When Joan gave birth to the first boy in her family in three generations, she and her husband were overjoyed. So were her parents. Joan expected her elder sister, Sally, to be just as delighted as them. Joan had always admired Sally--the beauty and the star of the family--and felt happy about her achievements.
But since the baby's arrival, the sisters have become distant. Joan feels hurt for Sally seems completely uninterested in her baby. Sally, who has no children, claims that her younger sister "acts as if no one ever had a baby before."
Neither Sally nor Joan understands that the real cause of the current coldness is that their family roles have suddenly changed to the opposite. Finally Joan seems to be better than her elder sister--and Sally doesn't like it! Their distance may be temporary, but it shows that childhood competition don't fade easily as ages grow. It can remain powerful in relationships throughout life.
In a study of the University of Cincinnati, 65 men and women between ages 25 and 93 were asked how they felt about their brothers and sisters. Nearly 75 percent admitted having hidden competitive feelings. In a few cases, these emotions were so strong as to have affected their entire lives.
Many adult brothers and sisters are close, supportive--yet still tend to compete. Two brothers I know turn into killers when on opposite sides of a tennis net. Off the court, they are the best of friends. My own younger sister can't wait to tell me when I've put on weight. However, she's a terrible cook and that pleases me; I tease her when she comes to dinner. Happily, despite these small failings, we have been an important resource for each other.
In between the very competitive and the generally supportive children lie those who say that no friendship should survive. Some brothers and sisters stay at arm's length, but never give up competition completely. Why do these puzzling, unproductive, often painful relationships continue to exist?When Joan's son was born, Sally .
A.felt very happy | B.felt not delighted | C.moved away | D.admired her a lot |
What happens to children's desire to compete with their brothers and sisters?
A.It sometimes will disappear when they grow up. |
B.It will never disappear throughout life. |
C.It will improve their relationships when they grow up. |
D.It will never harm their relationships when they grow up. |
Why does the author's sister often tell her when she's put on weight?
A.Because she wants the author to go on a diet. |
B.Because she wants the author to stop calling her a bad cook. |
C.Because she wants to make fun of the author's weight. |
D.Because she wants to be honest with the author. |
The underlined sentence means that although some brothers and sisters .
A.live near each other, they still have competitions |
B.live away from each other, they stop their competitions |
C.live together, they often think of ending their competitions |
D.live within a big family, they often try to end their competitions |
Self-employed private physicians who charge a fee for each patient visit are the foundation of medical practice in the United States. Most physicians have a contract relationship with one or more hospitals in the community. They send their patients to this hospital, which usually charges patients according to the number of days they stay and the facilities(operating room, tests, medicines that they use). Some hospitals belong to a city, a state or, in the case of veteran's hospitals, a federal government agency. Others are operated by religious orders(教会) or other non-profit groups.
Some medical doctors are on salary. Salaried physicians may work as hospital staff members, or residents, who are often still in training. They may teach in medical schools, be hired by corporations to care for their workers or work for the federal government's Public Health Service.
Physicians are among the best paid professionals in the United States. In the 1980s, it was not uncommon for medical doctors to earn incomes of more than $ 100,000 a year. Specialists, particularly surgeons, might earn several times that amount. Physicians list many reasons why they deserve to be so well rewarded for their work. One reason is the long and expensive preparation required to become a physician in the United States. Most would-be physicians first attend college for four years, which can cost nearly $ 20,000 a year at one of the best private institutions. Prospective physicians then attend medical school for four years. Tuition alone can exceed $ 10,000 a year. By the time they have obtained their medical degrees, many young physicians are deeply in debt. They still face three to five years of residency(实习阶段) in a hospital, the first year as an apprentice physician. The hours are long and the pay is relatively low.
Setting up a medical practice is expensive, too. Sometimes several physicians will decide to establish a group practice, so they can share the expense of maintaining an office and buying equipment. These physicians also take care of each other's patients in emergencies.
