Two traveling angels (天使) stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.” ?

    The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable (好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field. ?

    The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen?” “Why did you not watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”

    “Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune, I asked God if I could seal (封口) the wall so he couldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Why did the older angel repair the hole for the rich family?

A. Because she didn’t like the greedy owner.

B. Because she wanted to save the gold for the poor.

C. Because she basement was too cold to stay in.

D. Because she believed that one should always be ready to offer help.?

In paragraph two, the pair refers to __________.

A. the poor couple                  B. the rich couple?

C. the guests                       D. the angels?

The younger angel was very angry because __________.

A. the older angel killed the farmer’s cow?

B. the older angel treated the two families unfairly?

C. the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live?

D. the angel of death took the cow away?

Why did the older angel let the farmer’s cow die?

A. Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow.

B. Because she wanted to teach the younger angel a lesson.

C. Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife.?

D. Because she was sympathetic to the rich.

The story tries to tell the reader that __________.

A. angels are always ready to help the poor

B. sometimes things are not what they seem

C. angels are always ready to help the rich

D. the young should always learn from the old

Abby Subark is a mother of two from Boston. “For my kids, I’m nervous. I don’t know if they’ll be able to achieve their American dream.” She may be right. More than hard work or education, the best way to get rich in America is to be born rich.

It is the case that somebody who is in the upper third of income, poor scores, in the bottom on tests when they are in eighth grade, is more likely to go to college and finish college than a poor kid with the top scores. That’s what the working persons’  children are up against.

The Economic Policy Institute finds it would take a poor couple with 2 children 9 or 10 generations to achieve middle class status. That’s about 200 years. The hallmark (特征) of American opportunity has always been the ability to do better than your parents. But compared with similar developed countries, the United States ranks fifth out of six for so-called intergenerational mobility (变动).

If you look at the mechanisms (机制) for upward mobility that were so readily available 50 years ago, they are becoming out of reach, like plentiful factory jobs with good wages and affordable education and health care.

White families are twice as likely as blacks to be upwardly mobile. For most people in America today, where you end up depends on where you start.

If you started in the middle-income class, about 40 to 45 percent of what you are making right now is due to the fact that your parents were in the middle-income class. The rest is up to you.

But for the millions of people who find themselves below the poverty line and the millions more who are the working poor, their starting point for the American dream leaves them painfully far away from the middle class.

The main idea of the passage is _______.

A. How the middle class comes about in the U.S.

B. It’s hard to realize the American dream for the poor.

C. Wealth and social status depend on family background.

D. Upward mobility in America is never easy.

Which of the statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. People used to have job opportunities and welfare for upward mobility.

B. A great many poor people can hardly realize their American dream.

C. You can make all your dreams come true in America if born rich.

D. Rich kids are more likely to go to college than poor kids.

The underlined sentence “where you end up depends on where you start” most probably means _______.

A. Your starting point cannot determine your destination.

B. Only a high goal can ensure success.

C. One’s birth has nothing to do with his fate.

D. One’s family lays solid foundation for his future achievements.

Why is Abby Subark nervous?

A. Her kids don’t want to compare with other rich kids in achievements.

B. Her kids don’t want to achieve success at all.

C. Her kids can achieve success through hard work and education.

D. Her kids can’t reach their goal without a rich family.

What can we infer after reading the passage? 

A. Poverty causes people much pain.

B. People below the poverty line can never be in the middle class.

C. Lower starting point makes it hard for people to realize their dream.

D. Poor people’s starting point is too low.

Most Americans get what money they have from their work; that is, they earn an income from wages or salaries. The richest Americans, however, get most of their money from what they own — their stocks, bonds, real estate, and other forms of property, or wealth. Although there are few accurate statistics to go by, wealth in American society appears to be concentrated in very few hands. More than 20 percent of everything that can be privately owned is held by less than one percent of the adult population and more than 75 percent of all wealth is owned by 20 percent of American adults. The plain fact is that most Americans have no wealth at all aside from their homes, automobiles, and a small amount of savings.

Income in the United States is not as highly concentrated as wealth. In 1917 the richest 10 percent of American families received 26.1 percent of all income, while the poorest 10 percent received 17 percent, mainly from Social Security and other government payments. The most striking aspect of income distribution is that it has not changed significantly since the end of World War II. Although economic growth has roughly doubled real disposable (可自由使用的) family income (the money left after taxes and adjusted for inflation) over the last generation, the size of the shares given to the rich and the poor is about the same. By any measure economic inequality is great in the United States.

The reality behind these statistics is that a large number of Americans are poor. In 1918, 14 percent of the population was living below the federal government’s poverty line, which at that time was an annual income of $ 9 287 for a nonfarm family of two adults and two children. In other words, about one out of seven Americans over 31 million people was officially considered unable to buy the basic necessities of food, clothes, and shelter. The suggested poverty line in 1981 would have been an income of about $11 200 for a family of four. By this relative definition, about 20 percent of the population or more than 45 million Americans are poor.

