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Let’s Go Bug Hunting More Often
Kids spell love T-I-M-E
John Crudele
One fall afternoon I rushed home from the university where I taught. I prepared a simple dinner, threatened（恐吓，威胁）my nine-year-old daughter, Christi, to hurry and finish her homework “or else,” and told Del, my husband, not to leave his dusty shoes on the good carpet any more. I then hurriedly cleaned the entry-way because a group of respectable ladies were coming by to pick up some good used clothing for a worthwhile cause; and then later a graduate student would be at our house to work on a very important thesis（论题）—one that I was certain would help a lot with research.
As I paused to catch a breath, I heard Christi talking with a friend on the telephone. Her words went something like this: “ Mom is cleaning house—some ladies we don’t even know are coming by to pick up some old worn-out clothes… and a college student is coming out to work on a thesis… no, I don’t know what a thesis is… I just know Mom isn’t doing anything important… and she won’t go bug（小虫）hunting with me.”
Before Christi hung up the phone, I had put on my jeans and old tennis shoes, persuaded Del to do likewise, pinned a note to the door telling the graduate student I ’d be back soon, and set out the box of used clothing on the front porch（门廊）with a note on it that Del, Christi and I had gone bug hunting.
1.The first paragraph mainly wants to tell us that the writer________.
A．was a good housewife B．was really busy every day
C．showed too little care to her daughter D．showed too much love for her work
2.What made the writer change her idea?
A．Her daughter’s phone call B．Her sudden understanding of love
C．Her talk with her lovely daughter D．Her daughter’s friend’s advice
3.What did she do in the end?
A．She played tennis with her husband and daughter
B．She took the box of used clothing to the ladies
C．She did what her daughter wanted her to do
D．She continued to do everything as planned
4.What did we learn from the story?
A．People should not keep themselves so busy every day
B．People should do more important things instead
C．Parents should do more bug hunting with children
D．Parents should spend more time with their children
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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One of the major problems in our economy（经济）is inflation, a situation in which prices are going up faster than wages（工资）. Thus, a person has to work more hours to pay for the same thing.
For example, let’s say that this year a loaf of bread costs $1.00 and average salary in the United Sates is $10.00 per hour. That means a person could earn enough money to buy a loaf of bread in one-tenth of an hour, or six minutes. Then, halfway through the year, the price of the bread goes up to $1.25, while wages stay the same. That means that a person now has to work one-eighth of an hour—seven and a half minutes to buy the same loaf of bread.
Now let’s say that at the end of the year, wages go up to $11.00 per hour, but the price of bread goes up to $1.50. Now a person has to work more than one-seventh of an hour—over eight minutes—to buy loaves of bread, employees will have less money left over to buy other things, Inflation means that the same money buys fewer things and everybody’s standard of living goes down, even if salaries are going up.
Some kinds of inflation are worse than others. Moderate inflation does not distort (祖曲)relative prices or incomes seriously. Galloping inflation happens rapidly, say at a rate of 100percent or more within a year. And then there’s hyperinflation—inflation so serious that people try to get rid of their currency（货币）before prices rise further and make the money worthless. Times of hyperinflation are usually characterized by social and political disorder.
1.The passage mainly wants to________.
A．list major economic B．discuss something about inflation
C．explain why bread prices increase D．state the types of inflation
2.Why is “ a loaf of bread” repeatedly mentioned?
A．To express dissatisfaction with the price of bread
B．To show the effect of price changes
C．To compare bread with other foods
D．To explain social and political disorder
3.What happens when prices go up but salaries remain the same?
A．The government will do more about the economy
B．Workers might lose their jobs if they show dissatisfaction
C．People will save money rather than spend it.
D．People must work longer to buy the same things
4.Which of the following belongs to the type of moderate inflation?
A．People try to get rid of their currency
B．Inflation occurs at a rate of 100 percent in a year
C．Incomes and relative prices rise slightly
D．There is social and political disorder
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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CONGRATULATIONS
We’ve organized the following information to help you prepare for your arrival at Boston College. Please feel free to contact（联系）our Admissions Office at any time over the coming months with any questions.
You First Steps……
Please return the Acknowledgement Form sent with you acceptance letter to Dean Robert Howe, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, McGuinn Hall 221,140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
For Ph. D. Acceptances and Master’s Acceptances with funding, we ask you reply by April 25, 2008.
For Master’s Acceptances without funding and Non degree Acceptances, we ask you to reply by May 31, 2008
You should also contact your department to receive any department information.
Over the Coming Months…
Get informed about services around campus（校园）. We have provided links for you to the following offices.
Student Services
After you return your Acknowledgment Form, you should receive a letter containing your BC Username and Eagle ID number. With this information you can reach email and Agora. In Agora, BC’s online community. You can update your student information, check your student account（账目）, and register（登记）for classes.
The Office of Student Services issues（发行）your BC Eagle One Card. This ID card acts as your campus library card and meal card.
Student Services’ website offers a complete listing of courses for the school year, as well as student forms and other important student information. The Office of Student Services also handles billing.
Housing
……
CLICK HERE for more information.
If we can offer any more help to you, just contact us. Congratulation again! We look forward to you joining our University!
1.The above page can most probably be read________.
