No one not even its creators-thought that the world would care about the interwoven(相互交织的)lives, loves and sufferings of a group of attractive and witty New Yorkers. But there’s no doubt that Friends(老友记)has become more than just a successful situation comedy—it has established itself as one of the last great television phenomena of the last century. Along the way, it has made its half-dozen lead actors famous.
Looking back the strong friendship between the group of three men and three women who frequently gather at each other’s apartments and at Greenwich Village’s Central Perk coffee house, Friends was created by television producers, David Crane and Marta Kauffman. In 1993, the pair met producer Kevin S. Bright. Then the three became partners and got a deal to produce a new comedy for Warner Brothers. What they came up with was based on Crane and Kauffman’s after-college years, when they hung out at the local coffee house and involved themselves in every aspect of each other’s lives.
It didn’t take long for viewers to make friends with Friends. The sitcom quickly became a top ten hit. Critics loved it as well. Entertainment Weekly said the show operate like a Broadway show, with twisty plots and unique jokes. The television theme song has also been a success with the public. The song’s success helped save the television theme song. An ABC(美国广播公司)executive was ready to order very short music intros(前奏) on his network’s shows, thinking that viewers would hit the remote control as soon as the opening started. But the success of the Friends theme song led the ABC executive to change his mind---remote controls or not, the TV theme song would stay.
Years have gone by, but Friends remains and will remain an example of a modern day US sitcom that is both hugely entertaining television and nothing short o a genuine latter-day social phenomenon.What is stressed in the second paragraph?
| A．The origin of Friends |
| B．The role models of Friends |
| C．The popularity of Friends |
| D．The brilliance of Friends. |
Which of the following is TRUE about Friends?
| A．It has a simple but entertaining plot. |
| B．It is about friendship between college students. |
| C．It was criticized by Entertainment Weekly. |
| D．It first came into being in the 1990. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Producer, Kevin S. Bright, graduated from the same college as David Crane. |
| B．ABC once replaced the theme song of its TV show with a short music intro |
| C．The ABC executive thought highly of the theme song of Friends. |
| D．Marta Kauffman expected Friends to achieve great success. |
What might the author think of Friends?
| A．Its merits outweigh its shortcomings. |
| B．Its success lies in the lack of good sitcoms. |
| C．He/she has a reserved attitude towards its success. |
| D．He/she shows great affection towards it . |
My parents were in a huge argument, and I was really upset about it. I didn’t know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend’s house. Though I knew I wouldn’t tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I’d stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, “Great opportunity.”
“What is?” I asked.
“To talk, you and I,” he said. “To hold a private little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we’re going to do with ourselves now that we’re in the situation we are in.”
“But we can’t do anything about it, Grandpa,” I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same “boat” as I was.
And that’s how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feeling and fears of life---from how fast things change, to how they sometimes don’t change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be.
Suddenly, the lights all came back on. “Well,” he said, “ I guess that means you’ll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!”
56. I wished to get out of the house because ________.
A. I was angry about my parents’ quarrel B. I found nobody to share my feelings with
C. I wanted to escape from the dark house D. I planned to tell my friend about my trouble
57. Grandpa was happy to see me because___________.
A. he could discuss the problem with me B. he had not seem me for a long time
C. he was afraid of darkness D. he felt quite lonely
58. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The grandchild was eager to leave. B. They would have more chats.
C. The lights would go our again. D. It would no longer be dark.
In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.
First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time— two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $100 a week.
But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.
49. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?
A. To pay for his schooling. B. To save for his future.
C. To support his family. D. To gain some experience.
50. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT_______.
A. loading boxes in the freezing cold B. having limited time for breaks
C. working and studying at the same time D. getting no pay for lunch time
51. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The writer’s unhappy school life. B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.
C. The writer’s experience as a full-time worker. D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.
52. How is the text organized?
A. Topic-Argument-Explanation B. Opinion-Discussion-Description
C. Main idea-Comparison-Supporting examples D. Introduction-Supporting examples-Conclusion
Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into actions. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register（收款机）with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash（现金）, had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.
Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.
41. The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits______.
A. promised to obey the store rules B. forgot to take any money with him
C. hoped to have the food first and pay later D. could not afford anything more expensive
42. Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
A. kind and lucky B. poor and lonely
C. friendly and helpful D. hurt and disappointed
43. The writer acted upon the store rules because___________.
A. he wanted to keep his present job B. he felt no pity for the old gentleman
C. he considered the old man dishonest
D. he expected someone else to pay for the old man
44. What does the writer learn from his experience?
A. Wealth is more important than anything else. B. Helping others is easier said than done.
C. Experience is better gained through practice.
D. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.
November not only marks the publication of Toni Morrison’s eagerly anticipated(期待) eighth novel, Love, but it is also the tenth anniversary of her Nobel Prize for Literature. Morrison is the first black woman to receive a Nobel, and so honored before her in literature are only two black men: Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian playwright, poet and novelist, in 1986; and Derek Walcott, the Caribbean-born poet, in 1992. But Morrison is also the first and only American-born Nobel prizewinner for literature since 1962, the year novelist John Steinbeck received the award.
Like Song of Solomon, Love is a multigenerational story, revealing the personal and communal legacy(遗产) of an outstanding black family. As Morrison scholars will tell you, Love is the third volume of a literary master’s trilogy(三部曲)investigating the many complexities of love. This trilogy began with Beloved(1988), which deals with a black mother’s love under slavery and in freedom. Jazz (1993), the second volume, tells a story of romantic love in 1920s Harlem. This latest novel looks back from the 1970s to the 1940s and ’50s.
The emotional center of Love is Bill Cosey, the former owner and host of the shabby Cosey’s Hotel and Resort in Silk, North Carolina, described in the novel as “the best and best-known vacation spot for colored folk on the East Coast.” We get to know Cosey through the memories of five women who survive and love him: his granddaughter, his widow, two former employees, and a homeless young girl.
The latest novel, Love, had been described in the promotional material from her publisher as “Morrison’s most accessible work since Song of Solomon.” This comparison to her third novel, published in 1977, was an effective selling point.
61. What would be the best title for the text?
A.Toni Morrison’s latest novels B.Toni Morrison and her trilogy
C.Toni Morrison and her novel Love D.Toni Morrison, the Nobel prizewinner
62. What can we learn about John Steinbeck?
A.He was a black writer. B.He was born in America.
C.He received the Nobel Prize after Morrison
D.He was the first American novelist to win a Nobel
63. The similarity between Love and Song of Solomon is that they both _____.
A.belong to the same trilogy together with Beloved
B.concern families of more than one generation
C.deal with life of blacks under slavery D.investigate life in 1920s Harlem
64. The novel Love mainly describes ______.
A.the best-known vacation spot for blacks
B.the life of an outstanding black family under slavery
C.the miserable experience of the five women in Harlem
D. the memories of five women about Bill Cosey
Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless, “he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.
Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy,’” Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1,800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.
56. The turning point in Saunders’ life came when _____
A.he started to play ball games B.he got a mountain bike at age 15
C.he ran his first marathon at age 18 D.he started to receive Ridgway’s training
57. We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.
A.dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy B.built up his body together with Saunders
C.hired Saunders for his cold-water experience
D.won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic
58. What do we know about Saunders?
A.He once worked at a school in Scotland.
B.He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.
C.He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.
D.He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.
59. The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.
A. Excited B. Convinced C. Delighted D. Fascinated
60. It can be inferred that Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.
A.was accompanied by his old playmates B.set a record in the North Pole expedition
C.was supported by other Arctic explorers D.made him well-known in the 1960s