Acaringmotheristhesinglemostim-优题课

You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette（礼仪）is sort of strange,” Gray told the BBC. “They are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally（对角线地）across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be construed（理解）as threatening or strange. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.
The main purpose of the article is to _______.
A. share an interesting but awkward elevator ride
B. tell us some unwritten rules of elevator etiquette
C. analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator
B. remind us not to behave strangely when in an elevator
According to Gray, when people enter an elevator, they usually _______.

A．turn around and greet one another

B．look around or examine their phone

C．try to keep a distance from other people

D．make eye contact with those in the elevator

Which of the following describes how people usually stand when they are in the elevator?

The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to _______.

A．judge

B．ignore

C．put up with

D．make the best of

Hercule Poirot looked over the small gate which gave admission to Pine Crest. It was a modern nicely-built house. It was on a hill top, and the hill top was planted with a few sparse pines. It had a small neat garden and a large elderly man was watering with a big tin.
Spence’s hair was now grey all over. He had not shrunk much in girth（围长）, though. He stopped watering and looked at the visitor at the gate. Hercule Poirot stood there without moving.
“God bless my soul,” said Spence. “It must be. It can’t be but it is. Yes, it must be Hercule Poirot!”
“Aha,” said Poirot, “you remember me. I’m grateful.”
Spence abandoned the watering can and came down to the gate.
“What brings you down here?”
“What has brought me to many places in my time,” said Poirot, “and what once a good many years ago brought you to see me. Murder, Spence.”
“I’m done with murder since I retired,” said Spence, “except in the case of weeds. Killing weeds is never easy as you think, something’s always wrong. How did you know where to find me?” he asked as he opened the gate and Poirot passed through.
“You sent me a Christmas card. It had your new address on it.”
“Ah yes, so I did. I’m old-fashioned, you know, I like to send round cards at Christmas time to a few old friends. I’m an old man now.”
“We both are.”
“Not much grey in your hair,” said Spence.
“I take care of my hair with a bottle,” said Poirot. “There is no need to appear in public with grey hair unless you wish to do so. By the way, why have you come to live in Woodleigh Common?”
“As a matter of fact, I came here to join forces with a sister of mine. She lost her husband, her children are married and living abroad. So I moved in here. Pensions（退休金）don’t go far nowadays, but we do comfortably living together.”
From their dialogue, we can learn about _______.

A．their common friends	B．Spence’s sister’s characters
C．their relationship	D．Poirot’s recent life

Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Spence used to deal with murder.

B．Poirot didn’t care about his appearance.

C．Spence moved to join his sister for lack of money.

D．Poirot came specially to reunite with his old friend.

From the passage we can infer that they might _______ next.

A．meet Spence’s family	B．discuss about a murder
C．visit Spence’s new home	D．water the garden together

Too Much Happiness was written by Alice Munro，winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature，one of our greatest contemporary writers of fiction and the owner of the Man Booker Price for Fiction．Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker，The Atlantic Monthly，and other publications，and her collections have been translated into thirteen languages．
The main character is Sophia Kovalevsky，a great Russian mathematician，writer and advocator拥护者）of women’s rights in the late nineteenth century. After visiting her lover Maxsim Kovalevsky in Riviera，she travels in Europe，ending up in Sweden，where she teaches at the only university in Europe willing to employ a female mathematician．The book writes about her journey from Riviera to Sweden．
The story tells the typical struggle of an intellectual（知识分子）woman to achieve success and happiness．However，when she is going to die，Sophia says“too much happiness”．I think it’s irony（讽*11的）．As reading the story，she has too many mental problems·First，as a woman mathematician，she was born in a wrong time ．She was married to Vladimir Kovalevsky without love，called“a white marriage”．She explained that“no a young Russian woman who was unmarried could leave the country．”She satisfied her marriage to seek her career．
Furthermore，when she sees a man look like Maxsim in the station，she says to herself，“of course，it would not be Maxsim，what could he be doing in Paris？”She doesn’t want to face the fact because she doesn’t want to lose her hope．She believes they will marry in spring．And in her letter to Julia she says：“it is to be happiness after all，happiness after all．Happiness．”She is cheating herself. In fact，the man does not want to marry her，and the happiness she expected doesn’t take place at all．
Finally, I conclude that the end must be a tragedy（悲剧）．From the very first pages the atmosphere is gloomy黯淡的）and threatening.“One of us will die this year.”“Because we have gone walking in a graveyard（墓地）on the first day of the New Year.”Some pages further，“a black cat across their path”all reflect it will be a bad ending．Not because she had some problems with her lung，but because her life does not bring her happiness，and because of these disharmony things that happen in her life．
We can infer from the passage that＿＿·

