My teenage son Karl became withdrawn(孤僻) after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. In this way he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. Nothing worked.
One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and asked God for help. "Please God, I can't do anything more for my son. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm giving the whole thing up to you."
I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. "I want to talk to you about Karl's absences." Before he could say another word, I choked up (哽咽) and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. "I love my son, but I just don't know what to do. I've tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It's out of my hands." For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, "Thank you for your time", and hung up.
Karl’s next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were astonished at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, "Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?" I nodded. "That was me. I thought I'd play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That's when I knew I had to make you proud." According to the first report card, Karl __________.
| A．often went to school late | B．failed in all the exams |
| C．did a good job at school | D．didn't do well at school |
When the mother said "It's out of my hands." to the headmaster, she meant that she________.
| A．didn't know what to do about her son |
| B．would drive her son away from the house |
| C．had no money to support the family |
| D．she would have to hang up |
There was silence on the other end of the line because _____.
| A．the speaker was unable to interrupt the mother |
| B．the speaker waited for the mother to finish speaking |
| C．the speaker didn't want the mother to recognize his voice |
| D．the speaker was too moved to say anything to the mother |
Who was it that telephoned Karl's mother that day?
| A．The headmaster. | B．The school adviser. |
| C．Karl himself. | D．The passage doesn't tell us. |
From the passage we can learn that _________.
| A．children in single-parent families always have mental problems |
| B．mother's love plays an important role in teenagers' life |
| C．parents should give their children as much help as possible |
| D．school education still works well without support from parents |
The engineer Camillo Olivetti was 40 years old when he started the company in 1908. At his factory in Ivrea, he designed and produced the first Italian typewriter. Today the company’s head office is still in Ivrea, near Turin, but the company is much larger than it was in those days and there are offices all
around the world,
By 1930, there was a staff of 700 and the company turned out 13,000 machines a year. Some went
to customers in Italy, but Olivetti exported more typewriters to other countries.
Camillo’s son, Adriano, started working for the company in 1924 and later he became the boss. He introduced a standard speed for the production line and he employed technology and design specialists. The company developed new and better typewriters and then calculators. In 1959 it produced the ELEA computer system. This was the first mainframe (主机) computer designed and made in Italy.
After Adriano died in 1960, the company had a period of financial problem. Other companies, especially the Japanese, made faster progress in electronic technology than the Italian company.
In 1978, Carlo de Benedetti became the new boss. Olivetti increased its marketing and service networks and made agreements with other companies to design and produce more advanced office equipment. Soon it became one of the world’s leading companies in information technology and communication. There are now five independent companies in the Olivetti group — one for personal computers, one for other office equipment, one for systems and service, and two for telecommunications.From the text we learn that .
| A．by 1930 Olivetti produced 13,000 typewriters a year |
| B．Olivetti earned more in the 1960s than in the 1950s |
| C．some of Olivetti’s 700 staff regularly visited customers in Italy |
| D．Olivetti set up offices in other countries from the very beginning |
What was probably the direct result of Olivetti’s falling behind in electronic technology?
| A．Adriano’s death. | B．A period of financial problems. |
| C．Its faster progress. | D．Its agreements with other companies. |
What do we know about Olivetti?
| A．It produced the best typewriter in the world. |
| B．It designed the world’s first mainframe computer. |
| C．It exported more typewriters than other companies. |
| D．It has five independent companies with its head office in Ivrea. |
The best title for the text would be .
| A．The Origin of Olivetti. | B．The Success of Olivetti. |
| C．The History of Olivetti | D．The Production of Olivetti. |
Open Letter to an Editor
I had an interesting conversation with a reporter recently — one who works for you. In fact, he’s one of your best reporters. He wants to leave.
