The greatest recent changes have been in the lives of women, during the twentieth century there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances (家用电器)and convenience foods.
This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each them. According to the passage, around the year1990 most women married .
A. at about twenty five B. in their early fifties
C. as soon as possible after they were fifteen D. at any age from fifteen to forty fiveWe are told that in an average family about1990
.
A.many children died before they were five |
B.the youngest child would be fifteen |
C.seven of eight children lived to be more than five |
D.four of five children died when they were five. |
When she was over fifty, the late 19th century mother .
A.would expect to work until she died |
B.was usually expected to take up paid employment |
C.would be healthy enough to take up paid employment. |
D.was unlikely to find a job. |
Many girls, the passage says, are now likely to .
A.marry so that they can get a job |
B.Leave school as soon as they can |
C.give up their jobs for good after they are married |
D.continue working until they are going to have a baby |
According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to .
A.stay at hone after leaving school |
B.marry men younger than themselves |
C.start working again later in life |
D.Marry while still at school |
If you’re travelling in the following cities, these exciting events may drag you out of the house.
CONCERTS
Mayday Noah’s Ark World Tour
Info: Jul 13, Xiamen; Jul 19/20, Shanghai; Aug 3, Shenzhen; Aug 17, Beijing
The rock band Mayday is about to bring their attractive tour to an end — and, as usual, it's going to happen in a grand way. On Aug 17, they will rock the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest Stadium, and hold their last Noah’s(诺亚方舟) Ark concert in China, before heading to Europe in September.
Tanya Chua 2013 Concert Tour
Info: Aug 10, Shanghai; Aug 31, Beijing
In her music career of more than 15 years, the 38-year-old Singaporean singer-songwriter has never been short of popular songs that astonish the heart. Now, for the first time since 2008, when she played a small Christmas concert in Shanghai, Chua is visiting China as part of a concert tour.
THEATER
What is Success?
Director: Edward Lam
Performers: Chu Hung-chang, Ethan Wei, Shi Yi-hsiu
Info: Aug 9-10, Guangzhou; Aug 16-17, Chongqing; Aug 29-Sept 1, Beijing
In Part Three of Edward Lam’s Four Great Classics Series, which looks back at Luo Guanzhong’s novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is sure to give you a surprise. Will it be true? Find out for yourself!
To Live
Director: Meng Jinghui
Performers: Huang Bo, Yuan Quan
Info: Jul 30-Aug 4, Beijing; Aug 6-7, Tianjin; Aug 9-11, Hangzhou; Aug 13-18, Shanghai
After their world show in September, theater director Meng Jinghui and his team are back for another tour around China. While audiences can renew their memories of Yu Hua’s new realism works, film stars Huang Bo and Yuan Quan will also impress audiences with their excellent performance.
EXHIBITIONS
Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal(永恒)
Info: Apr 29-Jul 28, Shanghai
Launched in 2012 — the 25th anniversary of the pop artist Andy Warhol's death — the exhibition brings the largest ever collection of Warhol’s work to Asia. It includes more than 300 paintings, photographs, drawings and 3-D art, including his works such as Marilyn Monroe, Mao, Campbell’s Soup and Self-Portrait.You may find the above advertisements ____.
A.in a store window | B.in a school magazine |
C.in a newspaper | D.on a company notice-board |
The rock band Mayday is going to give concerts in ____ after they perform in Beijing.
A.Australia | B.Japan |
C.Europe | D.the USA |
Tanya Chua 2013 Concert Tour is her ____ concert in China.
A.first | B.second | C.third | D.fourth |
The main purpose of the advertisements is to tell you ____ when you are in these cities.
A.how to enjoy these activities |
B.how to improve your artistic level |
C.how to amuse yourselves |
D.what to enjoy |
My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau(衣橱) and picked out a wonderful skirt. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion.” Well, I guess this is the occasion.
He took the skirt from me and put it on the bed. His hands touched the soft material for a moment, then he shut the drawer and turned to me, "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion."
I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my attitude to life. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to enjoy, not suffer. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and treasure them.
"Someday" and "one of these days" are being lost from my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I' m not sure what my sister would have done if she had known she wouldn't have tomorrow.
I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend her fences for past things. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food.
If I knew that my hours were limited, those little things left undone would make me angry. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with some day. Angry and sorry because I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them.
I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that every day, every minute; every breath truly, is... a gift from God.The best title for the passage would be______.
A.Every day is An Important Occasion | B.My Poor Sister |
C.Value Friendship Every Day | D.Every day is A Gift |
Jan bought the wonderful skirt but didn't wear it because______.
