Divorces in Japan have more than doubled, according to health ministry statistics. One in three Japanese marriages now ends in divorce.
Atsuko Okano was in one of those failed marriages. Three years ago, she found herself alone in her 30s, with children to raise and a future full of question marks and social shame. But she also saw an opening, and became an advisor helping people like herself.
“My husband was cheating on me,” she recalled. ‘I did everything to bring him back to me but it didn’t work, so I dumped him.” Such frankness is a major characteristic of Japan’s recently divorced.
Divorced people – particularly woman – have long been looked down upon in Japan, where self-sacrifice and family stability are regarded as ideals. In the past, bored housewives remained bored. The security of the family unit was the most important thing. Now, young Japanese are increasingly choosing satisfaction in life over the demands of tradition, and more woman are financially independent. As a result, Japanese divorce rates are flying. Experts attribute this to the erosion of a long-standing double standard that granted divorced men respectability, but branded(gave somebody a bad name) divorced women as damaged goods.
Over the past decade, growing numbers of highly educated and successful professional women have challenged that assumption(something taken for granted) by turning their backs on unhappy marriages and paying no attention to the taboo（禁忌）of divorce. The majority of divorce behavior now is started by women.This passage mainly talks about the fact that nowadays Japanese women _________.
| A．are granted respectability after they get divorced |
| B．are becoming brave enough to challenge the taboo of divorce |
| C．still consider the security of the family unit to be very important |
| D．are becoming more financially independent |
It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that Atsuko Okano __________.
| A．had some children to raise |
| B．was very confident with her future |
| C．was not greatly respected by Japanese society |
| D．might have found a job to help divorced people |
The underlined word “dumped” in paragraph 3 probably means _________.
| A．looked down upon |
| B．had a quarrel with |
| C．hated |
| D．divorced |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the reason for rising rate of Japanese divorces?
| A．Self-sacrifice and family stability are not much appreciated in Japan as before. |
| B．More women can support themselves financially. |
| C．Divorced men and women can quickly find their new partners |
| D．Young Japanese care more about satisfaction in life than their elders did. |
May: Happenings from the Past
May 5, 1884
Isaac Murphy, son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby. He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.
May 9, 1754
Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon (漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces with the words “Join or Die” printed under the picture.
May 11, 1934
The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought (干旱), blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington, D.C.
May 19, 1994
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.
May 24, 1844
Samuel F.B Morse taps out the first message, “What hath God wrought,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Md.We know from the text that Buchanan is ______.
| A．Isaac’s father |
| B．a winning horse |
| C．a slave taking care of horses |
| D．the first racing horse in Kentucky |
What is the title of the first American political cartoon?
| A．Join or Die | B．Pennsylvania Gazette |
| C．What Hath God Wrought | D．Kentucky Derby |
In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die?
| A．1934 | B．1960 | C．1964 | D．1994 |
Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history?
A. Washing to, D.C. B. New York City C. Kentucky D. Pennsylvania
Liverpool city council (市政厅) want to clear the city of fat pigeons (鸽子). They say that people are feeding the birds, which makes them fat. The pigeons get bigger because they normally eat seeds (种子) and insects (昆虫) for their main food, not high-fat junk food they are eating in the city centre.
The council want people to know that everyone who feeds the pigeons makes the streets crowded (拥挤)with these birds. They hope to encourage the birds to move away from the city centre and into parks and open spaces.
Ten robotic birds have been brought into the city centre to scare the pigeons away and visitors are asked not to give the pigeons any food. The mechanical birds—known as ‘robops’—will sit on the roofs of buildings. They can be moved around to different places. They look like a peregrine falcon, which is a bird that kills pigeons. They even make noises and flap their wings to scare the pigeons. They hope that the pigeons will go away before the city becomes the European Capital of Culture in two years. Liverpool city council want to clear the city of fat pigeons because ______.
| A．the pigeons are eating junk food |
| B．the pigeons might get killed |
| C．the pigeons make the city center crowded |
| D．the pigeons sit on the roofs of buildings |
What do we know about a peregrine falcon?
| A．It scares the robotic birds. | B．It is an enemy of the pigeons. |
| C．It looks like a pigeon. | D．It likes the food people give it. |
Which of the following is probably true according to passage?
| A．The robots will fly around the city center like real birds. |
| B．Pigeons get fat because they eat seeds and insects. |
| C．Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture. |
| D．The pigeons like the food that people give them. |
Scientists would like to place a huge mirror in space above the earth. It might be sixty miles wide. It would be used to catch the rays (光线) of the sun. It would direct the sun’s rays upon the earth as a child might do to make sunlight dance on the wall with a hand mirror.
Why do they want to do this? The sun’s rays could be helpful in many ways. They could light up cities by night. The warm rays could stop frosts (霜冻) which might come at night and hurt fruit crops. They could melt (融化) dangerous icebergs in the ocean. Perhaps they could change cloud movements and bring rain where it is needed. The huge mirror would ______.
| A．stand 60 miles in height (高度) | B．be 60 miles from side to side |
| C．cover 60 miles of the earth | D．be 60 miles above the earth |
The mirror would be used to ______.
| A．reflect (反射) sunlight | B．absorb (吸收) sunlight |
| C．see what the earth looks like | D．see how clouds move |
The strong light from the mirror could possibly ______.
| A．hurt fruit crops | B．set fire to cities |
| C．bring longer daytime | D．shine through walls |
The huge mirror is ______.
| A．something in a story | B．already made |
| C．just an idea | D．to be made soon |
For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed very busy with business，and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough，he rode out a great deal.
