Think back to this time last year. What was on your mind?
Most likely, you were thinking about finals or the holidays, although in this city I’ve noticed that thinking about the holiday is a fancy way of saying how much stuff will I get.
Now reflect on your thoughts for this holiday season. Most people are still thinking about the holidays, but I say that with a grain of salt. Everybody with a functioning brain and the ability to communicate knows that this holioday season comes with a pretty large price tag: the debt of all the hardships, both domestic and foreign, that we’ve faced over the past 12months.
Let’s face it: some of us will get everything we want over the holidays. But there are others whose parents have lost their jobs or who have lost jobs themselves because of the current economic situation. As much as we try to ignore it, there is still economic unrest in the blue and gold suburb.
In this situation, we have three options. One: We ignore the situation, like we seem to do for every bad thing that happens around us, because by God, it’s the American Way! Two: We recognize that our economy is shot, feel bad about it and spend our time wishing for the good old days. Three: We recognize that our economy is shot, but instead of moping, reflect on every good thing that we have going for us. Now, which option sounds best to you?
I spent a week this summer working in and around New York City with the city’s homeless population. Or so I thought. Although a lot of the people I served were in fact homeless, a significant number of them had a job or a home or both. The truth of the importance of this situation is that they and thousands of others across the country can’t afford even the most basic things of life, even while working two jobs. Yet no one that I met complained about their hardships. Instead, they took whatever I happened to give them(which was, more often than enough, not enough) and were genuinely grateful for what they had.
Wrap your heads around that statement for a second. These people worked their butts off to stay alive with minimal results, yet were overjoyed by a flimsy(脆弱的) paper plate with donated green beans on it. Although I am ashamed to admit it( both as a girthy figure and an affluent citizen), I have taken for granted most of my meals, let alone green beans, and I know for a fact that I am not alone.
64. According to the passage when people think about holidays they care much for ____.
| A．where to spend their holidays | B．how to spend their holidays |
| C．what they can get for their holidays | D．who they should go to visit |
65. When the author wrote the article, the economic situation in his country ____.
| A．began to go bad. | B．began to improve | C．was still serious | D．was favorable for middle class. |
66. The author wrote the article mainly to advise people____.
| A．to be thankful in time of hardship. | B．to spend their holidays in a wise way |
| C．to think little about their holidays | D．to help the country to sail through the crisis |
67. It can be inferred from the passage that the writer is most probably ______.
| A．a homeless child | B．an old professor | C．a famous scientist | D．a young student |
Some people think that all wild animals are dangerous. Actually, very few of them will attack a man if he leaves them alone. If you met a lion or an elephant, suppose, you would run away, but even a lion will keep away from a man unless it is very hungry. Lions and tigers only kill and eat men when they have grown too old and too weak to catch their usual food, such as deer and other small animals. If you saw a wild elephant, perhaps you would be frightened. Elephants usually run away at once unless you attack them. Some animals get very frightened if they only smell a man; some take no notice at all but quietly walk in another direction. Wild animals only attack hunters when they are afraid that the hunters mean to harm their young ones, or then the hunters shoot at them and make them angry.
60. The word attack is closest in meaning to ________.
A. hurt B. catch C. hit D. follow
61. Lions and tigers will not kill or eat men ________.
A. unless men try to run away B. if they are too old and too weak
C. if they
are able to get enough of their usual food D. however men act towards them
62. Some animals run away when they smell a man probably because _________.
A. they dislike the smell B. they think men are dangerous to them
C. they don't want to eat men D. they want to eat weak men
63. This passage is mainly about _________.
A. how to protect wild animals B. how animals look for their food
C. how to make friends with wild animals D. how animals act towards men
Successful films and TV programs make large amounts of money, and so do the performers who appear in them. A few big shows can make a rock musician a millionaire（百万富翁） in a very short time. High art, however, has serious financial（财政的） problems. It costs more to put on an opera（歌剧）concert, or ballet（芭蕾） than the sale of tickets can bring in. Men and women interested in high art are always being asked to give money to make future performance possible. Small government subsidies（津贴） have also helped to support the arts in the last few years.
