My father grew up in Oklahoma during the early years of the Great Depression. He was the only living child of a hard-working farmer and a ________ mother. When Dad completed eighth grade, my grandfather believed his only son would work on the farm. My grandmother, ________, understood the door that education could open even in ________ economic times. She persuaded grandfather to ________ Dad to finish high school.
Dad worked hard and completed high school at the age of 16. At last, grandpa was to have his wish. Dad would work on the farm, easing the economic and physical ________ grandpa carried. But grandmother again ________ grandpa to permit my father to go to college.
After ________, grandpa made the most difficult decision of his lifetime. He walked to the chicken coop(鸡笼子), where he did his ________. Taking a shovel in his work-worn hands, grandpa ________ a jar that held all the family’s savings. He offered the jar and its precious ________ to Dad, saying, "Here boy, go make something of yourself."
Realizing that his family was ________ all their savings by investing in his education, Dad became a steward of those funds. He ________ his bachelor’s degree and then went on to the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated second in his ________ school class in 1936. Jobs were hard to ________ when Dad graduated, so he opened his own practice and lived in a home with a dirt floor. He worked long hours, but I remember him ________ the great books he discovered in the course of his education with me.
Our family was changed by the long walk grandpa took to the chicken coop. Education is ________ an investment in our family. It is a treasure. I ________ my father to college and law school, and all of my children have also ________ higher education. We have been transformed by a sacrifice made two ________ ago by a loving, if not fully convinced, grandfather and a persistent grandmother and that has made all the ________.
1.A. beautifulB. curiousC. capableD. devoted
2.A. soB. howeverC. otherwiseD. thus
3.A. toughB. greatC. peacefulD. competitive
4.A. permitB. takeC. askD. force
5.A. painsB. troublesC. burdensD. activities
6.A. refusedB. beggedC. orderedD. required
7.A. graduationB. workC. reflectionD. permission
8.A. cookingB. cleaningC. farmingD. banking
9.A. picked upB. dug upC. broke upD. cut up
10.A. booksB. contentsC. billsD. coins
11.A. sacrificingB. storingC. treasuringD. wasting
12.A. failedB. receivedC. offeredD. needed
13.A. mathsB. educationC. economicsD. law
14.A. come offB. come aboutC. come byD. come on
15.A. makingB. writingC. protectingD. sharing
16.A. more thanB. rather thanC. other thanD. less than
17.A. joinedB. followedC. advisedD. accompanied
18.A. soughtB. insistedC. favoredD. considered
19.A. yearsB. centuriesC. decadesD. generations
20.A. senseB. differenceC. useD. effect
Hollywood movies are regularly filled with sex and violence. They can be exciting films but sometimes all you want is a little light-hearted entertainment.
Have you heard of Bollywood? All singing, all dancing and unrealistic, it is the perfect alternative to normal Hollywood movies. Bollywood is the Indian film industry, based in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. 1. Yet Bollywood is the largest producer of films in the world. This year the Indian Filmgare Awards, Bollywood's Oscars, turn 50 years old.
The typical Bollywood movie usually has the following ingredients: a cup of romance, a tea-spoon of comedy, a dash of international sight-seeing, served with a huge slice of singing and dancing. There will also be one brave hero, one beautiful heroine and one baddie. 2.
Bollywood films are full of ideal things and free of daily worries. 3. The actors change clothes and locations within a single song. But the audience don't mind. To Indian movie lovers, especially the poor, such films are a gateway to heaven and the stars are their gods. The films take them to a magical world away from their everyday troubles. The films tell them the impossible is possible and that true love conquers all.
4. Behind the beautiful scenes, Bollywood still emphasizes traditional family values. In most films, if two lovers want to break an arranged marriage, they can't just run away. They must win over their parents.
Bollywood is a decent refreshing replacement for those over-stimulating Hollywood films. 5. They will take you to a brighter, cheerier and more colorful world, where it's still cool to dance around a tree and sing a love song.
A．There is never any mention of politics, poverty or war.
B．Bollywood has gradually won its reputation on the world stage.
C．Bollywood films are mostly comic romances with light-hearted incidental music.
D．Most Chinese school kids have probably never seen an Indian film.
E. Bollywood pays great attention to traditional values.
F．The result is a fun-filled musical.
G．So if you're tired of all that Hollywood actions, check out the following Bollywood films.
