One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift . Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap(包装).
On September 11th ,1958,Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying, “I promised you a gift , and here it is.” What an honor!I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories .I told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it. Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing bad been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days I Heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”, and “dying”, which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming. “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room. “If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him cry before .
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” He hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home !”
“Thank God !” I heard Mum cry .
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!
【小题1】what happened to the author on September 11th , 1958?

A.He got a baby brother.B.He got a Christmas gift
C.He became four years old.D.He received a doll.
【小题2】What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Impossible.B.BoringC.DifficultD.Fearful
【小题3】Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?
A.Excitement.B.Happiness.C.Sadness.D.Disappointment.
【小题4】What is the passage mainly about ?
A.A sad Christmas dayB.Life with a lovely baby
C.A special Christmas gift.D.Memories of a happy family

Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life of the people and develop in their own way.

Our expression today is “to face the music”. When someone says, “Well, I guess I’ll have to face the music,” it does not mean he’s planning to go to the concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you didn’t do this or that. Awful music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime or another, every one of us has to face the music, especially as children. We can all remember father’s angry voice, “I want to talk to you.” and only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!

The phrase “to face the music” is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years old. And where did this expression come from? The first explanation comes from the American novelist, James Fenimore Looper. He said, in 1851, that the expression was first used by actors while waiting to go on the stage. When they got their cue(提示) to go on, they often said, “Well, it’s time to face the music.” And that was exactly what they did—facing the orchestra(管弦乐队) which was just below them. And an actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of an audience that might be friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So the expression “to face the music” came to mean “having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.”

Other explanations about the expression go back to the army. When the men faced an inspection(视察) by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shiny enough to pass the inspection? Still the men had to go out and face the music of the band as well as the inspection. What else could they do?

Another army explanation is more closely linked to the idea of facing the results and accepting the responsibility for something that should not have been done. For example, when a man is forced out of the army because he did something terrible, he is dishonored. The band does not play. Only the drums tap a sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced to leave, facing such music as it is and facing the back of his horse. 

1.How many ways does the phrase “to face the music” comes from?     

A.1.               B.2.                C.3.               D.4.

2.What’s the meaning of “to face the music”?

A.To face something far less pleasant.          B.To face the stage.

C.To face the back of one’s horse.           D.To face one’s leader.

3.The underlined word “hostile” means ________.

A.unfriendly         B.dislike            C.unkind            D.unnecessary

 

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

In order to help children learn to use an English dictionary, you’ll obviously need to have one on hand for them to view.

__1.__ It is used to give the meaning and the usage of any given word in English.

__2._ If it has not yet been introduced to the children, they need to learn it so that they can use the English dictionary effectively (高效地). __3.__ Ask the children to choose a word, and then show them how you search for the word by alphabetical order.

Show the children how to learn a new word with an English dictionary. __4.__ You will also need to point out how some words can be used as nouns and verbs, etc.

__5.__ To make sure that the children understand how to look up a word in the dictionary, ask them to choose a few more words, and guide them as they look each one up themselves.

A.Check if the children are familiar with the alphabet (字母表).

B.Begin with explaining what an English dictionary is used for.

C.The children will find a plain dictionary boring and uninteresting.

D.Finally, help the children to practice how to use the dictionary themselves.

E.     Finally, make sure the children have learned some new words with the dictionary.

F.     You need to show them how the dictionary explains the meaning of the word.

G.    When the children have well mastered the alphabet, simply show them how an English dictionary is used.

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网