |
| B．he didn’t like playing |
| C．he was hard-working |
| D．he felt rewarded by doing that work |
When the author was in the seventh grade,he was in debt because_________.
| A．he did not work any more |
| B．he bought clothes on credit |
| C．he was charged too much for the sports coat |
| D．he made little money at that time |
What does the author want to tell the reader by this text?
| A．If you know sacrifice and responsibility,you can have many things in life. |
| B．Children from poor families usually have a very unhappy childhood. |
| C．Children could be made to work and earn some money by themselves. |
| D．You will learn discipline and responsibity by working early in life. |
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 sheer 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 magnified 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 discharge 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.ThefirstsentenceinPara.1impliesthat______.
| A．onemaybeangeredbymediareportsandwantstoavoidthem |
| B．themediacoinedtheterm“RoadRage”onlyafewmonthsago |
| C．RoadRagehasreceivedmuchmediacoverageinthelastfewmonths |
| D．peoplenotinterestedinthemediaknowlittleaboutrecenthappenings |
Theunderlined word“spell”inPara.3means ________.
| 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．Sounding the horn when passing. |
| D．Shouting at another driver. |
Thelastparagraphisintendedto_________.
| A．tellpeoplehowtodealwithRoadRage |
| B．informpeoplehowaggressivedriverscouldbe |
| C．showpeoplehowtocontrolthemselveswhenangry |
| D．warnpeopleagainsteyecontactwithanotherdriver |
The Gullah people in the southern US have honored their culture for more than 100 years. Living mainly on the Sea Islands and coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia and Floride, the Gullah people, an African-American group, have a rich culture including their own language. It is a Creole language created by slaves who came to the US from the West Africa in the 1800s. It combines West African languages with English.
For many years efforts have been made to save the Gullah language. One project began in 1979. Its goal was to translate the New Testament part of the Bible into Gullah. Experts say that it was a difficult process because Gullah is not a written language. It is a spoken language only.
A team of Gullah speakers began working on the translation to make the Bible easier to understand for those who spoke Gullah as their main language. The Gullah version is called De Nyew Testament. It is written in English on one side of the page, and next to it, there is a Gullah translation. De Nyew Testament was published by the American Bible Society. The project also received help from the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Wycliffe Bible Translators, the United Bible Societies and the Penn Centre
Experts believe that the translated Bible is a major step towards saving the Gullah language and traditions. “This is more than a Bible translation,” says Robert Hodgson, at the American Bible Society. “De Nyew Testament raises the Gullah language and culture to a new level.” Ardell Greene is a member of the translation team. She calls the book “a treasure”. She says that the Gullah version of the Bible will be read in churches and will help young people keep the Gullah language alive.According to the passage, De Nyew Testament can be best seen as _______.
| A．a good version of the Bible |
| B．something difficult to understand |
| C．a spoken form of the Gullah language |
| D．the effort to save the Gullah language |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Gullah communities can be found in the southern US. |
| B．Gullah is influenced by both English and West African languages. |
| C．De Nyew Testament is a complete Bible translation. |
| D．Ardell Greene thinks highly of De Nyew Testament. |
What does this passage mainly focus on?
| A．Efforts to save the Gullah language. |
| B．Different versions of the Bible. |
| C．The history of the Gullah people. |
| D．The culture of the Gullah people. |
Encouraging pupils to keep noise to a minimum should be a valuable component of all children’s education, according to new research.
Dr. Helen Lees, from Stirling University’s school of education, says that “enforced（强制的）silence” is seen as a punishment and often acts to suppress children’s natural ability. But she says that teaching children about the benefits of “enforced silence”,--- deliberate stillness that gives them the opportunity to focus and reflect in a stress-free environment--- can have a significant effect on pupils’ concentration and behavior.
It is the latest in a string of researches to establish a link between the classroom environment and pupils’ academic ability.
A study almost a decade ago in London found that children’s exam results were cut by as much as a third if they were taught in noisy classrooms. Teaching unions have also called for a limit of 26℃ to be put on classroom temperatures because teachers and pupils struggle to work in hot conditions, and some educationalists claim that too much clutter（杂乱的东西）on classroom walls can prevent children from concentrating.
