I HEAR America beeping(嘟嘟响).

 Beep,says my cellophane when it gets a text message.

  Beep,says my microwave oven when my sandwich  is warmed up. 

 Sometimes  I long for a natural sound:a bird singing,dog barking,children laughing, anything to drown out  the maddening beeps that have become the soundtrack(配乐)to modern life.

  My cellophane? It isn’t enough that its ring tone offerings seem to stretch from  “annoymg” toextremely “annoying”. It also has to beep whenever someone texts messages me. 

The microwave? A bell rings when it's finished heating my food.But is that enough? No.If I don’t rush to it right away, it starts beeping,like an impatient child tugging(用力拉) at my sleeve(袖子).

 The smoke detector(探测器) is the worst offender.When its batteries are in need of replacement,it 1ets out a series of chirps.The things that don’t beep buzz(嗡嗡响).And for some reason,beeping and buzzing is beneath them,they clear their throats and perform a symphony. Like my TV, each time I turn it on, it performs an aria(咏叹调):La di da di dum.Salutions! Here I am! Same thing when I turn it off: La di da di dum.Good bye, kind sir! Until the next time

But at 1east I know where each of these sounds is coming from.That isn’t always the case.For weeks, my wife and I were awoken in the night by a beeping.There,in the stillness, we went through the possible suspects.Could we have a text message? Could it be any of the devices(装置)able to make a sound? Curling iron, rice cooker, smoke detector, TV set,clock radio...

The only way to tell was to chase the sound down ,but no sooner  would we pull on our bathrobes than the beeping would stop. We didn’t hear it every night but often enough that we would climb into bed wondering whether our sleep  would be interrupted by that maddening sound,that beep.

  Finally,early one morning,my wife found it:in the study,under a desk,a big plastic cube that was plugged into the wall.It was an uninterruptible power supply that we’d inherited(继承)from my wife’s mother.We’d never known it was capable of speech. 

I think it just wanted someone to talk to.

14.What does the writer truly mean by saying“I hear America beeping”?

A.American people like devices that beep.

B.Americans are crazy about sending text messages.

C.In modern society people are dependant on technology.

D.The soundtrack to modern life is no longer natural.

15.Why couldn’t the author and his wife find the source of the noise in their house in the beginning?

A.There were too many devices for them to check.

B.They were unwilling to get up at midnight.

C.They had never known that thing could beep too.

D.The noise didn’t come every day.

16.After reading this passage,we can probably tell the author    

   A.enjoys being surrounded by beeps  B.has a touch of humor in his writing

C.tries to avoid using anything that beeps

D.understands the beeping is designed to be user-friendly


D
I know what you’re thinking: pizza(比萨饼)? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a.m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast(不吃早餐), and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time; others think they’re “saving” calories(卡路里);still others just don’t like breakfast food . 
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking R.D., who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece. 
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers—it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it. You may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.
68. The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means_______. 
A. food remaining after a meal         B. things left undone
C. meals made of vegetables           D. pizza topped with fruit
69. What can we infer from the text?
A. Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry.
B. Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. 
C. There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. 
D. Eating vegetables helps save energy. 
70. According to the last paragraph, it is important to________. 
A. eat something for breakfast           B. be careful about what you eat
C. heat up food before eating it          D. eat calorie-controlled food
71. The text is written mainly for those________. 
A. who go to work early        B. who want to lose weight
C. who stay up late            D. who eat before sleep


D
I grew up in a small town. I was only ten years old when my dad gave me the responsibility of feeding the chickens and cleaning up the stable (马厩). He believed it was important for me to have those jobs to learn responsibility. Then, when I was 22, I found a job in Natchbill at a country music club called the Natchbill Palace. I washed dishes and cooked from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm and then went on stage and sang until 2:00 in the morning. It wasn’t long before I became known as a singing cook. I had been rejected so many times by record companies that it was hard not to be discouraged.
One night, a woman executive (董事) from a company named Warner Brothers Records came to hear me sing. When the show was over, we sat down and talked and after she left, I said to myself it was one more rejection. A few weeks later, my manager received a phone call — Warner Brothers wanted to sign me to a record deal. Soon after, I had my first record in June 1986. It sold over 2 million copies. My best efforts had gone into every job I’ve ever held. It was the sense of responsibility that made me feel like a man.
68. Why was the writer once known as a singing cook?
A. He was a cook at a country music club.
B. He sang for guests while he worked as a cook.
C. He often sang while cooking.
D. He liked singing better than cooking.
69. Who first recognized the writer’s talents and helped make him successful?
A. His brother.      B. His manager.    C. His father.           D. A businesswoman.
70. It can be inferred from the passage that the ______.
A. writer’s success is partly due to his father     B. writer’s family was very poor
C. writer succeeded easily                   D. writer’s first record was a total failure

