The winter holiday season is the busiest time of the year in the US, and Thanksgiving is the one holiday this time of year that doesn’t get the attention it deserves — it is often overshadowed by Christmas. However, I still feel the festive atmosphere in my family.
Each year, I attend not just one Thanksgiving dinner, but typically between three and four. Thanksgiving lasts all throughout the second half of the week. I travel to different houses to spend time with different parts of my family. We usually eat a giant amount of traditional Thanksgiving foods such as deviled eggs, ham, green beans, potatoes, and breads. We don’t eat the traditional turkey like many families do, but we have just about everything else that someone would want to eat.
After eating, we sit around and chat. Usually someone has brought a guest, such as a new boyfriend/girlfriend or a new baby, so there’s always a chance to get to know the new family member, as well as catching up with family that I haven’t seen for a long time.
My extended families are very different, which makes for different holiday experiences. My other’s family is very polite and quiet, and that makes the dinner with them seem very formal. My father’s family is the opposite. They’re loud and don’t even try to control what words come out of their mouths. Their Thanksgiving usually includes yelling at whatever football game is on the television. It’s very casual and relaxed. Either way, it’s nice to be able to see my family and spend time with them.
In my eyes, Thanksgiving is a holiday based on being thankful for what you have, spending tine with family, and eating a lot more food than you probably should. Not all these things go with its history, but it makes for a nice tradition. The underlined word“overshadowed”in the first paragraph probably means ________.
| A．compared |
| B．celebrated |
| C．related |
| D．made to feel less important |
How does the author usually celebrate Thanksgiving?
a. eating turkey.
b. chatting with her family.
c. watching the annual Thanksgiving shows on TV.
d. attending several Thanksgiving dinners with different parts of her family.
| A．a, b. |
| B．a, c. |
| C．b, d. |
| D．c, d. |
What does the author think of her parents’families?
| A．She thinks that her parents’families have a lot in common with each other. |
| B．She believes that her mother and father’s families should learn from each other. |
| C．She prefers her father’s family’s casual way of celebrating Thanksgiving to her mother’s family’s way. |
| D．She enjoys spending time both of her parents’families although they are quite different. |
When a first-time father saw his newborn son, he immediately noticed the baby's ears obviously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern to the nurse that some children might be made fun of his child. A doctor examined the baby and reassured the new dad that his son was healthy---- the ears presented only a small problem with its appearance.
But the nervous father continued. He wondered if the child might suffer psychological effects of ridicule, or if they should consider plastic surgery(整形手术). The nurse assured him that it was really no problem, and he should just wait to see if the boy grows into his ears.
The father finally felt more optimistic about his child, but now he worried about his wife's reaction to those large ears. She had been delivered by operation, and had not yet seen the child.
“She doesn't take things as easily as I do,” he said to the nurse.
By this time, the new mother was settled in the recovery room and ready to meet her new baby. The nurse went along with the dad to lend some support in case this inexperienced mother became upset about her baby's large ears.
The baby was in a blanket(毛毯) with his head covered for the short trip through the cold air-conditioned corridor. The baby was placed in his mother's arms, who eased the blanket back so that she could look at her child for the first time.
She took one look at her baby's face and looked to her husband and gasped, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”
No problem with Mom. She married those ears...and she loves the man to whom they are attached.
The poet Kahlil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” It's hard to see the ears when you're looking into the light.When the father first saw his baby, he was worried that________.
| A．The baby might not grow up healthily. |
| B．The baby might be laughed at by others. |
| C．The baby might disappoint its mother. |
| D．the baby might have mental problems. |
According to the doctor and nurse, the baby’s ears________.
| A．could not function well. |
| B．looked the same as others. |
| C．only caused a small problem. |
| D．needed to have plastic surgery. |
What is true about the baby’s mother?
| A．She blamed her husband for the baby’s big ears. |
| B．She was the first to discover the baby’s large ears. |
| C．She suggested having an operation on the baby immediately. |
| D．She found something similar between the baby and its father. |
What does the underlined word they refer to in the last but on paragraph(倒数第2段)?
| A．The ears. | B．The parents. | C．The doctor and nurse. | D．The problems |
What’s the function of the last paragraph?
| A．To advise readers to listen carefully. |
| B．To draw a conclusion from the story. |
| C．To criticize the wrong attitude to physical beauty. |
| D．To stress the importance of doctor-patient relationship. |
How many times have you gotten upset because someone wasn’t doing their job, because your child isn’t behaving？How many times have you been annoyed when you’ve planned something carefully and things didn’t go as you’d hoped?
