It"s time to remind myself what I love about life here in California,USA, to rem

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It"s time to remind myself what I love about life here in California,USA, to remember what I desperately miss when I go home.
Real radio
In the USA there are so many radio stations that those iPod tuner things don’t work at all. There is, simply, no dead air. It took me a while to discover the USA"s many public radio stations, which don"t broadcast any advertisements. KCRW is my favorites station, for its blend of indie music and current affairs. But I also listen to KJAZZ and KPCC. But before you feel jealous — it’s all online. My favorites: American life Snap Judgement and Henry Rollins live every Saturday night. Take listen online for free News? Well, there"s not a lot of news from South Africa, and when it is, it"s bad and full of fear, so I ignore it. But I care about any place I live in, and that includes the USA. And on public radio, the USA is covered in depth, from the perspective of individual stories rather than statistics.
The festivals
I’m jealously watching tweets and Facebook boasts and reviews from SXSW — seems like half the people I used to work with in South Africa are there,meeting Grumpy Cat and watching bands they’ve always wanted to see live. It’s great to know that these 1000s of festivals are so close, and that one day,if film school schedule ever allows me to leave campus for more than a few days, I can go to one or two of them. I have already exchanged my much loved Ford Mustang for a bigger, less sexy car — a car spacious enough to sleep in — so that next year I can be there, not just dream of it.
The famous people
When I go back to SA, I"m often asked if I’ve spotted any famous people. It"s awkward for me. I feel the the same way about it as I feel when an American asks me if there are lions in the streets. Except yes, I have. No,not lions. I have met some famous people. I chatted to RJ Mitte from Breaking Bad outside a dub in West Hollywood. Many of my professors are famous directors. The problem is, once you meet these famous people, they"re just people, FFS. This feels disappointing at first, like you"re missing a Jesus moment of some sort. But if you think about it, it"s inspiring. What it means, is that I, litlle me (right now, also "just a person") could be a famous just-a-person person one day, and get to make all the films I just dream of now.
小题1:The underlined sentence "There is,simply, no dead air." probably means____.

A．there is no useless radio programmes in the USA

B．there is no useful radio programmes in the USA

C．there is no polluted air in the USA

D．there is no advertisements from the radio programmes in the USA

小题2:There are so many festivals that_____.

A．I often leave campus for more than few days

B．I often attend some of them in person

C．I bought a bigger Ford? Mustang

D．I can share many reviews and performances online with my friends in South Africa

小题3:The author thinks the famous people in the USA _____.

A．are just Like lions	B．are well-known but ordinary
C．are disappointing	D．are inspiring

小题4:The author is most likely to be _____.

A．a director in America	B．a professor in South Africa
C．a student in America	D．an actor in South Africa

答案

小题1:A
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:C

解析

试题分析：当我回到家乡，总是意识到我是多么的留恋在美国加州的生活。广播电台，各种节日和名人是我记忆中最大的闪光点。
小题1:句意理解题。前文句意“在美国有很多电台，完全不是那种随身音乐播放器能比拟的，在这里电台包罗万象。”，也就是说美国的电台没有无用的节目。故选A。
小题2:细节理解题。由“I’m jealously watching tweets and Facebook boasts and reviews from SXSW — seems like half the people I used to work with in South Africa are there,meeting Grumpy Cat and watching bands they’ve always wanted to see live. ”可知我可以用网络与原来南非的朋友一起探讨生活。故选D。
小题3:细节理解题。由“The problem is, once you meet these famous people, they"re just people, FFS. ”可知美国名人有很多但是也是普通人。故选B。
小题4:推理判断题。由全文推断，作者是在美国生活过一段时间回到家乡南非，他应该是去美国留学。故选C。

