After the examination, the doctor told my parents my sight would get worse and that I would lose my sight finally. On the way home from hospital, no one said a word. One day, would I only imagine the scenery beyond the glass rather than see it?
That September, I entered middle school. Most nights I had homework that included an armful of books to read. To keep up with other children, I took great trouble to finish the task. With my nose a couple of inches from the page, I was tired easily. What’s worse, after I had read several pages on my own, the words slipped off the page into inky pools.
However, then I did not have audio books and electronic devices like kids do now. Instead, Mom volunteered to read out loud. Mom worked part-time, cleaned the house, cooked and spent time with Grandma. In spite of being so busy, she showed up in my room like clockwork. She put on her reading glasses. Mom always thought those glasses made her look old. To me, she looked like a teacher.
In my room, Mom’s voice competed with the ticking of the clock. Being forced to focus on listening, I found a way to keep my marks up and compete with the other kids. When the teacher asked a question, I raised my hand with confidence. Teachers praised me for having a good memory. Reading removed my fear for my failing sight, reading also made me curious about other people’s challenges and how they managed. Though I could not use my eyes to fix on each passage, my mind lit up with every new book.
True to what the doctor said, the worst came, but thanks to Mom, my sense of hearing now allows me to “see”. This was the most precious gift from a mother to her child.Why did the author and his parents keep silent on their way back home from hospital?
| A．They all wanted to have a good rest. |
| B．What the doctor said made them worried. |
| C．The author didn’t do well in the exam. |
| D．They focused on the scenery along the road |
How did the author manage to get high marks?
| A．By listening carefully. |
| B．By being confident |
| C．By getting help from his classmates. |
| D．By reading as many books as possible. |
We can learn from the text that .
| A．the author’s sight recovered finally |
| B．reading made the author more sensitive |
| C．the author’s mother didn’t work to look after him |
| D．reading made the author not worry about his sight |
Which of the following could be the title of the text?
| A．My eyesight trouble |
| B．An unforgettable experience |
| C．About Mother’s love |
| D．With ears wide open |
New rules will let millions of Americans know where more of their food comes from. The law is known as COOL -- Country of Origin Labeling(标签).
American congress first passed the law in 2002. Stores have had to label seafood by country of origin since 2005. But industry pressure delayed other requirements until last week.
Products that must now be labeled include fresh fruits and vegetables, muscle meats and some kinds of nuts. But the rules are complex, and many foods are not included. For example, organ meats are free to be labeled. So are processed foods, including cooked or smoked foods.
The same food may sometimes have to be labeled and other times not. Fresh or frozen peas, for example, have to be labeled but not canned peas. Foods that are mixed with other foods are also excluded. Mixed nuts, for example, do not need to be labeled. The same is true of a salad mix that contains different things like lettuce and carrots. Or a fruit cup that combines different fruits. Also, the law doesn’t include restaurants and other food service organizations. Department of Agriculture officials say the law is really meant for larger grocery stores.
The United States has imported more and more food in recent years to save money and expand choices. Country-of-origin labeling has become more common lately but has still been limited in many stores.
Food safety is one reason why some shoppers pay close attention to where foods came from. For example, when a large number of people recently got sick from salmonella(沙门菌病), officials blamed peppers from Mexico. Yet the last big food scare involved spinach grown in California. But labeling is also a way for people to know they are getting what they want. Some want to buy local foods or foods from a particular country.
The country-of-origin labeling law gives stores 30 days to correct any violations(违反) that are found. Stores and suppliers that are found to be deliberately violating the law could be fined 1,000 dollars per violation. Federal inspectors are not to take action to enforce the law for six months to give time for an education campaign.
Some food safety activists say they are generally pleased with the law. They call it a good step that will give people more useful information. Why has more and more food been imported to the United States in recent years?
| A．It is economical and provides people with more choices. |
| B．Foreign food is of higher quality than native food. |
| C．Americans need more and more food recently. |
| D．The United States is short of food supply. |
Consumers are more concerned about where foods come from because________.
| A．they are curious about the origin of the food. |
| B．most of them are particular about the tastes |
| C．they are concerned about food safety |
| D．most of them are food safety activists |
The new rules of the country-of-origin labeling law will come into effect________.
| A．right now | B．in a month | C．in three months | D．in half a year |
Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
| A．Store owners are most likely to be the supporters of the law. |
| B．The government of America will possibly forbid importing peppers from Mexico. |
| C．Federal inspectors couldn’t take measures to enforce the law. |
| D．Most Americans prefer imported vegetables to the vegetables grown in local places. |
My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own, some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.
My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.
So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating. The passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．teaching | B．literature | C．humor | D．knowledge |
The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.
| A．funny | B．tiring | C．inspiring | D．brilliant |
The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.
| A．was not able to make students laugh | B．hurt his student’s feelings |
| C．didn’t let his students do the grading | D．had no sense of humor |
Apple Seeds
Circulation（发行量）: 1 Year, 9 Issues
Cover Price: $ 44.55
Price For You: $ 33.95
Product Description: Apple Seeds is an award winning magazine filled with stories for kids aged from 7 to 9. The cover is very soft, providing durability（耐用性）that allows each issue to be enjoyed for many years to come. Besides, there is a big surprise for you -- it’s being sold at a more favorable discount than usual.
Better Life
Circulation: 1 Year, 12 Issues
Cover Price: $ 44.55
Price For You: $15.00
Product Description: Designed for those who have a strong interest in personal lifestyle, Better Life is America’s complete home and family service magazine. It offers help with food, recipes, decorating, building, gardening, family health, money management, and education.
