One day while shopping in a small town in southern California，it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk whose personality conflicted with mine. He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase. I bought nothing，and marched angrily out of the store. My hostility（敌意） toward that clerk increased with each step.
On the outside，standing by the road，was a darkskinned young man in his early twenties. His expressive brown eyes met and held mine，and in the next instant a beautiful, dazzling（给人印象深刻的） smile covered his face. I gave way immediately. The magnetic（磁力的） power of that smile dissolved （溶解）all bitterness within me，and I found the muscles in my own face happily responding（回应）.
“Beautiful day，isn't it？”I remarked，in passing. Then，I turned back.“I really owe you a debt of gratitude（感谢），”I said softly.
His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer．A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby．The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English．Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed（改变）．The young man's smile had made a big person of me．My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stood ten feet tall．
"Thank you?" The woman seemed slightly puzzled．
I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave．"Just tell him that," I insisted．"He'll understand．I am sure !"
Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning．From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art anywhere and everywhere, with everybody．Why did the author leave the store angrily?
| A．The clerk treated him unkindly． | B．He couldn't buy what he wanted． |
| C．The clerk didn't speak English． | D．The store's goods were too dear． |
By saying "I felt the muscles（肌肉） in my own face happily responding" （in Paragraph 2）, the author means __.
| A．he was still angry | B．he did not want to smile |
| C．he would thank the young man | D．he smiled back at the young man |
The author asked the woman to say "Thank you!" to the young man because the young man_____.
| A．had helped the author before | B．taught the author how to smile |
| C．was a kind employee of the store | D．taught the author a valuable lesson |
In the passage, the author seems to suggest that we should __ ___.
| A．be generous to strangers | B．practice smiling every day |
| C．smile at other people | D．help people in trouble |
OF course, Ms Cratty wasn’t really my aunt and, out of fear, I never called her that to her face. I only called her “My Aunt Fannie (俚语)” because the name always made my father chuckle (轻声地笑) and caused my mother to look seriously at both of us – at me for being disrespectful of my elder, and at my father for encouraging my bad behavior. I enjoyed both reactions so I looked for every opportunity to work the name into as many conversations as possible.
As a young woman, my mother had worked in the kitchen of a large farmhouse owned by Ms Cratty and her twin brother. Neither had married, and they had no children. My father once told me that it was because they were both too mean to share their family’s money or pass it on. Ms Cratty was famous for her jam and for never sharing the recipe with another one. Even though my mother knew the recipe , she never made the jam without Ms Cratty kitchen to direct the process and keep the secret.
Each August, my mother would prepare me for Aunt Fannie’s visit. One year, after I had been particularly helpful with the jam process Aunt Fannie gave me a quarter and then made me promise that I would never spend it. “Hold onto this quarter,” she said, “and someday you will be rich. I still have my very first quarter, given to me by my grandfather.” It had obviously worked for her. So, I put the quarter in my dresser drawer, and waited to become rich.
I now have the jam recipe and the quarter from Aunt Fannie. Neither has made me wealthy, but I keep them as reminders to hold onto the valuable things in life. Money can make you feel rich for a while, but it is the relationships and the memories of time spent with friends and family that truly leave you wealthy. And that is a fortune that anyone can build.
| A．Because she wanted to show respect for her. |
| B．Because she believed that made her seem closer to her. |
| C．Because she loved to see her parents’ responses to it. |
| D．Because she didn’t like her and thus made fun of her. |
| A．owned the large farmhouse with Aunt Fannie |
| B．disliked Aunt Fannie’s meanness and the way she would never share |
| C．didn’t know the exact way to make the jam |
| D．tried to make Aunt Fannie believe that the secret recipe was safe |
| A．was a reminder of the valuable things in her life |
| B．would bring her good luck and make her rich |
| C．was a small reward for her help with the jam process |
| D．was the exact one that Aunt Fannie had received from her grandfather |
| A．have a certain secret recipe |
| B．have lasting love and friendship |
| C．share our wealth with others |
| D．have good fortune and money |
HOW many of you have used rock, paper, scissors (RPS) as a “fair” way to settle something? If you think it is a game of chance, think again, according to scientists.
