题目内容
. nice, the fruit has a good sale.
A. Tasting B. Tasted C. Being tasted D. Having tasted
A
【解析】 略
Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.
In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.
Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War Ⅱ. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea; clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?
Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家),encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.
【小题1】The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because .
| A.they lived healthily in a dirty environment |
| B.they thought bath houses were to dirty to stay in |
| C.they believed disease could be spread in public baths |
| D.they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease |
| A.Afraid | B.Curious | C.Approving | D.Uninterested |
| A.Attitudes to dirt are different in different times |
| B.Nothing is fixed for the attitudes to dirt |
| C.Attitudes to dirt never change |
| D.There isn’t anything fixed for attitudes to dirt |
| A.By providing examples | B.By making comparisons |
| C.By following the order of time | D.By following the order of importance |
| A.To stress the role of dirt |
| B.To introduce the history of dirt |
| C.To call attention to the danger of dirt |
| D.To present the change of views on dirt |
Finally, I got a part – time job working at the local coffee shop. I had figured that the job would be easy. However, the actual situation was not what I had expected. The customers were hard to please. There was always too much sugar, too little ice, or not enough skimmed milk. However, I kept at it.
One rainy day, Hank, one of my regular customers, came in looking sad and defeated. I asked what the problem was sand if we could help, but Hank wouldn’t tell me any details. He just said he felt like going to bed, pulling the sheets up over his head, and staying there for a few years. I knew exactly how he felt.
Before he left, I handed him a bag of his favorite type of doughnuts along with his iced coffee. He looked at me skeptically because he hadn’t ordered anything else except iced coffee.
“It’s on me,” I told him. “Have a nice day.”
He smiled and thanked me before turning around and heading back out into the rain.
The next day was a horrible one. The rain kept pouring down and I spent my afternoon hanging out the window, handing people their orders. What’s worse, no one felt like tipping that day.
However, around 7:00 pm, Hank drove up to the window. Instead of ordering anything, he handed me a single pink rose and a little note. He said that few people take the time to care about others nowadays and he was glad there we still people like me in the world. I was speechless and very touched; I hadn’t thought that I had done anything incredible.
The note read:
Christine,
Thanks for being so sweet, kind and thoughtful yesterday. I was sincerely touched by you. It is so nice to meet someone that’s nice, warm, sensitive and unselfish. Please don’t change your ways because I truly believe that you will excel. Have a great day!
Hank
Later, I did come across more complaining customers. But anytime I felt sad or just sick of coffee, I thought of Hank and his kindness. Then I would smile, hold my head up high, clear my throat and ask politely, “How can I help you?”
【小题1】How did the author feel after he began to work at the coffee shop?
| A.Excited. | B.Confused. | C.Disappointed. | D.Satisfied. |
| A.He was very sick and had to stay in bed for some days. |
| B.He was not satisfied with the coffee served to him. |
| C.He was anxious to stay at home for a long time. |
| D.He was not feeling himself for some reasons. |
| A.questioningly | B.hopefully | C.anxiously | D.excitedly |
| A.patience in one’s work | B.being kind to regular customers |
| C.taking time to care about others | D.sticking to one’s own career |
| A.A Warm – hearted Man | B.Coffee Shop Kindness |
| C.My Part – time Job | D.A Horrible Raining Day |
Nowadays more and more people are trapped in too busy work to relax themselves. We have no time to tell a bed-time story to our children, or enjoy a nice dinner with our family, or take a break to think about how we live the precious life, or even meet friends. All we notice is that the distinctions that used to guide and steady us ------ between Sunday and Monday, public and private, here and there ------ are gone. We have more ways to communicate, but less and less to say. Partly because we’re so busy communicating.
Maybe that’s why more and more people I know, even if they have no religious commitment, seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or tai chi. Some friends of mine try to go on long walks every Sunday, or to “forget” their cellphones at home. A series of tests in recent years has shown that after spending time in quiet rural settings, subjects “exhibit greater attentiveness, stronger memory and generally improved cognition. Their brains become both calmer and sharper.” More than that, empathy, as well as deep thought, depends on neural processes that are “inherently slow. ” The very ones our high-speed lives have little time for.
In my own case, I turn to eccentric and often extreme measures to try to keep my sanity and ensure that I have time to do nothing at all. I’ve not yet used a cellphone and I’ve never Tweeted or entered Facebook. I try not to go online till my day’s writing is finished, and I moved from Manhattan to rural Japan.
None of this is a matter of principle or asceticism (苦行主义): it’s just pure selfishness. Nothing makes me feel better-----calmer, clearer and happier----than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It’s actually something deeper than mere happiness: it’s joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as “that kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.” That is the highest of the highest we have been longing for----The Joy of Quiet.
【小题1】The writer sometimes doesn’t do anything because ________.
| A.he is out of work . |
| B.whatever he does make no sense |
| C.he is worried about his writing. |
| D.he can enjoy himself in his leisure time. |
| A.Somebody really forgets his cellphone at home. |
| B.Somebody thinks cellphone is not a suitable means of communication. |
| C.Somebody hates modern techniques such as the cellphone. |
| D.Somebody leaves his cellphone at home on purpose. |
| A.It is better to go back to the ancient times since we are so busy now. |
| B.The writer is unwilling to help others since he is selfish. |
| C.Slowing down to find time and space to think and enjoy oneself is urgent. |
| D.We have more to say because we have more ways to communicate. |
| A.difference | B.sameness | C.simplicity | D.complication |
| A.The importance of spending time in quiet. |
| B.We can do some sports such as yoga to relax. |
| C.Principle or asceticism is important in one’s life. |
| D.The more we communicate, the more we will be closer. |