When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can't take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We'd take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the train, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn't like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom's friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a  failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just light­rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestrut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where's the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I'm writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn't try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me

  1. 1.

    According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?

    1. A.
      Building confidence in herself
    2. B.
      Reducing her use of private cars
    3. C.
      Developing her sense of direction
    4. D.
      Giving her knowledge about vehicles
  2. 2.

    The underlined word “paralyzed”(in Para.5) is closest in meaning to “________”.

    1. A.
      displayed
    2. B.
      justified
    3. C.
      ignored
    4. D.
      ruined
  3. 3.

    Which means of transportation does the writer probably disapprove of?

    1. A.
      Airplane
    2. B.
      Subway
    3. C.
      Train
    4. D.
      Car

Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?
Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paperbooks (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times.
Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books., science textbook, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets.

  1. 1.

    It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

    1. A.
      TV programs are a chief provider of knowledge
    2. B.
      cinemas are the best choice in getting information
    3. C.
      reading is a cheap way of learning and having fun
    4. D.
      newspapers are an expensive way to enjoy oneself
  2. 2.

    What does the sentences “Television has not killed reading, however ” underlined in the second paragraph suggest?

    1. A.
      People only need reading, though.
    2. B.
      Reading is still necessary today.
    3. C.
      Reading is more fun than television.
    4. D.
      Watching television doesn’t help reading.
  3. 3.

    What can we learn from the passage?

    1. A.
      Fewer and fewer people will buy books.
    2. B.
      A good dictionary should be kept in every home.
    3. C.
      Books with hard covers sell better than paperbooks.
    4. D.
      More people like TV programs about famous men.
  4. 4.

    What can we learn from the passage?

    1. A.
      Fewer and fewer people will buy books.
    2. B.
      A good dictionary should be kept in every home.
    3. C.
      Books with hard covers sell better than paperbooks.
    4. D.
      More people like TV programs about famous men.

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