Physicians work long hours and must accept a great deal of responsibility. Many medical procedures, even quite routine ones, involve risk. It is understandable that physicians want to be well rewarded for making decisions which can mean the difference between life and death.
51. According to the passage, it is very unlikely that an American hospital is owned by _______.
A. a church B. a corporation C. a cityD. a state
52. The expenses for becoming a doctor are spent on _______.
A. setting up a medical practice B. practice in a hospital
C. facilities he or she uses D. education he or she receives
53. According to the passage, how long does it take for a would-be physician to become an independent physician in the USA?
A. About seven years. B. About eight years.
C. About ten years. D. About twelve years.
54. Sometimes several physicians set up a group medical practice mainly because __.
A. there are so many patients that it is difficult for one physician to take care all of them
B. they can take turns to work long hours
C. facilities may be too much of a burden for one physician to shoulder
D. no one wants to assume too much responsibility
55. Which of the following statements could fully express the author's view towards physicians’ payment in the USA?
A. For their expensive education and their responsibility, they deserve a handsome pay.
B. It is reasonable for physicians to have a large income because their work is very dangerous.
C. Physicians should be better paid because they work long hours under bad conditions.
D. Physicians have great responsibility, so it is understandable that they should be well rewarded.
Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth-so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” ”Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, “Would you mend this chair for me?” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver(五英镑钞票)?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.
46. We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _________.
A. was rather impolite
B. was warmly received
C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair
D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair
47. The underlined word “Approach” in the second paragraph means _________.
A. plan for dealing with things B . decision to sell things
C. idea of repairing things D. way of doing things
48. The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper _________.
A. changed his mind B.accepted the offer
C. saw the writer’s purposeD. decided to help the writer
49. How much did the writer pay?
A. £ 5. B. £ 7. C. £ 20. D. £ 27.
50. From the text, we can learn that the writer was _________.
A. honest B. careful C. smart D. funny
第三部分:阅读理解 (共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
China launched its first manned spaceship at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, becoming the third country in the world to send a person into orbit after the former Soviet Union and the United States. Astronaut Yang Liwei became China’s first space man.
With a column of beautiful smoke, the Shenzhou V craft cut across a bright northwest China sky at exactly 9:00 a.m. Wednesday and went into orbit 10 minutes later.
China Central Television’s Channel One cut into its regular programming to announce the launch. The station later showed the Shenzhou V streaking(moving very fast)into the sky and disappearing, its tracer billowing (to fill with air and become larger)behind it.
Minutes after the launch, a CCTV announcer said that Shenzhou V and 38-year-old Yang Liwei, an air force pilot since 1983, had “entered orbit at 9:10.” It reported Yang was “reading a flight manual(手册) in the capsule of the Shenzhou V spacecraft and looked composed and at ease.”
The Shenzhou V launch came after four test launches of unmanned capsules that orbited the earth for nearly a week before parachuting back to China’s northern grasslands. Reports said the manned flight was expected to last about 22 hours.
President Hu Jintao watched the launch at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China’s Gansu Province.
Hu called the launch “the glory of our great motherland and a mark for the initial victory of the country’s first manned space flight and for the significant, historic step of the Chinese people in the advance of climbing over the peak of the world’s science and technology.”
He said that: “The Party and the people will never forget those who have set up the outstanding merit(贡献) in the space industry for the motherland, the people and the nation.”
“The launch of the Shenzhou V is long-awaited by the Chinese people,” Foreign Minister spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said on Tuesday. She said the flight was a key step in the “Peaceful development of space.”
NASA Administrator Sean O’ Keefe also congratulated on China’s first successful human space flight.
41. The following are countries succeeded in sending man into space EXCEPT ____
A. China B. Germany C. America D. the former Soviet Union
42. The underlined word “composed” in paragraph 4 means_____
A. happy B. nervous C. calm D. excited
43. According to the passage which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. It’s the first time that China has sent up its first manned spaceship.
