Two things changed my life: my mother and a white plastic bike basket. I have thought long and hard about it and it’s true. I would be a different person if my mom hadn’t turned a silly bicycle accessory into a life lesson I carry with me today.
My mother and father were united in their way of raising children, but it mostly fell to my mother to actually carry it out. Looking back, I honestly don’t know how she did it. Managing the family budget must have been a very hard task., but she made it look effortless. If we complained about not having what another kid did, we’d hear something like, “I don’t care what so –and –so got for his birthday, you are not getting a TV in your room a car for your birthday a lsvish sweet 16 party.” We had to earn our allowance by doing chores around the house. I can still remember how long it took to polish the legs of our coffee table.My brothers can no doubt remember hours spent cleaning the house .Like the two little girls growing up at the White House,we made our own beds (no one left the house until that was done)and picked up after ourselves.We had to keep track of our belongings ,and if something was lost ,it was not replaced.
It was summer and ,one day ,my mother drove me to the bike shop to get a tire fixed---and there it was in the window, White, shiny, plastic and decorated with flowers ,the basket winked at me and I knew ----I knew---I had to have it.
“It’s beautiful,” my mother said when I pointed it out to her,”What a neat basket.”
I tried to hold off at first ,I played it cool for a short while. But then I guess I couldn’t at and it any longer:“Mom, please can I please ,please get it? I ‘ll do extra chores for as long as you say, I’ll do anything ,but I need that basket,I love that basket.Please ,Mom .Please?”
I was desperate.
“You know,” she said ,gently rubbing my back while we both stared at what I believes was the coolest thing ever,” If you save up you could buy this yourself.”
“By the time I make enough it’ll be gone!”
“Maybe Roger here could hold it for you,” she smiled at Roger ,the bike guy.
“He can’t hold it for that long ,Mom .Someone else will buy it .Please, Mom,Please?”
“There might be another way,” she said.
And so our paying plan unfolded. My mother bought the beautiful basket and put it safely in some hiding place I couldn’t find. Each week I eagerly counted my growing saving increased by extra work here and there (washing the car ,helping my mother make dinner, delivering or collecting things on my bike that already looked naked without the basket in front).And then ,weeks later ,I counted ,re-counted and jumped for joy. Oh ,happy day ! I made it! I finally had the exact amount we’d agreed upon….
Days later the unthinkable happened. A neighborhood girl I’d played with millions of times appeared with the exact same basket fixed to her shiny ,new bike that already had all the bells and whistles. I rode hard and fast home to tell my mother about this disaster. This horrible turn of events.
And then came the lesson . I’ve taken with me through my life:” Honey, Your basket is extra-special,” Mom said, gently wiping away my hot tears.” Your basket is special because you paid for it yourself.”
1.What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?
A. The children enjoyed doing housework.
B. The author came from s well-off family
C. The mother raised her children in an unusual way
D. The children were fond of the US president’s daughters.
2.When the author saw the basket in the window, she .
A. fell in love with it B. stared at her mother
C. recognized it at once D. went up to the bike guy
3.Why did the author say many “please” to her mother?
A. She longed to do extra work. B. She was eager to have the basket.
C. She felt tired after standing too long. D. She wanted to be polite to her mother.
4.By using“naked” (Paragraph 12),the author seems to stress that the basket was
A. something she could afford B. something important to her
C. something impossible to get D. something she could do without
5.To the author, it seemed to be a horrible turn of events that
A. something spoiled her paying plan
B. the basket cost more than she had saved
C. a neighborhood girl had bought a new bike
D. someone else had got a basket of the same kind
6.What is the life lesson the author learned from her mother?
A. Save money for a rainy day B. Good advice is beyond all price.
C. Earn your bread with your sweat D. God helps those who help themselves
If a diver surfaces too quickly, he may suffer the bends. Nitrogen(氮) dissolved(溶解) in his blood is suddenly liberated by the reduction of pressure. The consequence, if the bubbles (气泡)accumulate in a joint, is sharp pain and a bent body—thus the name. If the bubbles form in his lungs or his brain, the consequence can be death.
