Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific purpose in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.
When I was a kid in the New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not the desperate steeplechases（障碍赛跑） they have become today. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother—the same house my father was raised in, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.
The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, different from all the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.
Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to consider that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association. In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else’s home on Sunday.
But now the question is, “What do you plan to DO this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall to participating in a road race to jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such an answer would feel sepia-toned, an echo from another era.
I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants of the ethic of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries（反复无常的情况）and a challenging environment.
【小题1】The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when _______.

Botany, the study of plants, occupies a special position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest (含糊的) of insight. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, eyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognized accurately hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of knowledge at all.
Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer productions the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture; cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the built up knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relationship with plants in the wild would begin fade away.
1. Which of the following statements about early humans is expressed in the passage?
A. They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.    
B. They thought there was no need to cultivate crops.     
C. They did not enjoy the study of botany.      
D. They placed great importance on the ownership of property.
2. What does the comment “This is logical.” In the first paragraph mean?
A. There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor’s knowledge of plants.           
B. It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.
C. It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in pre-industrial societies.       
D. Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.
3. According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany begun to fade?
A. People no longer value plants as a useful resource.       
B. Botany is not recognized as a special branch of science.
C. Research is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of plants.
D. Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.
4. In the second paragraph, what is the author’s purpose in mentioning “ a rose, an apple, or an orchid”?
A. To make the passage more poetic.
B. To give an example of plant that are attractive.
C. To give botanical examples that all readers will recognize.
D. To explain the variety of botanical life.
5. According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the practice of agriculture?
A. The invention of agricultural tools and machinery.       
B. The development of a system of names for plants.
C. The discovery of grasses that could be harvested and replanted.         
D. The changing diets of early humans.   

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 _______.

Singing had always been an important part of Gloria Estefan’s life. “Since I was three years old, I sang. I sang everything,” Gloria said. “Cubans,” she added, “are a musical people”.
Gloria was born in Cuba in 1957. Her family left the country just before Fidel Castro came to power. In Miami, where the family settled, many people did not accept Cuban immigrants. In first grade, she spoke little English, but she worked hard to learn the language. Six months after she entered school, she won an award for reading in English!
When Gloria was ten, her father returned from the Vietnam War. Soon, the family realized he wasn’t well. They soon found out that he was badly ill. Her mother went back to teaching at school to support the family. Gloria cared for her father and her younger sister.
She still made the honor roll, and she still had her music, but Gloria was lonely. However, when the band leader Emilio Estefan came to speak at her high school, Gloria sang for him. He asked her to join his band. It was the beginning of the Miami Sound Machine.
Within a few months, the Miami Sound Machine was the top band in Miami. In 1978 Gloria and Emilio married.
At first, the Miami Sound Machine was known only in Miami. Then the band signed with CBS Records. Estefan and his band became stars.
Since then, the Miami Sound Machine has sold millions of records. Gloria has done more than just singing when Hurricane Andrew hit central Florida in 1992. She used only two weeks to organize an all-star concert that raised $2 million for the people who suffered in the hurricane. “We needed a party after that disaster,” she said.
Gloria said, “You have to stay true to the music you really love to do. There will always be people who will tell you, ‘that won’t work.’ You’ve got to be firm in spite of difficulties. Stick to it—that’s the main thing.”
【小题1】Gloria’s father was ill        .

A group of travelers were having dinner in a restaurant .While they were eating fish, they began to tell stories about finding valuable stones inside fish .
An old man ,who had listened to their conversation quietly ,said at last ,”Now I’m going to tell you a true story of my own .When I was young ,I worked in a large company in London .As is usual with other young people ,I fell in love with a pretty girl .Soon we were engaged .Two months before our marriage ,I was suddenly sent to Edinburgh on business .My stay was a bit longer than I had expected .At last my work was done and I left for home .Before I left Edinburgh , I bought a nice diamond ring for my sweet-heart .On my way to London ,I was looking through a newspaper .It was then that I learned of my sweet-heart’s getting married to another man. I was so sad that I threw the diamond ring into the water. A few days later, when I was eating fish ,I bit on something very hard .What do you think it was?
“The diamond ring ,” shouted his friends . “No,” said the old man sadly ,It was a fish bone.
【小题1】The young man bought a diamond ring ______