As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, rooms to be cleaned. Parents are  with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real . On Christmas Eve, young children find the  almost unbearable（难以忍受的）. They are  between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to  up late so that they will not  the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie  for a long time, hoping to get a short look at Father Christmas.

　　Last Christmas, my wife and I  managed to hide a few large presents in the storeroom. I feared the moment when my son, Jimmy, would  me where that new bike had come from, but  he did not see it.

　　On Christmas Eve, it took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly  when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began  stockings. Then I pushed in the  I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get  sleep that night, for the children were  to get up early. At about five o'clock the next morning, we were woken by loud sounds coming from the children's room － they were shouting excitedly!  I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came  into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary,  close behind pushing her new baby carriage. Even the baby arrived, he moved  the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him. Suddenly it burst. That woke  up completely. The day had really begun with a bang（巨响）.

1.A. faced　　　　 B. met　　　　　 C. filled　　　D. pleased

2.A. question　　　B. matter　　　　C. problem　　　D. business

3.A. joy   　　　B. excitement      C. presents     D. parents

4.A. pulled　　　B. divided　　　C. separated　　  D. torn

5.A. get　　　　 　B. stay　　　　　C. stand　　　 D. wake

    6.A. lose　　　　　B. break　　　　 C. miss　　　　 D. leave

7.A. awake　　　　B. wake　　　　　C. asleep　　　　D. sleep

8.A. hopefully　　B. busily      C. gladly　　D. successfully

9.A. answer　　　 B. tell　　　　　  C. ask　　　　　 D. search

10.A. sadly　　　　B. unluckily   C. possibly　　D. fortunately

11.A. morning　　　B. midnight    C. evening　　　D. daybreak

12.A. filling　　　　B. sewing　　C. mending　　D. preparing

13.A. present　　　 B. stocking　　　 C. bike　　　　　 D. tree

14.A. 1ittle　　　　 B. some　　　　　C. enough　　　 D. much

15.A. sorry　　　　 B. sure　　　　　C. glad　　　　　 D. eager

16.A. Before　　　　B. After　　　　 C. Until　　　　　D. Since

17.A. running　　　 B. laughing　　　 C. shouting　　　 D. riding

18.A. walked　　　　B. moved　　　　C. followed　　　D. jumped

19.A. with　　　　　B. on　　　　　　C. over　　　　 D. by

20.A. him　　　　　B. her　　　　C. me　　　　　　　D. us

 

When I come across a good article in reading newspapers, I often want to cut and keep it. But just as I am about to do so, I find the article on the __1__ side is as much interesting. It may be a discussion of the way to __2__ in good health, or __3__ about how to behave and conduct oneself in society. If I cut the front article, the opposite one is likely to __4__ damage, leaving out half of it or keeping the text __5__ the title. Therefore, the scissors would __6__ before they start, __7__ halfway done when I find out the __8__ result.

Sometimes two things are to be done at the same time, both worth your __9__. You can only take up one of them, the other has to wait or be __10__ up.

But you know the future is unpredictable—the changed situation may not allow you to do what is left__11__. Thus you are __12__ in a difficult position and feel sad. How __13__ that nice chances and brilliant ideas should gather around all at once? It may happen that your life __14__ greatly on your preference of one choice to the other.

In fact that is what __15__ is like: we are often __16__ with the two opposite sides of a thing which are both desirable like a newspaper cutting. It often occurs that your attention is drawn to one thing only __17__ we get into another. The __18__ may be more important than the latter and give rise to divided mind. I __19__ remember a philosopher's remarks, “When one door shuts, another opens in life.” So a casual __20__ may not be a bad one.

 

1.A.front　　　　 B．same　　　　　　 C．either　　　　 D．opposite

2．A.get　　　　　 B．keep　　　　　　 C．lead　　　　　 D．bring

3．A.advice　　　 B．news　　　　　　 C．a theory　　　 D．a report

4．A.suffer　　　 B．reduce　　　　　 C．prevent　　　 D．cause

5．A.on　　　　　 B．for　　　　　　 C．without　　　 D．off

6．A.use　　　　　 B．handle　　　　　 C．prepare　　　 D．stay

7．A.or　　　　　 B．but　　　　　　 C．so　　　　　　 D．for

8．A.satisfying　 B．regretful　　　 C．surprising　　 D．impossible

9．A.courage　　　 B．strength　　　　 C．attention　　 D．patience

10．A.given　　　 B．held　　　　　　 C．made　　　　　 D．picked

11．A.near　　　　 B．alone　　　　　 C．about　　　　 D．behind

12．A.filled　　　 B．attracted　　　 C．caught　　　　 D．struck

13．A.dare　　　　 B．come　 　　　　 C．deal　　　　　 D．do

14．A.improves　　 B．changes　　　　 C．progresses　　 D．goes

15．A.study　　　 B．society　　　　 C．nature　　　　 D．life

16．A.faced　　　 B．supplied　　　　 C．connected　　 D．fixed

17．A.before　　　 B．after　　　　　 C．until　　　　 D．as

18．A.following　 B．next　　　　　　 C．above　　　　 D．former

19．A.still　　　　 B．also　　　　　　 C．once　　　　　 D．almost

20．A.treatment　　 B．action　　　　　 C．choice　　　　 D．remark

 

I was asked in an email about learning idioms in a foreign language.Maybe I am different from most people，but I do not bother with them.To me they are kind of dessert of language learning.They come at the end of a meal.Once you have filled up with the solid fare—the key words and phrases that are used in a variety of situations，then you can add a few idioms to spice up things.And by that time you will be able to pick them up naturally anyway.

