I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.

And it did. On arriving at the beach cottage, I kissed Evelyn meeting me at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.?

There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “I don’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”

It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.

“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”

1.From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.

A．with his family      B．with Evelyn        C．alone             D．with his children

2.During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.

A．he was determined to be a good husband

B．he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm

C．she looked lovely in her new clothes

D．the doctor said his wife was seriously ill

3.The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?

A．He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.

B．She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.

C．He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.

D．He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

 

A few years ago I had an “aha!” moment regarding handwriting.

I had in my hand a sheet of paper with handwritten instructions on it for some sort of editorial task. It occurred at first that I did not recognize the handwriting, and then I realized whose it must be. I finally became aware of the fact that I had been working with this colleague for at least a year, maybe two, and yet I did not recognize her handwriting at that point.

It was a very important event in the computerization of life---a sign that the informal, friendly communication of people working together in an office had changed from notes in pen to instant messages and emails. There was a time when our workdays were filled with little letters and we recognized one another’s handwriting the way we know voices or faces.

As a child, visiting my father’s office, I was pleased to recognize, in little notes on the desk of his staff, the same handwriting I would see at home in the notes he would leave on the fridge---except that those notes were signed “dad” instead of “RFW’.

All this has been on my mind because of the talk about The rise and Fall of Handwriting, a book by Florey. She shows in her book a deep concern about the fall of handwriting and the failure of schools to teach children to write well, but many others argue that people in a digital age can’t be expected to learn to hold a pen.

I don’t buy it.

I don’t want to see anyone cut off from expressive, personal associations that a pen still promotes better than a digital keyboard does. For many a biographer, part of really getting to know their subjects is learning to read their handwriting.

What some people advocate is teaching one of the many attractive handwritings based on the handwriting of 16^th-century Italy. That may sound impossibly grand---as if they want kids to learn to draw by copying classical paintings. However, they have worked in many school systems.

1.Why was the author surprised at not recognizing his colleague’s handwriting?

A．He had worked with his colleague long enough.

B．His colleague’s handwriting was so beautiful.

C．His colleague’s handwriting was so terrible.

D．He still had a lot of work to do.

2. People working together in an office used to __________.

A．talk more about handwriting

B．take more notes on workdays

C．know better one another’s handwriting

D．communicate better with one another

3. According to the author, handwritten notes ___________.

A．are harder to teach in schools	B．attract more attention
C．are used only between friends	D．carry more message

4. We can learn from the passage that the author _____________.

A．thinks it impossible to teach handwriting

B．does not want to lose handwriting

C．does not agree with Florey

D．puts the blame on the computer

 

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

My husband and I insisted that our children were old enough to clean their rooms and make their beds. But they thought  41 . My complaints, even self-justified shouting, were always landing on  42_   ears.  Very often a whole hour’s scolding would end with their   43  into tears, I felt very frustrated (沮丧的).I realized I needed to   44  my method of “mothering”.

One day when they were at school, I spent some time  45  their rooms. On their desks, in plain   __46  , I left the cards: “Dear Bill (the other card was   47   to Sarah), your room was messy this morning and I’m sure you like it clean. Love, the Room Fairy.”   48  arriving back, the children were   __49  excited to receive the little note from the Room Fairy. The next day, their rooms were fairly tidy. Sure enough, there was another note from the Room Fairy ___50  for them, thanking them for their nice “gift” of a clean room and   51  asking them to play a certain violin   52  . Each day, thank--you notes would be written differently to keep the ideas   53 .

Sometimes the Room Fairy would propose a little   54 : “If you can finish your homework and   __55  your lessons before dinner, I’ d like to watch a particular television program with you tonight.” Sometimes some colored markers or other little items would be left in   56 of  well done jobs the day  ___57  .

  58  I can’t remember how long “the Room Fairy” continued leaving her love notes. When they were age appropriate, we used various versions of Post-Its(贴条). The bathroom mirror became the   59  centre of our home. Appointments, notices about visiting relatives, lesson schedules, and changes in plans could be posted.

We all benefited from and   60 the idea of sharing reminders and daily details of life through notes. I believe the true advantage of the Room Fairy notes survives in our frequent and enjoyable communication.