Your reporter gave me a copy of his resume (简历) and photocopies of six stories that he wrote for you. The headlines showed you played them proudly. With great enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues, approaches them, and writes about them, which tells me he is one of your best. I’m sure you would hate to lose him. Surprisingly, your reporter is not unhappy. In fact, he told me he really likes his job. He has a great assignment (分工), and said you run a great paper. It would be easy for you to keep him, he said. He knows that the paper values him. He appreciates the responsibility you’ve given
him, takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his freedom.
So why is he looking for a way out?
He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so much more of him. He wants to be
pushed, challenged, coached to new heights.
The reporter believes that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors usually ask how
long the story will be, when it will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is.
He longs for conversations with an editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones. He wants someone to get excited about what he’s doing and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the best ways to report it. He wants to be more valuable for your paper. That’s what you want for him, too, isn’t it?
So your reporter has set me thinking.
Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors, photographers, artists — everyone — is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential. If we can’t do it,
they’ll find someone who can.What does the writer think of the reporter?
| A．Optimistic. | B．Imaginative. | C．Ambitious. | D．Proud. |
What does the reporter want most from his editors in their talks?
| A．Finding the news value of his stories. | B．Giving him financial support. |
| C．Helping him to find issues. | D．Improving his good ideas. |
Which of the following is nearest to the meaning of “turn his story idea upside down and inside
out” in the passage?
| A．Study his story idea in details. | B．Get some general idea of his story. |
| C．Turn his writing over and over. | D．Find some reasons to kill his story. |
The letter aims to remind editors that they should ______.
| A．keep their best reporters at all costs | B．be aware of their reporters’ professional development |
| C．give more freedom to their reporters | D．appreciate their reporters’ working styles and attitudes |
阅读下列材料, 从所给的六个选项(A、Ｂ、Ｃ、Ｄ、Ｅ、和F) 中，选出符合各小题要求的最佳选项。选项中有一项是多余选项。
________ Jack just moved to a new place in Nelson. He wants to buy a house, but he hasn’t much money and his job is not well paid. So he needs a house whose price is about￡50,000 and at least has two bedrooms.
______ Lucy is now 65 years old. She is not very healthy and it is difficult for her to move. So she now wants to find a bungalow (平房) in Earby so that she can easily go out of the house to enjoy the sun in winter and fresh air outside in summer.
________Alice was very poor before, but recently she got a highly paid job and wanted to change her house into a better one. But the house should at least have four bedrooms and two reception rooms. What’s more, it should look like the house in the countryside.
______Peter now lives in Nelson. He dreams of having a house with at least three bedrooms. Besides, he doesn’t like high buildings.
________Lynne has lived in Newchurch for many years and now she wants to buy a house for a change. She wants the house to be semi-detached (半独立式) or detached. She also wants a separate garage.
Top Barn Lane, Newchurch, Lancashire, ￡49,950, flat on 30th floor.2 bathrooms with 3-piece suite in white, 1 reception room, 1 large lounge, 1 fully fitted kitchen,2 double bedrooms.
Queensway, Newchurch, Lancashire, ￡109,500, semi-detached house. 2 countryside view fronts, 2 double bedrooms, 1 modern fitted dining room, 1 detached garage opposite.
White Leys Close, Earby, Barnoldswick, ￡129,950, bungalow. 2 bathrooms, 1 reception room, 1 living room split into sitting and dining areas, doors to garden, a kitchen with a range of fitted bases. Outside of the front is a road for two cars and a garden area.
Birch Hall Lane, Earby, Barnoldswick, ￡180,000. 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms. Traditional stone built houses next to some cottages on one side. There is a small cycle store and a long, beautiful wildlife garden.
Craven View, Nelson, Lancashire, ￡185,000. Bungalow, 3 bedrooms with fitted wardrobe, 2 bathrooms, 1 reception room, 1 L-shaped living room with sitting and dining areas, fireplace around, French windows to back gardens, 1 kitchen with bright lighting.
Farrer Street, Nelson, Lancashire, ￡ 45,000. A stone built house. Although requiring a degree of refurbishment (刷新), this two bedroomed house does still offer a good deal. It includes 1 dining kitchen, two bedrooms, three-piece bathroom, gas fired central heating and the yard to the back.
