Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific purpose in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.
When I was a kid in the New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed and almost nobody worked. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.
The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for and hour of devotion, and opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.
Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to consider that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association.^① In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visit someone else’s home on Sunday. But now the question is, “What do you plan to Do this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall to participating in a road to jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such and answer would feel strange, an echo from another era.
I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants（剩余部分）of the ethic of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries（反复无常的情况）and a challenging environment.^②

1. 1.

   The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when_________.

   1. A.
      everyone would pay a visit to some relative far away
   2. B.
      everyone seemed to be free and could have some leisure
   3. C.
      Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house
   4. D.
      nearly every adult would go to church and children were not at school
2. 2.

   What can we learn from the underlined sentence in paragraph 4?

   1. A.
      People nowadays prefer staying at home on Sunday
   2. B.
      People in the city dislike being disturbed on Sunday
   3. C.
      Such answers are rarely heard in our modern society
   4. D.
      Visiting someone on Sunday might take a lot of time
3. 3.

   From the last paragraph we may infer that people in Maine____________.

   1. A.
      suffer more from economic depression and the changed environment
   2. B.
      have abandoned their tradition and lived an absolute new life
   3. C.
      have tense relationships with each other
   4. D.
      always help each other when they are in need
4. 4.

   What is the writer’s attitude towards the Sunday today?

   1. A.
      Unsatisfied
   2. B.
      confused
   3. C.
      Respectful
   4. D.
      Thankful

"But Ijust paid 1．69 for this bottle of wine last week．How is it that the price is 2.25?"

There are at least three things going on that have caused the price of wine to rise．All haveto do with the supply and demand factors of economics．

    The first factor is that people are drinking more wine than ever before．This demand formore wine has increased wine sales in America at the rate of 15 percent a year．

    The second factor is that the supply of wine has stayed relatively the same, which meansthat the same number of bottles is produced each year．Wine producers are trying to open upnew land to grow more grapes．But in at least three wine producing areas of the world-France,Germany, and California --- new vineyards （葡萄园）will not be useable in the near future．Wines are produced in other countries, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Argentine,Australia, Austria, and Chile．And these wines will be seen more often on the American market．But none of these countries will be able to fill the good wines．

    The third factor is that costs of wine production are soaring．The workers who make wine are asking for more money, and the machinery needed to press the grapes is becoming more expensive．

    When the demand for something is greater than the supply, prices go up．When productioncosts, meaning the price of labor and machinery rise, the producer adds this increase to the price of the wine．For these reasons, that bottle of wine now costs 2．25 instead of 1．69．

What is the main idea of this passage?

        A．Every year people drink more wine．

        B．Countries won't be able to fill the demand for good wines．

        C．The prices of things go up when the demand for them is greater than the supply．

        D．The supply of wine will always be less than demand．

This passage is written to ．

    A．describe where wine is produced 

    B．persuade people drink more beer

        C．explain why the price of wine is rising

        D．describe why wine is a favorite drink to many Americans

The underlined word "soaring" means"   .

    A．adding quickly       B．reducing fast   

    C．demanding badly D．increasing fast

Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific purpose in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become.

When I was a kid in the New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not the desperate steeplechases（障碍赛跑） they have become today. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother—the same house my father was raised in, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek.

The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there were no chores that couldn’t wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, different from all the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else.

    Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it’s surprising to consider that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association. In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else’s home on Sunday.

But now the question is, “What do you plan to DO this Sunday?” The answer can range from going to the mall to participating in a road race to jetting to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, “I’m making a Sunday visit to family,” such an answer would feel sepia-toned, an echo from another era.

I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state’s powerfully rural cast（特质）still harbors at least remnants of the ethic of yesterday’s America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries（反复无常的情况）and a challenging environment.

The writer’s general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when _______.

A. everyone was paying a visit to some relative far away

B. everyone seemed to be free and could have some leisure

C. Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house

D. nearly every adult would go to church and children were not at school

In the fourth paragraph, the writer compares the response “I’m making a Sunday visit to family” to an echo from another era because _______.

