Nobody Benefits

NEW YORK—America has been experiencing the longest economic increase in its history.Incomes have risen, unemployment has fallen, and cities such as New York are bursting with new office buildings.

But just a short walk from Manhattan's skyscrapers, George Brown sits on the side-walk, cooking a lunch of rice and bits of fish over a can of cooking fuel.

Brown is homeless — one of the 2.3 million people in the US who end up on the street.

During the day, Brown collects aluminium cans and sells them for five cents a piece.At night, he sleeps on the street.w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

"I have been on the street about eight or nine years, something like that," said the 62-year-old former construction worker.

Brown admits he's had problems with alcohol and has smoked cocaine.But he said he still wants a more stable housing arrangement.He could afford it just with the money he earns by collecting cans and small pieces of metal, if only truly low-income housing were available.

However, he sees no hope of finding affordable housing in New York.

With the strong economy and unemployment down, beautiful housing is being built to meet demand.

A US report shows rents in New York city rose more than 27 percent between 1984 and 1999, from US $549 to US $700 a month.

One of the side effects of the strong economy is that rents have been going up.

The majority of people who experience homelessness really just need some affordable housing help.

But few housing companies have been built for the poor.Many small apartments in the city now rent for US $1,500 a month or more.

Brown, the homeless New Yorker, said he has a daughter who lives in the city but he rarely sees her.She is angry about his drinking and won't allow it in her house.

Smiling, he said he also has seven grandchildren whom he'd like to see more often.

"All I've got to do is clean up my act," he said.

What kind of life does George Brown lead?

       A.Homeless and dangerous.              

       B.Homeless and childish.

       C.Homeless and miserable (痛苦的).            

       D.Homeless and sleepless.

From George Brown's life we can find that ______.

       A.old Americans lead a hard life

       B.old Americans want to live alone

       C.American cities are crowded with poor people w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

       D.bad habits play a role in some poor people's Life

It can be inferred from this passage that ______.

       A.America is short of housing companies

       B.the poor can't benefit from the increasing economy

       C.poor people in America will become rich

       D.housing companies will build more houses for the poor

If this passage comes from a paper, on which page would it be?

       A.Society.      B.Science.        C.Economy.                D.Business.


第二节完形填空。(共20小题,每小题1.5分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,掌握其大意,然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出最佳选项。
Christmas was an exciting season for my six-year-old son. For weeks, he’d been memorizing   36  for the “Winter Ceremony” in his kindergarten class. I went to  37  their rehearsal(排演).
As I waited, students were led into the room. Each class,  38  by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one  39  to perform their song. I didn’t expect anything other than fun.
My son’s class rose to sing “Christmas Love”. Those in the front row on the center stage held up large  40 , one by one, to spell out the  41  of the song. When the class sang: “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C, then another would hold up “H” for happy, and on and on,  42  each child was holding up a letter, presenting the  43  message, “Christmas Love”.
The performance was going  44 , until suddenly we noticed her, a small, quiet girl in the  45  row holding the letter “M” upside down-totally  46  that her letter “M” appeared as a “W”. The audience began to laugh at this little girl’s  47 . But she had no idea that they were laughing at her, so she stood tall,  48  holding her “W”.  49  many teachers tried to quiet the children, the  50  continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A  51  came over the audience and eyes began to  52 . In that instant we understood the  53  why we were there, and even though it was such a busy holiday, there was a(n)  54  for celebrating Christmas. When the  55  letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: “ CHRIST WAS LOVE”. And I believe that this is why Christmas is so important.
36. A. songs                  B. message                   C. texts                        D. performance
37. A. direct                 B. celebrate                  C. design                      D. attend
38. A. led                            B. accompanied             C. looked                            D. pulled
39. A. stood                  B. turned                      C. rose                         D. came
40. A. letters                 B. words                      C. names                    D. boards
41. A. topic                  B. title                         C. idea                         D. theme
42. A. when                  B. after                        C. until                        D. while
43. A. exact                  B. complete                  C. proper                      D. right
44. A. smoothly            B. happily                    C. heatedly                   D. joyfully
45. A. back                   B. middle                            C. left                          D. front
46. A. ignoring                B. unknown                  C. unaware                   D. recognizing
47. A. action                 B. play                         C. mistake                    D. joke
48. A. highly                B. proudly                    C. clearly                            D. bravely
49. A. Unless                B. As                           C. Although                  D. In spite of
50. A. performance        B. laughter                   C. audience                   D. message
51. A. fear                    B. worry                      C. pride                        D. silence
52. A. widen                 B. close                        C. rise                          D. wink
53. A. cause                  B. reason                      C. way                         D. place
54. A. purpose                     B. excuse                      C. reward                            D. song
55. A. seventh               B. middle                            C. last                         D. full

