Many young people tell me that they want to be writers. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there is a big difference between being a writer and writing. In most cases these people are dreaming of wealth and being famous, not the long hours alone at the typewriter.
When I became a writer, I had no future. What I had was a friend called George. He found me a home. It was cold and had no bathroom. I could only afford a used typewriter. A year later, however, I still hadn’t received a break and began to doubt myself. But I knew I wanted to write. I would keep putting my dream to the test—even though it meant living with fear of failure. This is the shadow land (阴影) of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there. Then one day I got a call from a friend who asked me to be an assistant for $6,000 a year. As the dollars were dancing in my head, something brought me to my sense. “Thanks, but no,” I heard myself saying. After that, I walked around my little room and started to feel like a fool. I felt a little low.
Later, I gradually began to sell my articles. It was after 17 years of being a writer that Roots was published. At once I had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experienced. The shadows had turned into great sunlight. Before that, it was a long and slow climb out of the shadows.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.
| A．the job chance the author ever had |
| B．the difficulties before the author succeeded |
| C．the great help from the author’s friends |
| D．the important choices the author made |
The underlined word “something” in Paragraph 2 refers to _______.
| A．the author’s dream of being a writer |
| B．the author’s trouble in making money |
| C．the author’s hard life before success |
| D．the author’s wish to be successful |
How did the author feel after he refused the job offer?
| A．confident | B．angry |
| C．excited | D．Unhappy |
One evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son and his girlfriend in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children. Later, I discovered that I was completely wrong.
I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out. I called home with this happy news．But instead of hearing his cheerful, grateful voice on the other end of the line, all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.
It was, I should point out, after 10 p.m., when the two younger children should have been in bed, and when the two older children should have been answering the phone. “I’ll give him a lesson, ” I said．I decided they must be outside．Why they might be outside at 10:30 on a winter night I had no idea, but it was the only explanation I could come up with.
Finally, in desperation（绝望）, I called his girlfriend’s house. His girlfriend answered．“Yes,” she said brightly, “He’s right here.”
He came on the phone．I was not my usual calm, patient．After all, one of the rules of survival for modern parents is that you can’t trust modern teenagers. “Where are the children?” I said. He said they were with him．They had done nothing wrong．My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriend’s house just for ice cream and cake． Well, it turns out that I shouldn’t have believed it．It was only part of the truth.
The following Saturday evening we were at my parents’ home, celebrating my birthday．My oldest son gave me the children’s gifts --- a series of lovely color photographs of my children, dressed in their best clothes, and wearing their most wonderful expressions. They are pictures to treasure a lifetime, all taken by the father of my son’s girlfriend.The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children because
_____.
| A．she knew that his girlfriend was a good baby-sitter |
| B．she believed he could take good care of the younger ones with the help of his girlfriend |
| C．the older children have always loved the younger ones |
| D．she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter night |
Shortly after the author left home one evening, she discovered that _____.
| A．her son had brought his girlfriend home |
| B．her son had left home with his girlfriend |
| C．she shouldn’t have completely trusted her son |
| D．she should have taken the children along with her |
“It was only part of the truth.” implies that the children not only enjoyed ice-cream but also _____.
| A．had their pictures taken | B．received some gifts |
| C．had a birthday party | D．showed off their best clothes |
The British aren’t having as many children as they used to. One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer years in which they can have them. After years at university, they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want. They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.
The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average. It is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home. Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home. It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child.
So a British person manages to get a job, get a home and get married. Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average? The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Why is it expensive? Well, these days, both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses. Because both parents are at work, that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day. Paying for this childcare is nearly always expensive.
