I grew up in New Hampshire, a small town in South Canada, where in my father’s words for the seasons were “Spring, Summer, Fairtime and Winter!” At that time, a week-long fair was held in the town every autumn. Thousands of people from other towns came to sell and buy things. It was the busiest time of the year.
When “Fairtime” came, my grandma became the most “useful” and busiest person of the family. Grandma was a kind, well-educated old lady. She was good at cooking. All her rrelatives liked the foodshe cooked. During “fairtime”, they would come to live in her house and have meals there. Grandma was always happy to look after them.
Year after year, many people moved to big cities. There was no loner “Fairtime”. Grandma became very old and was gradually going blind. My parents and I moved to live with Granma in her house. We did our best to make her day-to-day life as comfortable as possible. I was at high school then. What I often did at home was to help Grandma with the daily newspaper’s crossword puzzle. However, she didn’t look happy. She often sat in her room for hours, without saying a word.
To attract people to move back, the Town Hall decided to reopen the Fair. One day, when I came back room school, I saw Grandma wearing her glasses, washing the dishes in the kitchen. With a big smile on her face, she looked a lot much younger. She told me that her two nieces would come. “They said the food I cooked was very delicious and they want to stay in my house again.” Grandma said happily. “They will stay here for one week and we can have a big party. That must be the busiest week I’ve had in years!”
I suddenly realized that Grandma didn’t want to be looked after. She wanted to be “useful”, appreciated and helpful.Thousands of people came to the town to __________ at the Fair.
A.enjoy Grandma’s food | B.sell and buy things |
C.learn to cook | D.have a big party |
Why was Grandma unhappy?
A.She was too busy. B. No one lived with her.
B.She was not “useful”. D. She couldn’t see anythingWhich of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A.Grandma was good at cooking |
B.Many people moved to big cities. |
C.Grandma didn’t like “Fairtime” |
D.Grandma was a kind old lady. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
A.Fairtime | B.My “Old” Grandma |
C.A Small Town | D.Grandma’s Family |
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5:30 pm, and at 6:30 pm she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club. At last, the traffic was moving. She swung quickly racing to her house. As she opened the door, she nearly tripped over Sheba.
“Hey, Sheba,” she said, “I’ve got no time for you now, but I’ll take you out as soon as I get back from the tennis club.” Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking. Obviously, she could hardly breathe. Immediately, Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet. When she got there, the vet was just about to close for the day. Seeing the state of Sheba, Dr. Sterne brought her quickly into his office.
“Listen, doctor, I’m really in a rush to get to a meeting - can I leave her with you, and go and get changed? I’ll be back in ten minutes to pick her up, and then I’ll take her on to the meeting with me. Is that OK?”
“Sure,” said the doctor.
Joanne made a quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes. As she was once more entering the hallway, the phone by the door began to ring.
“This is Dr. Sterne,” said an anxious voice. “I want you to get out of that house immediately,” said the doctor’s voice. “I’m coming round fight away, and the police will be there any time now. Wait outside!”
At that moment, a police car screeched to a stop outside the house. Two policemen got out and ran into the house. Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened. Then the doctor arrived.
“Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?” shouted Joanne.
“She’s fine, Joanne. I took out the thing which was choking her, and she’s OK now.”
Just then, the two policemen reappeared from the house, half-carrying a white-faced man, who could hardly walk. There was blood all over him.
“My God,” said Joanne, “how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”
“I think he must be a burglar,” said the doctor. “I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat. It turned out to be three human fingers.”
56. What was Joanne supposed to do at 6:30 pm?
A. To walk her dog. B. To see her doctor.
C. To attend a club meeting. D. To play tennis with her friends.
57. Joanne wanted to get back to her home again ________.
A. to dress up for the meeting B. to phone the police station
C. to catch the badly hurt burglar D. to wait for her dog to be cured
58. From the passage, we can infer that ________.
A. Sheba fought against the burglar
B. the police found the burglar had broken in
C. Joanne had planned to take her dog to the meeting
D. the doctor performed a difficult operation on the dog
59. In this passage, the writer intends to tell us that the dog is ________.
A. clever B. friendly C. frightening D. devoted
Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don’t know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She confessed(坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
71. This text is most probably written by ______.
A. A specialist in teenager studies. B. a headmaster of a middle school
C. a parent with teenage children D. a doctor for mental health problems
72. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.
A. the change from good to bad that’s seen in a child
B. the way that parents often blame themselves
C. the opinion that a child has of his parents
D. the advice that parents want their children to follow
73. The boy on the sofa would most probably be described as ______.
A. lazy B. quiet C. unusual D. rude
74. From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ______.
A. pay no attention to them B. are too busy to look after them
C. have come to hate them D. feel helpless to do much about them
75. What is the author’s opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?
A. Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.
B. Parents should pay still more attention to the change.
C. Parents should work more closely with school teachers.
D. Parents are a fault for the change in their children.
For almost two months Dominic York, a 23-year-old hairdresser, wandered about hospitals all night, wearing a white coat and pretending he was a doctor. Yesterday he proudly claimed in court that despite his complete lack of medical experience or qualifications, he had saved several people’s lives. He had even been allowed to assist a surgeon during an emergency operation on a patient who was about to die on something she had swallowed.
