While income worry is a rather common problem of the aged, loneliness is another problem that aged parents may face. Of all the reasons that explain their loneliness, a large geographical distance between parents and their children is the major one. This phenomenon(现象) is commonly known as "Empty Nest Syndrome”（空巢综合症）．

In order to find better chances outside their countries, many young people have gone abroad, leaving their parents behind with no clear idea of when they will return home. Their parents spend countless lonely days and nights, taking care of themselves, in the hope that someday their children will come back to stay with them. The fact that most of these young people have gone to Europeanized or Americanized societies makes it unlikely that they will hold as tightly to the value of duty as they would have if they had not left their countries. Whatever the case, it has been noted that the values they hold do not necessarily match what they actually do. This geographical and cultural distance also prevents the grown-up children from providing response in time for their aged parents living by themselves.

The situation in which grown-up children live far away from their aged parents has been described as "distant parent phenomenon", which is common both in developed countries and in developing countries. Our society has not yet been well prepared for "Empty Nest Syndrome".

1.According to the passage, the loneliness of aged parents is mainly caused by ________.

A. their earlier experience of living alone

B. the poor living conditions in their native countries

C. the common worry that they have not saved much money

D. the distance between where parents live and where their children live

2.Many young people have gone abroad, leaving their aged parents behind, to  ______.

A. realize their dreams in foreign countries

B. seek a better place for their aged parents

C. live in the countries with more money

D. continue their studies abroad

3.If young people go abroad, __________.

A. they do not hold to the value of duty at all

B. they can give some help to their parents back home

C. they cannot do what they should for their parents

D. they believe what they actually do is right

4.From the last paragraph, we can infer that __________.

A. the situations in the developed and developing countries are different

B. "Empty Nest Syndrome" has arrived unexpectedly in our society

C. children will become independent as soon as they go abroad

D. the aged parents are not fully prepared for "Empty Nest Syndrome"

5.The society discussed in the passage is most probably __________.

A. France    B. America    C. China    D. Britain

 

D

It was Sunday morning. All the summer world was bright and fresh, and full of life. There was cheer on every face and a spring in every step.

Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He stopped by the fence in front of the house where he lived with his aunt Polly. He looked at it, and all joy left him. The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.

He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day. They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.

He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find some way to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets—nothing that could buy even half an hour of freedom. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea.

At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.

While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. As he walked along, he was making noises like the sound of a riverboat. First he shouted loudly, like a boat captain. Then he said “Ding-Dong-Dong”, “Ding-Dong-Dong” again and again, like the bell of a riverboat. And he made other strange noises. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.

Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: "Hello! I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”

No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom's mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.

Ben said, "Hello, old fellow, you’ve got to work, hey?"

Tom turned suddenly and said, "Why, it's you, Ben! I wasn't noticing."

"Say — I'm going swimming. Don't you wish you could? But of course you’d rather work — wouldn't you? Of course you would."

Tom looked at the boy a bit, and said "What do you call work?"

"Why, isn't that work?"

Tom went back to his whitewashing, and answered casually,

"Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer."

"Oh come, now, you don't mean to say that you like it?"

The brush continued to move.

"Like it? Well, I don't see why I shouldn’t like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?" Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said,

"Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."

Tom thought for a moment, was about to agree; but he changed his mind:

"No — no — it won’t do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don’t think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough."

"No — is that so? Oh come, now —let me just try. Only just a little."

"Ben, I'd like to, but if it isn’t done right, I’m afraid Aunt Polly— "

"Oh, I'll be careful. Now let me try. Say -- I'll give you the core（核心）of my apple."

"Well, here — No, Ben, now don't. I'm afraid —"

"I'll give you all of it."

Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom sold the next chance to Billy for a kite; and when Billy was tired, Johnny bought in for a dead rat — and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures

And he had not worked. He had had a nice idle time all the time, with plenty of company -- and the fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn't run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.

He had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get.

68．Tom was about to agree to let Ben whitewash when he changed his mind because ______ .

