Kodak’sdecisiontofileforbankru-优题课

While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare．It's estimated that more than 2 million people have left the list since 1994．
In the past four years, welfare list in Athens County have been cut in half．But 70 percent of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $ 6 an hour．The result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent —twice the national average．For advocates（代言人） for the poor, that's an indication that much more needs to be done．
"More people are getting jobs, but it's not making their lives any better," says Kathy Lairn, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington．A center analysis of US Census data （户口普查资料） nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female-headed families were earning money on their own, but that average income for these families actually went down．
But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory．"Welfare was a poison．It was a poisonous substance that was poisoning the family," says Robert Rector, a welfare-reform policy analyst．"The reform is changing the moral climate in low-income communities．It's beginning to rebuild the work ethic （道德观）, which is much more important．"
Mr．Rector and others argued that once "the habit of dependency is cracked," then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards．
．From the passage, it can be seen that the author ____．

A．believes the reform has reduced the government's burden

B．insists that welfare reform is doing little good for the poor

C．is not interested in the success of welfare reform

D．considers welfare reform to be fundamentally successful

．Why aren't people enjoying better lives when they have jobs?

A．Because many families end their marriage．

B．Because government aid is now rare．

C．Because their wages are still low．

D．Because the cost of living is rising．

．From the passage we know that welfare reform aims at____．
A．saving welfare funds B, rebuilding the work ethic
C．providing more jobs D．cutting government expenses
According to the passage,____ before the welfare reform was carried out．

A．the poverty rate was lower

B．average living standards were higher

C．the average worker was paid higher-wages

D．the poor used to rely on government aid

I used to watch her from my kitchen window．She seemed so small as she struggled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground．The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during break．I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball．I watched in wonder as she ran circles a- round the other kids．She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net．The boys always tried to stop her but no one could．I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone．
One day I asked her why she practiced so much．Without a moment of hesitation she said, "I want to go to college．The only way I can go is to get a scholarship to save money for our family．I am going to play college basketball．I want to be the best．My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don't count．" Well, I had to give it to her ?she was determined．I watched her through those junior high years and into high school．Every week, she led her school team to victory．
One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head in her arms．I walked up and sat down in the cool grass beside her．Quietly I asked what was wrong． "Oh, nothing," came a soft reply, "I am just too short．" The coach told her that she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team ?much less offered a scholarship —so she should stop dreaming about college．She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment．I asked her if she had talked to Father about it yet．She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong．They just did not understand the power of a dream．He told her that if she truly wanted a scholar-ship, nothing could stop her except one thing —her own attitude．
The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was offered a scholarship and joined the college team．She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of．
.
The author was probably the girl's____．

A．neighbor

B．friend

C．teacher

D．mother

.
．Why was the girl's heart broken?

A．She was considered too short to be a top player．

B．Her coach stopped her training because of her height．

C．She couldn't be on a college basketball team．

D．She wouldn't be admitted by her basketball friends．

.
We can learn from the passage that ____．

A．her family wouldn't like to pay her college fee

B．her father forced her to play basketball in collage

C．being a top basketball player can win a scholarship for college

D．she wouldn't like to turn to his father for help when in difficulty

.
．Which proverb best matches the story?

