ChicagoOnaBudgetHowtohavefunin-优题课

Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to make money for my schooling.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt（缝被子）. I silently sat beside her.
“Mum, is there love between you and Dad?” I asked in a very low voice.
With surprise in her eyes, she stopped her work for a while. The she said, “Susan, look at this thread（线）. It can hardly be seen, but it’s really there. It makes the quilt strong. If life is a quilt, love should be a thread. Love is inside.”
I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month.
After they were back, may mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road every day. They were so kind to each other and it seemed they were the happiest couple.
After two months my father still couldn’t walk by himself.
“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.
“Susan, don’t worry about me.” he said. “I just like walking with your mum. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes, I knew he loves my mother deeply.
Now I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.
Why are Susan’s parents busy trying to make money?

A．To send Susan to school

B．To get to see the doctor

C．To buy a strong quilt

D．To show their love

Susan’ father stayed in hospital for ______.

A．one day

B．one month

C．two months

D．three months

Susan came to understand her mother ______.

A．while her mother was sewing a quilt

B．before her father was in hospital

C．when she was sitting beside her mother

D．after her father was seriously sick

What can we know from the passage?

A．Susan’s father is very lazy

B．Susan’s mother is a nurse

C．Susan’s parents love each other

D．Susan doesn’t like her father

Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A．How to make a Quilt Strong

B．Love is just a Tread

C．Walking on the Country Road

D．A Seriously Sick Father

How important is color in the business world?
Google, one of the biggest U.S. companies, is trying to find it out. The company has already found “a close connection between color and satisfaction with a person’s work area”. That’s according to its spokeswoman named Meghan Casserly.
“Color is a silent salesperson,” said Elyria Kemp. She is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of New Orleans.
Kemp is following color trends in business. She is studying the connection between feelings and color. According to Kemp, when people make an evaluation (评估) of a product, usually they do this within 90 seconds or less. Besides, more than half of their first evaluation is based on (以……为根据) color alone.
That’s why so many companies are researching their color choices. They are spending thousands of dollars on the research, too. Just think of UPS’s Pullman brown, Home Depot’s orange and Tiffany & Co.’s blue.
Joclyn Benedetto is a spokeswoman for Tiffany & Co. She said the success of the company’s jewelry (珠宝) was connected to its blue color. It is used to wrap (包装) every product. She said the color was chosen by the founder Charles Lewis Tiffany for the cover of Blue Book, Tiffany’s annual collection of beautifully hand-made jewels, which first came out in 1845.
Coca-Cola’s red color also dates back more than 100 years. The soft drink was shipped in barrels painted red.
A spokesperson for Home Depot said research showed that the first thing people thought of was orange when they heard the name of the company.
Smaller companies are also realizing the importance of color. But picking the right color is important.
“You know when something is right because you get a feeling of safety, and it’s not something that you think about. It just will hit you,” said Emil Hagopian, a distributor for Mar Plast Color Building Accessories in Ann Arbor, Mich. “And sometimes, if it’s done wrong, that also hits you.”
What is Google trying to find out?

A．How to create a better work area.

B．How to become the biggest U.S. company.

C．The connection between color and business.

D．The secret of success in the business world.

Which company does Meghan Casserly work for?

A．Tiffany & Co.	B．Coca-Cola.
C．Home Depot.	D．Google.

People usually make an evaluation of a product .

A．in a short time	B．in a long time
C．based on its shape	D．based on their feelings

What do we know about Tiffany & Co. according to the passage?

A．It only sells women’s clothes.

B．Blue is its owner’s favorite color.

C．Its products are wrapped in blue.

D．Its red color dates back over 100 years.

The passage is mainly about .

A．the colors which are popular in the United States

B．the importance of color in the business world

C．the relation between color and a company’s name

D．the bad influence color has on small companies

How do you like your school? Have you ever written to your headmaster to express your idea? Here are some letters written by students from different schools.
Luke, 14, from Jiangsu
I will give some suggestions about our school uniform. In our school, we students have to wear uniform every day. But the yellow and green sports kit（服装）looks really dark and old. It can’t stand for young and lively spirit. We can add some red or orange colors and make a new type of uniform. I hope our headmaster will think about it.
Danny, 14, from Zhejiang
I have two suggestions for my headmaster. First of all, I think we should have more hobby classes in science , such as plane model making class and computer programming class. It is really boring to study basic subjects all the time. And second, I hope we can have more PE lessons or more time for physical exercise. Lots of students now don’t have a strong enough body.
Sam, 15, from Shanxi
I’d like to say thank you to my headmaster. About one week ago, I got a bad cold after playing basketball. Our headmaster came to me after he knew about it. He took care of me until my parents came. I really want to thank him for that.
Helen, 14, from Shandong
In the letter I wrote, I want to talk about the possibility of personal（个性化的）classes. Now many middle schools are trying the “personal class” system. Students don’t have regular classes. They can choose lessons they want to take. I think it is more effective. And it is also good for exercise. We don’t have to stay in one classroom all the time.
Luke gives some suggestions about ______ in his letter.

A．hobby classes	B．personal classes
C．school uniform	D．basketball playing

The reasons why Danny gives two suggestions are that ______.

