D
When I walked into the house after school, I found my dad at home.
"What are you doing home already?" I asked casually.
"Andrew, I was laid off today," he answered quietly.
I was sure he was joking. "No, you weren't. Why are you really home?"
Then I noticed his expression and realized he was telling the truth. My father has always been a hard worker and prided himself on his career. My father's unemployment created many changes in our lives. He was home all day, which meant my bed had to be made, my room cleaned up, and my homework done right after school. I would come home every day to find him at the computer searching for jobs. I began to notice how down he seemed, and how losing his job had affected his self-esteem (自尊心), though he tried to be optimistic. He asked my brother and me to spend less money. I gave up my allowance（零用钱）, which even though it wasn't much, felt like the right thing to do. I also found a part-time job.
After several difficult months of searching, my dad decided to go in a totally different direction. He explained that he never wanted to be laid off again, so he was going to start his own business. Day by day, I watched him build it, and I admired how much time and energy he devoted to it.
One evening I asked if he needed help. "Only if it doesn't interfere（打扰，妨碍） with school," he said, which sounded like a yes.
I showed up at his office the next afternoon, and most afternoons after that for two months. I always knew he was a hard worker, but watching him in action really influenced me. Although this was one of the worst experiences for our family, it taught me a lot about dealing with adversity. Now I know that through creative problem-solving, I can always find Plans, ask for help, and take risks.
54．When the father was laid off, he ________.
A．was angry with his boss B．didn't care about it at all
C．couldn't accept the fact easily D．was as happy as usual
55．We can know from the passage that ________.
A．it was not easy for the father to find a new job
B．the father asked his sons to give up their allowance
C．the father found a good job when he changed his direction
D．Andrew and his brother helped his father set up his business
56．The underlined word "adversity" in the last paragraph probably means .
A．poor feelings B．bad situations C．low spirits D．old ideas
57．What has Andrew learned from his father?
A．The spirit of creative problem-solving. B．The skills of surfing the Internet.
C．The experience of saving money. D．The rich business skills.
It is a matter of common observation that although money income keeps going up over the years, we never seem to become richer. Prices are rising continuously. This condition is what we call inflation: the money supply is becoming inflated so that each unit of it becomes less valuable. We have got used to higher and higher rates of inflation in recent years. What could be bought twenty years ago for one pound now costs well over 2 pounds. And at present this rate of inflation seems to be rising rather than falling. If in the real world our money incomes go up at the same rate as prices do. One might think that inflation doesn’t matter. But it does ------.When money is losing value it also loses one of the qualities of a good money—stability of value. It is no longer acceptable as a store of value; and it becomes an unsuitable means of delayed payment. Nobody wants to hold a wasting possession, so people try to get rid of money as quickly as possible. Inflation therefore simply stimulates（刺激）our spending and discourages saving.From the passage we can know that inflation is a situation in which________.
| A．everyone’s incomes rise |
| B．money will hold its value |
| C．we can watch our money grow |
| D．money constantly loses its value |
．In the writer’s view, if incomes and prices rise at the same rate, ________.
| A．inflation maybe still be a problem |
| B．we have nothing to worry about |
| C．inflation is no longer a problem |
| D．we will become richer and richer |
．Under inflation people are likely to ________.
| A．go to the bank more often than usual |
| B．save more money since their incomes rise |
| C．spend money quickly rather than to save it |
| D．keep money at home instead of going to banks |
．We can conclude according to the passage that ________.
| A．the writer is a government official |
| B．the writer is worried about inflation |
| C．the writer encourages people to spend money |
| D．the writer has become richer because of inflation |
. Which of the following words is omitted at the end of the underlined sentence “But it does”?
| A．matter, | B．goes. | C．rises | D．fall |
Rowena and Billy Wrangler are model high school students. They study hard and do extremely well on achievement tests. And next year，Rowena will be attending Harvard University．Billy，her younger brother，hopes to go to Cornell．What makes Rowena and Billy different from most students is that they don't go to school．In fact，they've never been to school．Since kindergarten，they've studied at home．Like many of more than one million people who receive home schooling in the United States, they feel as if they've gotten a good education．
The home-schooling trend began in the U.S．in the 1980s with parents keeping their children out of public schools so they could provide religious education at home. Today，as the home-schooling trend continues to grow，parents are more likely to consider home schooling as an option because they believe schools don't do a very good job of teaching and are occasionally dangerous places．But can parents really do a better job?
