Ever since I graduated from high school I’ve worked in the factories surrounding my hometown every summer. However, making the transformation between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any easier. For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be unacceptable, getting to a factory by 6 o’clock each morning is suffering. My friends never seem to understand why I’m so relieved to be back at school or that my summer vacation has been anything but a vacation.
There’re few people as self-confident as a college student who has never been out in the real world. People of my age always seem to overestimate the value of their time and knowledge. In fact, all the classes did not prepare me for my battles with the machine I ran in the plant, which would jam whenever I absent-mindedly put in a part backward or upside down.
The most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear overnight. Issues like downsizing(裁员) and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers told me that the unit I was working in would shut down within six months and move to Mexico, where people would work for 60 cents an hour.
After working 12-hour shifts(轮班) in a factory, the other options lave become only too clear. “This job pays well, but it’s hell on the body,” said one co-worker. “Study hard and keep reading.” she added. When I’m back at the university, skipping classes and turning in lazy re-writes seems too irresponsible after seeing what I would be doing without school. All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound stale(陈腐的) now ring true.
My experiences in the factories have inspired me to make the most of my college years before I enter the real world for good.
1.What does the author think of his summer holiday?
A.It was no holiday for him at all.
B.It brought him nothing but suffering.
C.It was a relief from his hard work at school.
D.It offered him a chance to make more friends.
2.What can we infer about most college students?
A.They do better in the real world.
B.They are confident when they work.
C.They think too highly of themselves.
D.They are expert at handling machines.
3.The biggest pressure for blue-collar workers lies in the lack of ________.
A.a satisfactory income B.job security
C.a stable location D.enough break
4.How did the working experiences change the author?
A.He became responsible for his work.
B.He learned to be more practical at work.
C.He began to respect blue-collar workers.
D.He came to appreciate his college education.
Recent findings have shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception(感知) of the food in front of us. A new study suggested that our short-term memory may also play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people’s hunger levels were predicted not by how much they’d eaten but rather by how much food they’d seen in front of them—in other words, how much they remembered eating.
This difference suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol.
“Hunger isn’t controlled merely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal.” Brunstrom says. “This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought.”
These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body’s response to the food itself. In a 2016 study, for instance, people who drank the same 380 calorie milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones(荷尔蒙), depending on whether the shake’s label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more fill when they thought they’d consumed a higher-caloric shake.
1.What affects our appetite according to the new study?
A.How much we remember eating.
B.What time we eat our last meal.
C.How much we eat our last meal.
D.What ingredients the food contains.
2.The underlined word “echo” in the last paragraph can be best replaced by ________.
A.indicate B.reflect
C.are supported by D.are improved by
3.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Good eating habits contribute to our health.
B.Eating speed often affects our food digestion.
C.Psychological factors influence our hunger levels.
D.Our biological need for energy determines our food intake.
The family had four daughters who were all in the same school in different grades. The youngest, Janice, who was in my class, seemed to be glued to her mother’s skirt. The three older girls took the bus to school every morning, but Janice was always driven to school by her mother.
One Friday, Janice’s mother came to the school and had a talk with me. She said in a soft voice, “My husband is going to Europe on business for two weeks, and he insists that I go with him. I have tried to explain over and over that Janice needs me here. But he thinks that she will be fine without me so I have no choice, I have to go. I have told the babysitter to drive her every morning. Will you please give Janice special attention and help her? I want to be sure everything goes well for her.”
I told her that we would make every effort to support Janice. I even volunteered to meet Janice at her car so she would see a familiar face. As a mother myself, I’d like to help. Janice’s mother thanked me for our understanding.
On Monday morning, expecting a tearful, anxious child, I planned a special program of fun and games. I waited outside to greet Janice, but just then the bus arrived and not three, but four girls got off. Janice skipped along joyfully, saying “goodbye” to her sisters as she ran with two friends into the classroom and called Janice over to ask how the bus ride went. Impatiently she said, “Oh, I always want to take the bus with the other kids, but Mother needs to be with me. You see there won’t be any more babies, so I have to be a baby a little longer. While she is away, I’ll just ride the bus every day. I am five, you know.”
1.Janice’s mother came to the school to ________.
A.say goodbye B.find fault
C.ask for a favor D.seek a sympathetic ear
2.How did Janice feel on Monday morning?
A.Curious. B.Delighted.
C.Anxious. D.Annoyed.
3.What can we learn from the text?
A.Janice is no longer a child.
B.Janice doesn’t like her babysitter.
C.Janice prefers to go to school by bus.
D.Janice appreciates the author’s understanding.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.What kind of area do Bill and Sally live in?
A.A hot area. B.A high area. C.A dry area.
2.What do Bill and Sally do?
A.They are gardeners. B.They are designers. C.They are builders.
3.What is used to protect the delicate plants now?
A.Trees. B.Glass houses. C.Fences.
4.How does the speaker describe Bill and Sally's work?
A.Successful. B.unsatisfactory. C.Impossible.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What will the man be doing the following week?
A.Taking exams. B.Seeing a movie. C.Visiting a friend.
2.Who is the woman's daughter?
A.Jane. B.Alice. C.Judy.
3.What will the woman do at once?
A.Bake a cake. B.Buy a gift. C.Book a table.
4.What are the speakers mainly talking about?
A.A meal. B.A celebration. C.A show.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What does the woman like most?
A.Coffee B.Milk C.Tea
2.What does the man usually add to his coffee now?
A.Milk. B.Nothing. C.Sugar.
3.What do the speakers agree to do in the end?
A.Hold a birthday party.
B.Taste some desserts together.
C.Invite their friends to make coffee.
