I start to wonder what else had changed since I’d been gone. My parents are in an awkward puzzle, wondering how to treat me now----whether to treat me—still their daughter—as one of them, an adult, or as the child they feel they sent away months earlier.
I run into two of my best friends from high school; we stare at each other, expressionless. We ask the simple questions and give simple answers. It’s as if we have nothing to say to each other. I wonder how things have changed so much in such a small amount of time. We used to laugh and promise that no matter how far away we were, our love for each other would never change. Their interests don’t interest me anymore, and I find myself unable to relate my life to theirs.
I had been so excited to come home, but now I just look at it all and wonder: Is it me? Why hadn’t the world stood still here while I was gone? My room isn’t the same, my friends and I don’t share the same promise, and my parents don’t know how to treat me—or who I am, for that matter.
I get back to school feeling half-satisfied, but not disappointed. I sit up in my bed in my dorm room, surrounded by my pictures, dolls. As I wonder what has happened, I realize that I can’t expect the world to stand still and move forward at the same time. I can change and expect that things at home will stay the same. I have to find comfort in what has changed and what is new; keep the memories, but live in the present.
A few weeks later, I’m packing again, this time for winter break. My mom meets me at the door. I have come home accepting the changes, not only in my surroundings, but most of all in me.
1.What can we infer about the writer?
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A．She is a high school student. |
B．She is a college student. |
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C．She is a clerk in a school. |
D．She is a traveler. |
2.What surprises the writer most?
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A．The living conditions of her parents. |
B．The decorations in her room. |
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C．The meeting with her best friends. |
D．The things still staying the same. |
3.What is this passage mainly about?
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A．The writer’s curiosity about the changes. |
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B．The changes in the writer’s surroundings and in herself. |
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C．The writer’s disappointment about the changes. |
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D．The writer’s refusal to accept the changes. |
For shopoholics, the post-Christmas period means only one thing ---- sales! Across the country, prices are reducing sharply on clothing, electronics and home furniture, but London is the place for serious shopping, and you can certainly pick up some amazing bargains.
The sales start on Boxing Day — 26th December, and continue for the month of January, but the keenest bargain hunters get there early to be first through the doors. In Oxford Street queues formed outside shops ahead of before-dawn openings for the start of their sales. At Brent Cross, in north London, more than 1,000 people were queuing at 3.30 am for the ‘Next’ clothing store’s sale which began at 4 am. Some eager individuals even camped outside the shops to be first in the line.
Consumers who hit the shops were rewarded with discounts of as much as 80% as department stores joined the bargain sales. The shops are very crowded as the sales reached the boiling-point, with more than half a million people gathering on London’s West End.
Famous sales include the biggest, most popular shops such as Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty and John Lewis. Department stores are always a good bet — you’re likely to find everything you need under one roof, including much-needed food and drinks!
It’s a good time to stock up on cheap small tools, and there’s no better time to invest in some designer clothes.
Some people are taking their partners shopping with them, and buying their Christmas presents in the sale----a practical but unromantic way of making sure you get the gift you really want. For a less exciting but less stressful shopping experience, online sellers are also getting in on the act with January sales of their own.
The most organized of all are those who are already doing their present shopping for next Christmas, in the January sales!
1.In the sales, people can buy, at a very low price, all of the following except ______.
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A．fashionable clothing |
B．bestseller |
C．TV sets |
D．bookcases |
2. We can learn from the passage that the sales ______.
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A．actually start before the end of December |
B．generally last for two months |
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C．basically benefit none of the people |
D．are a time to buy Christmas gifts in a romantic way |
3.“Hit the shops” in the third paragraph means to ______.
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A．attack the shops |
B．arrive at the shops |
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C．affect the shops |
D．find the shops |
4. What is the best title for this passage?
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A．January Sales |
B．Sales in London at Christmas |
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C．Practical but Unromantic Shopping |
D．Shopping under One Roof |
If you have to miss one meal a day, which meal will cause you fewest health problems if you don’t eat it? If they have to make a decision of this type, most people (especially very busy people) will choose to skip (not to eat) breakfast.
However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast (the meal which “breaks” your “fast---- a period of time without eating anything ” which started the night before) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients we need to begin our working day with vigor and hopefully with good humour. But many people skip breakfast or replace it with snacks or a cup of coffee for a well-balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance of breakfast?
One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants included both males and females who ranged in age from 12—83. During the experiment, these people were given a variety of breakfasts, and sometimes, they had to skip breakfast completely. Special tests, including blood tests and endurance tests, were set up to analyze how well the participants’ bodies functioned when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast.
The result showed that if a person eats an adequate (充足的) breakfast, he or she will work more efficiently and more productively than if he or she skips breakfasts or eats a very poor breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person’s work involves mental activity. The study showed that if schoolchildren eat fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, they will learn more quickly and will be able to concentrate on their lessons for a longer period of time than if their breakfast diet is inadequate .
The study also showed that, contrary to what many people believe, if you skip breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you are on a diet, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.
1.According to the passage, we can safely say _____.
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A．if you skip breakfast, you will not lose weight at all |
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B．if you skip breakfast, you won’t eat much for lunch either. |
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C．skipping breakfast won’t do a bit of harm |
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D．skipping breakfast will help one lose weight |
2.In the word “breakfast”, “fast” probably means _____.
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A．“moving quickly” |
B．“going without food ” |
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C．“unlikely to go fast” |
D．“fast food ” |
3.Special tests were organized to analyze how participants’ bodies functioned when ______.
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A．they had skipped breakfasts |
B．they had had breakfasts |
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C．they had eaten special breakfasts |
D．they had had all three meals |
Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I 31 asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so 32 . He had his wisdom teeth removed. Then the young man asked me why I 33 seemed to be so cheerful.
His question reminded me of something I’d read somewhere before: “Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about 34 you want to approach life that day,” I said. “I choose to be cheerful.”
“Let me give you an example. 35 teaching here, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles down the freeway from where I live. One day, I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I 36 the freeway and turned onto College Drive, only another quarter mile ahead to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine 37 turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books, and marched down the road to the college.”
“ 38 getting there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The secretary asked me what had happened. ‘This is my lucky day,’ I replied, smiling.”
“ ‘Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?’ She was 39 . ‘What do you mean?’ ’’ “I live 17 miles from here.” I replied. “My car 40 have broken down 41 along the freeway. It didn’t. 42 , it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, 43 walking distance of here. I’m still able to teach my class, and I’ve been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class.”
“The secretary’s eyes opened wide, and then she 44 . I smiled back and headed for class.” So ended my story.
I scanned the sixty faces in my class. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be 45 . Somehow, my story had touched them.
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What he saw in the mountain village ________ him to write a report about the great changes there.
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A．entertained |
B．increased |
C．inspired |
D．supported |
— Wow, Class 13 has got the champion in the school sports meeting.
—_________ they look so excited.
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A．No doubt |
B．No wonder |
C．That’s because |
D．It’s natural |
