Women were friends, I once would have said, when they totally love and support and trust each other, and bear to each other the secrets of their souls, and run—no questions asked—to help each other, and tell harsh truths to each other(No, you can’t wear that dress unless you lose ten pounds first.) when these truths must be told.
In other words, I once would have said that a friend is a friend all the way, but now I believe that’s narrow point of view. Friendships serve many different functions，meet different needs and range from those as all-the-way as the friendship of the soul sisters mentioned above to that of the most casual playmates.
Convenience friends are women with whom we’d have no particular reason to be friends: a next-door neighbor or the mother of one of our children’s closest friends. They’ll lend us their cups for a party. They’ll drive our kids to school when we’re sick. They’ll take us to pick up our car when we need a lift .As we will for them. But we don’t , with convenience friends, ever come too close or tell too much; we maintain our public face and emotional distance.
Special-interest friends aren’t intimate（亲密）,and they needn’t involve kids or cats. Their value lies in some interest jointly shared .And so we may have an office friend or a tennis friend.
“I’ve got one woman friend,” says Joyce,” who likes, as I do, to take music courses, which makes it nice for me and her. I’d say that what we’re doing is doing together, not being together.”
Crossroads friends are important for what was for the friendship we shared at a crucial（关键的）,now past, time of life. A time, perhaps, when we roomed in college together or went together through pregnancy, birth and that scary first year of new motherhood.
Crossroads friends develop powerful links, links strong enough to endure with not much more contact than once-a-year letters at Christmas. And out of respect for those crossroads years, for those dramas and dreams we once shared, we will always be friends.
Crossroads friends seem to maintain a special kind of intimacy ----dormant（休眠的） but always ready to be revived（复活） ---and though we may rarely meet ,whenever we do connect, it’s personal and strong. Another kind of intimacy exists in the cross-generational friendships, the friends that form across generation in what one woman calls her daughter-mother and her mother-daughter relationships.
There are good friends, pretty good friends and very good friends, and these friendships are defined by their level of intimacy. We might tell a good friend, for example, that yesterday we had a fight with our husband. And we might tell a pretty good friend that this fight with our husband made us so mad that we slept on the couch. And we might tell a very good friend that the reason we got so mad in that fight that we slept on the couch had something to do with a girl who works in his office. But it’s only to our very best friends that we’re willing to tell all, to tell what’s going on with that girl in his office.The underlined word “harsh”(in Para.1)probably means “------“
| A．protective | B．impossible |
| C．unpleasant | D．unbelievable |
What can we know about convenience friends?
| A．People may share their sorrow and pain with their convenience friends. |
| B．People may borrow a large sum of money from their convenience friends. |
| C．People may ask their convenience friends to pick up their children for them. |
| D．People would like to seek comfort and convenience from their convenience friends. |
What is the similarity between crossroads friends and cross-generational friends?
| A．They often write to each other but never meet. |
| B．They become friends at a crucial time of their life. |
| C．They both enjoy a special kind of intimacy with each other. |
| D．The relationship usually exists between mothers and daughters. |
The friendships in the passage are classified（分类） according to _________.
| A．different stages of one’s life |
| B．the purpose of making friends |
| C．how people make friends with others |
| D．how close the relationship is |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The value of friendship |
| B．How to make lasting friendships |
| C．Ways to avoid destroying your friendship |
| D．Friends, good friends and such good friends |
Manners nowadays in metropolitan cities like London are practically non-existence, it’s nothing for a big, strong schoolboy to elbow an elderly woman aside in the dash for the last remaining seat on the tube or bus, much less stand up and offer his seat to her.
This question of giving up seats in public transport is much argued by young men, who say that, since women have claimed equality, they no longer deserve to be treated with courtesy 礼貌、谦让) and that those who go out to work should take their turn in the rat race like anyone else. Women have never claimed to be physically as strong as men. Even if it is not agreed, however, that young men should stand up for younger women, the fact remains that courtesy should be shown to the old, the sick and the burdened. Are we really so lost to all ideals of unselfishness that we can sit there indifferently reading the paper or a book, saying to ourselves “First come, first severed”, while a grey-haired woman, a mother with a young child stands? Yet this is all too often seen.
Older people, tired and quick-tempered from a day's work, are not angels, either-far from it. Many a brisk argument or an insulting quarrel breaks out as the weary queues push and shove each other to get on buses and tubes. One cannot commend this, of course, but on does feel there is just a little more excuse.
