Our “Mommy and Me” time began two years ago. My next-door neighbor and fellow mother, Christie, and I were out in our front yards, watching seven children of age 6 and under ride their bikes up and down.“I wish I could take one of my children out alone,” said Christie.
Then we worked out a plan: When Christie takes one of her children out, I’ll watch her other three. And when she watches two of mine, I’ll take someone out.
The children were extremely quick to accept the idea of “Mommy and Me” time. Christie’s daughter, McKenzie, went first. When she returned, the other children showered her with tons of questions. McKenzie was smiling broadly. Christie looked refreshed and happy. “She’s like a different child when there’s no one else around，”Christie shared with me quietly. With her mother all to herself, McKenzie didn’t have to make an effort to gain attention.
Just as Christie had noticed changes in McKenzie, I also discovered something different in each of my children during our alone times. For example, I am always surprised when my daughter, who is seldom close to me, holds my hand frequently. My stuttering (口吃) son, Tom, doesn’t stutter once during our activities since he doesn’t have to struggle for a chance to speak. And the other son, Sam, who’s always a follower when around other children shines as a leader during our times together.
The “Mommy and Me” time allows us to be simply alone and away with each child－talking, sharing, and laughing, which has been the biggest gain. Every child deserves (应得到) to be an only child at least once in a while.
1.What is the text mainly about?
A. The experience of the only child being with mother.
B. The advantage of spending time with one child at a time.
C. The happy life of two families.
D. The basic needs of children.
2.Right after McKenzie came back, the other children were ______.
A. happy B. curious
C. regretful D. friendly
3.What is one of the changes the author finds in her children?
A. The daughter acts like a leader.
B. Sam holds her hand more often.
C. The boys become better followers.
D. Tom has less difficulty in speaking.
4.The author seems to believe that ______.
A. having brothers and sisters is fun
B. it’s tiring to look after three children
C. every child needs parents’ full attention
D. parents should watch others’ children
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
THANK-you cards--heartfelt expressions of gratitude for gifts, services and general kindness--seem to be rare in an age when the Internet continues to reduce human interaction.
Although our society has changed greatly over the past century, the etiquette of thank-you notes has not.
While most people would agree that thank-you notes under these circumstances are a necessity, there are still those who forever postpone or are forgetful for unknown reasons.
And at no time of the year are thank-you notes more visible (or lacking) than June, the month of graduations, and the beginning of summer parties.
"It's a must-do thing. A real thank you does not come by e-mail. It comes in the mail in an envelope. And what comes out of an envelope is a beautiful thing to touch and to handle and to pass around for everyone to read," said etiquette expert Letitia Baldrige.
Don't think for a second that Baldrige is old-fashioned. Handwritten thank-you notes--any handwritten correspondence, for that matter- have taken on an air of extra importance and dignity (庄重) in this e-hyper (电子狂躁的) world.
Baldrige remains hopeful that the art may be enjoying a renaissance (复兴,再生).
More than simply obeying rules of etiquette, thank-you cards are a sign of caring.
"They're more important now than ever," expert Peter Post says. "You are building a relationship. And part of building that relationship is that you acknowledge when someone has done something nice for you. "
"The payoff," Post says, "can be huge. The more we do it, the more it comes back to us, and it's a benefit to us all. It makes our world a little bit nicer place to live in. "
1.Nowadays thank-you cards seem to be rare mainly because ______.
A. people think that they are out of fashion
B. it is quicker to say thanks by e-mail
C. the Internet has reduced people's contact
D. people are too busy to remember these things
2.From the context, the word "etiquette" in the second paragraph probably means ______.
A. old objects for sale
B. rules for people to obey
C. hand-made articles
D. customs for polite behavior
3.The author implies in this article that ______.
A. old-fashioned people take a negative attitude to e-mails
B. the changing society is making people impolite and lazy
C. modern technology is driving people apart
D. the e-hyper world is not a nice place to live in
4.What’s Baldrige’s attitude towards handwritten thank-you cards?
A. Regretful to disappear
B. Promising to come back
C. Old-fashioned to keep
D. Unnecessary between friends
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. "I was a clothes addict," he jokes. "I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled." Today David wears casual clothes-khaki pants and sports shirt-to the office. He hardly ever wears necktie. "I'm working harder than ever," David says, "and I need to feel comfortable."
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work in the United States. The change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday (but only on Friday). This became known as "dress-down Friday" or "casual Friday." "What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing," said business consultant Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it's easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. "A lot of young people don't want to dress up for work," says the owner of a software company, "so it's hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code." Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale. Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative impact on productive. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. "Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day," one person said.
"For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes."
1.David Smith refers to himself as having been "a clothes addict" because _____.
A. he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt
B. he couldn't stand a clean appearance
C. he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time
D. he didn't want to spend much money on clothes
2.David Smith wears casual clothes now, because _____.
A. they make him feel at ease when working
B. he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes
C. he looks handsome in casual clothes
D. he no longer works for any company
3.In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned EXCEPT _____.
A. saving employees' money
B. making employees more attractive
C. improving employees' motivation
D. making employees happier
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boats (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientist; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.
There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.
1.The new products become more and more time-saving because .
A. our love of speed seems never-ending
B. time is limited.
C. the prices are increasingly high.
D. the manufactures boast a lot.
2.What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to ?
