At 18, many American young people go off on their own. They go away to college or find full-time jobs, and they often pay for their own apartments. Some get married and start families. This independence（獨立) is learned from childhood.

     From an early age, American children learn to do things by themselves. Children as young as 2 begin to put away their toys and dress themselves. At 3, many children do simple chores like setting the table.

     Using money in the right way is also taught early. As soon as a child understands the value of money, he or she receives a weekly allowance. This is used for things the child wants, like toys or treats. The child can spend or save it, usually with little help or advice from parents. If the child wants more money, it must be earned by doing extra chores.

     Children are taught early in life to think for themselves. They are allowed to make some decisions

and make mistakes. Failure often teaches more than success.

1.. Many young American people begin to live on themselves ________ .

   A. at the age of eighteen  B. from an early age   C. after they get married    D. when they find jobs

2. An American child learns to ________ at the age of 2.

   A. do a lot of chores  B. put on their own clothes     C. study for a test        D set the table

3. The underlined word “allowance” means ________ .

   A. pocket money     B. present    C. prize     D. toy

4. A child can get some more money by ________ .

   A. understanding the value of money    B. doing a lot of homework

   C. reading a lot of books              D. doing some more chores

5. Which is NOT true according to the passage?

   A. American children learn to be independent from an early age.

   B. American children always use or save their money with the help of their mother.

   C. American children are allowed to make some decisions and mistakes.

   D. Failure is needed in children’s life as well as success.

 

 

The summer vacation is over. It’s true that time flies.

In the vacation, the weather was very hot, but I enjoyed myself.

I did my homework in the morning. I got up at 6:30a.m. and took a walk in the garden for half an hour. After breakfast I began reading English and Chinese and did some math exercises. It usually took me three hours or more. I worked quite hard and I made great progress(進步).

I spent the afternoon outside. I went swimming and it was fun. I would not go home until it was about five or six o’clock. Sometimes my friends came to see me and we spent some time listening to music.

In this way I spent my vacation happily. I not only studied hard, but also became a good swimmer. Now I’m in good health and high spirits(精神).

1. The passage mainly tells us___________.

A．how the writer became a good swimmer

B．how the writer spent his summer vacation

C．what the weather was like in summer

D．where the writer studied in the vacation

2. How long did the writer spend studying every day?

A．Half an hour.	B．Two hours and a half.
C．Only a day.	D．Three hours or more.

3. The writer spent most of the afternoon________.

A．listening to music	B．visiting his friends
C．walking in the garden	D．swimming

4. The writer had a very good summer vacation because he_______.

A．thought time flew	B．study hard and had fun swimming
C．got up early and went home late	D．was free all the time

5.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The writer began studying as soon as he got up.

B．The writer took a walk for half an hour before breakfast.

C．The writer made progress in his lessons.

D．The writer spent some time swimming in the afternoon.

 

Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The building next door was only a few feet away from mine. There was a woman who lived there, whom I had never met, yet I could see her sit by her window each afternoon, sewing(針線活) or reading.

After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I would say to myself, “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window. It really looks terrible.”

One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window inside.

Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was seen clearly. Her window was clean!

Then it dawned on me. I had been criticizing(批評) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through(通過) my own dirty window.

That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own mistakes?

Since then, whenever I wanted to judge (評判) someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?”

Then I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world about me more clearly.

1.The writer couldn’t see everything clearly through the window because _________.

A. the woman’s window was dirty   

B. the writer’s window was dirty

C. the woman lived nearby          

D. the writer has short sight

2.The writer was surprised that _________.

A. the woman was sitting by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading   

B. the woman’s window was clean as soon as he washed his own window

C. the woman did cleaning in the afternoon, so the writer could see the woman clearly

D. the woman’s window was still terrible after he washed his own window

 “It dawned on me” probably means “_________”.

A. I began to understand it            

B. it cheered me up

C. I knew the woman’s window grew light.             

D. it began to get dark

3.It’s clear that _________.

A. the writer didn’t meet the woman ago

B. the writer often washed the window

C. they both worked as cleaners    

D. they lived in a small town

4.From the passage, we can learn _________.

A. one shouldn’t criticize others very often

B. one should often make his windows clean

C. one must judge himself before he judges others

D. one must look at others through his dirty windows

 

 

He met many problems           he was going over his lessons.

A．before

B．a(chǎn)s soon as

C．since

D．while

 

He didn’t work ________ the other students in his class, so he got the worst report card for the end-of-year exams.

A. as hardly as    B. so hardly as   C. so hard as      D. so hard so