56. It is easier for ______ to make money.
A. an opera performer B. a pianist
C. a ballet actor D. A rock musician
57. High art has financial problems because ________.
no people would offer money for
it
it is not supported by the government
it cost much but not many people enjoy it
prices of tickets for it are not high enough
58. The government has given ________ money
to support _______ in the last few years.
A. a large amount of… high art B. a small amount of… high art
C. little… all kinds of art D. plenty of… popular art
59. From the passage we can concluded (推断) that ________.
A. high art is not enjoyed by young people
B. successful films and TV programs are called high arts
C. all people enjoy popular art instead of high art
D. most people like popular art better than high art
IV. 阅读理解
Bill Jenkins worked in a big office in the city, and he used to go to the barber’s during working hours to have his hair cut, although this was against the rule: clerks (职员) had to have their hair cut in their own time.
While Bill was at the barber’s one day, the manager of the office came in by chance to have his own hair cut. Bill saw him and tried to hide his face, but the manager found him.
“Hello, Jenkins,” the manager said, “ I see that you are having your hair cut in office time.”
“Yes, sir, I am,” admitted Bill calmly, “You see, sir, it grows in office time.”
“Not all of it,” said the manager at once, “some of it grows in your own time.”
“Yes, sir, but I’m not having it all cut off.”
52. Clerks in the office where Bill worked were ________.
A. not allowed to leave the office in office time
B. told to go to the barber’s in their free time
C. not allowed to go to the barber’s for a hair cut
D. told that only the manager could break the rules
53. Bill often went to have his hair cut during office hours because __________.
A. he didn’t have to wait long B. he had no idea of the office rule
C. he couldn’t be found by the manager
D. he just wanted to save his own time to do other things
54. When the manager saw Bill at the barber’s, he was _________.
A. unhappy B. excited C. sad D. anxious
55. The sentence “I’m not having it all cut off,” really means _________.
A. Bill wanted to have his hair cut, which grew in office time
B. Bill was just against the rule about hair cut
C. Bill would like to have his hair cut, which grew both in his office time and in his own time
D. Bill didn’t like to have his hair cut, which grew in his own time
The thing is, my luck’s always been ruined. Just look at my name: Jean. Not Jean Marie, or Jeanine, or Jeanette, or even Jeanne. Just Jean. Did you know in France, they name boys Jean? It’s French for John. And okay, I don’t live in France. But still, I’m basically a girl named John. If I lived in France, anyway.
This is the kind of luck I’ve had since before Mom even filled out my birth certificate. So it wasn’t any big surprise to me when the cab driver didn’t help me with my suitcase. I’d already had to tolerate arriving at the airport to find no one there to greet me, and then got no answer to my many phone calls, asking where my aunt and uncle were. Did they not want me after all? Had they changed their minds? Had they heard about my bad luck—all the way from Iowa—and decided they didn’t want any of it to rub off on them?
So when the cab driver, instead of getting out and helping me with my bags, just pushed a little button so that the trunk (汽车后备箱) popped open a few inches, it wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me. It wasn’t even the worst thing that had happened to me that day.
According to my mom, most brownstones in New York City were originally single-family homes when they were built way back in the 1800s. But now they’ve been divided up into apartments, so that there’s one—or sometimes even two or more families—per floor.
Not Mom’s sister Evelyn’s brownstone, though. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted Gardiner own all four floors of their brownstone. That’s practically one floor per person, since Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted only have three kids, my cousins Tory, Teddy, and Alice.
Back home, we just have two floors, but there are seven people living on them. And only one bathroom. Not that I’m complaining. Still, ever since my sister Courtney discovered blow-outs, it’s been pretty frightful at home.
But as tall as my aunt and uncle’s house was, it was really narrow—just three windows across. Still, it was a very pretty townhouse, painted gray. The door was a bright, cheerful yellow. There were yellow flower boxes along the base of each window, flower boxes from which bright red—and obviously newly planted, since it was only the middle of April, and not quite warm enough for them.