Imagine a mass of floating waste is two times the size of the state of Texas. Texas has a land area of more than 678, 000 square kilometers. So it might be difficult to imagine anything twice as big.
All together, this mass of waste flowing in the North Pacific Ocean is known as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. It weighs about 3, 500, 000 tons. The waste includes bags，bottles and containers—plastic products of all kinds.
The eastern part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is about l,600 kilometers west of California. The western part is west of the Hawaiian Islands and east of Japan. The area has been described as a kind of oceanic desert，with light winds and slow moving water currents. The water moves so slow that garbage from all over the world collects there.
In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the floating garbage and its effect on sea creatures and human health. Scientists say thousands of animals get trapped in the floating waste, resulting in death or injury. Even more die from a lack of food or water after swallowing pieces of plastic. The trash can also make animals feel full, lessening their desire to eat or drink.
The floating garbage also can have harmful effects on people. There is an increased threat of infection of disease from polluted waste, and from eating fish that swallowed waste. Divers can also get trapped in the plastic.
Its existence first gained public attention in l997. That was when racing boat captain and oceanographer Charles Moore and his crew sailed into the garbage while returning from a racing event. Five years earlier，another oceanographer learned of the trash after a shipment of rubber duckies got lost at sea. Many of those toys are now part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.
In August，2009，a team from the University of California，San Diego became the latest group to travel to it. They were shocked by the amount of waste they saw. They gathered hundreds of sea creatures and water samples to measure the garbage patch’s effect on ocean environment.
1.How did the writer introduce the topic of the passage?
A. By giving an example.B. By listing the facts.
C. By telling a story.D. By giving a comparison.
2.What do we know about the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?
A. It is made up of various kinds of plastic products.
B. It is a solid mass of floating waste materials.
C. It lies l60, 000 kilometers east of California.
D. It is described as a kind of oceanic desert.
3.Why do people pay attention to the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?
A. Because it may prevent the flow of ocean water.
B. Because the polluted plastic articles will move up the food chain.
C. Because it may be from an island in the pacific
D. Because ships may be trapped in the floating waste.
4.The purpose of writing this passage is to ____________.
A. warn people of the danger to travel in the pacific
B. analyze what caused the waste patch in the pacific
C. give advice on how to recycle waste in the ocean
D. introduce the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch
Parents do need to teach their kids financial responsibility and that money is earned. Still, many child-development experts agree that tying a child’s allowance to chores can be a slippery slope. Here’s why.
Susie Walton, master instructor at Peace in Your Home advises to keep chores and allowances totally separate. “Allowance is one thing. When it comes to chores, life skills, responsibilities－that’s a whole different thing.” says Walton.
Walton says, “When kids aren’t doing a chore, you don't say, ‘well, there goes your allowance.’ You’re going to sit them down and ask what’s going on. ‘We are a team. We are a family. We’ve got to have them done.’”
Besides, by paying children for chores with an allowance, you’ll also be sending the message that work isn't worth doing unless they’re getting paid for it.
There are times when it would make sense to pay kids for chores. Most financial and child-development experts agree that it’s a fine idea to pay children money for extra jobs that are outside their normal set of chores, such as washing windows, washing the car or helping to clean out the garage－especially if the child is saving for a big item. This may even develop an entrepreneurial (企业家的) spirit to think outside of the box to earn money.
For parents who are concerned that their children won’t learn the value of a dollar if the allowance isn’t tied to household chores, note that there are still plenty of money management skills to be learned from a straight allowance. Depending on the age, kids can be made responsible for paying for their own toys or snacks. Some parents even require that kids set aside a percentage of their allowance toward savings.
“I really like having my own money,” says Kevin, 9. “It’s up to me if I want to buy the cheap toy now, or save and get the better toy.” And that’s a good lesson to learn at 9 years old.
No matter which allowance route you take in parenthood, kids will feel empowered by being able to handle their own money.
1.Which of the following would Susie Walton most probably agree with?
A. A child’s allowance shouldn’t be tied to chores.
B. Kids shouldn’t be forced to do chores.
C. Doing chores teaches kids the value of work.
D. Kids should be paid for doing chores.
2.According to Susie Walton, if kids don’t do chores, parents should ______.
