I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles”(风格) of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”

Foreign tourists are often confused(困惑) in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks(地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”

In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”

People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.

It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A new Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one.        A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!

When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place, they usually ______.

   A. describe the place carefully               B. show him a map of the place

   C. tell him the names of the streets         D. refer to recognizable buildings and places

What is the place where people measure distance in time?

   A. New York.          B. Los Angeles.             C. Kansas.             D. Iowa.

People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ______.

   A. in order to save time                 B. Los Angeles.

   C. so as to be polite                       D. for fun

What can we infer from the text?

   A. It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences.

   B. It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly.

   C. People have similar understandings of politeness.

   D. New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors.

When I met him,I had a lot of anger inside of me.I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem,but in my neighborhood,there are shoot-ups all the time.I know kids who have been shot or beaten up.I have friends who ended up in prison.I could have ended up that way,too,but Mr.Clark wouldn’t let that happen.
Mr.Clark worked long hours,making sure I did my work.My grades rose.In fact,the scores of our whole class rose.One day,he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera,and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem.Before the show,he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full.We did not want to let him down.
Mr.Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year.He said he would draw three names out of a hat;those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award.But when the time came to draw names,Mr.Clark said,“You’re all going.”
On graduation day,there were a lot of tears.We didn’t want his class to end.In 2001,he moved to Atlanta,but he always kept in touch.He started giving lectures about education,and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules,The Essential 55.In 2003,Mr.Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages(孤儿院).It was the most amazing experience of my life.It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs,helping people from all backgrounds.
【小题1】Without Mr.Clark,the writer _______.

A.might have been put into prison
B.might not have won the prize
C.might have joined a women’s club
D.might not have moved to Atlanta
【小题2】The Essential 55 is _______.
A.a showB.a speech
C.a classroom ruleD.a book
【小题3】How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr.Clark?
A.None.B.Three.C.Fifty-five.D.All.
【小题4】In the passage,the writer intends to tell us that _______.
A.Mr.Clark went to South Africa because he liked traveling
B.Mr.Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs
C.a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores
D.a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students


Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. Then I was born in E1 Paso,Texas and when I was four, my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles.
Even though we struggled to make ends meet, my parents stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They influenced us with the concepts of family, faith and nationalism.
I got my first real job when I was ten. My dad injured his back working in a cardboard­box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rented space in a little shopping mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr.Ben’s Coiffure.
The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week,which meant getting up at 3 a.m..To pick up rubbish, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I’d sleep in the car on the way home.
I did this for two years,but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired discipline and a strong work ethic(道德), and learned at an early age the importance of balancing life’s competing interests-in my case,school,homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of a high school, when I worked 40 hours a week flipping burgers at a fast­food joint while taking a full load of college preparation courses.
The hard work paid off. I attended the U.S.Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California State Assembly(州议会).In these jobs and in everything else I’ve done, I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families that is something we should honor.
59. Before my father got injured,we________.
A. didn’t like living in the USA                   B. lived a poor but happy life
C. were lucky to move to the USA                 D. had many ways to make money
60. When he recovered,to make a living my father________.
A. ran a small shopping mall                  B. did a part­time job
C. worked as a barber                        D. became a street cleaner
61. Working in the parking lot for two years had taught me________.
A. how to obey school discipline             B. how to do two things well at a time
C. that discipline and work were of equal value 
D. that I must do as many things as possible at a time
62. The author tells us in the last paragraph that we should be proud of those who________.
A. have done all kinds of jobs                      B. are cleaning the parking lot
C. have achieved a lot in their lives               D. are bearing their responsibilities

Miss Gorgers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, “Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”

Tom at once answered, “Your brother. Because electricity travels faster than sound waves.” “That’s very good.” Miss Gorgers answered, but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gorgers said, “Yes? Kate.”

“I disagree. Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock here and it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.” Kate said.

 

1.

 Miss Gorgers was teaching her class         .

A. how to telephone     B. about electricity   C. about time zone   D. about sound

 

2.

Miss Gorgers raised this question because she wanted to know whether         .

A. it was easy to phone to Los Angeles

B. her student could hear her from 75 feet away

C. her students had understood her lesson 

D. sound waves were slower than electricity

 

3.

Kate thought Tom was wrong because         .

A. clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York

B. electricity was slower than sound waves

C. Tom was not good at physics at all

D. Tom’s answer had nothing to do with sound waves

 

4.

Whose answer do you think is correct according to the laws of physics?

A. Tom’s.       B. Kate’s.        C. Both A and B.     D. Neither A nor B.

 

 

When I met him,I had a lot of anger inside of me.I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem,but in my neighborhood,there are shoot-ups all the time.I know kids who have been shot or beaten up.I have friends who ended up in prison.I could have ended up that way,too,but Mr.Clark wouldn’t let that happen.

Mr.Clark worked long hours,making sure I did my work.My grades rose.In fact,the scores of our whole class rose.One day,he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera,and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem.Before the show,he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full.We did not want to let him down.

Mr.Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year.He said he would draw three names out of a hat;those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award.But when the time came to draw names,Mr.Clark said,“You’re all going.”

On graduation day,there were a lot of tears.We didn’t want his class to end.In 2001,he moved to Atlanta,but he always kept in touch.He started giving lectures about education,and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules,The Essential 55.In 2003,Mr.Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages(孤儿院).It was the most amazing experience of my life.It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs,helping people from all backgrounds.

1.Without Mr.Clark,the writer _______.

A.might have been put into prison

B.might not have won the prize

C.might have joined a women’s club

D.might not have moved to Atlanta

2.The Essential 55 is _______.

A.a show                                    B.a speech

C.a classroom rule                          D.a book

3.How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr.Clark?

A.None.             B.Three.                C.Fifty-five.           D.All.

4.In the passage,the writer intends to tell us that _______.

A.Mr.Clark went to South Africa because he liked traveling

B.Mr.Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs

C.a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores

D.a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students

 

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