 完形填空(共20小题,每小题1.5分,满分30分)
Our airplane was just beside the airport building. It did not look too strong to me, but I decided not to think about such things. We saw the baggage going out ___31___ it on trolleys and being ___32___ from under the aircraft. Next, three men and three girls, all in uniform, went over to the plane and ___33___ it. Over the loudspeakers we were ___34___ the plane was ready to leave and were asked to walk ___35___ to it. Everybody moved quickly in order to ___36___ the seats they wanted. I was ___37___ to get a seat near the tail, but the plane looked ___38___ inside than it had from outside. I fastened my seat belt ___39___ we took off and tried to ___40___ my nervousness. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m
After an hour’s flying I ___41___ black clouds ahead through my window. An electric sign flashed ___42___: “Fasten your seat belts, please,” one of the hostesses made a ___43___ request over the loudspeakers. She told us we were about to fly into a storm but ___44___ cheerfully there was nothing to worry ___45___. Suddenly, the plane ___46___ all over, dropped about twenty feet and seemed to hang on one ___47___. Then it rose twenty feet and there was a great flash of lightning. The three girls did their best to ___48___ pills for airsickness and ___49___ the passengers. Soon the sky became light again. The pilot had ___50___ to get above the storm.
31. A. at                      B. over                       C. to                          D. above
32. A. held                  B. contained                  C. carried                      D. loaded
33. A. arrived                  B. entered                      C. climbed              D. flew
34. A. asked                   B. noticed                      C. announced          D. told
35. A. out                           B. inside                     C. in                          D. by
36. A. fetch                    B. hold                       C. keep               D. get
37. A. impossible                B. possible                     C. unable              D. unsuitable
38. A. prettier                  B. stronger                    C. smaller               D. heavier
39. A. before                  B. after                      C. until               D. when
40. A. smooth                 B. forget                     C. correct                      D. drive
41. A. noticed                  B. looked                          C. watched             D. realized
42. A. on                      B. up                         C. out                 D. in
43. A. general                   B. similar                          C. common             D. sharp
44. A. smiled                  B. spoke                     C. added                 D. acted
45. A. at                      B. about                     C. on                  D. with
46. A. moved                  B. struck                     C. shook                 D. shocked
47. A. edge                     B. line                        C. side                D. wing
48. A. give out                        B. give off                     C. give up              D. give back
49. A. save                     B. cool                       C. persuade             D. comfort
50. A. succeeded                 B. flown                     C. attempted           D. managed

Nobody Benefits
NEW YORK—America has been experiencing the longest economic increase in its history.Incomes have risen, unemployment has fallen, and cities such as New York are bursting with new office buildings.
But just a short walk from Manhattan's skyscrapers, George Brown sits on the side-walk, cooking a lunch of rice and bits of fish over a can of cooking fuel.
Brown is homeless — one of the 2.3 million people in the US who end up on the street.
During the day, Brown collects aluminium cans and sells them for five cents a piece.At night, he sleeps on the street.w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m
"I have been on the street about eight or nine years, something like that," said the 62-year-old former construction worker.
Brown admits he's had problems with alcohol and has smoked cocaine.But he said he still wants a more stable housing arrangement.He could afford it just with the money he earns by collecting cans and small pieces of metal, if only truly low-income housing were available.
However, he sees no hope of finding affordable housing in New York.
With the strong economy and unemployment down, beautiful housing is being built to meet demand.
A US report shows rents in New York city rose more than 27 percent between 1984 and 1999, from US $549 to US $700 a month.
One of the side effects of the strong economy is that rents have been going up.
The majority of people who experience homelessness really just need some affordable housing help.
But few housing companies have been built for the poor.Many small apartments in the city now rent for US $1,500 a month or more.
Brown, the homeless New Yorker, said he has a daughter who lives in the city but he rarely sees her.She is angry about his drinking and won't allow it in her house.
Smiling, he said he also has seven grandchildren whom he'd like to see more often.
"All I've got to do is clean up my act," he said.
【小题1】What kind of life does George Brown lead?

