“Hey, Dad, are you going to come to my award ceremony tonight?” I   36   asked my father.

“I have to work late tonight. I doubt I’ll be able to   37   it on time. I am just too busy right now,” he replied.

    My mind could not   38   the idea that he would be too busy working late. He was also too busy to   39   my horse show and the 15th birthday party. He always used the same   40  . Why had I even bothered to ask?   41  , there was always a slight hope that tonight would be   42  .

    As my mother and I arrived at school, two friends   43   me. “Jill, meet my dad. Dad, this is my friend Jill.” I shook the hand of a tall man. Camera flashes lit up the room, and claps filled the   44   as students accepted their awards. My name was finally called,   45   three others. I followed my classmates to the   46  . When I reached out my hand to shake the   47  , a big smile lit up her face. The blinding flash from my mother’s camera   48   my eyes and I knew my dad wasn’t there. I walked back to my seat   49  .

    Back at home, seeing my dad’s car in the garage, I told myself he would not be   50  . But the strong smell of alcohol hit me as soon as I  51   inside, and I could feel my tears   52  . I followed the sound of his drunken words and saw him   53   on the couch.

      54   did father lie to me? I threw my award on the floor, walked to my bedroom, and shut the door. Tears rolled down my face. I wondered if I would ever be more   55   than his whiskey bottle.

A. confidently            B. eagerly              C. proudly             D. casually

A. reach                     B. keep                 C. take                  D. make

A. create                   B. support             C. appreciate          D. accept

A. watch                    B. avoid                C. attend               D. speed

A. excuse                   B. problem            C. promise             D. trick

A. Besides                  B. Thus                 C. Otherwise          D. However

A. active                    B. formal                     C. different            D. serious

A. recognized             B. greeted              C. encouraged        D. showed

A. air                        B. audience            C. school               D. playground

A. up to                     B. other than          C. out of               D. along with

A. stage                     B. position             C. office                D. exit

A. Jill’s                            B. teacher’s           C. mother’s           D. father’s

A. fixed                     B. touched             C. hurt                  D. inserted

A. successfully           B. disappointedly   C. delightedly        D. hopefully

A. drunk                    B. woken               C. forgiven            D. hidden

A. stepped                  B. noticed              C. examined          D. glanced

A. getting off             B. taking down      C. building up        D. turning around

A. leaning                  B. lying                 C. moving             D. crying

A. How                            B. Where               C. Why                 D. Whether

A. perfect                  B. comfortable              C. fortunate           D. important

 

  When I was thirteen, my family moved from Boston to Tucson, Arizona.  36  the move, my father  37  us in the living-room on a freezing January night. My sisters and I sat around the fire, not   38  that the universe would suddenly change its course. "In May, we're  39  to Arizona."

     The words, so small, didn't seem  40  enough to hold my new life. But the world changed and I awoke on a tram moving across the country. I watched the  41_  change from green trees to flat dusty plains to high mountains as I saw strange new plants that  42  mysteries(奥秘) yet to come. Finally, we arrived and  43  into own new home.

     44  my older sisters were sad at the loss of friends, I   45   explored(探索) our

new surroundings.

     One afternoon, I was out exploring  46  and saw a new kind of cactus(仙人掌). I crouched (蹲) down for a closer look. "You'd better not  47  that."

     I turned around to see an old woman

     "Are you new lo this neighborhood?" I explained that I was,  48 , new to the entire state.

     "My name is Ina Thorne. Have you got used to life in the  49 ? It must be quite a   _50  after living in Boston."

     How could I explain how I  51  the desert? I couldn't seem to find the right words.

     "It's vastness," she offered. “That vastness  52  you stand on the mountains overlooking the desert -- you can  53  how little you are in comparison with the world.  _54 , you feel that the possibilities are limitless.”

     That was it. That was the feeling I'd bad ever since I'd first seen the mountains of my new home. Again, my  55  would change with just a few simple words.

     "Would you like to come to my home tomorrow? Someone should teach you which plant you should and shouldn't touch."

36.A. During    

B. Until        

C. Upon       

D. Before     

37. A. gathered   

B. warned     

C. organized    

D. comforted 

38. A. hoping    

B. admitting    

C. realizing     

D. believing  

39. A. going    

B. moving        

C. driving     

D. flying     

40. A. good  

B. simple     

C. big         

D. proper     

41 A. picture    

B. ground      

C. sense         

D. area      

42. A. suggested   

B. solved      

C. discovered   

D. explained 

43. A. settled    

B. walked  

C. hurried       

D. stepped 

44. A. If     

B. After         

C. once         

D. While    

45. A. bitterly  

B. easily         

C. proudly    

D. eagerly   

46 A as well              

B. as usual

C. fight away   

D. on time  

47. A. move 

B. dig         

C. pull        

D. touch    

48. A. of course   

B. in fact    

C. after all      

D. at least   

49. A. desert   

B. city         

C. state         

D. country  

50. A. luck 

B. doubt       

C. shock    

 

