When Nancy Lublin got $5,000 from her grandpa in 1996, she never once considered taking a vacation or paying off student loans .Instead, the 24-year-old New York University law student began thinking about helping low-income women get better jobs. "If a woman goes for a job interview poorly dressed, she won't get the job." Lublin says. “ but without a job, she can't afford suitable clothes."
So with the money Lublin founded "Dress for Success” and began collecting women's clothes which were still in good condition but which their owners no longer needed. "So many women have clothes lying around that they will never wear again," one of Lublin's assistants says "Nancy's idea is so simple and yet so important to women."
Many women come to Lublin's office before going to a job interview. Here, they receive a suit, shoes and any other things they need. Since it was set up, more than 1,000 women have turned to "Dress for Success" for help. Many of them have won jobs. Some have round jobs after being out of work for many years. Jenny, a 32-year-old woman who was recently hired as a law-firm office manager , says, "I made a good impression because of “Dress for Success”What can we learn from the text?
| A．Low-income women can get jobs at "Dress for Success" |
| B．Nancy's office gathers used clothes from women |
| C．Nancy's grandfather lent her the money to set up the office. |
| D．Nancy set up "Dress for Success" to make money. |
"Dress for Success" attracts many women because they_______
| A．prefer buying clothes at a low price |
| B．like to wear different clothes. |
| C．need to look smart when looking for a job. |
| D．like the design of the dresses |
From what Jenny says, we know that ______.
| A．she got a lot of good ideas from Nancy |
| B．"Dress for Success" has a good business relation with her firm. |
| C．clothes from Nancy's office helped to get her a job. |
| D．she is working happily at her present job |
What would be a good title for the text?
| A．Nancy: A Successful Law Student. |
| B． A Helping Hand for Women |
| C．Keep Your Old Clothes |
| D．A Successful Clothing Business |
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity (密切关系) to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, “Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this: “Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
A good book is often the best urn(瓮) of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, if remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort.
Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effects of time have been to filter out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.A good book may be among the best of friends because_____.
| A．it changes over the past of time |
| B．it contains all kinds of knowledge |
| C．it doesn’t betray us when we are in trouble |
| D．it comforts us in youth and instructs us in age |
“Love me, love my book” in paragraph 3 probably means _______?
| A．If you love me, you must reading books. |
| B．The book can be a bond between friends. |
| C．I love books as much I love friends. |
| D．If you love the author, you will love his books. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Time can tell whether a literature is good or bad. |
| B．All books are our constant companions and comforters. |
| C．Temples, statues and books cannot stand the test of time. |
| D．The world of a man’s thoughts is what his life is all about. |
The best title for this passage can be.
| A．Reading Books | B．A Good Book |
| C．Our Best Friend | D．Companionship of Books |
For high school leavers starting out in the working world, it is very important to learn particular skills and practice how to behave in an interview or how to find an internship (实习). In some countries, schools have programs to help students onto the path to work. In the United States, however, such programs are still few and far behind.
Research shows that if high schools provide career-related courses, students are likely to get higher earnings in later years. The students are more likely to stay in school, graduate and go on to higher education.
In Germany, students as young as 13 and 14 are expected to do internships. German companies work with schools to make sure that young people get the education they need for future employment.
But in America, education reform programs focus on how well students do in exams instead of bringing them into contact with the working world. Harvard Education school professor Robert Schwartz has criticized education reformers for trying to place all graduates directly on the four-year college track. Schwartz argued that this approach leaves the countrys most vulnerable(易受影响的)kids with no jobs and no skills.
Schwartz believed that the best career programs encourage kids to go for higher education while also teach them valuable practical skills at high school. James Madison High School in New York, for example ,encourages students to choose classes on career-based courses. The school then helps them gain on-the-job experience in those fields while theyre still at high school.
However, even for teens whose schools encourage them to connect with work, the job market is daunting. In the US, unemployment rates for 16-to-19-year-olds are above 20 percent for the third summer in a row.
