One Sunday morning in June 1959 my mother walked into my room. “Surprise!” she said, proudly holding up a yellow dress. “I made it just for you. What do you think?”
I bit my tongue. How could I tell Mom it was the ugliest dress I had ever seen?
“It’s perfect for church,” my mother continued delightedly.“I wish someone had made a dress like this for me.”
Too bad you can’t wear it, I thought. But I knew Mom had spent a lot of time on the dress. No one should refuse.
Unwillingly I put it on.
All through church I prayed（祈祷）,Lord, let me get out of here without anyone seeing me. Especially Dennis Pearce, the boy I had a crush on, one of the coolest boys at Neptune High School. Although we were in some of the same classes, Dennis had never taken any noti
ce of me. Every time I got near him, I became tongue-tied.
At the end of the service I rushed for the door. But I had to wait on the steps while my parents chatted with their friends. Just a little while longer…Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the Pearces coming near. Before I could escape, Dennis was right beside me.
I started talking, hoping if I kept it up he wouldn’t notice my ugly dress. “I’m going to college in September,” I said.
“That’s great,” Dennis replied “I got accepted to police academy（学院）.”
“Wow!” I said. Somehow I kept the conversation going. The next thing I knew Dennis had asked me out on a date!
We courted（恋爱）through college, and eventually got married. Months after our wedding I asked Dennis if he remembered the day he had first asked me out.
“Certainly I do,” he said.“You were always quiet in school. I didn’t think you’d be much fun. But you were so lively when we talked on the church steps, I wanted to get to know you better.” Maybe that yellow dress wasn’t what I would have chosen, but that day it was the perfect dress for me.Why did she accept such a dress?
| A．She was fond of its new pattern. |
| B．Her Mom just brought it for her. |
| C．It was proper to go to church in it． |
| D．She understood her Mom’s love． |
The author tried to carry the dialog on，hoping .
| A．she would catch other boys’ attention |
| B．Dennis would get her out for a date |
| C．Dennis wouldn’t take notice of her dress |
| D．she could be noticed by Dennis’s parents |
The underlined part“had a crush on’’ in Paragraph 6 probably means：“ ”.
| A．10ved deeply | B．met by chance | C．100ked down on | D．worried about |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．An Ugly Dress | B．A Perfect Dress |
| C．A Dress for the Church | D．A Dress for the Date |
Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it's best to sleep on a problem. They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information we receive each day.
Lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, "Sleep helps us draw rules from our experiences. It's like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it's hard to explain."
The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and symbols (象征) , reports New Scientist. They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept. They found that people were better able to remember lists of related words after a night's sleep than after the same time spent awake during the day. They also found it easier to remember themes (主题) that the words had in common. But they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake. Prof. John Groeger, of Surrey University's Sleep Research Centre, said, "People have been trying for years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative (有助恢复的) value. " "We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the way the brain deals with it all."The phrase" to sleep on a problem" in Paragraph 1 most likely means to______.
| A．pay full attention to a problem | B．wait until later for a decision |
| C．sleep to forget a problem | D．have difficulty sleeping |
In the study by the US research team, students were asked to______.
| A．put together words of similar meanings |
| B．remember words and their meanings |
| C．show their knowledge of words |
| D．make up lists of related words |
Which of the following may be easier to remember?
| A．Themes learned right before the test |
| B．Rules from personal experience |
| C．Words learnt before a good sleep |
| D．Ideas stored together in the brain |
What may be the importance of the research?
| A．It shows sleep may help us manage information |
| B．It helps find out the common themes of word |
| C．It tells us that more sleep can improve health |
| D．It proves the value of old-fashioned advice |
Email Announcement Weekly
University libraries to be closed for day on Friday
All university libraries will be closed from 8 a. m. to 1 p. m. on Friday (Aug.10). The closure will allow librarians to complete various tasks to prepare for the coming fall term. Library users are asked to change their study or research plans around this short closure.
Bring your old films to Home Movie Day
Find your old home movies and bring them to Home Movie Day from 1-5 p. m. Saturday (Aug.11). The free event at Will's Campbell Hall, 300 N. Goodwin, includes a clinic on caring for old films and continuous showing of movies brought in by students like you. Sponsors (主办者) are WILL and the U of C Library.
Ireland garden tour set for June 2008
The public is invited to join Illinois Master Gardeners on a trip to visit popular public gardens and castles in Ireland. The tour (June 2-12, 2008) also includes several personal gardens as well as free time to find more. Bookings due Sept. 15. For trip introduction and booking information, please visit travels. To whom is the first email announcement probably sent?
| A．International tourist | B．University people | C．The general public | D．Movie lovers |
What do people do on Home Movie Day?
| A．They watch old movies at home |
| B．They give away old movies for free |
| C．They share home movies with others |
| D．They show movies at the U of C library |
People need to book the Ireland trip______.
| A．by Sep 15, 2007 | B．on Sep 15, 2007 |
| C．between June 2-12, 2008 | D．after June 12, 2008 |
What can people do at Campbell Hall?
| A．Learn how to take care of old movie |
| B．Visit a clinic to get advice on health |
| C．Get information for free event |
| D．Plan their study and research |
How do you think of the following example? Many Japanese never take the vacations they should enjoy, but with the coming of “Golden Week”, several holidays following one after another in late April and early May, they pour out of the country in the tens of thousands.