51. A. found      

B. examined    

C. watched       

D. reached   

52. A. why     

B. when       

C. how         

D. where    

53. A. prove     

B. guess       

C. sense             

D. expect 

54. A. However

B. Otherwise   

C. Therefore   

D. Meanwhile

55. A. idea

B. life         

C. home        

D. family   


“Confidence” is probably one of the most noticeable traits (品质) in the Americans. They show confidence in the way they talk, the way they smile, the way they dress and the way they walk. Living and competing with all these confident American students, I find it extremely important to be confident as an international student and instructor. As a student, being confident means you should never hesitate to raise your hand whenever a question or a point comes to your mind. Don't mind if it sounds simple or silly. Otherwise you will never get a chance to speak in class at all. What's worse, the professors may think you are not prepared for the discussion or you do not have your own opinion on the issue—this is the last comment any graduate would like to receive.
Being confident for me as a foreign instructor means calmly asking the student to repeat what he or she has said if I did not get it. Pretending to understand what you actually did not may just bring yourself embarrassment or even disgrace. But the time I most need to be confident is when my students come to my office and bargain about the grades I have given for their speeches. (The course I'm teaching here is Public speaking). Modesty is a trait highly valued in China, but it won't be of much help here if you want to survive and succeed in a good American graduate program.
【小题1】To compete with American students it's very important to     .

A.be quite confident
B.be polite and friendly
C.have more discussions with them
D.understand what they think about
【小题2】A professor will have the worst opinion of a student who     .
A.gives a silly or simple answer
B.tries to seize any chance to speak in class
C.shows no interest in the course
D.is considered to have no opinion of his own
【小题3】The author is most likely to feel embarrassed if       .
A.he asks a student to repeat what he has said
B.the students bargain with him
C.he pretends to know what he doesn't
D.he has to give a speech
【小题4】We learn from the second paragraph that       .
A.we should also remain modest in America
B.modesty doesn't help you much in America
C.Americans also like modest people
D.modesty can help you through an American graduate program
【小题5】What can we infer from the passage?
A.American students are ready to accept the grades from the teacher.
B.The writer teaches in Europe for a living.
C.Students are encouraged to present simple questions.
D.One’s ignorance will give away in time.

 

Why I Don’t Spare “Spare Change”

“Poor but honest.” “The deserving (值得帮助的) poor.” These words always come to my mind when I think of “the poor.” But I also think of people who, perhaps through alcohol (酒) or drugs, have ruined not only their own lives but also the lives of others in order to give way to their own pleasure. Perhaps alcoholism and drug addiction (上瘾) really are “diseases,” as many people say, but my own feeling --- based. Of course, not on any serious study --- is that most alcoholics and drug addicts belong to the “undeserving poor.” And that is largely why I don’t give spare change to beggars.

But surely among the street people there are also some who can rightly be called “deserving.” Deserving what? My spare change? Or simply the government’s assistance? It happens that I have been brought up to believe that it is proper to make contributions to charity (慈善机构), but if I give some change to a beggar, am I making a contribution to charity and thereby helping someone, or, am I perhaps simply encouraging someone not to get help? Or, maybe even worse, am I supporting a cheat?

If one believes in the value of private charity, one can either give to needy people or to charitable organizations. In giving to a beggar one may indeed be helping a person who badly needs help, but one cannot be certain that one is giving to a needy person. In giving to an organization, on the other hand, one can feel that one’s money is likely to be used wisely. True, facing a beggar one may feel that this particular unfortunate person needs help at this moment --- a cup of coffee or a sandwich --- and the need will not be met unless I put my hand in my pocket right now. But I have come to think that the beggars whom I meet can get along without my spare change, and indeed perhaps they are actually better off for not having money to buy alcohol or drugs.

I know nothing about these beggars, but it’s my impression that they simply prefer begging to working. I am not generalizing about street people. I am talking about the about whom I actually meet. That’s why I do not give “spare change,” and I don’t think I will in the future.

1.What does the author think of beggars who take drugs?

   A. They should be given a check-up.

   B. They really need money to live.

   C. They have no pleasure in life.

   D. They are not worth helping.

2.Why doesn’t the author give money to street people?

   A. He doesn’t think they need help.

   B. He doesn’t have enough money to give.

   C. He is not convinced they will use it rightly.

   D. He believes they can get help from the government.

3.In the second paragraph, the author presents his idea by _______.

   A. asking questions for people to think about

   B. giving examples to support his argument

   C. raising questions and answering them

   D. expressing his opinions directly

4.Which of the following opinions does the author accept?

   A. Drug addiction is a disease.

   B. Some street people are poor and needy.

   C. Most beggars have received enough help.

   D. Charitable organizations handle money properly.

 

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