I entered high school having read hundreds of books. But I was not a good reader. Merely bookish,
I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather, I read in order to get a point of view. I searched books for
good expressions and sayings, pieces of information, ideas, themes-anything to enrich my thought and
make me feel educated. When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that
a person could not have a"complicated (复杂的) idea" until he had read at least two thousand books, I
heard the words without recognizing either its irony (嘲讽) or its very complicated truth. I merely
determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read. Strict with myself, I included only once a title
I might have read several times. (How, after all, could one read a book more than once?) And I included
only those books over a hundred pages in length. (Could anything shorter be a book?)
There was yet another high school list I made. One day I came across a newspaper article about an
English professor at a nearby state college. The article had a list of the"hundred most important books
of Western Civilization.""More than anything else in my life, " the professor told the reporter with finality,"
these books have made me all that I am." That was the kind of words I couldn"t ignore (忽视). I kept the
list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles. Most books, of course, I hardly understood.
While reading Plato"s The Republic, for example, I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book
to remind myself what the text was about. However, with the special patience and superstition (迷信) of
a schoolboy, I looked at every word of the text. And by me time I reached the last word, pleased, I
persuaded myself that I had read The Republic, and seriously crossed Plato off my list.
| ( )1. A. sing ( )2. A. member ( )3. A. weakly ( )4. A. At first ( )5. A. hated ( )6. A. honest ( )7. A. avoid ( )8. A. few ( )9. A. or ( )10. A. forced ( )11. A. accept ( )12. A. role ( )13. A. can ( )14. A. anger ( )15. A. purpose ( )16. A. memorizing ( )17. A. disliked ( )18. A. consideration ( )19. A. practiced ( )20. A. part | B. dance B. actress B. rapidly B. In fact B. enjoyed B. shy B. focus B. a few B. so B. requested B. play B. matter B. must B. pain B. way B. organizing B. loved B. description B. planned B. play | C. speak C. player C. smoothly C. After all C. appreciated C. polite C. pay C. several C. for C. encouraged C. offer C. interest C. may C. sadness C. idea C. checking C. expected C. selection C. performed C. speech | D. report D. character D. slowly D. In all D. regretted D. patient D. attract D. many D. but D. reminded D. learn D. grade D. should D. fear D. importance D. improving D. bore D. understanding D. delivered D. position |
| 语法填空。 阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用 括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在标号为1-10的相应位置上。 | |||
| A young man, while traveling through a desert, came across a spring of clear water. 1______ water was sweet. He filled his leather container so that he could bring some back to an elder 2______ had been his teacher. After a four-day journey, the young man 3______ (present) the water to the old man. His teacher took a deep drink, smiled 4______ (warm), and thanked his student very much for the sweet water. The young man went home 5______ a happy heart. After the student left, the teacher let 6______ student taste the water. He spit it out, 7______ (say) it was awful. Apparently, it was no longer fresh because of the old leather container. He asked his teacher, "Sir, the water was awful. Why did you pretend to like 8______?" The teacher replied, "You tasted the water. I tasted the girl. The water was simply the container for an act of kindness and love. Nothing could be 9______ (sweet)." We understand this lesson best 10______ we receive gifts of love from children. Whether it is a cheap pipe or a diamond necklace, the proper response is appreciation. We love the idea within the gift rather than the thing. | |||
| 阅读理解。 | |||
| When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother"s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her. My mother has long realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she. I was foxed to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rode to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人). I said in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, "This is Mrs. Tan." And my mother was standing beside me, whispering loudly, "Why he don"t send me cheek, already two week late." And then, in perfect English I said, "I"m getting rather concerned. You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn"t arrived." Then she talked more loudly. "What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss." And so I turned to the stockbroker again, "I can"t tolerate any more excuse. If I don"t receive the cheek immediately, I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week." The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English. When I was a teenager, my mother"s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother"s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom. It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world. | |||
| 1. Why was the author"s mother poorly served? | |||
| A. She was unable to speak good English. B. She was often misunderstood. C. She was not clearly heard. D. She was not very polite. | |||
| 2. From Paragraph 2, we know that the author was _____. | |||
| A. good at pretending B. rode to the stockbroker C. ready to help her mother D. unwilling to phone for her mother | |||
| 3. After the author made the phone call, _____. | |||
| A. they forgave the stockbroker B. they failed to get the check C. they went to New York immediately D. they spoke to their boss at once | |||
| 4. What does the author think of her mother"s English now? | |||
| A. It confuses her. B. It embarrasses her. C. It helps her understand the world. D. It helps her tolerate rude people. | |||
| 5. We can infer from the passage that Chinese English _____. | |||
| A. is clear and natural to non-native speakers B. is vivid and direct to non-native speakers C. has a very bad reputation in America D. may bring inconvenience in America | |||
| 阅读理解。 | |||
| I recently turned fifty, which is young for a tree, midlife for an elephant, and ancient for a sportsman. Fifty is a nice number for the states in the US or for a national speed limit but it is not a number that I was prepared to have hung on me. Fifty is supposed to be my father"s age, but now I am stuck with this number and everything it means. A few days ago, a friend tried to cheer me up by saying, " Fifty is what forty used to be." He had made an inspirational point, Am I over the hill? People keep telling me that the hill has been moved, and I keep telling them that he high-jump bar has dropped from the six feet I once easily cleared to the four feet that is impossible for me now. " Your are not getting older, you are getting better." says Dr. Joyce Brothers. This, however, is the kind of doctor who inspires a second opinion. And so. as I approach the day when I cannot even jump over the tennis net. I am moves to share some thoughts on aging with you. I am moved to show how aging feels to me physically and mentally. Getting older. of course, is obviously a better change than the one that brings you eulogies (悼词). In fact, a poet named Robert Browning considered it the best change of all: Grow old along with me! The best is yet to me. Whether or not Browning was right, most of my first fifty years have been golden ones, so I will settle for what is ahead being as good as what has gone by. I find myself moving toward what is ahead with a curious blend (混合) of both fighting and accepting my aging, hoping that the philosopher (哲学家) was right when he said. " Old is always fifteen years from now." | |||
| 1. The author seems to tell us in Paragraph 1 that _____. | |||
| A. time alone will tell B. time goes by quickly C. time will show what is right D. time makes one forget the past | |||
| 2. When the author turned fifty, people around him ______. | |||
| A. tried to comfort him B. got inspiration with him C. were friendlier with him D. found him more talkative | |||
| 3. The author considers his fifty years of life _____. | |||
| A. peaceful B. ordinary C. satisfactory D. regretful | |||
| 4. We can infer from the passage that _____. | |||
A. the old should led a simple life |