1.MeanoldladiesThereisalwaysar-优题课

If I were writing a history of my family, some of the darkest moments recorded would be those surrounding Christmas trees．One would certainly think otherwise；selecting and puRing up our trees have always been filled with risk．For example，one afternoon dangerously close to Christmas Eve my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain，a glorious tree that was so full and tall that we could hardly get it into the house．Once we did，my father immediately realized that we would have to hire a carpenter to build a stand for it．Another December perhaps the very next one，we bought a tree earlier than we ever had before．We were happy with its shape and delighted that its size was manageable．We easily placed it in a stand，decorated it from top to bottom，and then self satisfiedly sat back by the fire in its soft light．Two or three days passed and the truth could not be hidden；we had bought a tree cut so long ago that its needles were coming off．There was nothing to do but undecorate it，take it down，and begin tree shopping again．Our most recent Christmas tree offered still another difficult task．When we brought it home，once again it seemed larger than it was in the great outdoors．I persuaded two young neighbors to stop playing basketball and to help us get the tree into the house and set it correctly in the stand．Unfortunately，no one noticed the mud on our helpers’shoes，so only after removing several reddish brown spots from the carpet were we able to discuss the question of where the lights and ornaments（装饰）were stored．Perhaps those who cut their own trees have tales more painful than these．I don’t care to hear them，as my family’s experiences are enough to cause me to make the following suggestion：”Let’s forget the tree next Christmas．Let’s simply hang some flowers on the front door and over the mirror in the hall．”
The darkest moments in the writer’s family were with the fact that ______．

A．the family bought big Christmas trees

B．they had problems decorating their Christmas trees

C．they had problems picking suitable Christmas trees

D．they had problems finding carpenters for putting up Christmas trees

We can learn from the passage that the writer would like to ______．

A．forget about Christmas stories

B．get the neighbors to put up their trees

C．buy a better tree to celebrate Christmas

D．make other decorations rather than Christmas trees

When the writer said”my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain”，he means____．

A．she bought the tree at a low price

B．she didn’t really want to buy it

C．she had to bargain hard with the salesman

D．she couldn’t afford a more expensive one

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage ?

A．How to Select a Christmas Tree	B．No More Christmas Trees for Us
C．Dark Moments of Life	D．Christmas Without Trees

If you thought sports stars Yao Ming and Liu Xiang or Internet entrepreneurs Zhang Chaoyang and Ding Lei would automatically be on the list of the” Men of Our Time”，then you could be behind the times．
The surprise in the list of 10 men released by the All-China Women’s Federation yesterday is that it contains no celebrities- and the guiding factors seem to be care and sympathy for the opposite sex．
In fact，Liu and Yao，as well as actor Pu Cunxin—the image ambassador for China’s anti-HIV，AIDS campaign—appeared in a booklet given out at the contest’s launch ceremony in January．The federation wouldn’t say why they are not in the final list．
The winners，with an average age of 47．5，were selected by women officials and journalists of the nine women’s newspapers in China，whose standard was men promoting equality between the sexes．
Li Zhong hua, a 46-year—old air force officer who test-flies planes，said he thought he was chosen because” he takes good care of his family，and is a gentleman”．
”Gentlemen get more respect in our society．They should be like those in the movie Titanic，who let women and children lave first in life rafts。”he told China Daily．
Shi Hua shan，a 48-year-old policeman in Gui xi of Jiangxi Province，said that he became a”man in the eyes of women” because” women love stories of heroes saving beauties"．
His team has rescued more than 180 women who were taken away by force and sold as wives in the mountain regions of Fujian Province．
Some other” Men of Our Time” are：
Lang Jinghe，67，gynecologist at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing，who has made breakthroughs in ovarian cancer；
Ma Li，33，official in Xuzhou of Jiangsu Province，whose shelter has helped 196 victims of domestic violence；Li Mingshull，43，lawyer in Beijing，who is active in campaigns against family violence；Liu Ri，51，a mine worker in Lu’an of Shanxi Province，who took care of his paralyzed
parents·in-law for 23 years with his wife．
Which of the following statements is right?

A．Liu Xiang, a sports star, was on the list of the “Men of Our Time”．

B．LiZhonghua was a man in the eyes of women because he was an excellent air force officer．

C．Shi Huashan rescued women from forced marriages

D．The honor was given to Pu Cunxin at the launch ceremony in January．

Who is among the“Men of Our Time”?