阅读下列回函:
Reply letter A
Thank you for your valuable suggestions. We have decided to show the Chinese character along with the Hanyu Pinyin for names of Chinese personages, places and specific things as from the next issue.
Reply letter B
Thank you for your suggestions. Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. One of our staff reporters has just returned from Xinjiang and written a long article about her trip. Next year, we will have even more coverage of Xinjiang.
Reply letter C
Other readers have asked us for similar information and we have so far answered them individually. In this issue, we will print an open reply. We discovered after making a survey that there are few books to be found on China printed in English. Most are published by the Foreign Languages Press and China International press, from where it is possible to buy books directly.
Reply letter D
A majority of Chinese tourists travel abroad in order to see different landscapes and various cultures, to appreciate an exotic atmosphere and to get to know local customs. Some Chinese tourists nevertheless go to China towns, because they can eat Chinese food there. For those who don’t know English or the native language of the country they visit, it is convenient to go shopping or find entertainment in a Chinatown.
Reply letter E
We have taken on your suggestions to start a column on personalities. There are kinds of reports, such as movie stars, directors, businessmen, singers and so on. Our reports not only introduce their achievements, but also report their inner world. We hope you will enjoy it.
Reply letter F
Thanks for your appreciation of our magazine. We have mailed your letter and your e-mail address to Tingting. Since both of her two letters were sent by ordinary mail and did not give her e-mail address or telephone number. We could not get in touch with her any other way.
阅读下列信函,然后匹配相关信息:
Letter A
I have just started reading your magazine regularly and enjoy the articles very much. I have one comment to make. Can you include the Chinese characters for the names of people, places, etc that you mention with the Hanyu Pinyin of Romanized phonetic system that you use? For example, what is “Emei” or “Qitaihe”or “Shaoxing” in Chinese? It’s also helpful for those of us who are learning Chinese.
Letter B.
It was interesting to read the magazine. I wonder if you could start a column which introduces the Chinese elites of art, business, sports, politics, especially directors, actors, anchors(主持人)and singers. I believe readers will also appreciate a livelier style.
Letter C
I am a civil servant in Xinjiang, a region relatively underdeveloped in comparison with other provinces. But this does not mean it belong to another world. Xinjiang could benefit from overseas exchanges as well as contact with people living in other regions. Could you include articles about Xinjiang and its people? I suggest magazines report more about the western regions, especially exotic and charming Xinjiang.
Letter D
I am an avid(热衷的)reader of your magazine and it has helped me to introduce China to foreign friends. Thank you for great efforts to bring New China to the world. Next month, I may get the opportunity to go to Nigeria, so I must learn more about China’s history and culture. Could you kindly recommend a suitable book in English?
Letter E
It was interesting to read “Chinese Travelers Step out”. It seems a large percentage of Chinese tourists visit the West. In Indonesia, Chinese New Year is an official holiday. How would you assess the level of interest Chinese tourists have in Indonesia? Would they like to visit Chinatowns or other unique attractions in Indonesia?
信函                                         回函
【小题1】LetterA                                  A. Reply letter A
【小题2】LetterB                                  B. Reply letter B
【小题3】LetterC                                  C. reply letter C
【小题4】LetterD                                   D. Reply letter D
【小题5】LetterE                                  E. Reply letter E

Renata Di Pietro was studying to be an opera singer. But at 23, while on a music scholarship at the University of Iowa in 1976, her sight began to fail. Soon, it became increasingly difficult to read scores and pick up hand signals from conductors, and the gifted singer was forced to drop out.

After moving to Cleveland, Georgia in 2005, Di Pietro relied on guide dogs to get around. Over the years, she became depressed when she’d lose one of the dogs, who had become her best friend, to old age or death. “It’s very painful, because you love each one,” she says.

In 2009, Di Pietro was intrigued by information from a friend that miniature horses typically live for at least 30 years and make calm and strong guides. She started with a male horse, but he was too hard to control. Angel came next, a mini white female horse Di Pietro has mostly trained herself. “Horses have the ability to avoid the things in the way,” she says. “If I am about to run into something, she slides her body in front of me.”

Di Pietro, now 59, has taught her guide horse to make some sounds with her hoof (马蹄)when she comes to stairs. “Angel can find a chair and locate the nearest door for me,” Di Pietro says. Currently, she’s training Angel to pull her wheelchair and to fetch.

Despite her disability, Di Pietro still sings, performing with her husband, musician Carl Hummer, at special events. Angel is always by her side. “I fight a battle every day to take courage to engage the world,” Di Pietro says. “Angel is my warhorse. We fight that battle together.”

1.Why did Di Pietro have to give up her studying in the university?

A.She disliked her major in music.

B.She failed to get high scores.

C.She couldn’t understand hand signals from conductors.

D.She found it difficult to see things clearly.

2.What does the underlined word “intrigued” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A.Puzzled.        B. Interested.        C. Satisfied.         D. Frightened.

3.Angel can do a lot of things for Di Pietro now EXCEPT_________.

A.supporting her in case of her falling

B. helping her find a chair to sit on

C. keeping her company every day

D. fighting with her against others

4.Which of the following can best describe the author?

A.Caring and strong-minded.               B. Honest and responsible.

C. Kind and helpful.                      D. Ambitious and sensitive.

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网