My First Day of School
Fear started taking over, I was walking into my first school in America. I had traveled a long distance from India in order to join my parents, who had been for three years, hoping America would help my future. My father decided that I would be better off going to school here, so I enrolled(登记) in the local high school in my new town.
I was afraid how I would do. On the first day, I went to my second period class after I had missed my first. With anxiety, I reached for the door, opening it slowly. Without paying attention to my classmates, I went straight to the teacher and asked if this was the right class. With a soft voice he answered. “Yes.” His voice comforted me a little. He gave me a sheet called Course Requirements, which I would never get in India because we didn’t have anything like that. Then he asked me to choose where I would sit. I didn’t actually want to pick a seat. In India we had fixed seats, so I never needed to worry about that. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the image produced by the overhead projector. In Indian schools, we didn’t use the technology we had. We had to take notes as the teacher spoke.
It was noon. I was very confused about when I would have lunch. I went to my next class and the bell rang as I entered. I went through the regular process of asking the teacher if I was in the right class. She said, “It’s still fourth period.”
“But the bell just rang,” I said.
Changing from a gentle tone to a harsher(刺耳的)one, she said, “That is the lunch bell, young man.”
I apologized. Without another word I headed for the cafeteria. I felt lucky because we didn’t have this in India. Every confusion seemed like a barrier I had to get through to reach my goal. At the end of the day, I was on my way to the bus which we didn’t have in India either. I spotted my bus and sat down inside happily. I was thinking, today wasn’t so bad.
1.The author attended an American high school because _______.
A. his father preferred American schools
B. his family wanted him to have a bright future
C. his mother had worked in it for 3 years
D. he had been longing to leave his homeland
2.What do we know about the author’s first day of school?
A. He went to the wrong class for the second period.
B. He met some enthusiastic teachers and classmates.
C. He got the Course Requirements sheet from his classmate.
D. He experienced differences from the Indian schools in many ways.
3.How did the author feel at the end of the day?
A. Worried. B. Puzzled.
C. Relieved. D. Excited.
Double Trouble
When I was eight, I wanted a toy and needed $10 to buy it. But, as usual, I was broken. I decided to ask my 11-year-old sister, Kathleen, for a loan. I went to her room, _______her for the cash. Laughing, she agreed to_______ me the money, but added, “I will charge you 10 percent compound interest every _______until you pay me back.”
“Compound interest—what’s that?” I asked.
“Well, interest is what you call the_______money borrowers have to pay back on a loan,” she explained. “Compound interest means that the interest payments get bigger and bigger the_______you take to pay back the loan. To repay the loan, you will need to give me $11 after one month. If you wait two months to pay me back, your_______ will grow from $10 to $11. So I’ll be charging you interest on $11. Then I will add that interest to the $11 you already owe me, for a _______of $12.10. That’s what you’ll owe after two months.”
“Sure. I get it,” I said. Though truthfully, I was getting _______.
Kathleen lent me the money, and I bought the toy. My birthday came a month later, and my mom gave me $10. _______, that was just the amount I needed to buy another toy I wanted ________. I put off paying my sister for a month. After another month, I________about the loan.
Several months later, on Christmas morning, my sister and I each found a $20 bill in our stockings. I was just putting it into my pocket ________Kathleen tapped me on the shoulder.
“Sorry, kiddo. That’s mine. I’m ________on your debt.”
“Huh?” Then I remembered the loan. “Hey! How can it be that much? I ________borrowed $10.”
“True,” she said, “but interest has been compounding for eight months. Now you ________me $21.43.” She paused, then added. “You can pay me the $1.43.”
I ________to believe that a $10 loan could more than double so quickly. Much to my ________, my sister got her pencil and tablet and showed me exactly how it all added up.
My head ________as I tried to keep track of Kathleen’s ________, but this time, I got the basic idea of compound interest. I ________the hard way that borrowing money can be “double trouble” in no time.
1.A. blaming B. begging C. searching D. preparing
2.A. pay B. send C. lend D. hand
3.A. month B. year C. week D. day
4.A. little B. same C. enough D. extra
5.A. shorter B. longer C. more D. less
6.A. cash B. saving C. note D. debt
7.A. total B. cost C. number D. bill
8.A. encouraged B. shocked C. confused D. satisfied
9.A. Gradually B. Obviously C. Unfortunately D. Hopefully
10.A. seriously B. anxiously C. secretly D. desperately
11.A. forgot B. knew C. talked D. cared
12.A. after B. until C. while D. when
13.A. carrying B. collecting C. relying D. focusing
14.A. normally B. nearly C. only D. really
15.A. owe B. offer C. take D. give
16.A. decided B. refused C. pretended D. managed
17.A. relief B. delight C. annoyance D. regret
18.A. turned B. nodded C. stuck D. hurt
19.A. calculations B. excuses C. directions D. discoveries
20.A. explored B. learned C. explained D. questioned
This view is common _________ all sections of the community.
A. across B. above
C. around D. along
_______naturally by the skin when exposed to sunlight, Vitamin D is needed for healthy bones, teeth and muscles.
A. Making B. To make
C. Made D. Make
—How was your vacation in Seattle?
—Pretty good. In the evenings I __________ to pubs to enjoy beer.
A. have gone B. go
C. had gone D. went
________some people criticize graffiti for being ugly and destructive, those graffiti lovers still see it as real art.
A. As B. While
C. Once D. Until