I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as Mother sat doing letters(学问). Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk”, she said again, “is for Elizabeth.” I never saw her anger, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was too emotional. But she lived “on the surface”.
As years passed, I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅)me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came. My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace-it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written in, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
Now the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside-a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you chose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words. The writer began to love her mother’s desk _______.
A.after Mother died. | B.before she became a writer. |
C.when she was a child. | D.when Mother gave it to her. |
The passage shows that _____.
A.Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter. |
B.Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done. |
C.Mother cared much about her daughter in words. |
D.Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words. |
The word gulf in the paragraph 2 means ______.
A.deep understanding between the old and the young. |
B.different ideas between the mother and the daughter. |
C.free talks between mother and daughter. |
D.part of the sea going far in land. |
What did mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?
A.She had never received the letter. |
B.For years, she often talked about the letter. |
C.She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in all her life. |
D.She read the letter again and again till she died. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
A.My Letter to Mother. | B.Mother and Children. |
C.My Mother’s Desk. | D.Talks between Mother and Me. |
The way we get about has a deep influence on the way we live-affecting where we set up home, work and holiday. So what changes might come in the way we get around? What big ideas are out there, and do they have any chance of coming true?
Personal Air Travel
The idea: flying cars
Developments in light small plane technology will make it possible for everyone to own what are, in fact, flying cars. They will have closed cabins, heating, stereos and room for two people.
You will take off from a field near your home and fly to towns and cities. After landing, you will take off the fixed wing and continue your journey by road just as if you were traveling by car.
Fuel efficient engines and the advantage of being able to travel in the sky will keep costs and the environmental influence down.
Flying for Fun
The idea: Jet Packs
The idea was a hit when a stuntman (特技演员) flew around on one during the opening ceremony of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which was very successful.
You’ll be able to use the equipment-roughly the size of two scuba tanks fastened to your back-for short journeys.
They will be handy for cleaning hard-to-reach windows, arriving in style at a party and shopping.
Taxis
The idea: driverless taxis
These computer-controlled taxis will take you wherever you want along a fixed route, whenever you want to go.
For the price of one person’s bus fare, several people can ride at speeds of up to 25 mph, and there will be fences to guard against accidents.
There will be little, if any, wait for the use of the taxis, which will leave from stations and will be used by prepaid cards.
The taxis, which will travel on a 1.5 m-wide track, will use 75% less energy per passenger than a car and 50% less than a bus.The passage is mainly about ________.
A.future travel | B.big ideas and dreams |
C.advanced technology | D.the influence of travel |
We learn from the passage that flying cars ________.
A.will operate only in the sky |
B.will be more expensive than common cars |
C.will have few bad effects on the environment |
D.won’t be equipped with things similar to what cars have |
With Jet Packs, we can do all the following EXCEPT ________.
A.attend a party | B.clean high windows |
C.go shopping | D.have a long journey |
As for driverless taxis, we can infer that ________.
A.we can go wherever we want in them |
B.they will be both convenient and safe |
C.it costs more to take them than to take ordinary cars |
D.they will be operated by computers as well as by people |
Even when you’re extremely busy, you aren’t using your time with 100% efficiency. There are gaps in everyone’s schedule where they aren’t doing anything important. Even if your schedule has no gaps, there is probably lots of time when you aren’t working as fast or as effectively as you possibly could.
Why aren’t you completely efficient? It’s because time isn’t the limiting factor. If it were the limiting factor, people could work non-stop without breaks or any unproductive distractions (消遣). Instead, people, even those who are highly productive, need to take breaks, occasionally procrastinate (拖延) and slow down on tasks throughout the day.
The real and most important limiting factor for productivity is your energy levels to pay attention. Energy levels limit your productivity because when you’re tired, you can have enough time and still not get everything done. Your attention ability is also limited, because even if there are a million things that need to be done, you can only focus on one or two at a time.
You might not be able to insert another 4-5 hours into your schedule without making some sacrifices. But even extremely busy people can add an hour or two into their schedule without cancelling anything. The reason why it’s hard to “find time” isn’t a lack of time. It’s because you don’t have enough energy left to focus on something else that needs to fit into your day.
I first suspected time wasn’t the real problem during an extremely busy period in my life over a year ago. I was extremely busy, but at that time I still exercised regularly. I had daily to-do lists with over twenty items, and I still found time to exercise. However, after a few weeks off, due to illness, I stopped exercising. I was not busy by any standards, in fact, my schedule was incredibly light. Despite this free time, I found it hard to find time to exercise. It seemed to get pushed later and later into my schedule until it was gone. How can I explain this odd experience? I believe you have known it. If someone can’t work with 100% efficiency, the most important limiting factor is ________.
A.a schedule without gaps | B.breaks and distractions |
C.the limited time | D.the limited energy |
According to Paragraph 4, everyone, including the extremely busy people, can ________.
A.work without any rest |
B.focus on many things at a time |
C.find some more time in a day |
D.do some exercise regularly |
The writer gives the example of himself in the last paragraph in order to ________.
A.prove what the real limiting factor is |
B.show us how busily he needs to work |
C.explain how important a healthy body is |
D.tell us what an odd experience he has |
What is the best title of the passage?
A.Do You Really Lack Time? |
B.How Can You Work Efficiently? |
C.What Makes Your Energy Limited? |
D.When Should You Do Exercise? |
A girl became a volunteer in the activities of Deathbed Care, which meant visiting and taking care of a patient suffering from an incurable disease with days numbered.
The girl was assigned to look after an old man suffering from cancer whose children lived abroad. Their living conditions were not satisfactory while the old man had a lot of savings. She was expected to comfort him and keep up his spirits.
