A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a piece of advice, “I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage,” she offered. “Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband agreed. So each of them tried to think of the things that annoyed them about the other and wrote down what they came up with. The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
“I’ll start,” offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband’s eyes because he never thought that he had so many shortcomings.
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. “Now, you read your list and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists,” she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated, “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect. I don’t want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn’t want to try and change anything about you.” The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us and see the wonderful things before us?Why were there tears in the husband’s eyes when the wife read his annoyances?
| A．Because he had no courage to face his shortcomings. |
| B．Because he never thought he had so many annoyances in his wife’s eyes. |
| C．Because he was sorry that he didn’t find any annoyance about his wife. |
| D．Because he didn’t think he deserved to have such a perfect wife. |
After hearing the husband’s words, the wife felt _________.
| A．moved and ashamed |
| B．sad and disappointed |
| C．satisfied and proud |
| D．surprised and confused |
The story is intended to tell us that ___________.
| A．disappointment cannot be avoided in our life |
| B．young couples should be more tolerant (宽容的) to each other |
| C．we should turn a blind eye to other people’s blame |
| D．we should try to look for and see the wonderful things around us |
When he was a boy, Tim was much influenced（影响） by the books about the sea, but in fact by the age of fifteen he had decided to become a doctor rather than a sailor. His father was a dentist and as a result, Tim had the opportunity of meeting many doctors either at home or elsewhere. When he was fourteen he was already hanging around the clinic (诊所) of a local doctor where he was supposed to help to wrap up medicine bottles, but was actually trying to listen to the conversations taking place between the doctor and his patients in the next room.
During the war Tim served in the Navy (海军) as a surgeon (外科医生). “That was the happiest time of my life. I was dealing with very real suffering and on the whole making a success of it.” In California he taught the country people simple facts about medicine. He saw himself as a life-saver. He had proved his skills to himself and his ability to take decisions. Thus, while he was able to tell them what to do, he could feel he was saving them. After the war, he got married and chose to be a doctor in the countryside, working under an old doctor who was popular in the area, but who hated the sight of blood and believed that the secret of medicine was faith. This gave the young man many opportunities to go on working as a life-saver.Tim decided to be a doctor when he was________.
| A．fourteen | B．fifteen |
| C．serving in the Navy | D．working in clinic |
Tim decided to become a doctor mainly because________
| A．his father wanted him to be so. |
| B．his father was a surgeon. |
| C．he had read many books about medicine. |
| D．he had chances to know many doctors and know about what doctors did. |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．during the war, Tim was a surgeon in the Navy. |
| B．he taught the country people simple facts about medicine in California. |
| C．after the war, he married the old doctors’ daughter. |
| D．Tim worked as a life-saver after war. |
From the passage we can infer(推出) that Tim_________.
| A．was sent to Europe during the war. |
| B．was not afraid of blood. |
| C．decided to give up his doctor career. |
| D．regarded himself as a life-saver. |
The passage is mainly about________
| A．Tim’s life story | B．Tim’ dreams | C．Tim’s marriage | D．Tim’s patients |
Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week，a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for “Easy E” to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out，after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However，I'm pretty sure we won't ever write wall-to-wall，let alone email each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members，college buddies，coworkers from past and present，and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old email addresses，I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends，former classmates，distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of onscreen relationships，keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all，there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to email，the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with email，people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That’s normal. People move from school to school，job to job，city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day，the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication easier. However，convenience can be a crutch(拐杖)．Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship，there can be no shortcuts.According to Paragraph 1，the website is famous because ________.
| A．it has an interesting name of “Facebook” |
| B．it helps people get in touch with old friends |
| C．it can send people a greeting of some kind |
| D．it reminds people of events in the past |
From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer ________.
| A．would write to the friend quite often |
| B．asked the friend to email him |
| C．did get some information about the friend |
| D．would keep in touch with the friend forever |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．There are 35 people in the author's list of friends right now. |
| B．The author communicates with all the 35 friends by emails. |
| C．The list of 35 friends doesn't include the old email addresses. |
| D．It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count. |
What does the author think of the convenience of communicating online?
| A．The technology could not keep true friendship forever. |
| B．The social website of Facebook means nothing at all. |
| C．There will be no ways of making real friends online. |
| D．People will not lose friends with the help of the Facebook. |
Today, people all over the world are moving out of small villages in the country to go and live in big, noisy cities. They are moving from the peaceful hills, mountains, fields, rivers and streams of the countryside to the busy world of streets, buildings, traffic and crowds. This movement from rural(乡下的) areas to urban areas has been going on for over two hundred years.
