When my grandfather died, my 83-year-old grandmother, once so full of life, slowly began to fade. No longer able to manage a home of her own, she moved in with my mother, where she was visited often by other members of her large, loving family. Although she still had her good days, it was often hard to arouse her interest.
But one chilly December afternoon three years ago, my daughter Meagan, then eight, and I were visiting her, when she noticed that Meagan was carrying her favorite doll.
“I, too, had a special doll when I was a little girl,” she told a wide-eyed Meagan. “I got it one Christmas when I was about your age. I lived in an old farmhouse in Maine, with Mom, Dad and my four sisters, and the very first gift I opened that Christmas was the most beautiful doll you’d ever want to see.”
“She had an elegant, hand-painted face, and her long brown hair was pulled back with a big pink bow. Her eyes were blue, and they opened and closed. I remember she had a body of kidskin, and her arms and legs bent at the joints.”
GG’s voice dropped low, taking on an almost respectful tone. “My doll was dressed in a pretty pink gown, decorated with fine lace. … Getting such a fine doll was like a miracle for a little farm girl like me — my parents must have had to sacrifice so much to afford it. But how happy I was that morning!”
GG’s eyes filled and her voice shook with emotion as she recalled that Christmas of long ago. “I played with my doll all morning long. And then it happened. My mother called us to the dining room for Christmas dinner and I laid my new doll down gently on the hall table. But as I went to join the family at the table, I heard a loud crash.”
“I hardly had to turn around — I knew it was my precious doll. And it was. Her lace skirt had hung down from the table just enough for my baby sister to reach up and pull on it. When I ran in, there lay my beautiful doll on the floor, her face smashed into a dozen pieces. She was gone forever.”
A few years later, GG’s baby sister was also gone, she told Meagan, a victim of pneumonia(肺炎). Now the tears in her eyes spilled over — tears, I knew, not only for a lost doll and a lost sister, but for a lost time.
Silent for the rest of the visit, Meagan was no sooner in the car going home than she exclaimed, “Mom, I have a great idea! Let’s get GG a new doll for Christmas. Then she won’t cry when she thinks about it.”
My heart filled with pride as I listened to my sympathetic little daughter. But where would we find a doll to match GG’s fond memories?
Where there’s a will, as they say, there’s a way. When I told my best friends, Liz and Chris, about my problem, Liz put me in touch with a local doll-make. From a doll supply house I ordered a long brown hair and a kidskin body to copy the outfit GG had so lovingly described. Liz volunteered to put the doll together, and Chris helped me make the doll’s outfit. Meagan wrote the story of the lost doll by giving examples.
Finally our creation was finished. To our eyes it was perfect. But there was no way it could be exactly like the doll GG had loved so much and lost. Would she think it looked anything like it?
On Christmas Eve, Meagan and I carried our happily packed gift to GG, where she sat surrounded by children, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. “It’s for you,” Meagan said, “but first you have to read the story that goes with it.”
GG no sooner got through the first page than her voice cracked and she was unable to go on, but Meagan took over where she left off. Then it was time to open her present.
I’ll never forget the look on GG’s face as she lifted the doll and held it to her chest. Once again her tears fell, but this time they were tears of joy. Holding the doll in her frail arms, she repeated over and over again, “She’s exactly like my old doll, exactly like her.”
And perhaps she wasn’t saying that just to be kind. Perhaps however impossible it seemed, we had managed to produce a close copy of the doll she remembered. But as I watched my eight-year-old daughter and her great-grandmother examining the doll together, I thought of a likelier explanation. What GG really recognized, perhaps, was the love that inspired the gift. And love, wherever it comes from, always looks the same.
1.GG moved in with her daughter because____.
A．she wanted to live with a large family
B．she was not able to live on her own due to her weakness
C．her husband passed away
D．she thought it was the children’s obligation to take care of her
2.Why did GG become very emotional on a December afternoon?
A．Because she saw her great granddaughter’s doll.
B．Because she recalled her dead parents.
C．Because she was surrounded by her offspring.
D．Because she felt lonely during the Christmas season.
3.What can we infer from Paragraph 5?
