Alice’s mother died when Alice was five years old. Alice, who grew up to be my mother, told me that after her mother’s death her family was too poor to even afford to give her a doll.
In December 2012, I had a job at a local bank. One afternoon, we were decorating the tree in the bank lobby(大厅). One of my customers approached me with her beautiful handmade dolls. I decided to get one for my daughter, Katie, who was almost five years old. Then I had an idea. I asked my customer if she could make me a special doll for my mother—one with gray hair and spectacles(眼镜): a grandmother doll. And she gladly agreed.
A friend had told me that his dad who played Santa Claus would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home to deliver my Katie her presents, so I made some special arrangements.
Christmas Day arrived and at the planned time; so did Santa Claus. Katie was surprised that Santa had come to see her at her own house. As Santa turned to leave, he looked once more into his bag and found one more gift. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, surprised at her name being called, indicated that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift, with a message card that read:
For Alice:
I was cleaning out my sleigh(雪橇) before my trip this year and came across this package that was supposed to be delivered on December 25,1953. The present inside has aged, but I felt that you might still wish to have it. Many apologies for the lateness of the gift.
Love,
Santa Claus
My mother’s reaction was one of the most deeply emotional scenes I have ever seen. She couldn’t speak but only held the doll she had waited fifty-nine years to receive as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. That doll, given by “Santa”, made my mother the happiest “child” that Christmas.【改编】Why couldn’t the writer’s mother have a doll when young ?_________.
| A．Santa Clause forgot to send the doll to her |
| B．her daughter couldn’t make a doll by herself |
| C．her parents left the doll in the Santa Clause’s sleigh |
| D．her family was badly off when she was a child |
【改编】What can be inferred from the passage ?__________.
| A．the writer’s father played the Father Christmas |
| B．the writer’s mother was already in her sixties when she received the doll |
| C．the writer urged one of her friends to make the doll for her mother |
| D．the Santa Clause was too careless to deliver the doll on time |
The best title for this passage could be __________.
| A．A Doll from Santa |
| B．An unforgettable Christmas |
| C．A considerate daughter |
| D．A help from Santa Claus |
What is the difference between a college and a university? This is a good question for students who want to attend a college or a university in the United States.
Colleges and universities have many things in common. Both provide a greater understanding of the world and its past. Both provide education in the arts and sciences. And both can help prepare young people to earn a living.
Students who complete their undergraduate studies either at a four-year college or a university receive a bachelor’s degree. One difference is that many colleges do not offer graduate studies.
Universities are generally bigger, offer more programs and do more research. Modern universities developed from those of the Middle Ages in Europe. The word “university” comes from the Latin “universitas”. This described a group of people organized for a common purpose. The word “college” comes from a Latin word with a similar meaning, “collegium”. In England, colleges were formed to provide students with places to live in. Usually each group of students was studying the same thing. So college came to mean an area of study. But a college can also be a part of a university. The first American universities divided their studies into a number of areas and called each one a college. This is still true.
Programs in higher learning may also be called schools. The University of Arizona in Tucson, for example, has 18 colleges and 10 schools. They include the colleges of pharmacy (制药学), education, engineering and law. They also include the schools of architecture, dance and public administration.
College is also used as a general term for higher education. A news report might talk about “college students” even if they include students at universities. Or someone might ask, “Where do you go to college?”
Today, most American colleges offer an area of study called liberal arts. These are subjects first developed and taught in ancient Greece. They include language, philosophy and mathematics. The purpose is to train a person’s mind instead of teaching job skills. The passage is probably written to _________.
| A．persuade students to go to college instead of schools |
| B．tell students the differences between colleges and universities |
| C．help students make a better choice of what kind of colleges they should go to |
| D．inform students about how much they are going to spend in going to college |
When the term “college students” appears in a newspaper, it may refer to ________.
| A．only students studying in colleges |
| B．students studying in colleges in the USA |
| C．only students studying in universities |
| D．students receiving higher education |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Both universities and colleges include different schools. |
| B．The purpose of liberal arts is to train a person’s job skill. |
| C．Both universities and colleges can help prepare students to make a living. |
| D．Most American universities have 18 colleges and 10 schools. |
The area of study called liberal arts is designed to _______.
| A．get students ready to earn a living |
| B．teach students subjects from engineering to philosophy |
| C．help students achieve a stronger and clearer mind |
| D．encourage more students to begin the study of arts |
Have you thanked your grandma today? You might want to consider it. A recent study found that kids live longer when a grandmother takes part in their daily lives.
