阅读理解

　　For almost three years now, Mary Rodas has been a vice president at a company in New York City. Mary works in a big office, is driven in a car and makes important business decisions.

　　But she still has to do her homework every day. That’ s because Mary is a 16 - year - old high school student.

　　How did a teenager get to be a vice president? It all started when she was a little girl in Union City, New Jersey. One day, she was watching a worker, Donald Spector, put in new tiles (瓷砖). He laid the tiles in the correct pattern everywhere but behind the kitchen door.

　　“Mister,” she said, walking right up to him. “You’re doing it all wrong.”

　　“It’s okay, Mary,” Spector said “Nobody will see the tiles behind the door.”

　　“But it’s wrong,” Mary insisted. “You have to do it right even if nobody sees it.”

　　Spector was impressed she spoke her mind. Mary and Donald became friends that day, and it changed their lives. Donald Spector is an inventor and one of the founders of a company that makes toys. As Mary got a little older, Spector started to show her his ideas for new products. He wanted Mary’ s opinions. And she gave it to him straight.

　　Mary has come up with a lot of good ideas for the company. Take, for example, Balzac. This is a cloth ball with a balloon inside it that can be filled with air or water. In 1989, it became one of the hottest toys in the U.S. It was Mary’ s idea to fill a Balzac partly with water so that it would fly crazily (疯狂地) when you threw it. And it was Mary who thought of putting pennies or rice inside so it would make noise when it bounced (弹起) around. She also told Spector that she didn’t like its color.

　　“I was 13 when Donald showed it to me,” Mary says. “It was fun to play with, but I thought the colors were boring. I told him to use neon (氖)colors, and to put them in crazy patterns.”

　　When Balzac hit the market, the results blew Spector away. It did so well, now stores are selling a whole bunch of Balzac products.

　　Donald Spector knew how much Mary was helping his company. So on Christmas Day in 1989, he gave her a present. He asked her to be the vice president of marketing in his company.

1．Why did Spector ask Mary to be the vice president of his company?

[　　]

A．Because she was a teenager.

B．Because she liked playing with all kinds of toys.

C．Because she had offered him many helpful suggestions.

D．Because she asked for less pay than anyone else.

2．Which question is not answered in the passage?

[　　]

A．How did Mary meet Donald?

B．How much money does Mary earn?

C．What does Mary do at work?

D．What was Balzac?

3．You can infer from the passage that Mary ________.

[　　]

A．is very shy

B．does not go to school

C．is smart

D．doesn’t like any colors

4．Which of the following can be chosen as the best title for the passage?

[　　]

A．You Must Do Everything Right

B．Toys in the United States

C．The Success of Balzac

D．A Young Vice President

Poet William Stafford once said that we are defined more by the detours(绕行路) in life than by the narrow road toward goals. I like this image. But it was quite by accident that I discovered the deep meaning of his words.

For years we made the long drive from our home in Seattle to my parents' home in Boise in nine hours. We traveled the way most people do: the fastest, shortest, easiest road, especially when I was alone with four noisy, restless kids who hate confinement(限制) and have strong opinions about everything.

Road trips felt risky, so I would drive fast, stopping only when 1 had to. We would stick to the freeways and arrive tired.

But then Banner, our lamb was bent. He was reeled by h, mama days before our planned trip to Boise, I had two choices: leave Banner with my husband, or take him with me. My husband made the decision for me.

That is how I found myself on the road with four kids, a baby lamb and nothing but my everlasting optimism to see me through. We took the country roads out of necessity. We had to stop every hour, let Banner shake out his legs and feed him. The kids chased him and one another. They'd get back in the car breathless and energized, smelling fresh from the cold air.

We explored side roads, catching grasshopper in waist-high grass. Even if we simply looked out of the car window, at baby p.gs following their mother, or fish leaping out of the water, it was better than the best ride down the freeway. Here was life. And new horizons(见识).

We eventually arrived at my parents' doorstep astonishingly fresh and full of stories.

I grew brave with the trip back home and creative with my disciplining technique. On an empty section of road, everyone started quarreling. I stopped the car, ordered all kids out and told them to meet mc up ahead. I parked my car half a mile away and read my book in sweet silence.

Some road trips are by necessity fast and straight. But that trip with Banner opened our eyes to a world available to anyone adventurous enough to wander around and made me realize that a detour may uncover the best part of a journey-and the best part of yourself.

46. Why did the author use to take freeways to her parents' home?

A. It was less tiring.

B. It would be fester and safer.

C. Her kids would feel less confined.

D. She felt better with other drivers nearby.

47. The author stopped regularly on the country roads to ______.

A. relax in the fresh air

B. take a deep breath

C. take care of the lamb

D. let the kids play with Banner

48. What does the author discover from the trip according to Paragraph 6?

A. Freeways are where beauty hides.

B. Getting close to nature adds to the joy of life.

C. Enjoying the beauty of nature benefits one's health.

D. One should follow side roads to watch wild animals.

49. Why did the author ask the kids to get out of the car on their way back home?

A. To give herself some time to read.

B. To order some food for them

C. To play a game with them

D. To let them cool down.

50. What could be the best title for the passage?

A. Charm of the Detour

B. The Road to Bravery

C. Creativity out of Necessity

D. Road Trip and Country Life

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Sharon Suarez dreams of the day when she won't have to carry groceries from her car to her house．That day has come．A growing number of people are shopping the aisles of grocery stores on the Internet．

