“I love you Bob.” “I love you too, Nancy.” It was 2 a.m., and I was hearing my parents’ voices through the thin wall separating my bedroom from theirs. Their loving words were sweet, touching —and surprising.
My parents married on September 14, 1940, after a brief dating. She was nearly 30 and knew it was time to start a family. The handsome well-educated man who came by the office where she worked looked like a good bet. He was attracted by her figure, her blue eyes. The romance didn’t last long.
Seeds of difference grew almost immediately. She liked to travel; he hated the thought. He loved golf; she did not. He was a Republican, she a loyal Democrat. They fought at the bridge table, at the dinner table, over money, over the shortcomings of their parents.
There was a hope that they would change once they retired (退休), and the angry winds did calm somewhat, but what remained changed itself into bright, hard bitterness. “I always thought we’d …” my mother would begin, before making a detailed list of my father’s faults. The complaints were recited so often, I can repeat them by heart today. As he listened, my father would say something angrily in a low voice.
It wasn’t the happiest marriage, but as their 60th anniversary (纪念日) came nearer, my sister and I decided to throw a party. Sixty years was a long time, after all. Why not try to make the best of things? We’d provide the cakes, the balloons, the toasts, and they’d follow one rule: no fighting.
The agreement was honored. We had a wonderful day. When we thought back, we found it was an important celebration, because soon after, things began to change for my parents.
Bob married Nancy because of ______.
| A．her nice appearance |
| B．her good education |
| C．her romantic nature |
| D．her position as an office girl |
When the writer told the story, the mother was probably ______ years old.
| A．60 | B．70 | C．80 | D．90 |
What do we know about the writer’s parents?
| A．Their marriage is a total failure. |
| B．They had different hobbies. |
| C．They had serious money problem. |
| D．They stopped quarrelling after they had children. |
The purpose for the writer to hold the party is ______.
| A．to recall the 60 years’ marriage life of her parents |
| B．to stop the long fighting between her parents |
| C．just to celebrate her parents’ 60th anniversary |
| D．to have a good time for family’s reunion |
Suppose this passage is taken from the Reader’s Digest, which column do you think it is taken from?
| A．Everyday Heroes | B．My Planet |
| C．Turning Point | D．Unforgettable |
Surtsey was born in 1963.Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's（船长）feet. He noti
ced a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano（火山）was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom（底部）of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November.
Scientists flew there to watch. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967.It was 175 meters high and 2 kilometers long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came. Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.Surtsey is ______.
| A．an island not far from Iceland | B．a new volcano |
| C．a fishing boat | D．a place in Iceland |
When did scientist fly there to watch?
| A．Before the volcano broke out. | B．As soon as the volcano broke out. |
| C．About four days after the volcano broke out. | |
| D．After the volcano stopped rushing up. |
Put the following sentences in correct order.
a. The captain found the boat was moving. b. A new island appeared in the sea.
c. Fire, smoke and rocks were seen rushing up. d. A fishing boat was near Iceland.
e. The island grew quickly.
| A．d-a-c-b-e | B．a-b-c-d-e | C．a-b-e-c-d | D．b-e-d-a-c |
When was Surtsey born?
| A．1964 | B．1963 | C．1962 | D．1965 |
Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts， so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time.
Why is more and more land becoming desert？ Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.
Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places. Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier. Plants do not let the wind blow(吹) the dirt away. When a bit of rain falls， the plants hold the water. Without plants， the land can become desert more easily. Deserts ________.
| A．never have any plants or animals in them |
| B．can all be turned into good land before long |
| C．are becoming smaller and smaller |
| D．get very little rain |
Smallgreenplantsareveryimportanttodryplaces because __________.
| A．they don’t let the sun make the earth even drier |
| B．they don’t let the wind blow the soil away |
| C．they hold water |
| D．All of the above. |
After reading this passage, we learn that __________.
| A．plants can keep dry land from becoming desert |
| B．it is good to get rid of the grass in the deserts |
| C．all places without much rain will become deserts |
| D．it is better to grow crops on dry land than to cut them |
I shall never forget the night，a few years ago，when Marion J．Douglas was a student in one of my adulteducation classes. He told us how tragedy had struck at his home，not once，but twice. The first time he had lost his fiveyearold daughter. He and his wife thought they couldn’t bear that first loss；but，as he said，“Ten months later，God gave us another little girl and she died in five days.”
This double bereavement was almost too much to bear. “I couldn’t take it，” this father told us，“I couldn’t sleep，eat，rest or relax. My nerves were entirely shaken and my confidence gone. ”At last he went to doctors；one recommended sleeping pills and another recommended a trip，but neither helped. He said，“My body felt as if it was surrounded in a vice (大钳子)，and the jaws of the vice were being drawn tighter and tighter.” The tension of grief (悲伤)—if you have ever been paralyzed (使瘫痪) by sorrow，you know what he meant.
