Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime“business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant(不相关的). A half century ago in the United States, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the boundaries still exist, but they seem not clear.

The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer; in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should become more “flexible,” is often debated. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?

These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years — but unless we meet the truant officer (学监), we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parents’ demand rather than to the law. As adults we are familiar with “extra pay for overtime working,” but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes(构成)“overtime” is a matter of legal definition. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight-saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how we organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law — as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.

1. By saying “Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be”, the writer means that_______.

A. work time is equal to rest times

B. many people have a day off on Mondays

C. it is hard for people to decide when to rest

D. the line between work time and rest time is unclear

2. The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people __________.

A. fail to make full use of their time

B. enjoy working overtime for extra pay

C. are unaware of the law of time

D. welcome flexible working hours

3.According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they ______.

A. need to acquire knowledge B. have to obey their parents

C. need to find companions D. have to observe the law

31. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Our life is governed by the law of time.

B. How to organize time is not worth debating.

C. New ways of using time change our society.

D. Our time schedule is decided by social customs.

We thought we had it all—a beautiful house, three healthy children and one more on the way, two cars ---- and we loved it. We spent money like it was going out of style. Then, the market turned and my husband’s job as a bigwig(大人物) at a construction company was gone. The company was closing down for ever.

We both started looking for jobs right away, but there weren’t any to be found. With each passing day our panic increased and we continued to work together in order to pull our family through. The more we pulled together, the closer we got. I felt feelings of great love for my husband that I hadn’t felt in years.①

That’s why it was so hard for me to watch him blame himself for our present situation. I knew that he had no control over the economy, however, he constantly degraded (降低…身份)himself and his spirit sunk lower with each unkind comment. I continually asked him to stop, but he seemed to want to punish himself for not having a job.②

Finally one afternoon I pulled him aside and said, “We have four healthy children. That’s what’s important. That makes you a rich man.”

“But what if we lose the house? They’ll hate me—you’ll hate me.” he replied.

I smiled at him and put my hands on both sides of his face to make him look me in the eye.③

“If we live in a cardboard box on the empty place across the street I will be happy—as long as I have you.” I smiled again as I realized that I wasn’t saying it. Somehow, in all the struggling together I had found that deep love for him that I had on the day we said “I do.”

I could see relief wash through him as his shoulders and neck relaxed and the tension left his body. He held me close and we were able to talk and plan and dream together in a way that we hadn’t in quite some time. ④

We are still struggling financially, but I consider us well-off because we have something that money can’t buy and no one can take away from us.

1.In the wife’s opinion, what is important in her family?

A. A beautiful house B. Healthy children

C. Expensive cars D. Desirable jobs

2. Which of the following agrees with the passage?

A. The husband has found his jobs.

B. The family has lost their house.

C. The family has four children.

D. They live in a cardboard box.

3.Which is NOT the effect of the financial crisis towards the family?

A. They spent money like it was going out of style.

B. the husband wasn’t a bigwig in the company any more.

C. The wife felt feelings of love for my husband.

D. They realized there is something that money can’t buy between them.

4.Where can we put the missing sentence “It was a turning point for us as a couple and a family.”?

A. ① B. ② C. ③ D. ④

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