Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona. He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his new place and meet his friends.
My earliest memories of my father are a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and his family, but uncomfortable with his children. As a child I loved him; as a school girl and young adult I feared him and felt bitter(痛苦的) about him. He seemed unhappy with me unless I got straight A’s and unhappy with my boyfriends if their fathers were not as “successful” as he was. Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard.
On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father’s friends for lunch at an outdoor café. We talked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate on the street table, and laughed over my son’s funny facial expressions. Gone was my father’s critical (挑剔的) air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?
The next day dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment. After so many years, I’m at last seeing another side of my father. And in so doing, I’m delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his new home in Arizona, is back to me from where he was.
1.Why did the author feel bitter about her father as a young adult?
A.He was silent most of the time. B.He was too proud of himself.
C.He did not love his children. D.He expected too much of her.
2.When the author went out with her father on weekend, she would feel .
A.nervous B.sorry C.tired D.safe
3.What does the author think of her father after her visit to Tucson?
A.More critical. B.More talkative
C.Gentle and friendly. D.Strict and hard-working.
4.The underlined words “my new friend” in the last paragraph refer to .
A.the author’s son B.the author’s father
C.the friend of the author’s father D.the café owner
“I sometimes get up at three or four in the morning and I surf the net.”
“I often check my e-mail forty times a day. ”
“I often spend more than three hours during one time on the net.”
“I spend more time in chat rooms than with my ‘real-life’ friends.”
Do you know any people like these? They are part of a new addiction(上瘾)called Internet addiction. Internet addicts spend at least thirty to forty hours online every week. The use of the Internet can be an addiction like drug(毒品)use. People lose control(控制)of the time they spend on the Internet.
For example, one college student was missing for several days. His friends were worried, and they called the police. The police found the student in the computer lab: he was surfing the net for several days straight.
Studies show that about 6% to 10% of Internet users become addicted. And people worry about the teens because the Internet is changing the playing field for some of them. They spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.
Is “surfing the net” a hobby or an addiction for you? You may have a problem if you have these symptoms(症状): ①You do not go to important family activities or you do not do school work because you like to spend hours on the Internet. ②You can’t wait for your next online time. ③You go out with your friends less and less. ④You plan to spend a short time online, but then you spend several hours.
1.How does the writer describe the addicts’ use of Internet?
A.It is something like keeping drugs. B.It is like taking drugs.
C.It is a way of producing drugs. D.It is terrible to imagine.
2. Why do people worry about the teens?
A.The teens are wasting too much money.
B.They used to work on the Internet.
C.The playing field of the teens will disappear.
D.More and more of the teens will become addicted to the Internet.
3.The example in the passage shows that .
A.some of the Internet users have already been seriously addicted
B.Internet addicts usually stay in the computer lab without sleep
C.Internet problems are more serious among college students
D.the police often help to find those Internet addicts
4.What is the writer trying to tell us at the end of the passage?
A.Do things as you have planned. B.Go to family activities more often.
C.Don’t be addicted to the Internet. D.Stay with your parents as often as possible.
There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.
One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly(蝴蝶) caught in a thorn(荆棘)bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy(仙女). The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“For your wonderful kindness,” the good fairy said to the girl, “I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.”
The fairy leaned(倾斜) toward her and whispered(耳语)in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.
As the little girl grew up, there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness. She would only smile and answer, “The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”
When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, afraid that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “Tell us, please,” they begged, “Tell us what the good fairy said.” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said, “She told me that everyone, no matter how secure(安全的)they seemed, no matter how old or young, how rich or poor, had need of me.”
1.Noticing the butterfly was caught by the thorn, the orphan(孤儿) girl .
A.felt sorrow, but she didn’t help it B.failed to help it release from the thorn
C.fell down on it too D.helped the butterfly escape from the thorn
2.The butterfly after being saved by the little girl.
A.flied away B.was more beautiful than before
C.changed into a fairy D.still died
3.The only thing that the little girl wanted was .
A.wealth B.parents C.happiness D.friends
4.The neighbors all gathered around the old happy woman when she was dying, because .
A.they loved this woman deeply and they didn’t want her to die
B.the woman had lots of money to be shared as soon as she died
C.they wanted to pray for her after her death
D.they wanted to know the secret of her lifetime happiness
One Saturday afternoon, my daughter Alice asked me, “Are all people the same even if they are different in color?”
I thought for a minute, and then I said, “I’ll explain, 36 you can just wait until we make a quick 37 at the grocery store(杂货店). I have something 38 to show you. ”
At the grocery store, we 39 some apples --- red, green and yellow ones. Back home, I told Alice, “It’s time to 40 your question.” I put one apple of each 41 on the table. Then I looked at Alice, who had a 42 look on her face.
“People are like apples. They come in all 43 colors, shapes and sizes. On the 44 , some of the apples may not 45 look as the others. ” As I was talking, Alice was 46 each one carefully.
Then, I took each of the apples and peeled(削皮)them, 47 them back on the table, but 48 a different place.
“Okay, Alice, tell me which is which.”
She said, “I 49 tell. They all look the same now. ” “Take a bite of 50 . See if that helps you 51 which one is which. ”
She took 52 , and then a huge smile came across her face. “People are 53 like apples! They are all different, but once you 54 the outside, they’re pretty much the same on the inside. ”
She totally 55 it. I didn’t need to say or do anything else.
1. A.although B.so C.because D.if
2. A.stop B.start C.turn D.stay
3. A.expressive B.encouraging C.informative D.interesting
4. A.bought B.counted C.saw D.collected
5. A.check B.mention C.answer D.improve
6. A.size B.type C.shape D.class
7. A.worried B.satisfied C.proud D.curious
8. A.ordinary B.normal C.different D.regular
9. A.outside B.whole C.table D.inside
10. A.still B.even C.only D.ever
11. A.examining B.measuring C.drawing D.packing
12. A.keeping B.placing C.pulling D.giving
13. A.on B.toward C.for D.in
14. A.mustn’t B.can’t C.shouldn’t D.needn’t
15. A.each one B.each other C.the other D.one another
16. A.admit B.consider C.decide D.believe
17. A.big bites B.deep breaths C.a firm hold D.close look
18. A.just B.always C.merely D.seldom
19. A.put away B.get down C.hand out D.take off
20. A.made B.took C.got D.did
Along the way children ______ long wool coats stopped to look at us.
A.dressing in B.dressing C.dressed in D.dressed
Is this the reason _____ at the meeting for his carelessness in his work?
A.what he explained B.why he explained C.he explained D.how he explained