The answer in many cases is yes．In many studies，students taught at home ranked average or above average when compared to students who went to public schools．More importantly，these students were often more self-directed and have a greater depth of knowledge．They were well prepared for academic challenges．
One such student，Robert Conrad, now a sophomore at university, claims he really learned how to study and schedule his time during his eight years of home schooling．Still, not every student is as successful as Robert．“For every home-schooling success story，there are an equal number of failures．”states Henry Lipscomb，an educational researcher．“There are just so many disadvantages that students taught at home have to overcome．”For example，they have fewer chances to get in touch with others of their own age．Consequently，they sometimes lack the usual social skills．“No matter what，though，”states Lipscomb，“home-schooling is a growing trend．I think we'll be seeing more and more of this．”Compared with other students, Rowena and Billy are most different in the fact that.
| A．they preferred to teach themselves |
| B．they do extremely well on achievement tests |
| C．they don't go to school as other teenagers |
| D．they feel they have gotten a good education |
．At first in the 1980s parents gave home-schooling to children for.
| A．better education | B．religious education | C．safety | D．good behavior |
．According to the article, what is NOT the advantage of being educated at home?
| A．Home is a safer place for children． |
| B．Students taught at home are more self-directed． |
| C．Students taught at home have a greater depth of knowledge． |
| D．Students taught at home can go to good universities． |
．The writer thinks.
| A．parents can do a better job than schools |
| B．home-schooling will be more and more useful |
| C．home-schooling is good in some aspects |
| D．students taught at home make greater achievements |
．The best title of this text might be.
| A．Home-schooling：A Growing Trend |
| B．Home-schooling：A Better Choice |
| C．Home-schooling：A Way to Success |
| D．Home-schooling：A New Method of Education |
There are stories about two U．S . presidents，Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren，which attempt to explain the American English term OK．We don’t know if either story is true，but they are both interesting．
The first explanation is based on the fact that President Jackson had very little education．In fact，he had difficulty reading and writing．When important papers came to Jackson，he tried to read them and then had his assistants explain what they said．If he approved of a paper, he would write “all correct”on it．The problem was that he didn’t know how to spell．So what he really wrote was “ol korekt”．After a while，he shortened that term to “OK”．
The second explanation is based on the place where President Van Buren was born，Kinderhook，New York．Van Buren’s friends organized a club to help him become President .They called the club the Old Kinderhook Club，and anyone who supported Van Buren was called“OK”．．The author __________.
| A．believes both of the stories |
| B．doesn’t believe a word of the stories |
| C．is not sure whether the stories are true |
| D．is telling the stories just for fun |
According to the passage，President Jackson_____________.
| A．couldn’t draw up any documents at all |
| B．didn’t like to read important papers by himself |
| C．often had his assistants sign documents for him |
| D．wasn’t good at reading，writing or spelling |
．According to the first story, the term “OK”_______________.
| A．was approved of by President Jackson |
| B．was the title of some Official documents |
| C．was first used by President Jackson |
| D．was an old way to spell “all correct” |
.According to the second story，the term “K”_____________.
| A．was the short way to say“ld Kinderhook Club” |
| B．meant the place where President Van Buren was born |
| C．was the name of Van Buren’s club |
| D．was used to call Van Buren’s supporters in the election |
．According to the second story, the term “OK” was first used ______________
| A．by Van Buren |
| B．in a presidential election |
| C．to organize the Old Kinderhook Club |
| D．by the members of the “ld Kinderhook Club” |
My newly-rented small apartment was far away from the centre of London and it was becoming essential for me to find a job, so finally I spent a whole morning getting to town and putting my name down to be considered by London Transport for a job on the underground. They were looking for guards, not drivers. This suited me. I couldn’t drive a car but thought that I could probably guard a train, and perhaps continue to write my poems between stations. The writers Keats and Chekhov had been doctors. T.S. Eliot had worked in a bank and Wallace Stevens for an insurance company. I’d be a subway guard. I could see myself being cheerful, useful, a good man in a crisis（危机）. Obviously I’d be overqualified but I was willing to forget about that in return for a steady income and travel privileges — those being particularly welcome to someone living a long way from the city centre.
The next day I sat down, with almost a hundred other candidates, for the intelligence test. I must have done all right because after about half an hour’s wait I was sent into another room for a psychological test. This time there were only about fifty candidates. The interviewer sat at a desk. Candidates were signaled forward to occupy the seat opposite him when the previous occupant had been dismissed, after a greater or shorter time. Obviously the long interviews were the more successful ones. Some of the interviews were as short as five minutes. Mine was the only one that lasted a minute and a half.
