Until late in the 20th century most Americans spent time with people of different generations. Now middle-aged Americans may not keep in touch with old people until they are old themselves.
That's because we group people by age. We put our three-year-olds together in day-care centers, our 13-year-olds in schools and sport activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior citizen homes. Why?
We live far away from the old for many reasons. Young people sometimes avoid the old to get rid of fears of becoming old and dying. It is much harder to watch someone we love disappear before our eyes. Sometimes it’s got hard that we stay away from the people who need us the most.
Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young.
A reporter moved her family into a block filled with old people. At first her children were disappointed. But the reporter made banana bread for the neighbors and had her children send it and visit them. Soon the children had many new friends, with whom they shared food, stories and projects. "My children have never been lonely, "the reporter said.
The young, in turn, save the old. Once I was in a rest home (an organization where old people are cared for) when a visitor showed up with a baby, she was immediately surrounded. People who hadn't gotten out of bed in a week suddenly were ringing for a wheelchair. Even those who had seemed asleep woke up to watch the child. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure.
Grandparents are a special case. They give their grandchildren a feeling of security and continuity. As my husband put it "My grandparents gave me a deep sense that things would turn out right in the end." Grandchildren speak of attention they don't get from worried parents. "My parents were always telling me to hurry up, and my grandparents told me to slow down," one friend said. A teacher told me she can tell which pupils have relationships with grandparents: they are quieter, calmer and more trusting.Now in an American family, people can find that___________.
| A．children never live with their parents |
| B．not all working people live with their parents |
| C．old people are supported by their grandchildren |
| D．grandchildren are supported by their grandparents |
Seeing a baby, the old people got excited because _______.
| A．they had never seen a baby before |
| B．the baby was clever and beautiful |
| C．the baby brought them the image of life |
| D．the baby's mother would take care of them |
Why are some children quieter, calmer and more trusting ?
| A．Because they have relationships with their grandparents. |
| B．Because their worried parents ask them to act like that. |
| C．Because they have nothing to worry about. |
| D．Because their teachers ask them to act like that. |
Which of the following can show the fact that the old often save the young?
| A．The old can become friends of the children and the children may not feel lonely. |
| B．The old get excited when they see a baby. |
| C．The old can cure the young when they are sick. |
| D．Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure. |
It is really a happy thing to look back on the days I spent with Jennie. We met in night school. After Jennie and I had completed the required courses, we started teaching in the same school. For a time we were just casual friends, but one day, when I was telling Jennie about my problem son, we discovered we were kindred (同类的) spirits. "He’s a difficult little character," I explained. Jennie looked thoughtful. "Maybe you’re only seeing him with your eyes." She was silent for a moment and then added softly, "It is only with the heart that one sees rightly." I stared at her. "You’re quoting (引用) that! It’s from The Little Prince, Saint-Exupery’s book for children, one of my favorites. You know it, too?" Jennie nodded. "I love it. I’ve read it so often. I’ve practically memorized it."
Now, when I think of Jennie, I recall that book because Jennie —more than anyone I know —possessed the gift of seeing with the heart.
From that moment of a treasured book shared, our friendship grew steadily. It wasn’t that I didn’t have an excellent relationship with my husband and son, but my mother had died shortly after my marriage, and I had neither sisters nor daughters. I realize, now, how I needed someone to share those little, seemingly unimportant things that add so much to life —things that must be shared to be fully appreciated.
And it was Jennie who helped me with my fourth-grade problem child. One day I was at my wit’s end. "What he needs is a good beating!" I exploded.
"He’s probably had plenty of those," Jennie said. "Maybe he just needs sincere praise for anything he does right, and a hug or two each day." I followed this suggestion, and eventually, because of Jennie, I discovered a lovable little boy.
Looking back, I have to admit that she taught me so much. The days I spent with her has become one of my happiest memories.What does the underlined part mean in the fourth paragraph?
| A．I was unsure of how to treat my son. |
| B．I decided to give up my job. |
| C．I faced financial difficulties. |
| D．I was very disappointed with myself. |
How did the author and Jennie’s friendship grow?
| A．They both were interested in children’s education. |
| B．They both liked a novel, The Little Prince. |
| C．They often chatted together about their families. |
| D．They both worked in the same school. |
We learn from the text that __________.
| A．the author has the gift of seeing with the heart |
| B．the author had no friends before meeting Jennie |
| C．the author had lost her mother before her marriage |
| D．the author seldom praised her son in the past |
How does the author feel about her family?
| A．No one listened to her seemingly unimportant things. |
| B．She didn’t get along well with her husband and son. |
| C．She once seldom spoke to her mother. |
| D．She felt quite lonely in her family. |
The text is mainly about _________.
| A．how to educate children properly |
| B．the fact that we should see nature differently |
| C．the influence of friendship in life |
| D．how friendship begins and develops |
I was in a strange city I didn’t know at all, and what’s more, I could not speak a word of the language. On my second day I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough, then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived, and even that I pronounced badly. I stopped to ask a newspaper-seller. He handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person, I asked was a policeman. He listened to me carefully, nodded and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I nodded politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.
