If women are mercilessly exploited(剥削) year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend large sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing their old-fashioned dresses. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with necessary things like warmth, comfort and durability (耐用). They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability(稳定耐用)? That is for you to decide.Designers and big stores always make money _______.
A.by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry |
B.because they are capable of predicting new fashions |
C.by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing |
D.because they attach great importance to quality in women's clothing |
To the writer, the fact that women change their old-fashioned dresses is seen as _______.
A.a waste of money | B.a waste of time |
C.an expression of taste | D.an expression of creativity |
New fashions in clothing are created for _______.
A.the commercial exploitation of women |
B.the women's strength of character |
C.basic qualities of inconstancy and instability |
D.an important contribution to society |
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie’s basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
“Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint.” She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted bit stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was fantastic!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn’t wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother’s face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, “What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors’ trees, but this! Come inside right now!” I stood there glaring hack at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
“Now go clean it up!” Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
A.To introduce Stephanie to her. |
B.To prevent her from seeing his painting. |
C.To put the materials back in the yard. |
D.To show his artwork to her. |
In his mother’s eyes, the writer_______.
A.was a born artist | B.always caused trouble |
C.was a problem solver | D.worked very hard |
The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to ______.
A.the rainbow in the sky |
B.the stripes on the pavement |
C.something imaginative and fun |
D.important lessons learned in childhood |
It can be learned from the passage that parents should ________.
A.encourage children to paint |
B.value friendship among children |
C.discover the hidden talent in children |
D.protect rather than destroy children’s dreams |
Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn’t matter where you live—in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village—the chances that you will be disturbed by jet aeroplanes, transistor radios, oil-powered engines, etc. are almost everywhere .We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they are working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be very frightening experience for human beings. However ,some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓).The noise level in some disco is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really affects their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise, which doesn’t change too much (music, for example) may even help people to concentrate.
The best title for this passage is _______________.
A.Noisy Life | B.Background Noise |
C.Disturbed Concentration | D.Changeable Noise |
“Background music” in the passage means _______________.
A.music played in the concert | B.a kind of noise coming into your ears |
C.music helps people to concentrate | D.music played while people are working |
Some people may have their hearing hurt _______________.
A.while they are in completely silence | B.while they are dancing violently |
C.while they are listening to pop music | D.while they are listening to soft music |
Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating is _____.
A.any kind of noise | B.great changes in level of noise |
C.background noise | D.various background music |
What may even let people concentrate?
A.Changeable noise. | B.Fairly stable noise. | C.Loud noise. | D.Some discos. |
When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called “Brownie”, My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her. One of us would walk her, another would feed her, then there were baths, playing catch and many other games.Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them. We always felt better when she was around.
One days, as I was getting her food, she chewed up(咬破) one of Dad’s shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end. I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was wrong. When I looked at her and said, “Bad girl.” She looked down at the ground and then went and hid. I saw a tear in her eyes.
Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet. She went everywhere with us. People would stop and ask if they could pet her. Of course she' d let anyone pet her. She was just the most lovable dog. There were many times when we'd be out walking and a small child would come over and pull on her hair. She never barked (吠) or tried to get away. Funny thing is she would smile. This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth. Far from the truth, she loved everyone.
Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age. I still miss the days when she was with us. What would Brownie do when someone was ill in the family?
A.Look at them sadly. | B.Keep them company. |
C.Play games with them. | D.Touch them gently. |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that Brownie ________.
A.would eat anything when hungry | B.felt sorry for her mistake |
C.loved playing hide-and-seek | D.disliked the author's dad |
Why does the author say that Browrnie was more than just a family pet?
A.She was treated as a member of the family. |
B.She played games with anyone she liked. |
C.She was loved by everybody she met. |
D.She went everywhere with the family. |
Some people got frightened by Brownie when she__________.
A.smiled | B.barked | C.rushed to them | D.tried to be funny |
Which of the following best describes Brownie?
A.Shy. | B.Polite. | C.Brave. | D.Caring. |
Directions:Read the following three passages.Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are 4 choices marked A,B,C and D.Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
A
Hi, dear boys and girls! Do you know how to be a healthy kid? Here are some rules you should follow.
First, eat different foods, especially fruit and vegetables. You may have a favorite food, but you'd better eat something different, if you eat different foods, you will probably get more nutrients your body needs.
Second, drink water and milk as often as possible. When you're really thirsty, cold water is the No.l choice. Milk is a great drink that can give you more calcium your body needs to grow strong bones.
Third, listen to your body. How do you feel when you are full? When you are eating, notice how your body feels and when your stomach feels comfortably full. Eating too much will not make you feel comfortable and make you fat.
Fourth, limit screen time. Screen time is the time you watch TV, DVDs and videos, or using computers. It is good to take more exercise such as basketball, bike riding and swimming. You can't watch TV for more than two hours a day.
Fifth, be active. One thing you'd like to do as a kid is to find out which activity you like best. Find ways to be active every day.
Follow these rules and you can be a healthy kid. You should eat different foods especially ___.
A.meat | B.hamburgers | C.sweets | D.fruit and vegetables |
Which kind of drinks can give you more calcium?
A.Juice | B.Milk | C.Cold water | D.Tea |
According to the passage, you should follow __rules if you want to be healthy.
A.five | B.nine | C.fifteen | D.thirteen |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A.When you're eating, you don't have to notice how your body feels. |
B.You can eat your favorite food as much as possible. |
C.You can watch TV whenever you like to get more information. |
D.We should try to live in an active way in our life. |
Which is the best title of the passage?
A.How to make yourself important |
B.How to be a healthy kid |
C.How to be a popular kid |
D.How to make your parents healthy |
Pop music is the name for different forms of popular, commercial(商业) music. It had its beginning in the USA and spread throughout the whole world during the 1950s and 1960s. It is widely liked by the young people. The best known early form of pop music was “rock’ n’ roll”; another was “blues”. A more recent development is “folk-rock”. Pop music has taken the place of native music in many parts of the world; it has caused the number of people for jazz to become much smaller than it was in the 1950s and earlier, and it has now begun to rule musical stage productions. It’s a big industry. Much pop music is without artistic value, but the work of some pop singers, e.g. the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the groups like Floyd and Crosby, Stills and Nash, is on a higher musical level. And there is still a great interest in it today. Pop music concerts and festivals are held all over the world.All of the following forms belong to pop music EXCEPT __________________.
A.blues | B.rock’ n ’roll | C.jazz | D.folk-rock |
According to the article, the number of people for jazz in the 1950s and earlier was ___________ it is today.
A.much greater than | B.much smaller than | C.as great as | D.as small as |
Which of the following is TRUE?
A.No pop music is on a high musical level. |
B.Much pop music is very artistic. |
C.Pop music is highly artistic. |
D.Not all pop music is without artistic value. |
“It is a big industry” means that _______________.
A.it makes a lot of music![]() |
B.it is a big musical and commercial business |
C.the pop singers are very hard-working |
D.pop music is on a very high musical level |