A. teach them the entrepreneurial spirit
B. talk to them about family responsibilities
C. give them a smaller allowance than usual
D. punish them by not giving them their allowances
3.What is the author’s attitude towards Kevin’s action?
A. Worried.B. Doubtful.C. Approving.D. Unfavorable.
4.The text is mainly about _____________.
A. the importance of kids doing chores
B. whether parents should pay kids for chores
C. the advantages of kids handling their own money
D. whether parents should give kids regular allowances
Is there link between humans and climate change or not? This question was first studied in the early 1900s. Since then, many scientists have thought that our actions do make a difference. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol explained our role in the Earth’s changing atmosphere and set international limits for gas emissions(排放) from 2008 to 2012. Some countries have decided to continue these reductions until 2020. More recently, the Paris Agreement, stuck by nearly 200 countries, also aims to limit global warming. But just now how much warmer it will get depends on how deeply countries cut carbon emissions.
3.5℃
This is how much temperatures would rise by 2100 even if nations live up to the initial Paris promises to reduce carbon emissions; this rise could still put coastal cities under water and drive over half of all species to extinction.
2℃
To meet this minimum goal, the Agreement requires countries to tighten emissions targets every five years. Even this increase could sink some islands, worse drought(干旱) and drive a decline of up to a third in the number of species.
1.5℃
This is the most ambitious goal for temperature rise set by the Paris Agreement, after a push by low-lying island nations like Kiribati, which say limiting temperature rise to 1.5℃ could save them from sinking.
0.8℃
This is how much temperatures have risen since the industrial age began, putting us 40% of the way to the 2℃ point.
0℃
The baseline here is average global temperature before the start of the industrial age.
1.It can be concluded from paragraph 1 that _______.
A. the problem of global warming will have been quite solved by 2020
B. gas emissions have been effectively reduced in developed countries
C. the Paris Agreements is more influential than the Kyoto Protocol
D. humans have made continuous efforts to slow down global warming
2.If nations could only keep the initial promises of the Paris Agreement, what would happen by the year 2100?
A. The human population would increase by one third.
B. Little over 50% of all species would still exist.
C. Nations would not need to tighten their emissions targets.
D. The Agreement’s minimum goal would not be reached.
3.If those island nations not far above sea level are to survive, the maximum temperature rise, since the start of the industrial age, should be _______.
A. 0.8℃B. 1.5℃C. 2℃D. 3.5℃
Mr. Selfridge, the Wisconsin-born retailer (零售商) who left school at 14, rose to become a partner in Marshall Field's, Chicago. Founded in 1852, it was one of the first and most ambitious US department stores. Mr. Selfridge had done well with Marshall Field's. He liked to say, “The customer is always right,” which made the Chicago store popular. And he is believed to have invented the phrase “Only so many Shopping Days until Christmas”.
When he visited London on holiday in 1906 he was surprised to find most of the city's department stores were no match for their American and Parisian competitors. This led Selfridge to leave the US and establish Selfridges. a department store named after him at the west end of London's Oxford Street. In Oxford Street, Selfridge's design team shaped an ambitious classical place building with a wall of plate glass windows.
Opened in 1909, Selfridges offered customers a hundred departments along with restaurants, a roof garden, reading and writing rooms, reception areas for foreign visitors, a first-aid room and most importantly, a small army of knowledgeable floor-walking assistants who served as guides as well as being thoroughly instructed in the art of making a sale.
Mr. Selfridge did much to make the department store a destination rather than just a big and comprehensively stocked city shop. It became a place to meet and for ladies to lunch. Mr. Selfridge later introduced the department store as a key element of the 20th Century culture, and Chaplin acknowledged the growing trend for shopping in the department store in his film The Floorwalker.
1.What can be learned about Mr. Selfridge from Paragraph 1?
A. He was well-educated.
B. He was a gifted businessman.
C. He was a modest man.
D. He was dishonest.
2.What made Selfridge build a department store in London?
A. The industrial atmosphere in London.
B. His desire to own a department store.
C. His confidence in business success.
D. Affection for London architecture.
3.What was Selfridges' most impressive characteristic?
A. The number of departments.
B. The broad choice of goods.
C. The small group of guards.
D. The well-trained sales guides.
4.What is the main purpose of the article?
A. To introduce the retailer, Selfridge.
B. To compare different department stores.
C. To encourage readers to spend more.
D. To explain how to start a department store.
