Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to “spend” a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America, which increase the rewards to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP (国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in interest. It is too early to explain the different trends（趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance?
1.From the text we know that the author .
A. believes that longer working hours is better
B. prefers shorter working hours to longer ones
C. says nothing certain about which pattern is better
D. thinks neither of the patterns is good
2.Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?
A. Spain. B. France. C. Germany. D. America.
3.In the last paragraph, the underlined word “which” refers to ______.
A. family life B. situations C. other values D. trends
4.What message can we get from the text?
A. The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America.
B. Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.
C. People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.
D. Americans are happier than Europeans.
5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Americans and Europeans B. Staying at Home
C. Work and Productivity D. Work and Happiness
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填人一个适当的
词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡的相应位置上。
We took our children out with us, and it was 1.(help). When Ryan was two, we went to dinner with 2.(marry) friends and their son, also two. While Ryan ate his dinner, the other boy 3.(run) around the chairs and crawling under the table. At two, Ryan 4.(be) to restaurants many times, but 5.the other boy this was only his second restaurant visit.
Not having had the opportunity to experience different things, 6.sons might have turned out like 7.two-year-old son of one of our friends, 8.mother is afraid to even take him to the grocery store 9.he acts up. Instead, she shops alone. Certainly he's off to a slow start in experiencing the things in life that may 10.(late) be important to him.
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Everyone has experienced trying but failing to master a difficult book, which was begun with the hope of increasing one's understanding. When that happens, it is 1to think that it was a mistake to try to read it, but that was not the mistake. The mistake was in 2too much from the first reading of a(n) 3book. If you read it in the right way, no book written for the 4reader, no matter how difficult, need be a cause for despair (绝望).
What is the right method? The 5is an important and helpful rule of reading that is either not known or often forgotten. That rule is simply this: when reading a difficult book for the first time, read it through without ever 6to think about the things that you do not understand immediately.
Do not be stopped by what you can't understand. Read through the difficult 7, and you’ll soon come to things that you do understand. Read these 8. You will have a much better chance of understanding all of the book when you read it again, but that 9you to have read the book through once 10.
What you understand by reading the book through to the 11will help you when you try later to read the places that you did not 12in your first reading. Or if you never re-read the book, understanding half of it is much better than understanding nothing of it, which will happen if you allow yourself to be stopped by the first difficult part of the book.
Most of us were taught to 13the things that we do not understand. We were told to find the 14of unfamiliar words, and to try to find an explanation in another 15for anything that we did not understand in the book that we were reading. But when these things are done before the proper time, they only harm our reading, instead of helping it.
1.A. necessary B. useful C. natural D. effective
2.A. learning B. hoping C. accepting D. expecting
3.A. easy B. difficult C. important D. correct
4.A. ordinary B. young C. serious D. sincere
5.A. method B. question C. answer D. problem
6.A. starting B. hesitating C. stopping D . repeating
7.A. words B. articles C. parts D. points
8.A. quickly B. immediately C. clearly D. carefully
9.A. requires B. causes C. advises D. allows
10.A. later B. after C. before D. again
11.A. top B. end C. bottom D. cover
12.A. see B. turn C. notice D. understand
13.A. put away B. put down C. think aloud D. think about
14.A. uses B. meanings C. spellings D. troubles
15.A. thinking B. reading C. book D. way
你校将出版校庆英文特刊介绍学校的相关情况，你将参与编写工作。
写作内容 ：请根据以下构思图，写一份关于你校植物园的英语简介。
|
|
|
参考词汇∶植物园 botanical garden
写作要求： 只能使用5个句子表达全部内容。评分标准： 句子结构准确，信息内容完整，篇章结构连贯。
1.She entered the lab without ______________(许可)
2.The article is _____________ (限制)to 800 words.
3.Anderson was in bed with all his clothes on, _______(躺)awake all night long thinking of them.
4.She told us an ________________(难以置信) story .
5.I must a____________ for not being able to meet you at the airport because I was busy at that time..
6.It’s important to know your own strengths and w_______ .
7.After taking the medicine, Tom is s___________________ better today.
8.After waiting for a long time, we grew a little ___________(不耐心)
9.At first s______, it looked like a simple accident, but later the police became suspicious.
10.The p_________________ look on his face suggested that he didn’t understand the maths problem.
11.The store gives a 10% d__________________ for its VIP customers.
12.When I try to understand __________ it is that prevents children from getting fat, it seems to me that there are two reasons.
13.Meeting my uncle after all these years was an unforgettable moment, __________that I will always treasure.
14.She’d like to offer money to ____ needs it to continue his or her study.
15.Evidence came up specific speech sounds are recognized by babies as young as 6 months old.
阅读下面短文, 按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词语或使用括号中词语的适当形式填空, 并将答案填写在答案卡上。
A.
I know a man called John Smith who is a very unusual millionaire. ___1.___makes him unusual is that he has no money. He says the average millionaire never uses money and always gets other people to pay for taxis or drinks. This is because he is __2.____used to thinking in millions that small amounts of money are not worth thinking about. But this does not mean he has no worries. On the contrary , the average millionaire worries constantly about his business. His great wealth also makes __3.___ difficult for him to be happy and comfortable with other people. Are they friendly because they like him? __4.____ do they pretend to like him because they want his money? John Smith says he feels very sorry for millionaires, __5.__, instead of being masters of their wealth, are slaves of their money . In one way, ___6.__, John Smith always behaves exactly like a millionaire. I mean he never has any money and __7.___(general) manages to persuade someone else to pay for his drinks. But ___8.___other very rich men, he gives back good value for money. He is full of jokes and fun.An evening ___9.____(spend) with him is not cheap, because he is unusually very thirsty,but he always makes people happy. He does not give much thought for tomorrow. He is the happiest man I have ever met. Whenever I meet him, he tells me,” In money I am not rich ,but in peace of mind I am a millionaire,” And then the world’s richest, 10.__(penny) man usually adds, with a smile,” Do you have time for another drink? “ How can I refuse?”
B.
It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible for housework, 11.with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home.
If you give your children the 12.(impress) that they can never do anything quite right, then they will consider 13.to be unfit or unable persons. 14.children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent.
My daughter Carla’s fifth grade teacher made every child in her class feel special. When students received ___15._( little) than a perfect test score, she would point __16.___ what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed.
You can see the same technique when you evaluate your child’s work at home. Don’t always scold and give lots of praise 17.. Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn’t done. If your child completes __18.___ difficult task, reward him 19.a Sunday trip or a ball game with Dad. Learning is a process of trying and failing and trying and 20.(success)in the end. If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure, they will learn faster and achieve success at last.