1.                A．differently      B．gratefully       C．doubtfully D．hopefully

 

2.                A．side           B．deaf           C．neither   D．either

 

3.                A．crying          B．breaking        C．bursting  D．bumping

 

4.                A．adjust          B．adopt          C．access    D．addict

 

5.                A．clearing        B．tidying          C．emptying D．searching

 

6.                A．distance        B．words          C．speech   D．sight

 

7.                A．sent           B．read           C．delivered D．addressed

 

8.                A．As             B．At             C．In   D．Upon

 

9.                A．more than      B．rather than      C．no more than  D．other than

 

10.               A．asking          B．waiting         C．praying    D．expecting

 

11.               A．politely         B．happily         C．gently D．toughly

 

12.               A．music          B．song           C．piece     D．tone

 

13.               A．respectable     B．uninteresting    C．incredible D．fresh

 

14.               A．challenge       B．question        C．suggestion D．advice

 

15.               A．go with         B．look up         C．go over   D．look into

 

16.               A．response       B．answer         C．praise D．honor

 

17.               A．ahead          B．before         C．over  D．ago

 

18.               A．Actually        B．Even so         C．Even if    D．Though

 

19.               A．life            B．main           C．memory   D．reminder

 

20.               A．learned        B．appreciated     C．shared    D．thanked

 

 

Several years ago，a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker， another owned one of the largest companies in the world， and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

The reporter was talking to them about being important.

“How do we know if someone is really important？” the reporter asked the banker.

The banker thought for a few moments and then said， “I think anybody who is invited to the Whiter House to meet the President of the United States is really important.”

The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that？” she asked.

The man shook his head， “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d be important only if while you were visiting the President， there was a telephone call from the president of another country， and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it.”

The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so？”

“No， I don‘t，” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”

“Then what would make the visitor important？” the reporter and the other two men asked.

“Oh， I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang， and the President picked up the receiver， listened and then said， ‘It’s for you.‘ ”

1.This story happened in _______.

A．America

B．England

C．Japan

D．Australia

2.There are _______ in this passage.

A．two men and two women

B．three men and one woman

C．three women and one man

D．four women

3.The banker thought _______.

A．he was really important because he was a rich banker

B．the reporter was really important

C．the visitor who met the President of the United States

D．the visitor to the White House was really important

4.The owner of many buildings thought _______.

A．he was really important because he owned many buildings in the center of New York

B．the owner of the very large company was really important

C．the visitor was really important if the President received a telephone call for the visitor

D．the person who worked in the White House was really important

 

阅读下列材料， 并从所给的六个选项（A、B、C、D、E和F）中选出符合各小题要求的最佳选项。选项中有一项是多余选项。

The people below travel abroad. Read the following stories and decide what problem each traveler experienced while traveling.

1._______ David got lost in an isolated place. To make matters worse, he had an accident and couldn’t walk freely. So he was in great need of timely help.

2._______ Paul had to buy a hamburger and ate it in the park instead of eating his mother’s delicious chicken, with which he couldn’t go through the customs.

3._______ Ann was stopped at the customs because she was carrying drugs without a doctor’s prescription. How regretted she was not to have done that!

4._______ Sally offended some of the people in the town she was visiting by wearing inappropriate clothes. She should have found out about local customs and followed them.

5.______ Jack didn’t obtain a transit card when he changed planes an airport, which made him very worried. There was no doubt that he was not allowed to get on board.

A．My mother was worried about me. She cooked me all my favorite dishes and put them into a box to take with me on my journey. But the customs officer inspected all the plant and animal products at the airport. Unfortunately it was illegal for me to bring into the country the kind of food my mother had given me and so it all had to be thrown away.

B．It was very hot so I put on some shorts and a T-shirt to go sightseeing. I hadn’t gone very far when I found everyone was looking at me, and they didn’t seem friendly to me. One woman even spat on me as I walked past. I decided to get off the crowded streets and so I turned down a small, quiet street.

C．During the four-day walking tour, I was amazed by mountain scenery and the ancient ruins we passed on our hike. On the last day, we arrived at the ruins of Machu Picchu in time to see the sunrise over the Andes. I spent the day visiting the ruins of that ancient Inca city before catching the train back to the capital city of the country.

D．When I got off the plane at the first airport. I saw someone handing out cards to some of the passengers, but I didn’t know what they were for, so I didn’t take one. When I tried to board the second plane they asked for my transit card, which I didn’t’ have. I was worried they were going to send me back to London.

E. I had been walking for about an hour when suddenly I slipped and fell down a riverbank. I hurt my ankle and couldn’t stand up. I didn’t know how I could get back to the village. I hadn’t told anyone what I was going, so no one would know where to look for me when they realized I was missing.

F. When I arrived at my destination, a customs officer at the airport looked in my bag and found the pills in a small box. He wanted to know what the pills were for and why they weren’t in their proper bottle with my name and the doctor’s name on it. I explained that the bottle had been too big and heavy. Then he wanted to know if I had a letter from my doctor explaining about the pills.