As a young boy, I sometimes traveled the country roads with my dad. He was a rur

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As a young boy, I sometimes traveled the country roads with my dad. He was a rural mill carrier, and on Saturdays he would ask me to go with him. Driving through the countryside was always an adventure: There were animals to see, people to visit, and chocolate cookies if you knew where to stop, and Dad did.
In the spring, Dad delivered boxes full of baby chickens, and when 1 was a boy it was such a fun to stick your finger "through one of the holes of the boxes and let the baby birds peck on your fingers.
On Dad" s final day of work, it took him well into the evening to complete his rounds because at least one member from each family was waiting at their mailbox to thank him for his friendship and his years of service. "Two hundred and nineteen mailboxes on my route." he used to say, "and a story at every one. " One lady had no mailbox, so Dad took the mail in to her every day because she was nearly blind. Once inside, he read her mail and helped her pay her bills.
Mailboxes were sometimes used for things other than mail. One note left in a mailbox read. "Nat, take these eggs to Marian; she"s baking a cake and doesn"t have any eggs. " Mailboxes might be buried in the snow, or broken, or lying on the groom:. bat the mail was always delivered On cold days Dad might find one of his customers waiting for him with a cup of hot chocolate. A young wrote letters but had no stamps, so she left a few button on the envelope in the mailbox; Dad paid for the stamps. One businessman used to leave large amounts of cash in his mailbox for Dad to take to the bank. Once, the amount came to 8 32,000.
A dozen years ago, when I traveled back to my hometown on the sad occasion of Dad’s death, the mailboxes along the way reminded me of some of his stories. I thought I knew them all, but that wasn"t the case.
As I drove home, I noticed two lamp poles, one on each side of the street. When my dad was around, those poles supported wooden boxes about four feet off the ground. One box was painted green and the other was red, and each had a long narrow hole at the top with white lettering: SANTA CLAUS, NORTH POLE. For years children had dropped letters to Santa through those holes.
I made a turn at the comer and drove past the post office and across the railroad tracks to our house. Mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table when I heard footsteps. There, at the door, stood Frank Townsend, Dad"s postmaster and great friend for many years. So we all sat down at the table and began to tell stories.
At one point Frank looked at me with tears in his eyes. " What are we going to do about the letters this Christmas?" he asked.
"The letters?"
"I guess you never knew. "
"Knew what?"
" Remember, when you were a kid and you used to put your letters to Santa in those green and red boxes on Main Street? It was your dad who answered all those letters every year. "
I just sat there with tears in my eyes. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine Dad sitting at the old table in our basement reading those letters and answering each one. I have since spoken with several of the people who received Christmas letters during their childhood, and they told me how amazed they were that Santa had known so much about their homes and families.
For me, just knowing that story about my father was the gift of a lifetime.
小题1:It can be inferred from the passage that the writer regarded his travels with Dad us_____.

A．great chances to help other people

B．happy occasions to play with baby chickens

C．exciting experience* with a lot of fun

D．good opportunities to enjoy chocolate cookies

小题2:The writer provides the detail about the businessman to show that_____.

A．Dad had a strong sense of duty

B．Dad was an honest and reliable man

C．Dad had a strong sense of honor

D．Dad was a kind and generous man

小题3:According to the passage, which of the following impressed the writer most?

A．Dad read letters for a blind lady for years.

B．Dad paid for the stamps for a young girl.

C．Dad delivered some eggs to Marian.

D．Dad answered children"s Christmas letters every year.

小题4:The method the writer uses to develop Paragraph 4 is______.

A．offering analyses	B．providing explanations
C．giving examples	D．making comparisons

小题5:What surprised the children most when they received letters in reply from Santa Claus every year?

A．Santa Claus lived alone in the cold North Pole.

B．Santa Claus answered all their letters every year.

C．Santa Claus had unique mailboxes for the children.

D．Santa Claus had so much information about their families.

小题6:Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．The Mail	B．Christmas Letters
C．Special Mailboxes	D．Memorable Travels

答案

小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:C
小题5:D
小题6:A

解析

日常生活类—记叙文
【文章大意】本文主要讲述了邮递员爸爸的简单、丰富而又充实、有趣的邮递生活，尤其是给孩子们回复给圣诞老人的邮件更是感人至深。
小题1:推理判断题。根据文章的前两段作者和父亲一起大家经历的所见所闻所感，可知那些是愉快的经历，故答案Ｃ符合文意。
小题2:推理判断题。商人把那么多钱放在邮箱里托付给爸爸存入银行，可见爸爸是一个诚实的、可以信赖的人，故答案Ｂ符合文意。
小题3:推理判断题。根据文章最后几段对父亲给孩子们回复圣诞老人的回信的回忆的大段描述，可以推断出答案Ｄ符合文意。
小题4:推理判断题。根据第四段的整体理解，可知本段主要用了举例的写作手段，故答案C符合文意。
小题5:细节理解题。根据文章倒数第二段最后一句：and they told me how amazed they were that Santa had known so much about their homes and families.可知答案Ｄ符合文意。
小题6:文章标题题。根据文章的整体理解，本文主要讲的是邮递员爸爸的简单而又朴实的邮递生活，故答案Ａ符合文意。本题可用排除法。
【长难句解析】On Dad" s final day of work, it took him well into the evening to complete his rounds because at least one member from each family was waiting at their mailbox to thank him for his friendship and his years of service. "预计今年秋季开课，一系列有两所大学的的老师开发的课程将通过一个全新S 60 million项目在网上免费提供，众所周知为：edX。Beginning也句子主语a number of courses逻辑上构成主谓关系，用现在分词作状语。Known as，过去分词作后置定语，修饰program，表被动、完成的概念。

