A
If you didn't look at them, they weren't there , right? On seeing those in rags on the corner, I only wanted the light to turn green fast enough so that I wouldn't have to keep pretending not to see them.
Then ,one day, as I was holding the hand of my best friend Jane who was young but dying of breast cancer ,she told me that she made every moment count by slowing down and by seeing everything .I held her hand for five years and then she passed away. She did teach me something. It took a while for her words to really sink in. I can be a slow learner.
I started by seeing everything, and focused on their presence. One day I saw a Vietnam veteran(老兵). I asked him what would make his day.
"A hot cup of coffee," he told me.
I bought him a cup of coffee a stack of pancakes, some eggs, and so on. After our meal Together ,I asked him if there was anything else that would make his life a bit easier.
"A new pair of socks, "he said.
Socks ,really? I actually happened to be wearing a nice pair of wool hiking socks at that very moment. I told him that I wanted to give him the pair I was wearing ,if he would accept t. Finally, he agreed. We sat down on a bench, and he started to first take off his boots, then remove the black socks that had once been white off his feet. I think a layer or two of skin might have come off with them. Taking his new pair of socks, he held the socks up to his cheeks and said they were warm and smelled as good as me, pools of tears in his eyes.
Such a simple luxury (奢侈品) I used to take for granted. Now ,I always have an extra pair with me in my car. They are always my best pair ,just waiting to be given away.
41 . On seeing the homeless, the author used to_______.
A. hide in the comer B. show mercy to them
C. act as if they were not there D. make fun of them
42. What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 2?
A. He was slow in learning things.
B. His best friend was once a teacher.
C. He was sad that his friend was dying.
D. He didn't understand Jane's words at first.
43. What does the underlined word " them" in the last paragraph but one refer to?
A. The veteran's boots. B. The veteran's feet.
C. The wool hiking socks. D. The veteran's old socks.
44. Why does the author always have an extra pair of socks in his car?
A. To decorate his car. B. To sell it to others.
C. To keep it for a change. D. To donate it to a needy person.
45. What does the author want to convey to us?
A. All men are born equal.
B. A beggar's purse is bottomless.
C. Don't miss doing any good thing.
D. Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.
B
American high school students are terrible writers , and one education reform group thinks it has an answer: robots. Or, more accurately, robot-readers-computers programmed to scan student essays and
spit out a grade.
Mark Shermis ,professor of the College of Education at the University of Akron ,is helping to hold a contest, set up by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation ( WFHF) ,that promises $ IOO,OOO in prize money to programmers who write the best automated grading software. "If you're a high school teacher and you give a writing task , you're walking home with 150 essays, " Shermis said. "You're going to need some help. "
Automated essay grading was first proposed in the 1960s,but computers back then were not up to the task. In the late 1990s, as technology improved, several textbook and testing companies jumped into the field. Today ,computers are used to grade essays on South Dakota's student writing assessments and a handful of other exams ,including the TOEFL test of English fluency, taken by foreign students.
The Hewlett contest aims to show that computers can grade as well as English teachers- only much more quickly and without all that depressing red ink. Automated essay scoring is "objective, " Shermis said. " And it can be done immediately. If students finish an essay at l0 pm , they get a result at 10 :0l pm . "
Take , for instance, the Intelligent Essay Assessor, a web-based tool marketed by Pearson Education ,Inc. Within seconds it can analyze an essay for spelling, grammar, organization, and help students to make revisions. The program scans for key words and analyzes semantic (语义 的) patterns , and Pearson claims that it can understand the meaning of text much the same as a human reader.
46. The text is written to introduce________.
A. robot-readers B. education reform in America
C. Hewlett contest D. William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
47. What does the underlined phrase "spit out "in Paragraph I probably mean?
A. Give. B. Organize. C. Analyze. D. Check.
48. From Paragraph 3,we know that in the 1960s _______.
A. computers were not easy to get
B. automated grading software was popular
C. people refused automated essay grading
D. computers couldn't grade essays automatically
49. What does Paragraph 4 focus on?
A. The prize of Hewlett contest.
B. The advantages of automated essay scoring.
C. The application of automated essay scoring.
D. Teachers' opinions about Hewlett contest.
50. The Intelligent Essay Assessor can________.
A. rewrite essays B. underline the mistakes in red ink
C. understand the meaning of text D. correct key words and patterns
C
In order to increase their job chances after college, Chinese students are turning to a special practice- Eiffel Tower nose jobs (鼻整形术). The latest trend in plastic surgery promises to create a nose that is classic, slim and sloping, similar to the sweeping curve of the Eiffel Tower.
Surgeon Wang Xuming said: " We are influenced by the beauty of the Eiffel Tower, we are not content to just add something to the nose ,we reconstruct it. " The surgery costs about US $ 10,000 and involves the enlarging of the nose using tissue from the forehead.
Hundreds of posters advertising the procedure are put up all over Chongqing city ,where surgeon Xuming runs his practice. They show a Westem-Iooking woman with an almost-too- perfect nose ,against an outline of the Eiffel Tower.
Interestingly ,many young women in China are eager to achieve a western appearance, as they believe it will give them an advantage in the highly competitive job market. " Some students face a lot of employment pressure after graduation. If their facial features are good, they'II have more chances of finding a job, " said surgeon Xuming. " We've had students getting the Eiffel Tower nose; it's helped them a lot. "
Apparently,Chinese employers are quite particular about appearances and prefer attractive candidates. Some of them even go as far as putting height and weight requirements in their employment ads. Plastic surgeons across the country are reporting an increase in the number of students choosing beauty" improvement ".
According to a Mr. Li , hospital manager at surgeon Xuming's clinic , most of their customers are female and the bill is taken care of by the family. " They usually come in with their mothers, and tend to be from well-off backgrounds, " he said.
51. Chinese college students choose to have a nose operation to_______.
A. marry well B. look cool
C. have a good job D. look like westerners
52. What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 3?
A. The posters. B. A nose job.
C. The Eiffel Tower. D. A plastic surgery procedure.
53. It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that________.
A. employers are potential customers
B. ads promote the plastic surgery
C. appearance is as important as height and weight
D. attractive appearance seems to increase job chances
54. From what Mr. Li said we can learn that ________.
A. most families can't afford the surgeon
B. the number of plastic surgeons is increasing
C. patients can be well looked after at the clinic
D. their customers are usually from wealthy families
55: What's the author's attitude towards Eiffel Tower nose jobs?
A. Skeptical. B. Objective. C. Critical. D. Worried.
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