A．Practice makes perfect．

B．Rome was not built in a day．

C．Where there is a will, there is a way．

D．Pride comes before a fall．

We can all contribute to a greener world．Just follow these ten golden rules:
●Stop getting junk mail．Billions of junk mail can be sent every year．Half of it is never opened．Get-your name off mailing lists．If 100,000 people stopped getting junk mail today, it would save 150,000 trees a year．
●Stop reading newspapers．All over the world, millions of newspapers are thrown away every day, 44 million newspapers in the USA alone —that's half a million trees a week．Either recycle your newspapers or read the hews online．
●Buy clothes made from organic materials．Conventional cotton farming seriously pollutes the environment, most of which uses chemical pesticides （农药） and fertilizers． Organic is better!
●Switch to solar energy．In one day, the sun will provide enough energy to power the planet．Why aren't we using it?
●If you have to drive, share the ride．Most cars in the USA have only one occupant．Also, 25 percent of car rides are less than 1．5 kilometres．Get out and walk!
●Unplug your PC, TV and VCR．Simply turning them off isn't enough．Sets left on standby are still using 25 percent of their power．
●Hold on to your balloons．Helium-filled balloons which fly away usually end up in a lake or river, where they can choke aquatic (水生的) creatures．Save your balloons and use them again．Or better still, don't use them at all．
●Feed the birds．Wild birds need food, especially in v/inter when other sources can be scarce．The greater the range of foodstuffs you put out for them, the more types of birds you will attract．
●Plant a garden at your school．Learn the connection between the land and the table．Plant vegetables to eat, flowers to admire and trees to improve the air．
.
What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To provide some health advice on how to work．

B．To suggest some ways how to make full use of solar energy．

C．To advise protecting environment and saving energy．

D．To advise on how to recycle waste and save energy．

.
．The underlined expression "left on standby" in the sixth rule means____．

A．ready to start and use electricity	B．ready to be turned off
C．ready to be repaired	D．ready to be．put away

.
．Which of the following will NOT protect trees from being cut down to make paper?

A．Not buying newspapers．	B．Don't accept junk mail．
C．Read your newspaper online．	D．Read only one newspaper．

We can make mistakes at any age．Some mistakes we make are about money．But most mistakes are about people．One might say, "Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen?" "When I got that great job, did Jim really feel good about it, as a friend? Or did he envy my luck?" When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad．
Why do we go wrong about our friends? Sometimes what people want to say hides their real meaning．And if we don't really listen, we miss the feeling behind the words． Suppose someone tells you, "You're a lucky dog．" Is he really on your side? If he says, "You are a lucky guy", that's being friendly．But if he says "a lucky dog", there's a bit of envy in those words．Maybe he doesn't see it himself．But he puts you down a little if he brings in the "dog"．What he may be saying is that he doesn't think you deserve your luck．
"Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for" is another noise that says one thing and means another．It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole．But is he trying to? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn't important．It's telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven't got a date for Saturday night．
How can you tell the real meaning behind someone's words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking．Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice, his posture, or the look in his eyes? Stop and think．The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save another mistake．
Therefore, when you hear someone saying, please try to know what he really means．Don't just listen to what he says with your ears but feel the words he uses with your head．In this way you may make fewer mistakes．
.
．In the 1st paragraph, the writer says something that happened between him and his friends ____．