A．Sophia was born in a wrong time and was mentally ill

B．women were not fairly treated in Europe in Sophia’s time

C．Sophia loved travelling around Europe to meet `different people

D．unmarried women were forbidden to learn mathematics at that time

The underlined phrase“the fact”in Paragraph 4 most probably refers to the fact that

A．her husband refuses to divorce	B．she can’t teach in university
C．she falls in love with Maxsim	D．Maxsim doesn’t want to marry her

Why does the author name this book Too Much Happiness？

A．It is used to suggest that the story must be a comedy．

B．It’s a phrase repeatedly used by Sophia herself to her friend．

C．It’s used in an ironic way to show that Sophia isn’t happy at all．

D．It’s to show Sophia is very happy to achieve success in her career．

What can we conclude from Sophia’s experience？

A．It’s hard for an educated woman to achieve success in Europe at that time．

B．Russian women were not allowed to go abroad without a white marriage．

C．Married women could travel freely across Europe in the late nineteenth century．

D．Seeing a black cat across the path would bring people to death in the end．

In a newspaper，this passage is most probably in the section of____．

A．Entertainment

B．Travel

C．Career

D．Culture

Matthew Ames returned to Brisbane from Melbourne at the weekend after experiencing one of many rounds of surgery，becoming Australia’s first bionic（仿生学的）man. Matthew Ames was at home on Monday morning，adjusting to national media attention and life with titanium rods（钦杆）in what remains of his arms and legs．If all goes to plan，later in the year he will have more surgery to fix bionic prosthetics（假肢）．
It all started 15 months ago，when the Origin Energy engineer一who lives with his wife Diane and four children in Camp Hill in Brisbane’s east一began feeling like he was coming down with the“man flu”，A week later he was in hospital，senseless and on life support，which was caused by a deadly form of bacteria．
“He had a. 99％chance of dying，”Matthew’s son Luke，9，said in a program，Sunday Night which drew more than 2．12 million viewers nationally．
Matthew’s younger sons Ben，8，and Will，7，added：“And only 1％of living.”
Proudly Will concluded：“And the 1％ won against the 99．”
Matthew’s families were told Matthew’s only chance of survival was to have his four limbs removed．For Diane，the choice was easy．She could not allow their children to grow up without a father．Eventually，Matthew came to，only to find he had no arms and legs．
On Monday，he is attending a Pride of Australia Medal ceremony for which he has been nominated（被提名）In the courage category．“The 40-year-old is slowly getting used to a few more people knowing about his story，”his sister Kate told Fairfax Media．“We told his story so that he was known to the kids，and thus people wouldn’t stop and stare，”Kate continued．“We’re not sure what to expect now that his story has aired across Australia．The effect it would have in a positive way on people is beyond our expectation．”
From the first two paragraphs we can learn that Matthew Ames

A．has finished all of his operations

B．is the first bionic man in the world

C．is becoming the focus of the public

D．had his arms and legs cut completely

From what Matthew Ames’sons say，we can conclude that

A．it was a wonder for their father to escape from death

B．most doctors refused to operate on their father

C．the sons’love is the cure of their father，s disease

D．the sons’pray moved God and saved their father

What was the attitude of Matthew’s wife when he was advised to cut his legs and arms？

A．Doubtful.

B．Supportive.

C．Cautious.

D．Casual.

What would be the best title for the passage？
A. A Lucky Father B. A Bionic Man
C．A National Hero D'. A Reliable Husband

Raleigh Equipe RW Road Bike
Item condition :New Read more about the condition .
Price :GB￡199.98or US$319.98
Item location :Newcastle upon Tyne , United Kingdom Ships to :Worldwide
Shipping: GB￡100.00International Tracked Postage
Item location :Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Ships to :Worldwide
This machine gets you going for your first taste of fast riding on a drop bar machine．With thegear shifters（齿轮变速器）positioned to allow you easy changing，you can relax and speed off instyle ．Equipped with 28 mm tyres and mudguard clearance，this bike can be perfectly adapted tosuit several uses一from commuting（通勤）through to riding the smoother country trails.

Very lightly ridden and in excellent condition．Bike has about 400 miles on it，has spent most of its time hanging in garage and works great．Will show signs of normal mountain bike use．
What can we learn from this passage？

A．The Raleigh Equipe RW Road Bike is suitable for different purposes．

B．The Trek Supeif y World Racing Team Mountain Bike is in poor condition．

C．The Specialized Stump Jumpber Mountain Bike is the most expensive of the three．

D．It’s easy for people worldwide to buy the three bikes with the same shipping company．

If you ordered the Raleigh Equipe RW Road Bike，you are supposed to pay about＿＿．

A．US＄490 .17

B．US＄439.17

C．US＄419.98

D．US＄499.98

What do the last two bikes have in common？

A．Both were much ridden after being bought．

B．Both have the same transportation expense．

C．Both come from the UK and fit for mountain．

D．Both are second一hand and sold from the USA