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

"But Ijust paid 1．69 for this bottle of wine last week．How is it that the price is 2.25?"

There are at least three things going on that have caused the price of wine to rise．All haveto do with the supply and demand factors of economics．

    The first factor is that people are drinking more wine than ever before．This demand formore wine has increased wine sales in America at the rate of 15 percent a year．

    The second factor is that the supply of wine has stayed relatively the same, which meansthat the same number of bottles is produced each year．Wine producers are trying to open upnew land to grow more grapes．But in at least three wine producing areas of the world-France,Germany, and California --- new vineyards （葡萄园）will not be useable in the near future．Wines are produced in other countries, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Argentine,Australia, Austria, and Chile．And these wines will be seen more often on the American market．But none of these countries will be able to fill the good wines．

    The third factor is that costs of wine production are soaring．The workers who make wine are asking for more money, and the machinery needed to press the grapes is becoming more expensive．

    When the demand for something is greater than the supply, prices go up．When productioncosts, meaning the price of labor and machinery rise, the producer adds this increase to the price of the wine．For these reasons, that bottle of wine now costs 2．25 instead of 1．69．

What is the main idea of this passage?

        A．Every year people drink more wine．

        B．Countries won't be able to fill the demand for good wines．

        C．The prices of things go up when the demand for them is greater than the supply．

        D．The supply of wine will always be less than demand．

This passage is written to ．

    A．describe where wine is produced 

    B．persuade people drink more beer

        C．explain why the price of wine is rising

        D．describe why wine is a favorite drink to many Americans

The underlined word "soaring" means"   .

    A．adding quickly       B．reducing fast   

    C．demanding badly D．increasing fast

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, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not the desperate steeplechases（障碍赛跑） they have become today. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother—the same house my father was raised in, 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 were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, different from all 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 consider 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 jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such an answer would feel sepia-toned, 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 cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants 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.

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

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

B. everyone seemed to be free and could have some leisure

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

D. nearly every adult would go to church and children were not at school

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 might take a lot of time

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 has abandoned their tradition and lived an absolute new life

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

D. people in Maine always help each other when they are in need

．Which word we may use to describe the writer’s attitude towards the Sunday today?

A. Unsatisfied.         B. Anxious.             C. Treasured.           D. Teased.                 

"But Ijust paid 1．69 for this bottle of wine last week．How is it that the price is 2.25?"

There are at least three things going on that have caused the price of wine to rise．All haveto do with the supply and demand factors of economics．

    The first factor is that people are drinking more wine than ever before．This demand formore wine has increased wine sales in America at the rate of 15 percent a year．

    The second factor is that the supply of wine has stayed relatively the same, which meansthat the same number of bottles is produced each year．Wine producers are trying to open upnew land to grow more grapes．But in at least three wine producing areas of the world-France,Germany, and California --- new vineyards （葡萄园）will not be useable in the near future．Wines are produced in other countries, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Argentine,Australia, Austria, and Chile．And these wines will be seen more often on the American market．But none of these countries will be able to fill the good wines．

    The third factor is that costs of wine production are soaring．The workers who make wine are asking for more money, and the machinery needed to press the grapes is becoming more expensive．

    When the demand for something is greater than the supply, prices go up．When productioncosts, meaning the price of labor and machinery rise, the producer adds this increase to the price of the wine．For these reasons, that bottle of wine now costs 2．25 instead of 1．69．

What is the main idea of this passage?

        A．Every year people drink more wine．

        B．Countries won't be able to fill the demand for good wines．

        C．The prices of things go up when the demand for them is greater than the supply．

        D．The supply of wine will always be less than demand．

This passage is written to ．

    A．describe where wine is produced 

    B．persuade people drink more beer

        C．explain why the price of wine is rising

        D．describe why wine is a favorite drink to many Americans

The underlined word "soaring" means"   .

    A．adding quickly       B．reducing fast   

    C．demanding badly D．increasing fast

Last winter, when I was heavily pregnant(怀孕), I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law’s house. I had to park my car in a nearby parking lot because they didn’t have a place for parking. The snow was extremely heavy and there was lots of    1   on the ground, so not many people dared to go out that evening! When I left their house and    2   to my car around 11pm, I noticed that my car was the only one    3  .
Surrounded by silence, I rushed into the car nervously. When I finally tried to   4   away, my wheels began to spin(打滑). I realized I was stuck! I wondered what I should do.   5  , in my rear-view mirror(后视镜), I saw four teenage boys    6   my car. They were walking side by side in a line and behaved a bit like    7   ------ at least I thought that was what they looked like. My car was in a very    8   area and I was so frightened when I saw them. I was certain they were coming to my car to    9   me.
Terrified, I just froze. One of the young men tapped on my window    10   and said, “Excuse me, Madam, would you like some    11  ? You seem to have a problem with the car.” Still a little afraid, I said, “I am stuck.” And the young man said, “It’s okay. Stay in your car and we’ll    12   you out of the snow.” And they did! When they finally got my car out of the snow, they   13  and waved good-bye to me. I rolled down my window and thanked them,    14   to have judged them so poorly.
People like to judge the person they come across, and they are in turn judged by others. It’s natural that we judge others, but when we do this, we shouldn’t    15   the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”