Most animals die soon after their childbearing years are over. Women, however, often live for many years after they stop having kids.
To try to understand why, researchers from Finland looked at birth and death records of two communities from the 18th and 19th centuries, one in Finland and one in Canada. In these communities, 537 Finnish women and 3,290 Canadian women were grandmothers who had lived past the age of 50.
For every decade they lived beyond 50, the researchers found that the women ended up with an average of two extra grandkids. It didn’t matter what the differences in health or living conditions were between the two communities or from family to family.
Grandchildren were also more likely to live into adulthood if their grandmothers were alive when they were born. If their grandmothers were younger than 60 at the time, that was even better. The study also found that women had children 2 to 3 years earlier if their own mothers were still alive at that time than those whose mothers had died.
The researchers suggested that grandmothers have provided important assistance in raising their grandchildren for at least the past 200,000 years. As a result, they helped extend everyone’s lifespan.
So, don’t take your grandma for granted!How many women in the survey in the two communities were grandmothers who had lived past the age of 50?
| A．537. | B．3,290. | C．3,827. | D．2,753. |
According to the passage, what influence did it have on a woman if her mother was still alive?
| A．She was also more likely to live into adulthood. |
| B．She had children 2 to 3 years earlier. |
| C．She ended up with an average of two extra grandkids. |
| D．It had no influence on her. |
How did grandmothers help extend everyone’s lifespan?
| A．They provided them with better living conditions. |
| B．They provided assistance in raising their grandchildren. |
| C．They helped with housework. |
| D．They made everyone happy. |
According to the passage, we don’t know that _______.
| A．kids live longer when grandmothers take part in their daily lives |
| B．most animals die soon after their childbearing years are over |
| C．women often live for many years after they stop having kids |
| D．grandchildren are less likely to live into adulthood if their grandmothers are alive |
American women experience a great variety of lifestyle. A typical American woman may be single. She may also be divorced or married. She may be a homemaker, a doctor or a factory worker. It is very difficult to generalize about American women. However, one thing that many American women have in common is their attitudes about themselves and their roles in American life.
Historically, American women have always been very independent. The first settlers to come to New England were ten young couples that had left behind their extended families. The women were alone in a new, undeveloped country with their husbands. This has two important effects. First of all, this was the uncivilized environment that demanded every person to share in developing it and in survival. Women worked with their husbands and children to make themselves accepted in this new land. Second, because they were in a new land without the established influence of older members of society, women felt free to step into non—traditional roles.
This role of women was strengthened in later years as Americans move west again, leaving families behind and meeting a new environment. Even later, in the east, as new settlers arrived, women often found jobs more easily than men. Women became the supporters of the family.
Within the established lifestyle of the industrialized twentieth century, the strong role of women was not attractive as in the early days of the country. Some women stepped into the men’s jobs as factory and business workers. After the war, some women stayed in these positions, and others left their jobs with a new sense of ability.A typical American woman is______________.
| A．single or married | B． divorced |
| C．sure about herself and her role | D． all of the above |
During the industrialized twentieth century, the role of women__________.
| A．was found out |
| B．was as important as before. |
| C．declined |
| D．was stronger than that of the early days |
Women took part in men’s job during the time of_________.
| A．the Second World War |
| B． the Westward Movement |
| C． the early immigration |
| D． the industrialized twentieth century. |
No one can believe that the over 6,300-kilometer Great Wall might disappear some day. Believe it or not, the Great Wall is being destroyed by people. Less than 20 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty ,is still perfect, but about 80 percent is in danger. The Great Wall can be called “ great “ mostly because of its amazing length. But we should realize that the length was made up of one brick at a time. If we do nothing to save the Great Wall,it will become a series of separate wasteland rather than a historic site.
