At the beginning of the twentieth century, many people thought that the American family was falling apart. A century later, we know that this was not the case. However, although the family is still alive in the United States, its size and shape were very different 100 years ago. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were mainly two types of families in the United States: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family usually includes grandparents, parents, and children living under the same roof. The nuclear family consists of only parents and children. Today there are many different kinds of families. Some people live in "traditional" families, that is, a stay-home mother, a working father, and their own biological children. Others live in two-paycheck families, single-parent families, adoptive or foster, families, blended families (where men and women who were married before marry again and combine the children from previous marriages into the new families),child less families, and so on. What caused the structure of the family to change? In the early 1900s the birthrate began to fall and the divorce rate began to rise. Women were suddenly choosing to go to college and take jobs outside the home. In the 1930s and 1940s, many families faced serious financial, or money problems during the Great Depression, when many people lost their jobs. During World War II(1939-1945),5 million women were left alone to take care of their homes and their children. Because many men were at war, thousands of these "war widows" had to go to work outside their home. During the next ten years, the situation changed. There were fewer divorces, and people married at a younger age and had more children than the previous generation. It was unusual for a mother to work outside the home during the years when her children were growing up. Families began leaving cities and moving into single-family homes in the suburbs. The traditional family seemed to be returning. In the years between 1960s and 1990s, there were many important changes in the structure of the family. From the 1960s to the early 1970s, the divorce rate doubled and the birthrate fell by half. The number of single-parent families tripled, and the number of couples living together without being married doubled again. In fact, the single-parent household, once unusual, has replaced the "traditional" family as the typical family in the States. If we can judge from history, however, this will probably change again in the twenty-first century. The Changes of the American Family
Main comparisons | Contexts | Different 1 | There were two 2 types of families in the past, namely, the extended and the 3 . | Nowadays 4 types of families can be seen than before. | 5 in different periods. | In the 1900s and 1940s | Many of the women had to work outside due to the 6 of money., thus causing the fall of 7 and the rise of divorce rate. | In the 1950s
| Divorce rate slided and there were more children. The families returned to be 8 again. | In the years between 1960s and 1990s | Different types of families occurred. Traditional families are no longer the__9 ones in America. | A trend worth noting | Author"s opinion on changes | The present structure is temporary. 10 from history, we know it will experience changes again in the near future. |
答案
1. kinds/ types 2. main 3. nuclear 4. more 5. Changes 6. lack 7. birthrate 8. traditional 9. typical 10. Judging |
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阅读理解。
“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.” This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it. We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives. But have all these developments really improve the quality of our lives? Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives. One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones. The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “fashionable, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.” Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions! Don’t be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day. Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.
1.The passage is mainly about .
A.problems with technology B.improvements of our life with technology C.the important roles technology plays in our everyday life D.major changes which will be likely to happen to technology
2.The writer quoted what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to .
A.share a truth about life B.tell us what life was like long time ago C.make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen D.point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same
3.The family chose to spend some time in a 1940’s house because .
A.they liked to live simple lives B.they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions C.they were troubled by modern inventions D.living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them
4.What does the word “available” in the suggestion offered by the writer mean?
A.Busy on line B.Free C.Be able to D.Be found by others. | 阅读理解 | Counterfeit (假的) medicines are a widespread problem in developing countries. Like other counterfeits, they look like real products. But counterfeit drugs may contain too little or none of the active ingredients (原料) of the real thing. People do not get the medicine they need. And in some cases the counterfeits cause death. Twenty children in Bangladesh died last year after being given acetaminophen (醋氨粉). The medications contained ingredients that looked, smelled and tasted like the real thing. The medicine was produced by a local drug company that used a dangerous substitute to save money. The problem with counterfeit medicines is especially bad in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The W. H. O. estimates that up to thirty percent of the medicines on sale in many of those countries are counterfeit. . The W. H. O. says counterfeits make up less than one percent of the illegal drug market in countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. But the agency also says as much as fifty percent of the medicine sold on the Internet is counterfeit. Much is being done to fight counterfeit drugs. Several companies are developing ways to make counterfeits easier to identify. And there are existing methods, like a machine that can quickly identify chemicals in pills to confirm if the pills are real. Other ideas include things like special tracking codes for drug packages. People could send a text message with the code and get a message back proving that what they bought is listed in a database. Some drug makers and other companies put three-dimensional images called holograms (条形码) on their products as a security device. 1. What advice can we get from Paragraph 4? (no more than 8words) ______________________________________________. 2. What is the main idea of the last paragraph? (no more than 10 words) _______________________________________________. 3. Complete the following statement with proper words. (no more that 4 words) A local drug company produced counterfeit medicines by using dangerous substitutes ______________________________________________________________________________. 4. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with a proper sentence. (no more than 10 words) _____________________________________________. 