If cities are to remain pleasant places to live in at all, however, it seems imperative（迫切的）, not only that communications in transport should be improved, but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite. All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and too rushed to be polite. Shop assistant's won't bother to assist, taxi drivers growl at each other as they dash dangerously round corners, bus conductors pull the bell before their desperate passengers have had time to get on or off the bus, and so on and so on. It seems to us that it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration（恶化）. What is the writer's opinion concerning courteous manners towards women?
| A．Since women have claimed equality, they no longer need to be treated differently from men. |
| B．It is generally considered old-fashioned for young men to give up their seats to young women. |
| C．"Lady First" should be universally practiced. |
| D．Special consideration ought to be shown to them. |
According to the passage communication between human beings would not be smoother unless ________.
| A．people were more considerate towards each other |
| B．people were not so tired and quick-tempered |
| C．women were treated with more courtesy |
| D．public transport could be improved. |
The author probably does NOT agree that in big cities _______.
| A．Life will be even worse if no change is made |
| B．transport conditions are rather poor |
| C．it’s not uncommon to see people quarrel in public places |
| D．it’s unreasonable to require the tired people to be polite |
The main purpose of the author is to ________.
| A．call on people in big cities to pay more attention to politeness |
| B．blame the schoolboys’ rude behavior towards elderly women on the tube or bus |
| C．criticize the fast pace of city life |
| D．tell young men to give their seats to elderly people |
How could you describe the tone of this passage?
| A．acceptable | B．opponent |
| C．negative | D．encouraging |
Last night was the last game for my eight-year-old son’s soccer team. It was the final quarter. The score was two to one, and my son’s team was in the lead. Parents surrounded the playground, offering encouragement.
With less than ten seconds remaining, the ball suddenly rolled in front of my son’s teammate, Mickey O’Donnell. With “Kick it!” echoing across the playground, Mickey turned around and gave it everything he had. All around me the crowd erupted. O’Donnell had scored!
Then there was silence. Mickey had scored all right, but in the wrong goal, ending the game in a tie. For a moment there was a total hush. You see, Mickey has Down syndrome(综合症) and for him there was no such thing as a wrong goal. All goals were celebrated by a joyous hug from Mickey. He had even been known to hug the opposing players when they scored.
The silence was finally broken when Mickey, his face filled with joy, hugged my son tightly and shouted, “I scored! I scored! Everybody won! Everybody won!” For a moment I held my breath, not sure how my son would react. I need not have worried. I watched, through tears, as my son threw up his hand in the classic high-five salute and started chanting, “Way to go Mickey! Way to go Mickey!” Within moments both teams surrounded Mickey, joining in the chant and congratulating him on his goal.
Later that night, when my daughter asked who had won, I smiled as I replied, “It was a tie. Everybody won.” The underlined word “hush” in paragraph 3 means ________.
| A．cheer. | B．cry | C．laughter | D．silence |
What did the author worry about when Mickey scored and hugged his son?
| A．The result of the match would fail his son. |
| B．His son would shout at Mickey for his goal. |
| C．Mickey would again hug the opposing players. |
| D．His son would understand Mickey’s wrong goal. |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
| A．both teams liked and respected Mickey |
| B．both teams were thankful to Mickey for his goal |
| C．Mickey didn’t mind though his goal was wrong |
| D．Mickey was a kind-hearted boy and hoped everybody won |
The purpose of the author in writing the passage is _____.
| A．to tell a joke to make readers laugh |
| B．to suggest we should not mind losing |
| C．to show enjoying a game is more than winning a game |
| D．to present his son’s fine qualities of understanding others |
Connecting with Patients
Dr. Paris often treats several generations of a family over many years. “He’s seen us through two births, one operation, multiple earaches, a broken wrist and a recovery from a serious traffic crash,” says Jill Farrow, a 43-year-old lawyer whose first visit to Dr. Paris was as a teenager. During the birth of her younger son, Farrow began bleeding badly. Dr. Paris managed to solve the problem in a delicate procedure. “Twenty years ago, she probably would have died,” he says. Today, when he performs school sports physical examinations for the Farrow boys, 10 and 11, he is always reminded that lives are changed forever by doctors just doing their jobs.
To be a mix of country doc and somewhat adventurer, the 55-year-old family physician moved to Hailey after completing his residency（医生实习期）. He hoped to practice medicine there and ski at nearby Sun Valley. Unfortunately, the only job opening was for an emergency-room doctor in Missoula, Montana, 300 miles away. Dr. Paris took it. "I'd ski all day and then drive all night to be in Missoula for a 48-hour shift," he recalls. "I'm lucky to be alive." Knowing he couldn't keep up with his eight-hour commute（通勤）, he began taking flying lessons.
In 1981, Dr. Paris joined a small medical practice in Hailey, a former mining town with a population at the time of 2,109. As Hailey grew in the shadow of Sun Valley's booming popularity, Dr. Paris's own practice expanded to seven physicians, including his wife, Kathryn Woods, who is also a family doctor. They met in 1986 at a certification exam in Denver when, in a room full of men in stodgy suits, Woods arrived wearing a Lycra biking outfit and carrying the front wheel of her bicycle (which she couldn't lock up outside). Dr. Paris asked her out on the spot. In 1989, they married.What Jill Farrow says is to indicate ________.
| A．how weak the bodies of her family |
| B．how hard it is to be a doctor |
| C．how brilliant the physician’s skill is |
| D．how easy it is to deal with such problems |
Dr. Paris often reminds himself that ________.
| A．lives of people should not always stay the same |
| B．people can rely on themselves to change their life |
| C．doctors should change their own life |
| D．it is the duty of a doctor to heal the patients |
Why did Dr. Paris move to Hailey?
| A．Because he can be a doctor and an adventurer there. |
| B．Because he has to finish his residency there. |
| C．Because his children are fond of skiing at nearby Sun Valley. |
| D．Because he has to be an emergency-room doctor there. |
We can infer the doctor got married probably at the age of ________.
| A．27. | B．37. | C．17. | D．47. |
This passage is intended to ________.
| A．introduce Dr. Paris |
| B．praise the doctor’s excellent medical art |
| C．describe the doctor’s adventurous experience |
| D．tell the doctor’s love affairs |
"Reduce, reuse and recycle, this familiar environmentalist slogan tells us how to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfills and waterways.
