I am beginning to wonder whether my grandmother isn’t right when she complains, as she frequently does, that children nowadays aren’t as well-behaved as they used to be. Whenever she gets the opportunity, she recounts in detail how she used to be told to respect the elders and betters. She was taught to speak only when she was spoken to, and when she went out on her own, she was reminded to say 'please' and 'thank you'. Children in her day, she continues, were expected to be seen and not heard, but these days you are lucky if you ever hear parents telling their children to mind their p’s and q’s.

       If you give her the chance, she then takes out of her drawer the old photograph album which she keeps there, and which she never tires of displaying. Of course when you look at pictures of her parents, you feel sure that, with a father as stern-looking as that, you too would have been "seen and not heard". He had a lot of neatly cut hair, long side-whiskers and a big moustache. In the photographs, he is always clutching (抓住) his coat with one hand, while in the other he holds a thin walking stick. Beside him sits his wife, with their children around her: Granny and her elder brothers. It always occurs to me that perhaps those long, stiff, black clothes were so clumsy to a little girl, that she hadn’t enough breath left to be talkative, let alone mischievous (淘气的). It must have been a dull and lonely life too, for she stayed mainly at home during her childhood, while her brothers were sent away to school from an early age. Despite their long black shorts and their serious expressions in the photographs, I always suspect that their lives were considerably more enjoyable than hers. One can imagine them telling each other to shut up or mind their own business, as soon as their parents were out of sight.

       Going to see Granny on Sundays used to be a terrible experience. We would always be warned in advance to be on our best behavior, since my mother made a great effort to show how well brought up we were, in spite of our old, comfortable clothes, our incomprehensible (to Granny) slang, and our noisy games in the garden. We had to change into what Granny described as our "Sundays best" for lunch, when we would sit uncomfortably, kicking each other under the table. We were continually being ordered to sit up straight, to take our elbows off the table, to wait till everybody had been served, not to wolf down our food, nor to talk with our mouths full. At length we would be told to ask to be excused from the table and ordered to find quiet occupations for the rest of the day. We were always very bad-tempered by the evening, and would complain angrily all the way home.

       Yet though we hated the Sunday visit, we never questioned the rules of good manners themselves. I remember being greatly shocked as a child to hear one of my friends telling her father to shut up. I knew I could never have spoken like that to my father and it would never have occurred to me to do so.

       However, my childhood was much freer than Granny’s. I went to school with my brother and I played football with him and his friends. We all spoke a common language, and we got up to the same mischief. I would have died if I had had to stay indoors, wear a tight dress, and sew.

       But I do sometimes look wistfully (惆怅地) at an old sampler which hangs in the hall, which was embroidered (刺绣) by an even more distant relative—my great-great-aunt, of whom, regrettably, no photograph remains. It was done as an example of her progress in learning. The alphabet is carefully sewn in large colored childish letters from A to Z, and below it a small verse reads:

                     Mary Saunders is my name,

                     And with my needle I worked the same,

                     That by it you may plainly see

                     What care my parents have for me.

       It must have taken that little five-year-old months and months of laborious sewing, but, in a circle in a bottom corner of the sampler, there is a line: "Be Ever Happy".

50. The writer’s grandmother will complain that ______.

  A. children used to be mischievous

  B. children behave worse than they did in the past

  C. children are often reminded of what to do

  D. children are very badly behaved

51.Visiting Granny on Sundays was a terrible experience because ______.

  A. the writer was not so well raised as she was required to pretend

  B. Granny continually warned the writer to be on her best behavior

  C. Granny was always describing the writer’s "Sunday best"

  D. the writer was always blamed for not behaving well

52. From Paragraph 4, we can infer that the writer ______.

  A. seldom spoke to her father in the way her friend did

  B. was never questioned about the rules of good manners

  C. never doubted the value of the strict rules at that time

  D. was worried that her friend’s father would be shocked

53. The writer looked wistfully at the sampler, because______.

  A. it was embroidered by a relative.

  B. she wished she could sew herself.

  C. it called to mind the values of good old days.

  D. she had no photographs of Mary Saunders.

54. By sewing "Be Ever Happy" in the sampler, Mary Saunders ______. 

  A. suggested she was unhappy then

  B. indicated happiness was hard to gain

  C. expected we would find happiness in sewing

  D. hoped happiness would be everlasting

    Then why am I able to write about computers? I can write on this subject because of these shortcomings. The last two years of learning have been a hard test for me. By hard work I have managed to learn enough to use computers fairly well, and to work with people who know a great deal more than I. Since I have learned all this at such personal cost, I would like to share my knowledge with others. More and more people want to know about computers, and want to know quickly.

    The best way to learn is to take a course. However, many people do not have the time for this. They will have to find some other way to get some basic information. I hope to be able to help them by writing about some of the things I have learned myself.

    I have a home computer on which I’ve learned in my own time. I have used it like a home study course. I have sat down with it day after day, night after night. I have forced it to give up some of its secrets. Now I can use it to do some of the work that I get paid for. And I can do this work in my own home, instead of in an office. Many people may soon be working in a computer at home, just as many now take in other people’s typing.

