Dec. 24, 1848

Dear Johnston,

       Your request for eighty dollars, I do not think it best to satisfy now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said to me, “We can get along very well again,” but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. Now this can only happen by some fault in your behavior. What that fault is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an idler(游手好闲). I doubt whether since I saw you, you have done a good whole day’s work, in any other day. You do not very much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it does not seem to you that you could get much for it.

This habit of uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty; it is vastly important to you, and still more so to your children, that you should break this habit. It is more important to them, because they have longer to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it, easier than they can get out after they are in.

You are now in need of some ready money; and what I suggest is, that you shall go to work hard, for somebody who will give you money for it.

Let father and your boys take charge of your things at home-prepare for a crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best money wages, or to pay back any debt you owe. And to secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you that for every dollar you will, between this and the first of May, get for your own labor, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your work.

Now if you will do this, you will soon be out of debt, and what is better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. But if I should now clear you out, next year you will be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in Heaven for $ 70 or $80. Then you value your place in Heaven cheaply, for I am sure you can with the offer I make you get the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months’ work. You say if I furnish you the money you will deed(抵押) me the land, and if you don’t pay the money back, you will deliver possession-Nonsense! If you can’t now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not now mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eight time eighty dollars to you.

               Affectionately

  Your brother

   A. Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln wrote the letter to Johnston mainly to ________.

A. show his concern for him                 B. recommend him to save money

C. decline his request and motivate him              D. introduce him a new job

What’s the problem with Johnston, according to Lincoln?

A. He was very lazy.                                 B. He wasted time a lot.

C. He couldn’t get much from work.           D. He disliked working.

In the letter Lincoln suggested that Johnston should ________.

A. keep himself from getting into trouble    B. go to work hard for somebody

C. manage well the things at home             D. keep the children out of the idle habit

If Johnston got one dollar for his work, Lincoln promised to _________.

A. reward him with labor                           B. pay off his debt

C. hire him at 10 dollars a month                      D. give him another dollar

In order to get 80 dollars from Lincoln, Johnston promised to ________.

A. take away his place in Heaven                B. deed Lincoln the land

C. live without the land                                    D. do good work every day 

Many college-bound freshmen are worrying about more than just who their roommates will be this fall. They may also be nervous about the well-known fact that they are likely to gain weight this school year. Or will they? While many of us remember the extra weight that showed up right around the start of our college careers, we are not always clear on how much weight we realize gained or why.

Many nutrition experts and psychologists think that it is the change in environment and the stress of a new beginning that cause the typical college freshmen to gain extra pounds. As students start a new stage of their lives, many eat to deal with the stress of change or loneliness. Often, college students are making meals or choosing foods independently for the first time in their lives. If they live in the college dormitory, they have a wide variety of foods to select from that may be higher in calories and fatter than the foods they consumed living at home. In addition, college social events usually center around food. I clearly remember sitting in my dorm cafeteria for two or three hours on a Saturday morning socializing with my new friends. Instead of eating only one meal, we would start with breakfast, eat throughout the duration of our socializing, and finish with lunch. Food also makes an appearance after late-night parties, as part of a school day, or simply to break the monotony(单调 ).

So will this year's typical freshmen really gain 15 pounds? According to a 2006 Tufts University study, students enrolling in college this fall will gain weight, but maybe not the assumed 15 pounds. Based on the students surveyed, the study found that men can expect to gain an average of 6 pounds and women an average of 4.5 pounds during the freshman year.

According to the passage, it is obvious that __________.

A. the foods the freshmen had at home may be healthier than those in the dorm cafeteria

B. to break the monotony, the students should start with breakfast, and finish with lunch

C. the students should eat to deal with the stress of change or loneliness in new situations

D. the boys may gain less pounds than the girls during the first year in the college

Nutrition experts and psychologists think that __________.

A. students should get used to the stress of change through foods they had at home

B. the new environment and the stress have something to do with the students' extra pounds

C. students should know in what way they gain so much weight

D. choosing foods independently can make people lose weight naturally

From the writer's experience, the writer thinks that ____________.

A. foods in the dorm cafeteria are all higher in calories and fatter

B. the best way to break the monotony is through breakfast, lunch and supper

C. students in college will gain an average of about 5.25 pounds every fall

D. social events in the college are usually celebrated around food

This passage is mainly about ______________.

A how and why the freshmen gain extra pounds  

B. the experience of the freshmen in the college

C. the freshmen with trouble in a new environment

D. the views of the nutrition experts and psychologists about gaining weight

America, has always had people of many different nationalities and languages. The 1990 census (人口普查) indicates that almost 14% of Americans speak a non-English language at home. Yet only 3% reported that they spoke English “not well” or “not at all ”. That means that slightly more than one out of 10 Americans could be considered bilingual. Besides that, many high school and college students---and even some elementary school students---are required to take a foreign language. Actually, a growing number of Americans are coming to appreciate the benefits of using different languages.

    Ethnic enclaves (少数民族聚居地) have preserved the language and culture of American immigrants. Some local residents can function quite well in their native language, without having to bother learning English. Regions such as southern Florida and the Southwest have numerous Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. In fact, Spanish speakers---numbering over 17 million---form the largest non-English linguistic group in America. But Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish and many other ethnic group add to the linguistic flavor of America. Foreign languages are so commonly used in some ethnic neighborhoods that visitors might think they are in another country!

    Although some Americans welcome this linguistic and cultural diversity, others have begun to fear that the English language is being threatened. Since the 1980s, the “English Only ” movement has sought to promote legislation (立法) which would establish English as the “official language” and restrict the use of non-English language. However, some groups, including TESOL, the organization for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other language, object to such “language restrictionism”. But so far, 19 states have passed “English Only” legislation, and the topic is the focus of an ongoing debate.

Whether or not English is the official language of the United States, it remains the “language of wider communication”. Nearly everyone recognizes the need to develop the ability in using English in order to do well in America. American also recognize that English is the international language, and people with good English skills can get by in many international settings. On the other hand, in a world growing increasingly smaller, second language skills can be a great favor. They can build cross-cultural bridges and give people an edge in a variety of career field. Indeed, lack of foreign language skill can limit one’s chances for advancement and keep one in a cultural dead-end street. 

Ethnic groups have preserved their native languages because ______.

       A. their native languages are commonly used in their neighborhoods

       B. ethnic groups are not allowed to speak English

       C. ethnic groups can do very well in their native languages

       D. ethnic groups don’t allow their natives to learn English

The underlined word “bilingual” in paragraph 1 probably means ______.

       A. being able to speak two languages    B. being able to speak one language

       C. being able to speak different languages    D. being able to speak many foreign languages

Which of the following is TRUE about “English Only” movement?

       A. Its purpose was to establish a legislation of restricting the use of English.

       B. TESOL was in favor of “English Only ” by objecting to “English plus”.

       C. It was launched because English was being threatened.

       D. A large majority of American states support the movement.

What can be the best title of this passage?

       A. The English Only Movement        B. Learn to speak English

       C. English---an International Language D. Being Bilingual

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