When I left home for college, I sought to escape the limited world of farmers, small towns, and country life. I long for the excitement of the city, for the fast pace that rural life lacked, for adventure beyond the horizon. I dreamed of exploring the city, living within a new culture and landscape, and becoming part of the pulse of an urban jungle.
Yet some of my best times were driving home, leaving the city behind and slipping back into the valley. As city life disappeared and traffic thinned, I could see the faces of the other drivers relax. Then, around a bend in the highway, the grassland of the valley would come into being, offering a view of gentle rolling hills. The land seemed permanent. I felt as if I had stepped back in time.
I took comfort in the stability of the valley. Driving through small farm communities, I imagined the founding families still rooted in their grand homes, generations working the same lands, neighbors remaining neighbors for generations. I allowed familiar farmhouse landmarks to guide me.
Close to home, I often turned off the main highway and took a different, getting familiar farms again and testing my memory. Friends lived in those houses. I had eaten meals and spent time there; I had worked on some of these farms, lending a hand during a peak harvest, helping a family friend for a day or two. The houses and lands looked the same, and I could picture the gentle faces and hear familiar voices as if little had been changed. As I eased into our driveway I’d return to old ways, becoming a son once again, a child on the family farm. My feelings were honest and real. How I longed for a land where life stood still and my memories could be relived. When I left the farm for college, I could only return as visitor to the valley, a traveler looking for home.
Now the farm is once again my true home. I live in that farmhouse and work the permanent lands. My world may seem unchanged to casual observers, but they are wrong. I know this: if there’s a constant on these farms, it’s the constant of change.
The good observer will recognize the differences. A farmer replants an orchard (果园) with a new variety of peaches. Irrigation is added to block of old grapes, so I imagine the vineyard has a new owner. Occasionally the changes are clearly evident, like a FOR SALE sign. But I need to read the small print in order to make sure that a bank has taken possession of the farm. Most of the changes contain two stories. One is the physical change of the farm, the other involves the people on that land, the human story behind the change.
I’ve been back on the farm for a decade and still haven’t heard all the stories behind the changes around me. But once I add my stories to the landscape, I can call this place my home, a home that continues to evolve and changes as I add more and more of my stories.
A poet returns to the valley and says, “Little has changed in the valley, and how closed-minded you all are!” He comments about the lack of interest in sports, social and environmental issues in the poverty and inequality of our life. He was born and raised here, so he might have the right to criticize and lecture us. Yet he speaks for many who think they know the valley. How differently would others think of us if they knew the stories of a grape harvest in a wet year or a peach without a home?
1.What made the writer relax as he drove from the city to the country?
A. The land seemed familiar to him.
B. The traffic moved more slowly.
C. He could see for miles and miles.
D. The people he passed seemed to be calmer.
2.When he was in college, why was the writer sad when he returned to his family home?
A. He remembered how hard he used to work.
B. He recognized the old housed and land.
C. He realized that he was only a visitor.
D. He remembered his next door neighbors.
3.Which of the following most likely indicates that there is a sad human story behind a physical change on the farm?
A. A new variety of peach is being planted.
B. A piece of land is being sold by a bank.
C. Irrigation is being added to a grape operation.
D. A farm is being sold to a large corporation.
4.The fact that most upsets the writer with the poet is that________.