So when traveling, whether on business or for pleasure, the first thing to think about are hotels. The kind of hotel you choose is decided according to how much money you want to spend. There are small hotels with very few services, where the prices are low, or there are large hotels with all the very latest comforts, where you could spend all the money you have in the bank for a very comfortable night.
There are several different kinds of people who go to hotels. Some want to live, rather than just stay, in a hotel; hotels which are designed to meet their needs are called residential hotels. However, most people who stay in hotels are either business people or tourists on holiday.
In most hotels, there are two kinds of rooms: single rooms, for the use of one person, and double rooms, for the use of two people. In addition, in large hotels, there are also suites (套房), which include two or more rooms connected together — perhaps a bedroom and a living room. They are for people who are very rich or very important.From the example of many Japanese, we can learn that .
| A．they don’t enjoy taking vacations because it’s too expensive |
| B．they enjoy touring in “Golden Week” because it consists of several holidays |
| C．they don’t have vacations unless they go abroad |
| D．they enjoy staying at home unless they have enough time and money |
A person’s choice of a particular hotel is made mainly according to .
| A．how much he is willing to pay for a night |
| B．whether he is traveling on business or for pleasure |
| C．whether the hotel is in the central part of a city |
| D．how good the services of the hotel are |
If the president of a certain country comes, he will most probably .
| A．live in a new hotel | B．stay in a single room of a hotel |
| C．stay in a double room of a hotel | D．stay in a suite of a modern hotel |
If a person stays in a modern hotel with the latest comforts for a night, .
| A．he will become poor |
| B．he will have to pay a lot of money |
| C．he will have to spend all the money he has in the bank |
| D．he will have to draw all of his money out of the bank |
As a result of pollution, Lake Erie, on the borders of the USA and Canada, is now without many living things.
Pollution in water is not simply a matter of “poisons” killing large numbers of fish overnight. Very often the effects of pollution are not noticed for many months or years because the first organisms (生物体) to be affected are either plants or plankton (浮游生物). These organisms are the food of fish, birds, and other creatures. When this food disappears, the fish and birds die too. In this way a whole food chain can be wiped out, and it is not until dead fish and water birds are seen at the river’s edge or on the sea shore that people realize what is happening.
Where do the substances which pollute water come from? There are two main sources, sewage(污水) and industrial waste. As more detergent (洗涤剂)is used in homes, more of it is finally put into our rivers, lakes and seas. Detergents harm water birds by breaking down the natural substances which keep their feathers waterproof. Sewage itself, if not properly treated, makes the water dirty and prevents all forms of life in rivers and the sea from receiving the oxygen they need. Industrial waste is even more harmful since there are many highly poisonous materials in it, such as copper and lead.
So if we want to stop this pollution, the answer is simple. Sewage and industrial waste must be made clean before flowing into the water reservoirs. It may already be too late to save some rivers and lakes, but others can still be saved if the correct action is taken at once.Pollution in water is noticed ________.
| A．when the first organisms are affected |
| B．when many fish and birds die |
| C．when poisons are poured into water |
| D．As soon as the balance of nature is destroyed |
Living things die in a lake or river because there is no ________.
| A．water | B．fish | C．Poison | D．oxygen |
The underlined word “waterproof” in the third paragraph means “”.
| A．full of water | B．not allowing water to go through |
| C．covered with water | D．cleaned by water |
Which of the following things is /are harmful according to the passage？
| A．Industrial waste and chemicals | B．Water in the river |
| C．Coal and wood | D．plastic |
Lilian Hanson, a college student, expects to graduate in about two years. What makes Mrs Hanson different from her classmates is her age — 73 years. She has been studying at college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years.
When Lilian Hanson graduated from high school, she went to the bank to borrow money for further education. The banker gave her no encouragement. He didn’t think that a country girl should borrow money to go to college. He thought she should be at home doing work in the house or around the farm. So Lilian Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college.
Mrs Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education. When her children were grown, she tried again. She finds the hardest part of going back to school at her age is the sitting in class for long periods of time. Because she is not as flexible（易适应的） as she used to be, Mrs Hanson often gets up and walks around between classes to keep from getting stiff（僵硬）. At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all stood and gave her a warm welcome when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her aims were.The difference between Lilian and her classmates is that .
| A．she works harder at her lessons |
| B．she is eager to graduate from college |
| C．she is much older |
| D．she is a country girl |
Lilian wasn’t able to go to college after graduation from high school because ________.
| A．she wanted to teach herself | B．she got married |
| C．she had to look after her children | D．she hadn’t enough money |
The writer wrote the passage in order to show us that ________.
| A．a friend in need is a friend indeed |
| B．one is never too old to learn |
| C．knowledge is power |
| D．education is of great importance |
Lilian could get a higher education when she was old because ________.
| A．she borrowed money from the bank |
| B．her husband and children helped her |
| C．her classmates encouraged her to get it |
| D．the reason isn’t mentioned in the passage |