Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia(怀旧)．It’s fun to come home.It looks the same.It smells the same.You’ll realize what’s changed is you.Home is where we can remember pain，love，and some other experiences：We parted here；My parents met here；I won three championships here.
If I close my eyes，I can still have a clear picture in mind of my first home.I walk in the door and see a brown sofa surrounding a low glasstop wooden table.To the right of the living room is my first bedroom.It’s empty，but it’s where my earliest memories are.
There is the dining room table where I celebrated birthdays，and where I cried on Halloween－when I didn’t want to wear the skirt my mother made for me.I always liked standing on that table because it made me feel tall and strong.If I sit at this table，I can see my favorite room in the house，my parents’ room.It is simple：a brown wooden dresser lines the right side of the wall next to a television and a couple of photos of my grandparents on each side.Their bed is my safe zone.I can jump on it anytime－waking up my parents if I am scared or if I have an important announcement that cannot wait until the morning.
I’m lucky because I know my first home still exists.It exists in my mind and heart，on a physical property(住宅) on West 64th street on the western edge of Los Angeles.It is proof I lived，I grew，and I learned.
Sometimes when I feel lost，I lie down and shut my eyes，and I go home.I know it’s where I’ll find my family，my dogs，and my belongings.I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I’ll be blamed by Mom.But I don’t mind，because I want to hear her say my name，which reminds me I’m home.
1.Why does the author call her parents’ bed her “safe zone”(Paragraph 3)?
A．It is her favorite place to play.
B．Her needs can be satisfied there.
C．Her grandparents’ photos are lined on each side.
D．Her parents always play together with her there.
2.What can be learned from the passage?
A．The old furniture is still in the author’s first bedroom.
B．The author can still visit her first physical home in Los Angeles.
C．The author’s favorite room in her first home is the dining room.
D．Many people of the author’s age can still find their first physical homes.
3.Sometimes when she feels lost，the author will________.
A．open the window at night
B．lie down in bed to have a dream
C．try to bring back a sense of home
D．go to Los Angeles to visit her mom
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A．To express how much she is attached to her home.
B．To declare how much she loves her first house.
C．To describe the state of her family.
D．To look back on her childhood.
“People are ruder today because they are rushed and more ‘time poor’ than ever before，”says Patsy Rowe，“ Manners_have_fallen_off_the_radar(雷达)．”Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder more people don’t wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with a complaint(抱怨)about the noise.Here are some examples of rudeness.
Some people prefer to do almost everything over the internet.To them，dealing with an actual human is like an evolutionary step backward.It feels very slow because humans don’t work at 4G speeds.When you have dinner with friends，you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone.We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings lifechanging news，so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with.What is worse，some people even tend to send anonymous(匿名的) rude messages by email.
However，rudeness is never acceptable.Don’t assume it is OK to be rude if the person you’re in touch with won’t recognize you.If you have something awful to say，have the courage to face the person and say it，write a letter or email and sign it，or forget it.Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and disgusting.
We shouldn’t blame technology for our shortcomings.Technology is here to help us，but we should not allow it to take over our lives.An important step ia acknowledging our shortcomings.People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more helpful if we’d publicly acknowledge good manners when we see them.
1.What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?
A．People can tell good from bad behavior.
B．Radar is able to observe human behavior.
C．People care little about their behavior.
D．Radar can be used to predict human behavior.
2.Some people are less willing to deal with humans because________.
A．they are becoming less patient
B．they are growing too independent
C．they have to handle many important messages
D．they have to follow an evolutionary step backward.
3.The author thinks sending unsigned awful messages is________.
A．ridiculous B．disgusting
C．acceptable D．reasonable
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A．We should applaud good behavior.
B．Technology can never be blamed.
C．We should keep pointing out mistakes.
D．Technology will take over our lives one day.
Mark Twain has been called the inventor of the American novel.And he surely deserves additional praise：the man who popularized the clever literary attack on racism.
I say clever because antislavery fiction had been the important part of the literature in the years before the Civil War.H.B.Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is only the most famous example.These early stories dealt directly with slavery.With minor exceptions，Twain planted his attacks on slavery and prejudice into tales that were on the surface about something else entirely.He drew his readers into the argument by drawing them into the story.
