It was eleven o'clock that night when Mr. Pontellier returned from his night out. He was in an excellent humor, in high spirits, and very talkative. His entrance awoke his wife, who was in bed and fast asleep when he came in. He talked to her while he undressed, telling her anecdotes and bits of news and gossip that he had gathered during the day. She was overcome with sleep, and answered him with little half utterances.
He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence, showed so little interest in things which concerned him and valued so little his conversation.
Mr. Pontellier had forgotten the candies and peanuts that he had promised the boys. Still, he loved them very much and went into the room where they slept to take a look at them and make sure that they were resting comfortably. The result of his investigation was far from satisfactory. He turned and shifted the youngsters about in bed. One of them began to kick and talk about a basket full of crabs.
Mr. Pontellier returned to his wife with the information that Raoul had a high fever and needed looking after. Then he lit his cigar and went and sat near the open door to smoke it.
Mrs. Pontellier was quite sure Raoul had no fever. He had gone to bed perfectly well, she said, and nothing had made him sick. Mr. Pontellier was too well familiar with fever symptoms to be mistaken. He assured her the child was burning with fever at that moment in the next room.
He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it? He himself had his hands full with his business. He could not be in two places at once; making a living for his family on the street, and staying home to see that no harm done to them. He talked in a dull, repeated and insistent way.
Mrs. Pontellier sprang out of bed and went into the next room. She soon came back and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning her head down on the pillow. She said nothing, and refused to answer her husband when he questioned her. When his cigar was smoked out, he went to bed, and in half a minute was fast asleep.
Mrs. Pontellier was by that time thoroughly awake. She began to cry a little, and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her nightdress. She went out on the porch, where she sat down and began to rock herself in the chair.
It was then past midnight. The cottages were all dark. There was no sound except the hooting of an old owl and the everlasting voice of the sea, which broke like a mournful lullaby (催眠曲) upon the night.
The tears came so fast to Mrs. Pontellier's eyes that the damp sleeve of her nightdress no longer served to dry them. She went on crying there, not caring any longer to dry her face, her eyes, her arms.
She could not have told why she was crying. Such experiences as had just happened were not uncommon in her married life. They seemed never before to have weighed much against the abundance (充足) of her husband's kindness and a uniform devotion which had come to be self-understood.
An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with vague pain. It was like a shadow, like a mist passing across her soul's summer day. It was strange and unfamiliar; it was a mood. She did not sit there inwardly scolding her husband, expressing sadness about Fate, which had directed her footsteps to the path which they had taken. She was just having a good cry all to herself.
The mosquitoes succeeded in driving away a mood which might have held her there in the darkness half a night longer.
The following morning Mr. Pontellier was up in good time to take the carriage which was to convey him to the ship. He was returning to the city to his business, and they would not see him again at the Island till the coming Saturday. He had regained his calmness, which seemed to have been somewhat weakened the night before. He was eager to be gone, as he looked forward to a lively week in the financial center.
1.Mr.Pontellier comes back home from his night out in a/an ______state of mind.
A. excited B. confused C. depressed D. disappointed
2. The writer would most likely describe Mr. Pontellier’s conduct during the evening as ______.
A. impatient and generous B. enthusiastic and responsible
C. concerned and gentle D. inconsiderate and self-centered
3.In paragraphs 8 to 13, Mrs. Pontellier’s reactions to her husband’s behavior suggest that ______.
A. she accepts unquestioningly her role of taking care of the children
B. this is one of the times she has acknowledged her unhappiness with her husband
C. her relationship with her husband is not what has made her depressed
D. she is angry about something that happened before her husband left
You hear the comment all the time: the U.S. economy looks good by figures, but it doesn’t feel good. Why doesn’t ever-greater wealth promote ever-greater happiness? It is a question that dates at least to the appearance in 1958 of The Wealthy Society by John Kenneth Galbraith, who died recently at 97.
The Wealthy Society is a modern classic because it helped describe a new moment in the human condition. For most of history, “hunger, sickness, and cold” threatened nearly everyone, Galbraith wrote. “Poverty was found everywhere in that world. Obviously it is not of ours.” After World War II, the fear of another Great Depression gave way to an economic growth. By the 1930s unemployment had averaged 18.2 percent; in the 1950s it was 4.5 percent.
To Galbraith, materialism had gone mad and would cause discontent. Through advertising, companies conditioned consumers to buy things they didn’t really want or need. Because so much spending was artificial, it would be unsatisfying. Meanwhile, government spending that would make everyone better off was being cut down because people wrongly considered government only as “a necessary bad.”
