A person steps on what seems like solid ground but discovers with horror that the ground is giving way underfoot. The person struggles desperately but is trapped. There is no escape. Slowly the person sinks deeper and at last is gone. The solid ground was solid only in appearance. It was actually quicksand, which is a deep mass of fine sand mixed with water.
How is quicksand formed? Water pushes up from below the surface and is held by the sand. The grains of sand are forced apart by the water. They cannot hold any weight. The subsurface water may have come from a spring, a river, or a stream. Sometimes pools of water near beaches become filled with sand. When the soil under these pools does not allow for good drainage(排水), the sand can become stretches of quicksand.
Is it true that a person who steps into quicksand is doomed to die? No, for people have fought their way from quicksand to firm land again. It is panic(恐慌) that creates the condition that can result in death, for the more a person struggles, the worse matters become. Quick movements will make the sand yield for a time, but then it rushes back and settles solidly around the body.
People trapped in quicksand should either lie back with arms outstretched, or not move at all. When the weight of the sand around his body has displaced equals that person’s weight, the victim will stop sinking. With feet held still, and with slow movements of the arms, as in the backstroke(仰泳) in swimming, people have managed to roll to safety and reach firm ground. Quick movements by a person trapped in quicksand will _______.
| A．help the person reach firm ground |
| B．help prevent panic |
| C．make the same sand yield temporarily |
| D．make the sand hold the person’s weight |
Quicksand is _______.
| A．a mass of fine sand mixed with water | B．formed only along rivers |
| C．found below subsurface water | D．solid ground |
Which statement does the article lead you to believe?
| A．Stretches of quicksand are found only under the sea. |
| B．People should never try to escape from quicksand. |
| C．It is hard to keep calm if you fall into quicksand. |
| D．Only heavy people can be trapped in quicksand. |
The passage mainly tells about _______.
| A．what solid ground looks like | B．the nature of quicksand |
| C．stepping into quicksand | D．escaping from quicksand |
Having a husband means an extra seven hours of housework each week for women, according to a new study. For men, getting married saves an hour of housework a week. “It’s a well-known pattern,” said lead researcher Frank Stafford at University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. “Men usually work more outside the home, while women take on more of the housework.”
He points out that differences among households (家庭) exist. But in general, marriage means more housework for women and less for men. “And the situation gets worse for women when they have children.” Stafford said.
Overall, times are changing in the American home. In 1976, women busied themselves with 26 weekly hours of sweeping-and-dusting work, compared with 17 hours in 2005. Men are taking on more housework, more than doubling their housework hours from six in 1976 to 13 in 2005.
Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework, about 12 weekly hours, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most – about 21 hours a week.
Men showed a somewhat different pattern, with older men picking up the broom more often than younger men. Single men worked the hardest around the house, more than that of all other age groups of married men.
Having children increases housework even further. With more than three children , for example, wives took o
n more of the extra work, clocking about 28 hours a week compared with husbands’ 10 hours. How many hours of housework did men do every week in the 1970s?
| A．About 28 | B．About 26 | C．About 13 | D．About 6 |
What kind of man is doing most housework according to the text?
| A．An unmarried man. | B．An older married man. |
| C．A younger married man. | D．A married man with children. |
What can we conclude from Stafford’s research?
| A．Marriage gives men more freedom. |
| B．Marriage has effects on job choices. |
| C．Housework sharing changes over time. |
| D．Having children means doubled housework. |
According to the “well-known pattern” in Paragraph 1, a married man ________.
| A．takes on heavier work | B．does more housework |
| C．is the main breadwinner | D．is the master of the house |
In the United States 84 colleges now accept just women. Most of them were established in the 19th century; they were designed to offer women the education they could not receive anywhere else. At that time major universities and colleges accepted only men. In the past 20 years many young women have chosen to study at colleges that accept both men and women. As a result some women’s colleges decided to accept men students too. Others, however, refused to change. Now these schools are popular again
The president of Trinity College in Washington, D. C. said that by the end of the 1980s women began to recognize that studying at the same school with men did not mean women were having an equal chance to learn. The president of Smith College in Massachusetts says a women’s college permits women to choose classes and activities freely. For example, she says that in a women’s college a higher percentage of students studies mathematics than in a college with both men and women.
Educational experts say men students in the United States usually speak in class more than women students do. In a women’s college, women feel free to say what they think. Women’s schools also bring out leadership capabilities in many women. Women are represented everywhere. For example, at a women’s college every governing office is held by a woman. Recent studies reportedly show this leadership continues after college. The studies show that American women who went to women’s colleges are more likely to hold successful jobs later in life.Some women’s colleges decided to accept men students because_______.
| A．teaching women is more difficult than teaching men |
| B．many young women chose to study at colleges with both men and women |
| C．study with men is more challenged. |
| D．women and men can have equal chances of competition. |
From the passage we know that_______.
| A．more and more women’s colleges are being established now |
| B．more and more women like to study in colleges with both men and women |
| C．there are more women’s colleges than colleges with both men and women in the USA |
| D．it is better for American women to study in women’s colleges |
According to this passage, if a woman wants to hold successful jobs, she’d better_______.
| A．study in colleges with both men and women |
| B．study in Trinity College |
| C．learn from the president of Smith College |
| D．study in women’s colleges |
Most of women’s colleges were established_______.
| A．to give women the education they could not receive anywhere else. |
| B．to separate women from men. |
| C．to offer women special chances for work. |
| D．to help women have more study opportunities. |
When you turn on the radio, you hear an advertisement. When you watch television, you hear and see an advertisement. If you turn the pages of a newspaper or magazine, again you find an advertisement. If you walk down the street, you see one advertising board after anothe
r. All day, every day, people who want to sell you something compete to catch your attention. As a result, advertisements are almost everywhere.
