Warm weather and sunny days mean it’s barbecue (烧烤) season in the US. These days, when people say they’re going to a barbecue, they usually mean that they’re going to an outdoor event where food is cooked over a grill (烤架). Popular foods barbecue include hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled vegetables.
    Barbecue fans say that this is not real barbecue; it’s just grilling. True barbecue – also called BBQ – is an American tradition that is as old as the country itself.
    The first president of the United States, George Washington, wrote about going to a barbecue. Barbecue refers to meat that is cooked for a very long time (sometimes as long as 24 hours) over low heat from a wood fire. The smell of the burning wood adds flavor(味道) to the meat, which becomes soft as it cooks.
    Different parts of the US have different ways of making barbecue. In Texas, people often use beef. In North and South Carolina, pork is the most common. In Kansas City, pork ribs (猪肋排) are the specialty. Each region says that its own barbecue is the best. There are barbecue contests every year, and even whole magazines about the art of making  great barbecue.
    Most Americans don’t have the time or patience(耐心) to dig a hole, fill it with special wood, light a fire and then cook meat carefully over it all day and night. So when they want real barbecue, they go to restaurants that do the hard work for them. For those who want to have their own, easy barbecues, there’s always grilling.

56. Popular barbecue foods include ___________.
  A. hamburgers          B. hot dogs         C. grilled vegetables         D. all of these
57. Which of the following is TRUE?
  A. BBQ means pork cooked only on an open fire.
  B. When we cook food on the grill we call it barbecue.
  C. People go to restaurants to have barbecue because it’s more delicious.
  D. In Texas, people don’t often have a barbecue.
58. ___________ adds a special flavor to the meat.
  A. Burning wood    B. Cooking a short time  C. Cooking outdoors             D. Digging a hole
59. What does the underlined word “region” mean?
  A. house             B. place           C. people                D. meat
60. What does this text mainly talk about?
  A. How to grill foods.                B. Barbecue culture in the US.
  C. A president and a barbecue.         D. The differences between barbecue and grilling.

Laura Brent is a manager in an important company. She has three children—the eldest is 10, and youngest is three. “My job was only possible because my husband David was prepared to take my place and become a house husband,” she says.
More and more couples are finding this arrangement suits them better in today’s world, where women are rising to the top of their careers faster and more easily than they did in the past. Many men, on the other hand, like the idea of staying at home and looking after the children. “My children see a lot more of me than I saw of my father when I was young, and I think it’s better for them, especially for the boys,” says David. “It works just as well for Laura.”
“Now I can come home from a hard day at work, and immediately relax with the children, instead of having to do the housework and the cooking,” she says.
Is there anything David misses about going out to work?
“Not really. I suppose the worst thing about looking after children and doing the housework is not having a lunch break! It’s a lot harder than most men think.”
【小题1】How many people are there in Laura’s family?

A．2．

B．3．

C．4．

D．5

【小题2】Who does most of the housework in the family?

A．Laura．	B．David．
C．The children．	D．David’s parents．

【小题3】What does Laura usually do after coming back from work?

A．Cook for the family．

B．Take children from school．

C．Take a good rest with the children．

D．Wash dishes and sweep the floor．

【小题4】What does David think of his job at home?

A．Hard．

B．Easy．

C．Boring．

D．Fun

【小题5】One of the reasons why men choose to stay at home is that______.

A．children hate to stay with their mothers

B．men are better at looking after the children

C．women do better at work than they did before

D．children want their fathers to help them with the homework

Laura Brent is a manager in an important company. She has three children—the eldest is 10, and youngest is three. “My job was only possible because my husband David was prepared to take my place and become a house husband,” she says.
More and more couples are finding this arrangement suits them better in today’s world, where women are rising to the top of their careers faster and more easily than they did in the past. Many men, on the other hand, like the idea of staying at home and looking after the children. “My children see a lot more of me than I saw of my father when I was young, and I think it’s better for them, especially for the boys,” says David. “It works just as well for Laura.”
“Now I can come home from a hard day at work, and immediately relax with the children, instead of having to do the housework and the cooking,” she says.
Is there anything David misses about going out to work?
“Not really. I suppose the worst thing about looking after children and doing the housework is not having a lunch break! It’s a lot harder than most men think.”
【小题1】How many people are there in Laura’s family?

A．2．

B．3．

C．4．

D．5

【小题2】Who does most of the housework in the family?

A．Laura．	B．David．
C．The children．	D．David’s parents．

【小题3】What does Laura usually do after coming back from work?

A．Cook for the family．

B．Take children from school．

C．Take a good rest with the children．

D．Wash dishes and sweep the floor．

【小题4】What does David think of his job at home?

A．Hard．

B．Easy．

C．Boring．

D．Fun

【小题5】One of the reasons why men choose to stay at home is that______.

A．children hate to stay with their mothers

B．men are better at looking after the children

C．women do better at work than they did before

D．children want their fathers to help them with the homework