A.she wanted to wear it on special occasions |
B.she kept it as a special gift for someone else |
C.she saved it until she grew older |
D.she wanted to keep it as a sweet memory |
Which of the following is not the writer’s attitude to life?
A.spending more time staying with family |
B.enjoying life and valuing every day |
C.attending social activities as often as possible |
D.trying to get along well with friends |
Which of the following can best explain the expression underlined “mend her fences for past things” in Paragraph 5?
A.break her word |
B.try to be friendly again with someone |
C.give up her point of view |
D.keep her promise |
Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia(痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones(荷尔蒙) , U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s(早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.
“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy(怀孕) are protecting the brain, including estrogen(雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective (保护神经的) effects,” Kinsley said.
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”
Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations (改变) to the brain.”How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?
A.Some researchers have told them. |
B.Many women say so. |
C.They know it by experimenting on rats. |
D.They know it through their own experience. |
What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?
A.Baby rats. | B.Animals. |
C.Old rats. | D.Grown-up rats. |
What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?
A.Estrogen. | B.The hormones of pregnancy. |
C.More exercise. | D.Taking care of children. |
Which title is the best for this passage?
A.Do You Want to Be Smarter? |
B.Motherhood Makes Women Smarter |
C.Mysterious Hormones |
D.An Important Study |
Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.
I am one of those unfortunate people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the spot I was heading for.
I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit that they didn’t know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you cannot possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite direction to that in which you should be going.
If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.
Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decided it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.
Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.What is the writer going to do when someone asks him for direction?
A.He will direct the right way to the person willingly. |
B.He will reply to it by the means of being a stranger to the town. |
C.He will give the very person long list of direction. |
D.He is going to show the man an opposite direction. |
Why did the writer consider himself to be an unlucky dog?
A.Because of his poor sense of direction. |
B.Because he always forgot the way home. |
C.Because he did not have any friend. |
D.Because he used to be shy and dared not ask others the way. |
How did the visitor feel when he was showed into the very room?
A.He felt strange. | B.He felt embarrassed. |
C.He felt very sad. | D.He felt astonished. |
Who showed the right way to the interviewee according to the passage?
A.Someone we don’t know. |
B.The writer did it for himself. |
C.The secretary did so. |
D.A warm-hearted old lady did such a thing. |
Here is some information about several famous local bakeries(面包烤房) in Indiana, the US. They serve as a social gathering place for locals.
Maple Lane Bakery
At 8260 S. State Rd. Claypool, IN. (574) 566-2917, it offers a variety of cooked pies, cookies, and bread. With 20 years’ experience Maple Lane Bakery has specialized in the making of pies. The menu includes peach pie $7.19, berry pie $7.70, apple pie $7.19 and banana pie $6.99. Feel free to place an order at least 24 hours in advance.
Betty’s Cakes & Candy Shop
At 816 E. Winona Avenue Warsaw, IN. (574) 269-1231, it specializes in cakes and offers cookies and candies. The chocolate cookies are sold at $8.99 a dozen. Betty’s Cakes & Candy Shop, started half a century ago, specializes in wedding cakes and birthday cakes. Buying a cake from Betty’s will not disappoint you as they are always excellent.
Crepes’ Quality Bakery
At 217 S. Cavin Street Ligonier, IN. (260) 894-3024, this third generation bakery is located downtown Ligonier. It offers cookies and cupcakes, and specializes in rolls and bread. If you plan to buy cookies for the office or work area, you had better get there early as the building workers arrive just before 5:00 am waiting for the doors to open.
Olympia Candy Kitchen
At 136 N. Main Street Goshen, IN. (574) 533-5040, it has been welcoming visitors for almost a century in its unchanged location in downtown Goshen, Indiana. Its tradition began in 1912 when Greek Nicholas began making his own chocolates. Today this family-owned operation offers all kinds candies and boxed candies.
If you need an order, you should call ahead of time to see if they can meet your request.Which of the following pies is the most expensive?
A.Banana pie. | B.Berry pie. |
C.Peach pie. | D.Apple pie. |
If you want to order a birthday cake, you are advised to call _________.
A.(574) 533-5040 | B.(574) 566-2917 |
C.(260) 894-3024 | D.(574) 269-1231 |
Which of the following bakeries has the shortest history?
A.Maple Lane Bakery | B.Crepes’ Quality Bakery |
C.Olympia Candy Kitchen | D.Betty’s Cakes & Candy Shop |
The author wrote this passage mainly to __________.
A. warn customers to order bakeries in advance
B. tell readers some travel information
C. make the bakeries better known to readers
C. persuade more people to eat pies