In one of the old buildings near our school,one could see an old man sitting by a large window on the first floor.His name was James.During the three years at schoo1, I had hardly ever found him missing from his usual position.
He was a high-ranking government official and lived happily with his wife.Once there was a bus accident,in which a number of passengers were seriously injured and were taken to the hospital for treatment.James was responsible for the rescue operation.It was a big hospital,but James was shocked to notice how ill-equipped it was.There were no enough life-saving drugs and life—supporting equipment. The injured and their companions had to struggle there.James attempted to help.However,though he emptied his pockets,many of them died that day.
That was a turning point in his life.He made a decision to devote his life to helping others, particularly the poor and needy patients and their companions.He began spending much of his income on these people.Since this required a lot of time and energy,he found it difficult to fulfill his official duties and therefore chose to retire,which,in turn,reduced his income considerably.
His wife was deeply worried. Most of the time,James was out and paid least attention to home affairs.Meanwhile,as he was spending a lot helping others,she had to struggle even to meet the household expenses.Though she was not opposed to his helping the poor,she urged him not to overlook his own life and home,but it had no effect on him.One day they had a heated argument and in the end she left him,never to return.Though he continued with his work,this was a great blow and did serious harm to his health and enthusiasm and was soon forced to stay indoors.That was when he took his position by the window,spending his time looking outside.
A few weeks after my graduation,I returned to school,only to find the buildings gone.I heard that they were torn down.All the people left except James.He refused to go and the next morning,he was found at his usual place by the window,dead.What changed James’ view towards life?
A.The difficulties in his career. |
B.The deaths in the bus accident. |
C.The bad conditions in the hospital. |
D.The responsibilities in the operation. |
James chose to retire in order to____________________.
A.take care of the injured passengers |
B.find a better job to increase his income |
C.spare more time and energy to help others |
D.stay away from the difficult official duties |
James’ wife left because_________________________.
A.she was strongly against his deeds |
B.James paid too little attention to his work |
C.her work to support their daily life was too tiring |
D.James failed to keep a balance between charity and home |
The underlined word this in Paragraph 4 refers to ____________.
A.His decision to retire |
B.The departure of his wife |
C.The argument with his wife |
D.His devotion to helping others |
What is possibly the reason why James sat by the window every day?
A.He expected his wife to return. |
B.He looked forward to going out. |
C.He desired to watch the students. |
D.He attempted to know the outside life. |
Without proper planning, tourism can cause problems. For ex-ample, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country. If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy. They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely. They forget how much tourism can help the country's economy. It is important to think about the people of a destination country and how tourism affects them. Tourism should help a country keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists. Tourism should also advance the wealth and happiness of local inhabitants.
Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country's economy can suffer.
On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first-class roads, and other support facilities (配套设施)needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel lose money.
Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many sup-port facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost.Which of the following do you think has been discussed in the part before this selection?
A.It is extremely important to develop tourism. |
B.Building roads and hotels is essential. |
C.Support facilities are highly necessary. |
D.Planning is of great importance to tourism. |
The underlined word " inhabitants "(in Paragraph 1) probably means __________.
A.tourists | B.passengers |
C.population | D.citizens |
Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT __________.
A.a bad effect on other industries |
B.a change of tourists' customs |
C.over-crowdedness of places of interest |
D.pressure on traffic |
The author thinks it is good for local people to know that tourism will __________.
A.waste a lot of money |
B.weaken their economy |
C.help establish their customs |
D.help improve their life |
Parents have to do much less for their children today than they used to do, and home has become much less of a workshop. Clothes can be bought ready made; washing can go to the laundry; food can be bought-cooked, canned or preserved; bread is baked and delivered by the baker; milk arrives on the doorstep; meats can be had at the restaurant, the work's canteen, and the school dining-room.
It is unusual now for a father to pursue his trade or other employment at home, and his children rarely, if ever, see him at his place of work. Boys are therefore seldom trained to follow their father's occupation, and in many towns they have a fairly wide choice of employment and so do girls. The young wage-earner often earns good money, and soon acquires a feeling of economic independence. In textile areas it has long been customary for mothers to go out to work, but this practice has become so widespread that the working mother is now a not unusual factor in a child's home life, the number of married women in employment having more than doubled in the last twenty-five years. With mother earning and his older children drawing substantial wages father is seldom the dominant figure that he still was at the beginning of the century. When mother works, economic advantages accrue, but children lose some-thing of great value if mother's employment prevents her from being home to greet them when they return from school.The writer mentions home as workshop because __________.
A.fathers often pursue employment at home |
B.parents had to make food and necessity themselves for their daily-life |
C.many families produce goods at home for sale |
D.both fathers and mothers and mothers in most families are workers |
The writer says that home has become much less of a workshop. He means __________.
A.in the past, home was more like a workshop |
B.home is much more of a workshop now |
C.home-workshops are becoming fewer and fewer |
D.home was less like a workshop in the past |
The chief reason that boys are seldom trained to follow their father's occupation is __________.
A.that children nowadays rarely see their fathers at their place of work |
B.that fathers do not like to pursue employment at home any more |
C.that there is a wide choice of employment for children |
D.that children also like to have jobs outside |
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days: Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June.
Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honor mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation.
In 1909,Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910,the first Father's Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to established Father's Day as a national commemorative day, in 1972.
