Andy is the most unreasonable, pigheaded life form in the world, and he makes me so angry I could scream! Of course, I love him like a brother. I have to because he is my brother. More than that, he is my twin!
That’s right. Andy and Amy (that’s me) have the same curly hair and dark eyes and equally stubborn characters. Yet, though we may look alike, on most issues we usually take completely opposite positions. If I say day, you can count on Andy to say night.
Just this week, the hot topic in school was all about the PTA’S proposal (提议) to adopt a school dress principle. Every student would be required to wear a uniform. Uniforms! Can you imagine? Oh, they would be uniforms in color. The dress style would be sort of loose and free.
Boys would wear white or blue button-down shirts, a school tie, blue or gray pants, and a navy blue blazer (运动夹克). Girls would wear white or blue blouses or sweaters, blue or gray pants or skirts, along with a navy blue blazer.
Socks or tights could be black, gray, blue, or white. The teachers are divided: Some are in favor of the uniforms, others are opposed. The headmaster has asked the students to express their opinions by voting on the issue before making their decisions. She will have the final word on the dress principle.
I think a dress principle is a good idea. The reason is simple. School is tough enough without worrying about looking cool every single day. The fact is, the less I have to decide first thing in the morning, the better. I can’t tell you how many mornings I look into my closet and just stare, unable to decide what to wear. Of course, there are other mornings when my room looks like a storm had hit it, with bits and pieces of a dozen different possible clothes on the bed and on the floor. I also wouldn’t mind not having to see guys wearing oversized jeans and shirts. And I certainly would welcome not seeing kids showing off designer-labeled clothes.
Andy is surprised at my opinion. He says he can’t believe that I would be willing to give up my all-American teenage birthright by dressing like — well, like a typical teenager. Last night, he even dragged out Mom and Dad’s high school photo albums. What a couple of peace-loving hippies (嬉皮士) they were!
“Bruce Springsteen never wore a school uniform. Bob Dylan wouldn’t have been caught dead in a school uniform!
If I have to wear a uniform, I won’t feel like me!” he declared.
To which I replied, “So your personal heroes didn’t wear school uniforms. Big deal! They went to high school about a million years ago! I feel sorry for you, brother dear. I had no idea that you are so fragile that you would be completely destroyed by gray or blue pants, a white or blue shirt, a tie, and a blazer.”
That really made him angry. Then he said, “You’re just mimicking (模仿) what you hear that new music teacher saying!”
“That is so not true. I’m saying exactly what I think,” I said, raising my voice in what mom would call “a very rude manner.”
“You have always been stupid, and you know it!” he shouted.
“Is that so? Anyone who doesn’t agree with you is automatically stupid. And that’s the stupidest thing of all!” I said.
Fortunately, the bell rang before we could do each other physical harm, and we went thankfully to our separate classes.
The vote for or against uniforms took place later that day. The results of the vote and the headmaster’s decision will be announced next week. I wonder what it will be. I know how I voted, and I’m pretty sure I know how Andy voted.
How would you vote — for or against?Amy and Andy quarrel because .
| A．they share a cupboard |
| B．Amy likes to show off |
| C．they both have the word for dress principle |
| D．they always take the opposite views on issues |
The story is about .
| A．a conflict of opinions between boys and girls |
| B．a historical event and is told in the third person |
| C．a personal experience and is told in the first person |
| D．a school policy decision that will affect parents and students |
Amy’s position on school uniforms is most likely based on .
| A．logical conclusions drawn from her own observation and personal experience |
| B．an emotional reaction to what she has been told by people in authority |
| C．her preference for designer-labeled clothes |
| D．not liking anything her brother likes |
Which of the following is the best statement of Andy’s position?
| A．School clothing should reflect parents’ values. |
| B．Teenagers should never follow the latest fashions in dress. |
| C．How one dresses should be an expression of one’s individuality. |
| D．Wearing school uniforms means one less decision every morning. |
Which of these statements from the story is a form of an emotional appeal?
| A．The teachers are divided: some are in favor of uniforms; others are opposed. |
| B．You are so fragile that you would be completely destroyed by gray or blue pants. |
| C．The results of the vote and the headmaster’s decision will be announced next week. |
| D．The hot topic in school was all about the PTA’s proposal to adopt a school dress principle. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．A School Dress Principle |
| B．My Stubborn Twin Brother |
| C．Endless Fights with My Brother |
| D．For or Against? — That Is the Question |
Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook page was for the Ryan Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.
| A．he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet |
| B．he wanted to thank Ryan in person |
| C．an object reminded him of Ryan |
| D．he raised money for Ryan |
After reading Walter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.
| A．proud of her son | B．grateful for his help |
| C．happy about his recovery | D．sad again at her son' s death |
Which of the following can best describe Ryan?
| A．Determined and considerate. | B．Optimistic and brave. |
| C．Friendly and patient. | D．Brave and proud. |
We know from the text that Walter_________.
| A．survived the cancer |
| B．experienced 14 operations |
| C．searched for Ryan on the Facebook |
| D．founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation |
You are a new manager at the American branch of your German firm in Chicago. With a few minutes to spare between meetings, you go to get a quick cup of coffee.