A．GG’s doll was important and was a symbol of many things.
B．GG showed great respect for his husband’s love.
C．GG missed the great old days she spent with her family.
D．GG was grateful for her long life.
4.What happened to GG’s baby sister?
A．She envied her sister all her life.
B．She felt guilty for breaking GG’s doll and decided to go.
C．She left home at a young age.
D．She died of some disease at a young age.
5.Why did Meagan’s mum feel proud of her daughter?
A．Because she was clever. B．Because she was loving.
C．Because she was sensitive. D．Because she was imaginative.
6.The main idea of the passage is that ____.
A．treating the elderly well is moral
B．it is impossible to copy the exact doll for the elderly
C．love, the permanent rhythm of life, will always remain in the elderly’s heart
D．physical comfort from children rather than psychological care is important
Are you a compulsive spender, or do you hold on to your money as long as possible? Are you a bargain hunter? Would you rather use charge accounts than pay cash? Your answers to these questions will reflect your personality. According to psychologists, our individual money habits not only show our beliefs and values, but can also stem from past problems.
Experts in psychology believe that for many people, money is an important symbol of strength and influence. Husbands who complain about their wives’ spending habits may be afraid that they are losing power in their marriage. Wives, on the other hand, may waste huge amounts of money because they are angry at their husbands. In addition, many people consider money a symbol of love. They spend it on their family and friends to express love, or they buy themselves expensive presents because they need love.
People can be addicted to different things — for example, alcohol, drugs, certain foods, or even television. They are compulsive in their addictions, i.e. they must satisfy these needs to feel comfortable. In the same way, according to psychologists, compulsive spenders must spend money. For people who buy on credit, furthermore, charge accounts are even more exciting than money: in other words, they feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasures in spending enormous amounts are actually greater than those they get from the things they buy.
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game: when they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and the real reason.
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business: they consider people’s needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, etc. in their advertising and sales methods.
Psychologists often use a method called “behavior therapy(疗法)” to help individuals solve their personality problems. In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with money: they give them “assignments”. If a person buys something in every store that he enters, for instance, a therapist might teach him self-discipline in this way: on the first day of his therapy, he must go into a store, stay five minutes, and then leave. On the second day, he should stay for ten minutes and try something on. On the third day, he stays for fifteen minutes, asks the salesclerk a question, but does not buy anything. Soon he will learn that nothing bad will happen to him if he doesn’t buy anything, and he can solve the problem of his compulsive buying.
1.If you use charge accounts, ____.
A．you pay in cash B．you pay with credit card
C．you pay less than you should D．you pay more than you should
2.Compulsive bargain hunters buy things for all the following reasons except that ____.
A．the things they buy are cheap
B．they believe they can balance their budgets
C．they get psychological satisfaction
D．they really need the things they buy
3.Behavior therapy in this case aims at____.
A．helping businessmen to increase their business
B．helping compulsive spenders to buy less
C．finding out how people will react if they are allowed to buy
D．finding out what people will do in front of a bargain
4.The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 refers to ____.
A．different things B．their addictions
C．charge accounts D．their pleasures
5.From the passage we can conclude that ____.
A．how you spend money reveals if you are psychologically healthy
B．money is a necessity and will bring you happiness if you have much
C．compulsive buying problems can be solved by taking some medicine
D．all businessmen understand well the psychology of customers
New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Price: ￡28.00
Publication Date: 30/11/2006
Publisher’s description:
Collect Doyle’s fifty-six classic short stories, arranged in the order in which they appeared in late-nineteenth-and-early-twentieth-century book editions, in a set complemented by four novels, editor biographies of Doyle, Holmes, and Watson as well as literary and cultural details about Victorian society.
Breaking Ground by Daniel Libeskind
Price: ￡16.00
Publication Date:11/10/2006
Brief description:
This is a book about the adventure life that can offer each of us if we seize it, and about the powerful forces of tragedy, memory and hope. For Daniel Libeskind, life’s adventure has been through architecture, which he has found has the power to reshape human experience. Although often relating to the past, his buildings are about the future. This biology of one man’s journey brings together history, personal experience, our physical environment and a fresh international vision.