“The risk is that if teenagers miss out on the summer job experience, they will become part of this generation of teens who had trouble in landing a job, said Michael, a researcher in the US. In the authors opinion, German high school leavers ______.
| A．enjoy more career-related courses than that of US |
| B．need more career advice from their schools |
| C．perform better in exams than American students |
| D．are less brought into contact with the working world |
According to Robert Schwartz, high school students should _________.
| A．directly carry on higher education |
| B．get contact with the working world |
| C．focus on their performance in exams |
| D．not miss out on the summer job experience |
The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 6 most probably mean “______”.
| A．incredible | B．motivating |
| C．impressive | D．discouraging |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Remarks on recent US high school education reform |
| B．Tips on finding jobs for high school leavers in US. |
| C．The lack of career-based education in US high schools. |
| D．The severe situation of unemployment in US. |
Dyslexia is a learning disorder, it interferes with the ability to recognize words, and for some readers to understand what they have read. Experts say dyslexia affects about five to ten percent of the population of the United States. Researchers have long known that people with dyslexia write or read words and lettersbackwards in the wrong order.
But a new study shows that people with dyslexia may have trouble redirecting their attention between senses, from seeing something to hearing something. The study suggests something that might help dyslexicpeople learn more quickly - play video games.
Vanessa Harrar of Britain’s University of Oxford led the study. She reported the findings in the journalCurrent Biology. The study suggests that dyslexic people may have trouble moving quickly from what they read to what they hear.
In the study, Doctor Harrar tested 17 people with dyslexia, and 19 others without reading problems. The volunteers were asked to push a button as quickly as possible when they heard a sound, saw a light or experienced both together. Doctor Harrar compared the speed of their reactions. She found that people with dyslexia were just as fast as the others when they saw only a picture or heard only a sound. But the Dyslexicshad a slower reaction time when they heard a sound and saw a picture at the same time, this may have an effect on how dyslexic children are taught how to read.
Doctor Harrar feels like playing video games could help dyslexic people shift from seeing to hearing more quickly. She adds that images in video games force the eyes to move and focus quickly. “Video game types of things pop out of here and there, they move your eyes around the screen quite quickly in response to things quite quickly, and the more you play a video game the faster you get that kind of thing. So, the video game is really training the attention system to move quickly,” said Harrar. When children learn the alphabet, they usually see the letter first and then hear the sound, or they see and hear the letter at the same time. The study shows that Dyslexics might learn more quickly if they hear the sound of a letter or word first before seeing it.According to Doctor Harrars study, the dyslexic people have difficulty in______.
| A．recognizing words |
| B．reading words backwards |
| C．writing letters in order |
| D．shifting from seeing to hearing |
Which factor affects the way dyslexic children are taught to read?
| A．They react more slowly to a single picture or sound |
| B．They react as fast as others to a single picture or sound |
| C．It takes them longer to react to sounds and pictures together |
| D．It is difficult for them to understand before seeing the word |
How does the author suggest Dyslexics are taught based on the research finding?
| A．by putting hearing previous to seeing |
| B．by training the attention on games |
| C．by seeing first and then hearing later |
| D．by moving the eyes around the screen |
What can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Video Games Might Help Dyslexics |
| B．Dyslexia Affects Attention between Senses |
| C．Video Games Can Train the Attention System |
| D．Dyslexics Might Learn Better through Sound |
One of those big social networking sites, Facebook, has attracted over 58 million members. Commentator Melody Cramer is no longer one of them. Here is what she shares with us about her story.
I deleted all 1,281 of my co¬workers, second¬grade classmates and people who I don’t know at all. I shut down my account, completely. I’m 30, and I’ve been on Facebook since March of 2004, which makes me one of the website’s earliest users.
At first, I used it obsessively. If I had a free moment, I’d log on to see whether my friends had updated their profiles. I’d sit alone scrolling through these updates and then run into someone at a coffee shop and have nothing to say because I already knew everything about them, and they knew everything about me.
