More surprising, perhaps, than the current difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving（旺盛的）. As Skolnich notes, Americans are a marrying people: relative to Europeans, more of us marry and we marry at a younger age. Moreover, after a decline（衰退）in the early 1970s, the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing. Even the divorce（离婚）rate needs to be taken in this pro- marriage context: some 80 percent of divorced individuals remarry. Thus, marriage remains by far the preferred way of life for the vast majority of the people in our society.

　　What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family. Twenty- five years ago, the typical American family consisted of the husband, the wife, and two or three children. Now, there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children, and there are many marriages where at least some of the children are from the wife’s previous marriage, or the husband’s, or both. Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage; sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses （配偶）．

　　Thus, one can find every type of tamely arrangement. There are marriages without children; marriages with children from only the present marriages; marriages with “full - time” children from both the present and former marriages; marriages with“full- time”children from the present marriage and“ part- time”children from former marriages. There are stepfathers, stepmothers, half- brothers and half - sisters. It is not all that unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents! These are enormous changes from the traditional nuclear family. But even so, even in the midst of all this, there remains one constant: most Americans spend most of their adult lives married.

By calling Americans a marrying people the writer means that ________.

　　A. Americans are more traditional than Europeans

　　B. Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans

　　C. there are more married couples in the USA than in Europe

　　D. more of Americans, as compared with Europeans, prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age

Divorced Americans ________ .

　　A. prefer the way they live

　　B. will most likely remarry

　　C. have lost interest in marriage

　　D. are the majority of people in the society

Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today’s American families？

　　A. Which types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable.

　　B. A typical American family consists of only a husband and a wife.

　　C. Americans prefer to have more kids than before.

　　D. There are no nuclear families any more.

　More surprising, perhaps, than the current difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving（旺盛的）. As Skolnich notes, Americans are a marrying people: relative to Europeans, more of us marry and we marry at a younger age. Moreover, after a decline（衰退）in the early 1970s, the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing. Even the divorce（离婚）rate needs to be taken in this pro- marriage context: some 80 percent of divorced individuals remarry. Thus, marriage remains by far the preferred way of life for the vast majority of the people in our society.

　　What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family. Twenty- five years ago, the typical American family consisted of the husband, the wife, and two or three children. Now, there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children, and there are many marriages where at least some of the children are from the wife’s previous marriage, or the husband’s, or both. Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage; sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses （配偶）．

　　Thus, one can find every type of tamely arrangement. There are marriages without children; marriages with children from only the present marriages; marriages with “full - time” children from both the present and former marriages; marriages with“full- time”children from the present marriage and“ part- time”children from former marriages. There are stepfathers, stepmothers, half- brothers and half - sisters. It is not all that unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents! These are enormous changes from the traditional nuclear family. But even so, even in the midst of all this, there remains one constant: most Americans spend most of their adult lives married.

　By calling Americans a marrying people the writer means that ________.

　　A. Americans are more traditional than Europeans

　　B. Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans

　　C. there are more married couples in the USA than in Europe

　　D. more of Americans, as compared with Europeans, prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age

Divorced Americans ________ .

　　A. prefer the way they live

　　B. will most likely remarry

　　C. have lost interest in marriage

　　D. are the majority of people in the society

Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today’s American families？

　　A. Which types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable.

　　B. A typical American family consists of only a husband and a wife.

　　C. Americans prefer to have more kids than before.

　　D. There are no nuclear families any more.

Several years ago, while attending a communication course, I experienced a most unusual process．The instructor asked us to list 　1 in our past that we felt 　2　 of, regretted, or incomplete about and read our lists aloud．

This seemed like a very 3 process, but there' s always some 　4 soul in the crowd who will volunteer．The instructor then 　5 that we find ways to 　6 people, or take some action to right any wrong doings．I was seriously wondering how this could ever 7 my communication．

Then the man next to me raised his hand and volunteered this story: “Making my 　8 , I remembered an incident from high school．I grew up in a small town．There was a Sheriff 　9 of us kids liked．One night, my two buddies(伙伴) and I decided to play a 　10 on him．

After drinking a few beers, we climbed the tall water tank in the middle of the town, and wrote on the tank in bright red paint: Sheriff Brown is a s．o．b．（畜生）．The next day, almost the whole town saw our glorious 　11 ．Within two hours, Sheriff Brown had us in his office．My friends told the truth but I 　12 ．No one ever found out.

Nearly 20 years later．Sheriff Brown's name 　13 on my list．I didn't even know if he was still 　14 ．Last weekend, I dialed the information in my hometown and found there was a Roger Brown still listed．I tried his number．After a few 　15 , 1 heard, "Hello?" I said, "Sheriff Brown?" Paused．"Yes．" "Well, this is Jimmy Calkins．"

“And I want you to know that I did it?” Paused．“I knew it!” he yelled back．We had a good laugh and a 　16 discussion．His closing words were: “Jimmy, I always felt bad for you 　17 your buddies got it off their chest, but you were carrying it 　18 all these years．I want to thank you for calling me for your sake.”

Jimmy inspired me to 　19 all the items on my list within two years, and I always remember what I learned from the course: It's never too late to 　20 the past wrongdoings．

　 Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a small pool of water ahead on the path. I adjusted my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water or mud. As I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked!

Yet I did nothing for the attack. It was so unpredictable and from somewhere totally unexpected. I was surprised as well as unhurt though I had been struck four or five times. I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me. Had I been hurt I wouldn't have found it amusing. And I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!

　　Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He charged towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but in vain. For a second time, I took a step backwards while my attacker paused. I wasn't sure what to do. After all, it's just not everyday that one is attacked by a butterfly. I stepped back to look the situation over. My attacker moved back to land on the ground. That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier. He had a mate(伙伴) and she was dying.

　　Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it up on himself to attack me for his mate's sake(利益), even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should I have been careless enough to step on her. His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate's safety seemed admirable. I couldn't do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.

　　Since then, I've used that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.

56. The writer changed his direction while walking down a path because he wanted________.

　　A. to get close to a butterfly. 　　　　　　 B. to escape a sudden attack.

　　C. to look over the bad situation. 　　　　　　 D. to avoid getting his shoes dirty.

57. What made the man feel funny?

　　A. Making the attacker pause. 　　　　　 B. Being stepped on by his mate.

　　C. Being attacked by a butterfly.　　 　　 D. Discovering the angry butterfly.

58. Which of the following words can best describe the butterfly?

　　A. careless　 　　　　 B. amusing　 　　　 C. aggressive　　 D. courageous

59. From this experience the man learned_____.

　　A. how he should deal with attacks 　　B. how to deal with challenges in his life

　　　 C. people should protect butterflies 　　D. people should show sympathy to the weak