举一反三

When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can’t take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We’d take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the tram, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn’t like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom’s friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just light-rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestnut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where’s the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I’m writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn’t try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me.
小题1:Which was forbidden by Mom on Transportation Days?

A．Having a car ride.

B．Taking the train twice.

C．Buying more than one toy.

D．Touring the historic district.

小题2:According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?

A．Building confidence in herself.

B．Reducing her use of private cars.

C．Developing her sense of direction.

D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles.

小题3:The underlined word “paralyzed” (in Para. 5) is closest in meaning to “_______”.

A．displayed

B．justified

C．ignored

D．ruined

小题4:Which means of transportation does the writer probably disapprove of?

A．Airplane.

B．Subway.

C．Tram.

D．Car.

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If you want to teach your children how to say sorry, you must be good at saying it yourself, especially to your own children. But how you say it can be quite tricky.
　　If you say to your children “I’m sorry I got angry with you, but …” what follows that “but” can render the apology ineffective: “I had a bad day” or “your noise was giving me a headache ” leaves the person who has been injured feeling that he should be apologizing for his bad behavior in expecting an apology.
　　Another method by which people appear to apologize without actually doing so is to say “I’m sorry you’re upset”; this suggests that you are somehow at fault for allowing yourself to get upset by what the other person has done.
　　Then there is the general, all covering apology, which avoids the necessity of identifying a specific act that was particularly hurtful or insulting, and which the person who is apologizing should promise never to do again. Saying “I’m useless as a parent” does not commit a person to any specific improvement.
　　These pseudo-apologies are used by people who believe saying sorry shows weakness. Parents who wish to teach their children to apologize should see it as a sign of strength, and therefore not resort to these pseudo-apologies.
　　But even when presented with examples of genuine contrition, children still need help to become aware of the complexities of saying sorry. A three-year-old might need help in understanding that other children feel pain just as he does, and that hitting a playmate over the head with a heavy toy requires an apology. A six-year-old might need reminding that spoiling other children’s expectations can require an apology. A 12-year-old might need to be shown that raiding the biscuit tin without asking permission is acceptable, but that borrowing a parent’s clothes without permission is not.
小题1:According to the author, saying “I’m sorry you’re upset” most probably means “_______”.

A．You have good reason to get upset

B．I’m aware you’re upset, but I’m not to blame

C．I apologize for hurting your feelings

D．I’m at fault for making you upset

小题2:We learn from the last paragraph that in teaching children to say sorry _______.

A．the complexities involved should be ignored

B．their ages should be taken into account

C．parents need to set them a good example

D．parents should be patient and tolerant

小题3:It can be inferred from the passage that apologizing properly is _______.

A．a social issue calling for immediate attention

B．not necessary among family members

C．a sign of social progress

D．not as simple as it seems

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Have you ever intended to be fully absorbed in your work but found yourself distracted by e-mail, the Internet and other things throughout the day? According to the survey made by a famous university in the USA, most people have the experience.
"People often lose their concentration when they are bored, of course, but also when they are engaged in challenging tasks," says Peter Bregman, the head of the survey. "They sometimes have a feeling to escape from what"s difficult or boring, so they jump out," he says. The part of the brain devoted to attention is connected to the brain"s emotional center. Any strong emotion —quarrels with colleagues, problems at home —can interrupt our attention. Studies over the last decade have shown that too much work to do at a time can easily lead to distraction.
Refocusing is hard for many people. Robert Epstein suggests the following, "Stop and listen to some soft music for a few minutes. Find a good friend or a teacher and say out your matter on your mind. Go for a short walk or take a deep breath, where you breathe in deeply, count to five slowly, hold it and breathe out very slowly." This can "blow out all the tension and the unwanted in your mind to restore your focus."
Take more control by structuring your time and becoming more aware of your behaviors. "Setting the phone alarm to go off every hour is my way of creating awareness," Mr. Bregman says. "You have to inform yourself that you"ve lost focus in order to do something about it." Starting the day with a to-do list is also important, such as when to eat, when to go to the gym or take a walk. But if it"s overly ambitious, you will put yourself in a state of anxiety, which makes it hard for the brain to concentrate. "Choosing three or four things as your priority for the day allows your brain to settle down and focus," he says.
小题1:According to the passage, which is NOT the reason why some people can be distracted from their work?

