A special laboratory at the University of Chicago is busy only at night. It is a dream laboratory where researchers are at work studying dreamers. Their findings have discovered that everyone dreams from three to seven times a night, although in ordinary life a person may remember none or only one of his dreams.
　　While the subjects—usually students—sleep, special machines record their brain waves and eye movements as well as the body movements that signal the end of a dream. Surprisingly, all subjects sleep soundly.
Observers report that a person usually fidgets(烦躁不安) before a dream. Once the dream has started, his body relaxes and his eyes become more active, as if the curtain had gone up on a show. As soon as the machine shows that the dream is over, a buzzer wakens the sleeper. He sits up, records his dream, and goes back to sleep—perhaps to dream some more.
Researchers have found that if the dreamer is wakened immediately after his dream, he can usually recall the entire dream. If he is allowed to sleep even five more minutes, his memory of the dream will have disappeared.
【小题1】According to the passage, researchers at the University of Chicago are studying ____.

One day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground. The woman _36__ a little boy in a red coat and said: “That is my son __37__ is moving smoothly down the slide (滑板)”. “What a lovely boy!” the man replied. Then he went __38__ saying, “That is my daughter on the bike. She is __39__ a white dress”.
After a while, the man looked at his __40__ and called to the girl in white, “Shall we go home, Mary?” “Only five __41__ minutes, Dad, please?” little Mary cried. The man __42__ and Mary went on riding her bike happily. Five minutes passed soon. The father __43__ and called again to his daughter: “It’s time __44__ now, Mary?” Again, Mary pleaded (恳求), “Give me more minutes, Dad. __45__ five more minutes, OK?” The man smiled and said: “OK.”
The __46__ responded, “You are surely a patient father.” __47__ in thought, the man said nothing. However, after a __48__, he smiled and then said: “Her elder brother Tom was killed by a __49__ driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never __50__ much time with Tom and now I would give anything for just five more minutes with him. I wouldn’t make the same __51__ with Mary. She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bike. The __52__ is that I get five more minutes to watch her play. Life sometimes __53__ too suddenly. ”
Yes, life is all about making priorities (优先考虑的事), and what are your priorities? Don’t always __ 54__ excuses for your not being able to accompany your family members or your friends. Give someone you are __55__ five more minutes of your time today!

　　A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess（女家庭教师）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 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 off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.

　　“Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. 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 - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct？”

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

　　“Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, 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 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 -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.”

　　“Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. 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 （法语: 谢谢）,”she whispered.

　　I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. 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! I 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 claws（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”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world !”

　　While talking to Julia, the wrier expected from her ________.

　　A. a protest　　　　　　　　　　　B. gratitude

　　C. obedience　　　　　　　　　　 D. an explanation

　　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

　　The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” 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

　　At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”to show ________.

　　A. his understanding of Julia’s anxiety

　　B. his worry about Julia’s future

　　C. his concern on the living condition of working - class people

　　D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited

“I don’t think I can do this any more.” “Yes, you can. You only have five more radiation treatments to go. ” I held my wife Becky close.

         Ever since the breast cancer diagnosis (诊断), she had tried hard to be strong for the kids and for me.    When her diagnosis came, my first thought was there was no way I could lose my wife. The doctors assured us the cancer was discovered early so we were feeling positive.

         Becky had received an operation and was recovering from it. After six weeks of radiation therapy(治疗), she was facing her final five treatments. She was weak and tired, in low spirits. Seeing her suffering, I felt so helpless and powerless.

         As soon as I was outside, long-held frustration and anger erupted in me like a volcano. I took a hammer and suddenly was swinging as hard as I could, beating heavily on the front porch(门廊). While doing so, I imagined I was beating my wife’s cancer. With all my strength, I destroyed the porch.

         During the treatment, my wife had been very brave. She said she had it easy, but I don’t think it was easy for her.

         Seeing the porch gone, Becky shook her head at the window. I came into the room, not knowing how she would react to what I had done.

         “Becky, are you mad at me?” She looked at me in surprise. “For what?” I pointed at the gate. “For tearing down the porch.” She laughed. “Look how sunny this room is now. I love that it’s bright in here.”

         “You comforted me in my darker hour, Vince. You’ve found a way to deal with your own frustration. By destroying the porch, you let the sunshine in.”

         As I looked around the brightened room, I realized the light that filled the space was the light of hope that shone so bright after the darkness. We never did re-build the porch.

1.When the diagnosis came out, _______.

A. the author had little hope that his wife would survive

B. the author was determined to save his wife’s life

C. the author’s wife refused to receive radiation treatments

D. the author felt lucky that his wife’s disease was not serious

2.The author went outside to destroy the porch because _______.

A. he wanted to release his frustration

B. he was disappointed with his wife

C. he intended to let sunshine in

D. his wife didn’t like it at all

3.How did the author’s wife feel about him seeing the porch gone?

A. Sympathetic B. Angry

C. Understanding                D. Happy

4.What lesson can we learn from the passage?

A. Tragedy cannot separate loving couple

B. A day without sunshine is like night

C. True love is based on understanding

D. Nothing is impossible for a willing heart

A special laboratory at the University of Chicago is busy only at night. It is a dream laboratory where researchers are at work studying dreamers. Their findings have discovered that everyone dreams from three to seven times a night, although in ordinary life a person may remember none or only one of his dreams.

　　While the subjects—usually students—sleep, special machines record their brain waves and eye movements as well as the body movements that signal the end of a dream. Surprisingly, all subjects sleep soundly.

Observers report that a person usually fidgets(烦躁不安) before a dream. Once the dream has started, his body relaxes and his eyes become more active, as if the curtain had gone up on a show. As soon as the machine shows that the dream is over, a buzzer wakens the sleeper. He sits up, records his dream, and goes back to sleep—perhaps to dream some more.

Researchers have found that if the dreamer is wakened immediately after his dream, he can usually recall the entire dream. If he is allowed to sleep even five more minutes, his memory of the dream will have disappeared.

1.According to the passage, researchers at the University of Chicago are studying ____.

A．contents of dreams　                    B．dreamers while they dream

C．the meaning of dreams                   D．the progress of sleeping

2.Their finding has discovered that _____.

A．everyone dreams every night

B．dreams are easily remembered

C．dreams are likely to be frightening

D．One person dreams only one dream a night

3.The machines being used in the experiment record _____.

A．the depth of sleep

B．the subjects’ brain waves and eye movements

C．how many dreams a person has

D．what a sleeper dreams during his sleep

4.A person would be most likely to remember the dream that _____.

A．was of most interest to him

B．occurred immediately after he went to sleep

C．occurred just before he woke up

D．was the longest one to him