B

Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had "seven fathers ", because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she hid herself into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the University's Writers' Workshop, however, she felt lonely—a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her "creative voice".

"It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn't think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalanced in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That's when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn't write about."

Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street , when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children's book, and a shortstory collection.

1.Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?

A. She had seven brothers. B. She felt herself a nobody.

C. She was too shy to go to school. D. She did not have any good teachers.

2.The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to

A. make a lot of friends B. develop her writing style

C. run away from her family D. work for a school magazine

3.According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?

A. Her early years in college. B. Her childhood experience.

C. Her training in the Workshop. D. Her feeling of being different.

4.What do we learn about The House on Mango Street ?

A. It is quite popular among students.

B. It is the only book ever written by Cisneros.

C. It wasn't a success as it was written in Spanish.

D. It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine.

5. According to the text, we know that________

A. she didn't enjoy reading

B. she met a Mexican American girl

C. her brothers treated her very kindly

D. she lived an uneasy life in her childhood

B

It is widely known that any English conversation begins with the weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnson’s famous comment that "When two English meet, their first talk is of weather". Though Johnson’s observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather-speak.

Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exciting, the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that "To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it." Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles.

Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive."Bryson is wrong," he says, "because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena. The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty." According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.

Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs, which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversation starters or the blank "fillers". In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding.

1. The author mentions Dr. Johnson’s comment to show that ____________.

A. most commentators agree with Dr. Johnson

B. Dr. Johnson is famous for his weather observation

C. the comment was accurate two hundred years ago

D. English conversations usually start with the weather

2.What does the underlined word"obsession" most probably refer to?

A. A social trend. B. An emotional state.

C. A historical concept. D. An unknown phenomenon.

3. What is the author’s main purpose of writing the passage?

A. To explain what English weather-speak is about.

B. To analyse misconceptions about the English weather.

C. To find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman.

D. To convince people that the English weather is changeable.

At 2:30 on December 5,1945, five US Navy training planes took off in clear weather from the base Lauderdale, Florida. The planes flew cast over the coast...and disappeared. The group was Flight 19, on a run between Florida and Bahamas. Tailor was the group leader. At about 3:40, Tailor reported that his compasses were not reading properly. The other planes followed their leaders aimlessly, first east, then west, then northeast over the ocean, as Tailor tried to make sure of the direction by radio. Then, suddenly Tailor was heard to give orders to dive...

Quickly, two giant Martin seaplanes were sent up to search for Flight 19. Several hours later, the wind became strong and visibility (能见度) dropped. A return to base was ordered. But only one of the Martin seaplanes landed. Four days later, the Navy and Coast Guard combed a 100,000 square miles area with more than 100 planes and ships. No sign was ever shown of the missing planes.

Today, people have noted the disappearance of many ships and planes in the southwest part of the North Atlantic and began to call this area the Bermuda Triangle(百慕大三角区).

The points of the triangle are Bermuda, Puerto Rico and a spot in the Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida. It is a two-faced water world of tiny islands, bright beaches and beautiful waters. Yet thick fogs, powerful currents(激流) and sudden storms are hidden behind this smiling surface.

1.Why did Flight 19 disappear?

A. Because the wind became strong and visibility dropped.

B. Because Tailor was given wrong orders to dive.

C. Because Tailor couldn’t read his compasses correctly.

D. Because something unknown made the compasses unable to work as usual.

2.In what position did Flight 19 disappear?

A. In the southwest part of the North Atlantic Ocean.

B. In the northeast part of the North Atlantic Ocean.

C. To the southwest part of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean.

D. To the northeast part of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean.

3.How many planes disappeared altogether that day?

A. Five. B. Six.

C. two. D. Only one.

4.The underlined word “combed” in the passage mean“ ”.

A. covered with B. flew over

C. did up one’s hair with a comb D. searched all over

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