Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English ruler tried to conquer Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English, Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two "Irelands". Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work, forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people will work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were "the greatest talkers since the Creeks". Since independence, Ireland has revived (复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish songs which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.
1.What does the author tell us in paragraph 1?
A. How the Irish fought against the English.
B. How Ireland gained independence.
C. How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland.
D. How two “Irelands” came into being.
2.We learn from the text that in Ireland________.
A. food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population
B. people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside
C. it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker
D. different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments
3.The last paragraph is mainly about________.
A. the Irish character
B. Irish culture
C. Irish musical instruments
D. a famous Irish writer
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A. Life in Ireland B. A very difficult history
C. Ireland, past and present D. the independence of Ireland
My wife and I used to feel that it was impossible to be a true friend to someone whose name we didn’t know. How wrong we were! Years of Sunday-morning bus trips through the city with the same group of “nameless” people have changed our thinking. Before the bus takes off, we all join in a conversation: where’s the silent woman who sits up front and never responds to our cheery greetings? Here she comes. Her worn clothing suggests she doesn’t have much money to spare, but she always takes an extra cup of coffee for the driver.
We get smiles from a Mexican couple as they get on the bus hand in hand. When they get off, they’re still holding hands. The woman was pregnant late last year, and one day her change of shape confirmed that she’d delivered the child. We even felt a little pride at the thought of our extended family.
For many months, our only sadness lay in our inability to establish the same friendship with the silent woman at the front of the bus. Then, one evening, we went to a fish restaurant. We were shown to a table alongside someone sitting alone. It was the woman from the bus.
We greeted her with friendly familiarity we’d shown all year, but this time her face softened, then a shy smile. When she spoke, the words escaped awkwardly from her lips. All at once we realized why she hadn’t spoken to us before. Talking was hard for her.
Over dinner, we learned the stay of a single mother with a disabled son who was receiving special care away from home. She missed him desperately, she explained. “I love him… and he loves me, even though he doesn’t express it very well,” she murmured. “Lots of us have that problem, don’t we? We don’t say what we want to say, what we should be saying. And that’s not good enough.” The candles flared on our tables. Our fish had never tasted better. But the atmosphere grew pleasant, and when we parted as friends—we shared names.
1.All the following statements can describe the woman except ______.
A. poor B. warm –hearted
C. silent D. cold
2.The underlined word “establish” in the 3th paragraph has the same meaning as_________.
A. keep B. discover
C. set up D. accept
3.The woman had the same problem with her son in the way that ______.
A. they both disabled people
B. they both had some difficulty in expressing
C. they both liked bus travel
D. they both brought interest to the passengers
4.Which of the following might be the best title of this passage?
A. Friends of the Road B. The Silent Woman on the Bus
C. Going to Work by Bus D. Different Kinds of Friendship
I was working as a consultant(顾问) in a beer company, helping the president and senior vice-presidents with something important. It was a big . At the same time, my mother was in the stages of cancer.
I worked during the day and 40 miles home to be with her every night. It was and stressful, but it was what I wanted to do. My promise was to continue to do excellent consulting during the day, my evenings were very hard. I didn’t want to the president with my situation. I felt someone at the company wanted to what was going on. So I told the vice-president of Hunan Resources, asking him not to the information with anyone.
A few days , the president called me into his office. I he wanted to talk to me about one of the many issues we were on. When I entered, he asked me to sit down. He faced me from across his large , looked me in the eye and said, “I your mother is very ill.”
I was totally by surprise and burst into tears. He just looked at me, let my subside(平息)，and then he said a sentence I will never forget: “Whatever you need.” That was it. His and willingness to both let me be in my pain and to offer me were qualities of compassion(同情) that I with me to this day.
1.A. honourB. successC. challengeD. task
2.A. previousB. finalC. fineD. developing
3.A walkedB. rodeC. ranD. drove
4.A. tiringB. excitingC. boringD. frightening
5.A. as ifB. after allC. even thoughD. now that
6.A helpB. puzzleC. cheatD. bother
7.A. orB. yetC. andD. so
8.A. knowB. realizeC. hearD. announce
9.A. enjoyB. learnC. shareD. hide
10.A. afterB. agoC. beforeD. later
11.A. knewB. figuredC. doubtedD. found
12.A. workingB. gettingC. livingD. going
13.A. roomB. officeC. deskD. computer
14.A. guessB. hearC. believeD. think
15.A. hitB. gotC. madeD. caught
16.A. cryingB. explainingC. talkingD. worrying
17.A. suddenlyB. sadlyC. gentlyD. carefully
18.A. happinessB. understandingC. excitementD. sadness
19.A. everythingB. anythingC. nothingD. something
20.A. takeB. bringC. helpD. carry
--- Do you think it’s a good idea to make friends with your students？
--- _____, I do. I think it’s a great idea.
A. Really B. Obviously
C. Actually D. Generally
Caroline __________ staying at home, doing nothing at all. So she has made up her mind to find a job for herself.
A. is fond of B. is tired of
C. is proud of D. is aware of
While _________ in Britain, he made friends with the natives there.
A.working B. worked
C. he works D. he is working