About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside. The only thing left for me to do was find the nearest railway station.The writer preferred to walk back to his hotel because ________.
| A．he had no money to buy a ticket |
| B．he wanted to lose himself in the city |
| C．he tried to know the city in this way |
| D．it was late and there were no buses passing by |
The newspaper-seller______.
| A．didn’t know where the hotel was |
| B．didn’t understand what the writer said |
| C．could understand what the writer said |
| D．didn’t want to take the money from the writer |
From the story we know that the policeman______.
| A．was kind but didn’t understand the writer |
| B．told the writer where to take a train |
| C．knew what the writer really meant |
| D．was cold-hearted and didn’t help the writer |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The writer got close to the hotel where he stayed. |
| B．The writer got to the hotel with the policeman’s help. |
| C．The writer found he was much farther away from the hotel. |
| D．The writer found the hotel in the direction the policeman pointed. |
In your opinion, what was the writer’s real trouble?
| A．He didn’t know the city at all. |
| B．He couldn’t speak the language. |
| C．He went too far in the wrong bus. |
| D．He followed the policeman’s direction. |
People have strange ideas about food. For example, tomato is a kind of very delicious vegetable. It is one of useful plants that can be prepared in many ways. It has rich nutrition(营养) and vitamin in it. But in the 18th century, Americans never ate tomatoes. They grew them in their gardens because tomato plants are so pretty. But they thought the vegetable was poisonous(有毒的). They called tomatoes “poison apples”.
President Thomas Jefferson, however, knew that tomatoes were good to eat. He was a learned man. He had been to Paris, where he learned to love the taste of tomatoes. He grew many kinds of tomatoes in his garden. The President taught his cook a way for a cream of tomato soup. This beautiful pink soup was served at the President party. The guests thought the soup tasted really good. They never thought their president would serve his honored guests poison apples. Jefferson never spoke to his honored guests about the fact.Tomato is a kind of ___________.
| A．poisonous fruit | B．poisonous vegetable |
| C．tasty fruit | D．tasty vegetable |
After you read the passage, which of the following do you think is true?
| A．Americans never ate tomatoes after they began to plant them. |
| B．Americans didn’t eat tomatoes before 19th century. |
| C．Even now Americans don’t eat tomatoes. |
| D．In the 18th century Americans ate a lot of tomatoes. |
Jefferson learned that tomatoes were good to eat ____.
| A．while he was in Paris | B．when he was a little boy |
| C．because his parents told him so | D．from books |
From the passage we know all the honored guests invited by Jefferson were____.
| A．people from other countries | B．from France |
| C．people of his own country | D．men only |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT TRUE?
| A．None of the guests knew the soup that was served at the President’s party was made of tomatoes. |
| B．All of the guests thought the soup which was prepared by the President’s cook was nice. |
| C．President Thomas Jefferson knew that tomatoes were good to eat and not poisonous at all. |
| D．All of the guests didn’t know that their president would serve his honored guests poison apples. |
The pen is more powerful than the sword. There have been many writers who use their pens to write things that were wrong. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them.
She was born in the U. S. A. in 1811. One of her books not only made her famous but has been described as one that excited the world, and was helpful in causing a civil war and freeing the enslaved race. The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861, in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally won.
This book that shook the world was called Uncle Tom's Cabin. There was a time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child had read this novel that did so much to stop slavery. Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting, if only to show how a warm-hearted writer can arouse people's sympathies. The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor seen a slave. The Southern Americans were very angry at the book, which they said did not at all represent the true state of affairs, but the Northern Americans were widely excited over it, and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free.Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe became famous for .
| A．one of her books |
| B．she was a very heartedly person |
| C．she was a kind wife |
| D．she worked for the war |
How old was Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe when her world famous book was published?
| A．About sixty years old. |
| B．Over fifty years old. |
| C．In her forties. |
| D．Around twenty years old. |
What do we learn about Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe from the passage?
| A．Before the civil war she had been a slave. |
| B．Before the civil war she had lived in the north of America. |
| C．She had a good school education. |
| D．She was better at writing than swinging a sword. |
Why could Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's book cause a civil war in America? Because .
| A．she disclosed the terrible wrongs done to the slaves in the Southern States |
| B．she wrote so well that the Americans loved her very much |
| C．the Americans were too excited when they reads the book |
| D．the Southern Americans hated the book, while the Northern Americans liked it |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．No wor can be won without such a book as Uncle Tom's Cabin. |
| B．We must understand the importance of literature and art. |
| C．We needn't use weapons to fight things that are wrong. |
| D．A writer is more helpful in war than a soldier. |
I moved to Chicago ten years ago. As I was new to the area, I had friends and seldom went out to parties. But a month later, I was invited to a party and there I an elderly couple.
The wife and I for a long time. She told me how she was about her husband who was a heart operation. At that time I was working as a researcher in the same where the husband would be going for his operation, I told her to take down my phone number and me to let me know when he was there.
She phoned a few weeks later as and told me that her husband was admitted to the hospital and
waiting. I told her that I would go and check on him every day while I was at . I thought that if it was my dad, I would do the same, so I decided to give them some .
Weeks turned into months and it just became my to see them and keep track of how things were going before, during and after the heart operation. Sometimes I'd bring a for him to read, or some food that we would share . As time went by, it seemed like I became part of the . Even after the husband returned from the hospital, we still often each other on holidays.
Now, ten years later, I my own family. Since our parents don’t close by, this couple has become my son’s “local” grandparents. My wife and I often feel truly to have this couple as our “local” parents! Sometimes family comes out of the most unexpected place.
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