When people introduce themselves, I always hear them say “I’m just a housewife”. I don’t understand why their introduction is always filled with regret and self-pity. Is it really a crime to be a housewife? Is it really embarrassing (令人尴尬的) when you choose not to work outside and instead choose to work in your home? Is income the only mark of being proud of what you are doing and how you are spending your life?
How could you be “you are just a housewife” when the basic social unit of society depends on you and your service? Isn’t it surprising that even if your day starts before everyone and ends after everyone, you still don’t feel that you have accomplished（实现）anything? A housewife works for the longest hour, shelling out every responsibility of the house, supporting your husband, child studies, caring for elders, managing finances, paying bills, grocery shopping, cooking according to individual taste, cleaning, entertaining family and friends, maintaining a pleasant environment at home, remembering things that others have forgotten, looking after each and every requirement of the family members, etc. A housewife could be anyone: daughter, wife, mother, teacher, financial advisor, fashion designer and consultant, nurse, gardener, driver, cook, and so on. Don’t think you are not being paid for it. You get the reward that no money can offer—the love and affection (挚爱) of your family, their trust in you, a happy home and your own satisfaction.
It is you who choose to be in this occupation, willingly or for any other reason. After a busy day, all wait to return to the comfortable home set by you. They know you will be there to absorb all their stress and tiredness and relax them. Would the life have been the same had you been working outside to earn some money? Would you along with your family have been able to buy all the content in life that you are enjoying now with that money?
Respect yourself for what you are. Introduce yourself to the world with the same dignity. The world understands the importance of your job; it’s time to make them accept it. Introduce yourself with pride and with twinkle in your eyes “I am a housewife”. Kick that “just” out.
1.What is the housewives’ feeling when they say “I’m just a housewife” in the author’s opinion?
A. Nervous. B. Comfortable.
C. Regretful. D. Satisfied.
2.According to the author, the true value of the housewives lies in the following EXCEPT _______.
A. the harmony of their family
B. family members’ trust in them
C. the stable income of their family
D. the love and affection of their family
3.What does the author advise housewives to do when they introduce themselves?
A. Take care not to make a mistake.
B. Pick up self-confidence and pride.
C. Try to make others understand their life.
D. Understand the importance of their jobs.
4.How does the passage mainly develop?
A. By following the order of time.
B. By offering some questions.
C. By making comparisons.
D. By giving examples.
If you experience great stress in your life on a frequent basis, you’re not alone. Nowadays, stress is almost a given fact of life. Actually, a certain degree of stress can have positive effects on us. But if stress continues over a long period of time, the effects on the body can be harmful, resulting in health problems and stress-related illness, including heart attack and stroke.
Stress is a normal reaction by the body to what it perceives (认为)as a threatening situation or environment. Short-term reactions may include an increase in heart rate as well as a rise in blood pressure. A person under short-term stress may feel nervous, anxious and even experience shortness of breath. Other reactions can include a dry mouth, quick heartbeat, sweating, stomach upset and diarrhea.
When stress is long-term and becomes more chronic (长期的) in nature, it can cause more serious health-related problems, including regular headaches, back pain, weight changes, sleep difficulties, changes in mood and so on. Chronic stress can also result in memory problems, including difficulty remembering new information and the inability to quickly deal with old information.
No matter how your body reacts to stress, ignoring the problem can have serious health results. Not surprisingly, more women than men openly seek the help of their family doctors or other health care experts when they are experiencing stress or stress-related illness. Men are more likely to refuse to admit the problem or attempt to self-treat it, which may contribute to higher rate of drug and alcohol addiction seen in men exposed to chronic stress.
There’s no doubt that stress is a fact of life and is likely to remain a part of our fast-paced society. Although stress can’t be completely eliminated, methods of dealing with stress-related issues, in my view, can be developed so that the effects of stress on the body are avoided, so people won’t be so easy to suffer stress-related illness.
1.Which of the following is not the reaction of short-term stress?
A. A dry mouth. B. Stomach upset.
C. Weight changes. D. A rise in blood pressure.
2.What does the author advise people to do when stress hits them?
A. They should ignore it.
B. They should learn to deal with it on their own.
C. They should turn to drugs and alcohol for relief.
D. They should seek more methods of dealing with it.
3.What does the word “eliminated” in the last paragraph mean?
A. reduced. B. removed.
C. appreciated. D. destroyed.
4.What is the purpose of this passage?
A. To tell us how to solve the serious problems caused by stress.
B. To tell us how to behave well when we are faced with stress.
C. To tell us how to protect ourselves from the effects of stress.
D. To tell us how to tell short-term stress from long-term stress.
Thirteen can be a challenging age. Not only did I have to adapt to my changing body, I also had to deal with my parents’ painful separation, a new family and the upsetting move from my country home to a crowded town.
