4、May: Happenings form the Past

May 5, 1884

Isaac Murphy, son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby. He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.

May 9, 1754

Benijamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon(漫畫(huà))，showing a snake cut in pieces with the words “John or Die ” printed under the picture.

May 11, 1934

The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought(干旱)，blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington, D.C.

May 19, 1994

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, form first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s, died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.

May 24,1844

Samuel F.B. Morse taps out the first message, “What hath God wrought,” over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington,D.C., to Baltimore, Md.

1. We know from the text that Buchanan is            .

A. Isaac’s father                B. a winning horse

C. a slave taking care of horse     D. the first racing horse in Kentucky

2. What is the title of the first American political cartoon?

A. Join or Die                        B. Pennsylvania Gazette

C. What Hath God Wrought             D. Kentucky Derby

3. In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die?

A. 1934            B.1960             C. 1964               D. 1994

4. Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history?

A. Washing, D.C.                      B. New York City.

C. Kentucky.                          D. Pennsylvania.

3、When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble - a word game - against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 10 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.

It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life: to cool and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.

   It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字處理). This proved to be a bigger challenge(挑戰(zhàn)) to her, so I gave her some homework I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.

“Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she asked.

 “No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”

      My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(過(guò)敏反應(yīng)). For as long as I can remember, any time I called, my mother would answer. Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years.

1. What does the author do?

A. She is a cook.                   B. She is a teacher.

C. She is a housewife.              D. She is a computer engineer.

2. The author decided to give her mother a computer            .

A. to let her have more chances to write letters

B. to support her in doing her homework

C. to help her through the bad times

D. to make her life more enjoyable

3. The author asked her mother to write her a letter                .

A. because her mother had stopped using the telephone

B. because she wanted to keep in touch with her mother

C. so that her mother could practice what she had learned

D. so that mother could be free from housework

4. After the computer was brought home, the author’s father             .

A. lost interest in cooking

B. took more phone calls

C. played more games

D. began to use it

2、When asked to point out of or two things that are most important to themselves, many put friends ahead of homes, jobs, cloth and cars.

A true friendship carries-a-long history of experience that determines who we are and keeps us connected. It is a treasure we should prove it. Unfortunately, the better friends you are, the more probably you’ll have disagreements. And the sult can be what you don’t want an end to the relationship.

The good news is that most troubled friendships can be mended. First, don’t let your pride get in your way. Most of us can forgive each other when differences are brought out in the open. Second, apologize when you’re wrong - even if you’ve been wronged. Over the course of friendship, even the best people make mistakes. Sometimes, it may be best if the wronged person  takes wrong. Third, see things from your friend’s point of view(觀點(diǎn)). And finally, accept that friendships changes as our needs and lifestyles(生活方式) change. Making friends can sometimes seem easy The hard part is keeping the connections strong during the nature ups and downs that have an effect on all relationships. My suggestion: Consider friendship an honor and a gift, and worth the effort to treasure and nurture(培養(yǎng)).

1.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Easy Ways to Make Friends

B. Ups and Downs in Friendship

C. How to Mend a Troubled Friendship

D. How to Take the Lead in Making Friends

2.The “wronged person” underlined in the text refers to a person       .

A. who has been mistaken for anoter

B. who has been blamed unfairly

C. who has teeated friends badly

D. who has admitted his mistakes

3.According to the text a friendship can last long only if           .

A.we have much in common

B.we know our friends mistakes

C.we treat our disagreements wisely

D. we have know one another for long

4.What should we do we follow the author’s second suggestion?

A. Stick to our own, pints of view.

B. Aviod making mistakes.

C. Make an apology first.

D.   change our lifestyles.

1、“Who made your T-shirt?”A Geo etown University student raised that question. Pietra Rivoli, a professor of business, wanted to fin the anwer.A few weeks later, she bought a T-shirt and began to follow its path from Texas cotton form to Chinese factory to charity bin (慈善捐贈(zèng)箱). The result is an interesting new book , The Tra ’s of a T-shirt in the Global Economy(經(jīng)濟(jì)).

Following a T-shirt around the world in a way to make her point more interesting, but it also frees Rivoli from the usual arguments over gobal trade. She goes wherever the T-shirt goes,and there are surprises around every corner. In China, Rivoli shows why a clothing factory , even with its poor conditions, means a step toward a better   e for the people who work there. In the colorful used-clothing markets of Tanzania, she realizes,th   “it is only in this final stage of life that the T-shirt will meet a real market,” where the price of  a shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color .Rivoli’s book is full of mem able people and scenes, like the noise, the bad air and the “muddy-sweet smell (泥土香味) of  the  cotton. ”She says, “Here in the factory, Shanghai smells like Shallowater Texas.”

Rivoli is at her best when making those sorts of unexpected connections. She even finds one between the free traders and those who are against globalization. The chances opened up by trade are vast, she argues, but free markets need the correcting force of politics to keep them in check . True economic progress needs them both.

1. What do we learn about Professor Rivoli?

A.She used to work on a cotton farm.

B.She wrote a book about world trade.

C.She wants to give up her teaching job.

D.She wears a T-shirt wherever she goes.

2.By saying T-shirt “meet a real market”,Rivoli means in Tanzania            .

A.cheaper T-shirt are needed.

B. used T-shirt are hard to sell

C. prices of  T-shirt rise and fall frequently

D. prices of  T-shirt are usually reasonable

3.What does the word “them”  underlined in the last paragraph refer to ?

A.Free-markets.

B.Price changes.

C.Unexpected connection .

D. chances opened up by trade.

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A.What T-shirt Can Do to Help Cotton Farms

B. How T-shirt Are Made in Shanghai

C. How T-shirt Are Sold in Tanzania

D What T-shirt Can Teach Us

35、They ______ be at home. You see, the door is locked from the outside.

A. can’t       B. may          C.  must           D.  mustn’t