America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon. They don’t feel hurt. If the same two people meet again, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand. Friendships between us develop more slowly but may become lifelong feelings, extending（延伸）deeply into both families.
There is another difficult point for us to understand. Although Americans treat friends warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to them if it requires a great deal of time. But in China, we are usually generous with our time. We, as hosts, will appear at an airport even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off from our work to act as guides to our friends: It is opposite in America, Americans can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily plans. They will probably expect the visitors to get themselves from the airport to the hotels. And they expect the visitors will phone them from there. Once the visitors arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real.
For Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to restaurants, except for business matters. Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. So accept their hospitality（好客）at home and enjoy your visit in America!The underlined phrase “pick up” in Paragraph 1 may mean “_______”.
| A．keep out |
| B．give up |
| C．pay no attention to |
| D．continue |
Which of the following is the typical way of American hospitality?
| A．Treating friends at home. |
| B．Taking days off to be with friends. |
| C．Meeting friends at the airport at midnight. |
| D．Sharing everything they have. |
Which of the following statements in True according to the passage?
| A．Americans are always generous with their time. |
| B．Americans don’t feel hurt if their friendships disappear soon. |
| C．Chinese friendships develop more slowly but will never disappear. |
| D．Chinese friendships are more sincere than American friendships. |
This passage is most probably written for .
| A．American students |
| B．Chinese students |
| C．Chinese visitors to America |
| D．American visitors to China |
It’s Friday evening. My daughters, 3 and 9, sigh(叹息) when I gently take the iPads away from their laps. One by one, our screens are turned off. We light the candles and sit down to have a big meal.
Most people in our lives know they will not be able to contact us by using computer or moblie phones for 24 hours. And so it has gone, every week for three years. We call it our “Technology Shabbat(科技安息日)" which lasts from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.
I first understood the importance of disconnecting in 2008, when my father was told that he
had got brain cancer. Some days he would have ony one good hour, and I wasn’t willing to be disturbed when I was with him, so I’d turn off my mobile phone.
Soon after, encouraged by National Day of Unplugging(全国断网断电日) on March 1st, my husband and I decided to unplug for one full day every week.
During our “Technology Shabbats”, time slows. Our Saturdays now feel like mini-vacations. We drive our car or ride our bike. We, with our kids, work in the garden, play board games and cook meals. I feel more balanced. I feel like a better mother, wife and person.
Keeping a balance between the good and the bad of technology is my lasting state. The technology we’ve created makes it possible for us to share knowledge and take in carious ideas all over the world. But the technology also take something away from us. When we stay up late at night linking(连接) from website to website or sending messages or e-mailing, we click again, and again, and again until we’ve overloaded(超负荷的).
When we rush into the time full of high technology, it's necessary for us to pay attention to what we are doing online and when we should go off.
I will always remember the most important thing in my family: “Technology Shabbat".
| A．Only on Sunday. |
| B．From sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. |
| C．Only on Friday. |
| D．From sunset on Saturday to sunset on Sunday. |
| A．save energy |
| B．enjoy life together |
| C．stay away from others |
| D．follow National Day of Unplugging |
| A．They drive their car or ride bikes for mini-vacations. |
| B．They light the candles and sit down to have a big meal. |
| C．They work in the garden, play board games and cook meals. |
| D．They stay up late at night linking from website to website. |
Once there lived a man in a small town. He often said, “If I have lots of gold, I shall be the happiest man in the world.”
One day he was traveling in North Africa. He lost his way and he was so hungry and thirsty that he couldn’t walk any more. There were only stones and sand around. Just then he saw a bag on the sand. He took it up. But when he opened it, he saw it was full of gold.
He left the bag on the sand and cried, “ What is the use of gold to a hungry man?”
| A．Food | B．Drinks | C．Stones | D．Gold |
| A．“he didn’t know where he was and where to go |
| B． “he didn’t know where he came from” |
| C．“he didn’t know how to return home” |
| D． “he lost what he had on the way” |
| A．happy | B．hungry | C．thirsty | D．sad |
| A．Food | B．Gold | C．Money | D．Stones |
I was going to bed the other night when my wife told me that I had left the light on in the shed（储藏室）. She could see it from the bedroom window. As I looked for myself, I saw that there were thieves in the shed taking things. I phoned the police, but they told me that no one was in this area to help at this time, but they would send someone over as soon as they were free.
