The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children．On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special．
However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington．A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909．Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her．It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices（牺牲） and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man．Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910．
In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day．Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died．
When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card．Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental（伤感的）．Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them．Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child need Dad．The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______．
| A．many people celebrate the day | B．only America celebrates the day |
| C．America makes it an official day | D．all men are honored in America |
．At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______．
| A．Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday |
| B．Sonora’s birthday was June 19 |
| C．it was decided by the president at that time |
| D．her mother died on June 19 |
How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?
| A．4 | B．10 | C．14 | D．24 |
According to the passage, on Father’s Day, ______．
| A．people will wear the same flowers to honor their fathers |
| B．only daughters wear red flowers to honor their fathers |
| C．children must go home to honor their fathers |
| D．fathers are often honored in different ways |
Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator (美洲鳄) was swimming toward the shore.
His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.
Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U – turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug – of – war (拔河) between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, took aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father’s fingernails dug into his fresh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy asked if he would show his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my dad wouldn’t let go.”
You and I can identify with that boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because someone has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, someone has been there holding on to you.
If you have the scars of someone’s love on your arms, be very, very grateful. Someone in your life did not and will not ever let you go.
Never judge another person’s scars, because you don’t know how they got them. Which of the following is the most closely related to the underlined word “passionate”?
| A．determined | B．anxious | C．frightened | D．courageous |
When the boy told the newspaper reporter about the scars on his arms, he felt .
| A．painful and fearful | B．regretful and panic |
| C．proud and grateful | D．excited and thankful |
In the story the writer intends to tell us that .
| A．scars always remind people of their past experiences |
| B．wounds in the mind are more painful than those in the body |
| C．a painful past always leaves scars on a person’s mind |
| D．scars do not necessarily mean pain at all times |
Which of the following viewpoints will the writer most probably agree with?
| A．Be grateful to a painful past, for you can always learn something from it. |
| B．Other people’s criticism or blame may hurt you, but if it is for your own good, you should take it thankfully. |
| C．The swimming hole of life is filled with danger, but you don’t need to be too serious about it as someone will never let you go. |
| D．If someone hurts you, be grateful to them, for they mean no harm |
Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn’t find her.
It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30. “Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.
By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day. Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?
| A．they could not see each other because of the fog. |
| B．Joan had not seen Crown Jewels. |
| C．They planned to do different things until lunch time. |
| D．The writer didn’t want to go to the concert. |
What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?
| A．Go to the concert. | B．See the Crown Jewels. |
| C．Return to Cambridge. | D．Go shopping. |
The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.
| A．They lost their way in the fog |
| B．they forgot to make necessary arrangement |
| C．they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other |
| D．the couple couldn’t find the underground station |
It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.
| A．spilt by the fog | B．quite tiring |
| C．rather disappointing | D．very enjoyable |
Some people don't believe that driving more slowly can save lives．But the truth is that driving more slowly can help a person to avoid serious accidents．
The above chart（表格） shows the distance that it takes to stop a car at a given speed．The distance is measured in feet．The shaded area（阴影部分） shows the driver's thinking distance．That's the distance it takes for the driver to react to a danger that he sees．The white area shows the car's braking distance．That's the distance it takes for the car to stop once the brakes（闸、刹车） are used．The number at the top of each bar shows the total number of feet that it takes to stop the carAccording to the chart, what is the total number of feet needed to stop a car that is traveling at 50 miles per hour?
| A．55． | B．73． | C．128． | D．183． |
What is the braking distance for a car that is travelling at 60 miles per hour?
| A．66 feet． | B．119 feet． | C．185 feet． | D．251 feet． |
Which of the following statements about braking and speed is true?
| A．The braking distance is what it takes for the driver to react to a danger that he sees． |
| B．The speed of a car has a direct effect on the distance needed to stop the car． |
| C．The braking distance increases only when a driver drives faster than 50 miles per hour. |
| D．Driving slowly can help a person to avoid all accidents |
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster? Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream — as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No — there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup .”While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy — working at one cool job. What is John Harrison’s job?
| A．An official. | B．An ice-cream taster. |
| C．A chemist. | D．An ice-cream manufacturer. |
According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the “cool field”, it is helpful to ______.
| A．keep a diary of work | B．have a degree in related subjects |
| C．have new ideas every day | D．find out new flavors each day |
What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?
| A．He stirs the ice cream. | B．He examines the color of the ice cream. |
| C．He tastes the flavor of the ice cream. | D．He lets the ice cream warm up. |
Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?
| A．Tasting with Eyes | B．Flavors of Ice Cream |
| C．John Harrison’s Life | D．One Cool Job |
The website YouTube was created in 2005 and became an overnight success.Google bought YouTube for more than $1,600,000 the following year.In May,YouTube announced that two billion videos were watched each day.
In June,the Guggenheim Museum in New York City announced it would hold a competition among YouTube videos.Now,the judges have chosen the top 125 videos.
The Guggenheim and YouTube launched the competition called“YouTube Play.A Biennial(两年一度)of Creative Video.”The information technology companies HP and Intel are supporting the event.23,000 videos entered the competition.They represented 91 countries and every possible style of movie making.
The rules of the competition were few.Video makers had to be eighteen years or older.They could enter only one video.It had to be no more than ten minutes long.Any language,subject,sound,and style were considered.
Eleven people are judging the videos.They include artists,musicians,and filmmakers.Laurie Anderson is all three.She says all her art starts with a story,so she looks for a story as she judges the videos.
Other judges include the filmmaker Darren Aronofsky,the band Animal Collective,and artist and filmmaker,Shirin Neshat.
New Jersey artist Dahlia Elsayed’s video is one of the finalists.She used the camera in her computer to record herself describing her daily food desires for one month.The video is simple,short,and interesting.
A frightening,but beautiful video came from Chile.The video by Niles Atallah,Joaquin Cocina Varas.and Cristobal Leon is called“Luis”.It is an animated ghostly story of a tense,angry boy.It is very dark,but impossible to stop watching.
“Mars to Jupiter”is a video from Canada by Sterling Pache.It is about a survivor of the 1994 genocide(种族屠杀)in Rwanda.The video explores how her past still haunts(萦绕) her.
Other chosen videos are from France,Spain,Taiwan,Australia,and Israel.Almost thirty countries are represented.You can see them if you link to YouTube Play from our website at voaspecialenglish.com.
People can also see the 125 videos at the Guggenheim museums in New York；Bilbao,Spain;Berlin,Germany;and Venice,Italy.
On October 21,the YouTube Play judges will announce the final twenty winning videos at a special event at the Guggenheim in New York.The Videos will be on View there until October 24.Accoding to the text,YouTube might be
.
| A．a video sharing website |
| B．a supporting company of the event |
| C．a museum in New York City |
| D．a frightening,but beautiful video |
Who were supposed to enter the contest according to the text?
| A．Video makers in English—speaking countries. |
| B．Video makers from New York City. |
| C．Video makers all over the world. |
| D．Video makers under the age of 18. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
| A．The rules of the competition were quite complicated. |
| B．Twenty videos will finally be picked out as the best. |
| C．The style of video was strictly limited. |
| D．Only artists can judge the competitio. |
is a simple and relaxing story about daily life.
| A．“Mars to Jupiter” | B．Niles Atallah’s video |
| C．“Luis” | D．Dahlia Elsayed’s video |
The text is mainly about.
| A．a famous wetsite | B．a famous museum |
| C．some interesting videos | D．a video competition |