Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific purpose in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.

When I was a kid in the New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed and almost nobody worked. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.

The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for and hour of devotion, and opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.

Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to consider that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association.^① In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visit someone else’s home on Sunday. But now the question is, “What do you plan to Do this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall to participating in a road to jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such and answer would feel strange, an echo from another era.

I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants（剩余部分）of the ethic of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries（反复无常的情况）and a challenging environment.^②

1.The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when_________.

2.What can we learn from the underlined sentence in paragraph 4?

3.From the last paragraph we may infer that people in Maine____________.

4.What is the writer’s attitude towards the Sunday today?

阅读表达（共5小题，每小题3分，满分15分）

阅读下面短文，并根据短文后的要求回答问题（请注意问题后的字数要求）。

［1］Today,millions of people want to learn or improve their English but it is difficult to find the best method.Is it better to study in Britain or America or to study in your own country?

［2］The advantages of going to Britain seem obvious.Firstly,you will be able to listen to the language all the time you are in the country.You will be aurrounded completely by the language wherever you go.Another advantage is that you have to speak the language if you are with other people.In Italy,it is always possible,in the class,to speak Italian if you want to and the learning is slower.

［3］On the other hand,           staying at home to study.You don’t have to make big changes to your life.As well as this,it is also a lot cheaper than going to Britain but it is never possible to achieve the results of living in the UK.If you have a good teacher in Italy,I think you can learn in a more concentrated way than being in Britain without going to a school.

［4］so,in conclusion,I think that if you have enough time and enough money,the best choice is to spend some time in the UK.This is simply not possible for most people,so being here in Italy is the only viable(可行的)option.The most important thing to do in this situation is to maximise your opportunities:to speak only English in class and to try to use English whenever possible outside the class.

1.What is the text mainly about?(no more than 10 words)

2.Which sentence in the text is closest in meaning to the following one?

All the people and everything around are related with English,and you’ll have more opportunities.

                                                                               3.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words.(no more than 8 words)

4.What suggestion does the author give to those who learn English in their own country?(no more than 20 words)

5.Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 into Chinese.

Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.

    When I was a kid in New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not desperate steeplechases(障碍赛跑) they have become today. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.

The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there was no housework that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, different from the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.

Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to find that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association. In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else’s home on Sunday. But now the question is, “What do you plan to DO this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall, to participating in a road race, to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such an answer would feel strange, which sounds like an echo from another era.

I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural feature still keeps at least remnants(残余部分) of the moral of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries(反复无常的情况) and a challenging environment.

1.The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when＿＿.

A. everyone was paying a visit to some relatives far away

B. everyone seemed to be free for others

C. Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house

D. nearly every adult would go to church and children weren’t at school

2.In the fourth paragraph, the writer compares the response “I’m making a Sunday visit to family” to an echo from another era because_____.

A. people nowadays prefer staying at home on Sunday

B. such answers are rarely heard in our modern society

C. people in the city dislike being disturbed on Sunday

D. visiting someone on Sunday was routine in the past

3.From the last paragraph we may infer that_____.

A. people in Maine suffer more from economic depression and the changed environment

B. people in Maine have abandoned their tradition and lived an absolutely new life

C. land in Maine is short, thus the relationship between people is tense

D. people in Maine tend to help each other out of necessity

4.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. Doing many activities on Sunday is beneficial.

B. We should often travel a long distance to visit some friends and relatives.

C. Nowadays, Sunday has almost lost its association as a day of rest.

D. We should abandon some old tradition.

阅读表达（共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）

阅读下面短文，并根据短文后的要求回答问题（请注意问题后的字数要求）。

［1］Today, millions of people want to learn or improve their English but it is difficult to find the best method．Is it better to study in Britain or America or to study in your own country?

［2］The advantages of going to Britain seem obvious．Firstly, you will be able to listen to the language all the time you are in the country．You will be surrounded completely by the language wherever you go．Another advantage is that you have to speak the language if you are with other people．In Italy,it is always possible, in the class, to speak Italian if you want to and the learning is slower．

［3］On the other hand,              staying at home to study．You don’t have to make big changes to your life．As well as this,it is also a lot cheaper than going to Britain but it is never possible to achieve the results of living in the UK．If you have a good teacher in Italy,I think you can learn in a more concentrated way than being in Britain without going to a school．

［4］So,in conclusion,I think that if you have enough time and enough money, the best choice is to spend some time in the UK．This is simply not possible for most people, so being here in Italy is the only（可行的）viable option．The most important thing to do in this situation is to maximise your opportunities:to speak only English in class and to try to use English whenever possible outside the class．

1.What is the text mainly about?（no more than 10 words）

2.Which sentence in the text is closest in meaning to the following one?

All the people and everything around are related with English,and you’ll have more opportunities．

3.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words．（no more than 8 words）

4.What suggestion does the author give to those who learn English in their own country?（no more than 20 words）

5.Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 into Chinese．

Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific purpose in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.
When I was a kid in the New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed and almost nobody worked. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.
The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for and hour of devotion, and opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.
Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to consider that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association.^① In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visit someone else’s home on Sunday. But now the question is, “What do you plan to Do this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall to participating in a road to jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such and answer would feel strange, an echo from another era.
I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants（剩余部分）of the ethic of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries（反复无常的情况）and a challenging environment.^②

1. 1.

   The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when_________.

   1. A.
      everyone would pay a visit to some relative far away
   2. B.
      everyone seemed to be free and could have some leisure
   3. C.
      Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house
   4. D.
      nearly every adult would go to church and children were not at school
2. 2.

   What can we learn from the underlined sentence in paragraph 4?

   1. A.
      People nowadays prefer staying at home on Sunday
   2. B.
      People in the city dislike being disturbed on Sunday
   3. C.
      Such answers are rarely heard in our modern society
   4. D.
      Visiting someone on Sunday might take a lot of time
3. 3.

   From the last paragraph we may infer that people in Maine____________.

   1. A.
      suffer more from economic depression and the changed environment
   2. B.
      have abandoned their tradition and lived an absolute new life
   3. C.
      have tense relationships with each other
   4. D.
      always help each other when they are in need
4. 4.

   What is the writer’s attitude towards the Sunday today?

   1. A.
      Unsatisfied
   2. B.
      confused
   3. C.
      Respectful
   4. D.
      Thankful