I used to believe in the American Dream, which meant a job, a mortgage(按揭)，credi
题型：不详难度：来源：
I used to believe in the American Dream, which meant a job, a mortgage(按揭)，credit cards, success. I wanted it and worked toward it like everyone else, all of us ____ chasing the same thing.
One year, through a series of unhappy events, it all fell ____. I found myself homeless and alone. I had my truck and $56. I ____ the countryside for some place I could rent for the ___ possible amount. I came upon a shabby house four miles up a winding mountain road ____ the Potomac River in West Virginia. It was ____， full of broken glass and rubbish. I found the owner, rented it, and ____ a corner to camp in.
The locals knew nothing about me, ____ slowly, they started teaching me the ____ of being a neighbor. They dropped off blankets, candles, and tools, and began ____ around to chat. They started to teach me a belief in a ____ American Dream—not the one of individual achievement but of ____.
What I had believed in, all those things I thought were ____ for a civilized life, were nonexistent in this place. ____ on the mountain, my most valuable possessions were my ____ with my neighbors.
Four years later, I moved back into ____. I saw many people were having a really hard time, ____ their jobs and homes. I managed to rent a big enough house to ___ a handful of people. There are four of us now in the house，but over time I"ve had nine people come in and move on to other places. We"d all be in ____ if we hadn"t banded together.
The American Dream I believe in now is a shared one. It"s not so much about what I can get for myself; it"s about ____ we can all get by together.
| 小题1: | | A．separately | B．equally | | C．violently | D．naturally |
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| 小题3: | | A．crossed | B．left | | C．toured | D．searched |
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| 小题4: | | A．fullest | B．largest | | C．fairest | D．cheapest |
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| 小题5: | | A．at | B．through | | C．over | D．round |
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| 小题6: | | A．occupied | B．abandoned | | C．emptied | D．robbed |
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| 小题7: | | A．turned | B．approached | | C．cleared | D．cut |
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| 小题8: | | A．but | B．although | | C．otherwise | D．for |
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| 小题9: | | A．benefit | B．lesson | | C．nature | D．art |
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| 小题10: | | A．sticking | B．looking | | C．swinging | D．turning |
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| 小题11: | | A．wild | B．real | | C．different | D．remote |
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| 小题12: | | A．neighborliness | B．happiness | | C．friendliness | D．kindness |
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| 小题13: | | A．unique | B．expensive | | C．rare | D．necessary |
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| 小题15: | | A．cooperation | B．relationships | | C．satisfaction | D．appointments |
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| 小题16: | | A．reality | B．society | | C．town | D．life |
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| 小题17: | | A．creating | B．losing | | C．quitting | D．offering |
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| 小题18: | | A．put in | B．turn in | | C．take in | D．get in |
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| 小题19: | | A．yards | B．shelters | | C．camps | D．cottages |
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| 小题20: | | A．when | B．what | | C．whether | D．how |
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答案
小题1:A
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:D
小题5:C
小题6:B
小题7:C
小题8:A
小题9:D
小题10:A
小题11:C
小题12:A
小题13:D
小题14:A
小题15:B
小题16:C
小题17:B
小题18:C
小题19:B
小题20:D |
解析
文章大意：本文是一篇记叙文，通过困境中来到乡下，受到邻里之间的帮助，让我的思想转变了：美国梦是一个共享的梦。
小题1:答案：A 所有的人都各自地追逐着同样的东西。separately各自地，分别地，符合题意。而equally平等地，violently猛烈地，暴力地，naturally自然地，皆不合题意。
小题2:答案：B 由不好的事及下文我独自一人无家可归，可知一切都失败了。fall apart崩溃，失败，符合题意。
小题3:答案：D 我在乡下搜索寻找一个可以租的地方。search...for...搜索某一范围找某个东西，符合题意。
小题4:答案：D 由上文我只有56美元，可知是找一个最便宜的出租地，故选D项。
小题5:答案：C 在河流的上方用over。
小题6:答案：B 由下文，充满破玻璃和垃圾，可知是一个废弃的地方。abandoned 废弃的，遗弃的，符合题意。occupied忙碌的，被占的。
小题7:答案：C 由上文房子充满破玻璃和垃圾，所以，要先清理出一个角落才能入住。clear清理，符合题意。
小题8:答案：A 上句当地人不认识我，下句他们开始教给我，之间是转折关系，用but连接两个并列分句。
小题9:答案：D 由下文“邻居们放下毯子，蜡烛，工具”等等，可知这是作邻居的艺术，故选D项。
小题10:答案：A 邻居们放下东西，停下来聊天。stick around停留，逗留，符合题意。
小题11:答案：C 由下文“不是个人的成就，而是……”与我原本以为的完全不同，故选C项。
小题12:答案：A 由上文可知，作者感动的是邻里之间的和睦关系，故选A项。neighborliness睦邻，亲近，和睦，符合题意。
小题13:答案：D 原本我认为对于城市生活必需的东西，故选D项。
小题14:答案：A 由上文信息他的房子是在four miles up a winding mountain road可知这里的人们是住在山上，故选A项。
小题15:答案：B 由上文12空处，可以看出，我最珍贵的财产就是我与邻居们的关系。故选B项。
小题16:答案：C 由move back搬回，可知又回到镇上，故选C项。
