I was thirteen when my father got hurt. Looking back over the years, I sometimes wonder what I could have done differently that day. Spit twice over my shoulder when I saw the single magpie (喜鹊), maybe. But that's the thing about superstitions (迷信). You don't know how much power they have until you break them.
We lived in a dark shabby house in Bucks. Wood blocks laid over dirt on the floor. That part of England was full of cherry trees. Chalky soil．
The rice had caught in the bottom of the pot that morning at breakfast and all I could smell was burned rice. Even now when I think of that day I have the taste of burned rice in my mouth.
"I'm going to cut down the old cherry tree," my father announced.
"You've been saying that for years," said my mother lightly touching the end of her nose. Her nose ran all year long. Her arms rested on the table, a cup of tea placed between her hands, steam rising into the air. "You'll never get round to it. "
My stomach, balled into a tight little knot (结) relaxed itself．
"Millie's going to cry if you cut it down," said my younger brother, Simon, his eyes bright as a fox. "Silly Millie, silly Millie."
"Hold your noise," said my father patting Simon on the head. "And put back that butter. That's a week's ration (限额) you've got on your plate. "
"The war's over," said Simon in a low voice." We haven't had rationing for ages." Simon was right. Even sugar had come off points. However, we still occasionally received food parcels from distant cousins in Canada.
My father glared at him and then went on.
"Pigs. Burt says he'll come and help me take the tree down if he can have some of the wood."
"No," I said springing to my feet." You can't do it. That's my tree. Always has been. Always will be. I won't let you."
Tom, took a piece of toast, watching my reaction. My older brother, he knew what the tree meant to me．
"Now then, Millie," said my father softening his face. "That tree's wild. It's in the way."The magpie is mentioned to show that _____.
| A．Millie got much power on seeing the bird |
| B．things seemed to go wrong from the beginning |
| C．the bird caused Father's getting hurt that day |
| D．but for the bird Millie would have done differently |
According to the passage, how many kids does the family have at least?
| A．6. | B．5. | C．4. | D．3. |
By saying "balled into a tight little knot", the author means that Millie _____.
| A．had a terrible stomachache that morning |
| B．felt like crying on hearing her brother's words |
| C．was afraid of her cherry tree being cut down |
| D．hated to hear her mother saying that way |
From the passage, we can infer that _____.
| A．there were already plenty of food supplies |
| B．Mother showed little interest in the cherry tree |
| C．the tree was a great danger to people walking by |
| D．the tree was finally cut down by father that day |
When the author calls up the day, she feels _____.
| A．regretful | B．joyful |
| C．thankful | D．Painful |
Paragraph 1
Scientists have learned a lot about the kinds of food people need. They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day. They are: (1) green and yellow vegetables of all kinds. (2) citrus(柑桔) fruits and tomatoes; (3) potatoes and other fruits and vegetables; (4) meat of all kinds, fish and eggs; (5) milk and foods made from milk; (6) bread or cereal(谷类), rice is also in this kind of food; (7) butter, or something like butter.
Paragraph 2
People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things. Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways. People in different countries eat at different times of the day. In some places people eat once or twice a day; in other countries people eat three or four times a day. Scientists say that none of the differences is really important. It doesn’t matter whether foods are eaten raw or cooked, canned or frozen. It doesn’t matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o’clock in the afternoon or at eleven o’clock at night. The important thing is what you eat every day.
Paragraph 3
There are two problems, then, in feeding the large number of people on earth. The first is to find some ways to feed the world’s population so that no one is hungry.The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kinds of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy.According to the scientists, which of the following groups of food is the healthiest for your lunch?
| A．chicken, apples, cereal, cabbages | B．potatoes, carrots, rice, bread |
| C．oranges, bananas, fish, tomatoes | D．beef, pork, fish, milk |
It is important for people to eat _______.
| A．three times a day | B．dinner at twelve o’clock |
| C．cooked food all the day | D．something from each of the seven kinds of food every day |
People in different countries and different places of the world _______.
| A．has the right kinds of food to eat | B．cooks their food in the same way |
| C．has their meals at the same time | D．eat food in different ways |
If there is Paragraph 4, what do you think is going to be talked about?
| A．When people eat their lunch | B．What to do with the two problems |
| C．How to cook food in different ways | D．Why people eat different kinds of food |
Time and how we experience it have always puzzled us．Physicists have created fascinating theories, but their time is measured by a pendulum （钟摆） and is not psychological time, which leaps with little regard to the clock or calendar．As some-one who understood the distinction observed, "When you sit with a nice girl for two hours it seems like a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove, a minute seems like two hours．"
Psychologists have long noticed that larger units of time, such as months and years, fly on swifter wings as we age．They also note that the more time is structured with schedules and appointments, the more rapidly it seems to pass．For example, a day at the office flies compared with a day at the beach．Since most of us spend fewer days at the beach and more at the office as we age, an increase in structured tune could well be to blame for why time seems to speed up as we grow older．
Expectation and familiarity also make time seem to flow more rapidly．Almost all of us have had the experience of driving somewhere we’ve never been before．Surrounded by unfamiliar scenery, with no real idea of when we’ll arrive, we experience the trip as lasting a long time．But the return trip, although exactly as long, seems to take far less time．The novelty of the outward journey has become routine．Thus taking a different route on occasions can often help slow the clock．
When was become as identical as identical as beads（小珠子）on a string, they mix together, and even months become a single day．To counter this, try to find ways to interrupt the structure of your day—to stop time, so to speak．
Learning something new is one of the ways to slow the passage of time．One of the reasons the days of our youth seems so full and long is that these are the days of learning and discovery．For many of us, learning ends when we leave school, but this doesn’t have to be．The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 is used to show．
| A．psychological time is quite puzzling |
| B．time should not be measured by a pendulum |
| C．physical time is different from psychological time |
| D．physical theory has nothing to do with the true sense of time |
Why do units of time fly faster as we grow older?
