Itistheseasonforlonglinesandfr-优题课

It was shortly before midnight, and Dr Patricia was getting ready for bed. The phone rang on the end of the line was a woman about to break a promise.
The woman was her mother’s neighbor. Flora Harris had made the neighbor swear she wouldn’t tell her daughter she’d had a heart attack and was in the hospital, for fear her daughter would worry. The neighbor wisely decided to disobey orders.
Harris desperately wanted to get to the hospital immediately, but she couldn’t. She lives in Washington, D. C, and her mother lives in California.
For the past year a half, Harris has gone to Los Angeles every other month to take care of her mother. Flora Harris takes care of her husband, James, who’s 91 and has Alzheimer’s disease. They live in their own home, and a caregiver comes to help them a few hours a day.
Harris is one of many Americans facing the heartache of how to take care of aging parents from afar. She’s often worried, not to mention exrtemely busy with a demanding job, two teenage daughters and the frequent trips to California.
In some ways, Harris is lucky. She has the resources to make the trips to Los Angeles. Plus, Harris is a doctor who treats the elderly.
“But it’s still tough,” she says. “I can foresee what the next few years are going to look like, and it’s not a pretty picture. My father’s going to need diapers (尿布). There will come a time when he won’t recognize me and he’s easily excited. I worry he’s going to be violent and hurt my mother.”
So what do you do when you live a continent away from your aging, sick parents? There are no magic answers. You can hire someone to help, but you can’t oursource it completely.
Why was the woman thought to have broken a promise?

A．She failed to take care of Flora.

B．She was not supposed to call Harris at midnight.

C．She couldn’t go to hospital on time.

D．She told Harris about her mother’s illness.

What can we learn about Patricia Harris from the passage?

A．She thinks it harder to look after her parents the next few years.

B．Her parents cannot take of themselves at all.

C．She cannot do a demanding job.

D．She cannot afford to go to California often.

What does the underlined word “outsource” in the last paragragh mean?

A．Arrange somebody outside to do a job.

B．Work something out by oneself.

C．Speak something out for help.

D．Understand something.

What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Aging people in the USA are increasing.

B．The rate of heart disease is high in America.

C．It is difficult to tend aging parents from afar.

D．Harris advises on tending aging parents from afar.

Star Wars Millennium Falcon
This is a gift that, if we’re being honest, many dads want to own for themselves. This huge ship is the greatest Star Wars toy. It lights up and makes some noises. Every boy from 3 to 53 will absolutely like it, if they can find room for it. I dare say even a few grandfathers might go for it.
Biscuit—the Loving Pup
You may clearly know that a pet can be a great thing to a child’s development but you probably don’t think that you can take care of a dog properly. The robot dog Biscuit is less likely to exacerbate the disorder of your house and except for a few dead batteries, won’t leave any surprises on the floor. It will be a good playmate for your kids.
JVC KD-10 Headphones
It’s increasingly common for kids to enjoy themselves on long journeys with a portable (便携式的)DVD player or an iPod MP3, but the headphones that come with expensive electronics are seldom suitable for young ears. Kids should use JVC headphones that have a sound limiter that can be set by the concerned parent.
Sparrow-kids Routemaster Kit
Sparrow-kids Kit makes a huge range of craft (工艺) tools. There are lots of pretty but achievable projects for young girls to take up their (safe plastic) needles and sew.
Holz Wooden Airport
It might be said that Britain doesn’t need another airport but when it’s a traditional wooden toy like this all of you would agree that it’s a good thing. Treated with a little care, this play-set could easily entertain your young air traffic controllers.
The underlined word “exacerbate” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “”.

A．worsen

B．improve

C．protect

D．cure

Which of the gifts is designed mainly for girls?

A．Holz Wooden Airport.	B．Sparrow-kids Routemaster Kit
C．Star Wars Millennium Falcon.	D．Biscuit—the Loving Pup.

The five things listed in the passage are .

A．presents for the whole family	B．gifts mainly for children
C．craft tools for children	D．the latest high-tech products

Women are on their way to holding more than half of all American jobs. The latest government report shows that their share of non-farm jobs nearly reached fifty percent in September, 2009.
The job market continues to suffer the effects of last year’s financial crash. On the one hand more women have entered the labor market over the years, and on the other hand the economic recession (衰退) has hit men harder than women. In October the unemployment rate for men was almost 11% compared to 8% for women.
Industries that traditionally use lots of men have suffered deep cuts. For example, manufacturing (制造业) and building lost more jobs last month. But health care and temporary employment services have had job growth. Both of those industries employ high percentages of women.
Thirty years ago, women earned sixty-two cents for every dollar that men earned. Now, for those who usually work full time, women earn about eighty percent of what men earn. And a recent study from the University of California, Davis, reveals that women hold fifty-one percent of well-paid management and professional jobs. Yet the study also shows that men still hold about nine out of every ten top positions at most companies. The results have remained largely unchanged for five years.
Also, a new research paper in the journal Sex Roles looks at the experiences of women who are the main earners in their families. Rebecca Meisenbach at the University of Missouri in Columbia interviewed fifteen women. She found that they all value their independence and many enjoy having the power of control, though not all want it. But they even feel more pressure and worry. That is partly because of cultural expectations that working women should still take care of the children. Also, men who are not the main earners may feel threatened.
Which of the following is a reason why women have a larger share of jobs?