The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over the past 2,000 years. It began in the rule of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221BC----206BC), and lasted into the Ming Dynasty. The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared. People are familiar with sections such as Badaling in Beijing and Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu, because they have been open to tourists for many years. But those sections far away from the public eyes have been almost forgotten.
Few local people knew the 3—meter—high walls made of earth and stones beside them are parts of the Great Wall. The lack of knowledge is considered as one of the main reasons behind human.
The bricks on the Great Wall are carried off by countryside people to build their houses,sheep corrals and pigsties. Some were taken away to build roads. Bricks carved with people’s names are put away as remembrances. The rubbish is spread over the battlements. The brick can be sold 15 yuan per tractor load. Those who destroyed and are destroying the Wall know its name, but are not clear about its cultural meaning. It will take a long time to let them know this. The local farmers not only carried off the body of the Wall but also dug out the entire base.
It is necessary to protect the Great Wall. First of all, the officials should be aware of the importance of the Great Wall. Young Chinese should know more about the nation’s great civilization and learn to love it.Why does the writer say the Great Wall might disappear?
| A．It is useless from now on. |
| B． It is too old to be used again. |
| C． It will be replaced by a new one. |
| D． Some parts of it are being destroyed. |
The underlined part “ those sections far away from the public eyes “( in Para. 2 ) refers to the parts of the Great Wall______________.
| A．nobody can watch. |
| B．that are too far to be seen. |
| C．that are too difficult to find. |
| D．that are not well-known to the public. |
What’s the main reason of the Great Wall being destroyed?
| A．The local people sell the bricks for a living. |
| B．The local people are short of culture knowledge. |
| C．The local people think that the Great Wall is not important. |
| D．The local people need bricks and stones to build houses. |
Which of the following may be the best title for this passage?
| A．How to Protect the Great Wall. |
| B．How the Great Wall came into being. |
| C．The Great Wall Being Rebuilt. |
| D．The Great Wall Being in Danger. |
About ten men in every hundred suffer from color blindness in some way. Women are luckier，only about one in two hundred is affected in this matter. Perhaps, after all, it is safer to be driven by a woman.
There are different forms of color blindness. In some cases a man may not be able to see deep red. He may think that red, orange and yellow are all shades of green. Sometimes a person cannot tell the difference between blue and green. In rare cases an unlucky man see everything in shades of green—a strange world indeed.
Color blindness in human beings is a strange thing to explain. In a single eye there are millions of very small things called "cones". These help us to see in a bright and tell difference between colors. There are also millions of "rods ", but these are used for seeing when it is nearly dark. They show us shape but no color. Some insects have favorite colors. Mosquitoes(蚊子) like blue but do not like yellow. A red light will not attract insects, but a blue lamp will. In a similar way human being also have favorite colors. Yet we are lucky. With the aid of the cones in our eyes we can see many beautiful colors by day, and with the aid of the rods we can see shapes at night, One day we may even learn more about the invisible colors around us.According to the passage, with the help of the "cones", we can
| A．tell different colours | B．see in a weak light |
| C．tell different shapes | D．tell orange from yellow |
Why do some people say it is safer to be driven by women?
| A．Women are more careful. |
| B．There are fewer color-blind women. |
| C．Women are fonder of driving than men. |
| D．Women are weaker but quicker in thinking. |
Which of the statements about the color-blind is true?
| A．Not all of them have the same problem in recognizing colors. |
| B．None of them can see deep red. |
| C．None of them can tell the difference between blue and green. |
| D．All of them see everything in shades of green. |
We can attract and kill mosquitoes by using a
| A．red light | B．yellow light |
| C．blue light | D．green light |