A. the poet thinks that the folk people are backward
B. the poet’s criticism and comments are not objective
C. the poet says that little has changed in the valley
D. the poet prefers to live in the urban area
How can the appearance of a product be more important than what it does? The battle between form and function rose again when James Dyson, British inventor of the Dyson vacuum（真空）cleaner that has sold in millions around the world, resigned as chairman of London's Design Museum． It is widely believed that Mr．Dyson felt that the museum put too much stress on style and fashion at the expense of serious industrial design．
Mr．Dyson accused the museum of not keeping true to itself． He may be right, but these days, museums everywhere can no longer afford to be unique centers of scholarship and learning．Among competition for sponsorship, they must use exhibitions of populist culture, nice cafes and shops or, best of all, a new building by Frank Gehry to increase visitor numbers．
On the one hand, some producers can be too old-fashioned and too concerned with the importance of product engineering and the functionality of their goods．On the other hand there are those who believe that how a product looks is more important．Design is indeed a broad term, involving both function and form．Typically, in any given product area, it changes from the former to the latter． Clothing is a good example．But surely you would have to be a very shallow person to think something's appearance was more important than what it did．
Today nearly all goods at any given price-point do much the same job．So almost the only way producers can differentiate their products from those of their competitors is to create some sort of emotional connection with the consumer, which could be through the visual appeal of the product or its packaging; or the imagery（意象）created by advertising. And what of the Dyson vacuum cleaners? Mr. Dyson may believe that people buy these machines because of the graphs showing their superior suction(喝酒), but most vacuum cleaners do a good job; the main reason people pay extra for a Dyson is because it is a vacuum cleaner with a trendy brand. With its inside workings exposed, it is a bit like a Richard Rogers building with all its pipes shown in bright colors on the outside instead of being hidden inside. Functional it may be, but it is a bit of a trick, too．
1.Mr. Dyson left the Design Museum because he thought the museum ．
A. didn't increase the number of visitors
B. couldn't provide scholarships for learners
C. hadn't great appeal for serious industrial designs
D. wasn't loyal to its original purpose of learning
2.Speaking of clothing, the underlined word "latter" refers to ．
A. affording protection
B. indicating one's identity
C. making someone beautiful
D. providing warmth
3.What is the author's opinion in Paragraph 4?
A. A product with convenient packaging sells well．
B. The majority of consumers prefer to buy branded goods．
C. Emotion contributes much to the development of advertising industry．
D. Most similarly priced products are of a comparable standard．
4.The author believes that people buy the Dyson vacuum cleaner because ．
A. it has a fashionable range
B. it has very good suction
C. it sells well around the world
D. it is invented by James Dyson
5.What is the author's attitude towards the form of a product?
A. Optimistic B. Skeptical
C. Objective D. Disapproving
When you get in your car, you reach for it．When you’re at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it．When you get into a lift, you play with it．
Cigarettes? Cup of coffee? No, it’s the third most addictive thing in modern life, the cell phone．And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships．
With its shiny surface, its smooth and satisfying touch, its air of complexity, the cell phone connects us to the world even as it disconnects us from people three feet away．In just the past couple of years, the cell phone has challenged individuals, employers, phone makers and counselors（顾问）in ways its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined．
The costs are becoming even more evident, and I don’t mean just the monthly bill．Dr．Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality．
It sounds extreme, but we’ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him．
Is it just rude, or is it a kind of unhealthiness? And pardon me, but how is this improving the quality of life?
Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell-phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation．He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with．Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don’t have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says．
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it’s because it has become very widespread．Consider that in 1987, there were only 1 million cell phones in use．Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them．They far outnumber wired phones in the United States．
1.Which of the following best explains the title of the passage?
A. Cell phone users smoke less than they used to．
B. Cell phones have become as popular as cigarettes．
C. More people use cell phones than smoke cigarettes．
D. Cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes．
2.The underlined word “curb” in Paragraph 2 means ____．
A. ignore B. control
C. develop D. rescue
3.The example of a woman talking on the phone in the car supports the idea that ．
A. cell phones do not necessarily bring people together
B. talking on the phone while driving is dangerous
C. women use cell phones more often than men
D. cell phones make one-on-one personal contact easy
Children's lives have changed greatly over the last 50 years．But do they have a happier childhood than you or I did?
