It was an autumn morning shortly after my husband and I moved into our first house. Our children were upstairs unpacking, and I was looking out of the window at my father moving around mysteriously on the front lawn. My parents lived nearby, and Dad had visited us several times already. “What are you doing out there?” I called to him.
He looked up, smiling. “I’m making you a surprise.” Knowing my father, I thought it could be just about anything. A self-employed jobber, he was always building things out of odds and ends. When we were kids, he always created something surprising for us.
Today, however, Dad would say no more, and caught ups in the busyness of our new life, I eventually forgot about his surprise.
Until one gloomy day the following March when I glanced out of the window. Any yet… I saw a dot of blue across the yard. I headed outside for a closer look. They were crocuses (番红花), throughout the front lawn. Lavender, blue, yellow and my favorite pink --- little faces moved up and down in the cold wind.
Dad! I smiled, remembering the things he had secretly planted last autumn. He knew how the darkness and dullness of winter always got me down. What could have been more perfectly timely to my needs?
My father’s crocuses bloomed each spring for the next four or five seasons, bringing the same assurance every time they arrived: hard times was almost over. Hold on, keep going, light is coming soon.
Then a spring came with only half the usual blooms. The next spring there were none. I missed the crocuses. I would ask Dad to come over and plant new bulbs. But I never did.
He died suddenly one October day. My family was in deep sorrow, leaning on our faith. I missed him terribly.
Four years passed, and on a dismal spring afternoon I was driving back when I found myself feeling depressed. “You’ve got the winter depression again and you get them every year.” I told myself.
It was Dad’s birthday, and I found myself thinking about him. This was not unusual --- my family often talked about him, remembering how he lived his faith. Once I saw him give his coat to a homeless man.
Suddenly I slowed as I turned into our driveway. I stopped and stared at the lawn. And there on the muddy grass and small gray piles of melting snow, bravely waving in the wind, was one pink crocus.
How could a flower bloom from a bulb more than 18 years old, one that had not blossomed in over a decade? But there was the crocus. Tears filled my eyes as I realized its significance.
Hold on, keep going, light is coming soon. The pink crocus bloomed for only a day. But it built my faith for a lifetime. According to the first three paragraphs, we learn that _________.
A.the writer was unpacking when her father was making the surprise |
B.the writer knew what the surprise was because she knew her father |
C.it was not the first time that the writer’s father had made a surprise |
D.it kept bothering the writer not knowing what the surprise was |
Which of the following would most probably be the worst time of the year as seen by the writer?
A.Spring. | B.Summer. |
C.Autumn. | D.Winter. |
The writer’s father should be best described as_________.
A.a full-time gardener with skillful hands |
B.a part-time jobber who loved flowers |
C.a kind-hearted man who lived with faith |
D.an ordinary man with doubts in his life |
At the end of the passage, crocus was viewed as the symbol of _________ by the writer.
A.belief | B.family | C.love | D.friendship |
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most loved children’s books of all time, and many adults enjoy it as well. It tells the story of a young girl named Alice, who follows a rabbit entering a magical world called Wonderland. She has many experiences which seem to change the rules of reasoning or common sense. The popularity of the book comes from its imagination, interesting story, and art work.
The writer of the book is Lewis Carroll. In fact, Lewis Carroll was not the writer’s real name. His real name was Charles Dodgson. One day, he took a boat ride down the Thames River to have a picnic with three little girls who were friends of the family. To keep them entertained on the ride, he told them a story in which Alice, the middle child, was the main character. They enjoyed the story very much.
Charles later wrote the story down under the name Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and gave it to Alice as a Christmas present. Later, he gave a copy to his friend George MacDonald. George read it to his children and they loved it. George suggested to Charles that he make a book from his story. Charles then wrote more parts to the story until it was around 35,000 words. It was first printed in 1866, with art work by John Tenniel, under the name Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book was an immediate success. One of its first fans was Queen Victoria. She immediately requested a collection of all of Lewis Carroll’s works. She was surprised to find that they included many works on math. In fact, Charles Dodgson was a highly respected mathematician. This can be seen in many puzzles and plays on reasoning that appear in his books and poems.