| A．Our sense of time changes |
| B．We spend less time at the beach． |
| C．More time is structured and scheduled． |
| D．Time is structured with too many appointments． |
In Paragraph 3 “novelty” probably means．
| A．excitement | B．unfamiliarity | C．imagination | D．amusement |
The purpose of the passage is to．
| A．give various explanations about time |
| B．describe how we experience time psychologically |
| C．show the different ideas of physicists and psychologists on time |
| D．explain why time flies and how to slow it down psychologically |
I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year - round sun．You may think People , such an attractive, fun - filled place are happier than others．If so you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness．
Many intelligent people still think fun equals happiness．The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common．Fun is what we experience during an act．Happiness is what we experience after an act．It is a deep, long-lasting emotion．
Going to an amusement park or a ball game, watching a movie or television are fun activities that help us relax, temporally forget our problems and maybe even laugh．But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends．
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun．They have constant access to exciting parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells "happiness" But in memoir（回忆录） after memoir, they expose Ac unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages and loneliness．
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying．If he is honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment．For commitment is in fact quite painful．The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement．Man-iage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features．
Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness．They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they want．Couples with babies are lucky to get a whole night' s sleep．I don't know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children．
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to．It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can truly increase our happiness．It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless．And it frees us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and famous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all．What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Fun and happiness． | B．Success and satisfaction． |
| C．Marriage and commitment． | D．Entertainment and responsibility． |
The author probably agrees that ____．
| A．fun creates long - lasting satisfaction |
| B．long - standing fun may lead to happiness |
| C．fun is short-lived while happiness is long-lasting |
| D．fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness |
What does the author think of marriage?
| A．It ends in pain． | B．It means commitment． |
| C．It affords greater fun． | D．It leads to raising children． |
If one gets the real meaning of happiness, he ____．
A．will start a business B won' t place too much value on money
C．will seek for freedom D．won't devote himself to his family
Thanks a Million, Dad
I was born disabled．A difficult birth, feet first, my head stuck．By my first birthday, I couldn't stand or walk．
When I was three, the doctor told dad I had cerebral palsy （脑瘫）．A loss of oxygen to my brain had destroyed brain signals to the right side of my body．
But no son of my dad' s was going to be disabled．Every morning before breakfast and every evening before bed, my dad placed me on the bedroom floor to exercise my right leg．The muscles were shrunk and twisted together．Back and forth up and down, my dad pushed and pulled the muscles into shape．
But my dad' s exercise of passion didn't stop there．For my 13th birthday, he threw me a special party．When everybody was gone, he brought me to open a large box, it was a-set of boxing gloves．We put them on．My dad kept on beating me mercilessly．Each time I tried to get up, leather kissed my nose, eyes and jaw．I "begged him to stop．He said he beat me to get me ready for the tough world．
That same year, I was the only kid in my neighbourhood that wasn't picked for Little League．Two weeks later．Dad started the Shedd Park Minor League, and every kid played．Dad coached us and made me a pitcher （棒球投手）．
The power of my dad' s love guaranteed I walked and more．In high school, I became a football star．
In 1997, a brain surgeon in San Jose told me I didn’t t have cerebral palsy after all．He explained how and where the doctor' s forceps （镊子） at birth had damaged my brain．
My dad never knew the whole truth since he passed away years ago．But all that counts is the bottom line．After all his madness, on this Father' s Day, like every Father' s Day, I' m no longer disabled．What caused the author' s disability?
| A．A failed operation． | B．The doctor's forceps． |
| C．An accident in a game． | D．Shrunken and twisted muscles． |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．The author has a talent for boxing． |
| B．The author achieved a lot thanks to his father' s love． |
| C．The author became a baseball star with the help of his father． |
| D．The author doesn't think his father should be so strict with him． |
Paragraph 3 suggests that the author' s father____．
| A．wouldn't give up hope easily |
| B．believed his son was a normal child |
| C．blamed the doctors for his son' s disability |
| D．couldn't accept the truth that his son was disabled |
The author wrote the passage to ____．
| A．remember his father |
| B．encourage disabled children |
| C．show the difficulty the disabled face |
| D．give advice to the parents of disabled children |
Obama Still Smokes in Secret
US President Barack Obama has just made life more difficult for cigarette makers．He has just signed a law that will set tough new rules for the tobacco industry．The new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit the making and marketing of tobacco products．
At a White House signing ceremony Monday, Obama said that he was among the nearly 90% of smokers who took up the habit before their 18 th birthday．
Obama, who has publicly struggled to give up smoking, said he still hadn’t completely kicked the habit．Every now and then he still smokes in secret．
“As a former smoker I struggle with it all the time．Do I still smoke sometimes? Yes．Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No．” Obama said at a news conference．
“I don' t do it in front of my lads．I don 't do it in front of my family．I would say that I am 95% cured, but there are times when I mess up, " he said．
"Once you go down this path, it' s something you continually struggle with, which is exactly why the law is so important．The new law is not about me, it' s about the next generation of kids coming up．What we don ' t want is kids going down that path," he said．
Nearly 20% of Americans smoke and tobacco use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United States due to cancer, heart disease, and other serious diseases．The new law makes life difficult for．
| A．Obama | B．tobacco industry |
| C．White House | D．US Food and Drug Administration |
What do we know about Obama?
| A．He no longer smokes． |
| B．He still smokes as usual． |
| C．He began to smoke at eighteen． |
| D．He is trying hard to give up smoking． |
According to the passage, Obama is most concerned about ．
| A．children | B．officials | C．his family | D．businessmen |