I can remember the questions now: “Why did you leave your last job?” “Why did you leave your job before that?” “And the one before that?” I can’t recall my answers, except that they were short at first and grew progressively shorter. His closing statement, I thought, revealed（显示） a lack of sensitivity which helped to explain why as a psychologist, he had risen no higher than the underground railway. “You’ve failed the psychological test and we are unable to offer you a position.”
Failing to get that job was my low point. Or so I thought, believing that the work was easy. Actually, such jobs — being a postman is another one I still desire — demand exactly the sort of elementary yet responsible awareness that the habitual dreamer is least qualified to give. But I was still far short of full self-understanding. I was also short of cash.．The writer applied for the job chiefly because _________.
| A．he wanted to work in the centre of London |
| B．he could no longer afford to live without one |
| C．he was not interested in any other available job |
| D．he had received some suitable training |
．The writer thought he was overqualified for the job because _________.
| A．he often traveled underground | B．he had written many poems |
| C．he could deal with difficult situations | D．he had worked in a company |
．The length of his interview meant that _________.
| A．he was not going to be offered the job |
| B．he had not done well in the intelligence test |
| C．he did not like the interviewer at all |
| D．he had little work experience to talk about |
．What does the writer realize now that he did not realize then?
| A．How unpleasant ordinary jobs can be. |
| B．How difficult it is to be a poet. |
| C．How unsuitable he was for the job. |
| D．How badly he did in the interview. |
．What’s the writer’s opinion of the psychologist?
| A．He was very aggressive（有进取心的）. | B．He was unhappy with his job. |
| C．He was quite inefficient. | D．He was rather unsympathetic. |
Against the supposition that forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia warm the climate, scientists have discovered that cooling may occur in areas where burnt trees allow more snow to mirror more sunlight into space.
This finding suggests that taking steps to prevent northern forest fires to limit the release of greenhouse gases may warm the climate in northern regions. Usually large fires destroyed forests in these areas over the past decade. Scientists predict that with climate warming, fires may occur more frequently over the next several centuries as a result of a longer fire season. Sunlight taken in by the earth tends to cause warming, while heat mirrored back into space tends to cause cooling.
This is the first study to analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate. Earlier studies by other scientists have suggested that fire in northern regions speed up climate warming because greenhouse gases from burning trees and plants are released into the atmosphere and thus trap heat.
Scientists found that right after the fire, large amounts of greenhouse gases entered the atmosphere and caused warming. Ozone（臭氧） levels increased, and ash from the fire fell on far-off sea ice, darkening the surface and causing more radiation from the sun to be taken in. The following spring, however, the land within the area of the fire was brighter than before the fire, because fewer trees covered the ground. Snow on the ground mirrored more sunlight back into space, leading to cooling.
“We need to find out all possible ways to reduce the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Scientists tracked the change in the amount of radiation entering and leaving the climate system as a result of the fire, and found a measurement closely related to the global air temperature. Typically, fire in northern regions occurs in the same area every 80 to 150 years. Scientists, however, found that when fire occurs more frequently, more radiation is lost from the earth and cooling results. Specifically, they determined when fire returns 20 years earlier than predicted, 0.5 watts per square meter of area burned are soaked up by the earth from greenhouse gases, but 0.9 watts per square meter will be sent back into space. The net effect is cooling. Watts are used to measure the rate at which energy is gained or lost from the earth.．According to the new findings, taking steps to prevent northern forest fires may __________.
| A．result in a warming climate |
| B．cause the forest fires to occur more frequently |
| C．lead to a longer fire season |
| D．protect the forests and the environment there |
．The following are all the immediate effects after a forest fire EXCEPT __________.
| A．large amounts of greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere |
| B．the levels of ozone which is a type of oxygen increase |
| C．snow on the ground mirrors more sunlight back into space |
| D．ashes from the fire fall on the ice surface and take in more radiation from the sun |
．Earlier studies about northern forest fires __________.
| A．analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate |
| B．indicate that forest fires will pollute the atmosphere |
| C．suggest that people should take measures to protect environment |
| D．suggest that the fires will speed up climate warming |
．The underlined phrase “soak up” in the last paragraph most probably means __________.
| A．released | B．absorbed | C．created | D．distributed |
．From the passage we can draw a conclusion that forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia may ____.
| A．warm the climate as the supposition goes |
| B．allow more snow to reflect more sunlight into space and thus cool the climate |
| C．destroy large areas of forests and pollute the far-off sea ice |
| D．help to gain more energy rather than release more energy |