The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families, since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children. With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare. On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week, which is the most in Europe. The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work-life balance. Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family. Otherwise, the British will always be too tired, and won’t have enough time and money, to have children. Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because .
| A．They are allowed to get married at 30 |
| B．they can’t find jobs to support themselves |
| C．they can’t afford a house of their own until then |
| D．they enjoy family life with their parents |
The British are now having fewer children than before for all the following reasons EXCEPT that .
| A．they have fewer years to have children |
| B．they live much shorter lives than before |
| C．it is more expensive to bring up a child |
| D．people are losing their jobs because of the recent financial crisis |
To make it cheaper to have children, the British government is .
| A．bringing down prices |
| B．raising the salaries of parents |
| C．reducing family income tax |
| D．increasing subsidies for families and nursery schools |
It can be inferred from the text that .
| A．with long work hours, it is hard for British parents to balance life and work |
| B．more and more families in Britain are breaking up because they are having fewer children |
| C．among Europeans, British people work hardest and earn the least |
| D．childcare takes up too much energy and time for the British |
The underlined word “subsidies” in Paragraph 5 means _________.
| A．food paid by the government |
| B．school buildings for poor students |
| C．free transportation |
| D．money from the government to benefit the public |
She is quiet, soft-spoken and has a kind face and a strong heart. She is my mom, Lili.
When I was nine, Lili quitted her job and started her own business. She said she didn’t want to stay at home and work as a housewife: “It’s a waste of life.” Lili became so busy that she spent less and less time with me. She didn’t help me with my schoolwork. It was, in her words, “so that you can develop your independence”. We quarreled because she rarely showed up at parents’ meetings.
Like mother, like daughter. I have many things in common with Lili. I want everything to be under control. I want to be perfect and I don’t expect other people to help me. I push myself hard to achieve my goals.
After I started to go to high school, Lili and I were too busy to communicate much with each other.
In biology class I began to be depressed. When the teacher showed us a picture of a butterfly, I was scared and screamed. I had a vision of thousands of butterflies flying toward me.
That night I told Lili about it. The next morning, I saw that she had red eyes with black circles around them.
She took me to see a therapist (治疗师). Three hours later, the therapist told Lili that my life was like a wheel spinning (旋转) faster and faster and that was the reason for what had happened to me. I only realized it when my body couldn’t stand the pressure anymore. At these words, Lili burst into tears. “It’s all my fault, she’s just a kid and I didn’t have time to take care of her….” To be honest, I had never seen Lili cry before.
After that, Lili began to spend more time at home, cooking and dragging me to do sports. I realized she was the one who would always be there when I was in real trouble. No mom is perfect, but she is the one who really cares about her kid.Lili quitted her job and started her own business because _________.
| A．she wanted to make more money | B．she was not willing to look after me |
| C．she didn’t want to waste her life | D．she likes keeping busy |
We quarreled because __________.
| A．she began to spend less and less time with me |
| B．she didn’t help me with my schoolwork. |
| C．she seldom attended the parents’ meetings in my school. |
| D．Lili and I were too busy to communicate much with each other. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Most women don’t want to be a housewife. |
| B．Most children want their mothers to accompany them at home. |
| C．We need to understand our mothers’ busy life. |
| D．Although mothers are not perfect, they all love the children |
Which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．Lili is a quiet, strong-willed woman. |
| B．Lili began to spend more time at home after visiting the therapist. |
| C．I was scared and screamed in biology class because I hate butterflies. |
| D．I only realized my life was like a wheel when my body couldn’t stand the pressure anymore. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Mom Does Care. | B．A Busy but Successful Mother. |
| C．Change From Mother to Businessman. | D．A Student’s Opinion on Mother. |
About half American teenagers do not get enough sleep on school nights.They get an average of sixty to ninety minutes less than experts say they need.
One reason for this is biology.Experts say teens are biologically programmed to go to sleep later and wake up later than other age groups.Yet many schools start classes as early as seven in the morning.As a result，many students go to class feeling like sixteenyearold Danny.He is an active teen— except in the morning.“Getting up in the morning is pretty terrible.I’m just very out of it and tired.Through the first and second period I can hardly stay awake,” he said.
