You may have heard of the American Dream, an ideal that has powered the hopes of Americans for generations.
It began as a belief that the US was a land of opportunity, and that anyone could achieve success through hard work. At times, the dream has referred to home ownership, a good job, retirement security or each generation doing better than the last.
Yet today, this concept seems to have greatly changed. As Time magazine pointed out, quite different from the older generation, many Millennials (the generation born after 1980) redefine(重新定义) the American Dream as “day-to-day control of your life”. They “prize job mobility, flexible schedules, any work that is more interesting than typing, and the ability to travel”, said the magazine.
Home ownership, once the cornerstone of the American Dream, is becoming a smaller priority for this generation. Meanwhile, nearly 40% of them choose travel as part of their dream. And entrepreneurship(创业) is a rising favorite, as nearly 26% of Millennials consider self-employment as part of their dream.
So what has led to this huge change?
Many point fingers at the poor economy. “Modern young Americans seem bound to face a world stamped by ever narrowing opportunity and social stagnation(停滞),”noted The Daily Beast.
“The rate of 16-to 24-year-olds out of school and out of work is unusually high at 15%. Many college graduates have taken jobs that don’t require a degree,” Time reported.
The magazine worries that these difficulties may lead to a lost generation who are “unable to ever truly find their feet on the corporation’s ladder”.
Dan Kadlec, a reporter of Time, sees Millennials as resetting their expectations.”This situation is different for young adults today,” he wrote. “A true American dream has to feel attainable, and many Millennias are feeling they can only attain a day-today lifestyle that suits them.”
1.The underlined word “cornerstone” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to “ ”.
A. growth B. balance C. basis D. purpose
2.What has changed Millennials’ view of the American Dream according to the passage?
A. A lack of confidence in themselves
B. Fierce competition in the job market
C. Their dissatisfaction with the government
D. The discouraging economy and unemployment
3.Dan Kadlec thinks Millennials’ new definition of the American Dream is ______.
A. beautiful B. understandable
C. worrying D. positive
4.What can be the best title for this passage?
A. Redefinition of American Dream
B. Meaning of American Dream
C. Value of Achieving American Dream
D. History of Changing American Dream
科目：高中英语 来源：2015-2016学年黑龙江哈尔滨六中高二上期末英语试卷（解析版） 题型：单项填空
The naughty boy demanded that he to go on studying the next week.
A. could permit B. could be permitted
C. must permit D. be permitted
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科目：高中英语 来源：2016届吉林东北师大附中高三上第二次模拟英语试卷（解析版） 题型：语法填空
语法填空
阅读下面材料，在空格处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或使用括号中单词的正确形式。
I was nine years old when I learnt to ride a bike. The bike was a birthday present from my uncle. You can imagine how 1. (excite) I was when I saw the bike, and I begged my uncle to teach me how 2. (ride) it right away. However, before I got on the bike, I felt 3. (extreme) nervous and I was afraid that I would fall off and hurt 4. (me). My uncle held onto the seat and helped me to get 5. the bike. While I was riding, he was running along beside me, holding the seat so I would not fall over. I was so 6. (grate) to him for his help.
As I was practicing, I became more and more confident. Then, I heard my uncle shouting, “You are riding it by yourself now!” I was both excited and scared. I was really riding by myself, but 7. if I fell off? Could I use the brakes to stop? As I was wondering about this, my uncle ran after me and got hold of the bike. I 8. (slow) down and came to a stop. My heart was still beating fast when I got off the bike. 9. (late) that day, having learnt how to get on the bike and get off it, I felt like I was walking on air! I am still thankful to my uncle for teaching me to ride a bike on my 10. (nine) birthday.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2015-2016学年湖北孝感高级中学高一上学期期中英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
It’s not often a tomato is described as so sweet ‘whenever people see it they just want to hug it’—but this was no ordinary piece of fruit.
The heart-shaped tomato was grown by the retired worker, Rod Matless, who said he was surprised when he noticed it in his field. Mr Matless, 69, who had a heart attack a few years ago, was so taken aback by the fruit that he decided to sell it and donate(捐赠) the money to the British Heart Foundation. The 64g tomato was bought for ￡16 on eBay by a woman from Wales—who said she planned to give it to someone special.
Mr Matless, of Wymondham, near Norwich, said: ‘I spent a couple of days thinking about what to do with it and I wasn’t really sure, but this seems like a good use. I hope it will do someone somewhere a bit of good’. He added: ‘It’s very sweet—whenever people see it they just want to hug it.’ But with the tomato’s freshness a key factor(因素), Mr Matless was up against the clock to send it to its new owner before it went bad. He said: ‘I didn’t want to send someone something horrible(特别糟糕的). I probably could have raised a bit more money with more time but I was worried about it.’
‘It will certainly make a nice present for a loved one. I hope that they like it and I’m glad I got to help. It’s all been very good fun and I’ve really enjoyed growing this very special tomato.’
1.We can learn from the text that the tomato grown by Rod Matless ________．
A．is very big B．is very sweet
C．is very special D．is good for health
2.The underlined part “taken aback by” in Paragraph 2 means ________．
A．happy about B．nervous about
C．surprised by D．frightened by
3.According to the text, the main problem for Rod Matless was ______．
A．how to advertise the tomato
B．how to keep the tomato fresh
C．how to get a good price for the tomato
D．how to find a good owner for the tomato
4.What is the main purpose of the text?
A．To advise people to eat tomatoes.
B．To introduce a heart-shaped tomato.