Every Saturday the girl came on time to keep him company, telling him stories. When he was having an intravenous drip (静脉滴注), she would help massage his arms. The doctor found the patient much improved mentally. The old man began to involve himself actively in the medical treatment and he seldom shouted at others.
But something that happened made the doctor uneasy and puzzled. Each time the girl left, the old man would give her some money. The doctor did nothing to interfere (干涉), unwilling to offend the old man. A month later the old man showed evident signs of decline after suffering coma (昏迷) a few times.
When rescued from the latest coma, the old man told the doctor his last wish, “I have deep sympathy for the girl. Will you be kind enough to help her finish her studies?”
But the doctor knew that her family was welloff and she had no difficulty pursuing her studies. Sometimes she even came to the hospital in her father’s car.
When the girl came at the weekend after the death of the old man, the doctor told her the bad news. She was very sad and burst into tears. Then she handed $ 500 to the doctor, saying, “The old man had all along thought I came to do the job because of poverty. He gave me money so that I could continue my schooling.” Now he got the answer to the puzzle. In the last period of his life, the old man found it a real pleasure to be able to help a girl badly in need.If you’re a volunteer in the activities of Deathbed Care, what kind of people do you have to attend to?
A.Patients with a lot of money. |
B.Patients suffering from cancer. |
C.Patients without many days left. |
D.Patients living alone. |
What can we learn from the passage?
A.The doctor told the old man the truth. |
B.The old man’s children were wealthy. |
C.The girl’s father encouraged her to accept the money. |
D.The girl didn’t accompany the old man when he died. |
What is the real reason resulting in the old man’s mental improvement?
A.The girl’s love and great care. |
B.The pleasure of helping people in need. |
C.The doctor’s medical treatment. |
D.His children’s progress in life. |
I’m glad to find this comment which has some sort of support in this quest(寻求)I have to eat raw(未煮熟的)foods. I’m an unhealthy 49 years old and have come to the conclusion that it’s now or never, so I am taking a dive into the raw eating lifestyle.
I have to cook for my family and prepare what they want to eat. I’m trying to plan out this better so I have some of these unusual foods ready for myself.
I’ve read several books written by Ann Wigmore and like her approach to the living foods.
Last week I attempted fasting(禁食)and failed. I lasted five days by having carrots, spinach, apples and other vegetarian diets I could get my hands on. I was doing fine until I drank some coffee. I kind of proved it in my mind to have the coffee but it only made me excited and then I couldn’t sleep well and felt hungry and weak. So I stopped and went back to the old way of eating with the family.
This week I started to make a drink called rejuvelac made of sprouted wheat(芽麦). This is fairly new to do for me and the drink smelled sort of musty(发霉的)and tasted kind of like a musty lemon. The kids tasted it and almost threw up but surprisingly it tasted good to me. It is supposed to help in digestion(消化).
I’ve made some attempts to grow wheat grass. I think I have figured that out as long as I keep it away from birds and our horses. I have two habits to get rid of, drinking coffee and smoking. I quit smoking last month but something happened, so I started up again. I’m very frustrated(受挫的) with the smoking and really have a desire to quit for good. Anyhow I will keep this updated on my progress.The author must have ________ before she wrote this article.
A.hesitated at whether she should eat raw foods |
B.never eaten raw foods |
C.made up her mind to eat raw foods instead of cooked ones |
D.been discouraged by her family from fasting |
The books written by Ann Wigmore which the author has read are probably about ________.
A.fasting |
B.losing weight |
C.how to be on a diet |
D.approaches to eating raw foods |
To the author, the drink made of sprouted wheat ________.
A.might help in digestion |
B.might make people who drank it throw up |
C.tasted good to anybody |
D.was welcomed by the whole family |
We can learn from the passage that ________ smoking.
A.the author has given up |
B.the author will never give up |
C.it’s hard for the author to quit |
D.it’s easy for the author to quit |
The author’s biggest worry at present is most probably ________.
A.that she can’t eat with her family |
B.that she can’t get rid of drinking coffee and smoking |
C.how to get used to raw foods |
D.that she doesn’t know whether she should eat raw foods |
Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. Parents often give their children an amount of money that they may spend as they wish. The purpose is to let the children learn from experience at an early age when financial mistakes are not very costly.
A child may receive an allowance each week or each month. The amount is not so important. But parents should make clear what the child is expected to pay for with the money.
At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents should not offer more money until the next allowance is to be given.
Older children may be responsible enough to budget larger costs like those for clothing. The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving.
Many people who have written on the subject say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life. Paying children to do extra work around the home, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.
Allowances give children a chance to experience three things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving it to organizations. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it.
Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer free savings accounts for young people with small amounts of money.The functions of allowances given to children are the following EXCEPT ______.
A.they can save more money for their future business |
B.they can give them to charities |
C.they may spend them on what they like |
D.they can learn to deal with money |
The underlined word "sacrifice" in the last paragraph means "_____".
A.牺牲 | B.计划 | C.选择 | D.放弃 |
What's the main idea of the passage?
A.Children should save part of their allowance. |
B.Don’t pay your child for work around the home. |
C.Allowance helps teach children early about money. |
D.Parents should allow children to spend money as they wish. |
How many advantages of saving has the passage mentioned?
A.2 | B.3 | C.4 | D.5 |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Children are advised to buy anything they wish to with the allowance. |
B.Parents should offer children more money if they spend all of their allowance soon after they get it. |
C.It can be useful to pay children to do extra work around the home. |
D.It is unnecessary for the children to save part of the allowance. |