1. What does the majority of the Americans have in terms of wealth?

A. Their income and savings.

B. Everything they own in their homes.

C. Actually, they have no wealth at all.

D. Their house, cars and small amounts of savings.

2. What is the percentage of wealth that is in the hands of most Americans?

A. More than 25%.               B. Less than 25%.

C. More than 75%.         D. Less than 20%.

3. Why is economic inequality still great in the US in spite of the economic growth?

A. Because the proportion of income received by the rich and the poor remains almost the same as in 1917.

B. Because the economic growth has widened the gap of the family income between the rich and the poor.

C. Because income in the US is still concentrated in the hands of the richest 10% of American families.

D. Because some Americans made great fortunes during the Second World War.

4. What can we learn from comparison of the two poverty lines in the last paragraph?

A. The poverty line of 1918 is more favorable to the poor than that of 1981.

B. The 1981 line didn’t leave much to the poor.

C. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1981 line.

D. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1918 line.

5. From the last two sentences we can see that 1981 government’s poverty line _______.

A. was of no good for the poor     B. was not put into operation then

C. was officially approved           D. was not helpful to the poor


第三部分阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
A
Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
  The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的) farmer and his wife. After sharing the little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen? Why did you watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused, “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.
“When we stayed in the basement, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune, I asked God if I could seal the wall so that he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”
56.Why did the older angel repair the hole for the rich family?
A.Because she didn’t like the greedy owner.
B.Because she wanted to save the gold for the poor.
C.Because the basement was too cold to stay in.
D.Because she believed that one should always be ready to offer help.
57.The youngest angel was very angry because      .
A.the old angel killed the farmer’s cow
B.the old angel treated the two families differently
C.the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live
D.the angel of death took the cow away
58.Why did the older angel let the farmer’s cow die?
  A.Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow.
B.Because she wanted to teach the youngest angel a lesson.
  C.Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife.
  D.Because she thinks it is unfair to the rich
59.The story tries to tell the reader that________.
  A.angels are always ready to help the poor
  B.what we see is not necessarily what it is
  C.angles are always to help the rich
D.the young should always learn from the old

 

PART THREE  READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.

A

An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a new way of providing employment for millions of poor people in Bihar. His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities.

Mr Raju’s success could clearly be seen on 30 August, 2009 when he organized 300,000 villagers from over 7,500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony.

Mr Raju has linked his “social forestry” program to the central government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which is also designed to provide employment for poor people. Under NREGA — started in February 2006 as the government’s most ambitious employment generation scheme for poor people — the authorities are bound by law to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment a year for members of families living below the poverty line. About 44% of Bihar’s population fall into this category.

Mr Raju says that Bihar — being the poorest and most lawless state of India — hasn’t been able to spend the allocated (分配的) NREGA funds. “This is because of a lack of awareness among officials about the scheme,” he said. “So the idea struck to my mind: why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days? Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10,200 rupees ($210).”

The civil servant immediately made a plan of his idea. In June, Mr Raju published a booklet of “dos and don’ts” and distributed it to village heads. His plan meant that NREGA funds were fully used — in the past this hasn’t always been the case.

“I told the villagers they would get 100 days employment in a year simply by planting trees and protecting them. The old and disabled would be given preference,” he explained.

Every village council has now been given a target of planting 50,000 saplings — a group of four families have to plant 200 trees and they must protect them for three years till the plants grow stronger.

“They would get the full payment if they can ensure the survival of 90% of the plants under their care. For a 75-80% survival rate, they’ll be paid only half the wage. For less than 75%, the families in the group will be replaced,” the guidelines say.

Significantly, his scheme has even stopped the migration of poor labourers from the area in search of employment elsewhere.

56. According to the passage, the main purpose of SM Raju’s “social forestry” program is to _____.

A. promote the practice of NREGA

B. make efforts to prevent global warming

C. increase the employment of poor people

D. prevent poor people from migrating elsewhere

57 According to the passage, the poor people in Bihar don’t make full use of NREGA funds because _____.

A. the local officials don’t realize the importance of NREGA

B. the local government doesn’t get enough support from the central government

C. the local poor people know little about NREGA

D. Bihar is the most lawless state in India

58. We can infer from the passage that _____.

A. most people in Bihar will benefit from NREGA

B. the old and disabled people are not involved in tree planting

C. families who can’t ensure 75% survival rate of the trees will not be paid

D. Raju’s new plan will reduce Bihar’s population below the poverty line

59. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. There’s a good way to deal with global warming

B. Tree planting provides employment for the poor

C. Tree planting solves the problem of unemployment

D. Raju’s “social forestry” program wins the support of NREGA

60. How can villagers get more NREGA funds?

  A. Thinking better ways to stop global warming

  B. Working hard for one hundred days

  C. Planting more trees and ensuring the survival of plants

  D. Stopping moving from the area to search employment elsewhere

 

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