Dear MSN,
I live in San Diego. I’m single and would like to meet people near me. Can I do this on the Internet?
Searching in San Diego
Dear Searching,
On the Internet, you could easily go looking for love in all the wrong places, but here are lots of great ways to meet singles near you.
The Web is a good place to start. MSN also has international sites for Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.
There are several California–based MSN Web communities where you can meet like –minded people near you as well as city-specific chat rooms for real-time interaction (互动). Hope for some clever friends. What a little more excitement in your online interactions? Try the “Gaming Zone!”
I also tried MSN Search, looked under the “Personal” heading and found “Relationships”. Clicked on that, then found “Ads & Personals”, by “Region” and found San Diego–specific personal from there. Try it!
Also, give “IRC” (Internet Relay Chat) and “Usenet Newsgroups” a try. Many a net romance has started and then developed in these off-the-Web communities. If you’d rather make friends F2F (face to face), the Web has some helpful dating and redating tips. Searching has written this letter with the purpose of _______
| A．getting help from MSN with his computer |
| B．winning the heart of a love from the web |
| C．meeting single people on line |
| D．looking for love in all the wrong places |
According to the second letter, MSN has several advantages such as ________
| A．shooting IRC and Usenet Newsgroups |
| B．giving you time and places to chat with others |
| C．satisfying you with whatever kind of help you want |
| D．supplying you with many methods to make friends |
From the second letter we can infer that MSN treats an ordinary reader so kindly and warmly because ________.
| A．it is its duty to help those who have trouble with their computers |
| B．it needs to attract as many readers as possible so as to make greater benefit |
| C．it likes to see more net romances and shares their happiness |
| D．all people need it and it needs all people |
Many ESL (English as a Second Language) students in the United States enroll in (注册学习) academic preparation programs and are in their late teens or early twenties. This is often a time when students are looking back on childhood in a different way. Their childhood memories and their viewpoint on those memories can be very useful for the production of wonderfully creative writing.
For this project, the students began in class by closing their eyes and trying to return to their childhood years in order to bring early memories to their mind. After imagining for a few minutes, they began to tell each other what they remembered about those years and tried to describe a particular incident that stood out in their memories.
That evening they wrote in their journals about the incident, embellishing (润饰) the story as much as possible. The next day, they read the story to a different partner and got feedback (反馈意见). The partner’s job was to: ask more questions to bring back the writer’s memory; help the writer make sure that past tense verbs were used correctly, focusing on the difference between those things that were still true and needed present tense and those things that belonged specifically to the past. Two days later, students made necessary changes or additions and turned in a typed copy of their story. I then made my own comments about their work and asked them to revise their work. The third draft (稿子) produced some very good work.The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to _____.
| A．show readers the difficulty he had in his work |
| B．explain his idea of English learning |
| C．show readers how ESL students live and study |
| D． tell readers how he taught his ESL students to write |
What did the author ask his students to write about?
| A．What they saw around them. |
| B．Their predictions for the future. |
| C．Their childhood memories. |
| D．Their opinions of the United States. |
In what order do the students write their compositions according to the passage?
a. share their writing with their classmates
b. exchange their memories
c. write their stories
d. ask for others’ feedback
e. make some changes to their compositions and have them typed
f. corrected by the teacher
g. recall their stories
| A．g-b-c-a-d-e-f | B．g-c-a-d-b-f-e |
| C．e-f-b-c-a-g-d | D．d-e-f-g-a-c-b |
A partner may help do the following things EXCEPT _____.
| A．make the memory more complete |
| B．find spelling mistakes |
| C．check the tense of the verbs |
| D．give some feedback |
There was once a farmer. His land was hilly and the soil was not the best. He had a cow that wasn’t giving much milk and he had chickens who were laying few eggs. The place looked run-down (破败的) and the barn and fences (篱笆) needed repair. The farmer and his wife felt dejected.
One stormy evening, a poorly-dressed man knocked on their door, asking if he could get shelter for the night. They shared the food that had been prepared, while they talked a great deal about the farm.
When the stranger left the following morning, he thanked the farmer and his wife and pulled a little bag of gold pieces out of his pocket. He said that maybe this would help them. He added that he’d come by next year with hopes of finding a revived farm.
After this, the farmer and his wife often talked about whether they should buy a more promising cow. Other times they considered whether they should buy chickens who laid more eggs. However, every conversation ended with the farmer trusting the farm would improve as he found himself fixing the barn and the fences, caring for the animals, preparing food for themselves and their animals.
The farmer beamed (眉开眼笑) when the stranger did come by again a year later. Everything looked so much better. The stranger asked, “What did you use the gold for?”
The farmer said, “We hid the gold under a kitchen tile (地砖) and, while we often thought of it, we never did think of anything we needed the gold for.”
Then the farmer added thoughtfully, “I do thank you, though, ever so much. You gave us what we really needed to keep going — you lifted our spirits.”
Saying that, the farmer removed the tile and cheerfully returned the gold to the stranger. The underlined word “dejected” in Paragraph 1 probably means “_____”.
| A．kind and generous |
| B．surprised and delighted |
| C．disappointed and unhappy |
| D．strong and fearless |
One year later, the stranger visited the farmer to _____.
| A．get his gold pieces back |
| B．see if the farm had improved |
| C．get shelter for the night |
| D．give the farmer more money |
From the passage, we can conclude that what the farmer really needed was _____.
| A．land rich enough to farm on |
| B．something to keep their spirits up |
| C．scientific knowledge of agriculture |
| D．money to improve his farm |
Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers (青少年). But last summer , Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son : suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents . “ The door to his room is always shut .” Joanna noticed .
Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter . “She used to cuddle up (蜷伏)with me on the sofa and talk ,” said Mark . “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something . Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady . The problem is figuring out which time is which .”
Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds . “In fact , parents are first on the list .” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers . “This completely changes during the teen years .” Riera explained . “They talk to their friends first , then maybe their teachers , and their parents last .”
Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them . To break down the wall of silence , parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say , and try to find ways to talk and write to them . And they must give their children a mental break , for children also need freedom , though young . Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend , not a manager , with their children is a better way to know them . “The door to his room is always shut” suggests that the son __.
| A．is always busy with his studies | B．doesn’t want to be disturbed |
| C．keeps himself away from his parents | D．begins to dislike his parents |
What troubles Tina and Mark most is that __.
| A．their daughter isn’t as lovely as before |
| B．they can’t read their daughter’s mind exactly |
| C．they don’t know what to say to their daughter |
| D．their daughter talks with them only when she needs help |
Which of the following best explains “ the wall of silence” in the last paragraph ?
| A．Teenagers talk a lot with their friends . |
| B．Teenagers do not want to understand their parents . |
| C．Teenagers do not talk much with their parents . |
| D．Teenagers talk little about their own lives . |
What can be learned from the passage ?
| A．Parents are unhappy with their growing children . |
| B．Parents have suitable ways to talk with their teenagers . |
| C．Parents should be patients with their silent teenagers . |
| D．Parents should try to understand their teenagers . |
A few years ago, an Englishman called Roy Jones went on holiday to a small seaside town in the west of England. He was swimming in the sea one day when, as he opened his mouth, his false teeth fell out and floated away. The following year, Mr. Jones returned to the same town. As he was having dinner in a local café one evening, he mentioned the story of his lost teeth to the manager. The manager looked surprised. He explained that he had found a set of false teeth on the beach last month. Then he asked Roy Jones if he wanted to try them on. “OK”, said Mr. Jones. “I suppose it won’t do any harm.” When the manager brought him the teeth, Mr. Jones put them into his mouth, and laughed and laughed. They were his.
In 1987, an American couple called Jane and Robert Bentley went for a picnic on a beach in California. When they returned home, Mrs. Bentley realized that she had lost her wedding ring. It wasn’t a lot of money but it was valuable to Jane Bentley. The Bentleys drove straight back to the beach, and searched for the ring for three hours, but could not find it. A few months later, Mr. Bentley went fishing off the same beach. As he pulled a large crab out of the sea, he noticed that there was something attached to one of its claws. It was his wife’s wedding ring!
At the end of the 19th century, a young woman called Rose Harcourt was on her honeymoon in Barmouth, North Wales, when she lost a gold bracelet her husband had given her as a wedding gift. Feeling very upset, she went straight to the police stations and asked if anyone had found her bracelet. Unfortunately, no one had. Twenty-five years later, the Harcourts returned to Barmouth to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They were sitting on the beach one day when Mrs. Harcourt noticed something gold in the sand by the edge of the sea. She walked down to see what it was, and discovered her gold bracelet that had been missing for 25 years. Roy Jones lost his false teeth __________ .
| A．when he opened his mouth to have some food |
| B．when he opened his mouth as he was swimming |
| C．The moment he got into the sea to start swimming |
| D．when he was having his holiday at the sea side |
Jane Bentley’s wedding ring was missing for __________ before it was found.
| A．three hours | B．almost a year | C．several months | D．25 years |
From the story of the Harcourts we may understand the underlined “to celebrate their wedding anniversary” may be close in meaning to __________ .
| A．having a wedding again | B．experiencing their honeymoon feelings again |
| C．having a honeymoon again | D．joining in the local celebrations |
In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work every day. In New York City, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bicycles to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air from car engines.
For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bicycle riders. For example. They want the city to draw special lanes for bicycles only on some of the main streets, because when bicycle riders must use the same lanes as cars, there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.
But no bicycle lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea-they say it will slow the traffic. Some store owners on the main streets don’t like the idea-they say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business.
The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park-the largest place of open ground in New York-is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bicycles only. But Bike for a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown.In New York, a group of bike riders ________.
| A．are keeping practicing for health |
| B．have no cars of their own |
| C．are complaining there are not enough buses |
| D．are trying to settle the problem of air pollution |
The advantage of the special lanes is that ________.
| A．they will make cars and buses run slowly |
| B．they will make it easier for bike riders to go to parks |
| C．they will make the city more beautiful |
| D．the lanes will prevent accidents |
The government has not decided whether special lanes should be drawn _______.
| A．so that everyone is disappointed |
| B．because there are different opinions |
| C．because most people travel by train |
| D．because Bike for a Better City is not strong enough |
Cars are not permitted to enter Central Park on weekends _________.
| A．so that Bike for a Better City is pleased |
| B．so that everyone is happy |
| C．and bicycle lanes are drawn |
| D．but Bike for a Better City is still not satisfied |