A. Tom wanted to do the whitewashing by himself

B. Tom was unwilling to let Ben do the whitewashing

C. Tom was afraid Ben would do the whitewashing better

D. Tom didn’t want to let Ben do the whitewashing before he made him give up his apple first

69．The underlined word “casually” is most similar to “______” in meaning.

A. carelessly                 B. delightedly               C. seriously                  D. angrily

70．We can learn from the passage that ______ .

A. Tom was interested in whitewashing the fence.

B. Tom had a lot of friends who are ready to help others.

C. Tom was unwilling to whitewash the fence, but he managed to let other boys do it for him

D. Tom was good at whitewashing the fence, so he looked at the result of his work with the eye of an artist.

A few days ago I asked my sons' governess（家庭女教师）Julia to come into my study. “Be seated，Julia,”I said，“Let's settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money，but maybe you're too polite to mention it. Now then，we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”

“Forty.”

“No，thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well，um，you've been here for two months，so...”

Two months and five days.”

Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take nine Sundays off... you know you didn't work with Tom on Sundays，you only took walks.And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her fingernail nervously，her face red，but,not a word.

“Three holidays，therefore take twelve dollars off your pay. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons，as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven makes nineteen.Take nineteen off... that 1eaves，hmm... forty-one dollars. Correct?”

Julia's left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled，and she coughed nervously and blew her riose，but still not a word.

“Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer；take two dollars off your pay.The cup cost more，because it was a treasure of the family，but forget it. When didn't I take a loss! Then，due to your neglect(疏忽），Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket；take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick's shoes. You ought to watch everything！You get paid for it. So，that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave you ten dollars”.

“You didn't.”sobbed Julia.

“But I made a note of it.”

“Well... if you say so.”

“Take twenty-seven from forty-one, and that leaves fourteen.”

Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose.Poor girl！

“Only once was I given any money，”she whispered，her voice trembling，“and that was by your wife. Three dollars，nothing more.”

“Real1y? You see now，and I didn't know that！Take three from fourteen and it leaves eleven.  Here’s your money，my dear．Three，three，three，one and one. Here it is！”

I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.

“Merci（Thanks），”she whispered.

I jumped to my feet and started pacing the floor. I was overcome with anger.“For what，this merci”? I asked.

“For the money”.

“But you know I’ve cheated you—— robbed you！”I have actually stolen from you!Why this“merci？”

“In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”

“They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! 1 played a little joke on you，a cruel lesson，just to teach you…I'm going to give you all the eighty dollars！Here they are in the envelope all ready for you…Is it really possible to be so spineless(懦弱)? Why didn't you protest?Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and laws(爪)—— to be such a fool?''

Embarrassed,she smiled. And I could read her expression，“It is possible”.

I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and， to her great surprise，gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little “merci”serveral times and went out. I looked at her and thought，“How easy it is to crush the weak in this World! ”

67.While talking to Julia.the writer expected ＿＿＿＿＿＿from her.

A. a protest       B.gratitude          C.obedience       D. an explanation

68.What shocked the writer was Julia's＿＿＿＿＿＿．

A. nervousness in front of her boss                          B. acceptance of injustice

C. shyness when talking about money             D. reluctance to express herself

69.The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws(爪)一to be such a fool?” He was actually telling the governess＿＿＿＿＿＿．

A. to be more aggressive                         B. to be more careful in her work

C.to protect her right                                             D.to live independently

70. From the story, we can know that Julia's employer was         

A. greedy but honest                                                B.ill tempered but warm-hearted

C. strict but forgiving                                  D. none of the above

“If you run for more than five minutes at any time, you might need a pair of running shoes,” advises Stephen Pribut, a US sports medicine expert. Running shoes are highly technical footwear. They provide stability（牢固）while bearing up to three times the wearer’s body weight. But it’s not easy to find the right pair. Finding the right running shoes is something of an art, or a science and a feel.

The science part begins with the shape of the arch（弓）of your foot, which anyone can find out at home with this quick experiment: Put your foot in water and place it on a piece of brown paper. If you see a “C” shape on the paper when you remove your foot, you have a rare high arch. If the shape looks more like a rectangle, that means you have flat feet. See something in between? That’s a normal arch.

