Thanksgiving Day is a special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the people from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They settled down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The people landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the people died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast. The people invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies（殖民地）began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He declared the last Thursday of November in 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbors. But the Canadians Thanksgiving Day falls on the second Monday in October.
55. Who declared the last Thursday of November in 1863 as a day of thanksgiving ?
A. Governor Bradford B. the American Indians
C. Sarah Josepha Hale D. Abraham Lincoln
56. Which of the following is true?
A. Thanksgiving Day was a holiday to celebrate a good harvest at the very beginning.
B. Abraham Lincoln was the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations.
C. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God.
D. There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.
57. The passage mainly tells us________.
A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the USA
B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places
American society is not nap (午睡) friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “There's even a prohibition (禁止) against admitting we need sleep”. Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a proverb: Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven? Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them.
“We have to totally change our attitude toward napping”, says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.
Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an “American sleep debt” which one member said was as important as the national debt; the commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, President Clinton is trying to take a half hour snooze (打瞌睡) every afternoon.
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have “a mid-afternoon quiet phase” also called “a secondary sleep gate.” Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap. We Superstars of Snooze don't nap to replace lost shut eye or to prepare for a night shift. Rather, we “snack” on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices and museums. It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is _______.
| A．unreasonable | B．criminal | C．harmful | D．costly |
The research done by the Dement commission shows that Americans _______.
| A．don't like to take naps | B．are terribly worried about their national debt |
| C．sleep less than is good for them | D．have caused many industrial and traffic accidents |
The purpose of this article is to _______.
| A．warn us of the wickedness of napping | B．explain the danger of sleepiness |
| C．discuss the side effects of napping | D．convince the reader of the necessity of napping |
The “American sleep debt” (Line 1, Para. 3) is the result of _______.
| A．the traditional misunderstanding the Americans have about sleep |
| B．the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration |
| C．the rapid development of American industry |
| D．the Americans’ worry about the danger of sleepiness |
For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed much occupied with business, and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough, he rode out a great deal.
During this time, all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house, when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening, several days later, I was invited to talk to Mr. Rochester after dinner. As I was looking at him, he suddenly turned, and asked me, “Do you think I’m handsome, Miss Eyre?”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No, sir.”
“Ah, you really are unusual! You are a quiet, serious little person, but you can be almost rude.”
“Sir, I’m sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn’t matter, or something like that.”
“No, you shouldn’t! I see, you criticize my appearance, and then you stab me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind, and said quickly, “Yes, you’re right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one, and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you, and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man, take my word for it, but I have done wrong. It wasn’t my character, but circumstances which were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you’re the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to, because you’re sympathetic and give them hope.”
“Don’t be afraid of me, Miss Eyre.” He continued. “You don’t relax or laugh very much, perhaps because of the effect Logwood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me, and laugh, and speak freely. You’re like a bird in cage. When you get out of the cage, you’ll fly very high. Good night.”At the beginning Miss Eyre’s impressions of Mr. Rochester were all except _______.
| A．friendly | B．sociable | C．busy | D．changeable |
Why did Mr. Rochester say “…and then you stab me in the back!” (the seventh paragraph)?
| A．Because Jane had intended to kill him with a knife. |
| B．Because Jane had intended to be more critical. |
| C．Because Jane had regretted having talked to him. |
| D．Because Jane had said something else to correct herself. |
From what Mr. Rochester told Miss Eyre, we can conclude that he wanted to _______.
| A．tell her all his troubles | B．tell her his life experience |
| C．change her opinion of him | D．change his circumstances |
At the end of the passage, Mr. Rochester sounded _______.
| A．rude | B．cold | C．friendly | D．encouraging |
Violin prodigies（神童）, I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists, the reason for this phenomenon. “It’s very clear, “he told me. “They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.
Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field and is able to nurture (培育) talent. Nowadays the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society with stronger discipline than ours,” says Isaac Stern, “children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well.” The Koreans and Chinese, as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.