举一反三

The interview has been going on for about 20 minutes and everything seems to be going well．Then, suddenly, the interviewer asks an unexpected question, “Which is more important, law or love?”
Job applicants in the West increasingly find themselves asked strange questions like this．And the signs are that this is beginning to happen in China．
Employers want people who are skilled, enthusiastic and devoted．So these are the qualities that any reasonably intelligent job applicant will try to show no matter what his or her actual feelings are．In response, employers are increasingly using the questions which try and show the applicant’s true personality．
The question in the first paragraph comes from a test called the Kiersey Temperament Sorter．It is an attempt to discover how people solve problems, rather than what they know．This is often called aptitude (天资) test．
According to Mark Baldwin of Alliance, many job applicants in China are finding this type of questions difficult．“When a Chinese fills out an aptitude test, he or she will think there is a right answer but they may fail because they try to guess what the examiner wants to see．”
This is sometimes called the prisoner’s dilemma(窘境)．Applicants are trying to act cleverly in their own interest, but they fail because they don’t understand what the interviewer is looking for．Remember that in an aptitude test, the correct answer is the honest answer．
小题1:What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To give a piece of advice to job interviewees．

B．To tell you how to deal with job interviews．

C．To advise you how to find a good job．

D．To describe an aptitude test．

小题2:According to the writer, in an aptitude test, Chinese job applicants should ________.

A．not tell the truth

B．offer a complete answer

C．learn to tell what they really think

D．find out what the examiner wants to know

小题3:From the passage we know that ________．

A．job applicants are always trying to show their actual feelings

B．applicants should not act as cleverly as possible

C．more Chinese applicants fail to find a job

D．aptitude test is becoming world-wide popular

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Are you feeling stressed out? Anxious? Is your mind racing in circles? Are you worried about all the things you have to get done? Here’s a quick—acting trick that can make you feel better.
If you are sitting at a desk, place the palm of your hand on the desk, and take a moment to focus on what the surface of the desk feels like. Is it hot or cold, rough or smooth? Put all of your attention on the sensations in your palm, on how the desk feels underneath your hand. If you are not at a desk, do the same exercise by placing your palm on any nearby object—a wall, a chair, even your opposite arm.
When you are feeling stressed, your thoughts tend to take on a life of their own. You may be thinking about things you wish you had done differently in the past or worrying about things that you have to do in the future. These thoughts will make you feel anxious. The anxiety, in turn, increases the number of anxious thoughts.
If you can ground yourself even for a moment in the present, you will break the cycle and feel instant relief. Paying attention to what objects in your environment feel like forces you to pay more attention to the present moment than to negative, anxiety—provoking (刺激的，诱发的)thoughts about the past or about the future.
Try using your other senses too:
Try closing your eyes for a second(don’t try this while driving!) and breathe deeply through your nose. What do you smell?
When eating, put all your attention on how your food tastes.
What do you hear? What little noises are there around you that you didn’t notice before?
Look closely at an ordinary object. Do you see anything you haven’t noticed before?
小题1:By saying “Is your mind racing in circles”, the author intends to mean that______.

A．you did something wrong in the past and wouldn’t forgive yourself

B．your mind is quick and bright when in a state of anxiety

C．you are thinking in a stupid way when anxious thoughts worries you a lot

D．you worried a lot and the anxious thoughts will increase your anxiety

小题2:The author advises to put your palm on the desk or any things nearby in order to ____

A．play a small trick	B．feel the surface of the object
C．do some exercises	D．reduce your anxiety

小题3:The writer mentioned some senses that could be used to reduce stress except the _____.

A．sense of touching

B．sense of smell

C．sense of humour

D．sense of listening

小题4:Which of the following can be served as a title for the article?

A．Frist Aid to Anxiety----Senses

B．How Anxiety Works

C．The Cause of Anxiety—Senses

D．How to Deal with Anxiety

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A report brought back by most visitors to the US is how friendly, polite, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet American’s friendliness and helpfulness is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of distraction, and brought news of the outside world．
The tough realities of the border also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest settler agent. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or only a charitable impulse (冲动） on the part of the settlers. It reflected the hardship of daily life: if you didn"t take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation．
Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the exhausted traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist routes. "I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner, amazing." Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be understood neither as superficial（表面的）nor as artificial（虚伪的）, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals and customs is the basis of all social inter-relationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example when an American uses the word "friend", the cultural meanings of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor"s language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to tell polite customs from individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue （美德） that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.
小题1:In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, ________．