Conveniently for shoppers, shoe companies nowadays divide their shoes in three categories: neutral(for high arches), stability(for normal or low arches) and motion control(for flat arches). So you will know which type suits you.

At this point, most people would just grab an appealing shoe and try it on. But professionals would do a few quality-control tests. First, you bend the shoe toe to heel to see where it bends. If it’s not at the forefoot---where the foot actually bends, be afraid. Then you grip both ends and twist in opposite directions. If you can twist it like a towel, it means there’s zero support. Finally, you squeeze(挤)the heel in both directions. A stable heel won’t cave in.

Now you need to check the mold(模子)that shapes the inside of the shoe: whether it’s wide or narrow in the mid-foot, how it sits on the heel and how roomy the toe box is.

It’s wise to hold off until the afternoon to make the shoe purchase, to allow for any swelling(肿胀) that your feet do throughout the day. Toes also decide sizing choice. The rule is you need a finger’s width from your longest toe (whether that’s your big one or not) to the end of the shoe.

What is the main idea of this passage?

    A．Advantages of wearing running shoes fitting you.

    B．Ways to get to know about the shape of the arch of your foot.

    C．Advice on how to choose the right pair of running shoes.

    D．Best time to buy a pair of running shoes.

If the arch of your foot looks like a “C” shape, you have _________.

    A．a normal arch    B．a high arch C．a flat arch D．a low arch

．The underlined phrase “cave in” most probably means ______.

    A．bend     B．stretch C．shake    D．crash

．Why is the late afternoon the ideal time to go shopping for shoes?

    A．We are likely to be more patient in the afternoon.

    B．Feet usually become large late in the day.

    C．The toes become longer late in the day.

    D．The arch of our feet will be in best shape in the afternoon.

“If you run for more than five minutes at any time, you might need a pair of running shoes,” advises Stephen Pribut, a US sports medicine expert. Running shoes are highly technical footwear. They provide stability（牢固）while bearing up to three times the wearer’s body weight. But it’s not easy to find the right pair. Finding the right running shoes is something of an art, or a science and a feel.
The science part begins with the shape of the arch（弓）of your foot, which anyone can find out at home with this quick experiment: Put your foot in water and place it on a piece of brown paper. If you see a “C” shape on the paper when you remove your foot, you have a rare high arch. If the shape looks more like a rectangle, that means you have flat feet. See something in between? That’s a normal arch.
Conveniently for shoppers, shoe companies nowadays divide their shoes in three categories: neutral(for high arches), stability(for normal or low arches) and motion control(for flat arches). So you will know which type suits you.
At this point, most people would just grab an appealing shoe and try it on. But professionals would do a few quality-control tests. First, you bend the shoe toe to heel to see where it bends. If it’s not at the forefoot---where the foot actually bends, be afraid. Then you grip both ends and twist in opposite directions. If you can twist it like a towel, it means there’s zero support. Finally, you squeeze(挤)the heel in both directions. A stable heel won’t cave in.
Now you need to check the mold(模子)that shapes the inside of the shoe: whether it’s wide or narrow in the mid-foot, how it sits on the heel and how roomy the toe box is.
It’s wise to hold off until the afternoon to make the shoe purchase, to allow for any swelling(肿胀) that your feet do throughout the day. Toes also decide sizing choice. The rule is you need a finger’s width from your longest toe (whether that’s your big one or not) to the end of the shoe.
【小题1】What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Advantages of wearing running shoes fitting you.

B．Ways to get to know about the shape of the arch of your foot.

C．Advice on how to choose the right pair of running shoes.

D．Best time to buy a pair of running shoes.

【小题2】If the arch of your foot looks like a “C” shape, you have _________.

A．a normal arch

B．a high arch

C．a flat arch

D．a low arch

【小题3】．The underlined phrase “cave in” most probably means ______.

A．bend

B．stretch

C．shake

D．crash

【小题4】．Why is the late afternoon the ideal time to go shopping for shoes?

A．We are likely to be more patient in the afternoon.

B．Feet usually become large late in the day.

C．The toes become longer late in the day.

D．The arch of our feet will be in best shape in the afternoon.