A．He feels happy, thinking of how nice his friends were to him

B．He feels he may not have read his friends' true feelings correctly

C．He doesn't think it was a mistake to have broken up with his friend

D．He is sorry that his friends let him down

.
This passage is mainly about ____．

A．how to avoid mistakes about money and friends

B．what to do when you listen to others talking

C．how to avoid mistakes in understanding what people tell you

D．why you keep people friendly without trusting them

.
．According to the author, the reason why we go wrong about our friends is that

A．we fail to listen carefully when they talk

B．people tend to be angry when we check what they say

C．people usually state one thing but mean another

D．we tend to doubt what our friends say

.
．The underlined word "it" in the second paragraph refers to____．

A．being friendly	B．a bit of envy
C．a lucky dog	D．your luck

When I was fourteen, I earned money in the summer by cutting lawns（草坪）, and within a few weeks I had built up a body of customers. I got to know people by the flowers they planted that I had to remember not to cut down, by the things they lost in the grass or struck in the ground on purpose. I reached the point with most of them when I knew in advance what complaint was about to be spoken, which particular request was most important. And I learned something about the measure of my neighbors by their preferred method of payment: by the job, by the month--- or not at all.
Mr. Ballou fell into the last category, and he always had a reason why. On one day, he had no change for a fifty, on another he was flat out of checks, on another, he was simply out when I knocked on his door. Still, except for the money apart, he was a nice enough guy, always waving or tipping his hat when he’d see me from a distance. I figured him for a thin retirement check, maybe a work-relayed injury that kept him from doing his own yard work. Sure, I kept track of the total, but I didn’t worry about the amount too much. Grass was grass, and the little that Mr. Ballou’s property comprised didn’t take long to trim (修剪).
Then, one late afternoon in mid-July, the hottest time of the year, I was walking by his house and he opened the door, mentioned me to come inside. The hall was cool, shaded, and it took my eyes a minute to adjust to the dim light.
“ I owe you,” Mr Ballou, “ but…”
I thought I’d save him the trouble of thinking of a new excuse. “ No problem. Don’t worry about it.”
“ The bank made a mistake in my account,” he continued, ignoring my words. “ It will be cleared up in a day or two . But in the meantime I thought perhaps you could choose one or two volumes for a down payment.
He gestured toward the walls and I saw that books were stacked (堆放) everywhere. It was like a library, except with no order to the arrangement.
“ Take your time,” Mr. Ballou encouraged. “Read, borrow, keep. Find something you like. What do you read?”
“ I don’t know.” And I didn’t. I generally read what was in front of me, what I could get from the paperback stack at the drugstore, what I found at the library, magazines, the back of cereal boxes, comics. The idea of consciously seeking out a special title was new to me, but, I realized, not without appeal--- so I started to look through the piles of books.
“ You actually read all of these?”
“ This isn’t much,” Mr. Ballou said. “ This is nothing, just what I’ve kept, the ones worth looking at a second time.”
“ Pick for me, then.”
He raised his eyebrows, cocked his head, and regarded me as though measuring me for a suit. After a moment, he nodded, searched through a stack, and handed me a dark red hardbound book, fairly thick.
“ The Last of the Just,” I read. “ By Andre Schwarz-Bart. What’s it about?” “ You tell me,” he said. “ Next week.”
I started after supper, sitting outdoors on an uncomfortable kitchen chair. Within a few pages, the yard, the summer, disappeared, and I was plunged into the aching tragedy of the Holocaust, the extraordinary clash of good, represented by one decent man, and evil. Translated from French, the language was elegant, simple, impossible to resist. When the evening light finally failed I moved inside, read all through the night,
To this day, thirty years later, I vividly remember the experience. It was my first voluntary encounter with world literature, and I was stunned (震惊) by the concentrated power a novel could contain. I lacked the vocabulary, however, to translate my feelings into words, so the next week. When Mr. Ballou asked, “ Well?” I only replied, “ It was good?”
“ Keep it, then,” he said. “ Shall I suggest another?”
I nodded, and was presented with the paperback edition of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa ( a very important book on the study of the social and cultural development of peoples--- anthropology (人类学) ).
To make two long stories short, Mr. Ballou never paid me a cent for cutting his grass that year or the next, but for fifteen years I taught anthropology at Dartmouth College. Summer reading was not the innocent entertainment I had assumed it to be, not a light-hearted, instantly forgettable escape in a hammock (吊床) ( though I have since enjoyed many of those, too). A book, if it arrives before you at the right moment, in the proper season, at an internal in the daily business of things, will change the course of all that follows.
.The author thought that Mr. Ballou was ______________.

A．rich but mean	B．poor but polite
C．honest but forgettable	D．strong but lazy

. Before his encounter with Mr. Ballou, the author used to read _____________.

A．anything and everything	B．only what was given to him
C．only serious novels	D．nothing in the summer

. The author found the first book Mr. Ballou gave him _____________.

A．light-heated and enjoyable	B．dull but well written
C．impossible to put down	D．difficult to understand

. From what he said to the author we can gather that Mr. Ballou _______________.

A．read all books twice	B．did not do much reading
C．read more books than he kept	D．preferred to read hardbound books

. The following year the author _______________.

A．started studying anthropology at college	B．continued to cut Mr. Ballou’s lawn
C．spent most of his time lazing away in a hammock
D．had forgotten what he had read the summer before

. The author’s main point is that _____________.

A．summer jobs are really good for young people

B．you should insist on being paid before you do a job

C．a good book can change the direction of your life

D．a book is like a garden carried in the pocket.