Many immigrants(移民) to the United States find the decision to seek better lives for their families in America can have an unexpected and tragic consequence(后果). Deep differences with their children develop over language and culture.
“Many immigrants arrive here without much education. Their kids soon gain language skills and also street smarts(生存技能) on how to live in America, leaving the parents at a disadvantage,” Ileana , Roses, pastor of a Methodist church group operating in Virginia, said.
“Not only that but they find they cannot relate to children who quickly absorb American culture,” she said.
According to the US Census Bureau(人口调查局), the number of foreign born or first generation Americans reached 55 million last year, a record one in five of the total population.
A government survey of 922 immigrants in 2000 found that nearly 40 percent of those who had been in the United States for more than 15 years would still like to take English classes if they had the time.
Two thirds of low income households depended on their children for translation.
Psychologists(心理学家) and sociologists say parents can lose their position of authority(权威) in a family as a result and the effects of that can be far-reaching.
Children exposed to American pop culture that glorifies(颂扬) youth and sexuality(性感) often rebel when their parents try to impose the conservative values they brought with them.
“Americanization erodes(侵蚀) all important aspects of parenting,” said Richard Weissbourd, who teaches education at Harvard University.
“I feel a part of me is dying with my children. They don’t listen to my music. I have to play it on Sunday morning when they are not around,” said an immigrant.What troubles the immigrant parents most is ___________.
| A．that they can’t understand the English language |
| B．that they lose their position of authority in their families |
| C．that their children have lost sense of their own national values |
| D．how they can master the English language as soon as possible |
From the passage we can infer that the population of the states at present is about____.
| A．275 million | B．220 million |
| C．255 million | D．smaller than 250 million |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．All the immigrants had expected the troubles they would meet before they went to the US. |
| B．Two thirds of immigrant families are low income households. |
| C．American culture shows a spirit against conservative social and cultural values. |
| D．American pop culture puts the immigrant families at a disadvantage. |
Which of the following is probably the title of the report?
| A．The Result of the US Census |
| B．The Differences Between Parents and Children in the US |
| C．The Troubles of the American Immigrants |
| D．Role Reversal(颠倒) Troubles Many Parents and Children |
Success starts within our mind. Now, we will discuss four steps to change our lives and create a new future. ■ 1. Think big. Get rid of negative(负面的)beliefs. Your beliefs have developed from what happened to you in the past. You should realize that the past is not equal to the future, unless you really live there. The first thing you need to do is to drive all the negative beliefs away from your mind. Those beliefs are not useful for creating a new future. Think that everything is possible if you put enough effort in it. When you change your beliefs into positive ones, you will feel more powerful. You will then be able to move on to the next level. ■ 2. Write your plan to achieve your goals. Your great goals should be divided into smaller goals. Make a timetable for each goal so that you can measure your progress. Write a detailed plan to achieve these goals. ■ 3.Take action according to your plan. Nothing bears fruit without action. Every successful person has to work hard towards his or her goals. There is no exception(例外). Be prepared to work according to your plan. Be willing to invest (投资) in the resources necessary for your progress. Do not give up. ■ 4. Review what you have done and know how good you are. While you are in the process of your work, take some time to review how well you have done. Review your progress based on your plan and see if you need to change anything. You can change your methods but you should not change your goals.
Why should we get rid of our negative beliefs?
| A．They come from our past experiences. |
B．The past and the future are different. |
C．They will stop us from starting a new future. |
D．We should learn some useful things. |
According to the second step, to achieve your big goals, you should _________.
| A．change your methods |
B．make full use of every minute |
C．divide them into smaller ones and achieve them one by one to time |
D．measure your progress from time |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．During your work, be prepared to change everything. |
B．If you feel your goal difficult, you’d better give it up. |
C．Considering changing the ways you achieve goals is useful. |
D．Reviewing is more important than setting goals. |
Which of the following has the same meaning as "Nothing bears fruit without action."?
| A．No pain, no gain. |
B．Better early than late. |
C．He laughs last who laughs best. |
D．Nothing succeeds like success. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．How to Live a Happy Life |
B．Ways to Create Your New Future |
C．How to Change Yourself |
D．Nothing Bears Fruit Without Action |
Once a group of 17-year-old schoolboys decided to break the world basketball marathon record(马拉松记录). They wanted to play for ninety hours and that is to add six hours to the record. Each team had nine players, with five at a time. The boys decided each person would play 21. 5 hours and then rest for 2 hours. Then they started at 6 o’clock in the evening.
