Until late in the 20th century, most Americans spent time with people of generations. Now mid-aged Americans may not keep in touch with old people until they are old themselves. That’s because we group people by age. We put our three-year-olds together in day-care center, our 13-year-olds in school and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes. Why?

  We live away from the old for many reasons: young people sometimes avoid the old to get rid of fears for aging and dying. It is much harder to watch someone we love disappear before our eyes. Sometimes it’s so hard that we stay away from the people who need us most.

Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young.

A reporter moved her family onto a block filled with old people. At first her children were disappointed. But the reporter baked banana bread for the neighbors and had her children deliver it and visit them. Soon the children had many new friends, with whom they shared food, stories and projects. “My children have never been less lonely,” the reporter said.

The young, in turn, save the old. Once I was in a rest home when a visitor showed up with a baby. She was immediately surrounded. People who hadn’t gotten out of bed in a week suddenly were ringing for a wheelchair. Even those who had seemed asleep wake up to watch the child. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure.

Grandparents are a special case. They give grandchildren a feeling of security and continuity. As my husband put it, “my grandparents gave me a deep sense that things would turn out right in the end.”

Grandchildren speak of attention they don’t get from worried parents. “My parents were always telling me to hurry up, and my grandparents told me to slow down,” one friend said. A teacher told me she can tell which pupils have relationships with grandparents: they are quieter, calmer, more trusting.

Now in an American family, people can find that ____.

A.  children never live with their parents

B. grandchildren are supported by their grandparents  

C.  aged people are supported by their grandchildren

D.   not all working people live with their parents

The reason why old people are left alone may be that ____.

A.  the old don’t like to live in a big family    

B.  the young can’t get enough money to support the old

C.  different generations have different lifestyles

D.  the old are too weak to live with the young

The fact that the reporter told us shows that ___.

   A. old people in America lead a hard life     

B. old people in America enjoy banana bread

   C. she had no time to take care of her children 

D. old people are easy to get along with

Seeing a baby, the old people get excited because ____.

   A. the baby brought them the image of life      

   B. the baby was clever and beautiful

   C. they had never seen a baby before      

   D. the baby’s mother would take care of them

My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork.
My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.
If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.
If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.
【小题1】We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that we students still _____ .

A.have enough timeB.can meet the president
C.get everything done wellD.should accept the explanation
【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework.
B.The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job.
C.You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time.
D.You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student.
【小题3】What’s the passage mainly about?
A.Students don’t have enough time.B.Don’t work harder; work smarter.
C.No one can get more time.D.Read better and write better.

阅读下面短文,从短文后所给各题的四个选项(ABCD)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

The other night as I was leaving my son's room. I noticed a hockey puck(冰球)sitting on his desk. It ??? me not only of an exciting hockey game he and I had ??? several years ago. but of a life lesson he had learned ?? .

During spring vacation from school,a friend gave us two ??? to a New York Rangers hockey game at Madison Square Garden. My son was very ??? because he is an avid Rangers fan,so we attended it.

The roar of the crowd was right from the moment the puck was ??? dropped. When the Rangers ??? first, the crowd cheered. My son got caught up in the moment and ??? joined in the crowd. When the Rangers scored a second time, it seemed as if the building would ??? from the noise. Three young men ??? in the row in front of us, probably in their early 20s, caught my ??? as my son sang along with the crowd. They smiled at us. We were all one happy and excited hockey ??? .

For my son, the victory was exciting. But that is not what he remembers about that night, ??? that's not his primary recollection. After the winning goal had been scored,the losing team's goalkeeper ??? the hockey puck out of the net behind him, and ? it into the crowd. One of the three young men before us caught the puck and, ??? in one motion after catching it, threw it back to my son.

My son looked at the puck as if he had been given a golden ?? . "Why did that man give me the puck?"? I explained to my son that the man had given him the puck be­cause he knew how ??? it would make him to have a souvenir from the game, and not just any souvenir, but the puck that had been the ?? goal in a shootout. It was obvi­ous that he knew it would ??? more to my son than it would to him.

1.A. warned????????????? ?????????? B. informed??? ????? C. cheated???? ?????? D. reminded

2.A. missed????????????? ?????????? B. played?????? ???? C. attended???? ????? D. undertaken

3.A. as usual????????????? ?????????? B. as well??????????? C. as a rule ????????? D. as a consequence

4.A. fans????????????? ?????????????? B. nets??? ????????? C. tickets?????? ????? D. pucks

5.A. excited????????????? ???????????? B. surprised????????????? ????????? C. disappointed??????? D. inspired

6.A. visibly????????????? ????????????? B. incredibly????????????? ???????? C. reliably??????????? D. availably

7.A. scored????????????? B. won????????????? C. defeated??????????? D. ranked

8.A. unfortunately???????? B. blindly?????????? C. amazingly????????????? ??????? D.enthusiastically

9.A. explore????????????? ????????????? B. pour????????????? ???????????? C. fill????????????? ??????????????? D. explode

10.A. sitting????????????? ????????????? B. looking????????????? ?????????? C. taking????????????? ???????????? D. lying

11.A. hand????????????? ?????????????? B. shoulder????????????? ????????? C. eye????????????? ?????????????? D. head

12.A. team????????????? ?????????????? B. crowd????????????? ??????????? C. coach????????????? ???????????? D. family

13.A. at times????????????? ???????????? B. at most????????????? C. at least????????????? D. at last

14.A. picked????????????? B. chose????????????? C. got????????????? D. kept

15.A. divided ??????????? B. threw????????????? C. turned????????????? D. changed

16.A. even if????????????? ????????????? B. as if????????????? ???????????? C. until????????????? ?????????????? D. unless

17.A. goal????????????? ?????? ???????? B. medal ????????????? ???????? C. treasure????????????? ??????????? D. target

18.A. happy????????????? ????????????? B. curious????????????? ?????????? C. sorrowful????????????? ????????? D. horrible

19.A. losing????????????? ????????????? B. winning????????????? ????????? C. catching????????????? ??????????? D. remembering

20.A. strike????????????? ????????????? B. touch????????????? ??????????? C. direct????????????? ????????????? D. mean

 

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