In the United States, friendships can be close, constant, intense, generous and real, yet fade away in a short time if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while— then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship where it left off and are delighted.

In the States, you can feel free to visit people’s homes, share their holidays, or enjoy their lives without fear that you are taking on a lasting obligation(义务). Do not hesitate to accept hospitality(好客) because you can’t give it in return. No one will expect you to do so for they know you are far from home. Americans will enjoy welcoming you and be pleased if you accept their hospitality easily.

Once you arrive there, the welcome will be full and warm and real. Most visitors find themselves readily invited into many homes there. In some countries it is considered inhospitable to entertain at home, offering what is felt as only home—cooked food, not “ doing something for your guest”. It is felt that restaurant entertaining, shows more respect and welcome. Or for other different reasons, such as crowded space, language difficulties, or family custom, outsiders are not invited into homes.

In the United States, both methods are used, but it is often considered more friendly to invite a person to one’s home than to go to a public place, except in purely business relationships. So, if your host or hostess brings you home, do not feel that you are being shown inferior treatment.

Don’t feel neglected if you do not find flowers awaiting you in your hotel room, either. Flowers are very expensive there; hotel delivery is uncertain; arrival times are delayed, changed, or canceled —— so flowers are not customarily sent as a welcoming touch. Please do not feel unwanted! Outward signs vary in different lands; the inward welcome is what matters, and this will be real.

In the United States, you will find friendships ______ if circumstances change.

  A. die suddenly                          B. pass away

  C. disappear gradually                    D. last forever

Americans _____ their foreign friends to make a return for their hospitality.

   A. ask          B. don’t expect             C. never allow     D. wish 

In some other countries, giving a dinner party at home is considered ______ than in a restaurant.

   A. less friendly   B. less hospitable      C. more natural     D. more popular

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

   A. Flowers are signs of outward welcome.        

  B. Flowers are expensive.

   C. Flowers are available at all time.

D. Flowers are not necessarily sent to guests.

When we talk about a bad man, we like to call him a “wolf”. But is it really true that the wolf stands for devil and ugliness?

Have you read the book “The Wolf Totem” by a famous writer Jiang Rong, which tells the story of the relationship between wolves and human beings? Have you ever   41  the wolves' world? If you had, you would  42  the wolves. In the book, wolves are heroes on the large grassland. They know more about   43 than humans. They can attack lambs without disturbing their mothers. They also know how to   44  full use of the shape of land to   45  sheep. I believe that if wolves were humans, they would be  46  experts good at fighting.

The wolf is a kind of special creature that can deeply understand  47 .Each wolf serves its group with its heart and soul. A  48  wolf has little power, but a pack of wolves   49  nothing. All the wolves obey the rules.  50  they are defeated, they run away together. It is their teamwork   51  makes wolves powerful.

The wolves also have great self respect and won't  52  to anyone. The writer, who wrote the book “The Wolf Totem”,  53  stole a one-month-old baby wolf and raised it very carefully. To his  54 , he found the little wolf still wanted to go back with   55  wolves. He bit through the iron chain that limited him. The wolf was   56  and he never gave in, fighting  57  his death. The little wolf died as a glorious fighter.

I was shocked by this kind of  58  wolves are one of the most respected creatures on the earth. I want everyone to look at wolves in a  59  way. They are our teachers. They show us how to survive and  60  in this not simple but dangerous world. Please honor the wolves, please honor all these heroes of nature!

1.

A.thought about

B.walked into

C.talked about

D.cared for

 

2.

A.hunt

B.admire

C.draw

D.watch

 

3.

A.space

B.spot

C.food

D.survival

 

4.

A.get

B.take

C.have

D.make

 

5.

A.fight

B.avoid

C.trap

D.discover

 

6.

A.special

B.imaginative

C.outstanding

D.creative

 

7.

A.operation

B.teamwork

C.lifestyle

D.control

 

8.

A.single

B.brave

C.lonely

D.fair

 

9.

A.fight

B.struggle

C.fear

D.fail

 

10.

A.As for

B.As though

C.Even so

D.Even if

 

11.

A.what

B.he

C.that

D.one

 

12.

A.turn in

B.give in

C.take in

D.break in

 

13.

A.once

B.just

C.soon

D.only

 

14.

A.satisfaction

B.disappointment

C.pleasure

D.sorrow

 

15.

A.rest

B.others

C.another

D.the other

 

16.

A.proud

B.satisfied

C.willing

D.eager

 

17.

A.until

B.although

C.before

D.unless

 

18.

A.selflessness

B.self-confidence

C.self-respect

D.self-protection

 

19.

A.curious

B.different

C.strange

D.humorous

 

20.

A.walk

B.hand

C.get

D.succeed

 

My friend got married. His mother carried two bags of cotton from the countryside by bus and train to his city. After arriving at the city, there was still a long way to his house without any bus passing by the house. His mother walked to his home breathlessly for 40 minutes without taking a taxi in order to save money.

My friend felt bitter as well as funny at his mother’s deeds. He pointed to the cashmere and silk quilts and said, “So long as you have money, you can buy anything in the supermarket. There is no need for you to carry so much cotton here in such a long way.”

But his mother insisted and said, “The cotton of this year is light and warmth-keeping. Have a try and you will know!”

Maybe every parent is the same, caring for their children with stubborn love without caring about whether they know or like it.