Humor Times
Circulation: 1 Year, 12 Issues
Cover Price: $ 36.00
Price For You: $ I 1.95
Product Description: Humor Times Magazine is for those who love to laugh! Full of cartoons and humor columns, it shows up in your mailbox once a month and keeps you smiling all year round ! In today’s world, you need a reason to laugh. So let’s find it in Humor Times.
News China
Circulation: 1 Year, 12 Issues
Cover Price: $ 47.88
Price For You: $19.99
Product Description: News China Magazine is the English edition of China Newsweek. The magazine covers the latest Chinese domestic news in politics, business, society, environment, culture, sports and travels, etc. It is the first comprehensive news magazine for readers interested in
China. What do we know about Apple Seeds?
| A．The soft cover enables it to be read and kept long. |
| B．It can be purchased as an award for your children. |
| C．It offers the biggest discount among all the magazines. |
| D．The magazine is going to surprise you for many years. |
Tom wants to beautify his house, so he may choose ________.
| A．Apple Seeds | B．Better Life | C．Humor Times | D．News China |
What kind of people may buy News China ?
| A．People who have an interest in personal lifestyle of the Chinese. |
| B．People who have a strong sense of humor and love to laugh. |
| C．People who want to enlarge the knowledge of their kids. |
| D．People who are interested in China’s politics, business and culture. |
Which magazine may best help relieve your work stress?
| A．Apple Seeds | B．Better Life | C．Humor Times | D．News China |
In my last essay, I wrote briefly about a bathtub in the classroom. What really was the use of that bathtub? “Guys, it is Reading Workshop time now. When I call your table, get your things, please!” said Mrs. Toalson. She was holding a cup that had many sticks in it; on every stick was written each student’s name and table number.
What does she mean? Probably books, I thought. Mrs. Toalson picked a stick out of the cup and said, “Okay, Aniqa’s table; Table Two, you may get your things. ”Then my four classmates ran for the cushions（垫子）in the bathtub. Mrs. Toalson kept picking sticks and calling out different table numbers. On hearing their numbers, students would run to get cushions. Because there were not enough cushions for everyone, the last to be called had to go without. Those students sighed, “Oh! They are the lucky ones.”
Finally, Mrs. Toalson picked the last stick ; what is she going to do now?
“Kate, you may use the bathtub. ” Mrs. Toalson said. Gosh! Use the bathtub? Is Kate going to take a bath, I wondered. Kate is the girl who had pretty brown hair. She ran happily with her book to the bathtub and lay down in it. As she read, she hugged a teddy bear. I think it must be comfortable reading in a bathtub.
Except for lucky Kate, everybody had to read elsewhere. Some were sitting on the seats, some were lying down under the table, and everybody’s reading pose（姿势）was different.
Just then, my friend found me sitting at my table quietly, not doing anything. She said, “Mary, let me find you a book. ” I nodded. Then she led me to a comer of the classroom where the book-shelf was and picked a picture book for me.
Regina thought that it would be more fun to read outside on the grass. What a great idea! The next day our whole class went to the park across the street from our school. As we read, animals such as squirrels ran around us. It was amazing ! In Mrs. Toalson’s Reading Workshop, every student can learn _________.
| A．briefly | B．comfortably | C．quickly | D．eagerly |
Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?
| A．Mrs. Toalson told the student to sit in the bathtub as a punishment. |
| B．The student who used the bathtub in that class was thought to be unlucky. |
| C．Not every student can get a cushion in Mrs. Toalson’s Reading Workshop. |
| D．In Mrs. Toalson’s Reading Workshop, only the best student can lie down reading. |
Who got the chance to use the bathtub in that class?
| A．A student whose table was last called. |
| B．The student who sat at the table quietly. |
| C．The student who got the last cushion. |
| D．A student whose table was first called. |
The purpose of the passage is to ________.
| A．tell us how to use a bathtub in the classroom |
| B．introduce us a new way of teaching style |
| C．teach us how to organize reading activifies in class |
| D．show us the importance of reading poses |
About 35 percent of British adults sleep with teddy bears. Many more share a bed with a partner or spouse. Others still co - sleep, alongside children in a family bed.
But lying with your iPad? A recent survey by marketing agency Rosette found that 68 percent of tablet owners use the device in the bedroom, more than in any other location. The living room took a close second place, at 63 percent, reports AdAge. com, and only 45 percent of respondents said they use their tablets on the go.
But bringing devices into the bedroom is a bad idea, if quality rest is your goal. One of the most important factors of sleepiness is darkness, which signals to the brain that it’s time to start speeding up production of the sleep - inducing hormone melatonin. But as the New York Times points out, in our modern world, we are exposed to light long after the sun sets. While any type of light can disturb your sleep, the blue wavelength light given off by cell phones, laptops, tablets and other gadgets is particularly troublesome. Research shows that this blue light causes alertness so decisively that it can actually be used to fight tiredness.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, 95 percent of Americans use some device, whether it’s a TV, laptop, cell phone or other products, within an hour of killing time. “Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night push our sleeping sense to a later hour - making it more difficult to fall asleep,” said Charles Czeisler, Ph. D. , M. D. , chief of the division of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Instead, experts recommend turning off all devices an hour before bedtime and finding another method for relaxation, like reading a book, taking a warm bath or performing a series of calming yoga poses. It’s also a good idea to exercise and lay off the caffeine several hours before bedtime. According to a recent survey, most tablet owners use their iPad ________.
| A．in the living room | B．in the bedroom |
| C．in the office | D．on the move |
What can we know from this passage?
| A．The light from cell phones is harmful |
| B．Modern people have trouble falling asleep |
| C．Darkness can create a good sleeping environment |
| D．Blue light can prevent sleepiness decreasing |
If we often play with a laptop just before sleep, we’ll be more likely to ________.
| A．dream of it | B．stay awake | C．feel sleepy | D．become tired |