Since the story was first printed, it has kept selling up to the present day. It has been translated into over fifty languages and has had several movies based on it.The passage is mainly about _________.
A.Charles’ family life |
B.the birth of a book and its lasting influences |
C.a magical world called Wonderland |
D.a girl’s adventurous experiences |
Who first had the idea of making a book from the story “Alice Adventures Under Ground”?
A.Alice | B.Charles | C.George | D.John |
Which of the following is the right order of the passage?
a. Charles gave his story to Alice as a Christmas present.
b. Charles had a picnic with three little girls on the Thames.
c. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first printed in 1866.
d. More parts were added to the story by Charles.
e. The book won a large number of fans.
A.c-b-a-d-e | B.c-a-b-e-d | C.b-a-d-c-e | D.b-a-c-e-d |
Bali Beach Resort has plenty of attractions. It is a holiday paradise(乐园). The self-styled ‘Ultimate Island’ certainly has plenty for everyone.
Where in the world ?
Bali is located just off the eastern edge of the main Indonesian island of Java. To the east is the neighboring island of Lombok. To the south of Bali lies the expanse of the Indian Ocean, while to the north is the Bali Sea. The most popular resort with holidaymakers is Ubud north of Sanur.
When to go?
Bali has a tropical climate year round with an average daily temperature of 31℃(87℃F). The wet season is between October and April. The dry season is between May and September, and is the busiest time to visit the island as travelers take advantage of the long hot days and little rain.
Beach
Bali has a string of beaches, mainly in the south of the island. Head away from Bali’s beaches and a totally different world awaits you. Ubud is an easily accessible (接近的)jungle resort town with a good range of hotels, shops and restaurants. The active volcano of Mount Batur is a highlight and so are the mountain lakes.
Family fun
All of the resorts have plenty of facilities (设施)for families. In Ubud there is a monkey park, where young ones can see monkeys that are not kept in tiny cages and an elephant park where holidaymakers can ride an elephant.
Eating out
All of Bali’s holiday resorts offer international cooking to suit every tourist’s taste, with most of the better hotels having excellent restaurants. Indonesian Bintang beer is very popular.
Getting around
There are a limited number of local buses. The other public transport is to take the local “bemo” minibuses. These colourful little minibuses speed around the winding roads with fares negotiated (商议)on board, so it helps to speak a little of the local language. There are also taxis and both electric bikes and cars can be hired.From the passage we learn that Bali is __________.
A.on the east of the Lombok Island |
B.to the west of the Lombok Island |
C.off the north of Bali Sea |
D.surrounded by the Indian Ocean |
The least busy time to visit Bali is probably in _________.
A.January and February | B.April and May |
C.June and July | D.September and October |
_________ to get around Bali Beach Resort.
A.It is very convenient for visitors to take a local bus |
B.You don’t need to pay money to take a “bemo” minibus |
C.You have to learn to speak the local language |
D.You may take an electric bike |
It was graduation day at the university where I work and a beautiful day quite unlike the first graduation I attended as a young professor. On that cold day years ago, as we watched the students walking into the hall, one of my colleagues(同事)turned to me and said, “Graduation will be one of the happiest and one of the saddest time of your life.” At my request, he answered, “Because the students you have got to know have to leave.”
As years went by, my previous confusion about my colleague’s words no longer existed. When I came across naughty students, I had to rethink why I chose to be a teacher. It obviously isn’t the money. Once a former computer science student of mine called me, asking me if I wanted to have a change. He was working at Nintendo Corporation. His salary was higher than my present one, though I have more education and have worked for over 10 years. With my programming skills, he said he could get me hired, I thanked him, but refused his kind offer.
A few days before this graduation, while working on final grades, I found a note a student had slipped in with her homework. She thanked me for being her teacher and said the things she had learned in my class – not about math, but about life – would be things she would remember long after the math skills had faded away. As I finished reading, I remembered why I had become a teacher.
Now, on this sunny graduation day, as I again observed the sea of blue hats and gowns, I did so with a deeper sense of satisfaction – I will always be grateful that I am a teacher.Hearing his colleague’s description of graduation for the first time, the author ______.
