Today only one person in five in the United States lives within 50 miles of his birthplace. Since the country was first settled, Americans have moved around a great deal, and are often far away from their parents. Because they have broken ties with their past at a young age, chosen their own occupations, established their own homes and developed their own lifestyles, few American children grow up closely surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as they do in Italy, Nigeria, or India, for example. This along with the fact that modern American families do not have servants has made the “baby-sitter” a vital part of the American scene. A “sitter” is someone who is hired to care for children for a specific length of time—usually relatively short—while the parents are out for an evening, going to a party or a course of study for example. Sometimes the baby-sitter is also hired for longer period, perhaps when the parents are away for a weekend. In such cases the “sitter” is likely to be a mature and motherly woman. For short periods, teen-agers, college students, nursing students, and others are commonly employed on an hourly basis.

From the point of view of convenience, the best sitters are often young people who live in your apartment building or close by in the neighborhood. This gives you a chance to meet the parents and see what they are like. If an emergency occurs, young sitters can call upon their parents quickly for help; you do not have to take them far to see them home at night or pay expensive taxi fares. Another advantage is that young people living close by can usually fill in quite readily on short notice or for short periods of time.

In an apartment house you can ask the superintendent for permission to post a notice for a baby-sitter by the mailboxes. This is often the best way to find out if there is anyone in the building who is interested in baby-sitting. Retired people as well as students are often glad to earn a little money in this way and can be found by such a note.

A baby-sitter is a person who________.

A. helps to do housework

B. is a cleaning woman

C. looks after children while their parents are out

D. takes care of babies and cooks for the family

It is advised that when you are out for short periods, you may hire________ to be baby-sitters.

A. motherly women                                   B. retired people    

C. young people                                      D. mature women

The best title for the passage is________.

A. American Families                           B. Baby-Sitters

C. A Way of Earning Money for Young Students      D. A Best Way to Find Baby-Sitters


Visiting the Arctic
ZHOU Mingfeng, 17, has only stepped out of his birthplace, Qingdao, once to visit the top of the world, the Arctic!
The Senior 2 student from the High School Attached to Ocean University of China joined a two-week journey to the Arctic at the beginning of this month, after he was recommended for the trip. Including his teacher, Wu Jianying, the adventure group consisted of 12 students and teachers from China, Spain, Canada, Britain and the US.
“The trip brought the whole subject of geography and climate change to life,” Zhou said.
Before they landed by air on Canada’s research icebreaker (破冰船) in the Arctic, Amundsen, the group visited an Inuit (英纽特人的) community. Zhou also got the chance to experience dog-sledding for the first time!
He was surprised to find that Inuit people don’t live in snow igloos (圆顶建筑) any longer. “They live in modern, warm wooden houses and travel mostly by snowmobile,” he said.
During the time on board Amundsen, every day was science orientated (以……为主). Zhou and other teenagers were guided by scientists, who work there, to take part in laboratory and field work. Sometimes they went outside to collect ice and snow samples for experiments despite the windy, freezing climate.
As the only Chinese student, Zhou didn’t feel very confident due to his English inefficiency.
“Those students soon got close to the onboard scientists and became involved (参与) in their research,” he recalled in admiration.
However, it didn’t prevent Zhou from enjoying the unique and remote life there.
When the wind died and the sun shone on the frozen desert, Zhou and his new friends recorded their days with photo shoots out on the ice beside the Amundsen!
“The views were breathtaking! Everything around us seemed lifeless, which is shocking,” he said.
But there proved to be something alive, under the ice caps. A seal popped out of the water below the ship and greeted them on the last day of their stay.
“It was the only animal I saw in the Arctic!” he said. “But it’s a pity that I didn’t see a single polar bear in the ‘capital’ of the creature.
59. According to the passage, the students and teachers visiting Artic are most likely to _______.
A. go sightseeing          B. take part in some science research
C. learn English           D. learn about Inuit community
60. In the passage, Amundsen is _________.
A. an icebreaker   B. an Inuit igloo   C. a place in Artic    D. a dog-drawn sled
61. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Zhou was surprised to find the Inuit lived in modern, warm wooden houses.
B. Zhou visited an Inuit community first.
C. Zhou’s inefficient English made him unable to enjoy the life in Artic.
D. Zhou took many photos with his new friends.
62. The underlined sentence “The trip brought the whole subject of geography and climate change to life,” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.
A. The trip made what had been learned in geography lessons more vivid or interesting.
B. The trip suddenly started working.
C. The trip completely changed his life.   
D. The trip made animals in Artic live.

