Each spring brings a new wildflower blooming in the fields along the highway I travel daily to work. There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eye. I've noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours. The afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day each year for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.
This spring, I started a wildflower garden in my yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I've often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the fields would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers.
Every day I drove past the flowers, thinking, "I'll stop on my way home and dig them." "Gee, I don't want to get my good clothes dirty…" Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a tool one year for that expressed purpose.
One day on my way home from work, I was saddened to see that the highway department had cleared up the fields and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, "Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring. "
A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister-in-law has a cancer. She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven't been as close as we all would have liked.
I couldn't help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband's sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us.
And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, I'm sure I'll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.
【小题1】 How long might the blue flower bloom in spring?

A.The whole day.B.The whole season.
C.About one week.D.About two weeks
【小题2】 Where did the writer want to transplant the flowers?
A.In the gardenB.Along the highway.
C.Across the fields.D.Outside the yard.
【小题3】 Which of the following is NOT true about the writer's sister-in-law?
A.She is seriously ill.
B.She is twenty years old.
C.She lives far away from the writer.
D.She is not in close touch with the writer.
【小题4】 What does the writer want to tell us?
A.Refresh our wonderful moments every year.
B.Visit our relatives only after they get ill.
C.Value now and don't lose chances.
D.Plant flowers and don't enjoy them in the field.

In a room at Texas Children Cancer Center in Houston, eight-year-old Simran Jatar lay in bed with a drip (点滴) above her to fight her bone cancer. Over her bald (秃的) head, she wore a pink hat that matched her clothes. But the third grader’s cheery dressing didn’t mask her pain and weary eyes.
Then a visitor showed up. “Do you want to write a song?” asked Anita Kruse, 49, rolling a cart equipped with an electronic keyboard, a microphone and speakers. Simran stared. “Have you ever written a poem?” Anita Kruse continued. “Well, yes,” Simran said.
Within minutes, Simran was reading her poem into the microphone. “Some bird soaring through the sky,” she said softly. “Imagination in its head…” Anita Kruse added piano music, a few warbling (鸣, 唱) birds, and finally the girl’s voice. Thirty minutes later, she presented Simran with a CD of her first recorded song.
That was the beginning of Anita Kruse’s project, Purple Songs Can Fly, one that has helped more than 125 young patients write and record songs. As a composer and pianist who had performed at the hospital, Kruse said that the idea of how she could help “came in one flash”.
The effect on the kids has been great. One teenage girl, curling (蜷缩) in pain in her wheelchair, stood unaided to dance to a hip-hop song she had written. A 12-year-old boy with Hodgkin’s disease who rarely spoke surprised his doctors with a song he called I Can Make It.
“My time with the kids is heartbreaking because of the severity of their illnesses,” says Anita Kruse. “But they also make you happy, when the children are smiling, excited to share their CD with their families.”
Simran is now an active sixth grader and cancer-free. From time to time, she and her mother listen to her song, Always Remembering, and they always remember the “really sweet and nice and loving” lady who gave them a shining moment in the dark hour.
【小题1】Simran Jatar lay in bed in hospital because ______.

A.most of her hair had fallen out
B.she was receiving treatment for cancer
C.she felt depressed and quit from school
D.she was suffering from a pain in her back
【小题2】What do we know about Anita Kruse’s project?
A.It helps young patients record songs.
B.It is supported by singers and patients.
C.It aims to replace the medical treatment.
D.It offers patients chances to realize their dreams.
【小题3】What does the case of a 12-year-old boy suggest?
A.Most children are naturally fond of music.
B.He was brave enough to put up performance.
C.The project has positive effect on young patients.
D.Singing is the best way to treat some illnesses.
【小题4】What is probably the best title for the passage?
A.Purple Songs Can Fly
B.Singing Can Improve Health
C.A Shining Moment in Life
D.A Kind Woman—Anita Kruse

We’re so well educated – but we’re useless students who have lost the ability to do anything practical. The only thing we’ve mastered is consumption(消费).
Large numbers of students have entered higher education in the past 10 years, but despite being the most educated generation in history, it seems that we’ve grown increasingly ignorant when it comes to basic life skills.
Looking back on my first couple of weeks of living in student halls, I consider myself lucky to still be alive. Unfamiliar to fresher’s, there are many hidden dangers in the dirty corners of students accommodation.
I have survived a couple of serious boiling egg incidents and lots of cases of food – poisoning, probably from dirty kitchen counters. Although some of my clothes have fallen victim to ironing experimentation, I think I have now finally acquired all the domestic (居家的) skills I missed out in my modem education.
In 2006 and 2010, the charming educationist Sir Ken Robinson gave two very amusing talks in which he discussed the importance of creativity in education. Robinson’s main viewpoint is that our current education system dislocates people from their natural talents. I would like to go a step further and propose that besides our talents, the system takes away what used to be passed from generation to generation – a working knowledge of basic life skills.
Today’s graduates may have earned themselves honor in history, law or economies, but when it comes to simple things like putting up a shelf to hold all their academic books, or fixing a hole in their on – trend clothes, they have to call for help from a professional handyman or tailor.
Since the invention of the internet, it has never been easier for people to access information, but our highly specialized education has made us more one – sided than ever.
I suggest that we start with the immediate reintroduction of some of the most vital aspects of “domestic science” education, before the current lack leads to serious accidents in student halls.
【小题1】People call us useless students for the reason that         .