That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because ______.
| A．it would allow them access to a better life in the West |
| B．Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent |
| C．they wanted their children to enter into the professional fields |
| D．it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country |
Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that ______.
| A．enforce strong discipline on students who want to achieve excellence |
| B．treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development |
| C．encourage people to compete with each other |
| D．promise talented children high positions |
Japan is described in the passage as a country that attaches importance to ______.
| A．all-rounded development | B．the learning of Western music |
| C．strict training of children | D．variety in academic studies |
Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?
| A．A natural gift. | B．Extensive knowledge of music. |
| C．Very early training. | D．A prejudice-free society. |
Women are now as likely to use the Internet as men—about two-thirds of both genders, yet a new study shows that gaps remain in what each sex does online.
American men who go online are more likely than women to check the weather, the news, sports, political and financial information, the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported Wednesday. They are also more likely to use the Internet to download music and software and to take a class.
Online women, meanwhile, are bigger users of e-mail, and they are also more likely to go online for religious information and support for health or personal problems.
“For men, it’s just, ‘give me the facts,’” said Deborah Fallows, who wrote the report based on six years of Pew surveys, “For women, its ‘Let’s talk about this. Are you worried about this problem?’ It’s keeping in touch and connecting with people in a richer way.”
About two- thirds of the 6,403 adults surveyed by Pew during 2005 said they use the Internet. By gender, it was 68%of the male respondents, and 66%of the female participants---a statistically insignificant(不重要的)difference given the study’s margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2%points. In 2002, by contrast, the gap was slightly larger: 61%vs. 57%.
The surveys find that for many activities, such as getting travel information or looking up a phone number, men and women are equally likely to use the Internet. According to the passage, which of the following is not what American men who go online do?
| A．Checking the weather and the news. | B．Searching for religious information. |
| C．Downloading some music. | D．Taking a class. |
What is the probable meaning of the sentence “gaps remain in what each sex does online”?
| A．There are some difference between men and women in the US. |
| B．There is a slight difference between the numbers of men and women online in the US. |
| C．Men and women in the US have difference tastes about what they do online. |
| D．Men and women in the US have difference way of surfing the Internet. |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．A small part of women in the US go on line today. |
| B．Women in the US going on line are only concerned with personal problems. |
| C．Men are still more likely to use the Internet than women. |
| D．The gap between both sexes going online in 2002 was slightly larger than that in 2005. |
What’s the author’s purpose of writing the article?
| A．To tell us the different aims of men and women in the US who go online. |
| B．To show why men and women are equally likely to use the Internet. |
| C．To teach us how to surf the Internet. |
| D．To offer us some information of both sexes’ going online in the US. |
I remember growing up, my mom always said, “Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others.” It is so true. Friends and mates allow us to enjoy our success and our joys, comfort us in our challenging moments, and provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. I’ve always looked at friends as the family we choose. They enrich our lives. As Robert Louis Steven once said, “A friend is a present which you give yourself.”
To be a good friend or partner, it’s importable be a good listener. Hear what your friend or mate has to say first rather than jumping to conclusions or getting defensive. Sometimes it is useful to be their mirror, for when they hear their words repeated back to them; it can help them to realize that what they said was not exactly what they meant to say.
Patience, compassion and empathy are also important traits in being a good friend or partner. You know the old golden rule, “Care for others the way you would like them to care for you.” The support of a friend during a tough time could make the difference between success and failure. Encouragement and confidence are priceless gifts that can help change a person’s life.
Take care, though, with whom you choose to have close relationship, for they can have a tremendous impact on your self-esteem and life path. As someone once told me, “the attitude of your friends is like the buttons on an elevator. They will either take you up or down.”In order to make good friends, you should do the following except ______.
| A．Be a good listener | B．Be patient, compassionate |
| C．Be careful | D．Be generous to your friends |
What will you do to your friends according to the passage?
| A．Buy your friend a mirror. | B．Point out their mistakes if there is any |
| C．Give them encouragement and confidence. | D．Pay attention what they do |
What does the underlined sentence in the passage mean?
| A．It is different whether you have friends or not. |
| B．The support of friends counts when you have difficulties. |
| C．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| D．You are certain to succeed if you get the support of friends. |
Which of the following statements is not right according to the passage?
| A．It is good to share your fun with other. |
| B．The friend is a mirror for us to learn more about others. |
| C．You’d better be a good listener if you want to be a good friend. |
| D．Be careful to choose your friend. |