    Some things about computers are easier than you may fear. First computers are logical. Things that at first seem difficult will make sense to you after you learn the rules. Second, it is really not hard to learn enough to use today’s machines. You do not need to be a great brain. But you do have to learn to think in new ways. And you do have to keep a good bit of information in your head. Finally, there are many people around who are really enthusiastic (热心的) about computer. These people are always happy to be of help.

1．The purpose of the passage is to convince readers that, by studying computers at home, people can become ________.

A．computer experts

B．writers about computers

C．computer scientists

D．skilled users of computers

2．According to the passage, a home computer can best be described as ________.

A．puzzling

B．secret

C．logical

D．difficult

3. You can conclude that the author thinks that if a person took a computer course, that person would learn ________.

A．very quickly

B．as much as the author’s co-workers

C．to think like a computer

D．about computers the easy way

4．According to the passage, a computer can be used to help you ________.

A．take special courses in science

B．take in other people’s typing

C．get other people’s secrets

D．do your work at home

    I am a computer expert. I have been in the field for only a short time. I never learned much in the way of science or math. And I am quite puzzled by things like engineering or electronics.

    Then why am I able to write about computers? I can write on this subject because of these shortcomings. The last two years of learning have been a hard test for me. By hard work I have managed to learn enough to use computers fairly well, and to work with people who know a great deal more than I. Since I have learned all this at such personal cost, I would like to share my knowledge with others. More and more people want to know about computers, and want to know quickly.

    The best way to learn is to take a course. However, many people do not have the time for this. They will have to find some other way to get some basic information. I hope to be able to help them by writing about some of the things I have learned myself.

    I have a home computer on which I’ve learned in my own time. I have used it like a home study course. I have sat down with it day after day, night after night. I have forced it to give up some of its secrets. Now I can use it to do some of the work that I get paid for. And I can do this work in my own home, instead of in an office. Many people may soon be working in a computer at home, just as many now take in other people’s typing.

    Some things about computers are easier than you may fear. First computers are logical. Things that at first seem difficult will make sense to you after you learn the rules. Second, it is really not hard to learn enough to use today’s machines. You do not need to be a great brain. But you do have to learn to think in new ways. And you do have to keep a good bit of information in your head. Finally, there are many people around who are really enthusiastic (热心的) about computer. These people are always happy to be of help.

1．The purpose of the passage is to convince readers that, by studying computers at home, people can become ________.

A．computer experts

B．writers about computers

C．computer scientists

D．skilled users of computers

2．According to the passage, a home computer can best be described as ________.

A．puzzling

B．secret

C．logical

D．difficult

3. You can conclude that the author thinks that if a person took a computer course, that person would learn ________.

A．very quickly

B．as much as the author’s co-workers

C．to think like a computer

D．about computers the easy way

4．According to the passage, a computer can be used to help you ________.

A．take special courses in science

B．take in other people’s typing

C．get other people’s secrets

D．do your work at home

Looking back on my childhood, I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental math.

Before World War I we spent out summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim(模糊的)memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys, Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.

I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into various investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries.Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research.

But curiosity, a keen eye ,a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist: one of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack, A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds.

1.According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be      

A. full of ambition               B. self-disciplined               C. full of enthusiasm D. knowledgeable

2.The first paragraph tells us that the author     

A. lost his hearing when he was a child                        

B. didn’t like his brothers and sisters

C. was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood           

D. was born to a naturalist’s family

3.The author says that his a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he     

A. just reads about other people’s observations and discoveries

B. lacks some of the qualities required of scientist

C. has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic

D. comes up with solutions in most natural ways.

4.The author can’t remember his clearly because     

A. He didn’t live very long with them                   B. He was too young when he lived with them

C. The family was extremely large                        D. He was fully occupied with observing nature

5.Which of the following statements is true?

A. The author believes that a born naturalist cannot be a scientist

B. The author read a lot of books about the natural world and oil industry

C. The author’s brothers and sisters were good at music and languages

D. The author spent a lot of time working on riddles.

Looking back on my childhood. I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental maths.     

Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.  

I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together .This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books. Which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research.  

But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist? One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds. 

1.According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be _____           

A. full of ambition               B. self-disciplined

C. full of enthusiasm           D. knowledgeable 

2.The first paragraph tells us that the author _____

A. lost his hearing when he was a child

B. didn’t like his brothers and sisters

C. was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood

D. was born to a naturalist’s family

3.The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he __     . 

A. just reads about other people observations and discoveries.

B. Lacks some of the qualities required of scientist.

C. Has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic.

D. Come up with solutions in most natural ways.

4.The author can’t remember him relatives clearly because__

A. He didn’t live very long with them

B. He was too young when he lived with them.

C. The family was extremely large.

D. He was fully occupied with observing nature.

5.Which of the following statements is true?

A. The author believes that a born naturalist cannot be scientist. 

B. The author read a lot of books about the natural world and oil industry

C. The author’s brothers and sisters were good at music and languages.

D. The author spent a lot of time working on riddles.