Other air-breathing animals also suffer this decompression(减压) sickness if they surface too fast: whales, for example. And so, long ago, did ichthyosaurs. That these ancient sea animals got the bends can be seen from their bones. If bubbles of nitrogen form inside the bone they can cut off its blood supply. This kills the cells in the bone, and consequently weakens it, sometimes to the point of collapse. Fossil (化石)bones that have caved in on them selves are thus a sign that the animal once had the bends.
Bruce Rothschild of the University of Kansas knew all this when he began a study of ichthyosaur bones to find out how widespread the problem was in the past. What he particularly wanted to investigate was how ichthyosaurs adapted to the problem of decompression over the 150 million years. To this end, he and his colleagues traveled the world’s natural-history museums, looking at hundreds of ichthyosaurs from the Triassic period and from the later Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
When he started, he assumed that signs of the bends would be rarer in younger fossils, reflecting their gradual evolution of measures to deal with decompression. Instead, he was astonished to discover the opposite. More than 15% of Jurassic and Cretaceous ichthyosaurs had suffered the bends before they died, but not a single Triassic specimen(标本) showed evidence of that sort of injury.
If ichthyosaurs did evolve an anti-decompression means, they clearly did so quickly—and, most strangely, they lost it afterwards. But that is not what Dr Rothschild thinks happened. He suspects it was evolution in other animals that caused the change.
Whales that suffer the bends often do so because they have surfaced to escape a predator (捕食动物) such as a large shark. One of the features of Jurassic oceans was an abundance of large sharks and crocodiles, both of which were fond of ichthyosaur lunches. Triassic oceans, by contrast, were mercifully shark- and crocodile-free. In the Triassic, then, ichthyosaurs were top of the food chain. In the Jurassic and Cretaceous, they were prey(猎物) as well as predator—and often had to make a speedy exit as a result.
1.Which of the following is a typical symptom of the bends?
A. A twisted body. B. A gradual decrease in blood supply.
C. A sudden release of nitrogen in blood. D. A drop in blood pressure.
2.The purpose of Rothschild’s study is to see________ .
A. how often ichthyosaurs caught the bends B. how ichthyosaurs adapted to decompression
C. why ichthyosaurs bent their bodies D. when ichthyosaurs broke their bones
3.Rothschild’sfindingstatedinParagraph4 .
A. confirmed his assumption B. speeded up his research process
C. disagreed with his assumption D. changed his research objectives
4.Rothschild might have concluded that ichthyosaurs.
A. failed to evolve an anti decompression means
B. gradually developed measures against the bends
C. died out because of large sharks and crocodiles
D. evolved an anti decompression means but soon lost it
“Did you hear what happened to Adam Last Friday?” Lindsey whispers to Tori.
With her eyes shining, Tori brags, “You bet I did. Sean told me two days ago.”
Who are Lindsey and Tori talking about? It just happened to be yours truly, Adam Freedman. I can tell you that what they are saying is (a) not nice and (b) not even true. Still, Lindsey and Tori aren’t very different from most students here at Linton High School, including me. Many of our conversations are gossip(闲话). I have noticed three effects of gossip: it can hurt people, it can give gossipers a strange kind of satisfaction, and it can cause social pressures in a group.
An important negative effect of gossip is that it can hurt the person being talked about. Usually, gossip spreads information about a topic–breakups, trouble at home, even dropping out-that a person would rather keep secret. The more embarrassing or shameful the secret is, the juicier the gossip it makes. Probably the worst type of gossip is the absolute lie. People often think of gossipers as harmless, but cruel lies can cause pain.
If we know that gossip can be harmful, then why do so many of us do it? The answer lies in another effect of gossip: the satisfaction it gives us. Sharing the latest rumor can make a person feel important because he or she knows something that others don’t. Similarly, hearing the latest rumor can make a person feel like part of the “in group.” In other words, gossip is satisfying because it gives people a sense of belonging or even superiority(优越感).