In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman
Price: ￡16.00
Publication Date:02/09/2006
Brief description:
On 11th September 2001, Art Spiegelman raced to the world Trade Center, not knowing if his daughter Nadja was alive or dead. Once she was found safe---in her school at the foot of the burning towers---he returned home, to mediate(反省) on the trauma(创伤), and to work on a comic strip(连环漫画). In the Shadow of No Towers is New Yorker Art Spiegelman’s extraordinary account of “the hijacking(劫机) on 9.11 and the following hijacking of those events” by America.
Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
Price: ￡14.00
Publication Date:07/10/2006
Publisher’s description:
This is the 11th novel by Anita Shreve, the critically accepted bestseller. A moving story of love and courage and tragedy and of the ways in which the human heart always seeks to heal itself.
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Price: ￡20.99
Publication Date:11/08/2006
Brief description:
Camping in the garden, riding bikes through the woods, climbing trees, picking wildflowers, running through piles of autumn leaves… these are the things childhood memories are made of. But for a whole generation of today’s children the pleasures of a free-range childhood are missing, and their indoor habits contribute to obesity, attention disorder and childhood depression. This book shows how our children have become increasingly distanced from nature, why this matters and how we can make a difference. Richard Louv is chairman of the Children and Nature Network and co-chair of the National Forum on Children and Nature. He is the author of seven other books and has written for newspapers and magazines including the New York Times and the Washington Post.
1.Who is the writer of the latest book published among the four books?
A．Arthur Conan Doyle B．Daniel Libeskind
C．Art Spiegelman D．Anita Shreve
2.If one wants to know something about Victorian society, he or she may read____.
A．Light on Snow B．In the Shadow of No Towers
C．Breaking Ground D．New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
3.Which of the following refers to tragedies?
A．Light on Snow ＆ Breaking Ground
B．Light on Snow ＆ In the Shadow of No Towers
C．In the Shadow of No Towers ＆ Breaking Ground
D．New Annotated Sherlock Holmes ＆ In the Shadow of No Towers
4.Which book is based on a real big event?
A．Breaking Ground B．In the Shadow of No Towers
C．Light on Snow D．Last Child in The Woods
5.Who has also written for newspapers and magazines according to the text?
A．Arthur Conan Doyle. B．Daniel Libeskind
C．Art Spiegelman D．Richard Louv
Skiping classes violates school rules and a poor attendance record will damage your final mark. But some college students still try every means to escape classes. The number of these rebels may be much bigger than you think. Three students from Anhui Normal University established Itaoke. Com in June. The website quickly attracted 2 000 registered members in three months. On the website, students share their experiences of skipping classes and even post ads to look for someone to stand in for them to attend courses. Its embarrassing for universities to see this shameful behavior discussed:
However，it's good for schools and teachers to know via the website the reasons why students skip classes，according to Professor Xiao Haitao from Shenzhen University: Xao pointed out that some`students skip classes because of laziness.Others play truant because the teaching is truly dissatisfactory,“Universities can seek improvements to give a cure to the class-skipping problem，”said Xiao.
Chen Yang，21，thinks that he is “forced" to skip some courses because of the poor teaching. the senior，majoring in English at Yangtze University, thinks that he's wasting time in the classroom when the teacher reads the textbook word for word or hands him outdated reading materials. He would rather skip classes to study in the library, watch online videos of Harvard or Yale lectures，or sit in on(旁听）other courses he is interested in. Chen draws a clear line between himself and those who skip classes in order to get more sleep or fool around on campus. He emphasized：“I skip classes with a clear goal，which is to probe into areas I'm interested in and broaden my horizons.”
Li Sicen，President of the National Taiwan University，seems to be on Chen's side. Li claimed that he supported those students who skip classes for good reasons.
However，Professor Xiao warns students that Li is not giving permission for students to skip classes. Xiao suggests that Li was just showing his understanding of truancy in a limited number of cases.
In Professor Pan Cuiqiong's opinion，students tend to jump to the conclusion that a certain course is boring and useless. "To clear students' misunderstanding，teachers should use materials closely related to students’lives and adapt interactive teaching methods，”said Pan.