RPS is a game as popular in the East as it is in the West. The rules are the same: Two players make one of the three hand signs. To decide the winner, rock breaks scissors, scissors cut paper, and paper covers rock.
Many of us play with no game plan in mind. But researchers have worked out several winning patterns. The World Rock Paper Scissors Society holds tournaments (联赛) in Toronto, Canada. According to their data, players choose rock (35.4 percent) and paper (35 percent) more than scissors (29.6 percent).
If your opponent is a man or an angry person, it’s quite possible they will start the game with rock, researchers have found. If your opponent is a woman or a beginner, you should expect them to start with scissors.
Earlier this year, Chinese scientists asked 360 students to compete in a RPS tournament at Zhejiang University. Scientists found that winners tend to choose the same action they won with, while the loser tends to change to the next action in the order of rock, scissors, paper.This is called the “win-stay lose-change” strategy(策略). Humans use this strategy in many competitive situations.
Expert RPS players have many other techniques. Monica Martinez, 2008 winner of the World RPS Tournament, said that she read faces.“I didn’t worry about what I was going to do, I just did what I thought they were going to do,” she told The Telegraph. If your friends are similar experts, learn from Jonathan Monaco, winner of the 2009 USA RPS Tournament. He wears dark sunglasses to cover his expressions during the game.
Remember, the strategy for playing RPS depends on how skilled your opponent is. But if you’re looking for a quick, simple winning rule for a match, choose paper. Scissors is the least popular choice, and men favor rock. Both are reasons to choose paper.
| A．The popularity of RPS games around the world. |
| B．The general rules of RPS games. |
| C．A game plan for RPS games. |
| D．The fairness of RPS games. |
| A．studying the rules of the game |
| B．analyzing game data |
| C．interviewing expert players |
| D．organizing major tournaments |
| A．She likes to use the same actions many times in a row when playing the game. |
| B．She usually follows the order of rock, scissors and paper when playing the game. |
| C．She is good at reading her opponent’s moves when playing the game. |
| D．She often wears dark sunglasses when playing the game. |
| A．scissors is the most popular choice of skilled RPS players |
| B．paper is a safer choice than rock and scissors for RPS players |
| C．beginners have barely any chance of winning against skilled RPS players |
| D．men are usually better at RPS games than women |
I have happy memories of trips to Europe, but my trip to Romania was unique. My husband was born there, but his family sent him to study in Italy. He hasn’t seen his family since he was 16.
When we reached Bucharest, his family was waiting outside to greet us. After a lot of hugging, kissing, and crying, his family also embraced (拥抱) me, the American wife with two young children. They had great interest in me. Few Americans visited Romania at that time, and most Romanians had little chance to travel.His family loved our gifts. We made trips to the Black Sea and the Carpathian Mountains. Eating at outdoor cafes to the sound of gypsy violins was very different, but nothing was as unforgettable as family dinners.
Most Romanian homes had old-fashioned washing machines but no dryers. It was a hot summer. My husband’s relatives didn’t want to risk dirtying their clothes. Their solution was as simple as it was surprising: The women had dinner in their bras (文胸) and slips (衬裙). The men were shirtless. They all had jobs, so time was precious. Disrobing (脱去衣服) for dinner was a small inconvenience compared with the effort of doing laundry – at least in their household, and perhaps all across Romania. I washed my clothes by hand and hung them outdoors to dry. I, of course, having just met them, ate fully clothed.
