阅读理解

　　In the past, Americans used to think of the United States as a“melting pot”of immigrants(移民) from many different cultures to the United States, their old ways melted away and they became part of a completely new culture. The United States was likened to a big pot of soup, which had bits of flavor(味道，滋味) from each different culture. All of the different cultures were so well blended(混合，掺杂) together that it formed its own new flavor.

　　Today, Americans realize that the simple“melting pot”theory is less true. Instead, different groups of people keep many of their old customs. Often groups of Americans from the same culture band together. They live together in distinctive communities, such as“Chinatowns”or“Little Italy”--areas populated almost exclusively(惟一，仅) by Americans of a single ethnic group--which can be found in many large American cities. Living in ethnic neighborhoods gives new Americans the security of sharing a common language and common traditions with people who understand them.

　　In time, however, people from different backgrounds mix together. They also mix with native-born Americans. Old traditions give way to new customs. The children of immigrants are often eager to adopt new, American ways. They often want to dress in American fashions, to speak English and to follow American social customs. By one estimate(估计), about 80 percent of European immigrants marry outside their own ethnic groups by the time they reach the third generation. Third generation means that their great-grandparents were immigrants. Yet as successive generations become more“Americanized”, they often retain significant elements of their ethnic heritage.

1．Ｗhat does the text mainly talk about?

[　　]

A．The American way of life.

B．Immigrants vs．native-born Americans.

C．Old traditions vs．new customs.

D．The multi-cultural heritage of the United States.

2．Why does the author mention“Chinatowns”in the 2nd paragraph?

[　　]

A．To give an example that many people keep their old customs.

B．To show that Chinese cherish their old traditions.

C．To contrast(对比) the Chinese way of life with that of the Italian's.

D．To give an example of the Americanization(美国化).

3．The underlined word“ethnic”in the last sentence most probably means _____.

[　　]

A．moral　　　　B．national

C．cultural　　　D．social

4．The underlined word“Americanized”generally means _____.

[　　]

A．immigrants who still retain their tradition, but behave like Americans in some ways

B．immigrants who still retain their own language, but speak English sometimes

C．immigrants who reject the traditions of their parents, and accept Western culture only

D．immigrants, naturalized by native American culture, in character, way of thinking etc. though still retaining some ethnic heritage

“Can I see my baby？” the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out of the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

Time proved that the baby’ s hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was imperfect. When he rushed home from school one day and threw himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed(叹息), knowing that his life was to be misfortunate. He cried to his mum “A boy, a big boy... called me a freak (怪人)．”

He grew up, handsome. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “But you might communicate with other young people，” his mother blamed him, but felt a kindness in her heart.

Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, “You’ re going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’ s a secret.” The operation was a great success, and a new person appeared.

Later he married and became a lawyer. One day, he asked his father, “Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her.” “I do not believe you could，” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know... not yet.”

The years kept their secret, but the day did come. He stood with his father over his mother’ s casket棺材. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to show the mother had no outer ears.

“Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut，” his father whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they？”

1.Why did Mother gasp when she saw her newborn baby?

A. Because her son had a tiny face.　　　　 B. Because she saw her son crying.

C. Because her son was born imperfect.　　 D. Because her son was in her arms.

2.Which word can describe Mother’ s feeling when the son threw himself into her arms?

A. Nervous.　　　　　　 B. Sympathetic.　　 C. Proud.       D. Angry.

3.We can infer that the person who donate the ears is_____.

A. A doctor.        B. His father.　　　 C. His mother.     　D. A stranger.

4.From the passage we know the followings are True except________

A, the mother felt sorry for the son without ears   B. the doctor didn’t like the baby

C. the boy meant everything to the mother        D. the father kept the secret until mother died

5.The best title for the passage would be ________.

