Yourschooldaysshouldbesomeofth-优题课

When Mrs．Joseph Groeger died recently in Vienna，Austria，people asked the obvious question,“Why did she live to be 107?” .Answers were provided by a survey conducted among 148 Viennese men and women who had reached the age of 100．Somewhat surprising was the fact that the majority had lived most of their lives in cities．In spite of the city’s image as an unhealthy place，city living often provides benefits that country living can lack．One factor seems to be important to the longevity(长寿)of those interviewed．
This factor is exercise．In the cities it is often faster to walk short distances than to wait for a bus．Even taking public transportation often requires some walking．Smaller apartment houses have no elevators(电梯)，and so people must climb stairs．City people can usually walk to local supermarkets. Since parking spaces are hard to find，there is often no alternative to walking．
On the other hand，those who live in the country and suburbs do not have to walk every day．In fact，the opposite is often true．To go to school，work，or almost anywhere else，they must ride in cars．
The Vienna survey may help to explain _____

A．the complaints of people in apartment houses

B．the cause of Mrs Groeger’s death

C．the longevity of people like Mrs．Groeger

D．the image of cities in general

The purpose of the second paragraph is to list some _____

A．benefits of walking

B．occasions for walking in city life

C．comments made by city people

D．problems of city living

To reach the third floor of a building, it would probably be most healthful __

A．to take the elevator

B．to walk up the stairs

C．to ride in a car

D．to find an alternative to walking

People who live in the country probably do more driving than walking because __

A．they don’t live near business areas

B．they don’t need the exercise

C．they never have parking problems

D．they can’t afford to take the bus

A conclusion that can be drawn from this passage is that__________

A．air pollution is not serious

B．anyone can live to be 107

C．country people should move to the city

D．walking is a healthful exercise

If we were asked exactly what we were doing a year ago，we should probably have to say that we could not remember. But if we had kept a book and had written in it an account of what we did each day，we should be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history .Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them .Sometimes men did keep a record of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war．Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to write．For example，we know a good deal about the people who lived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them．But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa, because they had not learned to write．
Sometimes, of course，even if the people cannot write，they may know something of the past．They have heard about it from older people，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations, for most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past．This we may call “remembered history”．Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us as written history is，because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing．But where there are no written records，such spoken stories are often very helpful．
Which of the following ideas is not suggested in the passage?

A．“Remembered history”，compared with written history，is less reliable

B．Written records of the past play the most important role in our learning of the human history．

C．A written account of our daily activities helps US to be able to answer many questions．

D．Where there are no written records．there is no history．

We know very little about the central Africa 200 years ago because ___

A．there was nothing worth being written down at that time

B．the people there ignored the importance of keeping a record

C．the written records were perhaps destroyed by a fire

D．the people there did not know how to write

“Remembered history” refers to ___．

A．history based on a person’s imagination

B．stories of important happenings passed down from mouth to mouth

C．songs and dances about the most important events

D．both B and C

“Remembered history”is regarded as valuable only when ____.

A．it is written down	B．no written account is available
C．it proves to be time	D．people are interested in it

The passage suggests that we could have learned much more about our past than we do now if the ancient people had _____

A．kept a written record of every past event

B．not burnt their written records in wars

C．told exact stories of the most important happenings

D．made more songs and dances

Although the United States covers so much land and the land produces far more food than the present population needs，its people are by now almost entirely an urban society . Less than a tenth of the people are engaged in agriculture and forestry(林业)，and most of the rest live in or around towns，small and large．Here the traditional picture is changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical small town may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live in small towns any more．Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1arge cities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each—a larger proportion than in Germany or England，let alone France)．The statistics(统计)of urban and rural population should be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as rural travel by car to work in a nearby town each day．As the rush to live out of town continues,rural areas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at what moment a piece of country becomes a suburb. But more and more the typical American lives in a metropolitan rather than a small town environment．
If now America has 250 million people．how many of them are engaged in agriculture and forestry?

A．About 25 million．	B．More than 25 million．
C．Less than 25 million．	D．Less than 225 million

Which of the following four countries has the smallest proportion of people living in metropolitan areas?

