It is a dreadful thing to be poor a fortnight before Christmas, said Clorinda, with the mournful sigh of seventeen years.

Aunt Emmy smiled. Aunt Emmy was sixty, and spent the hours she didnt spend in a bed, on a sofa or in a wheel chair; but Aunt Emmy was never heard to sigh.

“The gifts which money can purchase are not the only ones we can give, said Aunt Emmy gently, nor the best, either.

“Oh, I know it's nicer to give something of your own work,” agreed Clorinda, “but materials for fancy work cost too. That kind of gift is just as much out of the question for me as any other.”

“That was not what I meant,” said Aunt Emmy.

“What did you mean, then?” asked Clorinda, looking puzzled.

Aunt Emmy smiled.

“Suppose you think out my meaning for yourself,” she said. “That would be better than if I explained it. Besides, I don't think I could explain it. Take the beautiful line of a beautiful poem to help you in your thinking out: 'The gift without the giver is bare.

“I'd put it the other way and say, 'The giver without the gift is bare,” said Clorinda. “That is my predicament(窘境)exactly. Well, I hope by next Christmas I'll not be quite bankrupt. I'm going into Mr. Callender's store down at Murraybridge in February. He has offered me the place, you know.”

“Won't your aunt miss you terribly?” said Aunt Emmy gravely. “I think she would rather have your companionship than a part of your salary, Clorinda,” said Aunt Emmy. “But of course you must decide for yourself, dear.”

“Well, I must say bye-bye and run home.” Clorinda lived just across the road from Aunt Emmy in a tiny white house behind some huge willows. But Aunt Mary lived there too--the only relative Clorinda had, for Aunt Emmy wasn't really her aunt at all. Clorinda had always lived with Aunt Mary ever since she could remember.

Clorinda puzzled over Aunt Emmy's meaning for days. Then all at once it came to her. On Christmas Day, Clorinda went over to Aunt Emmy's. Aunt Emmy was lying on the sofa before the fire, and Clorinda sat down beside her.

“I've come to tell you all about it,” she said. “Aunt Emmy, I thought for days over your meaning ... And then one evening it just came to me. At first I didn't think I could give some of them, and then I thought how selfish I was. I would have been willing to pay any amount of money for gifts if I had had it, but I wasn't willing to pay what I had. I got over that, though, Aunt Emmy. Now I'm going to tell you what I did give.”

“First, there was old Aunt Kitty. You know she was my nurse when I was a baby. She is always glad when I go to see her, but I've never gone except when I couldn't help it. She is very deaf, and rather dull and stupid, you know. Well, I gave her a whole day. I took my knitting yesterday, and sat with her the whole time and just talked and talked. She was so pleased and proud; she told me when I came away that she hadn't had such a nice time for years. ”

“Then there was ... Florence. You know, Aunt Emmy, we were always intimate friends until last year. Then Florence once told Rose Watson something I had told her in confidence. I found it out and I was so hurt. I couldn't forgive Florence, and I told her plainly I could never be a real friend to her again. Florence felt badly, because she really did love me, and she asked me to forgive her, but it seemed as if I couldn't. Well, Aunt Emmy, that was my Christmas gift to her ... my forgiveness.”

“I gave Aunt Mary her gift this morning. I told her I wasn't going to Murraybridge, that I just meant to stay home with her. She was so glad--and I'm glad, too, now that I've decided so.”

“Your gifts have been real gifts, Clorinda,” said Aunt Emmy. “Something of you--the best of you--went into each of them.”

“I didn't forget you, Aunt Emmy,” she said, as she unpinned the paper.

There was a rosebush. Aunt Emmy loved flowers. She put her finger under one of the roses and kissed it.

“It's as sweet as yourself, dear child,” she said tenderly. “And it will be a joy to me all through the lonely winter days. You've found out the best meaning of Christmas giving, haven't you, dear?”

“Yes, thanks to you, Aunt Emmy,” said Clorinda softly.

1.Clorinda felt anxious before Christmas because___________.

A. She had to leave Aunt Mary

B. She didn’t know what kind of Christmas gifts she should buy

C. She had not enough money to buy Christmas gifts

D. She had no time to make a proper decision

2. Which of the following sentences can best explain the line “The gift without the giver is bare.”

A. A gift is valued by the mind of the giver.

B. Forgiveness is a gift for the giver and the receiver.

C. You cannot buy love or respect with expensive gifts.

D. Think twice before you give gifts to somebody

3.What is the gift that Clorinda gave to old Aunt Kitty?

A. Passion?? ????????????? ????????????? B. Sympathy?? ????????????? ????????????? C. Kindness?? ????????????? ????????????? D. Company

4.What does the underlined phrase “in confidence” mean?

A. respectfully??? ????????????? B. confidently??? ????????????? ????????????? C. secretly??? ????????????? ????????????? D. willingly

5. Which two words can best describe Aunt Emmy?

A. cute and joyful??????????????????? ????????????? B. kind-hearted and emotional

C. optimistic and wise???????????????? ????????????? D. gentle and timid (羞怯的)

6.Which of the following is the best title?