5. What does the underlined word "they" in Paragraph 1 refer to? (no more than 3 words) _____________________________________________. | Many patients who don’t want to tell their doctor how much they really drink are often more honest with a computer. The computer __31__ (use) for this purpose is programmed to be friendly. For example, if a patient called Ann says that __32__ her parents are dead, the computer will say: “I’m sorry to hear that, Ann.” Apart from expressing sympathy, the computer __33___ also question and remind. If a patient says he __34__ drinks alcohol, the computer can ask him, “Never? Not even at parties or at Christmas?” Does this direct contact __35__the patient and the computer mean that we do not need doctors any more? It depends. Computers are useful __36__ they do not look shocked if you say you drink two bottles of whisky __37__day. And they do not stop to talk on the phone as doctors often do. But ___38___ a doctor said, “We smile and we give a patient a handkerchief or put arm around her shoulder if she __39__ (cry). That is ___40___ people will always want us.” | Alzheimer"s disease affects millions of people around the world. American researchers say the disease will affect more than one hundred million people worldwide by the year twenty fifty. That would be four times the current number. Researchers and doctors have been studying Alzheimer"s patients for a century. Yet the cause and cure for the mental sickness are still unknown. However, some researchers have made important steps towards understanding it. Several early signs of the disease involve memory and thought processes. At first, patients have trouble remembering little things. Later, they have trouble remembering more important things, such as the names of their children. There are also some physical tests that might show who is at risk of developing Alzheimer"s disease. The tests look for proteins in brain and spinal cord fluid. The proteins appear to be found only in people with the disease. The protein tests correctly identify the presence of the disease in about ninety percent of patients. Now, a much simpler physical test to predict Alzheimer"s risk has been developed. Researchers found that trouble with the sense of smell can be one of the first signs of Alzheimer"s. Using this information, they developed a test in which people were asked to identify twelve familiar smells. These smells included cinnamon, black pepper, chocolate, paint thinner, and smoke. The study continued for five years. During this period, the same people were asked to take several tests measuring their memory and thought abilities. Fifty percent of those who could not identify at least four of the smells in the first test had trouble with their memory and thinking in the next five years. Another study has shown a possible way to reduce a person"s chances of developing Alzheimer"s disease in old age. Researchers in Chicago found that people who use their brains more often are less likely to develop Alzheimer"s disease. Those who read a newspaper, or play chess or word games are about three times less likely to develop the condition. Researchers say they still do not know what causes Alzheimer"s disease. But they say these findings might help prevent the disease in the future. 41. What’s the main idea of the passage? A. Some early signs of the Alzheimer"s disease. B. Some physical tests about Alzheimer"s disease. C. The research about Alzheimer"s disease. D. The patients of Alzheimer"s disease. 42. What’s the current number of Alzheimer’s patients? A. 100 million B. 25 million C. 400 million D. 2050 million 43. What is not the early signs of the Alzheimer"s disease according to the passage? A. Poor memory B. Proteins exist in the brain. C. Trouble with the sense of smell. D. Less use of the brain. 44. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to? A. Alzheimer"s disease. B. Alzheimer"s patients. C. The cause and cure. D. The research. 45. According to the passage, we can learn that _______. A. there are no proteins in the brains of the people with no Alzheimer"s disease B. the people who often use their brains will not get Alzheimer"s disease C. researchers and doctors have found ways to cure Alzheimer"s disease D. the people who have the trouble with the sense of smell will certainly suffer from Alzheimer"s disease | Limit the use of private cars, improve public transport and encourage the use of bicycles to control traffic congestion(拥挤) during the 2008 Olympics, experts from foreign countries advised Beijing on Friday. Professor Nigel Wilson, of the civil and environmental engineering department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he was "supportive to the limiting of private cars during the Olympic Games", saying that in foreign countries, the method is also adopted during big events, but he was unsure about the approach. The government planned to keep an average of more than one million cars off the roads to improve traffic flow during the Olympics, said Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Beijing Traffic Committee, at the China Planning Network First Urban Transportation Congress. Sharing Wilson"s view, Dr. Yoshitsugu Hayashi, dean of the Graduate School of Environmental Studies of Nagoya University, believed the reduction in car use should be achieved not by banning, but through incentives. "Drivers who don"t use their private cars could be given points," he said, "and the points could be exchanged for goods from online shopping." Wetzel stressed limiting the use of company cars. "Governmental officials should also be encouraged to use public transportation or ride bicycles," he said, adding that he himself is a bicycle-rider in London. Matthew Martimo, director of Traffic Engineering with Citilabs, said the bicycle was China"s advantage. "Limiting private cars is an idea worth trying but it is just a temporary solution," he said. "The real cause of congestion is high density of people in Beijing and many have cars." Beijing, with a population of 15 million, is home to more than three million automobiles, and the number is rising by 1,000 a day. Professor Wilson said the Olympic Games was a great opportunity for Beijing to think about traffic problems and develop transportation, adding that the city had already been making public transport more efficient. Beijing has promised to stretch its 114-kilometer city railway to 200 kilometers before the opening of the Olympic Games. “We are looking forward to borrowing Beijing"s experiences and drawing from its lessons in preparation for the 2012 Olympics,” said Wetzel. 51. The underlined word incentives in paragraph 4 means_______. A. something that encourages people to try B. online shopping C. points could be exchanged for goods D. award 52.It can be seen from the passage that ______. A. the government planned to forbid over 1 million cars to run on the roads during the Olympics. B. banning private cars is the best way to solve traffic congestion in Beijing C. Beijing now has 200 kilometers of city railway D. the use of company cars will not be limited 53. Why did Wetzel stress “ he himself is a bicycle-rider in London”? A. To limit the use of company cars. B. To encourage governmental officials to use public transportation or ride bicycles. C. To show that riding bicycles is good for health. D. To show that he loves riding bicycles. 54. Which of the following may be the reason for the traffic congestion in Beijing? A. The 2008 Beijing Olympic games. B. The number of cars in Beijing is rising by 1,000 a day. C. The large population in Beijing and the large number of cars. D. Public transport in Beijing is not efficient. 55. The purpose of the passage is ________. A. to limit the use of private cars, improve public transport B. to encourage the use of bicycles to control traffic congestion during the 2008 Olympics C. to borrow Beijing"s experiences and draw from its lessons in preparation for the 2012 Olympics D. to tell the advice given by foreign experts on traffic congestion during 2008 Beijing Olympics |
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