B. Before the Shenzhou V launched, four test launches of it had moved around the earth.
C. The 38-year-old astronaut was sent into space by China’s ShenzhouⅤspacecraft and landed safely the next day.
D. Yang Liwei is China’s first astronaut in space.
44. The writer quoted(引用) Foreign Minister spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue’s words to express ________.
A. the Chinese have been expecting the successful space launch and it’s a great contribution to the peaceful development of space.
B. a lot of Chinese people are waiting for the launch.
C. this launch is the first time in China.
D. China’s manned spaceship made a peaceful development of space.
45. The description of Yang Liwei tells us that _______.
A. Yang didn’t know what to do and he was looking up a flight manual
B. it’s 10 years since he became an air force pilot
C. Yang entered orbit at exactly 9:00 a.m.
D. Yang trained himself well and felt very satisfied with everything in the space craft
Me More Than You
“It hurts me more than you.” and “This is for your own good.” These are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework.
That was before we entered the permissive period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school.
The schools and the educators made it easy on us. They taught that it was all right to be parents who took a let-alone policy. We stopped making our children do homework. We gave them calculators(计算器), turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation.
Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we’ve made a terrible mistake. One such teacher is Sharon Klompus who says of her students—“so passive”—and wonders what happened. Nothing was demanded of them, she believes. “Television”, says Klompus, “contributes to children’s passivity;” “We’re not training kids to work any more.” says Klompus. “We’re talking about a generation of kids who’ve never been hurt or hungry. They have learned somebody will always do it for them. Instead of saying ‘go look it up’, you tell them the answer. It takes greater energy to say ‘no’ to a kid.”
Yes, it does. It takes energy and it takes work. It’s time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work. It’s time to take the car away, to turn the TV off, and to tell them it hurts you more than them but it’s for their own good. It’s time to start telling them ‘no’ again.We learn from the passage that the author’s mother used to place importance on _____.
A.discipline | B.creativity | C.school education | D.homework |
To today’s kids as described in this passage, _____.
A.it is easier to give a negative reply than to give a positive reply |
B.it is easier to give a positive reply than to give a negative reply |
C.neither is easy — to say yes or to say no |
D.neither is hard — to say yes or to say no |
The main idea of this passage is that _____.
A.parents should set a good example for their kids |
B.kids should have more activities outside campus |
C.educators should not be so kind to our children |
D.it is time to be strict with our children |
Classified(分类)Ads
For direct classified service, call 800-0667 10 a.m.— 4 p.m., Monday—Friday.
For Rent
Best on Campus
Excellent Room for girls, begins Jan. , 2, 4, or 8 months lease(租约). Single, $105. Double, $140. Call 800-1932.
Family Home, 3 bedrooms, large yard. $275. Call 800-4300.
For Sale
Sheepskin Coat, men’s size 42, 1year old. $85. After 6 p.m. call 800-5224.
Moving: Must sell. Color TV 21, $150; transistor radio(晶体管收音机), $15; recorder, $25. Call 800-0739.
Help Wanted
Babysitter — My home
If you could find a few hours during the day, some evenings and weekends to care for 2 school- age children, please call 800-1111.
Lost
A black bag with a pencil-box and some books left in the reading room. Will the finder please come to Class 3, Grade 1?
Found
A green jacket was left on the sports ground yesterday afternoon (April 15th). Will the owner please ring 656-6688?If you wanted to place an ad. , what number would you call?
A.800-0739. | B.800-1932. | C.800-5224. | D.800-0667. |
If Mary wanted a room for herself, which Room should she choose?
A.Campus. | B.Single. | C.Double. | D.Family Home. |
From the passage, we know __________.
A.someone lost his green jacket in the reading room |
B.you can rent a transistor radio at $15 |
C.you can take a house at the rent of $275 for you family |
D.you can call 800-5224 at any time to buy a sheepskin coat |
If you want to find a part-time job, you will look at________.
A.For Rent | B.For Sale | C.Help Wanted | D.Lost |