My parents were in a huge argument, and I was really upset about it. I didn’t know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend’s house. Though I knew I wouldn’t tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I’d stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, “Great opportunity.”
“What is?” I asked.
“To talk, you and I,” he said. “To hold a private little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we’re going to do with ourselves now that we’re in the situation we are in.”
“But we can’t do anything about it, Grandpa,” I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same “boat” as I was.
And that’s how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feeling and fears of life---from how fast things change, to how they sometimes don’t change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be.
Suddenly, the lights all came back on. “Well,” he said, “ I guess that means you’ll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!”
56. I wished to get out of the house because ________.
A. I was angry about my parents’ quarrel B. I found nobody to share my feelings with
C. I wanted to escape from the dark house D. I planned to tell my friend about my trouble
57. Grandpa was happy to see me because___________.
A. he could discuss the problem with me B. he had not seem me for a long time
C. he was afraid of darkness D. he felt quite lonely
58. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The grandchild was eager to leave. B. They would have more chats.
C. The lights would go our again. D. It would no longer be dark.
Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office. "The railway owes me $12, " she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office. "You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me $12. "
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "Come into the office, Madam, "he said politely. "I'll check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd. "
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. "You look sunburnt, "he said to her. "Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?"
"Yes", she answered, shyly. "The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!"
"That's fine, "said Harry. "My little girl can't swim a bit yet. Of course, she's only three'""
"I'm four, "the child said proudly. "I'll be four and a half. "
Harry turned to the mother." I remember your ticket, Madam, "he said. "But you didn't get one for your daughter, did you?"
"Er, well", "the woman looked at the child." I mean … she hasn't started school yet. She's only four. "
"A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child's return ticket to Jersey costs' "let me see … $ 13. 5. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe $1. 5. The law is law, but since the fault (过错) was mine…".
The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.The woman was angry because .
| A．she returned home one day later than she thought |
| B．she spent more money than she had planned |
| C．there was no ship when she arrived at the station in Jersey |
| D．the young man didn't sell her the ticket for a round trip |
Harry felt worried because .
| A．he didn't change the timetable in time |
| B．the woman was too angry with him |
| C．the woman didn't buy a ticket for her daughter |
| D．he didn't do his work carefully enough |
Harry started talking to the little girl because .
| A．he had a little girl about the same age as this girl |
| B．he wanted to find a way out from the little girl |
| C．he was in difficulty and did not know what to do |
| D．he wanted to show his friendliness to the little girl |
The underlined sentence means that.
| A．she should pay $1. 5, but as he had made a mistake, she could go without paying |
| B．the woman had to pay him $1. 5, and the railway would pay for the hotel |
| C．they have to follow it without other choice, even though the fault was his |
| D．he must be strict with the woman because of the laws, though he didn't want to |
Why did the woman leave the office without saying anything?
| A．She knew she would have to pay the railway $ 13.5. |
| B．She knew that it was her fault to come to ask for the $12. |
| C．She became even more angry with the young man and didn't want to see him. |
| D．She was going home to get the money to pay for her daughter's ticket. |
I once thought that outer beauty is the only factor to become a great person．When I was young, I read many kinds of books, most of which described characters who are handsome or beautiful. So I think that being beautiful is the only way to become a success.
As I grew up，the story of my best friend made me realize that outer beauty was not so important to make a person successful. She is so beautiful a girl that every classmate liked to chat with her, but she was very arrogant(傲慢)．In her opinion, she could get all she wanted because of her beauty, but all of her friends left her one by one! Only then did she come to know the importance of the beauty in a person's heart, which changed her attitude and she made friends again．
Turning on TV，we can see many advertisements, most of which seem to give us a feeling that, physical attractiveness is the most important thing．There seems to be a boom in plastic surgery．It is surprising that more and more people，especially girls and women, try it like the first man-made beauty in China, Hao Lulu. It is a common sense that attractive people can easily find work. Most good looking guys, usually get higher scores in the job interviews. But, what is real beauty? I want to say that is inner beauty because those who have beauty in their soul are really beautiful persons．
As is known, the beauty judged with eyes is temporary, so we should concentrate on inner beauty. And if we make the efforts to make our minds beautiful, we’ll live a happier life.Why did the author want to have a good appearance when she was young?
| A．Because she wanted to be one of the characters in the book. |
| B．Because she wanted to get higher scores in the job interviews. |
| C． Because she wanted to follow the example of her friend |
| D．Because the successful characters in the books she read were attractive. |
Why did the writer refer to her friend’s story?
