E                          
A letter to Edward, a columnist (报刊专栏作家)
Dear Mr. Expert:
I grew up in an unhappy home. I always promised myself that I’d get out as soon as possible. Now, at the age of 20, I have a good job and a nice house, and I’m really proud of the independence I’ve achieved.
Here’s the problem: several of my friends who still live with their parents wish they had places like mine so much that they make mine theirs.
It started out with a couple of them spending the weekends with me. But now they seem to take it for granted that they can show up any time they like. They bring boyfriends over, talk on the phone and stay out forever.
I enjoy having my friends here sometimes — it makes the place feel comfortable and warm — but this is my home, not a party house. I was old enough to move out on my own, so why can’t I seem to ask my friends to respect my privacy(隐私)?
Joan Edward’s reply to Joan
Dear Joan:
If your family didn’t pay attention to your needs when you were a child, you probably have trouble letting others know your needs now.
And if you’ve gathered your friends around you to rebuild a happy family atmosphere, you may fear that saying no will bring back the kind of conflict you grew up with— or destroy the nice atmosphere you now enjoy. You need to understand that in true friendship it’s okay to put your own needs first from time to time.
Be clear about the message you want to send. For example, “I really love your company but I also need some privacy. So please call before you come over.”
Edward
73. We can learn from the first letter that Joan      .
A. lives away from her parents          B. takes pride in her friends
C. knows Mr. Expert quite well         D. hates her parents very much
74.We can infer from the first letter that       .
A. Joan considers her friends more important than her privacy
B. Joan’s friends visit her more often than she can accept
C. Joan doesn’t like the parties at all
D. Joan dislikes the boyfriends her friends bring over
75. According to Mr. Expert, why can’t Joan tell her friends her feelings?
A. She likes her friends very much              B. She does not understand true friendship.
C. Her family experience stops her from doing so.   D. She does not put her needs first.

E

A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute” someone might say, “are you talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”

The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two weeks to prepare, a period I spent searching for briefcase (公文包) and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class. I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.

I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.

“All right then,” I said. “Okey, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit at the edge of the desk, overlooking a forest of hands. Every student would yell. “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. Once at a time, once at a time!”

A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I inspected the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.

1.The author took the job to teach writing because ______.

A．he had written some stories               B．he wanted to be expected

C．he wanted to please his father             D．he had dreamed of being a teacher

2.Before he started his class, the author asked the students to ______.

A．write down their suggestions on the paper cards

B．cut maple leaves out of the construction paper

C．cut some cards out of the construction paper

D．write down their names on the paper cards

3.What did the students do when the author started his class?

A．They began to talk.                      B．They stayed silent.

C．They raised their hands.                  D．They shouted to be heard.

4.The author chose the composition topic probably because ______.

A．he got disappointed with his first class        B．he had prepared the topic before class

C．he wanted to calm down the students        D．he thought it was an easy topic

E

Abby Subark is a mother of two from Boston. “For my kids, I’m nervous. I don’t know if they’ll be able to achieve their American dream.” She may be right. More than hard work or education, the best way to get rich in America is to be born rich.

It is the case that somebody who is in the upper third of income, poor scores, in the bottom on tests when they are in eighth grade, is more likely to go to college and finish college than a poor kid with the top scores. That’s what the working persons’ children are faced with.

The Economic Policy Institute finds it would take a poor couple with 2 children 9 or 10 generations to achieve middle class status. That’s about 200 years. The typical feature of American opportunity has always been the ability to do better than your parents. But compared with similar developed countries, the United States ranks fifth out of six for so-called intergenerational mobility (变动).

If you look at the mechanisms (机制) for upward mobility that were so readily available 50 years ago, they are becoming out of reach, like plentiful factory jobs with good wages and affordable education and health care.

White families are twice as likely as blacks to be upwardly mobile. For most people in America today, where you end up depends on where you start.

If you started in the middle-income class, about 40 to 45 percent of what you are making right now is due to the fact that your parents were in the middle-income class. The rest is up to you.

