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阅读理解
Nine years ago, after Leo had died, people said to me. "I never knew he was your stepfather." You see, I never called him that. At first, he was no one special in my life. Then he became my friend. In time, I felt he was also my father.
Leo married my mother when I was eleven. Two years later we moved into a house in a new suburban development, where we put down roots. At first our lawn was just a mud with wild grass, but Leo saw bright possibilities. "We'll plant trees there to give us shade as well as some flowers," he said. And just these little touches made our house different from all the others. More important, a real family was forming. Leo was becoming a full-time parent, and I was learning what it meant to have a father.
Weekday mornings when the weather was bad, Leo often drove me to school. Having a father drop you off may have been something my classmates took for granted, but I always thought it was wonderful. Saturday mornings, we went to the hardware (计算机硬件) shop, then stepped into the five-and-ten, buying a sports magazine or something else. Some people might think that doing shopping together is nothing special, but I, who had ever before spent my childhood watching other families do their everyday activities, experienced them now with extreme delight. Looking back, I realized that Leo gave me what I needed most—the experience of doing ordinary things together as a family.
Soon after we moved to the suburbs, one of our new neighbors introduced herself to me. She had already met my mother and Leo. "You know," she said, "you look just like your father." I knew she was just making a conversation--but even so... "Thank you", I said. Why tell her anything different?
1.The writer's purpose in writing this passage is _______.
A．to show his pride to have a good stepfather
B．to show how interesting a person Leo was
C．to remind us of our parents
D．to explain why they moved to the suburbs
2.The phrase “put down roots”in the second paragraph means
A．farmed B．contacted
C．settled D．accommodated
3.In the writer's opinion, _______.
A．it is not easy to live with a stepfather
B．not all the stepfathers are as good as Leo
C．the husband and wife must think more about their children before they divorce
D．in step families the love and friendship are extremely precious
4.The last sentence “Why tell her anything different?”means that .
A．he should have told the truth
B．he wouldn't tell her the truth
C．he wanted to tell her something that had nothing to do with Leo
D．he wanted to keep silence whenever he met the neighbors
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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阅读理解
I had arrived at the airport to catch an early flight home.It had been a very busy three days for me on an interstate trip with lots of meetings，business to do and new customers to meet.Then came the announcement that the flight had been delayed due to a technical problem.I could see a group of technicians and ground staff rushing about，obviously trying hard to fix the problem.I watched and listened as many of the passengers sitting near me shared their frustration about the inconvenience.
As I sat waiting，I reflected on my last meeting for the day.It was not a business meeting but rather a very enjoyable and brief lunch with an old business associate and friend I had not seen for over 12 years，and who I had worked with for nearly 15 years before we lost in touch.I had been given his phone number by a customer I had visited on the first day of my trip，so I called him out of the blue and made a time for us to meet.
Our lunch was spent recollecting(回忆) times gone by and as well filling each other in on what had happened in our lives over the last 12 years.Our conversation was frequently interrupted with statements such as ‘remember when we did...’，‘whatever happened to...’ and of course the one we all liked to hear...‘you know you haven't changed one bit，except for a few more grey hairs.’
We both laughed and smiled as we recalled the good times and the great experiences we had shared over the 15 years we had worked together. Each event we discussed caused another recollection and everything we talked about centered on the good times.Almost at the same time，right at the end of our time together，we both said how much we both enjoyed it and that we must do it again.We agreed to catch up when I was next in town，then said our goodbyes and I was off to the airport.
So with this extra time on my hands as I waited for my flight，it was great to revisit and replay in my mind all that we had talked about over lunch.I realized at that moment just how important it is to have regular reminders of the good times in your life and to be able to take the time to recall the past，for so much of what we have done in our past，shapes us and makes us who and what we are today and beyond.
At the end of my busy trip with the focus on getting all the business done，I was indeed fortunate enough to have had the chance to take a short break and reflect on the good things that had happened in my life over 12 years ago.It was somewhat like looking at an old photo album that you have found stored away in a cupboard in your house.There before your eyes are lots of wonderful memories in print that take you back to that time and place，and most importantly to those people who are in the photos.It also made me realize that when you get caught up doing what has to be done in the moment，it is easy to forget the people you have met in your life who have made a positive effect on and enriched you，often in only the smallest of ways.
My flight home was finally called nearly three hours later and yes as you would have expected many of the passengers cheered when the announcement was made.I smiled as I boarded the plane and realized that I was not at all upset about the delay，as I had been able to spend much of my time reflecting on the good times from days gone by and now eagerly look forward to many more opportunities to recall the past.
1.Which of the following statements will the writer most probably support?
A．It is impossible to avoid the inconvenience caused by flight delays.