In November, I went to my ten¬year high school reunion and was not pleasantly surprised. Lauren became a model, Josh went to law school, Dina was a teacher. I hadn’t talked to any of them since graduation, but I knew exactly what they were doing, both now and last week. But lately, I’m overwhelmed(应接不暇). Facebook opened up to everyone, not just college students, and my co¬workers started to join, which meant they now knew what I was doing when I wasn’t at work.
And as a rule: you can NOT make friends with your coworkers because then they’ll ask you the next day. But I thought we were friends. And you are friends but not the kind of friends who tell each other what they do outside of work. So now the people you work with can see what you did last night, and you’re constantlyworrying what people might say about what you did last night instead of actually doing anything tonight.So I quit. I became a 30¬year¬old Luddite, a person who is strongly against technology development. I’ve returned to how the world worked when I was 20, before I knew when my friends and co¬workers were counting down the seconds to vacation or entering a complicated relationship. I’m hoping life will be a lot simpler now. People
will be more mysterious now that I actually have to talk to them to find out their favorite books or hobbies orneurosis(神经症). I don’t know when my college roommate goes to the supermarket, and I think I’m a better person for not knowing. In fact, you could say getting off a social network was the best thing I’ve done this week.Melody Cramer decided to quit Facebook mainly because ______.
| A．she thought it wasted too much time |
| B．she was afraid of the strangers on her account |
| C．she was tired of exposing her life to co¬workers |
| D．she thought it made real¬world life less interesting |
We can learn from the passage that Melody Cramer ______.
| A．had a 10¬year membership of Facebook |
| B．used to be very objected to Facebook |
| C．was unpleasant to attend high school reunion |
| D．was one of the co-founders of Facebook |
Which of the following about Melody Cramer is TRUE?
| A．She owes her communication skills to Facebook. |
| B．She wishes she could be several years younger. |
| C．She prefers to face her friends and co-worders in reality. |
| D．She is no longer curious about anything around her. |
The best title for this passage can be _____.
| A．Addiction to Facebook |
| B．Farewell to Facebook |
| C．Friends Online |
| D．A Simpler Life |
When you are little, the whole world feels like a big playground. I was living in Conyers, Georgia the summer it all happened. I was a second grader, but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade. Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.
It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie's basement. As I opened the basement door, before us lay the biggest room, full of amazing things like guns, dolls, and old clothes. I ran downstairs, and spotted a red steel can. It was paint. I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple, orange, blue and green.
"Stephanie, I just found us a project for the day. Get some paintbrushes. We are fixing to paint. " She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work. We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard. There on the road in front of my house, we painted big stripes (条纹) of colors across the pavement (人行道). Stripe by stripe, our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow. It was wonderful!
The sun was starting to sink. I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car. It was my mother. I couldn't wait to show her my masterpiece. The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother's face, I could tell that I was in deep trouble.
My mother shut the car door and walked towards me. Her eyes glaring, she shouted, "What in the world were you thinking? I understood when you made castles out of leaves, and climbed the neighbors' trees, but this! Come inside right now !" I stood there glaring back at her for a minute, angry because she had insulted (侮辱) my art.
"Now go clean it up!" Mother and I began cleaning the road. Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.
Though years have now passed, I still wonder where my rainbow has gone. I wonder if, maybe when I get older, I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away. I guess we all need some sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful. What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?
| A．To introduce Stephanie to her. |
| B．To prevent her from seeing his painting. |
| C．To put the materials back in the yard. |
| D．To show his artwork to her. |
In his mother's eyes, the writer ____________.
| A．was a born artist |
| B．always caused trouble |
| C．was a problem solver |
| D．worked very hard |
The underlined word “rainbow” in the last paragraph refers to_________.
| A．the rainbow in the sky |
| B．the stripes on the pavement |
| C．something imaginative and fun |
| D．important lessons learned in childhood |
It can be learned from the passage that parents should.
| A．encourage children to paint |
| B．value friendship among children |
| C．discover the hidden talent in children |
| D．protect rather than destroy children's dreams |