How the Americans view love An old song says that " love makes the world go aro

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How the Americans view love
An old song says that " love makes the world go around" If you watch Americans on Valentine"s Day, you can believe it. The whole country breaks out with little red hearts. Lovestruck people give cards, flowers and candy to their sweethearts.
The American concept of love and romance begins with dating. Young people date in several ways. At first they might have group dates with several boys and girls together. Later, they start going on single date - just one boy and one girl.
When two couples go out together, it"s called double dating. A friend might even arrange a blind date for you with someone you don"t know who your partner will be until the time of the date.
American young people see a date as a time just to have fun. They don"t always have a romantic interest in mind. Someone may go out with one person this week, and another the next. After a while, a boy and a girl may decide they want to go steady. This means they think of each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. It also

means they don"t want to date anyone else. Romance is beginning to bloom.
Romance love is v

ery much a part of American culture. Movies, TV shows and books in America all picture people falling in love. Actually, people all over the world search for happiness in a loving relationship. Maybe love does make the world go around.
小题1: How do you understand the understand sentence in the first paragraph?

A．Many young people"s hearts break in America that day.

B．You can see many pictures of little red hearts all over America that day.

C．People all over the world show their hearts to each other that day.

D．people go out with their warm hearts t

hat day

小题2:How many ki

nds of dates a

re mentioned in the passage?

A．2

B．3

C．4

D．5

小题3:What does blind date mean?

A．You can not see who is your partner during the date.

B．The partner of your date is a stranger.

C．Your date is arranged secretly.

D．You will not know your partner until the date begins.

小题4: W

hich of the following statement is true about American"s view of romantic?

A．Romance love is the most important thing in the world

B．People all over the world search for romance love

C．Date is one thing, romantic is another.

D．They can find their ideal love in movies, TV shows and books

答案

小题1:B小题1:C小题1:D小题1:C

解析

略

举一反三

What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster? Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream — as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No — there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup .”While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy — working at one cool job.
小题1: What is John Harrison’s job?

A．An official.	B．An ice-cream taster.
C．A chemist.	D．An ice-cream manufacturer.

小题2: According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the “cool field”, it is helpful to ______.

A．keep a diary of work	B．have a degree in related subjects
C．have new ideas every day	D．find out new flavors each day

小题3: What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?

A．He stirs the ice cream.	B．He examines the color of the ice cream.
C．He tastes the flavor of the ice cream.	D．He lets the ice cream warm up.

小题4:Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?

A．Tasting with Eyes	B．Flavors of Ice Cream
C．John Harrison’s Life	D．One Cool Job

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Some people don"t believe that driving more slowly can save lives．But the truth is that driving more slowly can help a person to avoid serious accidents．
The above chart（表格） shows the distance that it takes to stop a car at a given speed．The distance is measured in feet．The shaded area（阴影部分） shows the driver"s thinking distance．That"s the distance it takes for the driver to react to a danger that he sees．The white area shows the car"s braking distance．That"s the distance it takes for the car to stop once the brakes（闸、刹车） are used．The number at the top of each bar shows the total number of feet that it takes to stop the car
小题1:According to the chart, what is the total number of feet needed to stop a car that is traveling at 50 miles per hour?

A．55．

B．73．

C．128．

D．183．

小题2:What is the braking distance for a car that is travelling at 60 miles per hour?

A．66 feet．

B．119 feet．

C．185 feet．

D．251 feet．

小题3:Which of the following statements about braking and speed is true?

A．The braking distance is what it takes for the driver to react to a danger that he sees．

B．The speed of a car has a direct effect on the distance needed to stop the car．

C．The braking distance increases only when a driver drives faster than 50 miles per hour.

D．Driving slowly can help a person to avoid all accidents

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Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn’t find her.
It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30. “Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.
By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.
小题1: Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?

A．they could not see each other because of the fog.

B．Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.

C．They planned to do different things until lunch time.

D．The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.

小题2: What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?

A．Go to the concert.	B．See the Crown Jewels.
C．Return to Cambridge.	D．Go shopping.