I start to wonder what else had changed since I’d been gone.My parents are in an awkward puzzle, wondering how to treat me now----whether to treat me—still their daughter—as one of them, an adult, or as the child they feel they sent away months earlier.
I run into two of my best friends from high school; we stare at each other,expressionless. We ask the simple questions and give simple answers.It’s as if we have nothing to say to each other.I wonder how things have changed so much in such a small amount of time.We used to laugh and promise that no matter how far away we were, our love for each other would never change.Their interests don’t interest me anymore, and I find myself unable to relate my life to theirs.
I had been so excited to come home, but now I just look at it all and wonder: Is it me? Why hadn’t the world stood still here while I was gone? My room isn’t the same, my friends and I don’t share the same promise, and my parents don’t know how to treat me—or who I am, for that matter.
I get back to school feeling half-satisfied, but not disappointed. I sit up in my bed in my dorm room, surrounded by my pictures, dolls.As I wonder what has happened, I realize that I can’t expect the world to stand still and move forward at the same time. I can change and expect that things at home will stay the same.I have to find comfort in what has changed and what is new; keep the memories, but live in the present.
A few weeks later, I’m packing again, this time for winter break.My mom meets me at the door. I have come home accepting the changes, not only in my surroundings, but most of all in me.What can we infer about the writer?
| A．She is a high school student. | B．She is a college student. |
| C．She is a clerk in a school. | D．She is a traveler. |
What surprises the writer most?
| A．The living conditions of her parents. | B．The decorations in her room. |
| C．The meeting with her best friends. | D．The things still staying the same. |
What is this passage mainly about?
| A．The writer’s curiosity about the changes. |
| B．The changes in the writer’s surroundings and in herself. |
| C．The writer’s disappointment about the changes. |
| D．The writer’s refusal to accept the changes. |
For shopoholics, the post-Christmas period means only one thing ---- sales! Across the country, prices are reducing sharply on clothing, electronics and home furniture, but London is the place for serious shopping, and you can certainly pick up some amazing bargains.
The sales start on Boxing Day — 26th December, and continue for the month of January, but the keenest bargain hunters get there early to be first through the doors. In Oxford Street queues formed outside shops ahead of before-dawn openings for the start of their sales. At Brent Cross, in north London, more than 1,000 people were queuing at 3.30 am for the ‘Next’ clothing store’s sale which began at 4 am. Some eager individuals even camped outside the shops to be first in the line.
Consumers who hit the shops were rewarded with discounts of as much as 80% as department stores joined the bargain sales. The shops are very crowded as the sales reached the boiling-point, with more than half a million people gathering on London’s West End.
Famous sales include the biggest, most popular shops such as Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty and John Lewis. Department stores are always a good bet — you’re likely to find everything you need under one roof, including much-needed food and drinks!
It’s a good time to stock up on cheap small tools, and there’s no better time to invest in some designer clothes.
Some people are taking their partners shopping with them, and buying their Christmas presents in the sale----a practical but unromantic way of making sure you get the gift you really want. For a less exciting but less stressful shopping experience, online sellers are also getting in on the act with January sales of their own.
The most organized of all are those who are already doing their present shopping for next Christmas, in the January sales! In the sales, people can buy, at a very low price, all of the following except ______.
| A．fashionable clothing | B．bestseller | C．TV sets | D．bookcases |
We can learn from the passage that the sales ______.
| A．actually start before the end of December | B．generally last for two months |
| C．basically benefit none of the people | D．are a time to buy Christmas gifts in a romantic way |
“Hit the shops” in the third paragraph means to ______.
| A．attack the shops | B．arrive at the shops |
| C．affect the shops | D．find the shops |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．January Sales | B．Sales in London at Christmas |
| C．Practical but Unromantic Shopping | D．Shopping under One Roof |