“Hey, David, how are you?” one of the senior partners at the firm asks you.
“Good, thank you, Dr. Greer,” you reply. You’ve really been wanting to make a connection with the senior leadership at the firm, and this seems like a great opportunity. But as you start to think of something to say, your American colleague breaks in to steal your spotlight.
“So Arnold”, your colleague says to your boss, in such a casual manner that it makes your German soul cringe(畏缩), “So what’s your Super bowl prediction? I mean, you’re a Niners fan, right?” The conversation moves on, and you walk silently back to your desk with your coffee. You know how important small talk is in the U. S. , and you feel jealous of people who can do it well.
There’s nothing small about the role that small talk plays in American professional culture. People from other countries are often surprised at how important small talk is in the U. S. and how naturally and comfortably people seem to do it—with peers，men，women，and even with superiors. You can be the most technically skilled worker in the world, but your ability to progress in your job in the United States is highly dependent on your ability to build and maintain positive relationships with people at work. And guess what skill is critical for building and maintaining these relationships? Small talk.
What can you do if you are from another culture and want to learn to use small talk in the U. S. to build relationships and establish trust? Work hard to hone(磨练)your own version of American-style small talk. Watch how others do it. You don’t have to mimic what they do; in fact, that would likely backfire because people would see you as inauthentic. But if you can develop your own personal version, that can go a long way toward making you feel comfortable. The author introduces the topic of the passage by __________.
| A．raising an interesting question |
| B．telling a small jokes |
| C．making comparisons |
| D．describing an interesting scene |
What do we know about German people?
| A．They usually make small talk in work breaks. |
| B．They don’t make so much small talk. |
| C．They hate making small talk. |
| D．They are good at making small talk too. |
What makes people from other countries surprised in American professional culture?
| A．The role small talk plays in work settings. |
| B．American workers’ attitude towards superiors. |
| C．The special meaning of small talk. |
| D．American workers’ ability to make progress. |
What does “backfire” underlined in the last paragraph mean?
| A．be difficult | B．be helpful |
| C．have the opposite effect | D．have a good result |
Aava Whistler Hotel
Star Ratings：★★★ Location: Whistler
Rooms:192
Stay at the Aava Whistler Hotel (formerly Coast Whistler Hotel) and experience a great vacation. The Aava Whistler Hotel is within minutes from over a hundred shopping malls and restaurants. It also has a great number of recreational facilities, including swimming, diving and even skiing. Hotel services include 24-hour reception, laundry and room service. Guests can stay in cozy rooms equipped with air-conditioning, bathroom and television. From CN￥496 per night.
Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel
Star Ratings：★★★Location: East Lundy’s Lane
Room:l66
Relax and unwind at the Best Western Cairn Hotel. This resort-style hotel is located just minutes from the airport. At the Best Western Cairn Croft, guests can enjoy a large number of recreational facilities, including children’s activities, sightseeing and a swimming pool. Business travelers can also take advantage of spacious meeting and banqueting facilities for hosting corporate events. All rooms come with basic amenities(便利设施). From CN￥439 per night.
Clarion Hotel＆Suites Downtown Montreal
Star Ratings：★★★ Location：Montreal
Rooms：266
Conveniently located just 20 minutes from the airport, the Clarion Hotel＆Suite Downtown Montreal is a moderately-priced three-star hotel that provides services to both business and leisure travelers. The Clarion has spacious meeting facilities and modern business centers for business travelers. It also has a sauna and whirlpool where guest can relax. All rooms come with basic amenities, including cable TV and a kitchenette. From CN￥553 per night.
Delta Bow Valley Hotel
Star Ratings：★★★ Location：Calgary
Rooms：398
The Delta Bow Valley Hotel is located a couple of blocks north of Olympic Plaza, east of James Short Park, and north-east of the Petro-Canada Centre. Apart from business and recreational services such as a business centre, fitness centre and restaurant, all rooms in the Delta come with a mini-bar and in-house movies. From CN￥l, 227 per night.What do all four of the hotels have in common?
| A．They all provide a room with a mini bar. |
| B．They all have the same number of rooms |
| C．They are all close to the airport |
| D．They all have a three star ratings. |
Which hotel offers facilities for children’s activities?
| A．Clarion Hotel＆Suites Downtown Montreal |
| B．Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel |
| C．Aava Whistler Hotel |
| D．Delta Bow Valley Hotel |
If you want to check in to a hotel at three o’clock in the morning you can stay at ______.
| A．Aava Whistler Hotel |
| B．Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel |
| C．Clarion Hotel＆Suites Downtown Montreal |
| D．Delta Bow Valley Hotel |
Treasure hunts (寻宝) have excited people’s imagination for hundreds of years both in real life and in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Kit Williams, a modern writer, had the idea of combining the real excitement of a treasure hunt with clues (线索) found in a book when he wrote a children’s story, Masquerade, in 1979. The book was about a hare, and a month before it came out, Williams buried a gold hare in a park in Bedfordshire. The book contained a large number of clues to help readers find the hare, but Williams put in a lot of “red herrings”, or false clues, to mislead them.
