The Worst Part

Mom is usually home on Sunday but this week she was going to a big golf game and I was all alone in the house. I was mad at Mom for divorcing Dad.

I kept looking at the telephone until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I picked up the receiver and dialed Dad’s number over in Bakersfield. I even remembered to dial I first because it was long distance. “You promised to phone me this week but you didn’t,” I said, feeling I had to talk to him.

“Take it easy, kid,” he said. “I just didn’t get around to it. I was going to call this evening. The week isn’t over yet.”

I thought about that.

“Something on your mind?” he asked.

“I hoped you would call, so I waited and waited.” Then I was sorry I said it.

“There was heavy snow in the morning,” he said, “I had to chain up on highway 80 and lost time.”

I know putting chains on eight big wheels in the snow is no fun. I felt a little better, as long as we were talking. “How is Bandit?” I asked.

There was a funny silence. For a minute I thought the line was dead. Then I knew something must have happened to my dog.

“Well, kid—”, he began. “My name is Leigh!” I almost yelled. “I’m not just some kid you met on the street!”

“Keep your shirt on, Leigh,” he said. “When I had to stop along with some other truckers to put on chains, I left Bandit out of the cab, I thought he would get back … I have sent out a call to CB radio, but I didn’t get an answer yet.” I was about to say I understood when there came the bad part, the really bad part. I heard a boy’s voice say, “Hey, Bill, Mom wants to know when we’re going out to get the pizza?”

1.From the story we know that _______.

A. Leigh’s dad never had a rest on Sundays          B. Leigh was a deserted boy

C. Leigh’s dad lived in another city                D. Leigh’s mother often went to golf games

2.What happened to Bandit?

A. It was frozen to death.        B. It was let out of the cab and got lost

C. It was killed by a truck.        D. It ran off Highway 80 and into the mountain.

3.The underlined sentence “Keep your shirt on” probably means “_______”.

A. Listen to reason    B. Stop talking      C. Calm down    D. Keep warm

4.In Leigh’s eye, “the worst part” may be that ________.

A. his dad got remarried          B. his parents got divorced

C. his dad didn’t love him         D. his mom didn’t take him to pizza

You have a nice salary, but you still feel short of money. At the end of each month, you often ask yourself, “Where has all my money gone”? To help you better run your salary, here come some money-saving tips.

First, you need to set goals to encourage yourself to save money. For example, you plan to have a good dress in one year, to have a car in two years’ time or to buy a house in five years.

Second, form money-saving habits and stay away from the ones that waste money. Learn to keep a diary of how much you spend and what it’s for. Think twice before using money on expensive skin care products(护肤品). The best way to keep your skin in good condition is enough sleep.

Third, pay attention to your daily things. Leave no more than one light on when you leave home. Buy vegetables from a market where vegetables are less expensive and fresher, not a supermarket. When going to a supermarket, take a notebook with you. Write down what you want to buy.

Fourth, save your social life. Take the dishes that haven’t been eaten up away for next day when you have dinner in a restaurant. When it’s your turn to offer a meal, invite your friends to your home, and cook the dinner yourself. If you are to attend a party and an expensive present is needed, ask several friends to go together to share a present.

1.The passage is mainly about          .

A. four ways to save money

B. how to set goals to save money

C. where to keep money  

D. how to live well with little money

2.Which of the following does the author favor?

A. Have some good skin care products.    

B. Enough sleep does good to skin.

C. All things in supermarkets are expensive.

D. Vegetables in a market taste good.

3.If you want to save money, you should           .

A. have dinner in a restaurant                    

B. buy dishes in a restaurant and eat at home

C. invite friends home and cook yourself 

D. attend a party alone

4.Which of the following is NOT suggested by the author?

A. Making a plan saving money.         

B. Forming habits of saving money.

C. Cutting down the prices when buying things.

D. Leaving few lights on when you leave home.

Are your children liked by their teachers? All parents want their children to impress(给...的印象) their teachers and succeed in school. You can get your children to impress their teachers by following these easy steps.

    Make sure they’re prepared. Teachers are impressed by children coming to school prepared to learn. Make sure they have everything they need—pencils textbooks, erasers and so on.

