I had the meanest mother in the whole world．While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast．While others had Cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich．As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids’ too．But at least, I wasn’t alone in my sufferings．My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times．She had to know who our friends were and where we were going．She insisted if we said we’d be gone an hour, then we should be gone one hour or less -- not one hour and one minute．And she always insisted upon us telling the truth．Now you can see how mean she was.
The worst is yet to come．We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning．We couldn’t sleep till noon like our friends．So while they slept - my mother actually had the courage to break the Child Labor Law．She made us work．We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook．We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath every day．The other kids always wore their clothes for days．We reached the height of disgrace because she made our clothes herself, just to save money．I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.
Through the years, things didn’t improve a bit．We could not lie in bed “sick” like our friends did, and miss school．Our marks in school had to live up to expectations．Our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing．My mother, being as different as she was, would be satisfied with nothing less than ugly black marks.
As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame．We graduated from high school．With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.
My mother was a complete failure as a mother．Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education．None of us have ever been arrested or divorced．Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country．She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults．I am now trying to raise my three children．I am filled with pride when my children call me mean．Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world.
1.The author’s mother wanted her children to _________．
A．do their best at school and be educated and respected citizens
B．be top students in school and graduate with honors
C．stop seeing her friends who pretended to be sick to skip classes
D．bring home colored report cards like her friends did
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A．The author has a deep hatred for her mother.
B．The author’s mother set timetables for her children whenever they went out．
C．Some of the children weren’t able to go to college because of their mean mother．
D．As a parent, the author is following her mother’s example．
3.It can be inferred from the passage that________．
A．All the other kids at school studied better than the author．
B．The author worked hard and usually got good grades in studies．
C．Mother was punished for breaking the Labor Law．
D．The author’s family lived a miserable life．
Our risk of cancer rises rapidly as we age．So it makes sense that the elderly should be routinely screened for new tumors (肿瘤) or doesn’t it?
While such tracking of cancer is a good thing in general, researchers are increasingly questioning whether all of this testing is necessary for the elderly．With the percentage of people over age 65 expected to nearly double by 2050, it s important to weigh the health benefits of screening against the risks and costs of routine testing．
In many cases, screening can lead to additional examinations and operations to remove cancer, which can cause side effects, while the cancers themselves may be slow-growing and may not cause serious health problems in patients’ remaining years．But the message that everyone must screen for cancer has become so ingrained (根深蒂固的) that when health care experts recommended that women under 50 and over 74 stop screening for breast cancer, it caused a noisy reaction among doctors, patients and social groups．
It’s hard to uproot deeply-held beliefs about cancer screening with scientific data．Certainly, there are people over age 75 who have had cancers detected by routine screening, and gained several extra years of life because of treatment．And clearly, people over age 75 who have other risk factors for cancer, such as a family history or previous personal experience with the disease, should continue to get screened regularly．But for the rest, the risk of cancer, while increased at the end of life, must be balanced with other factors like remaining life expectancy．
A recent study suggests that doctors start to make more objective decisions about who will truly benefit from screening—especially considering the explosion of the elderly．
It’s not an easy calculation to make, but one that makes sense for patients．Dr．Otis Brawley said, “Many doctors are ordering these tests purely to cover themselves from medical disputes．We need to think about the wise use of health care, which means making some difficult decisions with elderly patients, and going against the misguided belief that when it comes to health care, more is always better.”
1.Routine cancer screening for the elderly people makes sense because ______．
A．it is believed to contribute to a long life
B．it is part of their health care package
C．they are more sensitive about the health
D．they are in greater danger of tumor growth
2.How do some researchers now look at routine cancer screening for the elderly?
A．It adds too much to their medical bills.
B．They are doubtful about necessity.
C．It helps increase their life expectancy.
D．They think it does more harm than good．
3.What is the traditional view about women screening for breast cancer?
A．It is a must for adult women．
B．It applies to women over 50．
C．It is intended for young women.
D．It doesn’t apply to women over 74．
4.What does the writer say is the general view about health care?
A．Better care, longer life
B．Prevention is better than cure.
C．Better early than late.
D．The more, the better．
5.Why do many doctors advise routine screening for cancer?
A．They want to take advantage of the medical care system．
B．They want to protect themselves against medical disputes．
C．They want data for medical research．
D．They want their patients to suffer less．
In the face of tragedy，you must of course let yourself feel: Cry without holding back, shake with fear, yell out in anger, accept and follow your feelings．This is part of the wise approach to tragedy: The Upward Path — the feeling of emotions, the acceptance of them, and the coupling of the emotional mind with wisdom．Along this path, you'll take the experience — no matter how sad or upsetting — as a learning event, just as a11 other points on your journey will prove to be．While tragic, you must recognize this is still a chance for all involved to grow．You should let both sadness and joy, fear and courage, dark and light fill your world, and learn to find your steady, calm center in the midst of the opposing forces．This is the Upward Path．Use the event as a chance to gain balance and discover wisdom — the wisdom of love and of letting go, of non-attachment and non-resistance, and using this experience to eventually help others in need of guidance.
Being able to relate to others who have also experienced tragedy and inspire in them hope — of recovery, and of moving forward — is perhaps the greatest gift you can receive from tragedy．Turn the negative into positive, the pain into connection．After you've taken appropriate time to be sad, to feel your own pain, you should make it your work，your goal, your purpose to connect with others who need help．Show them how you've experienced feelings, achieved balance，and gained wisdom that you would never have otherwise had the chance to learn.
FEEL, but do not FEED on tragedy．Rather, let it inspire you to go beyond the person who you were before．With demise comes renewal, so let this loss be also your rebirth．No matter how hopeless it seems, no matter how difficult this becomes, you have the power to transform yourself into someone greater than you ever knew you could be.
