Do you know what it means when somebody tells you that he had “a catch-22 experience”?

The phrase “catch-22” comes from a book of the same title by the American writer Joseph Heller published in 1961．Catch-22 is a book of black humor．The author uses silly and even surreal(超现实的)events．It has a non-linear narrative structure(非线性的叙述结构)in which events follow the theme rather than the timing，to give us a very strange picture full of contradictions(矛盾)．

The story takes places in a bomber base in Italy during World WarⅡ．The main character, Captain Yossarian wants to leave the war．Unfortunately, every time he completes the number of tasks to be sent home，the number is raised and he is forced to continue fighting．It seems hopeless for him to go home under the very strange rule in this Air Force-catch-22：only when a soldier goes crazy can he be allowed to go home．But he has to go to the hospital to show the doctors that he is crazy．However, if he tells them he is crazy but is obvious healthy, he cannot go home．In short，catch-22 is“heads 1 win，tails I lose．If you can you can’t；and if you can’t，you can．”Whenever you try to behave correctly in a crazy world．There’s a catch(潜在的困难)．

During the Vietnam War, the phrase“catch-22”became a popular term for being caught in a no．win，circular dilemma and is now commonly used．The Oxford English Dictionary explains catch．22 as“a set of circumstances in which one requirement，etc，is dependent upon another, which is in turn dependent upon the first．”

Which of the following statements is right?

A. Catch-22 is one of Heller’s experiences during World War II．

B. Catch-22 is one of Yossarian’s experiences during the Vietnam War．

C. The events in catch-22 follow the theme．

D. The events in catch-22 follow the timing．

Why did Captain Yossarian fail to leave the war?

A. He wasn’t so anxious to leave the war．

B. He didn’t finish his tasks．

C. He was put into a catch-22 situation．

D. He wasn’t mad enough to be sent home．

What does the underlined sentence most probably mean?

A. Whenever and however you try, you are unable to reach the goal．

B. You can solve every problem you meet as long as you want to．

C. You can’t solve any problem in your life．

D. If you can’t solve all the problems．you can solve none．

The phrase“catch-22”came into being ________ _．

A. in World War II B. in the Vietnam War   C. in the 1950s              D. in the 1960s

He hated the war so much that he decided to leave the army _____.

   A. for long    B. once in a while

   C. for good    D. once upon a time

British Summer Time runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. In the depths of winter the nights in the UK are anything from 15-19 hours long. Longer nights mean frost and fog are more likely to form.

Twice a year the clocks change, forward in the spring and then back again in the autumn. But why? It happens twice a year. We all change our clocks and watches by one hour. In the spring, we add an hour, and go onto what is called British Summer Time, while in the autumn, we do the reverse, and return to Greenwich Mean Time.

Why bother?

It’s all to do with saving the hours of daylight, and was started by a guy called William Willett, a London builder, who lived in Petts Wood in Kent. Basically, he figured that you could improve the population’s health and happiness by putting forward the clocks by twenty minutes every Sunday in April and do the opposite in September.

Economics

His idea was not taken up, even though a “Daylight Saving Bill” was introduced some five years before the outbreak of World War One. But once the war started, it was considered wise to economics, to promote greater efficiency in using daylight hours, and in the use of artificial lighting. And so in 1916, “Daylight Saving Time” was introduced. Even though most countries abandoned this after that war, some eventually decided that it was a good idea, and most of these nations began to keep it throughout the year.

Experiment

Since 1972, Britain has decided to go with Greenwich Mean Time in winter, and British Summer Time in Summer.

But back in 1968, Britain tried a four-year experiment by advancing time one hour ahead of GMT throughout the year.

But those living further north, particularly in Scotland, found it most unsatisfactory, with dark mornings for much of the year, and the experiment was dropped.

But the arguments go on …and on.

1.Why some countries decide to change the clocks after World War One?

A．To improve the people’s health and happiness.

B．To do a certain experiment

C．To save energy to develop economies.

D．All of the above.

2.What can you infer from the passage?

A．The idea of changing the clocks suffered disagreement.

B．The people in Scotland don’t change the clocks.

C．The idea was first thought of by an educator.

D．It’s unnecessary to change the clocks.

3.What is the real meaning of the last sentence of the passage?

A．Nobody in the UK likes the idea.

B．All things need arguments.

C．The British are fond of arguments.

D．Different views of the idea still exist.