A.quite agreed with his colleague | B.was very puzzled |
C.thought it very funny | D.was very sad |
The computer science student called the author because he ______.
A.wanted to inform the author of his present job |
B.wanted the author to share his joy and satisfaction |
C.tried to persuade the author to work with him |
D.thought the author wasn’t fit to be a teacher |
The underlined phrase blue hats and gowns refers to ______.
A.the new graduates | B.the university colleagues |
C.life memories | D.decorations in the hall |
We can learn from the text that the author ______.
A.was only a young professor |
B.didn’t do well in his work |
C.taught his students more about life than math |
D.was content with the job as a teacher |
I don’t want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated (controlled) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space, time and the nature of black holes.
At 19, when I began studying astrophysics(天体物理学), it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement—jobs, research papers, awards—was viewed through the lens (镜片) of gender (性别) politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus (相对于) right brain, or nature versus nurture (培育), I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.
Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations (挑衅) : I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.
Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.Why doesn’t the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again?
A.She is fed up with the issue of gender discrimination (歧视). |
B.She feels unhappy working in male-dominated fields. |
C.She is not good at telling stories of the kind. |
D.She finds space research more important. |
From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would attribute (把…归因于) the author’s failures to ________.
A.the burden she bears in a male-dominated society |
B.her involvement in gender politics |
C.her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist |
D.the very fact that she is a woman |
What did the author constantly fight against while doing her Ph.D. and post-doctoral research?
A. Lack of confidence in succeeding in space science.
B. Unfair accusations from both inside and outside her circle.
C. People’s fixed attitude toward female scientists.
D. Widespread misconceptions about nature and nurtured. What does the image the author presents to her students suggest?
A.Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation. |
B.Women can balance a career in science and having a family. |
C.Women have more barriers on their way to academic success. |
D.Women now have fewer problems pursuing a science career. |
My daughter recently asked me what a Travel Agency does. There is one located on our street and it has just been completely rebuilt. I told her that they helped people book their trips and vacations. “Why haven’t we ever been in there?” she wanted to know. “Because we do everything ourselves online these days” I explained. “But why do it yourself if other people want to do it for you?” she wondered out loud.
The answer is that the travel agency makes a little bit of money on each ticket you book through them. If you book your ticket yourself, online, you save that money. Saving money sounds great except that when you think about it you typically spend three evenings comparing prices to end up saving $30 on a $300 trip. All those $30 discounts add up of course so I guess we should be happy with that.
Still, how bad is it really to pay someone $30 and trust them to buy you something decent? Wouldn’t you say your free evenings are worth more than $10 a piece?
Consider books for a moment. Buying your book at Amazon saves you maybe 30% to 40% on each book. Add to that the convenience of shopping from home and getting the package delivered to your home address. So far so good.
Unfortunately that does mean you spend way too much time browsing Amazon. com while you could do something fun instead. Like maybe reading an actual book?
Then the package arrives and you aren’t home and end up having to pick it up at the local post- office. All in all I wonder how much time I end up investing in the whole process.
Time sounds free, but to most of us, it is more valuable than money.
The Internet Economy promised to get rid of the middle-men and we loved it. Somehow, I’m starting to get the feeling that we ourselves ended up doing thework of that middle-men we were so eager to get rid of.
In any project you can always pick two of these: fast, cheap or good. We seem to have focused a lot on ‘cheap’ and ‘good’ but the extra time we need to invest to keep it ‘fast’ comes out of our own pockets.
You can always make more money but you can never make more time.What is the purpose of the first paragraph?
A.It mainly shows the curiosity of the author’s daughter. |
B.It indicates that the Internet has influenced our daily life. |
C.It tells us the importance of a travel agency. |
D.It shows why people need a travel agency. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the Internet Economy?
A.The author thinks online shopping saves time and is a convenient way to buy products. |
B.The author worries about sending personal information over the internet. |
C.The author doesn’t think online shopping is satisfactory in every way. |
D.The author likes the convenience but is concerned about the e-commerce environment. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
A.The convenience of the Internet Economy. |
B.How to save money in the Internet Economy. |
C.The hidden cost of the Internet Economy. |
D.How to save time in the Internet Economy. |