小题17:答案：B 由下文我租了房子给人住，可以知道很多人失去了工作和房子，选losing。
小题18:答案：C 我租了足够大的房子收留一些人，take in收留，留宿，符合题意。put in输入，turn in上交，get in收割，皆不合题意。
小题19:答案：B 如果我们不联合起来，我们全都要住在收容所里。shelter收留所，遮蔽处，符合题意。
小题20:答案：D about后面的从句不缺主语、宾语、表语，因此不选what；也没有是否(whether)的意思；也没涉及时间(when)问题，因此只能选how。 |
举一反三
One year ago, I traveled 15,000 kilometers from Australia to the US. I am from a beachside town in the ____ of Sydney, and thought there would be almost no ____ differences between my home country and my ____. I was surprised at how wrong I was, and at ____ different the two countries could be.
The United States is ____ in almost every aspect. The buildings are gigantic (巨大的) and so are the people who ____ and work in them. At mealtimes, the portions (份额) often ____ to me to be big enough for three or four people. I once ____ a baked potato which turned out to be bigger than my head! This was a big ____ for me.
The longer I spent in the US, the more I started to ____ smaller differences like the culture of ____ in restaurants. In Australia we don"t tend to give a tip ____ the service has been really excellent. In the US you tip for ___ everything, even at the hairdresser. Waiters and shop assistants ____ to be given 15 percent of the bill, although in places ____ New York or Washington DC, a tip can be as much as 20 percent.
___， I also became more wary (谨慎的) of believing the stereotypes (成见) I had heard at home as I traveled. Not all Americans are ignorant of geography, for example.Despite this, certain stereotypes about places did seem to ____ true for me. There is an immense (强烈的) sense of speed in New York. Everyone ___ to and fro, and very seldom takes time to ____ the moment. This is very different from the Australian lifestyle. Australians are laid back. Even in a major city like Sydney, we “Aussies” take time to “stop and smell the roses”—very different from our American counterparts.
Navigating (驾驭) the culture divide between Australia and the US was challenging at times. But I took up that ____ and learned a lot from it. It was an adventure.
| 小题1: | | A．heart | B．city | | C．center | D．suburbs |
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| 小题2: | | A．cultural | B．commercial | | C．economic | D．scientific |
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| 小题3: | | A．home town | B．departure | | C．location | D．destination |
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| 小题4: | | A．how | B．why | | C．however | D．where |
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| 小题5: | | A．big | B．modern | | C．small | D．fashionable |
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| 小题6: | | A．travel | B．survive | | C．live | D．serve |
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| 小题7: | | A．happened | B．seemed | | C．proved | D．managed |
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| 小题8: | | A．brought | B．ordered | | C．designed | D．fetched |
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| 小题9: | | A．laughter | B．pleasure | | C．shock | D．embarrassment |
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| 小题10: | | A．prefer | B．notice | | C．tell | D．appreciate |
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| 小题11: | | A．serving | B．tipping | | C．donating | D．toasting |
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| 小题12: | | A．unless | B．if | | C．when | D．since |
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| 小题13: | | A．rarely | B．mostly | | C．almost | D．hardly |
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| 小题14: | | A．try | B．wait | | C．think | D．expect |
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| 小题16: | | A．So | B．Therefore | | C．However | D．But |
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| 小题17: | | A．come | B．become | | C．turn | D．get |
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| 小题18: | | A．walks | B．drives | | C．wanders | D．rushes |
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| 小题19: | | A．depend on | B．reflect on | | C．spy on | D．watch on |
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| 小题20: | | A．experience | B．job | | C．challenge | D．business |
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Scientists have long puzzled over how iguanas, a group of lizards(蜥蜴) mostly found in the Americas, came to live in the isolated Pacific islands of Fiji and Tonga. Some scientists used to suppose that they must have traveled there on a raft, a journey of around 5,000 miles from South America to the islands. There are documented cases of iguanas reaching remote Caribbean islands and the Galapagos Islands on floating logs. But new research in January by Brice Noonan and Jack Sites suggested that iguanas may have simply walked to Fiji and Tonga when the islands were still a part of an ancient southern supercontinent.