This early spring, I went to visit my grandmother. We had dry beans stew (炖菜), eggplant salad bar, sauce radish (酱萝卜条)for our dinner, all of which were dried by my grandmother last autumn and tasted wonderful. I loved the dishes to my heart’s content and could not help praising them again and again.

After a few days, my grandmother, who seldom visited us, came to my home and unpacked her bag, smilingly taking out bags of dried eggplants, dried beans and dried vegetable. She told me that I left so hastily last time that she forgot to give me some of these foods, so she took this chance to bring me what I liked.

I was speechless at that time. Due to my casual complimentary her food, my grandmother, a nearly 70-year-old lady, by taking three buses from the west of the city to the east, came to my home with the food I liked. But she was bus-sick in life and even seldom went strolling in the street.

My pretty girlfriend had a failed marriage in the past. After divorce, her parents shed the deepest protection and care to her by helping her attend to the child and offering financial aids. Her parents’ love made her pull herself together and forgot the man who had hurt her before.

Nonetheless, her father, an honest and upright old man, after hearing his ex-son-in-law got promoted in his company, felt terrifically irritated and went to his company to question his boss why a philandering man with corrupt conducts could get promoted. The whole office fell into a mess immediately and many staff just watched on the sidelines. Some people even whispered lightly, "It is a new era now and the relationship between men and women is very open. No one would care about that anymore!"

The old man stood silently in the office with his hands shivering and eyes tearing.

That night, my girlfriend cried heavily in front of me. I asked her whether it was her father’s stupid deeds that made her feel humiliated. But she said that she felt guilty for her dad and that though the rest of the whole world betrayed her, her old father would still back her up and help her get the justice she deserved, just as when she was young and the neighboring boy grabbed her ball, her father would get it back for her. However, this changed world was no longer the stage for her old father and his deeds became funnily obsolete. No one managed to see the real and ever-lasting love to his daughter behind his seemingly rude behaviors.

Now we have grown up so much so that we could support our family and have our own children. But in our parents’ heart, they are still worried that we do not have sufficient quilts and dried vegetables. They would not feel troubled to bring all these to us regardless of long tough journey. They even would not like us to suffer a bit and try all means to protect us without caring about whether what they do is awkward and stupid or not.

Who in the world would love us so deeply and relentlessly without asking for any repay? Only our parents!

1.What does the author want to tell us?

A. The love from our parents is real and deep though sometimes it doesn't appear so.

B. The love from our parents is awkward sometimes, which is rather annoying.

C. Children should appreciate parents' love because their life is so hard.

D. The world is changing so the love of parents should change too.

2.The underlined world "humiliate" in the eleventh paragraph means ________.

    A. guilty        B. moved       C. happy      D. ashamed     

3.How many examples of older generation’s love are mentioned in the passage?

    A. One         B. Two        C. Three       D. four

4.After the author's girlfriend's former husband got promoted, her father _____.

A. congratulated him

B. made his daughter marry him again

C. had a quarrel with him

D. argued with his boss

5.From the passage we can learn the author's grandmother is ___________.

A. upright and honest        B. loving and troublesome

C. thoughtful and careful       D. generous and active

 

A newly-published study has shown that loneliness can spread from one person to another, like a disease.

Researchers used information from the Framingham Study, which began in 1948. The Framingham Study gathers information about physical and mental health, personal behavior and diet. At first, the study involved about 5,000 people in the American state of Massachusetts. Now, more than 12,000 individuals are taking part.

Information from the Framingham Study showed earlier that happiness can spread from person to person. So can behaviors like littering and the ability to stop smoking.

University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo led the recent study. He and other researchers attempted to show how often people felt lonely. They found that the feeling of loneliness spread through social groups.

Having a social connection with a lonely person increased the chances that another individual would feel lonely. In fact, a friend of a lonely person was 52% more likely to develop feelings of loneliness. A friend of that person was 25% more likely. The researchers say this shows that a person could indirectly be affected by someone’s loneliness.

The effect was strongest among friends. Neighbors were the second most affected group. The effect was weaker on husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters. The researchers also found that loneliness spread more easily among women than men.

The New York Times newspaper reports that, on average, people experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year. It also found that every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about five percent, or two and a half fewer lonely days.

Loneliness has been linked to health problems like depression and sleeping difficulties. The researchers believe that knowing the causes of loneliness could help in reducing it.

The study suggests that people can take steps to stop the spread of loneliness. They can do this by helping individuals they know who may be experiencing loneliness. The result can be helpful to the whole social group.

1.From the passage, we can learn that            .

A. the habit of littering doesn’t spread

B. a lonely person won’t have friends

C. everyone may be affected by others’ loneliness

D. lonely people don’t know the cause of their loneliness

2.Which statement about the spread of loneliness is true?

A. The spreading effect was the second strongest among friends.

B. No spreading effect was found on husbands and wives.

C. Women are more likely to be affected than men.

D. Brothers are more easily affected than neighbors.

3. If you make 10 more friends in a year, the days of your feeling loneliness will be reduced by            .

A. 48 days          B. 25 days      C. 20 days      D. 15 days

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Actions should be taken to help lonely people.   B. People feel lonely for many reasons.

C. Ways to fight against loneliness.        D. Lonely people can affect others.

 

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