 “I was only thirteen when four of my team members and I were chosen by my swim coach to train with the Chinese National Team. The following piece shows how that experience has influenced me.”

The night before I left for China, my mother called me into her room. I entered not knowing what to expect. I sat down at the end of her very neatly-made bed, opposite the bedroom table on which she kept a Ming-style vase illustrated in great detail. She told me that my great-grandmother was still living in the surroundings of Beijing. Her name was Ren Li Ling and she was 97 years old. This was the first time I had ever heard of her.

The dragon on the vase snaked through the flowers and vines(藤蔓)as my mother said, “Pu Pu, look at me. You need to hear this so that when you go to China you will understand. You must keep this knowledge in your heart.”

She told me a story about my grandfather, Ren Li Ling's son, who left Beijing to go to college in Taiwan. She told me how the Chinese civil war kept him away from his mother for fifty years, so neither of them even knew that the other was alive. No one from Taiwan could visit, write, or call anyone in mainland. All lines of communication were cut off.

She told me of my grandfather's devotion to his own children, and how difficult it was for him to send his daughter to America for her education, fearing that same separation. He gave my mother all that he could give — nineteen years of love and fifty years of savings. I learned how my mother, through means only available in this country, would finally be able to unite my great-grandmother with my grandfather again. The dragon curled around the vase, connecting the separate vines. For a fleeting second, I felt it was present in my mother's room. It was all very strange, yet very clear. I began to understand that this trip to China was not just for me; it was for my mother, and her father, and his mother. Now, I had not only a future, but more significantly, a past. I saw the world with new eyes.

And so I went to China and met my great-grandmother. My great-aunt picked me up at the training center, and we rode in a taxi through the crowded city. The noise of the taxi and the city united into a deep roar. We finally stopped in front of a narrow street lined on either side with small one-level houses. As we made our way to a house like all the others, I drew the stares of many people in the street. My great-aunt led me through a rotting(朽烂的)doorway into a room with a furnace(炉子), table, and a rocking chair where an old woman wearing gloves sat facing the doorway, covered with a worn brown blanket. I walked over and immediately embraced this frail woman as if I had known her all my life. My limited, broken Chinese wasn't up to expressing my complicated feelings. And even though I couldn't completely understand what she was saying in her thick Beijing accent, I knew — the same way I knew what my mother had been trying to tell me before I left. Her joy shone through her toothless smile. She wouldn't let go of my hand. I haltingly(结结巴巴地)asked her how she had managed to live such a long life. She answered in words I will never forget, “Hope has kept me alive. I have lived this long because I wanted to see my son before I died.”

My fellow team members must have wondered how two people separated by three generations could be so close. Before this trip, I would have wondered the same thing. And even now, I can't quite explain it. We were as different as two people can be; some 85 years and 8,000 miles apart. We came from two entirely different cultures; yet we were connected by a common heritage(传统).

I stayed for dinner which was cooked in a black iron wok(锅)over the furnace. The meal was lavish(过分丰盛的), prepared in my honor. As I began to eat, with my great-grandmother beside me, I felt the dragon was present. But this time, the feeling didn't pass; the dragon had become a part of me.

My great-grandmother passed away last year at the age of 100. With her highest hopes and wildest dreams fulfilled, I know she died happy.

1. The writer’s mother called him into her room to ___________________.

A.prepare him for the trip and warn him against possible problems

B.remind him of his origin

C.ask him to look for his great-grandmother

D.share with him the story of her childhood

2. The dragon is mentioned several times in the passage because __________________.

A.the vase with the dragon on it is very valuable and beautiful

B.it stands for the blood running in every Chinese

C.it is a sign of the writer’s devotion to his birthplace

D.the writer’s mother hoped the writer would be as strong as a dragon

3. How old was the writer’s mother when she was sent to America for her education.

A.13               B.16               C.19               D.20

4.Which of the following can be inferred from the text?

A.The writer’s grandfather was afraid of a war when sending his daughter to America.

B.The hope to see her son again kept the writer’s great-grandmother alive for this long.

C.It was within the writer’s expectation that he could be so close to his great-grandmother.

D.The writer’s great-grandmother was reunited with her son before she died.

5.Which is the best title for the text?

A.We Share the Same Heritage.

B.Love from My Great-grandmother.

C.A Story from My Mother.

D.An Unforgettable Training Trip.