The ancient supercontinent was made up of present-day Africa, Australia, Antarctica and parts of Asia. If that’s the case, the island species would need to be very old. Using “molecular (分子) clock” analysis of living iguanas’ DNA, Noonan and Sites found that, sure enough, the lineage of iguanas has been around for more than 60 million years—easily old enough to have been in the area when the islands were still connected by land bridges to Asia or Australia.
Fossils (化石) uncovered in Mongolia suggest that iguanid ancestors did once live in Asia. Though there’s currently no fossil evidence of iguanas in Australia, that doesn’t necessarily mean they were never there. “The fossil record of this continent is surprisingly poor and cannot be taken as evidence of true absence,” the authors write.
So if the iguanas simply walked to Fiji and Tonga from Asia or possibly Australia, why are they not also found on the rest of the Pacific islands? Noonan and Sites say fossil evidence suggests that iguana species did once inhabit other islands, but went extinct right around the time when humans settled in those islands. But Fiji and Tonga have a much shorter history of human presence, which may have helped the iguanas living there to escape extinction.
The researchers say that their study can’t completely rule out the rafting theory, but it does make the land bridge theory “far more reasonable than previously thought.”
小题1: What did some scientists previously believe about the iguanas?| A．They were once discovered in America. | | B．They traveled by raft to Fiji and Tonga. | | C．They could survive in poor living conditions. | | D．They moved to Fiji and Tonga from Australia. |
小题2:According to Noonan and Sites, 60 million years ago ____. | A．the land of the world was a supercontinent | | B．Fiji and Tonga were connected to Asia or Australia | | C．Africa, Australia and America were a continent | | D．iguanas walked to Fiji and Tonga from Africa |
小题3:The underline word “lineage” in Paragraph 2 probably refers to ____.| A．conditions in which creatures can survive | | B．the change in ancient plants and animals. | | C．the line of generations of an ancestor | | D．the habitat of a type of an ancient animal |
小题4: What is the main topic of this passage? | A．The life span of animals living on the ancient supercontinent. | | B．The two islands being home to several iguana species in the Pacific region. | | C．The fossil evidence suggesting iguanas’ ancestors’ swimming to Fiji and Tonga | | D．By raft or by land — how did iguanas reach the tiny Pacific islands? |
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My grandmother Adele loved culture and was generous with its gifts. When I was a child, she took me to museums, restaurants, dances. She showered me with gifts from her travels around the world. But I can only remember her giving me one book—a book that, to this day, I have not read. She presented me with her own favorite childhood book: Hans Brinker. My grandmother was happy to share this book with me. She even decorated the title page with her proud writing.
I tried to read it. I adored reading, and would dive into a new pile of books from the library all at once. But something about Hans Brinker just wouldn’t let me in. The story was set in Holland, a long time ago. It felt dull and unfamiliar—even though I was a fan of classics of other times and places. I simply read the first pages over and over. I could not progress.
Standing on a bookshelf in our living room, the book was like something I avoided. It scolded me for not being interested, for not trying hard enough, for disappointing my grandmother.
The book started to fit in, almost forgotten, until Adele asked. Had I read it? Did I like it? Always determined, she wanted to know the answer. I would make some kind of excuse, feel bad, and open it again, hoping for a new reaction. The book weighed on me.
Years passed and finally Adele and I both accepted that I would never read Hans Brinker. Eventually I cleared the book from the shelf. The Hans Brinker experience led me to set a rule that I’ve lived by ever since: Do not ask about a book given as a gift. Don’t ask, despite your desire to discuss it to grow closer. The desire for such connection is what gives book-giving with special meaning—and increases the owner’s possibility to be a letdown.
Guilt is basically the same as for all gifts, though. If the giver doesn’t have the pleasure of seeing or hearing about the gift being enjoyed, and asks whether it is, then the owner—unless she can truthfully say “yes”—either has to admit to not liking the present, or else lie on the spot. Neither is pleasant. So, don’t ask.