A. A Special Christmas?????????????????? B. Clorinda’s Gifts

C. Aunt Emmy????????????????????????? D. Clorinda’s Choice

 

So the evening turned to night, and the night turned to morning. And before I knew it , the SAT was before me. I wasn’t sure  if I was ready, but I knew one thing: I wanted to get it over with.

SAT for the students is like tooth pulling. For those smart Asian kiddos, it’s like walking through the park: easy and carefree. For me, a Chinese American, …it’s: walking through the park and then tripping on a stone.

As I arrived outside of the dining hall, already a mob of students were sitting, talking, or standing silently waiting to get in. Jones students are lucky not only to have such a testing center at school, but also the feeling of their home school where it feels comfortable and familiar.

“ID, please,” my former math teacher asked at the door.

“Okay.” She looked over my ID, checked off my name on her list, and pointed towards the dining hall tables inside.

With hesitation, I picked up my feet and was directed to a large round table in the middle of the dinning hall. At least fourteen people could sit at this table but only four were allowed to take their test here.

“I’m glad it’s multiple choices.” I heard one student say. All the questions on the test have five choices except for one math section where they have only four. If you get an answer wrong, you don’t get any point, plus you get a penalty of a 1/4 point. If you don’t answer a question, you don’t get any point, nor penalties.

When everyone had a seat and the actual SAT I booklet in front of them, the proctor of the test called for our attentions. “In front of you, you should have a SAT I test and a scantron(答题卡). Please do not open the test booklet until I say so.” He then went on to talk about the procedures, the amount of time, signature of honesty, etc. After thirty minutes of instruction reading, he gave us all a solemn expression before saying, “You may begin now. Good luck.”

I could hear a hundred booklets being opened and pencils scratching the surface. I looked to my right, I looked to my left, I did a quick prayer for whoever was in charge up in the heavens, and started my test. At least I wouldn’t know my score until summer time.

1.How did the author feel before the test?

A.Confident.         B.Carefree.          C.Confused.         D.Nervous.

2.Jones students are lucky because __________.

A.they can take the test in a dining hall

B.they can talk during the test

C.they can take the test in their home school

D.they have their math teacher supervising the test

3.By the underlined sentence, the writer intends to say that_________.

A.the test would be so difficult that she might not pass it

B.the test seemed easy but she still needed to be careful with it

C.the test would be much easier for her than for the other Asian students

D.she found herself not as smart as the other Asian students

4.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A.Fourteen students sat around a large round table, taking the test.

B.There were four math problems on the test.

C.You will lose more points if you get the answer wrong than if you give up the question.

D.The proctor announced the instructions as soon as the test began.

 

虎妈,美国耶鲁大学的华裔教授蔡美儿Amy Lynn Chua,出版了一本名叫《虎妈战歌》Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother的书,在美国引起轰动。在接受采访时,回答了记者的5个问题(第61—65题)。请从下列提问(A、B、C、D、E和F)中选出与她的回答相匹配的问题,并在答题卡上将相应选项涂黑。选项中有一项是多余选项。

Questions

A.What do you think of the competition between China and the US?

B.What do you think of the image of “tiger mom?”

C.How do your daughters take the criticism about you after your book was published?

D.You said you would not get her Christmas gifts or anything when your daughter refused to repeatedly practice the music. How did your husband respond?

E.What do you think makes a good mother?

F.What does your husband think of your method of bringing up kids?

1.       

Chua’s answer: Well, actually I think there are many ways of being a good mother. In my book my focus is just a memory about my own family story, me trying to raise my own children in a kind of traditional Chinese way. I make mistakes and I make fun of myself. It’s amazing the way the book has been received internationally, because. I didn’t intend my book to be telling other people of view and I am a proud strict “tiger mom”. But I’m not trying to tell other people what are the best ways to teach or raise their children.

2.       

Chua’s answer: Well, the title may sound a little frightening. Let me tell you why I chose the title. I was born in the year of the tiger. And “battle Hymn” in the United States comes from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. The book is really about finding some sort of balance: how can we find the balance between the eastern way of parenting and the western way of parenting. In ways the book as been misunderstood maybe because of the title.

3.       

Chua’s answer: I didn’t write this book to have any foreign policy implications. But it’s been taken into the foreign policy realm. It is of course true that there is a connection between child-raising and the future of nations. We are raising, as parents, the next generation. So I think Henry is right. We tapped into this thing of insecurity, American’s fear about the rising power of china. A friend of mine told me that if the book had been called The Battle Hymn of an Italian Mother or The Battle Hymn of a Mexican Mother, nobody would have cared. It’s really “China”. you know.

4.       

Chua’s answer: I don’t think he opposes my idea of raising children. I’d like to think we have a combination, which is the right solution. You need a balance. From my perspective, what I give my kids is something that I thought was lacking in the US educational system. You know, they hate memorization, while in China you have too much of it. In the US, learning should be fun, a lot of games,. So I brought hard work and disciplines. My husband and I think this is a great thing always teaching them to question the authority and to ask why. Don’t accept everything just because somebody tells you. Figure it out yourself. I really think you need to combine both these qualities if you want creativity and dynamism.