In the West, advertisements are the fuel that makes mass media work. Many TV stations, newspapers, magazines, radio stations are privately owned. The government does not give them money. So where does the money come from? From advertisements. Without advertisements, there would not be these private businesses.
Have you ever asked yourself what advertising is? Through the years, people have given different answers to the question. For some time it was felt that advertising was a means of “keeping your name before the public”. And some people thought that advertising was “truth well told”. Now more and more people describe it in this way: Advertising is the paid , nonpersonal, and usually persuasive description of goods, services and ideas by identified sponsors(出资者) through various media.
First, advertising is usually 
paid for. Various sponsors pay for the advertisements we see, read, and hear over the various media. Second, advertising is nonpersonal. It is not face to face communication. Although you may feel that a message in a certain advertisement is aimed directly at you. In reality, it is directed at large groups of people. Third, advertising is usually persuasive. Directly or indirectly it tells people to do something. All advertisements try to make people believe that the product, idea, or service advertised can do good to them. Fourth, the sponsor of the advertisement must be identified. From the advertisement, we can see if the sponsor is a company, or an organization, or an individual. Fifth, advertising reaches us through traditional and nontraditional mass media. Included in the traditional media are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and films. Nontraditional media includes the mail, matchbox covers and billboards.According to the passage, who are most probably paying for the advertisements?
| A．Companies. | B．Organizations. | C．Individuals. | D．All of the above. |
The existence of the privately owned mass media depends financially on______.
| A．the government | B．their owners’ families | C．advertisements |
| D．the audience |
Which of the following is considered nontraditional mass media?
| A．Newspapers | B．The mail | C．Magazines | D．Films |
According to the passage, which of the following statements about the features of advertisements is NOT true?
| A．Advertising must be honest and amusing. |
| B．Advertising is meant for large groups of people. |
| C．Advertising tells people to do something directly or indirectly. |
| D．The sponsors are always mentioned in the advertisements. |
When you cough or sneeze, you’d better turn your head away from others and cover your mouth with the full part of your hand. And then, you should say, “Excuse me.”
This seems so simple, but it is surprising how many kids have never been told to do this. Actually, I notice adults all the time who cough and sneeze in public without placing a hand over the mouth. One important thing I point out to the kids is that after they sneeze or cough on their hands, they should wash their hands as soon as possible. If not, they will be passing those germs
(细菌) a
long to everyt
hing and everyone they touch.
If you come to a door and someone is following you, hold the door. If the door opens by pulli
ng, pull it open, stand to the side, and allow the other person to pass through first, then you can walk through. If the door opens by pushing, hold the door after you pass through.
After a few weeks of seeing kids try to get through doors in the school and watching them enter restaurants as the door hit other people, I knew I had to discuss the problem with my students. Teaching them small acts of kindness, such as letting someone else go through a door first as they hold it open, may seem unimportant, but it can go along way toward helping students realize hot to be polite and thank others. Once they’ve been told, they’re halfway there.
When we have to go up moving stairs, we will stand to the right. That will give others who are in a hurry a choice of walking up the left-hand side of the moving stairs. When we are going to enter a lift, the underground, or a doorway, we will wait for others to exit before we enter.
After college when I moved to London, I was surprised at how polite everyone was in the subways. I was even more touched when I traveled to Japan. In both places, people made efforts to make way for others. On moving stairs, everyone stood to the right and walked to the left. On lifts, everyone would stand over to the side and allow others to exit before they would begin to enter.When you cough or sneeze, you should ________.
| A．touch everything | B．cover your mouth |
| C．point out to the kids | D．pass the germs to others |
If you come to a door and someone is following you, you’d better _______.
| A．hold the door | B．pass through | C．close the door | D．stand to the side |
From the passage we ca know the writer is a ________.
A． doctor |
B．traveler | C．parent | D．teacher |
A. The passage is mainly about ______.
A. the rules of behavior in public B. the easy of communication
C. the acts of kindness among peopleD. the knowledge of social life
I know what you’re thinking : pizza （比萨饼）? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip（跳过） breakfast , and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it . Some say they don’t have time. others think they’re “saving” calories （卡路里）, still others just don’t like breakfast food .
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight.
“Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking , R , D , who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to 
one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those 
who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat somet
hing in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,”
I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means__________.
| A．food remaining after a meal | B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables | D．pizza topped with fruit |
What can we infer from the text?
A．Working women usually have brea kfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to____________.
| A．eat something for breakfast | B．be careful about what you eat |
| C．heat up food before eating it | D．eat calorie-controlled food |
The text is written mainly for those_____________.
| A．who go to work early | B．who want to lose weight |
| C．who stay up late | D．who eat before sleep |