This kind of anger and irritation happens to all of us — it’s part of the human experience.
One thing that annoys me is when people talk during a movie. Or cut me off in traffic. Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances — don’t we all? And it isn’t always easy to find peace when you’ve become upset or annoyed.
Let me tell you a little secret to finding peace of mind: see the glass as already broken.
See, the cause of our stress, anger and irritation is that things don’t go the way we like, the way we expect them to. Think of how many times this has been true for you. And so the solution is simple: expect things to go wrong, expect things to be different than we hoped or planned, expect the unexpected to happen. And accept it.
One quick example: on our recent trip to Japan, I told my kids to expect things to go wrong — they always do on a trip. I told them, “See it as part of the adventure.”
And this worked like a charm. When we took the wrong train on a foreign-language subway system, or when it rained on the day we went to Disney Sea, or when we took three trains and walked 10 blocks only to find the National Children’s Castle closed on Mondays … they said, “It’s part of the adventure!” And it was all OK — we didn’t get too bothered.
So when the nice glass you bought inevitably falls and breaks, someday, you might get upset. But not if you see the glass as already broken, from the day you get it. You know it’ll break someday, so from the beginning, see it as already broken. Be a time-traveler, or someone with time-traveling vision, and see the future of this glass, from this moment until it inevitably breaks. And when it breaks, you won’t be upset or sad — because it was already broken, from the day you got it. And you’ll realize that every moment you have with it is precious.The author would probably agree that________.
| A．we should control our anger and irritation |
| B．we must get well prepared for the future |
| C．optimism can help us overcome our anger and irritation |
| D．anger and irritation is an important part of our life |
The purpose of the author is to ___________.
| A．tell us his own experience in life |
| B．give advice on how to find peace of mind |
| C．tell us a happy trip took with his children |
| D．advise us to see things from both sides |
By the underlined part, the author intends us to _____________.
| A．get ready for the worst result of things |
| B．enjoy the process of things |
| C．expect little from life |
| D．find the relation between cause and effect |
The author’s children could enjoy their trip to Japan because _____________.
| A．everything went smoothly |
| B．they had a lot of adventures |
| C．they had expected things to go wrong |
| D．they could soon get used to the customs there |
We can learn from the passage that the author ____________.
| A．often gets angry in his life |
| B．can adjust his state of mind accordingly |
| C．always expects others to act in his way |
| D．has suffered a lot from his anger and irritation |
In Europe, many people make friends between their countries through town twinning. Town or city twinning means two towns in different countries agree and decide to become “twins” with a sister-city relationship.
The people find pen friends in the twin town. They exchange newspapers and stamps. The school teachers discuss teaching methods with the teachers in the twin town. Officials visit the twin town for celebrations. Ordinary people travel to the twin town, too, but not very often if it is far away.
Sometimes, schools even exchange their classes for two or three weeks! For example, German middle school students study for a while at the school in their twin town in Britain, staying with British families. A few months later, their British friends come to study in Germany.
Many British towns are so pleased with the results of the twinning that they set out to find more than one twin town!
Tonbridge, a small town in Kent, for example, has twin towns in both Germany and France. Richmond near London has relationships with Germany, France and even a town in a Balkan(巴尔干半岛的) country!
Town twinning can help make friends. It helps students improve their language skill, and also helps people to understand the differences between nations.Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Town Twinning |
| B．Friendly Towns |
| C．Exchanging Teachers and Students |
| D．Peace and Understanding |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Twin towns exchange newspapers and stamps. |
| B．Twin towns exchange business skill. |
| C．Schools in twin towns exchange classes for a period of time. |
| D．Ordinary people travel to the twin town. |
Twin towns develop ____________.
| A．between European countries and China |
| B．in the English-speaking countries only |
| C．in the same country |
| D．between different countries |
How many countries are mentioned in this passage?
| A．7 | B．6. | C．5 | D．4 |
One of the advantages of town twinning is to ________.
| A．earn more money |
| B．set up schools |
| C．improve students’ language skills |
| D．develop industry and agriculture |
A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by a local government in Eastern England. This could end the worries of many parents fearful for their children's safety on the roads．
Until now the local government have only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school, or sometimes less if special reasons existed．Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead, as long as the arrangement will not lose money and children taking part will be attending their nearest school．
The new plan is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington School．The children live just within the three-mile limit and the local government have said in the past that they will not agree to provide free transport to the school．But now they have agreed to offer a sum of money for a bus service from Milton to Impington and back, a plan which has the support of the school's headmaster．
Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part．Final calculations have still to be carried out, but a government official has said the cost to parents should be less than ￡20 a term．
They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington．The same bus would now just make one more journey to pick up the Milton children．The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children, to see if they would like to take part in the new plan．What is the aim of the plan?