I said OK, hung up, and waited one minute, then phoned the police back, “Hello, I just called you a minute ago because there were thieves in my shed. Well, you don’t have to worry about them now because I’ve killed them all.”
Within five minutes there were six police cars in the area. Of course, they caught the thieves very quickly. One of the officers said: “I thought you said that you’d killed them!” I replied with “I thought you said there was nobody free!”
| A．shed | B．bedroom | C．kitchen | D．garden |
| A．caught them by himself | B．called the police at once |
| C．did nothing but wait | D．killed them |
| A．it was too far | B．the car was broken |
| C．they were all busy | D．it was too cold |
| A．found it boring | B．took it serious |
| C．let it go | D．have a rest |
| A．lost | B．killed | C．caught | D．away |
阅读下列短文，根据短文中的信息完成文后表格。（每空一词）
Beggars are often seen sitting under blankets as people walk past them in Cambridge’s market center. Some ask passers-by(路人) for change and some just sit and wait to be given money．
To solve the problem of begging, an “alternative giving” plan has been suggested. Ten blue money boxes will be placed in busy places such as the market and the railway station. The aim is to encourage people not to give money directly(直接地) to beggars but instead to give generously to the local people who are homeless．
Different people have different opinions. Supporters of this plan think it will be a good way to solve the beggars’ alcohol and drug problems(酗酒和吸毒). But the police don’t support it. They argue that beggars who do not receive cash（现金）may turn to criminality( 犯罪). The homeless charity “Crisis” said the success of any plan will depend on its style. They think that imaginative and positive(积极的) plans can help create local understanding and sympathy（同情心）. Most of the beggars don’t like the plan because they think they will not get enough money from the boxes for their showers, food, and clothes.
Begging is a big social problem both in developing and developed countries. Governments must play a big role in working out this problem. Training beggars to work and helping them to find jobs is a good way. This is true for developing countries where many simple jobs exist. People should also be educated to see beggars not as dirty and dangerous, but as people who need understanding and help.
|
|
| Introduction to the begging problem |
Some beggars ask Some beggars just sit and wait to be given money. |
| An “alternative plan” to the problem |
I In some busy places, ten blue boxes will be placed to |
Different |
Supporters think it very good to solve the problems. The police oppose(反对) the plan arguing that the beggars may turn to criminality The homeless charity said that it remains to be seen whether this plan would work well. Most of the beggars |
with the problem |
Governments must be active in The public shouldn't look |
If you could see a movie of your life before you lived it, would you want to live it? Probably not. The excitement of living is that you don’t know what’s coming.
Sure, it’s hard to see uncertainty(不确定) in such positive（积极的）light when you’re out of work, or when you feel like you’re failing. But uncertainty is really another word for chance.
When Allison graduated from Harvard, she had chances all over the place but had no idea what she wanted to do. She took a job in consulting（咨询）, but she knew she wouldn’t stay there. She took the GRE and scored so high that she was able to increase her income（收入）by teaching students. Still, she didn’t think she wanted to go to graduate school（研究院）. Allison knew she wasn’t doing what she wanted, but she didn’t know what she wanted.
She worried. All her friends were going to graduate school or starting their own businesses. She was lost and felt that she would never find anything out. After six years, Allison, by having a general（全面的）plan in mind, got married, moved to the Midwest, and used her consulting experience to get a great job. Allison realized that she spent her years finding her way: time well spent.
The only way to lead an interesting life is to face uncertainty. Otherwise your life is not your own—it is a path someone else has chosen. Moments of uncertainty are when you create your life, when you become who you are. Uncertainty usually begins with a job hunt, but it doesn’t end there. Every new role we take on means another round of uncertainty. Instead of fearing it, you should find some ways to deal with uncertainty.
| A．being out of work is a sad thing |
| B．uncertainty is what makes life interesting |
| C．life in a film is more exciting than real life |
| D．chance never appears when we need it |
| A．She couldn’t find a well-paid job. |
| B．She had no money to start a business. |
| C．She was not sure what to do. |
| D．She didn’t score high enough for graduate school. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Amazed. | C．Sorry. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．How to deal with uncertainty. |
| B．What role uncertainty plays in life. |
| C．Why people fear uncertainty. |
| D．Whom to go to when facing uncertainty. |