A．rude taxi drivers are hardly seen in the US

B．small-minded officials deserve a serious comment

C．Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors

D．most Americans are ready to offer help

小题2:We can know from the last paragraph that _______．

A．culture has an influence over social inter-relationship

B．polite customs and individual interest are inter-related

C．various virtues shows themselves only among friends

D．social inter-relationships equal the complex set of cultural customs

小题3:Families who lived far from one another used to entertain strangers _______．

A．to improve their hard life	B．in view of their long-distance travel
C．to add some taste to their own daily life	D．out of a charitable impulse

小题4:The tradition of hospitality to strangers _______．

A．tends to be superficial and artificial

B．is generally well kept up in the United States

C．is always understood properly

D．has something to do with the busy tourist route

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Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been made illegal. But one popular form continues to exist, that is alphabetism (字母排序法). This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames(姓氏)begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.
It has long been known that the cars of a taxi firm called AAAA have a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers look through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbot has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a quite large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.
Thus the American presidents and vice-presidents have surnames starting with B and C separately and 26 of those before George Bush took office (including his father ) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi). The world"s three top central bankers ( Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami)are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. The same case are the world"s five richest men ( Gates, Buffet and so on) .
Can this merely happen by chance? At the start of the first year in primary school, teachers seat pupils, alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So shortsighted and small-sized Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is seldom asked the improving questions by those teachers. At that time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.
The unfairness continues. At university graduation parties, the ABCs proudly get their awards first. However, by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are a little tired. Lists of job interviews and conference speakers and attendees all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their readers lose interest as they plough through them.
小题1:What does the author intend to show with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?

A．An example of competition of two kinds of cars.

B．Some advantages of AAAA cars in the taxi firm.

C．An example of unfairness caused by alphabetism.

D．Some disadvantages of Zodiac cars in the taxi firm.

小题2:What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?

A．The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.

B．In both East and West, names are important to success.

C．Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies" names.

D．The discrimination in alphabetism can be found in many areas.

小题3:The fourth paragraph suggests that .

A．alphabetically disadvantaged often escape from class

B．teachers should pay equal attention to all their students

C．questions are often put to the more intelligent students

D．students should be seated according to their eyesight

小题4:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．VIPs in the western world gain a great deal from alphabetism.

B．People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often misunderstood.

C．Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional unfairness.

D．The movement to get rid of alphabetism still has a long way to go.

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Snapshots, the new fashion for an artistic portrait (肖像) photo: Take it underwater. Zhang Xiaomei, a 20 something Shanghai native who works in the media industry, tried it out twice.
"It was a completely different experience," says Zhang of her first such experience last May. "You get the feeling that you"re cut off from the rest of the world. But also it s romantic and like a fairy tale."
She then successfully convinced her husband to be to have their wedding photos taken underwater a couple of months after her first try. "Can you imagine a 1.87-meter-tall man trying out something like a fishtail under the water?" Zhang says, laughing.
A commercial underwater photo portrait is perfect for post 80 and post 90 generations who adore taking snapshots, but are looking for new ways to be artistic, says Ai Cheng, owner and photographer of No.55 Underwater Photography in Shanghai.
Ai opened a studio in Shanghai"s suburb of Songjiang two years ago, building a 5-meter- deep, fan-shaped pool equipped with heating facilities to start up the business. A 30-minute training on how to smile under the water so that you won"t drink too much water and how to open your eyes underwater is offered in his studio for those who don"t know how to swim.
Ai says most of his customers are female—half of them coming for an artistic portrait photo and the rest for wedding pictures. "Some of them drag their boyfriends or husband-to-be, who are unwilling to go down to the water, to shoot as well," he says.
小题1:What would be the best title for the text?

A．The Best Smiles May Be All Wet.

B．The Sweetest Smile in the World.

C．Smiling, a Universal Language.

D．A New Challenge, a New Trend.

小题2:What does Zhang Xiaomei think of underwater snapshot?

A．Funny.

B．Dangerous.

C．Fantastic.

D．Strange.

小题3:Who are most likely to take photos underwater?

A．Young people eager to be special.

B．Senior people to recall their old days.

C．Couples to celebrate their anniversary.

D．Artists to create new styles.

小题4:It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that ______.

A．young people are in for this fashion

B．fewer men would show interest in this fashion

C．men are more romantic than women

D．women would like to take more adventures

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