Native Tongue
At first Kate thought the Romanian girl could not speak and understand English.Nadia would not reply to anything Kate said.Kate was in charge of showing Nadia around on her first day at Buckminster Grade School.Kate could not figure out why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what people were saying.
“Why did they do this?”Kate wondered aloud.“I mean,you can't learn if you can't understand the teacher.”
Nadia's voice was a whisper.“I understand English.I will learn.”Nadia's English was perfect.
Kate was perplexed.She couldn't understand why Nadia did not like to speak.Then she realized that moving to a new country probably wasn't the easiest thing to do.There were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual things to learn—all at the same time.
“There're a lot of new things to learn,huh?” said Kate.
Nadia nodded rapidly.In a quiet voice she replied，“Many things people say,I do
not understand.I have been speaking English and Romanian all my life,but I do not know what some children are saying.For example,yesterday a boy asked if I could help him find the USB port on a thin black box he was carrying.Isn't a port a place for ships?It made no sense to me.”
“Don't worry,”said Kate.“You'll figure everything out in time.You see,that thin black box was a computer.A USB port is a place where you can connect other machines to a computer.”
Nadia and Kate were quiet after that.They took notes while the teacher gave a maths lesson.To Kate's surprise,Nadia put up her hand and offered to answer questions at the blackboard.
Nadia handled every question the teacher gave her.Some of the questions were really difficult,and no one understood what was going on except Nadia and the teacher.When the teacher said that Nadia answered everything correctly,the whole class clapped their hands.
Nadia was smiling when she sat back down next to Kate.“Some things,”she said in a normal voice,“are the same all over the world.”
At the beginning of Nadia's first day at school,she was_____________.
A.disappointed B.helpful C.lively D.shy
2.The underlined word“_________perplexed”probably means___________.
A.puzzled B.angry C.shocked D.serious
3.We can infer from the passage that______________.
A.Nadia did not like Kate
B.Nadia had lived by the sea before
C.Nadia had never seen a computer before
D.Nadia spoke in a soft voice out of politeness
4.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Nadia was better at maths than other students.
B.Nadia found some of the maths questions difficult.
C.Nadia was encouraged to answer questions in class.
D.Nadia understood the maths teacher better than other teachers.
5.What is the message of the story?
A.Talking about something familiar gives you confidence in communication.
B.Answering questions in class makes you better understood by classmates.
C.Language plays an important role in communication between cultures.
D.Mathematics helps to improve communication between cultures.
If women are mercilessly exploited（剥削） year after year, they have only themselves to blame．Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores．Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion．
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste．Many women spend large sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn．Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing their old-fashioned dresses．Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on．
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society．Fashion designers are rarely concerned with necessary things like warmth, comfort and durability （耐用）．They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right．There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes．
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious．Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers．Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide．Designers and big stores always make money_________．
| A．by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry |
| B．because they are capable of predicting new fashions |
| C．by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing |
| D．because they attach great importance to quality in women's clothing |
To the writer, the fact that women change their old-fashioned dresses is seen as ___________．
| A．a waste of money |
| B．a waste of time |
| C．an expression of taste |
| D．an expression of creativity |
New fashions in clothing are created for ___________．
| A．the commercial exploitation of women |
| B．the women's strength of character |
| C．basic qualities of inconstancy and instability |
| D．an important contribution to society |
By saying "the conclusions to be drawn are obvious" （ Line One to Line Two, Paragraph Four）, the writer means that ___________．
| A．women's inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at |
| B．women are better able to put up with discomfort |
| C．men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers |
| D．men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion |
Disposing（处理）of waste has been a problem since humans started producing it．As more and more people choose to live close together in cities,the waste-disposal problem becomes increasingly difficult．
During the eighteenth century,it was usual for several neighboring towns to get together to select a faraway spot as a dump site．Residents or trash haulers（垃圾拖运者）would transport household rubbish,rotted wood,and old possessions to the site．Periodically some of the trash was burned and the rest was buried．The unpleasant sights and smells caused no problem because nobody lived close by．
Factories,mills,and other industrial sites also had waste to be disposed of．Those located on rivers often just dumped the unwanted remains into the water．Others built huge burners with chimneys to deal with the problem．
Several facts make these choices unacceptable to modern society．The first problem is space Dumps,which are now called landfills,are most needed in heavily populated areas．Such areas rarely have empty land suitable for this purpose．Property is either too expensive or too close to residential neighborhoods．Long-distance trash hauling has been a common practice but once farm areas are refusing to accept rubbish from elsewhere,cheap land within trucking distance of major city areas is almost nonexistent．
Awareness of pollution dangers has resulted in more strict rules of waste disposal．Pollution of rivers,ground water,land and air is a price people can no longer pay to get rid of waste．The amount of waste,however,continues to grow．
Recycling efforts have become commonplace,and many towns require their people to take part．Even the most efficient recycling programs,however,can hope to deal with only about 50 percent of a city’s reusable waste．The most suitable title for this passage would be ______．
| A．Places for Disposing Waste | B．Waste Pollution Dangers |
| C．Ways of Getting Rid of Waste | D．Waste Disposal Problem |
During the 18th century,people disposed their waste in many ways EXCEPT for ______．
| A．burying it | B．recycling it |
| C．burning it | D．throwing it into rivers |
What can be inferred from the fourth paragraph?
| A．Farm areas accept waste from the city in modern society． |
| B．There is cheap land to bury waste in modern society． |
| C．It is difficult to find space to bury waste in modern society． |
| D．Ways to deal with waste in modern society stay the same． |
The main purpose of writing this article is to ______．
| A．draw people’s attention to waste management |
| B．warn people of the pollution dangers we are facing |
| C．call on people to take part in recycling programs |
| D．tell people a better way to get rid of the waste |
The use of the word imitation（模仿） reminds me that we ought to make some more comments on the risk of people imitating what they see on the screen in the way of crime（犯罪） or violence．First there was always a risk of children acting out scenes which could be dangerous．For example,I remember a woman who was head of a middle school telling me that she had happened to look out of her window when the children were on the playground and had seen them putting a small boy on a chair with a rope round his neck and the rope over the branch of a tree;fortunately she was in time to get there before the child was hanged．I remember a film in particular in which the hero who was imprisoned had escaped by electrocuting（通电触死） his guard,the technique of doing this being shown in detail．This was the kind of scene which we could cut for these reasons．
In films for young people and adults we always tried to keep off the screen the details of criminal techniques,such as how to open a locked door with a piece of hard plastic or how to open a safe;if we were consulted（请教） before production,I used to advise that the details should not be shown．When I gave talks in prisons about film checking I had full support for this,since fathers who were in prison for criminal offences did not want their children to get on crime．
Every time I gave a talk in a prison someone used to mention the French film Rififi．made by Jules Dassin in 1954．This remarkable film showed in great detail a robbery of a jeweller’s shop,the robbery lasting about half an hour and being backed by only natural sound．．．one of the most brilliant film sequences（连续镜头） of all time．I remember our discussion at the time．We thought that the robbery was finished only with the use of advanced and obviously expensive equipment and that only the most experienced and skilled criminals could possibly imitate it;we believed therefore that it was relatively safe．When talking in prisons some years later I learned that there had been several robberies in which the techniques had been copied,so perhaps we were wrong．The writer thinks that______．
| A．the details of the criminal technique should be kept |
| B．the details of the crime should not be shown on the screen |
| C．children should not imitate what they see on the screen |
| D．it is dangerous to imitate what they see on the screen |
What is the writer’s attitude（态度） towards the film in which the hero had escaped by electrocuting the guard?