“But thank God，I had one child left—a fouryearold son. He gave me the solution to my problem. One afternoon as I sat around feeling sorry for myself，he asked，‘Daddy，will you build a boat for me？’ I was in no mood to build a boat；in fact，I was in no mood to do anything. But my son is a persistent little fellow！I had to give in. Building that toy boat took me about three hours. By the time it was finished，I realized that those three hours spent building that boat were first hours of mental relaxation and peace that I had had in months！I realized that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking. In my case，building the boat had knocked worry out of the ring. So I determined to keep busy.”
“The following night，I made a list of jobs that ought to be done. Scores of items needed to be repaired. Amazingly，I had made a list of 242 items that needed attention. During the last two years I have completed most of them. I am busy so that I have no time for worry.”
No time for worry！That is exactly what Winston Church ill said when he was working eighteen hours a day at the height of the war. When he was asked if he worried about his huge responsibilities，he said，“I am too busy. I have no time for worry.”The underlined word “bereavement” in the second paragraph refers to________.
| A．having lost a loved one |
| B．having lost a valuable article |
| C．having lost a profitmaking business |
| D．having lost a wellpaid job |
Marion felt his body as if it was caught in a vice because________.
| A．he couldn’t earn enough money to support his family |
| B．he was suffering from sleeplessness disease |
| C．he couldn’t get out of mental pressure |
| D．he felt tired of adulteducation classes |
Marion made a list of over 200 items that needed to be repaired because________.
| A．he hadn’t been able to spare time to mend them |
| B．he wanted to kill his free time by repairing them |
| C．the items had actually been broken and needed attention |
| D．repairing the items helped crowd wor ry out of his mind |
At the end of the passage，the author wrote about Winston Churchill in order to________.
| A．prove that he followed Churchill’s example |
| B．support his student’s solution to his problem |
| C．show that he was successful in his career |
| D．clarify how his conclusion was reached |
The first field season is now over at the hut village of the workmen who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. However，the archaeologists working on the excavation(挖掘)have found that they still have a great deal to do. The sun, the wind and tourists have left their mark on the village, originally discovered by Bernard Bruyhre in 1935．
“From our modern perspective，it is upsetting to see how the village was first excavated and then left to be destroyed. Passers-by have used the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms,”says Jaana Toivari—Viitala, a teacher at the University of Helsinki.“Fortunately, while we still have some surface cleaning to do, conservation are off to a good start.”
The hut village offers rare insight into everyday life in ancient Egypt.
“In the early twentieth century，archaeologists were only interested in the tombs of kings. The workmen’s huts they discovered were seen as a neces
sary evil in the quest for the real treasures.”
“Now several international research groups on different excavations are examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. This seems to be a trend in archaeology right now.” Toivari-Viitala says．
Her research group wants to find out why the hut village was built on the slope of a mountain，halfway between the construction site and Deir-el-Medina. They are also interested in how many workers lived in the village at a time, when they lived there, and what their role was in the construction work.
“Comparing the names found in the village and in Deir-el-Medina provides useful information．Judging from the construction methods，settlement in the village can be divided into two separate periods: the initial settlement and a later one.”
For the time being，much is up to guessing, but Toivari-Viitala believes that the coming four field seasons, three months each, will see results.
“The working conditions are not nearly as difficult as I thought they would be. The cool winds in the mountains nicely alleviate the heat.”
The research group working on the “Workmen’s huts in the Theban mountains” project is planning to return to the Valley of the Kings in October..
What does the passage mainly talk about? ________
| A．The hut village in the Valley of the Kings. |
| B．The excavation of the tombs in the Valley. |
| C．The archaeologists working on the excavation. |
| D．Everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. |
.
Which of the following is NOT true of the hut village according to the passage? _______
| A．It has been damaged a lot. | B．It can tell us something about ancient Egypt. |
| C．It has attracted archaeologists’ attention. | D．It has a lot of real treasures somewhere in it. |
.
What’s the new trend in archaeology right now acco
rding to Toivari-Viitala?
| A．Being interested in the tombs of kings． |
| B．Examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. |
| C．Using the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms． |
| D．Guessing what the result will be beforehand． |
We can infer from the passage that__________.
| A．people know little about the hut village by now |
| B．the workmen’s huts were not discovered until very recently |
C．the research group wor king on the workmen’s huts will suffer a lot |
| D．the hut village is much more valued by archaeologists than the tombs |
I don't ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a ti
me in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what
it's like to work in a field dominated 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 studyi
ng 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 3 post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement—jobs, research papers, awards— was viewed through the lens 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 ag
o, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations: 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..
From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would attribute(归因于) the author's failures to_____.
| A．the very fact that she is a woman |
| B．her involvement in gender politics |
| C．her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist |
| D．the burden she bears in a male-dominated society |
.
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 stereotyped attitude towards female scientists.
D. Widespread misconceptions about nature and nurture.
Why does the author feel great satisfaction when talking about her class?
| A．Female students no longer have to worry about gender issues. |
| B．Her students' performance has brought back her confidence. |
| C．Her female students can do just as well as male students. |
| D．More female students are pursuing science than before. |
.
What does the image the author presents to her students suggest?
| A．Women students needn't have the concerns of her generation. |
B． Women have more barriers on their way to academic success. |
| C．Women can balance a career in science and having a family. |
| D．Women now have fewer discrimination problems about science career. |