A．students have too few classes every day and they love sports

B．studying basic subjects only is boring and students are too weak

C．hobby classes are interesting and students have no PE lessons at all

D．students want to cancel the basic subjects and they want to have more sports lessons

All the students except ______ write to the headmaster to complain about something.

A．Luke	B．Danny
C．Sam	D．Helen

The underlined sentence “I think it is more effective” means “______”

A．Regular classes will be more vivid and lively.

B．Regular classes will help students learn better.

C．Personal classes will be more vivid and lively.

D．Personal classes will help students learn better.

According to the passage, most students write to their headmasters about _______.

A．personal experiences

B．how to make schools better

C．spare time activities

D．how to deal with other students

From the time each of my children started school, I packed their lunches. And in each lunch I packed, I left a note. The note might be a thank-you for a special moment, or a few words of encouragement for the coming test or sporting event.
When they were little, they loved their notes. And when I went back to teaching, they even put notes in my lunches. As they grew older, my elder son, Marc, told me that he no longer needed my daily notes. Telling him that he no longer needed to read them but I still needed to write them, I continued the tradition until the day he graduated.
Six years after high school graduation, Marc called and asked if he could stay at home for a couple of months. He had spent those years well, and he was very successful. He lived far away from home. With his younger sister leaving for college, I was especially looking forward to seeing Marc at home.
Since I was still making lunch every day for his younger brother, I packed one for Marc, too. Imagine my surprise when I got a call from my 24-year-old son, complaining (抱怨) about his lunch.
“Did I do something wrong? Aren’t I still your kid? Don’t you love me any more, Mom?” he asked.
I laughingly asked him what was wrong.
“My note, Mom,” he answered. “Where’s my note?”
This year my younger son will be in high school. He, too, has said that he is too old for notes. But like his elder brother and sister, he will receive those notes till the day he graduates.
Every time the writer packed lunches for her children, .

A．she wrote them a letter

B．she gave them a kiss

C．she gave some flowers to them

D．she wrote them a note

How many children may the writer have according to the passage?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

Why did Marc call to complain about his lunch?

A．Because he didn’t like the taste of the lunch.

B．Because the lunch wasn’t enough for him.

C．Because his mother didn’t love him any more.

D．Because he didn’t find the note in the lunch box.

From the last paragraph we know that .

A．the writer didn’t prepare lunch for her daughter

B．the writer will continue writing notes for her younger son

C．Marc didn’t love the note in the lunch box

D．the writer’s children won’t get money from her any more

What is the BEST title for the passage?

A．Love notes	B．Children’s complaint
C．My children’s story	D．Lunches for children

Music education hasn’t changed much since the 1970s. Students are still taught to read notation（乐谱）so they can recite compositions that they would never listen to on their MP3 players or play with friends. Playing music enriches life. The question is: Why do schools teach music in a way that turns off so many young people rather than catch their imagination? Can we do a better job of using the power of music to get kids excited about school?
The experience of an organization called Little Kids Rock suggests the answer is yes — if we change the way music is taught. Little Kids Rock has helped music programs in over a thousand public schools and served 150,000 children. The organization has given 30,000 free instruments out, mainly guitars, and trained 1,500 teachers to run music classes in which students quickly experience the joys of playing their favorite songs, performing in bands（乐队）, and writing their own music.
The key to Little Kids Rock is that it teaches children to play music the way many musicians learn to play it — not by notation, but by listening, imitation（模仿）and meaningful experimentation. “The knowledge you need to get started playing rock music is very limited,” explains Dave Wish, the founder of Little Kids Rock. “In high school, my friend Paul taught me a couple of chords（和弦）and my life was changed forever. On the first day of class, Little Kids Rock teachers place guitars in the hands of their students and get them practicing chords that will enable them to play thousands of songs. The kids decide what songs they want to learn and the class is off and running. Their progress is surprising. Within a year, eight and nine-year-olds are playing musical instruments, and giving concerts, even performing their own songs.
One of the biggest advantages that music offers is the ability to encourage students who are otherwise bored by school. “I’ve had students start coming back to school because of this program,” said Adkison Thomas, who heads up music for the Dallas Independent School District. He added, “One of the best things is that the teachers discover a new side of their students. They see kids become successful who weren’t before.”
The expression “turn off” in Paragraph 1 means “______”.

A．make kids feel cool

B．make kids feel bored

C．make kids feel confident

D．make kids feel nervous

How did Little Kids Rock help the school?

A．By writing music for kids.

B．By playing kids’ favorite songs.

C．By making instruments for school.

D．By training teachers for music classes.

Little Kids Rock is successful because ______.

A．it encourages kids to experience music

B．it helps kids learn from great musicians

C．it allows kids to decide how to learn music

D．it offers musical programs all over the country

What does the writer want to tell us?

A．Learning music is a good way to become successful.

B．Teaching in a proper way does good to students’ development.

C．It’s necessary for students to practice a lot in learning music.

D．It’s important for teachers to discover the new sides of students.

A．Chicago is a big and beautiful city	B．where we can see fine photos and paintings
C．how to make a cheap trip in Chicago	D．there are many free concerts in Chicago

A．the Art Institute	B．the Sears Tower
C．Roosevelt University	D．Grant Park