Again and again，in the postwar years，Twain seemed forced to deal with the challenge of race.Consider the most controversial，at least today，of Twain’s novels，Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Only a few books have been kicked off the shelves as often as Huckleberry Finn，Twain’s most widely read tale.Once upon a time，people hated the book because it struck them as rude.Twain himself wrote that those who banned the book considered the novel“trash and suitable only for the slums(贫民窟)．”More recently the book has been attacked because of the character Jim，the escaped slave，and many occurrences of the word nigger.(The term Nigger Jim，for which the novel is often severely criticized，never appears in it.)
But the attacks were and are silly—and miss the point.The novel is strongly antislavery.Jim’s search through the slave states for the family from whom he has been forcibly parted is heroic.As J．Chadwick has pointed out，the character of Jim was a first in American fiction—a recognition that the slave had two personalities，“the voice of survival within a white slave culture and the voice of the individual：Jim，the father and the man.”
There is much more.Twain’s mystery novel Pudd’nhead Wilson stood as a challenge to the racial beliefs of even many of the liberals of his day.Written at a time when the accepted wisdom held Negroes to be inferior (低等的) to whites，especially in intelligence，Twain’s tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth.A slave gave birth to her master’s baby and，for fear that the child should be sold South，switched him for the master’s baby by his wife.The slave’s lightskinned child was taken to be white and grew up with both the attitudes and the education of the slaveholding class.The master’s wife’s baby was taken for black and grew up with the attitudes and intonations of the slave.
The point was difficult to miss：nurture (养育)，not nature，was the key to social status.The features of the black man that provided the stuff of prejudice—manner of speech，for example—were，to Twain，indicative of nothing other than the conditioning that slavery forced on its victims.
Twain’s racial tone was not perfect.One is left uneasy，for example，by the lengthy passage in his autobiography (自传) about how much he loved what were called“nigger shows”in his youth—mostly with white men performing in blackface—and his delight in getting his mother to laugh at them.Yet there is no reason to think Twain saw the shows as representing reality.His frequent attacks on slavery and prejudice suggest his keen awareness that they did not.
Was Twain a racist? Asking the questioning the 21st century is as wise as asking the same of Lincoln.If we read the words and attitudes of the past through the“wisdom”of the considered moral judgments of the present，we will find nothing but error.Lincoln，who believed the black man the inferior of the white，fought and won a war to free him.And Twain，raised in a slave state，briefly a soldier，and inventor of Jim，may have done more to anger the nation over racial injustice and awaken its collective conscience than any other novelist in the past century.
1.How do Twain’s novels on slavery differ from Stowe’s?
A．Twain was more willing to deal with racism.
B．Twain’s attack on racism was much less open.
C．Twain’s themes seemed to agree with plots.
D．Twain was openly concerned with racism.
2.Recent criticism of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn arose partly from its________.
A．target readers at the bottom
B．antislavery attitude
C．rather impolite language
D．frequent use of“nigger”
3.What best proves Twain’s antislavery stand according to the author?
A．Jim’s search for his family was described in detail.
B．The slave’s voice was first heard in American novels.
C．Jim grew up into a man and a father in the white culture.
D．Twain suspected that the slaves were less intelligent.
4.The story of two babies switched mainly indicates that________.
A．slaves were forced to give up their babies to their masters
B．slaves’ babies could pick up slaveholders’ way of speaking
C．blacks’social position was shaped by how they were brought up
D．blacks were born with certain features of prejudice
5.What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A．The attacks.
B．Slavery and prejudice.
C．White men.
D．The shows.
6.What does the author mainly argue for?
A．Twain had done more than his contemporary writers to attack racism.
B．Twain was an admirable figure comparable to Abraham Lincoln.
C．Twain’s works had been banned on unreasonable grounds.
D．Twain’s works should be read from a historical point of view.
Here is an astonishing and significant fact：Mental work alone can’t make us tired.It sounds absurd.But a few years ago，scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳)．To the amazement of these scientists，they discovered that blood passing through the brain，when it is active，shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer，we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products.But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein，it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.
So far as the brain is concerned，it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning.The brain is totally tireless.So what makes us tired?
Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情感的) attitudes.One of England’s most outstanding scientists，J.A.Hadfield，says，“The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin.In fact，fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.”Dr.Brill，a famous American scientist，goes even further.He declares，“One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”
What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored，anger，anxiety，tenseness，worry，a feeling of not being appreciated－those are the emotions that tire sitting workers.Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue.We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.
1.What surprised the scientists a few years ago?
A．Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood.
B．Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn out after a day’s work.
C．The brain could work for many hours without fatigue.
D．A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins.
2.According to the author，which of the following can make sitting workers tired?
