I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the American society until I was injured in a car accident. After the accident, I had to see a doctor and go to court. When the accident happened, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and decided to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He said he had good reason to charge me and that if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me to find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.

But every time I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report only contained ten lines, and it cost me $215.

My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to fire him. And he made me pay him $770.

Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Because of my inexperience, I told the insurance the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time … and I left without getting a cent.

My experiences taught me two things about America: firstly, in a country like America, money is everything. It is more important than friendship, honor or professional morality; secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated. So when we talk about America, we should see both its advantages and disadvantages.

1. The author’s roommate offered to help him because ________.

A．he felt sorry for the author.

B．he thought it was a chance to make some money

C．he knew the doctor was a very good one

D．he wanted the author to have a good lawyer

2. A good lawyer is important for the author to _______.

A．be properly treated

B．talk with the person responsible for the accident

C．recover before he leaves America

D．eventually get the responsible party to pay for his injury

3. Which of the following statements is wrong according to the passage?

A．The author has learned a lot through the experience.

B．Everything about America is advantageous.

C．The author’s roommate helped him but charged for that.

D．The author’s final examination report only contained ten lines but cost $215.

4. What conclusion can you draw from this story?

A．Going to court is something very common in America.

B．One must be very careful while driving a car.

C．There are more disadvantages in America than advantages.

D．Money is more important than other things in the US.

America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.

Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.

Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.

For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!

1.The writer of this passage must be ______.

A. an American          B. a Chinese    C. a professor      D. a student

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.

B. Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives.

C. Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy.

D. Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break.

3.From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.

A. warmly welcomed at the airport     

B. offered a ride to his home

C. treated hospitably at his home       

D. treated to dinner in a restaurant

4. The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.

A. strict with time    B. willing to spend time

C. careful with time    D. serious with time

5.A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.

A. Friendships between Chinese   

B. Friendships between Americans

C. Americans’ hospitality        

D. Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendship

Who are these people rushing by you in the street? More than 215 million people now call America “home’’, but most of them can trace their families back to other parts of the world. If you look at the names on shop windows, you will see that Americans come from many different lands. The idea that these people, who once were strangers to the United States, have lost the customs and cultures of their original countries and have become “American’’is really not true. In fact, what exists in America is more often a kind of “side-by-side”, living in which groups of people from other countries often have kept many of their customs and habits. They join the general American society only in certain areas of their lives—such as in schools, business, and sports-but they keep many of their own native customs and manners socially and at home. This living “side-by-side” has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it may cause disagreements to develop between groups whose ways of life are very different from one another. However, there are also great advantages that come from the variety of cultures brought by settlers from other lands. There is great freedom of choice among ideas and dress, food, and social customs in America. Everyone can find some part of his or her familiar world in the United States, in Churches, music, food, national groups, or newspapers.

1.More than 215 million people call America “home” because          .

A. they buy their houses there   B. they settle there now

C. they get married there       D. they were born there

2.“Side-by-side” living style means        .

A. making friends with native people

B. the groups of people who live nearby

C. keeping their own customs while sharing American ones in certain areas

D. that they get closer to American society

3.According to the passage, people in the USA       .

A. share American customs and culture

B. 1ive in a kind of “side-by-side'' society

C. keep their own customs and habits firmly

D. make no choice to accept American customs

4.Which of the following statements is true?

A. They always stick to their own customs and habits.

B. “Side—by—side’’living style is not suitable.

C. They face the society they are not familiar with.

D. The advantages coming from the variety of cultures make life in America colorful.

5.Which title of the following can best take the place of “Different Cultures in America”?

A. Advantages and Disadvantages.    

B. Different Customs and Habits.

C. Home for the People            

D. “Side—by—side”Living Style in America.

Popular music in America is what every student likes.Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch.Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.

Adult drivers listen to the car radio as they drive to work.They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people.Most of the radio programmes are music.

Pop or popular music singers make much money.They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places.Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes.Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer.Wherever the singer goes , all the young people want to meet him or her.Now the singer has became a national star.

There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans.One is called folk music.It tells stories about the common life of Americans.Another is called western or country music.This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows when they were watching.Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.

1.________  kinds of music are mentioned in the passage?

A．Two              B．Four             C．Three            D．Five

2.When pop singers _________, they will become national stars.

A．make much money                      B．make a CD or tape

C．are loved by all the young people           D．are wanted to sing on the radio

3.From the passage we know that country music is about ________

A．common life about Americans              B．country life and love story

C．life of cowboys                         D．school life in America

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

A．Most students in America like popular music

B．Students with cars in America like to listen to music while driving

C．Adult drivers in America listen to music all the time while driving.

D．Everyone in America wants to meet pop sing

The Basics of Math—Made Clear
Basic Math introduces students to the basic concepts of mathematics, as well as the fundamentals of more tricky areas. These 30 fantastic lectures are designed to provide students with an understanding of arithmetic and to prepare them for Algebra(代数) and beyond.
The lessons in Basic Math cover every basic aspect of arithmetic. They also look into exponents(指数), the order of operations, and square roots. In addition to learning how to perform various mathematical operations, students discover why these operations work, how a particular mathematical topic relates to other branches of mathematics, and how these operations can be used practically.
Basic Math starts from the relatively easier concepts and gradually moves on to the more troublesome ones, so as to allow for steady and sure understanding of the material by students. The lectures offer students the chance to “make sense” of mathematical knowledge that may have seemed so frightening. They also help students prepare for college mathematics and overcome their anxiety about this amazing—and completely understandable—field of study.
By the conclusion of the course, students will have improved their understanding of basic math. They will be able to clear away the mystery(神秘性) of mathematics and face their studies with more confidence than they ever imagined. In addition, they will strengthen their ability to accept new and exciting mathematical challenges.
Professor H. Siegel, honored by Kentucky Educational Television as “the best math teacher in America,” is a devoted teacher and has a gift for explaining mathematical concepts in ways that make them seem clear and obvious. From the basic concrete ideas to the more abstract problems, he is master in making math lectures learner-friendlier and less scary.
With a PhD in Mathematics Education from Georgia State University, Dr. Siegel teaches mathematics at Central Arizona College. His courses include various make-up classes and a number of lectures for future primary school teachers.
If the course fails to provide complete satisfaction to you, you can easily exchange it for any other course that we offer. Or you can get your money back.
【小题1】What does the course Basic Math mainly cover?