C．To encourage people to buy Rod Matless’s tomato．
D．To describe a kind-hearted person—Rod Matless.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2015-2016学年贵州遵义航天高级中学高一上期中英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
Tu Youyou together with William Campbell and Satoshi Omura won the 2015 Nobel Prize for their work against parasitic diseases. Irish-born Campbell and Japanese Omura won half of the prize for discovering a new drug, avermectin, that has helped the battle against river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as well as showing effectiveness against other parasitic diseases. The Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, an 85-year-old female scientist, was awarded the other half of the prize for the discovery of artemisinin(青篙素), a drug cure for malaria(疟疾) that has saved millions of lives all over the world, especially in the developing world.
When the news broke that Tu won the Nobel Prize, there were cheers as well as doubts. It also has highlighted differences in prize-awarding practices between China and the West. Some said the achievement was the result of collective efforts by lots of Chinese scientists, so it was unfair to award the prize only to Tu. Indeed, Chinese science awards are mainly presented to projects, instead of individual scientists. But Western awards tend to honor individual scientists who are the first to come up with a new idea or method. Li Zhenzhen, a researcher of the China Academy of Sciences said that the West believes that the advancement of science comes from individuals’ creative minds.
In 1969, Tu started to hold a government project aimed at eliminating malaria. Tu and her teammates experimented with 380 extracts in 2,000 candidate recipes before they finally succeeded in getting the pure substance qinghaosu, later known as artemisinin. In 2011, Tu was awarded the Lasker Debakey Clinical Medical Research Award, commonly referred to as “America’s Nobel Prize”. (278 words)
1.Why Tu Youyou could be awarded the Nobel Prize for ?
A. Because she discovered the avermectin, a drug cure for malaria
B. Because she contributed to the traditional Chinese medicine
C. Because she discovered the artemisinin which shows effectiveness against other parasitic diseases
D. Because she has saved millions of lives for the discovery of artemisinin.
2.What is the difference in prize-awarding practices between China and the West?
A. Chinese science awards are mainly presented to individual scientists, instead of projects
B. Chinese believes that the advancement of science comes from individuals’ creative minds
C. Western awards tend to honor individual scientists who are the first to come up with a new idea or method
D. Western awards are presented to both individual scientists and projects
3.How old was Tu Youyou when she was awarded the “America’s Nobel Prize”.
A. 85 B. 81 C. 46 D. 39
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A. Why Tu Youyou could be awarded the 2015 Nobel prize
B. Why Tu received the “America’s Nobel Prize”.
C. Tu Youyou won the 2015 Nobel Prize for the discovery of artemisinin
D. The difference in prize-awarding practices between China and the West
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科目：高中英语 来源：2015-2016学年浙江杭州市五校联盟高三12月月考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：单项填空
People can find so many good things, such as useful information and lovely pictures on the web, __________ it is also a global village filled with bad things.
A. what B. when C. where D. while
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科目：高中英语 来源：2015-2016学年浙江杭州市五校联盟高三12月月考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：单项填空
The driver started to speed up to ______ for the hour he had lost in the traffic jam.
A. keep up B. take up
C. make up D. catch up
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科目：高中英语 来源：2016届内蒙古鄂尔多斯第三中学高三上学期第四次考试英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
Who is there among us that hasn't dreamed of having his or her own small ( maybe, several years later, even big) business, and having wonderful freedom, both from a boss and from the time clock: the freedom to make up our own rules for our work, and our own plans--arranging our own hours of work? That way work would be both painless and fun. Or, so we imagine.
Well, in fact it isn't quite as simple as that. Yes, it is true that being the boss has its satisfactions and that you can arrange your working hours freely if you own your own small business. But in those early years of starting your own business, you shouldn't think of a free day, not to mention flying off for a month's vacation. It is not unusual for new business owners to work seventy or eighty hours a week, and if there is a day off, that day might need to be devoted to accounting(算账).
But this negative picture doesn't destroy the beautiful hopes. The possibility of getting something wonderful in return--both material and mental--continues to drive that large number of people who start up small businesses each year in the United States.
1.From the first paragraph, we know that everybody hopes_______.
A. to rule others B. to be his or her own boss
C. to get a time clock D. to be free from work
2.Most new business owners have to_______.
A. work more than 10 hours a day
B. devote himself to accounting
C. fly to some places in the world
D. have a day off in a week
3.The beautiful hopes will never be destroyed because_______.
A. people love beautiful things by nature
B. people have a strong desire to seek personal gains
C. small businesses make big money each year in the US
D. small businesses have advantages over big companies.
4.Which is the main idea of the passage?
A. Many people have dreamed of having his or her own small business.
B. Being your own boss is painless and fun.
C. Business owners often work seventy or eighty hours a week.
D. Although being your own boss is not easy, many people are starting their own businesses to get something wonderful in return.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2015-2016学年广东惠来一中、揭东一中高一上学期期末英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
Many years ago, when I graduated from school and was working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register (收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend's. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership－a shop selling cars－was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
"Thank you"－two powerful words. They're easy to say and mean so much.
1.The words "took off" underlined in Paragraph 2 mean "_____".
A. turned off B. moved off
C. put off D. set up
2.What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
A. He had it pulled back to the gas station.
B. The couple sent him a business card.
C. The couple offered to help him.
D. He called his friend for help.
3.The battery of the author's car was dead because _____.
A. he forgot to turn off the lights
B. the meeting lasted a whole day
C. he drove too long a distance
D. something went wrong with the lights
4. By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show _____.
A. how to write a thank-you letter
B. how to deal with car problems
C. the kind-heartedness of other people
D. the importance of expressing thanks
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