A．United States．

B．Germany．

C．France．

D．England．

What’s the meaning of the word “metropolitan” in the middle of the passage?

A．Of a large city with its suburbs．	B．Of small and large towns．
C．Of urban areas．	D．Of rural areas．

According to the passage，what can we learn about small towns in the United States?
A Most small towns become gradually crowded
B．Small towns are still similar to each other．
C．As the traditional picture is changing，towns are different．
D .Small towns are turning into large cities
Why is it hard to say when a piece of country becomes a suburb?

A．Because they are the same．

B．Because the rush takes place too quickly

C．Because the process is gradual．

D．Because more and more Americans live in metropolitan areas．

There are stories about two U．S . presidents，Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren，which attempt to explain the American English term OK．We don’t know if either story is true，but they are both interesting．
The first explanation is based on the fact that President Jackson had very little education．In fact，he had difficulty reading and writing．When important papers came to Jackson，he tried to read them and then had his assistants explain what they said．If he approved of a paper, he would write “all correct”on it．The problem was that he didn’t know how to spell．So what he really wrote was “ol korekt”．After a while，he shortened that term to “OK”．
The second explanation is based on the place where President Van Buren was born，Kinderhook，New York．Van Buren’s friends organized a club to help him become President .They called the club the Old Kinderhook Club，and anyone who supported Van Buren was called“OK”．
The author __________.

A．believes both of the stories

B．doesn’t believe a word of the stories

C．is not sure whether the stories are true

D．is telling the stories just for fun

According to the passage，President Jackson_____________.

A．couldn’t draw up any documents at all

B．didn’t like to read important papers by himself

C．often had his assistants sign documents for him

D．wasn’t good at reading，writing or spelling

According to the first story, the term “OK”_______________.

A．was approved of by President Jackson

B．was the title of some Official documents

C．was first used by President Jackson

D．was an old way to spell “all correct’’

According to the second story，the term ‘‘OK”_____________.

A．was the short way to say‘ ‘old Kinderhook Club”

B．meant the place where President Van Buren was born

C．was the name of Van Buren’s club

D．was used to call Van Buren’s supporters in the election

According to the second story, the term “OK” was first used ______________

A．by Van Buren

B．in a presidential election

C．to organize the Old Kinderhook Club

D．by the members of the ‘‘Old Kinderhook Club”

I got my first driver's license(执照)in 1953 by taking driver education in my first year at Central High School in Charlotte，North Carolina. Four years later when it was time to renew my license I was a married woman. Henry and I were living in Baltimore，Maryland. Two weeks before my 20th birthday，Henry drove me to the motor vehicle office on a hot July afternoon. When I got to the office and showed to the man behind the counter my North Carolina driver’ s license，ready to renew，the man told me that I was under age by Maryland law since I was not yet 21.“Mr.Henry Smith，your husband，will have to sign for you，”he said.
I argued，pointing to a very large belly(肚子)of mine，“I am married. I am having a baby. Why should I have to have someone sign for me to drive？”He answered coldly，“It’s the law，madam.”
Henry encouraged me to calm down，just go ahead and get the license and be done with it. “No，” I said. I refused to have him sign for me. So I left without a Maryland license.
I called the North Carolina Motor Vehicle Office and renewed my NC license by mail—using my name Susan Brown. And thus it was for the next twelve years. Since Henry was in the army I could drive under my home state license. By the time Henry left the army we were once again living in Maryland，and I had to take the Maryland driver’ s exam. Since then I just go in and renew every four years—sign the name Susan Brown，have my new picture taken，and walk out with a license to drive.
Susan got her first driver’ s license________.

A．before she got married to Henry

B．when she was twenty years old

C．after she finished high school

D．when she just moved to Maryland

Susan failed to renew her license the first time in Maryland because________.

A．she was forbidden to drive by Maryland law

B．she lacked driving experience in Maryland

C．she was to give birth to a baby soon

D．she insisted on signing for herself

We can infer from the text that in the U.S.________.

A．American males should serve in the army

B．different states may have different laws

C．people have to renew their licenses in their home states

D．women should adopt their husbands’ family names after marriage