1.When following the Upward Path, the person facing tragedy should _______.
A．free his emotions
B．hold back his feelings
C．fill his world with positive ideas
D．give in to tragedy and all opposing forces
2.According to the author， the greatest gift one gets from tragedy is being able to _______.
A．seek solutions from others
B．forgive others and move on
C．stay calm and resist change
D．understand and help others
3.The purpose of the passage is to _______.
A．analyze the causes of tragedy
B．suggest a way of dealing with tragedy
C．tell people how to prevent tragedy
D．encourage people to build friendship after tragedy
Dear Mr．Watson,
CLAIM AL54323432–-STORM DAMAGE TO ROOF
I received a cheque for $623 dated 26 January in payment of my recent claim(索赔)．However, I wish to tell you how upset I have been by the way your Claims Assessor, Mr．Michael Tan, handled this claim．
When Mr．Tan first called me, he specifically told me that he believed I had been overcharged, and he would expect to pay that price for work on a double garage, rather than a single garage like mine．Mr．Tan suggested that I neither use nor recommend this contractor again．He continued to tell me it was unlikely for me to receive full payment．Never during this conversation did he mention that the reason for not receiving full payment was because of the nature of my insurance policy．
Consequently, I wrote to Mr．Lance Ashe to complain about his pricing, stating that I was very upset thinking that he could have taken advantage by overcharging a 73-year-old woman．Mr．Ashe telephoned me immediately and explained his charges in detail．He later reported back to me that Mr．Tan explained that I would not receive full payment because of the type of policy I hold, which does not cover wear and tear．This was the first time this issue had been brought to my attention, so you can imagine my surprise．
When I received Mr．Tan’s letter of 2 February, this situation was explained．If this had been explained in the first place I would have accepted it and would not have questioned Mr．Ashe’s charges．Instead, by telling me initially that I had been overcharged for this work, he caused a great deal of upset, not only for me but also for Mr．Ashe．
I believed this claim was handled badly by Mr．Tan from the beginning．Therefore, a great deal of embarrassment has been caused over this issue．
I felt you should know how disappointed and upset I am．I trust you will look into this and ensure that such claims are handled more appropriately in the future．
Yours sincerely,
Mrs．Richard
1.We can learn from the passage that Mr．Tan works in a/an _______.
A．welfare organization
B．nursing house
C．local affairs office
D．insurance company
2.The underlined words “the contractor” in Para.2 refer to ______.
A．Mr．Tan
B．Mrs．Richard
C．Mr．Ashe
D．Mr．Watson
3.The author could not receive full payment because _______.
A．her policy doesn’t cover some of the items
B．the contractor overcharged her for the work
C．Mr．Watson doesn’t take the matter seriously
D．she spent too much money fixing her garage
4.The author writes this letter to ______.
A．inform the manager of a payment
B．complain about a mishandled case
C．demand an apology from Mr．Watson
D．require the manager to fire Mr．Tan
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Whenever we do something wrong, Jesus Christ sees it．He loves us and doesn’t say it．Perhaps he’s wondering how long we’ll keep our mind suffering．A little boy named Johnny was visiting his grandparents on their farm and he was given a slingshot(弹弓) to play with out in the woods．He .for some time but he could never hit the target he had set for himself．Getting a little , he walked back to the farmhouse for dinner．As he was _ back, he saw Grandpa’s pet duck．Just out of , he let the slingshot fly , hitting it in the head ,and killed it．In a panic, he the dead duck in the woodpile, only to see his sister Sally be watching him．Sally had seen all this, but she said ．After lunch that day Grandma said, “Sally, it’s your turn to wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.” And then she spoke to him, “Remember the duck？” So Johnny did the dishes．Later that day, Grandpa asked if wanted to go fishing, but Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help me make supper.” But Sally just smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he was too to help you．And she whispered again, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny to help make supper．After several days of doing both his and Sally’s, Johnny finally couldn’t it any longer．He came to his Grandma and told her that he had killed the duck .Grandma smiled and gave him a big ．“Sweetheart, I know．You see, I was watering the flowers at the window I saw you shoot my duck with the slingshot, and I saw the whole thing．But because I love you, I you．I was just wondering how long you would let Sally _ of you.”
In reality, no matter how _ or how uncomfortable it is to admit our wrongdoing, we should always choose to it and work it through instead of running away from it．Hard as it is, it us and makes us who we are.
1.A．promoted B．exercised C．practiced D．consumed
2.A．delighted B．upset C．amazed D．scared
3.A．running B．rushing C．heading D．leaving
4.A．sympathy B．pride C．impulse D．politeness
5.A．hung B．presented C．protected D．hid
6.A．should B．shall C．must D．might
7.A．nothing B．everything C．something D．anything
8.A．loudly B．softly C．guiltily D．innocently
9.A．Sally B．Johnny C．the children D．Grandma
10.A．reluctant B．willing C．curious D．cautious
11.A．kept up B．held back C．left behind D．stayed behind
12.A．chores B．homework C．games D．sports
13.A．accept B．stand C．withdraw D．allow
14.A．hug B．blow C．reward D．award
15.A．whereas B．as C．while D．when
16.A．appreciate B．admire C．forgive D．force
17.A．put the blame B．make friends C．put pressure D．make a slave
18.A．doubtful B．grateful C．harmful D．painful
19.A．reject B．control C．face D．witness
20.A．develops B．shapes C．ruins D．prepares
Brendan hurriedly got to the airport, only ______ the plane had taken off．（ ）
A．to find B．to finding
C．to be finding D．to have found