During this time，all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house，when he would sometimes pass me coldly， and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me，because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening，several days later，I was invited to talk to Mr.Rochesterafter dinner. He was sitting in his armchair，and looked not quite so severe，and much less gloomy. There was a smile on his lips， and his eyes were bright，probably with wine. As I was looking at him，he suddenly turned， and asked me，“Do you think I am handsome，Miss Eyre? ”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No，sir.” “Ah，you really are unusual! You are a quiet， serious little person， but you can be almost rude.” “Sir，I'm sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn't matter，or something like that，” “No，you shouldn't! I see，you criticize my appearance，and then you stab (刺) me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance (抵消) your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind，and said quickly，“Yes，you're right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one，and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you， and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man，take my word for it，but I have done wrong. It wasn't my character，but circumstances which were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you're the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to， because you're sympathetic and give them hope.”
It seemed he had quite a lot to talk to me. He didn't seem to like to finish the talk quickly，as was the case for the first time.
“Don't be afraid of me， Miss. Eyre，”he continued. “You don't relax or laugh very much，perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me，and laugh， and speak freely. You're like a bird in a cage. When you get out of the cage， you'll fly very high. Good night.”At the beginning Miss Eyre's impressions of Mr. Rochester were all except_________.
| A．busy | B．sociable | C．dull | D．changeable |
The underlined sentence means___________.
| A．Only by meeting him around the house sometimes did I know a little about him. |
| B．Only by coming to the house could I know about him. |
| C．I occasionally met him but my knowledge about him was poor. |
| D．What I knew about him was limited in the house. |
From what Mr. Rochester told Miss Eyre，we can conclude that he wanted to ___________.
| A．tell her all his troubles |
| B．tell her his life experience |
| C．blame her for misunderstanding him |
| D．change his circumstances |
At the end of the passage，Mr.Rochestersounded __________.
| A．rude | B．cold | C．polite | D．encouraging |
According to the passage，which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．Miss Eyre was atLowoodSchoolbefore she came to Mr. Rochester’s house. |
| B．Miss Eyre didn’t see Mr. Rochester often. |
| C．Miss Eyre was honest，brave and confident. |
| D．Miss Eyre was brave，polite and warm-hearted. |
Since 1950, the amount of information about the nutrition of food has increased by nearly 900 percent. Besides this fact, obesity has risen by 214 percent and nearly two out of every three adults in America are overweight or obese. Being overweight is not only an appearance problem, and it also increases the risk of various diseases including diabetes, sleep disorder and cancer.
With so much nutritional knowledge easy to find, we cannot simply ignore our present obesity epidemic(流行病). We know that fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin. Though we are overweight, many of us choose junk food over healthy food out of habits. One explanation for our strong desire for junk food is that we learn to connect junk food with positive feelings when we are young, and changing this attitude requires a huge amount of confidence and determination. Fortunately, new research published in May 2012 has shown a simple and accessible way to make healthier food choices- the one that doesn’t rely on great determination.
The research was based on two separate studies and it was carried out by T. Bettina Cornwell of the University of Oregon and Anna R. McAlister of Michigan State University. In the first study, 60 adults between the ages of 19 and 23 were questioned about the role of food and drinks. The survey tells us that adults prefer sweetened drinks with high-calorie, salty foods, to sweetened drinks with vegetables.
In the second study, 75 children between the ages of 3 and 5 were gathered for some experiments including drinks served with vegetables. The preschooler experiments were carried out under different situations and on different days. The researchers found that the children chose to take more green vegetables when they were served with water instead of a sweetened drink.
According to Cornwell, children learn to connect high calorie, sugary drinks such as cola, with high fat foods such as French fries, from a very early age. McAlister adds that early taste development appears to play an important role in food choices later in life. Meals served at home and meals offered at restaurants, set the stage for this idea and for the preference to choose junk food over healthy food, when beginning to take sweetened drinks.
“Our taste preferences are heavily influenced by regularly eating particular food and drinking particular drink,” states Cornwell. “If the drink on the table goes against both adults and children eating their vegetables, then perhaps it is time to change that drink… and to serve water with all meals. Restaurants could easily use water as free drink for children’s meals and charge extra money for other drinks.” Both McAlister and Cornwell are confident that serving water with meals could effectively reduce the nation’s obesity rates, diabetes rates and ever rising healthcare costs.What may cause the risk of diseases according to the text?
| A．Over nutrition. | B．Obesity. | C．Unbalance diets. | D．Junk food. |
What makes many of us choose junk food according to the author?
| A．Positive feelings about food. | B．High calorie of junk food. |
| C．Nice taste. | D．Eating habits. |
The underlined word “accessible” in Paragraph 2 means”_________”.
| A．quick | B．useful | C．easy to change | D．easy to get |
From Paragraph5, we know that __________.
| A．children may like sugary and high-calorie drinks even from an early age |
| B．early preference for food and drink may influence food choices later in life |
| C．easy preference for drinks should not be allowed in most of the restaurants |
| D．restaurants should provide the same food and drink as those at home |
Which would be the best title for this text?
| A．Stop children drinking sugary drinks |
| B．Drink water to eat more healthy |
| C．Change eating habits to lose weight |
| D．Eat healthy food at home |