A．Challenging mental work.
B．Unpleasant emotions.
C．Endless tasks.
D．Physical labor.
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards the scientists’ ideas?
A．He agrees with them.
B．He doubts them.
C．He argues against them.
D．He hesitates to accept them.
4.We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energetic，sitting workers need to ________.
A．have some good food
B．enjoy their work
C．exercise regularly
D．discover fatigue toxins
Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman
Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice，Jane Austen’s most
famous work，might be updated，200 years on.
Austen’s popularity is rooted in her intelligence.But today she would certainly have had a very different life，as would her characters.Here’s my own suggestion...
It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men，however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.
“My dear husband，”said his hopeful wife one day，“have you heard that the local store，standing empty for so long，is taken over by a bright young businesswoman？”
Her dull and indifferent (漠不关心的) husband replied that he had not.
“But it is，it is，”she replied excitedly.
Mr DullHusband made no reply.
“Don’t you want to know her plans？”she cried with some impatience.
“Well，clearly you think it matters to your silly little head...so I’d better listen.”
“Well，my dear，the rumour (传言) is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England，though how_a_woman_can_know_anything_about_that_is_beyond_me.She will move in herself next month.”
“What is her name？”
“Bingley.”
“Is she married or single？”
“What a question! And none of your business.But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys.”
“How so? How can it possibly affect them? ”
“My dear love：those lazy boys need something to wake them up.There are bound to be jobs going.”
“Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place.”
“Nonsense，my love，how little you’ve noticed the world has changed.She’s got a firstrate degree and some sort of business qualification，I’m told.She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call.”
“Me? No.Perhaps you can take an interest.You still have your looks，after all.She may even offer you a job.”
“Oh，that’s not likely.These new chances belong to the younger generation.But now you mention it，I think I’ll go along all the same.”
And Mrs Bennet went along.That was 10 years ago.She is now managing director of a FTSElisted company.
...It would remain the case，of course，that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board，that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues，her bonus of a more“female”dimension and her lifespan (年限) among the city’s business leaders shorter than theirs.Still，she’d no doubt have enjoyed Davos—and might even have hobnobbed (攀谈) with influential figures.
1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Austen was born 200 years ago.
B．Austen rewrote Pride and Prejudice.
C．Austen’s success lies in her wisdom.
D．Austen’s updated work gains popularity.
2.The underlined part in the passage suggests that Mrs Bennet ________.
A．had mixed feelings of admiration and surprise about Bingley
B．felt kind of worried and doubtful about Bingley
C．was extremely anxious to meet Bingley
D．had a great curiosity about Bingley
3.In the eyes of Mrs Bennet，Bingley surely needed one of their boys to ________.
A．get married to
B．work for her
C．help her move in
D．take over her store
4.What does the writer intend to tell us?
A．Women with brains can also be as successful as men.
B．Women have to pay a high price for success.
C．A judgment must be made free from prejudice.
D．Sex discrimination still exists nowadays.
It happened to me recently.I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President.A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was，in his words，“a brilliantly (精彩地)written book”．However，he then went on to talk about Mr Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all.I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one.Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t.In the World Book Day’s“Report on Guilty Secrets”，Dreams From My Father is at number 9.The report lists ten books，and various authors，which people have lied about reading，and as I’m not one to lie too often (I’d hate to be caught out)，I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire top ten.But I am pleased to say that，unlike 42 percent of people，I have read the book at number one，George Orwell’s 1984.I think it’s really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it.It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen，Charles Dickens，Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven’t read him，but haven’t lied about it either) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied，the most common reason was to“impress”someone they were speaking to.This could be tricky if the conversation became more indepth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy，people named J．K.Rowling，John Grisham，Sophie Kinsella (ah，the big sellers，in other words)．Fortytwo percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I’ll come clean：I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so)．
1.How did the author find his friend a book liar?
A．By judging his manner of speaking.
B．By looking into his background.
C．By mentioning a famous name.
D．By discussing the book itself.
2.Which of the following is a“guilty secret”according to the World Book Day report?
A．Charles Dickens is very low on the topten list.
B．42% of people pretended to have read 1984.
C．The author admitted having read 9 books.
D．Dreams From My Father is hardly read.
3.By lying about reading，a person hopes to________.
A．control the conversation
B．appear knowledgeable
C．learn about the book
D．make more friends
4.．What is the author’s attitude to 58% of readers?
A．Favorable. B．Uncaring
C．Doubtful D．Friendly