5.       

Chua’s answer:  They both are stronger than I am. I am really proud of them. Their friends and communities supported them. At a time, I couldn’t even look at the Internet because there are so many negative comments. And they would find the good ones and text them to me, saying “here’s a good one mommy, hang in there.” This experience has actually brought my family together. Believe it or not, not just my kids, also my parents and my three younger sisters have supported me.

 

A student went to college(大学) after 36__ all his school examinations. There he put his name down for world geography, 37_ after the first day, he did not go to 38_ any more. The teacher noticed that this student was 39_ absent (缺课) and thought that he had changed to 40 class. He was very 41_ when he saw the boy's name on the list(名单) of students 42_ wanted to take the geography examination 43_ the end of the year.

The teacher had prepared a difficult examination paper, which covered 44 he had taught, and he was eager(急切) to see 45 this student answered the questions. He expected that his answer would be very 46_; but when he examined his paper carefully, he found only one small mistake in them.47_ this surprised him very much, he went through the paper 48_, but was still not able to find 49 one mistake, so he sent 50 the student to question him about his work..

When the student had 51 the room, the teacher said to him, “I know that you came to my class only once on the first day and that you have been absent from all the others. Yet I have found only one small mistake in your paper. 52_ is that?”

“Oh, I'm sorry about that mistake, sir,”answered the student. “After the examination, I realized 53 I ought to have written. I would not have made that mistake 54 I had not been confused(弄糊涂) by your 55_ lecture.”

1.

A.having

B.taking

C.passing

D.failing

 

2.

A.so

B.but

C.however

D.and

 

3.

A.it

B.lesson

C.college

D.class

 

4.

A.always

B.once

C.never

D.sometimes

 

5.

A.another

B.the other

C.other

D.others

 

6.

A.angry

B.happy

C.sorry

D.surprised

 

7.

A.that he

B.he

C.who

D.whom

 

8.

A.in

B.at

C.after

D.by

 

9.

A.everything

B.something

C.anything

D.nothing

 

10.

A.what

B.when

C.how

D.why

 

11.

A.good

B.full

C.nice

D.bad

 

12.

A.For

B.As

C.So

D.Though

 

13.

A.two rimes

B.twice

C.once

D.again once

 

14.

A.more than

B.another

C.the other

D.second

 

15.

A.with

B.to

C.x

D.for

 

16.

A.reached to

B.arrived to

C.arrived into

D.come into

 

17.

A.Why

B.What

C.How

D.Which

 

18.

A.where

B.why

C.what

D.when

 

19.

A.unless

B.if

C.because

D.as

 

20.

A.first

B.last

C.latest

D.certain

 

The town I live in is about to put cameras at all traffic lights to catch people who run red lights.It   36   me of how many people I’ve seen who take the yellow light as a   37   to go faster.I also can’t understand why people don’t move when the traffic light has turned green.Above all, there are those   38   situations in which someone doesn’t even   39   that the light turns red, and just keeps going.That is why so many   40   happen! All these situations make me   41__    the purpose of traffic lights.

           42   , it’s even more frightening to imagine letting people make their own decisions at   __43   crossroads.Do the biggest cars get to go first? Who decides who goes next? So I guess I do like the idea of a system to   44   traffic.And I’ll do my best to   45   the traffic rules: to go, to be cautious, and to stop when I’m   46   to.

         It occurs to me that my   47   have done much the same for me   48   teaching me how to live.They have given me many   49   lights: to get along well with others, to listen and talk to them, to help others, and to   50   with joy and purpose.They have also given me some red lights   51   my life goes astray(误入歧途): not to be greedy, to keep my temper, and to control my desires.And there   52   have been some yellow caution lights: to watch how much I drink, to keep control of my behavior, and to   53    school regularly and work hard.

         If I obey these rules, my life will be as   54   as it can be.Just as I’m wise to pay attention to the traffic lights when I’m walking across the street, I’m wise to pay attention to the“   55__ signals” given to me by my parents.

1.A.suggests             B.informs          C.reminds           D.warns

2.A.sight            B.signal              C.message         D.switch

3.A.instant          B.exciting          C.dangerous       D.cautious

4.A.notice         B.sense                  C.remember     D.feel

5.A.events          B.problems          C.situations      D.accidents

6.A.think of B.wonder about    C.care for          D.worry about      

7.A.Besides          B.Anyway          C.Instead          D.However

8.A.noisy             B.narrow           C.crowded        D.key

9.A.control          B.direct           C.improve         D.serve

10.A.learn         B.obey          C.protect           D.carry

11.A.supposed      B.used             C.devoted         D.delighted

12.A.teachers    B.friends          C.leaders           D.parents

13.A.in charge of  B.in face of         C.in terms of              D.indanger of       

14.A.safe           B.green                  C.beneficial       D.helpful

15.A.live                B.share         C.work             D.communicate

16.A.unless       B.when         C.before            D.till

17.A.still                B.even             C.only              D.also

18.A.start         B.attend            C.leave             D.miss

19.A.good         B.colorful           C.meaningful         D.healthy

20.A.traffic         B.light           C.life            D.confidence

 

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