A.what we’ve learned is beyond consumption
B.we are educated generation
C.we’ve entered higher education
D.our living skills are so poor
【小题2】Which is NOT the incidents the writer had during the first few weeks in student halls?
A.He was seriously burnt by boiled eggs.
B.He was accidentally poisoned by food.
C.He damaged his clothes while ironing.
D.He was severely beaten by fresher.
【小题3】According to Robinson’s opinion, our current education        .
A.focuses on the importance if creativity
B.dislocates people from their natural talents
C.has equipped students with basic life skills
D.has followed the convention properly

阅读理解。
     Working as a manager in the head office of a bank, as I do, clothes can be a nightmare. In
New York, where I worked for a time last summer, you have to brave the burning heat every
time you dare to go outside, yet freeze once you arrive in a meeting with the air-conditioner
turned up. I struggled to know what to wear. The problem was worsened by the office dress
code for the months of July and August, which was "dress-down".
     The dress-down phenomenon seems to have begun in places where staff work through the
terrible heat of summer while their families take shelter at the coast or in the hills. Dress-down,
limited to Friday, allows staff to head straight for their out-of-town places on Friday evenings
without going home to change. But in New York it has now become a week-round state of
affairs. This move may have been born out of consideration; to allow people on Wall Street to
travel to work in the heat in something more comfortable than a suit, but the effect is less kind.
     For me, dress-down is bad for two reasons. The first is that it actually requires a whole new
wardrobe. For my male colleagues in the US, it seemed to mean a switch from one uniform to
another. I basically only own two types of clothes; suits for working in and truly casual clothes
for relaxing weekends in the countryside.
     Returning to London, I was therefore rather embarrassed to discover that my employers had
started summer dress-down. Here too, though its relevance to the climate is far from immediately
apparent. At first, I tried to sidestep it by simply turning up in my suit as usual, but my staff
complained that they then felt pressured into doing the same. So, I found myself having to buy "
smart casual" clothes specifically to wear to work; a ridiculous expense.
      Even more annoying is the fact that I'm still required to have a suit hanging up in my office in
case I'm suddenly called to a meeting on our conference floor, where dress-down is banned for
fear that a client should witness it. One of my colleagues started to accumulate more and more
very smart suits in her office, explaining that she was having her flat renovated and that in-office
wardrobe was a necessity as she was staying at a different friend's place each night. We weren't
convinced.
     For the other great inconvenience of dress-down for the staff is that it makes it easier than
ever to spot when colleagues are going to job interviews. For the rest of the year, it is easy enough
to arrange these during the working week, but in the summer when dress-down rules, it's a dead
giveaway to arrive in overly smart clothes and then go out for a "dental appointment". I would
normally applaud this state of affairs, as an important part of my time is spent trying to prevent
valued employees from moving elsewhere, and any clues about their intentions are helpful and
allow me to nip things in the bud(消灭于萌芽中).
      However, the clothes hanging in my office are now finding a second use. I have suddenly
become the target for several "headhunters", people employed by other companies to try and
attract employees away with offers of better pay and conditions. The only problem with this is
that I have just the one suit at the office. As a series of interviews with one future employer
progresses, I'm having to bring in additional clothes. I can hardly present myself as a highly-paid
investment banker, requiring a vast salary, if they only ever see me in one suit. At this rate, I shall
have to tell my staff that I, too, have decided to have my flat done up.
1. According to the writer, "dress-down" in New York began as a way of ______.
A. making life easier for staff in the summer months
B. discouraging staff from taking summer holidays
C. showing concern for staff who lived out of town
D. rewarding those employees willing to work in the heat
2. What was the writer's first reaction to the idea of " dress-down" in her London office?
A. She argued against it.              
B. She attempted to ignore it.
C. She recognized the need for it.        
D. She persuaded her staff to adopt it.
3. Why does " dress-down" annoy the writer?
A. Not everyone obeys the rule.            
B. Her clients find it embarrassing.
C. It does not apply on all occasions.        
D. The clothes themselves do not suit her.
4. In which aspect of her work does the writer find "dress-down" an advantage?
A. Training new members of staff.            
B. Providing her staff with some information.
C. Making sure that her staff remain faithful.    
D. Making her staff feel more comfortable at work.
5. The underlined word "giveaway" in the sixth paragraph means_________.
A. something that is given away free.          
B. willingness to stop doing something.
C. willingness to give away to the other's wishes.
D. something that makes it easy for you to guess something.
6. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. The writer wants to have her flat redecorated.
B. The writer is concerned about her dressing in the interviews.
C. The headhunters discovered the writer by her suit.
D. The writer feels it wrong to meet with the headhunters.

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