It was nice to know that, even in a sophisticated (世故的) city like New York, people still realized how homey and welcoming a box of flowers could be. The sight of those flowers cheered me up a little.
Like maybe Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted just forgot I was arriving today, and hadn’t deliberately failed to meet me at the airport because they’d changed their minds about letting me come to stay.
Like everything was going to be all right, after all.
Yeah. With my luck, probably not.
I started up the steps to the front door of 326 East Sixty-Ninth Street, then realized I couldn’t make it with both bags and my violin. Leaving one bag on the sidewalk, I dragged the other up the steps with me. Maybe I took the steps a little too fast, since I nearly tripped and fell flat on my face on the sidewalk. I managed to catch myself at the last moment by grabbing some of the fence the gardeners had put up…
67. Why did the author go to New York?
A. She intended to go sightseeing there.
B. She meant to stay with her aunt’s family.
C. She was homeless and adopted by her aunt.
D. She wanted to try her luck and find a job there.
68. According to the author, some facts account for her bad luck EXCEPT that ________.
A. she was given a boy’s name in French
B. the cab driver didn’t help her with her bags
C. her sister Courtney discovered blow-outs
D. nobody had come to meet her at the airport
69. The underlined phrase “rub off on” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.
A. have an effect on B. play tricks on C. put pressure on D. throw doubt on
70. From the passage, we can know that _________.
A. the author left home without informing her mother
B. the author arrived in New York in a very warm season
C. her aunt’s family lived a much better life than her own
D. her aunt and uncle were likely to forget about her arrival
Patients and doctors alike have long believed in the healing (治疗) power of humor. It is claimed that humor not only affects patients’ moods, but can actually help them recover faster.
Several studies seem to support this. Patients in better spirits are known to have higher immune cell counts. Some have even claimed to have healed themselves of serious illnesses by reading comics and watching comedies.
Despite all this, many researchers are not convinced. They point out the fact that many sufferings have been known to disappear naturally, with or without a daily dose of laughter. They also say that while optimism in general does seem to be related to better health, it is hard to tell which comes first.
Humor in times of stress, however, clearly makes us feel better. On one level, it takes our minds off our troubles and relaxes us. On another, it releases powerful endorphins, a chemical produced by your body that reduces pain.
There are cases where the appreciation of a good joke is indeed directly related to a person’s health. It can show, for example, whether a person has suffered damage to one particular area of the brain: the right frontal lobe (额叶).
Scientists confirmed this by having people read jokes and asking them to choose the funniest endings from a list. Subjects with normal brains usually chose endings that were based on a relatively complex synthesis (综合) of ideas. Subjects with specifically located brain damage, however, responded only to slapstick (闹剧) endings, which did not depend on a particular context. When pressed, the brain-damaged subjects saw the logic in the correct endings. They simply did not find them funny.
Of course, humor is largely an individual matter. Next time your friend does not get one of your jokes, there is no need to accuse him of being a lamebrain. However, you might suggest that he lighten up—for the health of it.
63. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. all researchers have agreed on the healing power of humor
B. people seldom accuse their friends of not understanding jokes
C. the author holds a positive attitude to the healing power of humor
D. reading comics will surely become a popular way of treating diseases
64. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Many researchers are not convinced of the healing power of humor.
B. Patients in bad moods are known to have higher immune cell counts.
C. Optimism in general does seem to be related to better health.
D. People should try their best to cheer up for their good health.
65. Scientists had some people read jokes and asked them to choose the funniest endings from a list to confirm that ________.
A. the brain-damaged people are different from those with normal brains
B. a person with a normal brain usually responds to slapstick endings
C. a person suffering certain brain damage doesn’t appreciate a good joke
D. humor takes our minds off our troubles by releasing powerful endorphins
66. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Which comes first, humor or health? B. Humor can cure different illnesses
C. People need humor in times of stress D. Humor contributes to good health