But for the millions of people who find themselves below the poverty line and the millions more who are the working poor, their starting point for the American dream leaves them painfully far away from the middle class.

71. The main idea of the passage is _______.

A. How the middle class comes about in the U.S.

B. It’s hard to realize the American dream for the poor.

C. Wealth and social status depend on family background.

D. Upward mobility in America is never easy.

Which of the statements is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A. People used to have job opportunities and welfare for upward mobility.

B. A great many poor people can hardly realize their American dream.

C. You can make all your dreams come true in America if born rich.

D. Rich kids are more likely to go to college than poor kids.

73. The underlined sentence “where you end up depends on where you start” most probably means _______.

A. Your starting point cannot determine your destination.

B. Only a high goal can ensure success.

C. One’s birth has nothing to do with his fate.

D. One’s family lays solid foundation for his future achievements.

Why is Abby Subark nervous?

A. Her kids don’t want to compare with other rich kids in achievements.

B. Her kids don’t want to achieve success at all.

C. Her kids can achieve success through hard work and education.

D. Her kids can’t reach their goal without a rich family.

What can we infer after reading the passage?

A. Poverty causes people much pain.

B. People below the poverty line can never be in the middle class.

C. Lower starting point makes it hard for people to realize their dream.

D. Poor people’s starting point is too low.

E

       On Christmas Eve a few years ago an English couple（夫妇） received a very special telephone call．It was only a 20-second call but it was very important．The Haydens’ 15-year-old daughter had disappeared six months before．On Christmas Eve she rang them．“I’m phoning to wish a happy Christmas,” she said, “I love you．”

       Ronals and Edwine Hayden were so happy that they started a special telephone service called “Alive and Well”．The service helps parents to get in touch with children who have run away from home．

       Young people can phone “Alive and Well” and leave a message for their parents．The telephones are answered by answering machines．So no one can speak to the child of making him return home．

       Parents of runaway children who are under eighteen can ask the police to bring their children home, so children do not want to tell their parents where they are．Through “Alive and Well” they can telephone their parents without worrying about this or giving out their addresses．

       The Haydens and their helpers write down the tape recorded telephone messages and connect the address given．Many of the 30,000 British teenagers who have left home are probably in London．For only two pence they can go into a telephone coin box and call their parents．They can dial（拨） 5675339 and stop a parent’s worry: Is he dead or alive?

72．The Haydens’ daughter rang her parents         ．

       A．because she knew she had done something wrong     

       B．in order to give them her address

     C．to say she was coming home soon    

       D．in order to comfort her worried parents

73．If you ring “Alive and Well ”,        ．

       A．you will get the information you want

       B．your message will be passed over to your parents

     C．your information will be kept a secret            

       D．your parents will know where you are

74．Which of the following is NOT true?

       A．The Haydens received an “Alive and Well” call from their daughter before Christmas．

     B．An “Alive and Well” call usually costs only two pence because it is quite near and short．

     C．In this text at least 30,000 British teenagers don’t want to live with their parents．

     D．The “Alive and Well” call is far less important than the message it sends．

75．Through “Alive and Well”, parents of runaway children         ．

     A．often fail to persuade their children to return home

     B．know nothing from their children to return home

     C．can say nothing to their children

     D．can ask the police to help them to find lost children

E

I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke（唤起） an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.

Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than “broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “limited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions（认识）of the limited English speaker.

I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is ,because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.

I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with: the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken”, and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal（内在的） language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence（本质）, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure: I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show; her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.

57. By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______.

A. she uses English in foreign trade             B. she is fascinated by languages

C. she works as a translator                        D. she is a writer by profession

58. The author used to think of her mother’s English as ______.

A. impolite           B. amusing           C. imperfect          D. practical

59. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. Americans do not understand broken English.

B. The author’s mother was not respected sometimes.

C. The author’ mother had positive influence on her.

D. Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts.

60. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English.

B. The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother.

C. The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English.

D. The author’s experiences of using broken English.