小题3: The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.

A．They lost their way in the fog

B．they forgot to make necessary arrangement

C．they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other

D．the couple couldn’t find the underground station

小题4: It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.

A．spilt by the fog	B．quite tiring
C．rather disappointing	D．very enjoyable

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Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator (美洲鳄) was swimming toward the shore.
His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.
Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U – turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug – of – war (拔河) between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, took aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father’s fingernails dug into his fresh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy asked if he would show his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my dad wouldn’t let go.”
You and I can identify with that boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because someone has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, someone has been there holding on to you.
If you have the scars of someone’s love on your arms, be very, very grateful. Someone in your life did not and will not ever let you go.
Never judge another person’s scars, because you don’t know how they got them.
小题1: Which of the following is the most closely related to the underlined word “passionate”?

A．determined

B．anxious

C．frightened

D．courageous

小题2:When the boy told the newspaper reporter about the scars on his arms, he felt .

A．painful and fearful	B．regretful and panic
C．proud and grateful	D．excited and thankful

小题3:In the story the writer intends to tell us that .

A．scars always remind people of their past experiences

B．wounds in the mind are more painful than those in the body

C．a painful past always leaves scars on a person’s mind

D．scars do not necessarily mean pain at all times

小题4:Which of the following viewpoints will the writer most probably agree with?

A．Be grateful to a painful past, for you can always learn something from it.

B．Other people’s criticism or blame may hurt you, but if it is for your own good, you should take it thankfully.

C．The swimming hole of life is filled with danger, but you don’t need to be too serious about it as someone will never let you go.

D．If someone hurts you, be grateful to them, for they mean no harm

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A newly-published study has shown that loneliness can spread from one person to another, like a disease.
Researchers used information from the Framingham Study, which began in 1948. The Framingham Study gathers information about physical and mental health, personal behavior and diet. At first, the study involved about 5,000 people in the American state of Massachusetts. Now, more than 12,000 individuals are taking part.
Information from the Framingham Study showed earlier that happiness can spread from person to person. So can behaviors like littering and the ability to stop smoking.
University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo led the recent study. He and other researchers attempted to show how often people felt lonely. They found that the feeling of loneliness spread through social groups.
Having a social connection with a lonely person increased the chances that another individual would feel lonely. In fact, a friend of a lonely person was 52% more likely to develop feelings of loneliness. A friend of that person was 25% more likely. The researchers say this shows that a person could indirectly be affected by someone’s loneliness.
The effect was strongest among friends. Neighbors were the second most affected group. The effect was weaker on husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters. The researchers also found that loneliness spread more easily among women than men.
The New York Times newspaper reports that, on average, people experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year. It also found that every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about five percent, or two and a half fewer lonely days.
Loneliness has been linked to health problems like depression and sleeping difficulties. The researchers believe that knowing the causes of loneliness could help in reducing it.
The study suggests that people can take steps to stop the spread of loneliness. They can do this by helping individuals they know who may be experiencing loneliness. The result can be helpful to the whole social group.
小题1: What is true about the Framingham Study?

A．It was only conducted in 1948.	B．It involves more than 12,000 participants.
C．It was led by John Cacioppo	D．It showed that any behavior could spread.

小题2: From the passage, we can learn that .

A．the habit of littering doesn’t spread

B．a lonely person won’t have friends

C．everyone may be affected by others’ loneliness

D．lonely people don’t know the cause of their loneliness

小题3: Which statement about the spread of loneliness is true?

A．The spreading effect was the second strongest among friends.

B．No spreading effect was found on husbands and wives.

C．Women are more likely to be affected than men.

D．Brothers are more easily affected than neighbors.

小题4: If you make 10 more friends in a year, the days of your feeling loneliness will be reduced by .

A．48 days

B．25 days

C．20 days

D．15 days

小题5:What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Actions should be taken to help lonely people. B

. People feel lonely for many reasons.
C. Ways to fight against loneliness. D. Lonely people can affect others.

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