Gossip also can have a third effect: it strengthens unwritten, unspoken rules about how people should act. Professor David Wilson explains that gossip is important in policing behaviors in a group. Translated into high school terms, this means that if everybody you hang around with is laughing at what John wore or what Jane said, then you can bet that wearing or saying something similar will get you the same kind of negative attention. The do’s and don’ts conveyed through gossip will never show up in any student handbook.
The effects of gossip vary depending on the situation. The next time you feel the urge to spread the latest news, think about why you want to gossip and what effects your “juicy story” might have.
1.The author uses a conversation at the beginning of the passage to .
A. introduce a topic B. present an argument
C. describe the characters D. clarify his writing purpose
2.An important negative effects of gossip is that it .
A. breaks up relationships B. embarrasses the listener
C. spreads information around D. causes unpleasant experiences
3.In the author’s opinion, many people like to gossip because it .
A. gives them a feeling of pleasure B. helps them to make more friends
C. makes them better at telling stories D. enables them to meet important people
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1.What is mainly discussed in paragraph 2?
A. the heat of the EP B. the safety of the EP
C. the appearance of the EP D. the material of the EP
2.From the passage, we can learn that the EP_____ .
A. doesn’t burn up oxygen B. runs without any noise
C. makes people get sleepy D. is unsuitable for children and pets
Optimism and pessimism(消极) are both powerful forces. Each of us must choose which we want to ________ our future and our expectations. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or ________. It’s our decision: from which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in ________ or down in desperation?
I believe in the upward look. I choose to ________ the positive and skip right over the negative.
An optimistic attitude is not a luxury(奢侈品); it’s a(n) ________. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. ________, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations ________ themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy (预言). Pessimism creates a dark place where no one wants to live.
Years ago, I drove into a service station to get some gas. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling great. As I walked into the station to pay for the gas, the attendant said to me, “How do you feel?” That seemed like a(n) ________ question, but I felt fine and told him so. “You don’t look well,” he replied. This ________ me completely by surprise. A little ________ confidently, I told him that I had ________ felt better. Without hesitation, he continued to tell me how bad I looked and that my skin appeared yellow.
By the time I left the service station, I was feeling a little ________. About a block away, I ________ over to the side of the road to look at my face in the mirror. How did I feel? Was I affected with jaundice(黄疸)? Was everything all right? By the time I got home, I was beginning to feel a little nauseous(恶心). Did I have a bad liver? Had I ________ some rare disease?
On another beautiful day, when I went into that gas station, feeling ________ again, I figured out what had happened. The place had recently been painted a bright, distasteful ________, and the light reflecting ________ the walls made everyone inside look as though they had hepatitis(肝炎)! I wondered how many other folks had ________ the way I did. I had let one short conversation with a total ________ change my attitude for an entire day. He told me I looked sick, and before long, I was actually feeling sick. That single ________ observation had a great effect on the way I felt and acted.
The only thing more powerful than negativism is a word of optimism and hope. When a whole culture adopts an upward look, incredible things can be accomplished.
1.A. decide B. shape C. preview D. transform
2.A. forgive B. praise C. curse D. regret
3.A. hope B. anger C. action D. vain
4.A. analyze B. highlight C. evaluate D. introduce
5.A. quality B. opportunity C. necessity D. identity
6.A. Actually B. Contrarily C. Similarly D. Consequently
7.A. rely on B. feed on C. go on D. take on
8.A. familiar B. ordinary C. easy D. odd
9.A. took B. got C. stopped D. made
10.A. more B. too C. quite D. less
11.A. ever B. never C. once D. always
12.A. unaffected B. unconcerned C. unsatisfied D. uneasy
13.A. got B. came C. took D. pulled
14.A. picked up B. brought up C. come up D. put up
15.A. sick B. upset C. fine D. calm
16.A. gray B. yellow C. blue D. red
17.A. off B. over C. in D. through
18.A. quit B. adapted C. answered D. reacted
19.A. liar B. onlooker C. stranger D. attendant
20.A. positive B. negative C. careful D. rigid
--How do you think I can make up with Tom?
--Put aside ___you disagree and try to find __you have in common.
A. what; what B. what; where
C. where; what D. what; whether