    Require them to be active in class. Teach them to ask teachers questions when they don’t understand something. Some children think teachers are bothered by questions, but most teachers are impressed when children take the initiative(采取主动) in asking questions. They should take part in class discussions, giving their opinions politely.

    Keep your children healthy. If your children are tired and hungry, they won’t be ready to learn. Children need at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. Feed your children a solid breakfast and prepare a healthy lunch. Provide them with fruit and other healthy foods—apples or bananas are better for them than cookies.

    Make sure that your children do their homework. If they really don’t understand it, discuss it with them patiently. Don’t help them do their homework. Teachers can always tell who it is that does the work.

    Teach your children good manners and habits. Children need to arrive at the school punctually, and be polite to their teachers and classmates. Parents need to teach these skills at home. Nothing is sweeter than children who say “please” and “thank you”, and these are children their teachers are certain to love.

1.The first paragraph serves as ________.

A. an explanation       B. an introduction      C. a background      D. a guidance

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true? 

 A. Hungry and tired children can’t focus on their study.

 B. Children should go to school on time and learn to behave well.

 C. Teachers aren’t able to decide if parents do homework for their children.

 D. Teachers are impressed when children take an active part in class.

3.The passage mainly tells us that being parents, you should ________.

A. help your children to impress their teachers at school

B. ask your children to get ready for classes before going to school

C. teach your children to be polite to both their teachers and classmates

D. remind your children to observe all the rules when at school

---Tom, keep your_____ on your studies.

    --- Sure, mum. I'll keep that in_____.

A. mind;mind  B.heart;headC. brain; mind D.heart;brain

If you don’t want people to know too much about you, then you had better keep your fridge contents secret, according to a British market research document released last week.

Researchers peered (凝视) into the fridges of 400 people in Britain and compared the contents with the owners’ lifestyles. They claim to be able to classify the nation’s people by fridge contents.

They say those people can be separated into five categories：nutrition nerds (no social sense), food faddiest (whatever’s in style), martyr mums, fast food fanatics and restaurant regulars.

Nutrition nerds care much about what they put into their bodies. Their fridges are stocked with fruit, vegetables and healthy meat.

People in this category tend to be highly organized and usually work in law or accountancy. The vast majority is single, but if they have a partner, that person will be similar.

A fridge full of vitamins — enriched juices implies its owner works in media or fashion. They tend not to eat the foods they buy. Known as the food faddiest, they just want to be seen as purchasing the latest important things.

A fridge filled with everything from steak to frozen fish suggests the martyr mum. Her fridge tends to be stocked with every kind of product, except what she herself would want. This fridge hints at difficulty balancing family and work life.

Fast food fanatics always buy mineral water or soda pop. The nearest they will get to fresh fruit is tomato sauce. Their fridges hint at someone who works hard and plays hard, also, someone who is not into long term planning.

Finally, a fridge filled with nothing more than a bottle of white wine and some sparkling mineral water implies an owner who is single, lives in a big city and enjoys the finer things in life. The fridge is empty because this person regularly eats in restaurants.

1.What can we know from the first two paragraphs?

A．Some researchers are fond of staring at other people’s fridges.

B．People don’t want others to know about their secrets.

C．The food you put in the fridge has something to do with your personality.

D．There are mainly five kinds of lifestyles among British people.

2.According to the passage, people who belong to food faddiest_________.  

A．don’t care much about money when buying things

B．will try their best to stay healthy

C．often stay up late to finish their job

D．prefer to ask others about what to do next

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．“Nutrition nerds” are always organized and successful in their jobs.

B．“Food faddists” like to stock their fridges with all kinds of vitamins.

C．“Martyr mums” care themselves more than others.

D．“Fast food fanatics” usually do not stock their fridges with fresh fruit.

4.What will those who often dine out put in the fridge?

A．All kinds of food they like.                 B．Only something to drink.

C．Fruit, vegetables and meat.                D．Food rich in vitamins.

5.What is this passage mainly about?

A．What people store in their fridges.          B．Fridge contents and its owner’s secret.

C．What we should store in our fridges.         D．How to keep our fridge contents secret.