题目内容
―I am really angry with Jane, she never listens to me .
― , things will work out .
A. Take your time B. No problem C. Take it easy D. I am sorry
In the kitchen of my mother's houses there has always been a wooden stand with a small notepad and a hole for a pencil.
I'm looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother. Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did. Surely it can't be the same pencil. The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely the original one.
"I'm just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these years." I say to her, walking back into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil. "You still use a pencil. Can't you afford a pen?"
My mother replies a little sharply. "It works perfectly well; I've always kept the stand in the kitchen. I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen in these days. "
Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently. My mother smiles and says, "One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. One of the children must have taken the paper. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on."
This story, which happened before I was born, reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is also a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work. Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards. Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics. Those symbols have traveled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible exhibits at every meal.
【小题1】Why has the author's mother always kept the notepad and pencil in the kitchen?
A.To leave messages. |
B.To list her everyday tasks. |
C.To note down math problems. |
D.To write down a flash of inspiration. |
A.It has great value for the family. |
B.It needs to be replaced. |
C.It brings her back to her lonely childhood. |
D.It should be passed on to the next generation. |
A.blaming her mother wrongly |
B.giving her mother a lot of trouble |
C.not making good use of time as her mother did |
D.not making any breakthrough in her field |
A.The mother is successful in her career. |
B.The family members like traveling. |
C.The author had little time to play when young. |
D.The marks on the breadboard have disappeared. |
When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously ,did not give her good service ,pretended not to understand her ,or even acted as if they did not hear her .W_w w.k*s*5 u.c@o m
My mother has realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on phone to pretend I was she . I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人).I said in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs.Tan..”
And my mother was standing beside me ,whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me cheek already two week late.”
And then , in perfect English I said : “I’m getting rather concerned .You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived.”
Then she talked more loudly. “What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss.” And so I turned to the stockbroker again, “I can’t tolerate any more excuse. If I don’t receive the check immediately , I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week.”
The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs.Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English.
When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom. It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world.
【小题1】Why was the author’s mother poorly served?w_w w. k#s5_u.c o*m
A.She was unable to speak good English. |
B.She was often misunderstood. |
C.She was not clearly heard. |
D.She was not very polite.W_w w.k*s*5 u.c@o m |
A.good at pretending | B.rude to the stockbroker |
C.ready to help her mother | D.unwilling to phone for her mother |
A.they forgave the stockbroker |
B.they went to New York immediately |
C.they failed to get the check |
D.they spoke to their boss at once |
A.It confuses her. |
B.It embarrasses her. |
C.It helps her understand the world. |
D.It helps her tolerate rude people. |
A.is clear and natural to non-native speakers |
B.is vivid and direct to non-native speakers |
C.has a very bad reputation in America |
D.may bring inconvenience in America |
Welcome to my Message Board! | |
Subject: Slimming down classics? | |
Mr. Handsome 2007-5-12 6: 34 AM | Orion Books, which decides there is a market in creating cut-down classics (经典著作), is slimming down some novels by such great writers as L. Tolstoy, M. Mitchell and C. Bronte. Now, each of them has been whittled down to about 400 pages by cutting 30 to 40 pages per cent of original, with words, sentences, paragraphs and, in a few cases, chapters removed. The first six shortened editions, all priced at £6.99 and advertised as great reads “in half the time”, will go on sale next month, with plans for 50 to 100 more to follow. The publishing house believes that modern readers will welcome the shorter versions. |
Mr. Edwards 2007-5-12 9: 40 AM | Well, I’m publisher of Orion Group. Thanks for your attention, Mr. Handsome. I must say, the idea developed from a game of “shame” in my office. Each of us was required to confess (承认) to the most embarrassing blanks in his or her reading. I admitted that I had never read Anna Karenina and tried but failed to get through Gone with the Wind several times. One of my colleagues acknowledged skipping (跳读) Jane Eyre. We realized that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones. As a leading publishing house, we are trying to make classics convenient for readers but it’s not as if we’re withdrawing the original versions. They are still there if you want to read them. |
Ms. Weir 2007-5-12 11:35 AM | I’m director of the online bookclub www.lovereading.co.uk Mr. Edwards, I think your shortened editions is a breath of fresh air. I’m guilty of never having read Anna Karenina, because it’s just so long. I’d much rather read two 300-page books than one 600-page book. I am looking forward to more shortened classics! |
Mr. Crockatt 2007-5-12 4:38 PM | I’m from the London independent bookshop Corckatt & Powell. In my opinion, the practice is completely ridiculous. How can you edit the classics? I’m afraid reading some of these book is hard work, and that is why you have to develop as a reader. If people don’t have time to read Anna Karenina, then fine. But don’t read a shortened version and kid yourself it’s the real thing. |
A.opposes the reading of original classics |
B.is embarrassed for cutting down classics |
C.thinks cut-down classics have a bright future |
D.is cautions in its decision to cut down classics |
A.make them easier to read | B.meet a large demand in the market |
C.increase the sales of literary books | D.compete with their original versions |
A.speaks highly of the cut-down classics |
B.shows her love for original classics |
C.feels guilty of not reading the classics |
D.disapprove of shortening the classics |
A.reading the classic works is a confusing attempt |
B.shortening the classics does harm to the original |
C.publishing the cut-down classics is a difficult job |
D.editing the classic works satisfies children’s needs |
A.Two. | B.Three. | C.Four. | D.Five |