| A．To show how important outer beauty is． |
| B．To show how terrible to be a beautiful girl. |
| C．To show the importance of the beauty in a person’s heart. |
| D．To show how beautiful her friend was． |
What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?
| A．A large number of people pay attention to outer beauty． |
| B．Surgery is becoming more and more popular． |
| C．More people can afford the price of doing plastic surgery. |
| D．The living standard has been improved over the past years. |
Which of the following covers the passage best?
| A．How do attractive persons become successful? |
| B．Inner beauty is the real beauty． |
| C．The key factor to find a good job is being attractive． |
| D．Plastic surgery is the best way to make a person more beautiful. |
What do we know from the passage?
| A．If you are too beautiful，all your friends will leave you out of envy． |
| B．If you have a good appearance, you must get higher scores in the job interviews． |
| C．Without the TV advertisements, there wouldn't have been a boom in plastic surgery． |
| D．Those who have good appearances should also develop the beauty in their hearts. |
Mo Yan, 2012’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, was born in the small town of Gaomi in Shandong Province. His parents were farmers. And as a young boy Mo took care of the family’s goats. Each day he took the goats outside and watched over them when they ate grasses.
It was a lonely job, but Mo was a smart boy. He enjoyed the green, open land of Shandong. He enjoyed looking up at the blue sky and the white clouds, To pass the time he talked to the goats. He told them his thoughts and some stories. It was the beginning of his life as a storyteller.
During the Cultural Revolution（文化大革命），Mo had to leave school and work for a company. This was difficult for Mo, because he loved books and he loved reading. Luckily, he found a friend who would lend him books. Later, Mo became a soldier and to continue his education. In the end he graduated from Beijing Normal University. This is where he began to write.
Although Mo had left Gaomi, Gaomi never left him. Many of his books talk about rural life and the people of Gaomi, For Mo, all of man nature can be seen in the village life of Gaomi. Mo is famous now, but he remains a true son of soil.Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012.
As a young boy Mo Yan took care of his family’s goats and he hated the job.
Mo Yan continued studying in a middle school during the Cultural Revolution.
Mo Yan graduated from Beijing Normal University and this is where he began to write.
Gaomi never left Mo Yan because many of his books talk about rural life and the people of Gaomi.
When my brother and I were young, my Mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: you can’t take any means of transport more than once. We would start from home walking two blocks to the railway station. We’d take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the tram, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn’t like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom’s friend was waiting to give us a ride home— our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal(多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence— the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening any more. New cities are just light-rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox— and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestnut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my Mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where’s the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I’m writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn’t try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal Mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me.Which was forbidden by Mom on Transportation Days?
| A．Having a car ride. |
| B．Taking the train twice. |
| C．Buying more than one toy. |
| D．Touring the historic district. |
According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?
| A．Building confidence in herself. |
| B．Reducing her use of private cars. |
| C．Developing her sense of direction. |
| D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles. |
The underlined word “paralyzed” (in Para. 5) is closest in meaning to “_______”.
| A．displayed | B．misunderstood |
| C．forgot | D．ruined |
Which means of transportation does the writer probably dislike?
| A．Airplane. | B．Subway. |
| C．Tram. | D．Car. |
Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.
“There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新）my phone.”
Li's impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.
As consumers' minds are occupied by Apple's newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: “Do we really need the latest upgrades?"
According to Donald Norman, an American author, “planned obsolescence (淘汰）” is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry.
Electronics producers strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.
“This is an old-time trick- they're not inventing anything new,” Norman said. “This is a wasteful system through which companies-many of them producing personal electronics - release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one.”
But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted，“We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing.” In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.
Apple's annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are slight.
As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.
“Some games require better hardware to run, ”said Li. “If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends.”What's the author's attitude towards people's desire for new products?
| A．Supportive. | B．Happy. |
| C．Critical. | D．Unclear. |
Why is Apple Company interested in producing latest version of its product?
| A．To provide customers with better service. |
| B．To defeat other competitors like Hewlett-Packard. |
| C．To establish a favorable image of itself among its customers. |
| D．To make huge profits out of its business. |
How do the electronics companies successfully promote their latest products?
| A．They make full use of the "planned obsolescence” strategy. |
| B．They make a fool of customers by recycling their old products. |
| C．They control the customers' way of thinking while shopping. |
| D．They invent new products to attract the youth like Li Jijia. |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that Li Jijia feels the need to replace his smart-phone as a result of____.
| A．new psychology |
| B．pressure from friends and classmates |
| C．life style |
| D．friends' expectation |