I love it at night. It’s peaceful. And when it cools down I sometimes do some ironing. I don’t really care for it. I work full-time and too busy for most housework. I remember the old woman who taught me to iron. I was about 15 and somehow got a live-in job taking care of a woman who had been an able-bodied, healthy woman until the accident that caused her to be paralyzed(瘫痪).
The woman had an electric wheelchair. She could move her head and arms but not her hands or fingers. She had this clamp(夹子)attached to her arm and I’d have to open it and put a cup or a pencil in it and then she could move it. She would tell me how to do things. She would instruct me in great detail on the correct way to do things. Her home was perfect and beautiful. She would follow me around in her electric wheelchair to make sure I did everything exactly right. I’m sure she had been a perfect homemaker. She would have me fold everything, including socks and pillow cases. I would complain silently and wish terrible things on her. She taught me the right way to make the bed and tuck (塞)the corners. I know sometimes she’d get frustrated and impatient with me. I knew she wanted to grab it and do it herself. But she never yelled or scolded. Only insisted I do it right. I didn’t like it much, but I did it.
Today I can iron pretty well. I know where to start on a shirt, the right way to do the collar and sleeves. Now that I think about it, I don’t think she is an old lady. I think she might have been about my age now. Anyway, when I iron, I think of her and silently thank her for all the things I learned.
1.From the passage we can infer that the writer of the passage now is ________.
A.a housewife B.a full-time worker
C.a clothes maker D.a college student
2.The writer used to take care of the lady because ______.
A.she wanted to learn how to do housework
B.she was a relative of the disabled woman
C.she wanted to earn some money while sleeping and eating there
D.she had to do something in return to the lady for her kindness
3.When the lady taught the writer how to do housework, the little girl was ______.
A.eager to learn B.unwilling to learn
C.forced to learn D.careful to learn
4.What’s the writer’s attitude towards the lady now?
A.Sympathetic B.Fearful C.Hateful D.Grateful
Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road
—Reported by Sheila Carrick
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.
Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear (灰熊) and mountain lion can cross the road.
“Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads,” the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.
“Ecopassages ” may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. “These ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid road accidents,” said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society.
But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway. This showed that the lions used the passage.
Builders of ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders (火蜥蜴) and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.
The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animal overpass!
1.The writer uses the example of “ocelots” to show that _______.
A.wild animals have become more dangerous
B.the driving conditions have improved greatly
C.the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work
D.an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents
2.From the news story, we know an ecopassage is ________.
A.an underground path for cars
B.a fence built for the safety of the area
C.a bridge for animals to get over a river
D.a path for animals to cross the road
3.When the writer says that animals seem “to be catching on”, he means ________.
A.animals begin to realize the dangers on the road
B.animals begin to learn to use ecopassages
C.animals are crossing the road in groups
D.animals are increasing in number
4.The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when traveling because ________.
A.wild animals may attack cars
B.wild animals may block the road
C.they may see wild animals in the park
D.they may see wild animals on ecopassages
The Florida sun baked my shoulders as I worked along the I-595 freeway near Fort Lauderdale, picking up rubbish. I paused to 36 the sweat off my forehead and look up at the cloudless blue sky.“ 37 can’t it rain?” I thought. That would 38 things down.
I thought about my 39 , who were probably sitting in an air-conditioned 40 right now. I’d had some problems in school, 41 my parents decided to let me 42 full-time with my dad, We both worked for my uncle, who had taken 43 of a maintenance(道路养护)company. It was up to us to keep the roads 44 of rubbish. The job was 45 and dirty, especially on hot days 46 this. I wondered why I ever agreed to do it.
We continued our 47 route along the I-595, 48 for the overpass bridge. Then I noticed an area where some 49 were broken on the ground. It wasn’t like that before.
“Dad! Pull over! I want to 50 something out.”
I jumped off the truck and rushed to the bridge. Something was telling me to 51 …there wasn’t much time. 52 I saw a Toyota that 53 upside down in the tree. Maybe it was a stolen car that somebody 54 there, I thought. Then, just at that 55 , I noticed something moving. It was a bloody leg poking out of the driver’s side window!
“Help!” a lady moaned.
1. A.wipe B.cut C.put D.send
2. A.When B.How C.Why D.Where
3. A.turn B.keep C.make D.cool
4. A.parents B.school-times C.friends D.school yards
5. A.office B.classroom C.restaurant D.living room
6. A.but B.or C.for D.so
7. A.work B.study C.stay D.spend
8. A.business B.possession C.position D.place
9. A.away B.from C.far D.clear
10. A.easy B.lonely C.smelly D.noisy
11. A.for B.like C.after D.as
12. A.regular B.common C.unusual D.normal
13. A.reaching B.going C.looking D.heading
14. A.cars B.bottles C.branches D.glasses
15. A.check B.help C.take D.bring
16. A.decide B.hurry C.consider D.stop
17. A.Above B.Behind C.Ahead D.Below
18. A.hung B.trapped C.caught D.fell
19. A.stored B.deserted C.lost D.hid
20. A.bridge B.tree C.moment D.way
-----How did you think of the job he did last week ?
-----Well done. ______.
A.It couldn’t be worse B.It should be better
C.It couldn’t have been better D.It was worse
Great efforts to increase agricultural production must be made if food shortage _____ avoided.
A.is to be B.can be C.has been D.will be
-----Did you have a hard time traveling back home?
-----Yes, it ______ for four days when I arrived in Guiyang and all the roads______ covered with ice.
A.snowed, were B.was snowing, had been
C.had been snowing, had been D.had snowed, were