A．Women workers are paid less than men.

B．More women now have higher education than men.

C．The economic recession has affected men more than women.

D．Industries that traditionally use lots of men now need more women.

There have been an increasing number of jobs for women in .

A．manufacturing

B．building

C．health care

D．farming

In the late 1970s, if a man earned 500 dollars a month, a woman probably earned .

A．＄260

B．＄310

C．＄400

D．＄500

If a woman is the main earner in her family, she probably .

A．hopes to be less independent	B．has the power of control
C．feels a bit threatened	D．is less worried

TOKYO— At first glance, Japanese cellphones are young people’s favorites, with elegant design and quick access to the Internet. However, despite years of competition in overseas markets, Japan’s cellphone makers have little presence beyond the country’s shores.
The only Japanese cellphone maker with any meaningful global share is Sony Ericsson, and that company is a London-based joint venture(合资企业)between a Japanese electronics maker and a Swedish telecommunications firm.
And Sony Ericsson has been hit by big losses. Its market share was just 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, behind Nokia of Finland, Samsung Electronics and LG of South Korea, and Motorola of Illinois.
This year, Mr Natsuno, who developed a popular wireless Internet service called i-Mode, invited some of the best minds in the field to debate how Japanese cellphones could go global.
“The most amazing thing about Japan is that even the average person out there will have a very advanced phone, ”said Mr Natsuno. Japan has 100 million users of advanced third-generation smart phones, twice the number of the United States, a much larger market. Many Japanese rely on their phones, not a PC, for Internet access.
Indeed, Japanese cellphone makers thought they had positioned themselves to dominate（支配）the age of digital data. But they were a little too clever. In the 1990s, they set a standard for the second-generation network that was refused everywhere else. Then Japan quickly adopted a third-generation standard in 2001. However, it made Japanese phones too advanced for most markets.
Several Japanese companies are now considering a push into overseas markets, including NEC. Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and Fujitsu are said to be planning similar moves.
“Japanese cellphone makers need to either look overseas, or exit the business”, said Kenshi Tazaki, a managing vice president at the consulting firm Gartner Japan.
Through the first paragraph, the author intends to tell us that___________.

A．Japanese cellphones are popular with young people

B．Japanese cellphones don’t sell well abroad

C．Japanese cellphones are very advanced

D．Japanese cellphones are specially designed for young people

The cellphone company with the largest global market share is located in______.

A．Japan

B．America

C．South Korea

D．Finland

Why are Japanese cellphone makers a little too clever?

A．Because their technical standards are too advanced to be accepted overseas.

B．Because they only produce advanced cellphones.

C．Because they used the second-generation network earlier than others.

D．Because their phones are more advanced than PCs.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Japanese cellphone companies are unsuccessful.

B．Japan has more cellphone users than the US.

C．Japanese cellphone industry intends to expand overseas markets.

D．Going global—a difficult task for Japanese companies.

On the day of a big event, many people came to Big Bend Mountain to watch. John Henry and the salesman stood side by side. Even early in the day, the sun was burning hot.
The competition began. John Henry kissed his hammer and started working. At first, the steam-powered drill worked two times faster than he did. Then, he started working with a hammer in each hand. He worked faster and faster. In the mountain, the heat and dust were so thick that most men would have had trouble breathing. The crowd shouted as clouds of dust came from inside the mountain.
The salesman was afraid when he heard what sounded like the mountain breaking. However, it was only the sound of John Henry at work. Polly Ann and her son cheered when the machine was pulled from the tunnel of the mountain. It had broken down. Polly Ann urged John Henry to come out. But he kept working, faster and faster. He dug deep into the darkness, hitting the steel so hard that his body began to fail him. He became weak, and his heart burst.
John Henry fell to the ground. There was a terrible silence. Polly Ann did not move because she knew what had happened. John Henry’s blood spilled over the ground. But he still held one of the hammers. “I beat them,” he said. His wife cried out, “Don’t go, John Henry.”“Bring me a cool drink of water,”he said. Then he took his last breath.
His friends carried his body from the mountain. They buried him near the house where he was born. Crowds went there after they heard about John Henry’s death.
Soon, the steam drill and other machines replaced the steel-drivers. Many laborers left their families to look for work. They took the only jobs they could find. As they worked, some sang about John Henry.
What does the big event mentioned in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．John Henry’s work on a machine.

B．A competition between John Henry and a salesman.

C．John Henry’s work with his hammer and the steel.

D．A competition between John Henry and a drill.

The underlined word “tunnel ”in Paragraph 3 probably means “”.

A．flat ground

B．big rock

C．underground passage

D．hard metal

What happened to John Henry when he fell to the ground?

A．He was tired and had to have a rest.

B．He had heart trouble and was dying.

C．He was thirsty and wanted to drink some water.

D．He was injured slightly and was bleeding.

What do we know about John Henry?

A．He won the competition finally.	B．He was buried under the mountain.
C．He loved his work very much.	D．He said nothing before his death.

What can we infer from the passage?

A．Humans can never beat machines.	B．John Henry was regarded as a hero.
C．Laborers hated machines very much.	D．It was easy for laborers to find work.

A．deal with crisis	B．reduce the time for leave
C．lower the cost	D．provide more job chances

A．in person	B．ahead of time
C．by accident	D．in addition