The concept is being used to deal with one possibly dangerous form of waste – electronic junk (电子垃圾), such as old computers, cell-phones, and televisions. But this process for managing e-waste may be used in an unscrupulous way more often than not used, a recent report suggests.
“A lot of these materials are being sent to developing nations under the excuse of reuse – to bridge the digital divide,” said Richard Gutierrez, a policy researcher.
One of the problems is that no one proves whether these old machines work before they hit the seaways. Because of this, the report says, e-waste is a growing problem in Lagos, Nigeria, and elsewhere in the developing world. Much of the waste ends up being thrown away along rivers and roads. Often it’s picked apart by poor people, who may face dangerous exposure to poisonous chemicals in the equipment.
Businessmen also pay workers a little money to get back materials such as gold and copper. This low-tech recovery process could expose workers and the local environment to many dangerous materials used to build electronics. According to Gutierrez, this shadow economy exists because the excuse of recycling and reusing electronics gives businessmen “a green passport” to ship waste around the globe. “Developing nations must take upon some of the responsibility themselves,” Gutierrez said. But, he added, “A greater portion of this responsibility should fall on the exporting state.”
China, for example, has become a dumping place for large amounts of e-waste. The nation is beginning to take action to stop the flow of dangerous materials across its borders. The Chinese government, after many years of denial, is finally beginning to take the lead.The underlined word “unscrupulous” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.
| A．unsafe | B．tricky | C．wrong | D．immoral |
What does the fourth paragraph mainly discuss?
| A．Old computers and TVs still work before they are sent abroad. |
| B．Poor people break up e-waste to collect some valuable materials. |
| C．A lot of e-waste is dumped in developing countries. |
| D．The problem of e-waste is growing in developing countries. |
From what Gutierrez said we can learn that ________.
| A．exporting countries should mainly be responsible for this problem. |
| B．neither rich nor poor countries should be blamed for this problem |
| C．developing countries should be responsible for this problem |
| D．poor countries should blamed for this problem |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _______.
| A．China has hidden a large amount of e-waste in many secret places |
| B．China has greatly changed hre idea about the problem of e-waste |
| C．China has prevented poisonous materials from entering China for a long time |
| D．China is falling behind other countries in dealing with e-wast |
The passage mainly tells us that _______.
| A．developing countries are facing serious environmental problems |
| B．e-waste is a growing problem in developed countries |
| C．e-waste is sent to developing countries under the excuse of reuse |
| D．developing countries are making full use of e-waste |
Climate change experts from the Tyndall Climate Research Centre in Britain have said urgent action is needed to curb the rapid growth in air travel if the government is to meet its commitments on tackling global warming. This report from Stephen Evans:
Falling ticket prices and rising incomes are leading to rapid growth in global air travel. According to the British government, the number of British air passengers, for example, will more than double in the next quarter of a century. Increases of such an order would mean much more aviation fuel being burned and aviation fuel may be more harmful to the environment than other fuels because the resulting smoke is emitted at high altitudes.
A group of scientists at the environmental research group, the Tyndall Centre, says that if Britain is to meet its overall target for cutting damaging emissions, other uses of fuel like for heating homes or driving cars would have to be cut dramatically.
The British government wants the use of aviation fuel covered by international agreement on the environment. The difficulty for any individual government is that taxing fuel used at its own airports might push airlines to move their operations to competing airports in other countries.Which statement is TRUE?
| A．A lot of people around the world have recently stopped flying because they have less money to spend and the price of plane tickets is going up |
| B．Half as many people as today will fly in the next 25 years. |
| C．Because more planes are suing more flight petrol and more pollution is being produced in the sky. |
| D．The British government would like all countries to agree not to tax airline fuel. |
Which is the reason that leads to the rapid growth in global air travel?
| A．The increase of incomes and the decrease of ticket prices. |
| B．The growth of the number of good planes. |
| C．The falling of the oil price. |
| D．The encouragement of the governments. |
The Tyndall Centre says ________.
| A．the number of British air passengers will more than double in the next quarter of a century. |
| B．Britain will have to use less energy at home and on the roads to meet the goal of cutting pollution. |
| C．If airports are taxed for using fuel by each country’s government, then airlines might use other airports with cheaper fuel taxes. |
| D．Only the use of aviation fuel needs to be cut down to meet the overall target for cutting damaging emissions. |
What’s the best title of the text?
| A．Falling Ticket Prices and Rising Incomes |
| B．Growth in Air Travel Harms Environment |
| C．Rapid Growth in Global Air Travel |
| D．More Flight Petrol, More smoke |