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Abby Subark is a mother of two from Boston. “For my kids, I’m nervous. I don’t know if they’ll be able to achieve their American dream.” She may be right. More than hard work or education, the best way to get rich in America is to be born rich.
It is the case that somebody who is in the upper third of income, poor scores, in the bottom on tests when they are in eighth grade, is more likely to go to college and finish college than a poor kid with the top scores. That’s what the working persons’ children are up against.
The Economic Policy Institute finds it would take a poor couple with 2 children 9 or 10 generations to achieve middle class status. That’s about 200 years. The hallmark (特征) of American opportunity has always been the ability to do better than your parents. But compared with similar developed countries, the United States ranks fifth out of six for so-called intergenerational mobility (变动).
If you look at the mechanisms (机制) for upward mobility that were so readily available 50 years ago, they are becoming out of reach, like plentiful factory jobs with good wages and affordable education and health care.
White families are twice as likely as blacks to be upwardly mobile. For most people in America today, where you end up depends on where you start.
If you started in the middle-income class, about 40 to 45 percent of what you are making right now is due to the fact that your parents were in the middle-income class. The rest is up to you.
But for the millions of people who find themselves below the poverty line and the millions more who are the working poor, their starting point for the American dream leaves them painfully far away from the middle class.
The main idea of the passage is _______.

A．How the middle class comes about in the U.S.

B．It’s hard to realize the American dream for the poor.

C．Wealth and social status depend on family background.

D．Upward mobility in America is never easy.

Which of the statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．People used to have job opportunities and welfare for upward mobility.

B．A great many poor people can hardly realize their American dream.

C．You can make all your dreams come true in America if born rich.

D．Rich kids are more likely to go to college than poor kids.

The underlined sentence “where you end up depends on where you start” most probably means _______.

A．Your starting point cannot determine your destination.

B．Only a high goal can ensure success.

C．One’s birth has nothing to do with his fate.

D．One’s family lays solid foundation for his future achievements.

Why is Abby Subark nervous?

A．Her kids don’t want to compare with other rich kids in achievements.

B．Her kids don’t want to achieve success at all.

C．Her kids can achieve success through hard work and education.

D．Her kids can’t reach their goal without a rich family.

What can we infer after reading the passage?　

A．Poverty causes people much pain.

B．People below the poverty line can never be in the middle class.

C．Lower starting point makes it hard for people to realize their dream.

D．Poor people’s starting point is too low.

Everyone’s at it, even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn’t done an eBay deal. So, I decided to try my hand at online auction（网上拍卖）.
Buying for Beginners
Sign up on www. eBay. co. uk. Most items (e.g. tables, computers and books) ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with “Buy It Now” and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away.
If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids (出价) for you. The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days and when they finish, you get an email telling you whether you have won the item.

How to Pay
Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a check or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card.
Selling Made Simple
If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item. I followed my friends’ advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10-day auction, starting on a Thursday. This way buyers had two weekends to bid.
The big Things in Life
It’s easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collectively sent by deliverymen. Check the ways of delivery before you bid.
What is the passage mainly about?

A．How to make payment online.	B．Ways of making delivery online.
C．Advantages of an online auction system.	D．How to use an online-auction system.

After bidding for an item, a buyer ________.

A．has chances to make higher bids	B．will get what he wants in ten days
C．should make payment immediately	D．may check its picture and description

The easiest way of making payment mentioned in the passage is ________.

A．through a local banking system	B．by sending the money to the seller
C．by paying the deliveryman directly	D．through an online payment system

In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They found out that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like “serious illness of a family member” were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not show how you deal with stress—it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you deal with these events has a great effect on your chances of staying healthy.

By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women's magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illnesses”.If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events. But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. even if stressful events are dangerous, many—like the death of a loved one—are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription(处方) for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.
The idea that all stress makes you sick also takes no notice of what we know about people. It is supposed that we're all weak and passive in the face of difficulty. But many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental strength than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and mental damage.
The result of Holmes-Rahe’s medical research tells us _______.

A．what should be done to avoid stress

B．the way of dealing with major events may cause stress

C．what kind of event would cause stress

D．how to deal with sudden changes in life

The studies on stress in the early 1970's led to_______.