Besides offering teachers more training，schools also need to give students different optional courses and ensure that they can attend the courses they are interested in，according to Professor Xiao. Many Chinese students have the experience of being kicked out of an optional course because its size is limited. They are then forced to choose courses they dislike and are likely to skip them. We may learn from Sydney University in Australia. There aren't any problems with numbers---if a course is popular then there will be more than one class per week.
1.The underlined word“rebels" in Paragraph 1 refers to
A．students who embarrass their universities
B．students who establish websites
C．students who skip classes
D．students who quarrel with their parents
2.Chen Yang Skips some courses because_ ___.
A．his school is more student-centered
B．he wants to get more sleep
C．he wants to fool around on campus
D．the teaching style needs much improvement
3.According to the passage，we learn that Professor Xiao__ __.
A．is giving permission for students to skip classes
B．thinks it's embarrassing for the three students to establish ltaoke. com
C．thinks the website will help to know why students skip classes
D．claimed that he supported those students who skip classes for good reasons
4.Which of the following measures is NOT mentioned to stop students skipping classes?
A．Teachers should adopt practical materials and flexible teaching methods.
B．Schools should offer teachers more training:
C．Schools need to ensure that students can attend various courses they are interested in.
D．Students should be punished if they skip classes.
A camp built by students and volunteers spreads over Southern Methodist University（SMU）. The affordable 21 are designed to be used by the poor as well as survivors of war and natural disasters.
“By the time 2020, there’s going to be about 1.7 billion people living in slums（贫民窟） so we would like to 22 change,” says Stephanie Hunt, co-founder of the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanities at SMU. The institute, which 23 build the village on SMU’s campus, was established to solve problem of the poor in the United States and around the world through engineering, and the free 24 .
The goal is not just to 25 lives, but to change the victims’ lives. The Institute hopes some entrepreneurs（企业家） might program and 26 some money with these ideas. One of the structures in the SMU village was built with bricks made 27 from recycled plastic bags.
They’re 28 together with heavy wires. Harvey Lacey, father of two college-aged sons, including one here at SUM, heard about this project and 29 his invention. It’s a heavy-duty, hand-crank compactor（手动压缩机）that anybody can use to form the big bricks he calls Ubuntu Blox.
“The advantages are that these 30 weigh less than two pounds. They’re very, very 31 These things can go for many generations of housing, ”says Lacey, who is 32 the design. Anybody can follow his online plans to 33 the compactor that turns plastic bags into bricks.
On this warm day, it’s 34 inside the Ubuntu Blox hut, thanks 35 to the thick plastic insulation（绝缘）. Kenyan 36 Ronald Omyonga, visiting the global village before returning to his native Africa, says his country is full of these recyclable bags. With Lacey’s design, he says that litter could be transformed into 37 housing. He dreams of other 38 too.
“Look at the Harvey Lacey hut, as a means of creating 39 ,”says Omyonga.“Leaning the environment, and turning 40 into something that can form houses, not just for the poor.”
1. A．shelters B．clubs C．parties D．rooms
2. A．affect B．adapt C．effect D．adopt
3. A．discovered B．helped C．studied D．explored
4. A．entry B．competition C．trade D．market
5. A．save B．survive C．defend D．cure
6. A．share B．donate C．earn D．cost
7. A．briefly B．relevantly C．mostly D．efficiently
8. A．held B．stressed C．knocked D．packed
9. A．delivered B．contributed C．devoted D．sacrificed
10. A．piles B．masses C．loaves D．blocks
11. A．fragile B．thick C．hard D．bitter
12. A．giving out B．giving off C．giving up D．giving away
13. A．build B．invent C．improve D．possess
14. A．hot B．cold C．wet D．cool
15. A．nearly B．exactly C．partly D．fairly
16. A．doctor B．athlete C．photographer D．architect
17. A．safe B．dangerous C．beautiful D．large
18. A．advantages B．chances C．benefits D．profits
19. A．things B．jobs C．wonders D．conditions
20. A．waste B．resources C．ideas D．technology
—What? You failed the driving test again!
—____?
A．So what B．How come C．Why not D．What for