In many countries, the main reason people come to live in towns and cities is work. After one or two large factories have been built in or near a town, people come to find work, and soon an industrial area begins to grow. There is usually a_residential_area nearby, too. The families of these workers need schools, hospitals and shops, so many people come to live in the area to provide these services and a city grows.
In every major city in the world, there is a business district where the big companies have their main offices. In the United States, this area is usually in the city center downtown. It is here that you can see many huge skyscrapers(摩天大楼)and office blocks. The people who work here often travel a long way to work each day. Many of them live in the suburbs of the city, far away from the industrial area and the city center. Some suburbs are very pleasant, with nice houses and big gardens. There are usually parks for children to play in and large department stores where you can buy all you need.
But what is the future of the big cities? Will they continue to get bigger and bigger? Perhaps not. Some major cities have actually become smaller in the last ten years, and it is quite possible that one day we will see people moving out of the major cities and back into smaller towns and villages.The underlined phrase “a residential area” means an area________.
| A．where people can buy things |
| B．which is suitable for living in |
| C．where people can do business |
| D．which is near a city center |
Why do people move to live in cities or towns?
| A．Because they can live more comfortably there. |
| B．Because they like noisy life better than peaceful life. |
| C．Because they mainly want to find work there. |
| D．Because they are sure of having a better life there. |
Which of the following statement is NOT true about the business district?
| A．Big companies usually have their main offices in the business district. |
| B．People usually work and live in the business district. |
| C．A business district usually lies in the city center downtown. |
| D．Nearly every major city has its own business district. |
What’s delicious to eat and comes in a variety of colors? Eggplant! And no, it has nothing to do with chickens! This strangely named vegetable is, however, as versatile as an egg．It can be steamed, fried, and baked．It can be eaten by itself or combined with meats and other vegetables．
Eggplant was first grown in India in the 5th century BC．Its popularity soon spread to China and then throughout Asia．Finally, during the Middle Ages the vegetable made its way to Europe．At that time, eggplant was not the shiny purple vegetable most people know today．Instead, it’s like a white egg．Due to this egg - like appearance, eggplant got its name．In its early days, the vegetable was so bitter that people often called it a “mad apple.” This nickname started because people believed its bitterness was bad for one' s health．People actually thought eggplant could cause madness and cancer．
Fortunately today people know that eggplant doesn't cause insanity or cancer．In fact eggplant is so healthy that it may prevent cancer．In addition, the brain and the heart benefit from this super vegetable．Since it's high in fiber, eggplant can improve digestion．
Italy, Turkey, Egypt, China and Japan are the leading growers of eggplant in the world today．Depending on its location, eggplant may be purple, green, orange or yellow - white．And it can be as small as a tomato or as large as a cucumber．Dish varieties range from simple to complex, with all of them being delicious．
Today, thousands of people gather in Loomis, Calif, for the annual Loomis Eggplant Festival．The main activity at the festival is eating delicious eggplant dishes．There is plenty more to do and see, though．Recipe contests, arts and crafts, performers, races and children's activities all “egg – cite” festival - goers．Most people at the festival would agree—eggplant is an “egg—cellent” vegetable．Eggplant got its name because of its _____．
| A．appearance | B．taste | C．color | D．value |
Which of the following does NOT belong to the qualities of eggplant?
| A．It can be cooked in various ways． | B．It is easy to digest． |
| C．It can prevent cancer． | D．It is valuable and priceless． |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Eggplant can be eaten to cure cancer | B．Eggplant used to taste bitter． |
| C．India produce the most eggplant in the world today． | D．Eggplant has a history of nearly 1,000 years． |
Most people come to the Loomis Eggplant Festival to_____．
| A．see arts and crafts | B．enjoy food with eggplants |
| C．take part in recipe contests | D．promote eggplant |
When Frida Kahlo's paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as “ a ribbon （丝带）around a bomb”. Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City , Kahlo suffered from polio（小儿麻痹症）at the age of seven. Her spine （脊柱）become bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera’s strong influences on Kahlo’s style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953.For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo’s works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last. What does the phrase “a much bigger name” in paragraph 1 most nearly mean?
| A．a far better artist |
| B．a far more gifted artist |
| C．a much stronger person |
| D．a much more famous person |
The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by .
| A．polio | B．back injuries |
| C．the operations she had | D．her bent spine |
Kahlo’s style had become increasingly independent since the .
| A．1950s | B． 1930s | C．1940s | D．1970s |
What is author’s attitude toward Kahlo?
| A．Devotion | B．Sympathy | C．Worry | D．Encouragement |