When we moved, my beloved companion, a small brown pony had to be sold. I was heartbroken and terribly lonely. I couldn’t eat or sleep and cried all the time. Finally, realizing how much I missed my pony, my father bought me another horse, Cowboy.
Cowboy was without doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reasons.
I joined a riding club. When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged by appearance, we were quickly “shown the gate”. I knew nothing could turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the timed speed events. I chose the jumping race.
For the whole next month we practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home, totally exhausted.
All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. I sat at the gate and sweated all out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the court and finish in first place.
My turn finally came. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped over it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.
No cheers filled the air. The end of our run was met with surprised silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!
I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it. I can be the owner of my destiny(命运).
1.Why did the author like Cowboy so much in spite of its ugliness?
A. Because she was sad and lonely and needed a companion.
B. Because Cowboy was a strong and smart young horse.
C. Because Cowboy had a lot in common with her pony.
D. Because she loved horses more than anything else.
2.The audience fell into silence at the end of the run probably because _______.
A. they didn’t like Cowboy, for it was too ugly
B. they didn’t expect Cowboy would win the event
C. they never saw a horse running as fast as Cowboy
D. they were unhappy that Becky was beaten in the event
3.What did the author come to realize after the competition?
A. She could be the master of her own fate if she tried hard enough.
B. She ought to gather the courage to solve all the problems.
C. It was time to forget her pony and treat Cowboy better.
D. She needed to work harder to win more blue ribbons.
4.What can you infer from the story?
A. All of their hard training was totally in vain.
B. A blue ribbon must be the second highest prize.
C. Both Becky and the author won in the jumping event.
D. Cowboy lost in the event of being judged by appearance.
I would recommend uVolunteer Programs in Costa Rica(哥斯达黎加) to anyone. Everyone can learn something and enjoy their time here if they have the ability to adapt to different circumstances and a sense of adventure.
I came to San Ramon---the capital of Costa Rica, hardly knowing any Spanish, so the first thing I did there was to take Spanish courses at Spanish Language School for a week. My family stay was also of great help to my language study, but that experience with the classes gave me a huge jumpstart on the language, which has been extremely valuable.
Once in San Ramon, I was fortunate enough to experience several projects with amazing people. I taught Adult English Night Classes, helped at an elementary school, and also went to the Community Center in Bajo. The adult classes are just so awesome because it can be really engaging, social, and fun while being educational. We all learned a lot from each other and became pretty close. The Sabana School was a nice elementary school right by the dorm. The kids were so incredibly nice, even giving me lots of hugs and small gifts. I came at a time when there were many holiday celebrations so there were some scheduling challenges, resulting in me being there to assist English classes a couple of hours in the morning. I decided to go to Bajo in the afternoons. I, like all of the other volunteers, absolutely loved it. This is a place where I felt I was really helping in a more significant way. The kids started to open up more to me the more I was there playing with the kids and helping with the educational programs. The staff and kids are just incredible.
Aside from work, we decided on some weekend trips. By the end of my stay I had experienced hot volcanic springs in La Fortuna, snorkeling and hiking with incredible wildlife in Puerto Viejo, caving in Nicaragua, and kayaking and night fishing (we ate the fish too) in Playa Hermosa. I also enjoyed dancing, eating, and watching performances during the San Ramon festivals.
1.Everyone can benefit from uVolunteer Programs in Costa Rica as long as ______.
A. they learn to speak Spanish
B. they are flexible and adventurous
C. they live in a local family
D. they experience different projects
2. The underlined words in paragraph 2 probably mean ______.
A. a big surprise
B. a complete understanding
C. an excellent beginning
D. an emotional experience
3.The author participated in several volunteer projects in San Ramon EXCEPT _____.
A. taking Spanish courses
B. going to the Community Centre
C. assisting English classes in Sabana School
D. teaching Adult English Night classes
书面表达
假如你校正在开展“读古典名著”的讨论活动。不同的学生对这一活动有着不同的看法，请你根据下表内容写一篇英语短文。
支持者 帮助我们了解古代文化习俗；有借鉴作用
反对者 语言与今天大不相同，很难读懂；读名著过时了，也很乏味
你的观点 ……
注意：1．语言连贯，符合逻辑；
2．合理添加你的观点；
3．词数120左右。
参考词汇：classic n. 名著 cultivate v. 陶冶
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
What can we prevent ourselves from getting low scores in exams? Here, one of our teacher gives us some useful suggestions.
It's important to have a correct attitude toward exams, which purpose is to see how we're getting on with our study. So it is no need to worry about the results.
Before exams, control our test anxiety by listening some light music. Besides, learning from the past-exam mistakes is also a effective way. While taking exams, we'd better plan your time careful. And then we should spare a few minutes to check that what we had done to avoid silly mistakes.