A.Homeless and dangerous.
B.Homeless and childish.
C.Homeless and miserable (痛苦的).
D.Homeless and sleepless.
【小题2】From George Brown's life we can find that ______.
A.old Americans lead a hard life
B.old Americans want to live alone
C.American cities are crowded with poor people w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m
D.bad habits play a role in some poor people's Life
【小题3】It can be inferred from this passage that ______.
A.America is short of housing companies
B.the poor can't benefit from the increasing economy
C.poor people in America will become rich
D.housing companies will build more houses for the poor
【小题4】If this passage comes from a paper, on which page would it be?
A.Society.B.Science.C.Economy.D.Business.

 

第二节 完形填空。(共20小题,每小题1.5分,满分30分)

阅读下列短文,掌握其大意,然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出最佳选项。

Christmas was an exciting season for my six-year-old son. For weeks, he’d been memorizing   36  for the “Winter Ceremony” in his kindergarten class. I went to  37  their rehearsal(排演).

As I waited, students were led into the room. Each class,  38  by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one  39  to perform their song. I didn’t expect anything other than fun.

My son’s class rose to sing “Christmas Love”. Those in the front row on the center stage held up large  40 , one by one, to spell out the  41  of the song. When the class sang: “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C, then another would hold up “H” for happy, and on and on,  42  each child was holding up a letter, presenting the  43  message, “Christmas Love”.

The performance was going  44 , until suddenly we noticed her, a small, quiet girl in the  45  row holding the letter “M” upside down-totally  46  that her letter “M” appeared as a “W”. The audience began to laugh at this little girl’s  47 . But she had no idea that they were laughing at her, so she stood tall,  48  holding her “W”.  49  many teachers tried to quiet the children, the  50  continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A  51  came over the audience and eyes began to  52 . In that instant we understood the  53  why we were there, and even though it was such a busy holiday, there was a(n)  54  for celebrating Christmas. When the  55  letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: “ CHRIST WAS LOVE”. And I believe that this is why Christmas is so important.

36. A. songs                        B. message                         C. texts                                D. performance

37. A. direct                        B. celebrate                        C. design                             D. attend

38. A. led                             B. accompanied                 C. looked                             D. pulled

39. A. stood                        B. turned                             C. rose                                 D. came

40. A. letters                      B. words                              C. names                             D. boards

41. A. topic                         B. title                                  C. idea                                  D. theme

42. A. when                        B. after                                C. until                                 D. while

43. A. exact                        B. complete                        C. proper                             D. right

44. A. smoothly                 B. happily                            C. heatedly                         D. joyfully

45. A. back                          B. middle                             C. left                                   D. front

46. A. ignoring              B. unknown                         C. unaware                         D. recognizing

47. A. action                       B. play                                  C. mistake                           D. joke

48. A. highly                        B. proudly                            C. clearly                             D. bravely

49. A. Unless                      B. As                                     C. Although                         D. In spite of

50. A. performance          B. laughter                          C. audience                         D. message

51. A. fear                           B. worry                               C. pride                                D. silence

52. A. widen                       B. close                                C. rise                                   D. wink

53. A. cause                        B. reason                             C. way                                  D. place

54. A. purpose                   B. excuse                             C. reward                                     D. song

55. A. seventh                    B. middle                             C. last                                   D. full

 

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