小题1: When the author was a kid, his grandmother ________.| A．took him to travel around the world a lot | | B．loved to take him to museums and stores | | C．shared her childhood stories with him | | D．gave him many gifts |
小题2:What does the author think about the book his grandmother gave him?| A．Boring. | B．Interesting. | C．Puzzling. | D．Disappointing. |
小题3:The underlined sentence “The book weighed on me” in Paragraph 4 probably means _______.| A．the book is too heavy for the author to carry | | B．the author feels stressful facing the book | | C．the book is full of powerful viewpoints | | D．the author keeps reading the book |
小题4:. The author learns from the Hans Brinker’s experience that never________.| A．give others books as gifts | | B．lie to people who give you gifts | | C．get close to others through gifts | | D．talk about the books given as gifts |
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It has become the modern substitute of glancing at your watch—the furtive(偷偷的)look at a phone screen to check for new messages or have a quick look at Facebook．Researchers have now found why we often feel such a strong urge to glance at our handset．Using your mobile，they say，is easily affected by other people．
A University of Michigan team say people are twice as likely to pull out their phones to check their messages or emails if they’re with someone who has just done the same．It also found that females were more likely to use their mobile than men because it was more ‘consistent’ with the daily lives of women．
The team watched students in dining halls and coffee shops around campus，observing pairs of students sitting at tables for as long as 20 minutes and recorded their cellphone use at 1 0-second intervals．
“What we found most interesting was just how often people were using their mobile phones，” Dr Daniel Kruger， the study’s co-author, said．“Every person we observed used his／her phone at least once while one woman was on hers about half of the time．You may see others checking their incoming messages and be encouraged to check your own．’’
Overall，the students used their cellphones in an average of 24 percent，the researchers found．But they were significantly more likely to use their phones(39．5 percent)when their companion had just done so in the previous 10-second interval than without the social clue，the researchers said，adding that this behavior was often repeated．
Cell phones create an alternative way for one’s attention and may both promote and interrupt ongoing social activities，the researchers wrote．
Kruger believes this pattern could be related to the effects of social acceptance and rejection．If one person in a pair engages in another conversation through their phone，his or her companion may feel rejected．That companion then might be forced to connect with others from outside so as not to feel left out．
小题1:People’s strong desire to check their messages partly results from ___________．| A．the modern substitute of their watches | | B．the new messages of their handsets | | C．the same behavior of other people | | D．the update service of Facebook |
小题2:Why do women use their phones more frequently?| A．They want to show off their modern mobiles． | | B．They are more likely to be influenced by others． | | C．They try to set a good example for others． | | D．They desire to meet the demands of society． |
小题3:How might one feel when his companion is busy checking messages?| A．Relaxed． | B．Ashamed． | | C．Surprised． | D．Ignored． |
小题4: The underlined part“this behavior” in Paragraph 5 refers to _______________．| A．using the cellphones | B．receiving social clues | | C．joining in activities | D．engaging in conversations |
小题5:Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?| A．Social Acceptance And Rejection | | B．Females Use Mobiles More than Men | | C．How Do People Check Messages? | | D．Cellphone Use Is Spreading |
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I work in a busy Emergency Room( E. R. ) . This weekend, I had a patient who was very nervousand paranoid.
After looking at his chart, I saw that he was seeking treatment for alcoholism. There is an immediate prejudice against substance abuse in my E. R. One -we do not have a detox(戒酒) facility.The people seeking treatment for addiction are sometimes looked down on as being less worthy of treatment than other serious physical " ailments" .
At first glance, I found out that the man was now somewhere in his mid-thirties, was very weak and had a generally aggressive character. He could not sit still and had a cough. He had not had a drink in four days. His hands were shaking and there was a scared look in his eyes.
He told me that he began drinking about age 11 when his mother supplied him with it. He had tried to quit many times before but had not been able to." So . what"s different this time ?"I asked.
"Because I"m starting to be mean to the people I love, but now I don"t want to be. I ca:n see that I"m changing into something else. "
That answer helped change my attitude toward him. I could see the pain behind his eyes. Behind the appearance, there was a terrified person whose goodness was being claimed by the alcohol. He was desperate for help, but not so sure that his condition could be changed.
I, thank this man for showing me that the goodness is dressed in all sorts of disguises(伪装) . Sometimes we have to undress it. It"s worth doing. My patient was admitted to the hospital for help ,despite us not having a detox facility.
小题1: What does the underlined word " ailments" me| A． build | B． energy | C．illness | D． ability |
小题2: How long has the man been drinking?| A．20 years | B． 11 years | C． Over 30 years | D． Over 20 years |
小题3:From the passage we know that___ .| A．The patient was refused mainly for the hospital"s lack of equipment | | B．The patient once didn"t want to treat the people he loved kindly | | C．The patient was strong and brave at first glance | | D．The patient once succeeded in giving up drinking alcohol |
小题4:What conclusion can we draw from the passage?| A．Where there is a will, there"s a way. | | B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | | C． Never judge a book by its cover. | | D．Good is rewarded with good. |
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