The first night was very hard for the players. When it was their turn to rest, they were too excited(兴奋的) to fall asleep at once.
After sleeping for a short time, they had to play again. On the second night, they fell asleep as soon as they stopped. Some of them had trouble with their feet and hands, but the only serious problem was a psychological(心理上的) one. Each boy was thinking：why am I doing this？How can I play any longer？After the third night, the players knew they could finish the ninety hours. The basketball on the fourth night was very slow. But in the final hours, the players got better. For the last few minutes, the players looked as fresh as when they started. How happy everyone was！In the story, there were _______ schoolboys playing basketball marathon.
| A．9 | B．14 | C．17 | D．18 |
Before this basketball marathon, the world record was _______.
| A．84 hours | B．86 hours | C．90 hours | D．96 hours |
The first night was hard for the players to fall asleep because _______.
| A．they were too excited |
| B．they only slept for a short time |
| C．no one watched them play |
| D．it was very long |
“…the players looked as fresh as when they started” here “fresh” means _____.
| A．新鲜的 | B．兴奋不已的 |
| C．精神饱满的 | D．伤痕累累的 |
Which of the following sentences is wrong？_______.
| A．Some of the boys were hurt when they played. |
| B．It was hard for the players to fall asleep at night. |
| C．The boys started playing at 6 o’clock in the evening. |
| D．In the end, all the boys felt happy. |
When an NBA player is young he thinks he can win the championship by himself. It is only later when he has aged and been through many battles that he learns an important lesson: there is no “I ” in “team”.
There is no better example of the value of teamwork than the Boston Celtics. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were all superstars on three different teams. Yet, none of them had any titles to show for it. Then, last season, they decided to sacrifice money and individual statistics to play together. Garnett and Allen joined Pierce on the Celtics and changed the NBA in the process.
It started in simple ways. Garnett and Allen are two of the most intense athletes in the world. They treat every second of every practice like it is the NBA championship. If you want to play alongside them then you will have to do the same. So, the young guys on the Celtics started giving their full effort too.
Pierce had been the star of the Celtics for many years. He used to shoot the ball many times a game. But with the addition of Allen and Garnett he shot less and focused on defense. His selflessness showed the young players that doing what made the team better was the only thing that mattered.
When the Celtics were winning and the game was almost over, Garnett, Pierce and Allen would come out of the game. But they wouldn’t just sit on the bench. Instead, they stood and cheered and screamed for their teammates. They wanted to support their friends and teammates.
Now, the guys who don't play know they can still affect the game by cheering so they scream and cheer when Garnett, Allen and Pierce are playing. The Celtics have developed a strong relationship. They are more than just teammates. They are brothers.
The result: the Boston Celtics won the championship and are considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference championship again this year.
There is a saying that goes, "A successful team beats with one heart." If that is the case, the Celtics may have the biggest heart in the NBA.What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．The stories of three famous basketball superstars. |
| B．A famous basketball team named the Boston Celtics. |
| C．The importance of teamwork among teammates. |
| D．Matches between the Boston Celtics and other teams. |
What does this sentence “there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’.” mean in Paragraph 1?
| A．"I" will be missing once "I" am on the court. |
| B．The cooperation of the teammates is more important than the individual. |
| C．"I" work so hard in a team that "I" will forget who "I" am |
| D．Surrounded by other players, "I" don’t seem to exist. |
Which of the following is NOT true about Pierce’s recent performance?
| A．He became an even better shooter with others’ help. |
| B．He focused much more attention on defense. |
| C．He created more chances for teammates. |
| D．He stood and cheered for his teammates |
Which of the following didn’t contribute to the success of the Boston Celtics?
| A．The whole team has become devoted to each and every stage of the game. |
| B．The cooperation and teamwork among the teammates in the match. |
| C．The influence of Garnett, Allen, Pierce and other teammates’ cheering. |
| D．The increasing frequency of team players on the bench |
Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap?
