What Is a Boy?
Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a “boy”. Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same belief: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males pack them off to bed at night.
Boys are found everywhere –on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face, BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocalate in its hair, and the HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket.
When you are busy, a boy is a trouble maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a wild creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.
A boy is a mixture – he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion (消化力) of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker, but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs (拇指) on each hand.
He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.
Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three-feet rope, six cents and some unknown things.
A boy is a magical creature – he is your headache but when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi, Dad!”
【小题1】The whole passage is in a tone(调子) of  _________.     

A．humor and love	B．respect and harmony
C．ambition and expectation	D．confidence and imagination

【小题2】The underlined sentence “he has five thumbs on each hand” probably means______.

A．he has altogether five fingers	B．he is slow, foolish and clumsy
C．he becomes clever and smart	D．he cuts his hand with a knife

【小题3】According to the writer, boys appreciate everything in the following except   ________.

A．ice cream

B．comic books

C．Saturday mornings

D．Sunday schools

【小题4】What does the writer feel about boys?

A．He feels curious about their noise.	B．He is fed up with these creatures.
C．He is amazed by their naughtiness.	D．He feels unsafe staying with them.

I don’t ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what it’s like to work in a field dominated by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes.

At 19, when I began studying astrophysics, it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as a post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement—jobs, research papers, awards—was viewed through the lens of gender (性别) politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus (相对于) right brain, or nature versus nurture (培育), I would instantly fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.

Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would eventually become my reply to any and all provocations: I don’t talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didn’t want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don’t study sociology or political theory.

Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how may of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them “war” stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about.

Why doesn’t the author want to talk about being a woman scientist again?

A. She feels unhappy working in male-dominated fields.

B. She is fed up with the issue of gender discrimination.

C. She is not good at telling stories of the kind.

D. She finds space research more important.

   From Paragraph 2, we can infer that people would attribute the author’s failures to ________.

A. the very fact that she is a woman

B. her involvement in gender politics

C. her over-confidence as a female astrophysicist

D. the burden she bears in a male-dominated society

What did the author constantly fight against while doing her Ph.D. and post-doctoral research?

A. Lack of confidence in succeeding in space science.

B. Unfair accusations from both inside and outside her circle.

C. People’s stereotyped attitude toward female scientists.

D. Widespread misconceptions about nature and nurtured.

Why does the author feel great satisfaction when talking about her class?

A. Female students no longer have to bother about gender issues.

B. Her students’ performance has brought back her confidence.

C. Her female students can do just as well as male students.

D. More female students are pursuing science than before.

What does the image the author presents to her students suggest?

A. Women students needn’t have the concerns of her generation.

B. Women have more barriers on their way to academic success.

C. Women can balance a career in science and having a family.

D. Women now have fewer problems pursuing a science career.

．She is fed up with sharing a house with others;           , she is looking for her own flat.

    A．moreover         B．otherwise        C．however          D．therefore

 

 

What Is a Boy?

Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a “boy”. Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same belief: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males pack them off to bed at night．

Boys are found everywhere—on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face, BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocolate in its hair, and the HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket．

When you are busy, a boy is a trouble-maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a wild creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

A boy is a mixture – he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker, but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs on each hand.

He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines． He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.

Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three-feet rope, six cents and some unknown things.

A boy is a magical creature—he is your headache but when you come home at night with only destroyed pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi, Dad!”

1.The whole passage is in a tone of _________．

A．ambition and expectation                 B．respect and harmony

C．humor and affection                     D．confidence and imagination

2.By saying “he has five thumbs on each hand.”, the author means        .

A．he has altogether five fingers              B．he is slow, foolish and clumsy

C．he becomes clever and smart              D．he cuts his hand with a knife

3.According to the writer, boys appreciate everything in the following except _________．

A．ice cream                             B．comic books

C．Saturday mornings                      D．Sunday schools

4.What does the writer feel about boys?

A．He feels curious about their noise．

B．He is fed up with these creatures．

C．He is amazed by their naughtiness．

D．He feels unsafe staying with them．

 

She is fed up with sharing a house with others; ___, she is looking for her own flat.

A．moreover

B．therefore

C．however

D．otherwise