| A．To prevent the students' road accidents． |
| B．To relieve the traffic pressure． |
| C．To save time for the parents and students． |
| D．To help the parents save money． |
How can the local government arrange the new bus service at a low cost?
| A．By letting the bus run in the morning only． |
| B．By limiting the number of the students． |
| C．By obtaining the support from the headmaster． |
| D．By linking the new bus service with the existing one． |
The new bus service will be paid for by ______．
| A．the parents |
| B．the local government |
| C．the bus company |
| D．the local government and the parents |
Which of the following is possible if the plan is carried out?
| A．The bus company will make much more money． |
| B．The children can choose whatever school they like． |
| C．The parents can get rid of their worries． |
| D．The students in Impington school can have free bus rides． |
This passage is most probably ______．
| A．a personal letter | B．an advertisement |
| C．a headmaster's report | D．a newspaper article |
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。注意：每个空格只填一个单词。
Time, a faithful company of our life, is a universal topic. People are always curious about what it is, how it travels and who it meets.
Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s smartest physicists, once said. “I’m fascinated by time.”
Many of us are, and the popularity of time travel novels, movies and TV series has proved that. After Palace and Startling by Each Step achieved astonishing ratings last year, Palace 2 aired on January 20, attracting time travel fans back to TV.
Woody Allen’s movie Midnight in Paris achieved great success. It was nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Art Direction for the 2012 Academy Awards.
Dream of heroism
Time travel TV series and movies connect both today and the past, thus offering room for imagination. Imagination creates a chance for the young to fulfill a dream that is hard to achieve in reality.
Chinese writer Xi Juan is a pioneer of time-travel stories in China. In 1993 she published a love story about a young woman time traveling to ancient times. The leading role’s modern personality and perception of love help her win the heart of a cool, handsome martial art master. Such a plot satisfies female fans’ love fantasy.
Starting from the late 1990s, novels about men traveling back to the past prevailed (盛行), with a Step into the Past as the most popular example. In these stories, the male leading roles accomplish great things with their modern skills and wisdom.
It is usually “a dream of heroism come true”, along with enviable romances.
Eye candy
“I’m hooked by the shows because they are characterized by dramatic and poetic love and have eye-pleasing actors,” Xia Xiaoyan, who works for a foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai, explained her love for time travel TV series.
Her comment echoes a 2011 survey by Creat Marketing Research Co Ltd in China. When asked about what is so appealing about time travel TV series, 21 percent of respondents answered, “These attractive characters.”
A bigger reason behind the popularity of time travel stories, however, is the relaxation they offer, according to the survey.
Cai Yinong agrees. “Many people are facing tremendous pressure in their fast-paced lives, so this genre is more relaxing than other shows as it provides people with a terrific outlet to escape reality,” Cai told China Daily.
Cultural homesickness
“Which dynasty would you like to live in if you could travel to the past?” asked a survey launched by Shanghai University and Shanghai Social Sciences Association last December.
About 60 percent of the 2,543 respondents chose Tang Dynasty, while Qing Dynasty, and the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were the other top two destinations.
The survey results reflects people’s definition of the good days: prosperous economy and culture, steady society, fair and uncorrupted politics, and opening up to the outside world.
As for the movie Midnight in Paris, it features modernity versus cultural homesickness. The New York Times commented, “The past seems so much more vivid, more substantial, than the present. The good old days are so attractive because we were not around, however much we wish we were.”
| Time travel wins fans |
|
| Phenomenon |
lStephen Hawking shows great interest in lPeople prefer lWoody Allen was |
| Reasons for its |
Supporting details |
| Dream of heroism |
lChances are offered for the young to fulfill lachieve in reality. lXi Juan’s 1993 love story lancient times, which satisfies females fans. lFrom the late 1990s, novels about lthe past became increasingly popular. lThe male leading role in A Step Into the Past travels back to the past lto fulfill great things by using his |
| Eye candy |
Attractive actors and travel stories make viewers under pressure |
| Cultural homesickness |
Most respondents chose to live in a certain dynasty for: lProsperous economy and lSteady society; lFair and uncorrupted politics; lOpening up to the outside world. |