 

阅读下面短文并回答问题，然后将答案写到答题卡相应的位置上(请注意问题后的词数要求)。

[1] Weeks after his wife died, Rao Pingru started to paint pictures of her. From the first time he saw her putting on makeup in a mirror, to their wedding at which they promised “to love and cherish”, to her lying in bed on her final days – all the images of their nearly 60 – year marriage have been food for his art.

[2] “ When I create her with brushstrokes, she is there, and our story doesn’t perish,(死亡)” said Rao, 91, a retired military man and former editor. He has filled 18 albums of drawings in the past four years, which he called Our Story.

[3] At first, the Jiangxi native was only trying to pass time and leave something so his grandchildren could “know about their grandparents” who have been through war, poverty, sickness and, perhaps most importantly, love.

[4] Rao met Meitang as a blind date when he came back from war in 1946. “ It’s a strange thing. You just have to meet the right person to have that feeling,” he said, thinking of how lovely she was. During their early dates, Rao _________________ “the three words”. Instead, he sang a pop song of the time, Rosemary, I love you, to express his feelings, on a park bench in Nanchang, Jiangxi province.

[5] The first two years of their marriage was “ the sweetest time” of Rao’s life, as he recalled, in spite of the turbulence following the war. The couple adopted a happy – go – lucky policy wherever they traveled, worked and lived. They managed to escape robbery by hiding their possessions in tires while Rao was working in Guizhou province.

1.What is the main idea of the passage? (no more than 12 words)

__________________________________________________________________

2.What does the underlined word “ food”(Para 1) refer to? (no more than 9 words)

__________________________________________________________________

3.Why did Rao begin his drawings? (no more than 16 words)

__________________________________________________________________

4.Please fill in the blank (Para 4)with proper words to complete the sentence. (no more than 5 words)

___________________________________________________________________

5.What is Rao and his wife’s attitude towards life? (no more than 4words)

___________________________________________________________________

 

It was a quiet morning during the war. In a small valley, there was a little wooden building, which was an orphanage (孤儿院) that__16__ many young children who had lost their ___17__ in the war. Suddenly, a shell (炮弹) __18__ on the top of the orphanage’s building. Many children were ___19__. One little girl was badly hurt and bleeding. A runner was at once sent to  __20__medical help.

When the doctor arrived, he_21_ that the girl’s greatest need at the moment was blood. He immediately checked the records in the__22__ to find someone who had the same blood type as the girl’s. A nurse soon __23__the children that had the same blood type together and asked who would be __24__ to donate blood to the girl. The children looked shocked, and no one said a word. Again with __25____ eyes, the doctor pleaded (恳求). __26__ a boy slowly raised his hand.

When the doctor injected the needle, the boy began to cry. The doctor tried to _27__ him, but in vain. Even when the needle was _28__ , the little boy was still crying. After the blood was given to the wounded girl, her___29__ got better. Then the doctor came to the boy, "Does it hurt?" "No, but I was afraid of dying." The doctor was __30_! "Why did you think you would die? "With __31_ in his eyes the boy replied, "Because I thought you would take all of my __32__ to save her! "The doctor didn’t know what to say! Then he asked, "__33_you thought you were going to die, why did you__34__to give her your blood?" With tears streaming down, he said in a___35__ voice, "Because she is my friend and I love her." There is no greater love in the world!

1.                A．stored         B．hid            C．gained   D．housed

 

2.                A．neighbors       B．friends         C．parents   D．teachers

 

3.                A．fell            B．appeared       C．jumped   D．flew

 

4.                A．ruined         B．wounded       C．harmed   D．lost

 

5.                A．operate on      B．take over       C．get around    D．ask for

 

6.                A．introduced      B．realized         C．predicted D．promised

 

7.                A．orphanage      B．hospital         C．school    D．store

 

8.                A．recognized      B．turned         C．gathered  D．assumed

 

9.                A．valuable        B．willing          C．regrettable    D．useful

 

10.               A．anxious        B．curious         C．delightful  D．surprising

 

11.               A．immediately     B．happily         C．finally D．probably

 

12.               A．stop           B．comfort        C．interrupt  D．support

 

13.               A．disappeared     B．Pulled          C．Removed  D．finished

 

14.               A．function        B．occasion        C．position   D．condition

 

15.               A．shocked        B．frightened      C．pleased   D．worried

 

16.               A．smiles          B．puzzle          C．hope D．tears

 

17.               A．energy         B．health          C．money    D．blood

 

18.               A．If             B．Since          C．Though    D．Unless

 

19.               A．expect         B．wish           C．agree D．permit

 

20.               A．soft           B．strange         C．tired  D．embarrassed