Ken Roberts, the man who found the hare, had been looking for it for nearly two years. Although he had been searching in the wrong area most of the time, he found it by logic, not by luck. His success came from the fact that he had gained an important clue at the start. He had realized that the words: “One of Six to Eight” under the first picture in the book connected the hare in some way to Katherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII’s six wives. Even here, however, Williams had succeeded in misleading him. Ken knew that Katherine of Aragon had died at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire in 1536 and thought that Williams had buried the hare there. He had been digging there for over a year before a new idea occurred to him. He found out that Kit Williams had spent his childhood near Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, and thought that he must have buried the hare in a place he knew well, but he still could not see the connection with Katherine of Aragon, until one day he came across two stone crosses in Ampthill Park and learnt that they had been built in her honor in 1773.
Even then his search had not come to an end. It was only after he had spent several nights digging around the cross that he decided to write to Kit Williams to find out if he was wasting his time there. Williams encouraged him to continue, and on February 24th 1982, he found the treasure. It was worth ₤3000 in the beginning, but the excitement it had caused since its burial made it much more valuable.The underlined word “them” (paragraph 1) refers to __________.
| A．readers of Masquerade |
| B．treasure hunts |
| C．Henry VIII’s six wives |
| D．red herrings |
What is the subject discussed in the text?
| A．An exciting historical event. |
| B．The importance of logical thinking. |
| C．The attraction of Masquerade. |
| D．A modern treasure hunt. |
Which of the following describes Roberts’ logic in searching for the hare?
a. Henry VIII’s six wives
b. Katherine’s burial place at Kimbolton
c. Williams’ childhood in Ampthill
d. Katherine of Aragon
e. stone crosses in Ampthill Park
| A．a -b- c- e- d | B．d- b- c- e- a |
| C．b- a- e- c- d | D．a- d- b- c- e |
What is the most important clue in the story to help Ken Roberts find the hare?
| A．Katherine of Aragon. |
| B．Stevenson’s Treasure Island. |
| C．Two stone crosses in Ampthill. |
| D．Williams’ hometown. |
The Hunan Satellite TV(HNTV) show “Where are we going, Dad?” is a big hit. Many famous stars brought their children to a strange village alone, and they had to spend 72 hours with their children there. The program fully showed us a modern version of the “how to be a good father”. As the young parents today are too busy to take care of their children, this new form of“Lost on the way”played by nanny daddy and cute kids triggered（触发）a lot of people’s emotional resonance（共鸣）. Both the kids and their parents will find that their hearts are being drawn closer. But this kind of feeling has just proved that there is a big spiritual barrier between the modern parents and children.
The TV shows like “Children are hard to support!”, “Where are we going, Dad?”, “hot mom” and “cute kids” are becoming more and more popular. All of these show the new parents’ confusion in children’s education and the appeal for the balance between career and family.
In real life, on the one hand the young parents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their children under the pressures of work and life; on the other hand they continue to do so. The data collected by HNTV show that nearly two-thirds of their audience are female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34. We can imagine such a scene that one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children, while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is just playing computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the company of father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In a modern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility of raising a child. The participation of mother in the children’s education is also very low.
It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parents will guide their children to go that“Where are we going, Dad?”shows us. If a child wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen with independent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her to follow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the real reason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that children will go where their parents go; and society will go where the children go. Which of the following can be inferred in the passage?
| A．Parents shouldn’t entirely leave the education of children to the old. |
| B．36% of the audience of the program are female aged from 25-34. |
| C．The program shows us the confusion where the parents and children will go to play. |
| D．In a modern family it is often mothers who are responsible for raising a child. |
Which one is the best title of the passage?
| A．Confusion behind “Where are we going, dad?” |
| B．Modern Education is Important |
| C．Nanny Daddy and Cute Kids |
| D．New Problems in Modern Children’s Education |
In raising a child in modern society, parents should __________.
| A．play computer games with their children |
| B．break down the barrier between children and teachers |
| C．balance well between family and career |
| D．keep their children at home to avoid socializing |
What attitude towards modern family education does the author express in the second paragraph?
| A．Optimistic. | B．Proud. | C．Worried. | D．Indifferent. |