It's difficult to look back on one's own childhood without some element of nostalgia(怀旧的). I have four brothers and sisters, and my memories are all about being with them．Playing board games on the living room floor, or spending days in the street with the other neighborhood children, racing up and down on our bikes, or exploring the nearby woods．My parents scarcely appear in these memories, except as providers either of meals or of severe blame after some particularly risky adventure．
These days, in the UK at least, the nature of childhood has changed dramatically．Firstly, families are smaller, and there are far more only children．It is common for both parents to work outside the home and there is the feeling that there just isn't time to bring up a large family, or that no one could possibly afford to have more than one child．As a result, today's boys and girls spend much of their time alone．Another major change is that youngsters today tend to spend a huge amount of their free time at home, inside．More than anything this is due to the fact that parents worry far more than they used to about real or imagined dangers, so they wouldn't dream of letting their children play outside by themselves．
Finally, the kind of toys children have and the way they play is totally different．Computer and video games have replaced the board games and more interesting activities of my childhood．The irony（令人啼笑皆非的事情） is that so many ways of playing games are called "interactive”. The fact that you can play electronic games on your own further increases the sense of loneliness felt by many young people today．
Do these changes mean that children today have a less relaxing childhood than I had? I personally believe that they do, but perhaps every generation feels exactly the same．
1.What is the purpose of the direct question given in the first paragraph?
A. To show who the passage is written for．
B. To gather people's opinions on childhood．
C. To compare the childhood lives of two generations．
D. To get people's attention and lead in the topic．
2.Which is NOT a reason for the changes?
A. Families are smaller today．
B. Toys can be played by children alone at home．
C. It's too dangerous to play outside．
D. Parents worried too much about their children.
3.What has the writer focused on in the fourth paragraph?
A. Some games that young people play today aren't really good．
B. Computer and video games have replaced the board games．
C. Young people today shouldn't play electronic games.
D. Board games are much more interesting than computer games．
Some years ago when I was in my first year in college, I heard Salome Bey sing for the first time. The moment was exciting. Salome’s filled the room and brought the theater to life. I was so that I decided to write an article about her.
I ___ Salome Bey, telling her I was from Essence magazine, and that I wanted to meet her to talk about her career. She and told me to come to her studio next Tuesday. When I hung up, I was scared out of my mind. I I was lying. I was not a writer at all and hadn’t even written a grocery list.
I interviewed Salome Bey the next Tuesday. I sat there , taking notes and asking questions that all began with, “Can you tell me…” I soon realized that Salome Bey was one thing, but writing a story for a national magazine was just impossible. The was almost unbearable. I struggled for days draft(草稿) after draft. Finally I put my manuscript (手稿) into a large envelope and dropped it into a mailbox.
It didn’t take long. My manuscript . How stupid of me! I thought. How could I in a world of professional writers? Knowing I couldn’t the rejection letter, I threw the unopened envelope into a drawer.
Five years later, I was moving to California. While my apartment, I came across the unopened envelope. This time I opened it and read the editor’s letter in _ .
Ms Profit,
Your story on Salome Bey is fantastic. Yet we need some materials. Please add those and return the article immediately. We would like to your story soon.
Shocked, it took me a long time to . Fear of rejection cost me greatly. I lost at least five hundred dollars and having my article appear in a major magazine. More importantly, I lost years of writing. Today, I have become a full – time writer. Looking back on this , I learned a very important lesson: You can’t to doubt yourself.
1.A. joy B. voice C. speech D. smile
2.A. proud B. active C. satisfied D. moved
3.A. visited B. emailed C. phoned D. interviewed
4.A. agreed B. refused C. hesitated D. paused
5.A. replied B. discovered C. explained D. knew
6.A. seriously B. patiently C. nervously D. quietly
7.A. blaming B. fooling C. inviting D. urging
8.A. hardship B. failure C. comment D. pressure
9.A. with B. by C. on D. in
10.A. disappeared B. returned C. spread D. improved
11.A. compare B. struggle C. live D. compete
12.A. ignore B. deliver C. face D. receive
13.A. decorating B. repairing C. cleaning D. leaving
14.A. disbelief B. anxiety C. horror D. trouble
15.A. subjective B. relevant C. private D. reliable
16.A. broadcast B. create C. publish D. assess
17.A. recover B. prepare C. escape D. concentrate
18.A. energetic B. endless C. typical D. enjoyable
19.A. experience B. success C. benefit D. accident
20.A. attempt B. afford C. expect D. pretend
—Are there any English story-books for us students in the library?
—There are only a few, _______________.
A.if much B．if some
C．if many D．if any