These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.According to the passage, which of the following about the second Sunday in May is not true?
A.It is a day to show love to mothers. |
B.It is a day to wear carnations. |
C.It is a day for people to visit the cemetery. |
D.It is a day for many people to attend religious services. |
Choose the right time order of the following events.
a. The first Father's Day was observed.
b. Mother's Day was proclaimed a day for national observance.
c. Father's Day became a day for national observance.
d. The idea of honoring fathers was brought up.
A.a b c d | B.d a b c |
C.b a c d | D.d a c b |
Who plays the most important role in Father's Day becoming a national commemorative day?
A.Mrs. Dodd. | B.Margaret Chase Smith. |
C.Ann Jarvis. | D.Woodrow Wilson. |
The author's purpose of writing this passage is to __________.
A.call on people to love and respect their parents |
B.introduce Mother's Day and Father's Day |
C.tell the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day |
D.show how important fathers and mothers are |
Are you carrying too much on your back at school? You're not alone. Back experts in the USA were worried that young students are having back and neck problems because they are carrying too much in their backpacks (schoolbags).
"It hurts my back when I run," said Beeline Reyes, a student in Virginia. "It's hard to get up the stairs with my backpack because it's too heavy. "
Students have to carry heavy backpacks on their backs for a whole week's study. Beeline is one of them. They have regular back-packs with two straps (带子)to carry them, but a number of students with heavy loads have switched to rolling backpacks. The backpacks have wheels and can roll on the ground.
Shirley Park's backpack weighs 10 kilos, and she said,"I'll change to a rolling backpack because I am starting to have back pain. "
How much is too much? Experts say that students should carry no more than 10 to 15 percent of their own body weight. A few students have had a good idea to lighten the load : Less homework.
Doctor's suggestions :
•Lighten the load. Take home only the books the students need that night.
•Wide straps are better. They can send out weight over your shoulders and be sure to wear backpacks with two straps.
•The heaviest things should be packed closest to the back.
•Bend (弯曲)both knees when you pick up the pack, don't just bend the waist(腰).The main idea of the text is __________.
A.the problems made by rolling backpacks |
B.the goodness of backpacks |
C.the best backpacks for students |
D.how to make students' backpacks light |
From what Eglin Reyes and Shirley Park said, we know __________.
A.students have to carry heavy backpacks |
B.students have to do homework |
C.backpacks with wheels are bad for students |
D.students have no time to play because of homework |
By the words of the experts, it's better for a student of 40 kilos to carry a backpack of at most __________.
A.10 kilos | B.8 kilos |
C.6 kilos | D.7 kilos |
If students follow the doctor's suggestions, they __________.
A.may do less homework |
B.may feel their backpacks are lighter |
C.can learn how to enjoy them |
D.will know how to use backpacks |
"Let's go down one more, push your enter key..." says a volunteer helping senior citizens work a web(网)session on the Inter-net.
David Lansdale has found a way to light up the lives of the elderly. He gets them wired to the Internet. " If you hit your enter key, it will bring up this particular e-mail..."
Pauline Allen is one of those who has started using the Internet," I thought I was through with life, I was ready for a rocking chair, because I was 86 years old. And I haven't found the rocking chair yet. " " You found the keyboard?" asks the reporter. " That's right, I found the keyboard. "
The average age of Lansdale's students is around 68. All are in nursing or assisted care homes. He used family relationships to introduce them to the World Wide Web.
David Lansdale says," Here they are in California, the family was back in New York, the opportunity to connect, to cross the time and space, was incredibly precious (valuable) to them. "
"I hear you are so beautiful. " Lillian Sherly writes an e-mail to a newborn great granddaughter. Working with one another, the senior learn as a group. They learn to master the Internet and to overcome what Lansdale calls the maladies of the institutionalized :loneliness, helplessness, boredom, and loss of memory.
Mary Harvey says," Bingo just doesn't interest me. But this does, believe me, this does. "
Ninety-four-year-old Ruth Hyman is a star pupil and instructor. She says," When I send a letter to my grandchildren, and great grandchildren, they hang it up in their offices, just like I used to hang their drawings on my refrigerator. Ha, ha. "
David Lansdale says," There's a collective benefit. There is an element (因素)of treatment. Remember we started as a support group. "
Dixon Moorehouse says,"I just wish I was 15 years old and getting to learn all this. " The senior calls their weekly meetings Monday Night Live. And many say the meetings have given them new life. Ruth Hyman says," Three years ago, they told me I wasn't going to live. But I showed them, and got work, and I've worked ever since.The purpose of David Lansdale's work is to __________.
A.keep the health of the mind of the senior |
B.popularize the use of computers among the old |
C.organize the senior as a group to work |
D.help the senior connect with their families |
The words "the maladies of the institutionalized" used in the text refer to __________.
A.the difficulties in learning |
B.the problems caused by getting old |
C.some kinds of treatments |
D.the worries about the Internet |
How many examples does the writer give to prove that the senior enjoy the Internet?
A.Four. | B.Five. |
C.Six. | D.Seven. |
It can be inferred that Ruth Hyman's younger generations hang her mails up __________.
A.in order not to lose the letters |
B.in order not to forget something important |
C.to make the offices more beautiful |
D.to show pride in their grandmother's work |