| A．The writer likes it very much． |
| B．The writer is strongly against it． |
| C．The writer thinks the film has some value． |
| D．The writer does not show his/her attitude． |
All the following statements about“Rififi”are true EXCEPT______．
| A．that the robbery shown needs experience and skills |
| B．that some very good tools were used in the robbery |
| C．that the film showed the technique in detail |
| D．that the technique of the robbery was not imitated |
It can be inferred from the passage that______．
| A．it is hard for children to tell the differences between real life and the imaginary |
| B．only people in prison support film checking |
| C．only children imitate what they have seen on the screen |
| D．the writer used to advise the details of crime should be shown |
For many in the United States,Arab-Americans are an invisible part of the population．Though Arab-Americans as a community have made great contributions to American society in fields from literature to politics to medicine,many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab backgrounds．
Arab history in the United States goes back to the late 1800’s when large numbers of Arab immigrants first began making their journey to a land known simply as“Amreeka”．
Historians generally describe Arab immigration to America in two waves．The first wave took place between 1860 and 1924．The first wave consisted of Lebanese and Syrian,and some Egyptian immigrants．These new immigrants,who were mostly Christian,came to America in search of better opportunities．Even the doomed Titanic,which set sail for America in 1912,had close to a hundred Arab passengers aboard．The majority of Arab-Americans today are descendents of the first wave of immigrants;they are the third or more generation Americans．
The second wave of immigrants followed after World War Ⅱ,caused by political unrest in the Middle East．This second wave of immigrants consists of mainly Arab Muslims（穆斯林）and continues to this day．
Arab-Americans make up 3 million of the population in the United States,according to demographers．And quite different from popular belief,64 percent of them are American-born．Eighty-two percent of Arab-Americans are US citizens．
Arab-Americans are beyond the national average in both education and income．Education is important among Arab-Americans;82 percent have high school diplomas,36 percent have bachelor’s degrees or higher,and 15 percent have graduate degrees．The-median（中位数的） average income among Arab-Americans is $39 580,which is higher than the US average． What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Arabs in America． | B．The Two Arab Immigration Waves to America． |
| C．Arab-Americans,Contributions to America． | |
| D．Arab-Americans,Education and Income． |
The first wave of immigrants took place because______．
| A．all Arabs were Christian at that time |
| B．Arabs wanted to hunt for a better development |
| C．the Second World War broke out |
| D．Arabs wanted to gain higher income |
The writer of this passage mentioned Titanic______．
| A．to tell us that taking ship at that time was dangerous |
| B．because Titanic became a well-known disaster |
| C．to show us there were many Arabs flocking into America at that time |
| D．to inform us that Arabs are brave enough |
From the last paragraph we can infer that______．
| A．Arab-Americans are much more clever than native Americans |
| B．Arab-Americans are hard-working people |
| C．the higher education you receive,the higher income you will get in America |
| D．Arab-Americans play the most important role in the American average in both education and income |
As society advances and basic needs are most often being met, things that were not considered important in the past have taken priority(优先). In the past, people could easily get a job and progress pretty well, as long as they were hard-working; education was important but not as crucial(关系重大) as it is today.
Nowadays, just as clothes are important to first impressions, degree is important to a person’s first job interview or even a job with a good salary. Although experience is important to survive in any trade or profession, the first thing that companies look for is that piece of paper before looking at one’s experience.
A passport into the world of any profession is what having a degree means today, especially for professions that have need of certification and pay well, such as architects, doctors, lawyers, and teachers.
That piece of paper, the degree, is also a passport to jobs in top or middle management in any company, especially so for multi-national corporations(跨国公司). Having a degree opens up opportunities that one would not have had if one did not have any kind of degree. A degree simply proves that one has gone through the necessary training and understanding of how to carry out a job.
Although there are many that may say having a degree may not necessarily equal to success, it would most definitely help any person achieve success in shorter and easier steps. Success cannot simply be a result of hard work and/or depending on one’s experience or degree alone; it is the art and knowledge of how to work that determines one’s success. Therefore, it should not be for the sake to get a degree, but the quality of the degree and experiences that one can learn from that matter as well. What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．People used to be hard-working |
| B．How important is the degree? |
| C．How can we enter the top management? |
| D．Degree surely leads to success |
Why does the author mention clothes in the second paragraph?
| A．To prove the importance of the first impression. |
| B．To stress the importance of job interviews. |
| C．To show the importance of clothes. |
| D．To explain the importance of degree. |
What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?
| A．Having a degree |
| B．Success |
| C．Necessary training |
| D．Having an opportunity |