A．Yao Ming

B．Ma Li

C．Pu Cunxin

D．Liu Xiang

The underlined word “celebrities” in the second paragraph most probably means______．

A．famous scientists	B．famous actors
C．well-known people	D．well．known sports stars

This passage is most probably taken from——．

A．a science magazine	B．an advertising booklet
C．a travel brochure	D．a newspaper

阅读文章后，从第54至58题所给A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案。
Most people call it "body language" —the clues（线索） to the meaning that we get from gesture, facial expressions, posture —everything that isn't spoken．Experts call it "nonverbal communication," but it means the same thing: a second source of human communication that is often more reliable to understanding what is really going on than the words themselves．
Understanding body language is important to success, whether in the business world or in our personal lives．However, most of our ideas about body language are wrong, according to modern communication research．
There is a belief that people with shifty （变化的） eyes are probably lying．As Paul Ekman says, "When we asked people how they could tell if someone was lying, too much blinking（眨眼） and shifty eyes were the winners．But sometimes people act like that because they are shy．Liars pretend to be calm in order not to be caught．
Ekman goes on to argue against such a wrong belief．Although this kind of body language is probably an expression of nervousness, it is not always because the person is lying．Shyness can, for example, make people shift their eyes．To understand what someone's behavior means, you have to watch them carefully．
There is also a belief that when meeting someone, the more eye contact, the better．As a result people would like to make initial （开始的） contact in formal situations, like a job interview, by staring fixedly at the other human．Yet Ekman points out that most of us are comfortable with eye contact lasting a few seconds, but any eye contact that is longer than that can make us nervous．
In short, you must carefully consider the speaker and the speaking environment．Experts suggest that unless you know about someone's basic communication style, you will have little hope in understanding their true feelings through body language．In other words, body language carries important but not always true messages．
According to the passage, body language is _____．

A．a language that is not spoken	B．a clue to get the meaning
C．a reflection of people's behaviors	D．a source of human communication

The word "that" in paragraph 3 refers to ____．

A．blinking

B．lying

C．staring

D．pretending

From the passage we can learn that ____．

A．there is no doubt that a liar has shifty eyes

B．people sometimes blink because of shyness

C．eye contact lasting a few seconds can make us nervous

D．understanding body language is more helpful in business

How many examples are given by the writer to support his point of view?

A．1．

B．2．

C．3．

D．4．

It can be inferred from the passage that _____．

A．body language is trustworthy in telling who is lying

B．body language helps us better understand other people

C．sometimes we can't judge a person by watching his body language

D．the speaker and

the speaking environment are important to a person's body language

阅读文章后，从第50至53题所给A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案。
For the first 10 years after the Wright brothers' original flight in 1903, flying was only a sport．It was a pastime for daredevils （不怕死的人）．One very determined daredevil was Bessie Coleman．She was the first black woman to fly an airplane．
Coleman, born in Texas in 1892, the tenth of 13 children, dreamed of becoming a pilot．To earn money for flying lessons, she washed other people's laundry．At the age of 19 she took a train to Chicago, where she began to study in a beauty school．For five years she worked in a barbershop, and then she looked for a flying school．There were none in the United States that would teach women, but Coleman heard that there were schools in France that would．So she studied the language and sailed off to France．
When she returned to the United States in 1921, Coleman was the first licensed black woman pilot．Her "aerial acrobatic （航空特技）exhibitions" impressed audiences．She took her airplane through loop-the-loops and flew upside down．She did slow rolls and sharp rolls．Audiences were amazed when she performed a move called "falling leaf．"
Coleman became a famous person．She performed her acrobatic flights all over the country．She also spoke to African-American audiences in schools, churches, and theatres．Fly, she told them．Be a part of the new aviation（航空） industry．Many young African-American men listened to her．Some became honored military pilots during World War II．Many others made their careers in aviation．
On April 29, 1926, Coleman was flying when a tool carelessly left in the airplane hit the control stick．The plane went into a dive and did not recover．The daring 34-year-old pilot was killed．
Bessie Coleman went to France to ____．

A．work in a barbershop	B．study the language
C．look for a flying school	D．take flying lessons

Which of the following is probably an "aerial acrobatic"?

A．Flying upside down．	B．Speaking to audiences．
C．Getting a pilot's licence．	D．Impressing audiences．

The underlined word "exhibition" in paragraph 3 means _____．

A．a holding back	B．a public show
C．falling leaf	D．loop-the-loops

What would be the best title for the passage?

A．An early daredevil	B．The first flying woman
C．A pioneer in aviation	D．The first licensed black pilot

阅读文章后，从第55至58题所给A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案
America’s No.1 health problem？A report published by the American Institute of Stress claims the biggest threat to health today is neither cancer nor AIDS．The report says：“it has been estimated that 75-90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related problems．’’
It is no exaggeration（夸张）to say that people today are being attacked by stress．According to the National Consumers League，“Work is the top source of stress for adults who have problems and stress in their lives（39％）．Other sources include health（10％），concern about the economy（9％）and concern about international conflict and terrorism（4％）”
However, stress is hardly unique to the United States A British survey in 2005 estimated that ‘‘over half a million individuals in Britain believed in 2004 that they were experiencing work-related stress at a level that was making them ill”．As a result of“work-related stress,depression or anxiety”, there are“an estimated thirteen and a half million reported lost working days per year in Britain”
The picture is no less bleak in mainland Europe. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work．“work-related stress has been shown to affect millions of European workers across all types of employment sectors’’ One survey revealed that there are “about 41 million workers affected by work-related stress each year．”
What about Asia？A report issued by a conference held in Tokyo concluded，“Job stress is a common concern among many countries in the world，both developing and industrialized countries”．The report observed that“several countries in East Asia，including China and Korea, have rapidly industrialized and economically grown”．These countries now have a lot of concerns on job stress and its harmful effects on workers’ health.
Which of the followings is NOT true？