I find that many learners have an obsession(困扰) with slang and idioms，as if repeating some very colloquial expressions is going to upgrade how they sound in a language.In fact it is the opposite.Idioms are difficult to use correctly.They can easily sound very strange coming from someone who obviously does not have a good sense of the language.

Yes，occasionally you hear idioms or slang and do not understand.But，in my experience，there are always situations where you do not understand.It is best to focus on the most important words，what they mean and how they are used.Certainly，it is best for a non?native speaker to stick to standard speech.

Some teachers even try to teach the “real language”．Then you hear non?native speakers saying things like “I gonna” ，“You wanna” etc.I just cringe(厌烦)．

You will learn all the idioms you need just by exposing yourself to the language.In general，you can save any phrase that you find interesting，and if that includes idioms，go to it.But I would not make any special effort to go after idioms.I，in fact，avoid them.If I come across something in Russian that strikes me as a particularly slangy or idiomatic use of words，I just leave it aside; do not even bother trying to learn it.If it keeps on appearing，then I will learn it.But I would certainly be reluctant(勉强的) to try to use it.

 

1．In the writer's opinion，when one learns a new language，one should learn its idioms ________.

A．at the beginning　　 B．on one's own

C．in the end　　　 　　 D．without help

2．The underlined word “colloquial” in Para.2 means “________”．

A．oral 　　　　　 B．informal

C．formal　 　　　　 D．written

3．It can be inferred from the passage that________.

A．idioms are the most important part in a language

B．the writer is not very willing to use idioms

C．non?native speakers should learn more idioms

D．there are no ways to master idioms

4．Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．It's better to avoid idioms in a language

B．Idioms are very charming in a language

C．How to learn idioms in a language

D．Why it's difficult to use idioms in a language

5．How did the writer develop the passage?

A．By inferring.

B．By comparing.

C．By listing examples.

D．By giving explanations.

 

　　I grew up in a small town. My father raised chickens and ran a construction company. I was barely 10 years old when my dad gave me the responsibility (责任) of feeding the chickens and cleaning up the stable. He believed it was important for me to have those jobs to learn responsibility. Then, when I was 22, I found a job in Natchbill at a country music club called the Natchbill Palace, I washed dishes and cooked from 4: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm and then went on stage and sang until 2:00 in the morning. It wasn’t long before I became known as a singing cook. I had been rejected so many times by record companies that it was hard not to be discouraged. One night, a woman executive (懂事) from a company named Warner Brothers Records came to hear me sing. When the show was over, we sat down and talked and after she left, I said to myself it was one more rejection. A few weeks later, my manager received a phone call — Warner Brothers wanted to sign me to a record deal. Soon after, I released my first record in June 1986. It sold over 2 million copies. My best efforts had gone into every job I’ve ever held. It was the sense of responsibility that made me feel like a man. Knowing that I had done my best filled me with pride. I still feel that way today, even though I have become a well-known singer.

　　 Why was the writer once known as the singing cook?

　　A. Because he was a cook at a country-music club.

　　B. Because he sang for guests while he worked as a cook.

　　C. Because he often sang while cooking.

　　D. Because he liked singing better than cooking.

　　 Who first recognized his talents and helped make his career successful?

　　A. Wamer Brothers.                        B. His manager.

　　C. His father.                                 D. A businesswoman.

　  What made the writer proud of himself?

　　A. His ability to live independently.

　　B. His sense of responsibility in whatever he did.

　　C. His courage in the face of rejections.

D. His hard work in his early days.

After several days’ warm weather around the New Year’s Day，a strong cold wave with a sandstorm from Mongolia attacked Tianjin Sunday afternoon.

From 3 o’clock p.m.，the strong cold wave from Mongolia engulfed（吞没）most areas of North China and the biggest wind-force was 7.Tianjin also suffered this year’s first sandstorm with the cold wind whistling.The sky became dusky and the air was permeated with sand.By 11 o’clock at night，the wind became weaker and the sandstorm died down.From Monday morning，the northern areas had a big drop in temperature.It is learned that flu and the infection of the upper respiratory tract are easy to be infected due to the severe pollution by dust in the air.Relevant experts remind residents to pay attention to their health care.

1.The underlined word“permeated”most probably means______.

A.cleared　　　　　　B.filled　　　　　　 C.blowing　　　　　　 D.replaced

2.We learn that ______from the passage.

A.sandstorms result in the fall of temperature

B.we can easily get infected by the dusty air

C.it is usually warmer before sandstorms come

D.sandstorms usually come around the New Year’s Day