　　“I've never done it，but it sounds great，”Ms Suarez said．“It is so hot here in the summer．It's also really cold in the winter．l would love to stay inside and have the groceries come to me．”

　　Of course，people already buy books，do their banking，and shop for gifts on the Internet．But when they need to shop for food，most still get in the car and go go the supermarket．In fact，fewer than 1 million people have bought groceries online．The average American visits a supermarket 2．2 times a week．

　　Part of the problem is obvious．Many shoppers want to see the food they buy．While they might buy a CD or a book without seeing it，most people don't want to buy produce the same way．They also enjoy going to the supermarket．They like to walk in the aisles，and see what new items are available．Shoppers also worry about spoiled food，large delivery charges，and late deliveries．But，all this is slowly changing．Consumers are beginning to find that buying food online saves them time．And，they're finding that delivery is fast，cheap，and the food is good．

　　“I wasn't sure what to expect when I started ordering online，”said Michael Koklos．Mr Koklos started shopping online when he had to work longer hours．“I never had time to shop．It is really easy and convenient to buy over the Internet．The vegetables are better than ones I would pick out myself，”he added．“And I never have to find a parking space．”

　　While online shopping appeals to a certain group of the people，there will always be some who enjoy shopping for their won groceries．

　　Marti Lavalle，a shopper in a local grocery store，says she'll never shop for groceries online．“I still don't know to use a computer，”she explained．

1．Ms Suarez likes the idea of Internet grocery shopping because________．

[　　]

A．many others are shopping on the Internet

B．It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter

C．she has never done it before

D．she needn't carry the groceries by herself

2．Food shopping online is not as poplar as other types of online shopping NOT because________．

[　　]

A．people want to see the they buy

B．people enjoy going to the supermarket

C．people have a lot of time to spend

D．people like to walk in the aisles

3．What do people think will go wrong if they buy food on the Internet？

[　　]

A．They would spend a lot of money on delivery．

B．They can not find out the new items

C．The food is very expensive on the Internet．

D．They can't pick out the things themselves．

4．If you________，you can't do shopping online．

[　　]

A．can't find a parking space

B．know nothing how to operate a computer

C．don't have a lot of spare time

D．have to work shorter hours

One year our family decided to have a special celebration of Mother’s Day, as a token of appreciations for all the sacrifices that Mother had made for us. After breakfast we had arranged, as a surprise, to hire a car and take her for a beautiful drive in the country. Mother was rarely able to have a treat like that, because she was busy in the house nearly all the time.

    But on the very morning of the day, we changed the plan a little, because it occurred to Father that it would be even better to take Mother fishing. As the car was hired and paid for, we might as well use it to drive up into the hills where the streams are. As Father said, if you just go driving without object, you have a sense of aimlessness, but if you are going to fish there is a definite purpose that heightens the enjoyment.

So we all felt it would be nicer for Mother to have a definite purpose . Father had just got a fishing rod the day before, which he said mother could use if she wanted to. Only Mother said she would much rather watch him fish than try to fish herself.

    So we got her to make up a sandwich lunch in case we got hungry, though we were to come home again to a big festive dinner.

    Well, when the car came to the door, it turned out that there was not as much space in it as we had supposed. It was plain that we couldn’t all get in.

    Father said that he could just stay home and put in the time working in the garden. He said that there was a lot of rough dirty work that he could do, like digging a trench for the garbage, which would save hiring a man, and so he said that he’d stay home; he said that we were not to let the fact that he had not had a real holiday for three years stand in our way. He wanted us to go right ahead and not to mind him.

    But of course we all felt that it would never do to let Father stay home, especially as we knew he would make trouble if he did. The two girls, Anne and Mary, would have stayed and helped the maid get dinner, only it seemed such a pity,for the two girls were eager to show their new hats on a lovely day like this. But they said that Mother had only to say the word and they’d gladly stay home and work. Will and I would have dropped out, but unfortunately we wouldn’t have been any use in preparing the dinner.

1.The author’s family decided to celebrate Mother’s Day specially to _______.

A. show love for their mother                     

B. show gratitude to their mother

C. show respect for their mother                  

D. to make up for a previous appointment

2.According to Paragraph 2, we know that the plan was changed because________.

A. Father proposed to go fishing out       

B. we thought that driving out is boring

C. we failed to hire a car to go out         

D. the car was not big enough

3.What problem did we find when the car arrived?

A. The car was too old to drive on mountain roads.          

B. The car was larger than we expected.

C. The car was too small to accommodate us all.                 

D. The car was too plain looking.

4.Why didn’t the author drop out of the activity?

A. Because his sisters didn’t join in.                                       

B. Because he needed to have dinner.

C. Because he couldn’t cook the dinner.                                                 

D. Because he hadn’t had a real holiday for three years.

5.Which of the following proverbs describes the text best?

A. Everything comes to him who waits.                        

B. Changes always go beyond plans.

C. Better late than never.                                         

D. Once on shore, one prays no more.