“I watched one of those TV dramas about a hospital and suddenly I felt like playing one of the roles myself. So I put on a white jacket and a stethoscope (听诊器) and walked around one of the biggest hospitals in London. At first I just watched. Once you learn how doctors talk to patients, nurses and other doctors, it’s easy to take people in,” he said.
One of the patients he treated was Laura Kennan. She had been knocked down by a car and fainted. When she came to hospital, York was standing over her.
“He looked very professional. He told me his name was Doctor Simon. Then he gave me some sort of injection,” she said. And then he suddenly cleared off when a nurse asked who he was. She didn’t think there was anything wrong. “I would never have realized he was a fake if a policewoman hadn’t showed me his photograph a week later. When the policewoman told me who he really was, I could hardly believe my ears.”
Judge Raymond Adams told York that he was. “ shocked and horrified” that he got away with his cheating for so long. And then they sentenced him to eighteen months in a special prison for criminal with mental disorders.
“I can only hope that this will not lead to further problems. After all, you will have considerable opportunity to study the behaviour of the psychiatrists (精神科医生) who will look after you while you are there. If you try to persuade people that you yourself are a psychiatrist after you are set free, I shall make sure that you are given a much longer sentence.” Judge Adams warned York.
67. York was proud of the fact that ___________.
A. a surgeon let him watch an operation
B. he could perform some duties of a doctor
C. he had cheated doctors for so long
D. people thought he could become a real doctor
68. York learned how to behave like a doctor by __________.
A. watching other doctors work B. talking to doctors and nurses
C. getting some training and experience D. observing doctors while he was a patient
69.Why was Laura Kennan in hospital?
A. She had swallowed something and almost died.
B. She had to have an emergency operation.
C. She had been injured in a road accident.
D. She had lost consciousness while driving.
70. The judge’s remark implied that York would be more seriously punished if he _________.
A. pretended to be a psychiatristB. tried to get away from prison
C. was proud of what he had done D. studied the behavior of the psychiatrist
Eat your vegetables. Wash your hands. Always say “please" and“thank you". We are full of advice for our children, but when it comes to money, we often have little to say. As a result, our children may grow up with clean hands and good manners, but without any idea how to manage their money.
Here are some basics that will help guide them their entire lives:
Show them the future. If your 13-year-old girl were to save$1,000,invest(投资)it at 8%and add$100 every month,by the time she's 65,she would have$980,983!
Be careful of credit(信用).Credit cards can help you buy necessary things and build a credit history,but they must be used responsibly, which means paying off your debt in time. Explain to your children that when you buy something using a credit card,you can easily end up paying two or three times what you would have paid if you used cash.
Teach patience. Suppose your child wants a new bicycle that costs $150. Rather than paying the cash,give him some regular pocket money and explain that by putting aside,say $15 each week,he will be able to buy it for himself in only ten weeks.
Provide incentive. Tell your children the importance of saving.“For every dollar he or she agrees to save and invest rather than spend, you agree to add another dollar to the pot,”says Cathy Pareto, expert in money planning.
Explain your values. Values and money are deeply intertwined, says Eilleen Gallo, co-author of The Financially Intelligent Parent. When your child demands that you buy something, explain why you really don’t want to buy it.“You might say,‘I'd rather save that money for your education,”,advises Gallo. Every time you spend or don't spend money,you have a chance to share your values.
64. The underlined word“incentive" in paragraph 6 means _____.
A. honor B. praiseC. excitement D. encouragement
65. What leads the writer to write this article?
A. Parents want to know how to educate their children.
B. He wants to share his good ideas about money matters.
C. He thinks money management the most important for children.
D. Parents care little about their children's management of money.
66. The writer gives some basics to help __________ in a proper way.
A. parents teach their children how to deal with money
B. children follow their parents' instructions
C. children manage their money
D. parents save their money
Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go in to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening.
One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper. Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to rent. With the same money, one can get a little house in the country with a garden of one’s own.
Then, in the country one can rest from the noise and hurry of the town. Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country. If one likes gardens, one can spend one’s free time digging, planting, watering and doing the hundred and one other jobs which are needed in a garden. Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature.
Some people, however, take no interest in country things: for them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance-halls and restaurants. Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London. An occasional walk in one of the parks and a fortnight’s (two weeks) visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want: the rest they are quite prepared to leave to those who are glad to get away from London every night.
60. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. People who like country things prefer to live outside the city.
B. People who work in London prefer to live in the country.
C. Because of certain disadvantages of living outside London, some people who work in London prefer to live inside London.
D. Because of certain advantages of living outside London, many people who work in London prefer to live outside London.
61. One can use the same money for ________ to buy a little house with a garden in the country.
A. getting a small flat with a garden B. having a small flat with a garden
C. renting a small flat without a garden D. buying a small flat without a garden
62. People who think happiness lies in the town would feel that _______ if they had to live it outside London.
A. their life was meaningless B. their life was valuable
C. they didn’t deserve a happy life D. they were not worthy of their happy life
63. The underlined word rest in the last paragraph refers to ________.
A. the rest time B. the rest people
C. the rest of the country D. the rest of the parks and of the sea