Dr. Lees said, “When we take some research on school settings and put it all together, what we see is that education without silence does not make much sense. In areas of better learning outcomes, better self- confidence and well-being measures, enforced silence in a person’s life and an individual’s education is shown throughout the relevant research to be a benefit.”
Dozens of schools across Britain have already introduced periods of “reflective silence” into the timetable.
Kevin Hogston, head of Sheringdale Primary, south London, has just introduced a minute’s silence at the start of twice-weekly meetings in which children are taught breathing techniques and encouraged to reflect. The school plans to introduce it into classrooms every day.According to Dr. Helen Lees, “enforced silence” ＿＿
| A．is an effective way of punishment |
| B．does not make much sense in class |
| C．can improve pupils’ confidence |
| D．makes pupils more creative |
The underlined word, “suppress”, in the second paragraph probably means “_________”.
| A．prevent | B．improve | C．apply | D．reveal |
What can be inferred from the research on school settings?
| A．Students are more active if taught in noisy classrooms. |
| B．Silence makes a great difference to pupils. |
| C．Clutter on the walls can help students concentrate. |
| D．Most schools are not satisfactory in terms of classroom temperatures. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Arranging classroom settings benefits studies |
| B．Achieving silence is beneficial for people |
| C．Using enforced silence is effective punishment |
| D．Keeping quiet in class improves academic performance |
One night, as Diaz stepped off the train and onto a nearly empty platform, a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.
“He wanted my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go ’” Diaz says.
As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”
The robber looked at him puzzled, saying, “Why are you doing this?”
Diaz replied, “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me…..”
Diaz says he and the teen went into a diner and sat in a booth.
“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says.
The kid said, “You know everybody here. Do you own this place?”
“No, I just eat here a lot,” Dias said. “But you’re even nice to the dishwasher,” he said.
Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”
“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.
When the bill arrived, Diaz said, “You’re going to have to pay for this bill because you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”
The teen returned it immediately. “I gave him $20…. I figure maybe it’ll help him.” Diaz says he asked for something in return--- the teen’s knife--- “and he gave it to me.”
Afterwards, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”
“I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”What did Diaz do to the teen?
| A．He gave the teen a new wallet | B．He treated the teen to dinner |
| C．He gave his coat to the teen | D．He taught the teen a lesson |
From the passage we can infer that the boy _______.
| A．expressed his gratitude for Diaz’s kindness |
| B．gave up the idea of robbing in the end |
| C．wasn’t taught how to be nice to everybody |
| D．gave the knife to Diaz in return for his forgiveness |
For what Diaz did, his mother showed an attitude of _______.
| A．complaint | B．concern | C．criticism | D．praise |
By telling the story of Diaz, the author intends to tell us ______.
| A．to keep calm in danger | B．not to go out alone at night |
| C．to treat others kindly | D．not to harm others on purpose |
I found out one time that doing a favor for someone could get you into a lot of trouble. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test. During the test, the girl sitting next to me whispered something, but I didn’t understand. So I leaned over her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen. She showed me that hers was out of ink and would not write. I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and put it on her desk.
Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were dismissed（解散）. As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about what it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to stand on your own two feet and be responsible (负责任) for your own acts. For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized（强调） the fact that when people do something dishonest, they are really cheating（欺骗） themselves. She made me promise that I would think seriously（认真地） about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave. I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.
Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test. When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers from the girl’s test paper. I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test. Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I am sure she continued to believe that I had cheated on the test.The story took place exactly __________ .
| A．in the teacher’s office | B．in an exam room |
| C．in the school | D．in the language lab |
The girl wanted to borrow a pen, because ___________ .
| A．she had not brought a pen with her |
| B．she had lost her own on her way to school |
| C．there was something wrong with her own |
| D．her own had been taken away by someone |
The teacher saw all this, so she asked the boy ____________ .
| A．to go on writing his paper | B．to stop whispering |
| C．to leave the room immediately | D．to stay behind after the exam |
The thing(s) emphasized in her talk was (were) ___________ .
| A．honesty | B．sense of duty | C．seriousness | D．all of the above |
The boy knew everything _____________ .
| A．the moment he was asked to stay behind |
| B．when the teacher started talking about honesty |
| C．only some time later |
| D．when he was walking out of the room |