A. Mother’s hair　　　　　　　　B. An unforgettable memory

C. Who gave me the ears?　　　 　D. Who is my best respectable person?

 

 Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”

Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,Would you mend this chair for me?I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

A. was rather impolite               　　   B. was warmly received

C. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair      D. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

2.The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

A. changed his mind　　　　　　　       B. accepted the offer

C.decided to help the writer　　　　       D. saw the writer’s purpose

3.How much did the writer pay?

　A.　 ￡ 5.　　B. ￡ 7.　　    C. ￡ 20.　　　　D. ￡ 27.

4.From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________

　A. honest　　　　B. careful　　　　 C.　 funny　　 D. smart　

 

Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland. The Scots, a brave people, love their country. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland. But there were too many of the Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.
　　One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. “We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle①. We must win, or we will die.”
　　They were all very tired. So they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, they fell asleep.
　　The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they went up the hill. Closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle (蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle. The fighting was hard, but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland②.
　　The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people liked it. But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.
　【小题1】 Hundreds of years ago, the Romans ____ .

A．came from the north through England to make war on Scotland

B．came to the north Scotland from England to make war on Scotland

C．came from the north of England to fight the Scots

D．came to the north from the south of Britain to fight the Scots

　【小题2】At the shout of a Roman soldier, all the Scots who were asleep at the hill ____ .

A．began to fight the Romans hard

B．stood up without putting on their shoes and began to fight

C．woke and rose immediately, ready to fight

D．put their feet into their shoes at once and were ready to fight

　【小题3】The result of the war is that ____ .

A．the Romans killed all the Scots

B．the Scots were defeated

C．the Scots were driven out of Scotland

D．the Scots defeated the Romans

　【小题4】 The Scots made thistle their national flower because thistle ____ .

A．is lovely, though not beautiful

B．gave them happiness

C．is a kind of useful plant

D．helped the Scots in wiping out the Romans

Many families in the United States have a large income now than ever before, but people are finding it difficult to make ends meet anyway. Almost everyone is wondering, “What happens to all my money? I never seem to have anything left to put away. ”

　 Why isn’t a dollar worth as much as it used to be? One dollar is always worth the same amount, that is, 100 cents. But the value of a dollar is how much it can buy. The value of money depends on the cost of living. Economists say that the cost of living is the money that a family must pay for the necessities of life such as food, housing or rent, clothes, and medical expenses. For many years now, the cost of living has increased greatly, so the value of the dollar has decreased. When a dollar has a low value, you cannot buy as many things with it.

　 No one fully understands why the cost of living keeps increasing, but economists believe that workers and producers can make process go up. As workers earn more money, they have more money to spend, so they demand more goods. If there a a great demand for certain goods, the prices of these goods go up. At the same time, if there’s a shortage of goods, the prices also go up. For example, if everyone wants to buy more and more gas, the price of gas goes up. When companies which hold gas from buyers, they can also make the price of gas go up.

　 Families need to know what happens to their money. They need to make their income meet the cost of living, so many people plan a family budget. A budget is a list of monthly expenses. If your expenses add up to more than your income, you must find ways to save money. Maybe you’re spending too much on entertainment. Or if you’re spending too much on clothes; you may want to sew your own clothes. budgeting helps you spend your money wisely as the cost of living increases.

1. What has troubled many families in the United States?

　 A. A not-large-enough income.

　 B. Nothing is left over to put away.

　 C. The increasing cost of living.

　 D. A shortage of certain goods.

2. ____ determines the value of the dollar.

　 A. The government

　 B. The cost of living

　 C. The economist

　 D. The bank

3. While the cost of living increases, the value of the dollar ____.

　 A. increases too

　 B. decreases

　 C. neither increases nor decreases

　 D. seldom decreases

4. When ____, the prices go up.

　 A. demand exceeds(超过) supply

　 B. supply exceeds demand

　 C. demand doesn’t exceed supply

　 D. supply equals demand

5. Budgeting helps ____.

　 A. one to make his income meet the cost of living

　 B. the government to battle the rising cost of living

　 C. merchants(商人)to produce more goods

　 D. the workers to earn more money