It’s often said that only the rich are getting ahead; everyone else is standing still or falling behind. Well, there are many undeserving rich — overpaid chief managers, for instance. But over any meaningful period, most people’s incomes are increasing. From 1995 to 2004, people feel “squeezed” because their rising incomes often don’t satisfy their rising wants — for bigger homes, more health care, more education, and faster Internet connections.
The other great disappointment is that it has not got rid of insecurity. People regard job stability as part of their standard of living. As company unemployment increased, that part has gradually become weaker. More workers fear they’ve become “the disposable American,” as Louis Uchitelle puts it in his book by the same name.
Because so much previous suffering and social conflict resulted from poverty, the arrival of widespread wealth suggested utopian (乌托邦式的) possibilities. Up to a point, wealth succeeds. There is much less physical suffering than before. People are better off. Unfortunately, wealth also creates new complaints.
Advanced societies need economic growth to satisfy the multiplying wants of their citizens. But the search for growth cause new anxieties and economic conflicts that disturb the social order. Wealth sets free the individual, promising that everyone can choose a unique way to self-accomplishment. But the promise is so unreasonable that it leads to many disappointments and sometimes inspires choices that have anti-social consequences, including family breakdown. Figures indicate that happiness has not risen with incomes.
Should we be surprised? Not really. We’ve simply confirmed an old truth: the seeking of wealth does not always end with happiness.
1.The Wealthy Society is a book ______.
A. about previous suffering and social conflict in the past
B. written by Louis Uchitelle who died recently at 97
C. indicating that people are becoming worse off
D. about why happiness does not rise with wealth
2. Why do people feel“squeezed”when their average income rises considerably?
A. They think there are too many overpaid rich.
B. There is more unemployment in modern society.
C. Their material demands go faster than their earnings.
D. Health care and educational cost have somehow gone out of control.
3. What has wealth brought to American society?
A. Stability and security.
B. Materialism and content.
C. A sense of self-accomplishment.
D. New anxiety, conflicts and complaints.
Since my family were not going to be helpful, I decided I would look for one all by myself and not tell them about it till I’d got one.
I had seen an agency (中介机构) advertised in a local newspaper. I rushed out of the 61 in search of it. I was wildly excited, and as 62 as if I were going on the stage. Finding the 63 quite easily, I ran breathlessly through a door which said “Enter without knocking, if you please.”
The simple atmosphere of the office 64 me. The woman looked carefully at me 65 through her glasses, and then 66 me in a low voice. I answered softly. All of a sudden I started to feel rather 67 . She wondered why I was looking for this sort of 68 . I felt even more helpless when she told me that it would be 69 to get a job without 70 . I wondered whether I ought to leave, 71 the telephone on her desk rang. I heard her say: “ 72 , I’ve got someone in the 73 at this very moment who might 74 .” She wrote down a 75 , and held it out to me, saying: “ Ring up this lady. She wants a 76 immediately. In fact, you would have to start tomorrow by cooking a dinner for ten people.”
“ Oh yes,” said I — 77 having cooked for more than four in my life. I 78 her again and again, and rushed out to the 79 telephone box. I collected my thoughts, took a deep breath, and rang the number. I said confidently that I was just what she was looking for. I spent the next few hours 80 cook books.
1.A. bed B house C. agency D. office
2.A. proud B. pleased C. nervous D. worried
3.A. family B. door C. place D. stage
4.A. calmed B. excited C. frightened D. disturbed
5.A. as usual B. for a while C. in a minute D. once again
6.A. advised B. examined C. informed D. questioned
7.A. encouraged B. dissatisfied C. hopeless D. pleased
8.A. place B. job C. advice D. help
9.A. difficult B. helpless C. possible D. unusual
10.A. ability B. experience C. knowledge D. study
11.A. after B. since C. until D. when
12.A. Above all B. As a matter of fact C. As a result D. In spite of that
13.A. family B. house C. office D. restaurant
14.A. hire B. accept C. suit D. offer
15.A. letter B. name C. note D. number
16.A. cook B. help C. teacher D. secretary
17.A. almost B. never C. nearly D. really
18.A. answered B. promised C. thanked D. told
19.A. outside B. local C. closest D. nearest
20.A. borrowing B. buying C. reading D. writing
—I am late, for there is too much traffic on my way to school.
—Oh, ______. Don’t lie!
A. take your time B. don’t worry C. Come on D. take it easy
The city of Nanchang has grown so fast that it’s at least _____ what it used to be.
A. five times the size of B. the size as five times large as
C. five times larger D. as five times size of
—I’m sorry. That wasn’t of much help.
—Oh, ______. As a matter of fact, it was most helpful.
A. sure it was B. it doesn’t matter
C. of course not D. thanks anyway