A．They don"t want to be devoted to their work.

B．They are disturbed by the Internet and other things.

C．They can"t find interest in their work.

D．They feel their work is too hard for them.

小题2:Which incident might NOT interrupt your attention?

A．You were scolded by your teacher.

B．You had words with your good friend.

C．You went to school at six as usual.

D．Your mother and father had a quarrel.

小题3:What"s the meaning of the underlined word "restore" in the passage?

A．recover

B．reform

C．release

D．react

小题4:According to Robert Epstein, how can we refocus on what we should do?

A．Listen to rock music for some time.

B．Turn to your good friends or teachers for help.

C．Run around the playground for some time.

D．Take a breath from time to time.

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Sailing Through History
A group of 1,309 passengers boarded the MS Balmoral on Sunday, in Southampton, England, on a voyage to retrace the path of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest ship in the world when it sailed on its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912. Of the 2,227 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died. The ship, which was headed to New York City, carried the rich and famous on its first voyage. It also carried immigrants, who were seeking a better life in America.
Relatives of people who sailed on the Titanic, historians, authors and people fascinated by the story of the unsinkable ship, are on the Balmoral. They want to remember the doomed ship and those who died on her first and last voyage. The historic liner had set sail on April 10, 1912, from Southampton. Late at night on April 14, she hit an iceberg. In the early morning hours of April 15, the Titanic sank.
The Balmoral is following Titanic’s original route from Southampton. First, the modern-day cruise liner docked in the port of Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic had picked up more passengers. On Monday afternoon, the Balmoral stops in Cobh, Ireland, the Titanic’s last port of call before sailing to New York.
Balmoral will then cruise the North Atlantic Ocean to the location where Titanic hit an iceberg that ripped the ship’s hull(外壳). On Sunday, April 15, at 2:20 a.m.—the time the Titanic went down—passengers and crew will hold a memorial service. The next two days will be spent in Halifax, Canada, where many victims of the sinking are buried. Then, the Balmoral will reach its final destination in New York City, where Titanic was supposed to dock—but never did.
Until today, several teams of divers have explored the site. They have recovered some items such as dishes and silverware and put them on public display. And more trips are planned to the wreckage in the future. The Titanic and its passengers and crew have been remembered in books, movies and TV programs. But there’s a much more important contribution that Titanic gave us. After she sank, lawmakers and shipbuilders made ships safer. It took a terrible tragedy to make ship travel safer for all.
小题1:How many passengers in Titanic survived at last?

A．More than 1500.

B．About 1309.

C．About 1000.

D．Less than 750.

小题2:How many countries does the Balmoral reach before sailing to New York?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．five.

小题3:The Balmoral will stay in Canada just __________.

A．in memory of the dead passengers in the Balmoral

B．in memory of the survivors in Titanic

C．in memory of the dead passengers in Titanic

D．in memory of the survivors in the Balmoral

小题4:What might be the most important contribution of sunken Titanic?

A．Its site attracts more exploring teams.

B．It makes the later ships more secure.

C．Some of its items are on public display.

D．More trips are planned to its wreckage.

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When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said“the phone”. Personally, I could do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual. Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology.
Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic. My daughter comes home from school at 4:00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been at school with all day. If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?
Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone. “The mobile saved my life,”says Crystal Johnstone. She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton. Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance(救护车) to her rescue.
Point 3 The mobile removes our secret. It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at and time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went.
Point 4 The telephone separates us. Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window. It was easy to get his number. We were so near——but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”
Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives. Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously ( 同时地) on chat lines (at least my daughter does. I wouldn’t know what to talk about). We can talk across the world. We can even talk to astronauts (if you know any) while they’re space-walking. And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access(进入) the Internet, the biggest library on Earth.
小题1:How do you understand‘Point 1 —The telephone creates the need to communicate,6…’？

A．People don’t communicate without telephone.

B．People communicate because of the creating of the telephone.

C．People communicate more since telephone has been created.

D．People communicate more because of more traffic.

小题2:Which of the following best shows people’s attitude towards mobile phones?

A．Mobile phones help people deal with the emergency.

B．Mobile phones bring convenience as well little secret to people.

C．Mobile phones are so important and should be encouraged.

D．Mobile phones are part of people’s life.

小题3:Which points do you think support the idea that phones improve people’s life?
a. Point 1. b. Point2. c. Point3. d. Point 4. e. Point 5.

A．c, d

B．a, e

C．a, c

D．b, e

小题4:It is possible to talk to several complete strangers simultaneously through .

A．the TV screen	B．a fax machine
C．the phone line hooked up to the computer	D．a microphone

小题5:The best heading for the passage is .

A．The power of Phone	B．Kinds of Phone
C．How to Use Phones	D．Advantage of Phones

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