 

Today only one person in five in the United States lives within 50 miles of his birthplace. Since the country was first settled, Americans have moved around a great deal, and are often far away from their parents. Because they have broken ties with their past at a young age, chosen their own occupations, established their own homes and developed their own lifestyles, few American children grow up closely surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as they do in Italy, Nigeria, or India, for example. This along with the fact that modern American families do not have servants has made the “baby-sitter” a vital part of the American scene. A “sitter” is someone who is hired to care for children for a specific length of time—usually relatively short—while the parents are out for an evening, going to a party or a course of study for example. Sometimes the baby-sitter is also hired for longer period, perhaps when the parents are away for a weekend. In such cases the “sitter” is likely to be a mature and motherly woman. For short periods, teen-agers, college students, nursing students, and others are commonly employed on an hourly basis.

From the point of view of convenience, the best sitters are often young people who live in your apartment building or close by in the neighborhood. This gives you a chance to meet the parents and see what they are like. If an emergency occurs, young sitters can call upon their parents quickly for help; you do not have to take them far to see them home at night or pay expensive taxi fares. Another advantage is that young people living close by can usually fill in quite readily on short notice or for short periods of time.

In an apartment house you can ask the superintendent for permission to post a notice for a baby-sitter by the mailboxes. This is often the best way to find out if there is anyone in the building who is interested in baby-sitting. Retired people as well as students are often glad to earn a little money in this way and can be found by such a note.

1.A baby-sitter is a person who________.

A.helps to do housework

B.is a cleaning woman

C.looks after children while their parents are out

D.takes care of babies and cooks for the family

2.It is advised that when you are out for short periods, you may hire________ to be baby-sitters.

A.motherly women

B.retired people

C.young people

D.mature women

3.The best title for the passage is________.

A.American Families

B.Baby-Sitters

C.A Way of Earning Money for Young Students

D.A Best Way to Find Baby-Sitters

 

 

Visiting the Arctic

ZHOU Mingfeng, 17, has only stepped out of his birthplace, Qingdao, once to visit the top of the world, the Arctic!

The Senior 2 student from the High School Attached to Ocean University of China joined a two-week journey to the Arctic at the beginning of this month, after he was recommended for the trip. Including his teacher, Wu Jianying, the adventure group consisted of 12 students and teachers from China, Spain, Canada, Britain and the US.

“The trip brought the whole subject of geography and climate change to life,” Zhou said.

Before they landed by air on Canada’s research icebreaker (破冰船) in the Arctic, Amundsen, the group visited an Inuit (英纽特人的) community. Zhou also got the chance to experience dog-sledding for the first time!

He was surprised to find that Inuit people don’t live in snow igloos (圆顶建筑) any longer. “They live in modern, warm wooden houses and travel mostly by snowmobile,” he said.

During the time on board Amundsen, every day was science orientated (以……为主). Zhou and other teenagers were guided by scientists, who work there, to take part in laboratory and field work. Sometimes they went outside to collect ice and snow samples for experiments despite the windy, freezing climate.

As the only Chinese student, Zhou didn’t feel very confident due to his English inefficiency.

“Those students soon got close to the onboard scientists and became involved (参与) in their research,” he recalled in admiration.

However, it didn’t prevent Zhou from enjoying the unique and remote life there.

When the wind died and the sun shone on the frozen desert, Zhou and his new friends recorded their days with photo shoots out on the ice beside the Amundsen!

“The views were breathtaking! Everything around us seemed lifeless, which is shocking,” he said.

But there proved to be something alive, under the ice caps. A seal popped out of the water below the ship and greeted them on the last day of their stay.

“It was the only animal I saw in the Arctic!” he said. “But it’s a pity that I didn’t see a single polar bear in the ‘capital’ of the creature.

59. According to the passage, the students and teachers visiting Artic are most likely to _______.

A. go sightseeing          B. take part in some science research

C. learn English           D. learn about Inuit community

60. In the passage, Amundsen is _________.

A. an icebreaker   B. an Inuit igloo   C. a place in Artic    D. a dog-drawn sled

61. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Zhou was surprised to find the Inuit lived in modern, warm wooden houses.

B. Zhou visited an Inuit community first.

C. Zhou’s inefficient English made him unable to enjoy the life in Artic.

D. Zhou took many photos with his new friends.

62. The underlined sentence “The trip brought the whole subject of geography and climate change to life,” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.

A. The trip made what had been learned in geography lessons more vivid or interesting.

B. The trip suddenly started working.

C. The trip completely changed his life.   

D. The trip made animals in Artic live.

 

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