Michael Breus is a psychologist.Teens，he says，need to sleep eight to nine hours or even nine to ten hours a night.He says sleepy teens can experience a form of depression(消沉) that could have big influence on their general well being.It can affect not just their ability in the classroom but also on the sports field and on the road.So what can schools do about sleepy students？The psychologist says one thing they can do is to start classes later in the morning.Studies show that students can improve by a full letter grade in their first and second period classes.
Eric Peterson is the head of St.George’s School in the northeastern state of Rhode Island.He wanted to see if a thirtyminute delay(推迟)would make a difference.It did.He says visits to the health center by tired students decreased by half.Late arrivals to the first period fell by a third.And students reported that they were less sleepy during the day.Eric Peterson knows that changing start times is easier at a small school like his.But he is hopeful that other schools will find a way.What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Later classes，fewer sleepy teens |
| B．Early birds have good food |
| C．Early to bed and early to rise |
| D．Fewer classes，more happiness |
The underlined word“this”in the second paragraph refers to________.
| A．teenagers’ staying up |
| B．teenagers’ getting up late |
| C．teenagers’ not getting enough sleep |
| D．teenagers’ not studying seriously |
Michael Breus thinks that________.
| A．teens should get up early |
| B．teens need enough sleep to be lively |
| C．depression is common in teens |
| D．the first period class should be cut off |
The last paragraph tells us________.
| A．Eric Peterson visits the health center every day |
| B．it’s not easy for Eric Peterson to change start times |
| C．students in St.George’s School can get up later than before |
| D．students in St.George’s School aren’t late for school any more |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Danny is a lazy boy and always late for school. |
| B．Teens should go to bed early and get up early, too. |
| C．The psychologist has no idea how to solve the problem. |
| D．Enough sleep makes a healthy and active student. |
Mary Jean Price Walls graduated second in her class in 1950.She had high hopes when she applied to a local college,Southwest Missouri State College.But after sending off her application，she spent months waiting for a reply.It never came.
Worse than simply being denied admission(拒绝接收)，the school didn’t reply to her at all.It wasn’t a matter of her school records，but of her skin color：Wallsis African American，and in those days，that fact alone closed a lot of doors. “I was sad and I was hurt,”Walls told ABC News.“I did not expect the skin color would affect my application.I thought I could go to university like other students.”
Four years later，the government declared that all schools should not discriminate against(歧视)African Americans— but it was too late for Walls.She’d moved on with her life, becoming a wife and a mother，and working as an elevator operator.She retired last year，at the age of 77.
She stayed quiet about the unfairness she’d faced in Missouri State.Her son，Terry，went through school records and found that she’d been the first black student to ever apply to the college.Today,four percent of the Southwest Missouri State College body is African American—including Terry.
Although it’s too late for Missouri State to change the past，the school is awarding Walls with an honorary degree(荣誉学位)from the school.While she knows it’s too late for herto change the course of her own life with the degree，it’s a chance for her to show her family that Missouri State has changed in the last 60 years，and there’s not a single door closed to them anymore.Walls couldn’t enter the local college because________.
| A．her examination performance is too bad |
| B．girls were not allowed to go to college |
| C．she was an AfricanAmerican student |
| D．her parents had no enough money to support her |
Before she was denied Walls thought that________.
| A．her application would be accepted as others’ |
| B．it was hard to become a college student |
| C．it was impossible for her to be admitted |
| D．she could be the best student in her college |
What can we know about Walls’s son?
| A．He helped his mother get the honorary degree. |
| B．He is a good student who teachers like best. |
| C．He was admitted by the college once his mother applied to. |
| D．He wants to be a government official who can help his mother. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Walls did not fight for her right to education. |
| B．The college did not receive Walls’s application. |
| C．Walls got a good job after she received the degree. |
| D．The government gave Walls some money for the wrongs. |
Walls’s honorary degree suggests that________.
| A．she could change her life with the degree |
| B．her dream of going to college has come true |
| C．she has been leading a happy life with her family |
| D．great changes have taken place in Missouri State |