On the last night of our three-week stay, we had a large family dinner. I was tired of washing my clothes. So I pulled my dress over my head and placed it on the chair behind me. The table applauded. Even with my poor Romanian, I understood that they were saying: “She’s part of our family now.”
| A．his family showed no respect for her at first |
| B．she intended to talk to his family in English |
| C．she got extra attention from his family for her nationality |
| D．she found that she hadn’t brought enough gifts for his family |
| A．Most of his family members didn’t travel a lot at the time. |
| B．Women in his family had dinner in only their underclothes. |
| C．Most of her husband’s relatives didn’t like doing laundry. |
| D．They had old-fashioned washing machines but no dryers at home. |
| A．the author disrobed for dinner as the family did |
| B．they just wanted to show their love for the author |
| C．the author could finally understand them easily |
| D．it was time for the author to give a speech |
A funny thing happened on the way to the communications revolution: we stopped talking to one another.
I was walking in the park with a friend recently, and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were, walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day and…I became invisible, absent from the conversation.
The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communications technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction. With e-mail and instant messaging over the Internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.
As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated, the alienation(疏远) index goes up. You can't even call a person to get the phone number of another person anymore. Directory assistance is almost always fully automated.
I am not against modern technology. I own a cell phone, an ATM card, a voice, mail system, and an e-mail account. Giving them up isn't wise, they're a great help to us. It's some of their possible consequences that make me feel uneasy.
More and more, I find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation, or being relieved that voice mail picked up because I didn’t really have time to talk. The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier, or at least facilitating my antisocial instincts.
So I've put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging with people who live near me, no cell phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I'm at home.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Advance of Communications Technology |
| B．The Consequences of Modern Technology |
| C．The Story of the Communications Revolution |
| D．The Automation of Modern Communications |
The sentence “Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent” means that _________.
| A．the people sitting beside you have to go away to receive phone call |
| B．you can hardly get in touch with the people sitting beside you |
| C．modern technology makes it hard for people to have a face-to-face talk |
| D．people can now go to work without going to the office |
The writer feels that the use of modern communications is _________.
| A．satisfying | B．encouraging |
| C．disappointing | D．embarrassing |
The passage implies that________.
| A．modern technology is bridging people |
| B．modern technology is separating people |
| C．modern technology is developing too fast |
| D．modern technology is interrupting our communication |
Donald was shaken by thunder on the bed before he could count “one thousand one”. Then he heard the smoke alarm go off. He went downstairs quickly to investigate. When he opened the door to the basement (地下室), flames exploded out.
Donald fled (逃) back upstairs to call 911 but the phone didn’t work. When he tried to go downstairs, he was stopped by a wall of flames. He had to use a towel to cover his mouth. His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by trees that Donald knew calling for help would be useless. Actually, he didn’t even try to do that.
About one mile away lived Donald’s closest neighbor, Jeremie. When he heard some sounds, Jeremie jumped out of bed, holding a phone and a flashlight, and went towards the noise. He dialed 911 the instant he saw the flames. When he came close to the house, Jeremie knew he’d better wait until rescuers came. But he didn’t want Donald to die in the fire.
Without hesitation (犹豫), he rushed into the house. He shouted, “Donald, where are you?” Then he had to run outside to catch his breath. After one more attempt (尝试), he gave up and circled around back. He saw Donald on the second-floor balcony, but there was no way to get to him. Suddenly, he noticed a ladder. He dragged it over to the balcony and pulled Donald down just when the second floor fell down.
Within the year, Donald built a new two-story wood house at the site of the fire. Jeremie and Donald don’t run into each other regularly, but Donald knows that if he ever needs help, Jeremie will be there.What was Donald doing when he heard thunder?
| A．He was going to sleep on the bed. |
| B．He was ready to count numbers. |
| C．He was going downstairs. |
| D．He was in the basement. |
Donald didn’t call for help mainly because.
| A．his mobile didn’t work. |
| B．he could put out the fire himself. |
| C．his house was far from the main road. |
| D．the flames made him too weak to shout. |
From the text, we can infer that.
| A．it was the firemen who saved Donald that night |
| B．Jeremie helped Donald build a new wood house |
| C．Donald had fallen off the second floor before Jeremie found him |
| D．whatever difficulties Donald meets, Jeremie will help him |