A．on the Boston College website B．in the Boston College newspaper
C．on BC Eagle One Card D．at Student Services
2.The information above is particularly useful for those________
A．who want to apply for Boston College
B．who want to know about Boston College
C．who’ve been admitted to Boston College
D．who’ve decided to pay a visit to Boston College
3.If you want to study for your master’s degree with funding, you will have to ________.
A．return your Acknowledgment Form by May 31, 2008
B．send back your Acknowledgment Form by April 25, 2008
C．email your Acknowledgment Form to Admissions Office by May 31, 2008
D．return you Acknowledgment Form to Student Services by April 25, 2008
4.If you want to decide what courses for the school year you’d better________
A．call up the Office of Student Services
B．get in touch with the Admissions Office
C．read your acceptance letter
D．visit Student Services’ website
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Researchers study television to understand its effects on viewers and to measure its effectiveness in selling products. Much of the research on TV audiences is market research, paid for by companies with something to sell. Let me repeat; research on television is supported largely by advertisers.
The television industry depends on advertising money to run, and this relationship influences what television offers viewers. Advertisers aim to reach mass audiences and particular social groups. In turn, the television tries to meet the needs of advertisers, because pleasing the advertisers is nearly as important as pleasing the public. This means advertisers have a lot of control over what programs are made and when they are shown.
Television is the most effective marketing tool ever created. Many advertisement apply basic psychology（心理学）by sort of turning to our insecurities and desires. Ads convince us that the things we once thought were luxuries（奢侈）are now necessities. Television is highly programed as well. Using expert market research, programmers and advertisers sort to paint a picture of life centered on material possessions. This kind of life may look attractive and desirable, but it’s all at the expense of personal relationships.
As you probably can tell, I prefer to agree with critics（评论家）of the media. Advertising does create false needs, and products we really need don’t require advertising. Television advances consumerism（消费至上）. It shows us things, things, and more things. It encourages greed and envy. Television helps create a wasteful society, where things are thrown out long before they are worn out.
1.What is the main idea of the passage?
A．Television research is an interesting field.
B．Advertising is effective in selling products
C．Television helps develop a culture of consumerism
D．The television industry should be better managed
2.According to the passage, researchers study television to ________.
A．learn about the types of programs
B．understand the culture of the society
C．decide which programs to export
D．measure how much it help to sell products
3.The writer uses the underlined sentences in Paragraph 3 to________.
A．argue that television images of life lack depth and meaning
B．warn readers not to spend more money than they can afford
C．show that television programs can advance personal growth
D．suggest that readers watch only high-quality programs
4.What is the writer’s opinion of television?
A．Television is the best way to advertise products and services.
B．Television mostly has had a side effect on viewers
C．People have a wrong opinion of television
D．It is the duty of television to help create a rich society
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
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There’s always been tension（紧张）—throughout our history—a kind of tension between private development and government control, especially when it comes to development of land for agriculture.
Catherine Parr Traill—an expert in the nineteenth century—said that the natural beauty of Canada’s wilderness would disappear because of agricultural development. But, fortunately for us, what Catherine Parr Traill had said turned out to be not entirely true. The Quinte Wildflower Project proves that people can come together to keep the beauty of the wilderness. The project continues a trend（趋势）to beautify North American highways that goes all the way back to the 1960s and the beginning of the Adopt-a-Highway programs, the programs that use volunteers to clean up the litter along roadsides. Since the sixties, beautification programs have been broadened to include the planting of native flowers and shrubs（灌木）
The Quinte Wildflower Project is the largest roadside planting of wildflowers in Ontario. The project was born in 1996, with the help of private sponsors（赞助人）and government gardening experts. Areas along an 18-kilometer stretch of Highway 401—from Trenton to Belleville—most of the sites were planted with one of two native wildflower seed mixtures. Both seed mixtures produce flowers that require little care and are hardy enough to grow in roadside conditions. Each seed mixture contains several different species, and wildflowers grow well, so there’s a steady show of colors from June to October.The Quinte Wildflower Project has been a huge success. Its greatest success has been in attracting both public interest and private sponsors. It shows that government and citizens can work together and that their joint efforts can and do work.
1.The writer develops the topic of roadside beautification________.
A．by comparing two different ways to the topic
B．by expressing disagreement with past efforts at roadside beautification
C．by discussing an example of a beautification project
D．by describing recent research in flower planting
2.Why does the writer mention the Adopt-a-Highway programs that began in the 1960s?
A．To explain why early beautification projects failed
B．To encourage readers to volunteer for highway cleanup
C．To suggest an increase in supplying money for the programs
D．To describe the history of roadside beautification efforts
3.The word “hardy” in the third paragraph most probably means________.
A．hard—working and likely to make great achievements
B．strong and able to stand difficult living conditions
C．ugly but strong enough to live through to live through very hard times
D．beautiful but likely to grow even better in some cold areas
4.What does the professor think of the work between government and private citizens?
A．They have been shown to work successfully
B．They rely too much on private sponsors
C．They are the best way to get anything done
D．They can cause damage to the environment
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
The Quinte Wildflower Project is the largest roadside planting of wildflowers in Ontario. The project was born in 1996, with the help of private sponsors（赞助人）and government gardening experts. Areas along an 18-kilometer stretch of Highway 401—from Trenton to Belleville—most of the sites were planted with one of two native wildflower seed mixtures. Both seed mixtures produce flowers that require little care and are