In America, people will include a case or two of bottled water when buying the week's groceries. When they are going to a soccer game or activity, it's common for them to grab a cold bottle of water out of the fridge with them．In fact, Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world, about 29 billion bottles a year．
But all these plastic bottles use a lot of fossil fuels and pollute the environment．In order to make all the 29 billion bottles, producers use 17 million barrels of crude oil, which is enough to keep a million cars going for 12 months．
So why don't people drink water straight from the tap? Some people have a strong belief that bottled water is better than water out of the tap, but that's not necessarily true．In the US, the local governments make sure water from the tap is safe．There is also growing concern that chemicals in the bottles themselves may go into the water．
People love the convenience of bottled water．But maybe if they realized the problems it causes, they would try drinking from a glass at home or carrying water in a reusable steel container instead of plastic．
Some argue that plastic bottle recycling can help．Recycled bottles can be turned into items like carpeting or clothing．Unfortunately, only one in six bottles is recycled．The rest make it to landfills（垃圾填埋场）or end as trash in other places．Plastic bottles take hundreds of years for them to disintegrate．
Water is important for you, so keep drinking it．But think about how often you use water bottles, and see if you can make a change．
And yes, you can make a difference．Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for six hours．Why do Americans prefer bottled water?
| A．Bottled water is better than water from the tap． |
| B．Bottled water is cheaper than water from the tap． |
| C．Bottled water contains beneficial chemicals in it． |
| D．Bottled water is more convenient than water from the tap． |
What does the underlined word "disintegrate" in the fifth paragraph probably mean_____ .
| A．Be well recycled． | B．Become less poisonous． |
| C．Break into small pieces． | D．Go down below a surface． |
The author's intention of writing this passage is to recommend Americans_____.
| A．drink more water from the tap |
| B．send plastic bottles to landfills |
| C．use water bottles to power light bulls |
| D．buy bottles filled with water from the tap |
Back those photos up
The images were striking. Homes on the East Coast were washed away by Superstorm Sandy. People were in tears, picking up faded photographs, among their only remaining possessions.
If that doesn’t move you to get serious about safekeeping your lifetime of memories, what will? The digital age offers tools never imaginable before—including one-click access to a lifetime of family photos.
Here is a brochure on how to back up (存) your photos and save them online, where they can live forever and be accessible in good times and bad.
Scanning
The first step for those old photos is to scan them and save them to a digital format. Most printers come with scanners these days, so that’s an easy but extremely time-consuming step.
Storing the photos
With your scans in place, import the photos into your computer, and back them up.
You could make multiple copies of the disks and spread them to loved ones. Or you could choose external(外接的) hard drives or USB thumb drive, and add your photo and video collection from your computer.
Online backup
If you need lots of space, look at a pure online backup service, Caronite.
Caronite backs up 300 million files daily. Once you sign up, it starts to pick up everything you have on your hard drive. But photo collection on your computer’s main hard drive charges for $59 a year.
Cloud Storage
For folks who don’t need automatic backup, but instead want to take a more active approach, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive let you store files online by yourself, share and instantly access them. All offer free options—2GB of free storage for Dropbox, 5GB for Google and 7GB for SkyDrive. But if you want more, you need to pay.
Bottom Line
The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and easiest. But drives can fail. Online services are more expensive, but more secure. With more of us switching back and forth between our computers, such services are the best way to get access to our data from wherever we are.Why does the author mention Superstorm Sandy?
| A．To tell the background of the scanning photos. |
| B．To attract the readers’ interest in the backups. |
| C．describe a severe natural disaster. |
| D．To win the readers’ sympathy. |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Scanning photos takes little time but costs a lot. |
| B．Caronite charges for backing up photos from hard drive. |
| C．Google Drive offers unlimited free photo storage on line. |
| D．The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and safest. |
Which of the following allows storing files automatically?
| A．Caronite. | B．Dropbox. | C．SkyDrive. | D．Flash drive. |
What’s the passage mainly about ?
| A．tell real stories about storage services |
| B．introduce some of the storage services |
| C．describe the functions of storage services |
| D．argue about the advantage of storage services |