What makes Americans spend nearly half their food dollars on meals away from home? The answers lie in the way Americans live today. During the first few decades of the twentieth century, canned and other convenience foods freed the family cook from full-time duty at the kitchen range. Then, in the 1940s, work in the wartime defense plants took more women out of the home than ever before, setting the pattern of the working wife and mother. Today about half of the country’s married women are employed outside the home. But, unless family members pitch in with food preparation, women are not fully liberated from that housework. Instead, many have become, in a sense, prisoners of the completely cooked convenience meals. It’s easier to pick up a bucket of fried chicken on the way home from work or take the family out for pizzas or burgers than to start opening cans or heating up frozen dinners after a long , hard day. Also, the rising divorce rate means that there are more single working parents with children to feed. And many young adults and elderly people, as well as unmarried and divorced mature people, live alone rather than as part of a family unit and don’t want to bother cooking for one.
Fast food is appealing because it is fast, it doesn’t require any dressing up, it offers a “fun” break in the daily outline, and the outlay of money seems small. It can be eaten in the car--- sometimes picked up at a drive-in window without even getting out---or on the run. Even if it is brought home to eat, there will never be any dirty dishes to wash because of the handy disposable (一次性的) wrappings. Children, especially, love fast food because it’s finger food, no struggling with knives and forks, no annoying instructions from adults about table manner.
1.Americans enjoy fast food mainly because __________.
A. it can be eaten in the car
B. it is much more tasty than home-made food
C. one only uses his fingers while eating it
D. it is time-saving and convenient
2.It can be inferred that children __________.
A. want to have more freedom at table
B. never wash dishes after each meal
C. are good at using forks and knives while eating
D. take eating time as a fun break
3. Many Americans are eating out and not cooking at home partially because __________.
A. they want to make a change after eating the same food for years at home
B. the food made outside home tastes better than food cooked at home
C. many of them live alone and don’t like taking trouble to cook
D. American women refuse to cook at home due to women’s liberation movement
4.According to the text, a drive-in window is a __________.
A. car window from which you can see the driver
B. window in the restaurant from which you get your takeout in the car
C. place where you check the mechanic condition of your car
D. place where you return the used plates after eating
完形填空(共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Jame’s New Bicycle
James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully 21 the coins that lay on the bed . $24. 52 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! 22 on earth was he going to get the 23 of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was 24 to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. There was no 25 asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to 26 .
There was only one way to get money, and that was to 27 it. He would have to find a job. 28 who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice ,who usually had 29 on most things.
“Well, you can start right here, ”said Mr. Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing. ”
That was the 30 of James’ s odd-job（零工） business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the 31 of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the 32 of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the 33 increased and he knew that he would soon have 34 for the bicycle he longed for.
The day 35 came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He 36 no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode 37 home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard 38 for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more 39 he had bought it with his own money. He had 40 what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even than the bicycle.
1. A. cleaned B. covered C. counted D. checked
2.A. How B. Why C. Who D. What
3. A. amount B. part C. sum D. rest
4. A. brave B. hard C. smart D. unfair
5.A. point B. reason C. result D. right
6. A. split B. spend C. spare D. save
7. A. borrow B. earn C. raise D. collect
8. A. Or B. So C. For D. But
9. A. decisions B. experience C. opinions D. knowledge
10.A. beginning B. introduction C. requirement D. opening
11. A. similarity B. quality C. suitability D. variety
12. A. brand B. number C. size D. type
13. A. effort B. pressure C. money D. trouble
14. A. all B. enough C. much D. some
15. A. finally B. instantly C. normally D. regularly
16. A. gave B. left C. took D. wasted
17. A. patiently B. proudly C. silently D. tiredly
18.A. applying B. asking C. looking D. working
19.A. since B. if C. than D. though
20. A. deserved B. benefited C. achieved D. learned
The problems, _____ properly, will seriously affect the relations of nations.
A. not solved B. if not solving C. if not solved D. if not to solve
The biggest problem was that thousands of travelers remained _____ outside because of the floods.
A. sticking B. stuck C. to be stuck D. to have stuck
We noticed that each animal and each tree in the park _____ being taken good care of.
A. are B. is C. were D. was
Part of the reason Charles Dickens loved his own novel, David Copperfield, was _____ it was rather closely modeled on his own life.
A. what B. that C. why D. whether