A. Imaginary life
B. Simple life in the past.
C. Times of inventions
D. Time for constant activity.
3.What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?
A.Critical B.Objective.
C.Optimistic. D. Negative.
4.What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The present and past times.
B. Machinery and human beings.
C. Imaginations and inventions.
D. Modern technology and its influence.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
As the old saying goes, laughter is the best medicine. 1. . However, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects is has on the human body. They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health.
2. . People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. 3. .
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. 4. . The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain which diminishes both stress and pain.
5. . They try to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.
A. Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body.
B. Until recently, few people took the saying seriously.
C. Therefore, people are taught to laugh.
D. The group that tolerated (忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program.
E. As a result, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics.
F. Laughter is closely related to good health.
G. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Several decades of years ago, I ran a service station and roadhouse on the main road between Melbourne and Adelaide. One very cold, wet night at about 3∶30 a.m., there was a ________ on the front door of our house. A young man, wet from________ to toe, explained that he had ________ out of petrol about 30 km up the road. He had left his pregnant(怀孕的)wife and his two children ________ at the car and said that he would hitchhike(搭便车)back.
Once I had ________ a can with petrol, I took him back to his car where his two-year-old and four-year-old children were both ________ , saying that they were cold. Once the car had started, I suggested that he ________ me back.
Before leaving, I had turned the heater ________ in the roadhouse, so that when we went in, it was nice and ________ .While the little ones played and ran ________ , I prepared bread and butter for the children, and hot chocolate for the________ .
It was about 5 a.m. before they ________ .The young fellow asked me how much he ________ me and I told him that the petrol pump(加油泵)had ________ $15.He offered to pay “call-out fee”, but I wouldn’t accept it.
About a month later, I received a ________ from Interstate, a large bus company that we had been trying to ________ to stop off at our roadhouse for a long time. It ________out that the young fellow I had helped was its general manager, the most ________ person in the company.
In his letter, he thanked me again and ________ me that, from then on, all their buses would stop at my service station. In this ________ , a little bit of kindness was rewarded with a huge amount of benefits.
1.A. kick B. hit C. beat D. knock
2.A. finger B. shoulder C. head D. hand
3.A. driven B. used C. come D. run
4.A. away B. behind C. over D. out
5.A. supplied B. poured C. equipped D. filled
6.A. sleeping B. crying C. quarrelling D. fighting
7.A. allow B. ring C. lead D. follow
8.A. on B. off C. in D. over
9.A. neat B. hot C. warm D. attractive
10.A. around B. inside C. nearby D. along
11.A. drivers B. guests C. customers D. adults
12.A. left B. arrived C. ate D. disappeared
13.A. gave B. paid C. owed D. offered
14.A. appeared B. exhibited C. calculated D. shown
15.A. call B. letter C. check D. notice
16.A. get B. force C. requite D. hope
17.A. pointed B. turned C. worked D. found
18.A. generous B. successful C. serious D. powerful
19.A. praised B. persuaded C. informed D. convinced
20.A. lesson B. business C. aspect D. case
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
In American schools there is something 1. (call) Homecoming Day. Many high schools and colleges with a football team have a homecoming game. This can be 2. (important) event of the year except graduation ceremony——students plan Homecoming Day for many weeks in advance.
Several days before Homecoming，students start to 3. (beautiful)decorate the school. There are signs to wish luck to the team，and many other signs to welcome the graduates. Many people still come to Homecoming twenty or thirty years 4. their graduations.
The members of school clubs build booths（摊位）and sell lemonade，apples and 5. (sandwiche). Some clubs help to welcome visitors.
During the day people like to 1ook for teachers 6. they remember from long ago. Often they see old friends and talk about their happy years in school.
Everyone watches the football game. When the game is half over，the band（乐队） 7. (come) onto the field and plays school songs. Another important moment is when the Homecoming Queen or King appears. All the students vote the most popular student Homecoming Queen or King. It is 8. honour to be chosen.
Homecoming is a happy day but it is not perfect 9. the football team wins the game. Even if the team loses，the students still enjoy Homecoming. Some stay at the school to dance and others go to a party. For everyone it is a day worth 10. (remember).
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文,请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。作文中共有10处语言错误,每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏子符号（∧）并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处,多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Dear Thomas,
I feel sorry to know your worries about getting fatter and fatter so that you have failed
the sports test. Nothing can be more disappointment than that.
As far as I am concerned, there are many reasons cause your failure in a test. Firstly, you are very lazy to have regular sports. In fact, sports can help you keep fit and energy. Secondly, you eat too much meat, that makes you gain weight easily. Finally, you sleep more than you need. There was no denying that it is all these things that have caused your problem and your worries.
As I stated above, you should first eat less meat but more fruits and vegetable. And then you should have regular sports so that you can burn the fat that builds up in your body and to become slim.
Hope my advice is some help to you.
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
要成为一名成功的英语学习者，语言训练是非常重要的。为此英语老师要求同学以“Practice makes perfect”为话题，用英语写一篇短文，谈一谈英语学习中语言训练的重要性，内容应包括以下两个方面:
1、你对此话题的理解；
2、与之相关的事例。
注意:
1、字数:100左右；
2、第一句话已经给出（不计入词数）。
The old saying that practice makes perfect means _________
.
.
.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析