A．great fear about the mental problems it could cause

B．widespread worry over its harmful effects

C．a deep research into illnesses connected with stress

D．popular avoidance of stressful jobs

According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may become___.

A．discouraged when faced with difficulty

B．physically and mentally weak

C．more experienced in the face of difficulty

D．uninterested in what happens to them

What’s the purpose of writing the text? 

A．To tell people the discoveries about stress.

B．To tell people how to keep healthy.

C．To help people avoid stressful events.

D．To help people view stress properly.

In Europe people hold the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right throughout the meal, a system that is generally agreed to be more efficient than the American zigzag（曲折的）method. Americans hold both the fork and the knife in their right hands throughout the meal, so they continually change their forks to the left hand when they have to cut their meat. It seems to be funny for the Europeans to see Americans busy changing their dinner sets, making a lot of noises. A few explanations for this American style are as follows:
(1)Americans are practical and efficient. Since most of us are right-handed, it is reasonable to keep our working tools at all times in the right hand that can use them most efficiently.
(2)Americans, the master of the New World are rebels（叛逆者）.They use the zigzag method to break the rules in the Old World and in this way they are thumbing their nose at Mother England. Americans are a restless kind. They do not like to sit in one spot for very long when dining.
(3)Forced to do so, they respond by “playing” with the silver.
Whatever the reason for the practice, it is now certainly as American as apple pie. Europeans recognize this and are quick to attack it as evidence of American innocence（无知）of form. Arguments against the zigzag method rest not only on grounds of efficiency but also on those of tradition. In Old World dining, the knife is held in the right hand continually because it can serve as an instant defense against the uninvited intruders（入侵者）.However, such alertness（警觉） is out of place in the New World, as every American believes that this is the home of the brave. Americans juggle their silverware, perhaps, to show that they are not afraid and that one of them holding a fork is worth any number of them holding blades（刀）.
Americans use _______ to hold their fork to pick up the salad.

A．the right hand	B．the left hand
C．both hands	D．either of the two hands

As the masters of the New World, Americans use a different cutting method from that in the Old World to _______.

A．show their independence of Mother England

B．show their disrespect to Mother England

C．add a new tradition to those in Mother England

D．show off their creativeness to Mother England

In the sentence, the word “juggle” probably means _______.

A．hold

B．play with

C．pick up

D．lay down

Which of the following statements is NOT true? 

A．European people hold the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand.

B．The zigzag eating method is related to American characteristics.

C．The zigzag eating method has become an American feature.

D．European people will use the American method because of its efficiency.

Fading beauty
She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last for ever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.
The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louvre Museum (卢浮宫博物馆) where it is housed.
“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago,” the museum said. Visitors have noticed changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state (化学状态).
Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. “It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops,” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University. “It’s because direct vision (视觉) is excellent at picking up detail, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows.”
However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile. Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519.
In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee, who took it out of the museum hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later.
During World War II, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces.
Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell.
What does the writer mean by “time is catching up with the Mona Lisa”?

A．The painted woman is not so beautiful any more.

B．Ageing is something that affects us all.

C．The painting needs repairing.

D．At such an old age, she is no longer popular.

What makes the repair work difficult?

A．The wooden panel is thin and old and has also changed shape.

B．The health of the painting is suffering

C．Experts can’t agree on how the painting might respond to treatment.

D．No one knows exactly what materials were used to create the painting.

What makes her smile so mysterious according to Professor Livingston?

A．The materials the Italian artist used.	B．The way Da Vinci painted the smile.
C．The way she smiles.	D．It plays a trick upon the human eye.

Which of the following is in the right order?
①The painting was stolen from the Louvre.
②The painting was sent back to France.
③It was sold to France’s King Francis I
④Da Vinci carried the painting with him.
⑤French hid the painting to keep it out of the hands of German forces.

A．④→③→①→②→⑤	B．④→①→③→②→⑤
C．①→④→③→②→⑤	D．①→③→④→②→⑤

A．Choose the holiday in Devon.	B．Go to the Snowdonia Centre
C．Join the World Sea Trip of 2008	D．Visit Acapulco and Hawaii