    A. people nowadays prefer staying at home on Sunday    

    B. such answers are rarely heard in our modern society

    C. people in the city dislike being disturbed on Sunday

    D. visiting someone on Sunday might take a lot of time

From the last paragraph we may infer that _______.

A. people in Maine suffer more from economic depression and the changed environment

B. people in Maine has abandoned their tradition and lived an absolute new life

C. land in Maine is short, thus the relationship between people is tense

D. people in Maine always help each other when they are in need

．Which word we may use to describe the writer’s attitude towards the Sunday today?

A. Unsatisfied.         B. Anxious.             C. Treasured.           D. Teased.                 

       Last year my sixth-grader daughter ,Elizabeth ,was forced to put up with science .Her education week after week ,contained mindless memorization of big words like “batholith” and “saprophyte” She learned by heart the achievements of famous scientists who did things like “improved nuclear fu-sion（核聚变） “—never mind that she hasn’t the least idea of what nuclear fusion means .Eliza—beth did very well (she’s good at memorizing things ). And now she hates science .My eighth-grader son ,Ben ,also suffered from science education . Week after week he had to perform lab experiments with answers already known .Ben figured out how to guess the right answers ,so he got good grades .Now he hates science ,too.

       Science can provide an exciting way to develop children’s curiosity .Science education should teach ways to ask questions and week answers .But my children got the mistaken idea in school than science is difficult dull and has no relation to their everyday interests .

       As a physicist ,I am saddened and angered to see “the great science turnoff” I know that science is important in our lives .Yet studies prove that our schools are turning out millions of graduates who know almost nothing about and have almost no interest in science .What’s gone wrong ?Who is to blame ?

58．We learn from paragraph 1 that           .

A．the writer was proud of Elizabeth and Ben

B．both Elizabeth and Ben could become scientists

C．Elizabeth had to learn much about great scientists

D．Ben was good at trying new ideas in lab experiments

59．The writer thinks that in science education we should first        .

A．get students interested in the subject          B．answer students’ questions in delightful ways.

C．smooth out difficulties in lab experiments     D．explain the special terms clearly

60．By writing the text ,the author questions          .

A．the difficulty level of the science texts         B．the way science is taught in school

C．the achievements of famous scientists            D．students’ poor records in science classes

"But Ijust paid 1．69 for this bottle of wine last week．How is it that the price is 2.25?"

There are at least three things going on that have caused the price of wine to rise．All haveto do with the supply and demand factors of economics．

    The first factor is that people are drinking more wine than ever before．This demand formore wine has increased wine sales in America at the rate of 15 percent a year．

    The second factor is that the supply of wine has stayed relatively the same, which meansthat the same number of bottles is produced each year．Wine producers are trying to open upnew land to grow more grapes．But in at least three wine producing areas of the world-France,Germany, and California --- new vineyards （葡萄园）will not be useable in the near future．Wines are produced in other countries, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Argentine,Australia, Austria, and Chile．And these wines will be seen more often on the American market．But none of these countries will be able to fill the good wines．

    The third factor is that costs of wine production are soaring．The workers who make wine are asking for more money, and the machinery needed to press the grapes is becoming more expensive．

    When the demand for something is greater than the supply, prices go up．When productioncosts, meaning the price of labor and machinery rise, the producer adds this increase to the price of the wine．For these reasons, that bottle of wine now costs 2．25 instead of 1．69．

What is the main idea of this passage?

        A．Every year people drink more wine．

        B．Countries won't be able to fill the demand for good wines．

        C．The prices of things go up when the demand for them is greater than the supply．

        D．The supply of wine will always be less than demand．

This passage is written to ．

    A．describe where wine is produced 

    B．persuade people drink more beer

        C．explain why the price of wine is rising

        D．describe why wine is a favorite drink to many Americans

The underlined word "soaring" means"   .

    A．adding quickly       B．reducing fast   

    C．demanding badly D．increasing fast