题目内容
Last year,two days after Christmas,we kicked China out of the house.Not the country obviously,but bits of plastic,metal,and wood with the words“Made in China”. We kept what we already had,but stopped bringing any more in.Because it had coated our lives with toys,and useless stuff.Sometimes I worried about jobs sent overseas,but price triumphed(胜过)over virtue at our house.We couldn’t resist what China was selling.
But on that dark Monday last year,an unease feeling washed over me fls I sat on the sofa.It wasn’t until then that I noticed a fact:China was taking over the place.
It stared back at me from the empty screen of the television.I spied it in the pile of tennis shoes by the door.It glowed in the lights on the Christmas tree and watched me in the eyes of a doll lay on the floor,I slipped off the couch and sorted gifts into two piles: China and non―China.The count came to China,25,the world,14.Christmas,I realized, had become a holiday made by the Chinese.Suddenly I wanted China out.
I persuaded my husband,and on Jan.I we started fl year-long household embargo on Chinese imports.The idea wasn’t to punish China.And we didn’t fool ourselves into thinking we’d bring back a single job.We pushed China out of our lives because we wanted to measure how far it had pushed in.We wanted to know what it would take in time, money,and worry to kick our China habit.
In the spring.our 4-year-old son started a campaign to support“China things”.“It’s too long without China,”he cried.He kept at me all day.
I have discovered for myself that China doesn’t control every aspect of our daily lives, but if you take a close look at the underside of boxes in the toy department,I promise it will give you pause.
“When we can buy China things again,let’S never stop,”my son said.
After a year without China l can tell you this:You can still live without it,but it’S getting costlier by the day.And fl decade from now I may not be brave enough to try it again.
72.The best title for the text could be__________________
A.A Year without“Made in China”. B.China free Living:A Trouble One.
C.Why I Choose“Made in China”? D.“Made in China”:Good or Bad?
73.According to the passage,why did the author stop bringing in things made in China?
A.Because she wanted to bring back job opportunities for her natives.
B.Because she has a strong sense of nationalism against“made in China”.
C.Because she wanted to learn what life would be like without“made in China”.
D.Because too much stuff made in China was taking over her house.
74.The underlined word“embargo”in the.fifth paragraph means___________.
A.reaction B.ban C.restriction D.cancellation
75.The writer’S purpose in writing this passage is__________.
A.to tell the readers an interesting experience
B.to describe the trouble facing a housewife
C.to explain the importance of Chinese goods
D.to show the difficulty without Chinese goods
ACBD
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen a washing machine and a microwave oven. Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week.
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long hours work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them.
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year. One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs (郊区), leaving their two children with a nanny (保姆). Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It’s taken some getting used to, but it has been worthy of. We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.”
Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”
【小题1】What do the first two paragraphs tell us?
A.People seldom work long hours to make money. |
B.People hardly buy more things than necessary. |
C.People are sure everything they own is in the right place. |
D.People realize there is more to life than just making money. |
A.lived in central London | B.disliked his job |
C.missed his children | D.was well paid |
A.was easy to organize | B.has improved family life |
C.was extremely expensive | D.has been a total success |
A.Child-caring. | B.Liz’s advice. | C.Downshifting. | D.Liz’s job. |
Catherine Destivelle is a rock star. She loves rock, but she can’t sing or play the guitar! She is a rock climber and a big star in France and Italy. She is the most famous woman climber in the world because she often climbs without ropes. She climbs in many countries but most often in the French Alps near Chamonix, where she lives. She started climbing near her home in Paris when she was five. Then, at fourteen, she joined the French Alpine Club to learn more, but immediately she climbed better and more quickly than the older members of the club. She won her first competition in Italy in 1995.
Three years ago she found a new route up the Dru Mountain near Chamonix. The climb took eleven days and for four days the snow was so heavy that she could not move. Last year other climbers tried to follow the new Destivelle Route, but they failed. They are going to try again this year.
People always ask her about her climbing. She says, “I climb because I’m in love with mountains. I like touching the rock and reading the face of the rock. I like it a lot. I felt at home on the side of a mountain. I prepare well before I go, so I’m never worried.”
Catherine chooses new mountains from books—like buying from a shopping catalogue(目录)! “I see a nice mountain and I go to climb it!” Her next mountain is in Pakistan. She is going there next month. “It’s much bigger than the Dru, so it’s going to take longer to climb. An American climber, Jeff Lowe, is coming with me to help.”
【小题1】Catherine Destivelle is called ‘a star’ because ________.
A.she won a competition in 1995 | B.she loves rocks |
C.she’s a famous woman climber | D.she found a new route up to the Dru Mountain |
A.she lost her way | B.the climb took 11 days |
C.she needed help from an American climber | D.there was heavy snow |
A.independent | B.easy and happy | C.energetic and challenged | D.nervous |
A.Why do you like climbing? | B.Are you in love with an American climber? |
C.Do you enjoy reading books on mountains? | D.What do you do before you go climbing? |