B．Our past experiences have a great influence on our future life.
C．Looking forward is more important than looking back on the past.
D．It is really a pity that the good old times will never come back.
2.The detail that their conversation was frequently interrupted is mentioned in order to show ________．
A．they were eager to make the conversation go smoothly
B．they had been very good and close friends
C．they were both interested in each other's present life
D．they had a good time recollecting their old times
3.When the writer boarded the plane，he smiled because ________．
A．he could finally fly home
B．the other passengers were cheering
C．he had made very good use of the delay
D．his busy trip would soon come to an end
4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A．The Value of Old Friends
B．Reflecting on the Good Times
C．A Delayed Flight Home
D．A Three－day Business Trip
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Have you got some paper, a pair of scissors and, above all, a desire to decorate your house? Then, we have the perfect holiday artwork for you: Make Star Wars snowflakes (雪花). Remembered as a cherished form of work in classrooms before the holidays, paper snowflakes have drawn many people's attention again.
The designer, Anthony Herrera, just recently released his 2013 collection. "The Star Wars snowflake designs began as just doing designs of characters that I and my daughter wanted to make three years ago," Herrera told us in an email. "The second year I introduced vehicles, and this year I decided to push further by designing battle scenes."
Sometimes, he feels a bit bored with his job. With each year, the designs have got more detailed and various, but the process of creating them remained the same: sketching (画) figures on paper with a pencil until a symmetrical (对称）pattern comes out, then scanning the designs and cut them with scissors. However, he says he has plenty of ideas for new flakes next year, so no two will ever be the same. Hopefully with Star Wars: Episode VII coming in 2015 he'll have even more work in the future.
Check out your favorite finished versions of Herrera’s flakes (from both 2013 and previous years) and download the pictures beneath them and then get down to creating your own work. A warning: Most designs aren't for the casual flake-maker, so patience you must have.
1.From the text, we know that Herrera ______.
A. can make snowflakes with his daughter's help
B. made more complicated designs before 2013
C. introduced paper vehicles in 2011
D. will make a great variety of detailed paper flakes
2.Herrera is fed up with the job sometimes because ______
A. he has to design detailed and different patterns
B. he has to follow the fixed process of paper cutting
C. he spends much time designing, scanning and cutting
D. he has few ideas for what the next designs will be like
3.By writing the last paragraph, the author tries to ______.
A. offer us more information about Herrera’s paper cutting
B. tell us how to download picture of snowflakes
C. instruct people to be a real creative artist
D. remind us of being patient with Herrera’s designs
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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阅读理解
Many of us still tend to think that emotions can affect reasonable thought，and sometimes land us in trouble. But in recent years psychologists have taken quite a different view. Keith Oatley，Professor of Psychology at Glasgow University，is involved in the research which shows the fundamental importance of emotions.
He believes we are very ambivalent about them：we think of our emotions as being unreasonable，but we also consider them as essential to being human. For example，Mr. Spock，a character in the television series Star Trek，is superintelligent and he has no emotions at all. However，he is never made captain of the spaceship. Maybe，this is because Mr Spock is not the kind of person you can share your feelings with—a person who shows his emotions.
As Professor Oatley points out，our emotions have very important functions，for example，fear. If we cross the road and a car approaches，we usually stop moving or step back. We stop what we are doing，check what we have done and pay very careful attention to the environment. The emotion of fear makes us take this small series of actions which,on average, help protect our safety.
On the other hand，if things are going well and small problems come up，we find we can solve them with the resources we have to hand. As a consequence, we tend to feel happy and usually continue doing the job.
Anger is an emotion that tends to occur when someone is preventing us from doing something. Then this small “kit” of reactions enables us to prepare ourselves to be quite aggressive to that person，or to try harder，and so on.
Professor Oatley believes emotions generally occur at these important moments in actions. With fear and anger our emotions make us decide to start doing something else, while with happiness they “suggest” we continue what we are already doing.
1.What’s Keith Oatley’s opinion about emotions?
A．They affect reasonable thought.
B．They get us into trouble.
C．They are helpful to us.
D．They are reasonable.
2.What does the underlined part “we are very ambivalent about them” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A．We have contradictory feelings towards emotions.
B．We have similar ideas of emotions.
C．We are quite clear about emotions.
D．We can do nothing about emotions.
3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A．Fear helps us to be careful about our surroundings.
B．Happiness inspires us to continue what we are doing.
C．Anger may urge us to make greater efforts.
D．Anger tends to do us more harm than good.
4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.
A．we must control our emotions in daily life
B．emotions play a more important part than we realize
C．positive emotions such as love and joy are good for us
D．negative emotions make us continue what we are doing
难度: 中等查看答案及解析