Time and how we experience it have always puzzled us. Physicists have created fascinating theories, but their time is measured by a pendulum（钟摆）and is not psychological time, which leaps with little regard to the clock or calendar. As someone who understood the difference remarked, “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours it seems like a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove, a minute seems like two hours.”

Psychologists have long noticed that larger units of time, such as months and years, fly on swifter wings as we age. They also note that the more time is structured with schedules and appointments, the more rapidly it seems to pass．For example, a day at the office flies compared with a day at the beach. Since most of us spend fewer days at the beach and more at the office as we age, an increase in structured tune could well be to blame for why time seems to speed up as we grow older．

Expectation and familiarity also make time seem to flow more rapidly. Almost all of us have had the experience of driving somewhere we’ve never been before. Surrounded by unfamiliar scenery, with no real idea of when we’ll arrive, we experience the trip as lasting a long time. But the return trip, although exactly as long, seems to take far less time. The unfamiliarity of the journey has become routine. Thus taking a different route on occasion can often help slow the clock.

    When days become as identical as beads（小珠子）on a string, they mix together, and even months become a single day. To fight this, try to find ways to interrupt the structure of your day—to stop time. Learning something new is one of the ways to slow the passage of time. One of the reasons the days of our youth seems so full and long is that these are the days of learning and discovery. For many of us, learning ends when we leave school, but this doesn’t have to be.

68. The quotation in the first paragraph is used to indicate ______.

    A. psychological time is quite puzzling

    B. time should not be measured by a pendulum

    C. physical time is different from psychological time

    D. physical theory has nothing to do with the true sense of time

69. Why do units of time fly faster as we grow older?

    A. Our sense of time changes.

    B. We spend less time at the beach.

    C. More time is structured and scheduled.

    D. Time is structured with too many appointments.

70. What is the main idea of the passage?

    A. It gives various explanations about time.

    B. It describes how we experience time psychologically.

    C. It shows the different ideas of physicists and psychologists on time.

    D. It explains why time flies fast and how to slow it down psychologically.

A．Why kiwis are flightless

B．Preventing the kiwi decline

C．Reasons for concern

D．Explanations for large bird populations

E．Land of the kiwi

F．Te introduction of predators

1．        The kiwi is the national symbol of New Zealand and Australians endearingly refer to New Zealanders as “kiwis”---People from the Land of the Kiwi. This unique bird, recognized by its short squat body and elongated beak, is under threat. Its small, claw—like wings make the kiwi flightless, so it has to live on the ground. The kiwi is thus easy to be victim of enemies such as humans and mammals.

2．          When great landmass of the south split 75 million ago, the kiwi and many other ground—living birds became separated from predatory mammals within what was later to become  known as New Zealand. The birds were able to multiply and flourish because there were very few mammals landlocked within the islands. Kiwis have evolved certain mammalian characteristics as time went on, living on the ground and they were free from attack by mammals.

3．          However, when the Polynesians arrived about 1000 years ago bringing with them dogs and rats, the kiwi population and other vulnerable bird species soon suffered a severe reduction in numbers. The coming of the Europeans in the 18^th century brought even more determined predators, including the cat and, especially,  the stoat, which is a very vicious and powerful killer of kiwis.

4．           There are six types of kiwi, and all six are threatened. Two are ‘critically endangered’ because they have populations of less than 250 mature birds. Two are ‘endangered’ meaning that it is estimated that within three generations their numbers will have declined by 50%. The other two are ‘vulnerable’—one because its habitat is shrinking, the other because it is potentially under threat from stoats and other mammals.

5．             100 years ago there were more than 5 million North Island Brown Kiwis. Today, there are probably around 30,000 , and the population is decreasing at a rate of 6% a year. Only the Little Spotted Kiwi is increasing because of successful attempts to transfer the creature of predator—free offshore islands. There are further reasons for hope. Trapping predators and rearing baby chicks for later release into the wild can have a dramatic effect on kiwi numbers; but it will be necessary to do so on a large scale.

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 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.

1.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

2.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

3.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

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

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

 

It’s going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won’t be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.

You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777. According to lore, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation’s flag. That’s open to debate, but it’s a story that schoolbooks still tell. Betsy Ross was a seamstress, busy  sewing cushions for chairs in Philadelphia, which was the focus place of the American revolution against British rule. The Declaration of Independence by the colonists was signed there, and so was the new nation’s Constitution after independence was won.

Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia, was killed in a gunpowder explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels’ leader and future U.S. president, George Washington.  According to what some say in history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation’s flag. The story was promoted by Ross grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had “made with her hands the first flag.” She became a role model for girls - a shining example of women’s contributions to the nation’s history. Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag. She’s credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field. But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.  

In a letter, Washington wrote: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her.  And the white stripes shall go down to posterity as representing liberty.”  

39．People would like to go to Ross’s house in Philadelphia to _____.

A. ask Betsy Ross who created the first American flag

B. meet her grandson who wrote a book about flags

C. debate over who designed the first American flag

D. remember her as the creator of the first American flag

40．Which statement is true according to the passage?

A. Betsy Ross was one of the people who signed The Declaration of Independence

B. All are in agreement that Ross designed the first American flag

C. It is almost certain that Ross did sew the first American flag

D. It is George Washington who designed the stars and stripes flag 

41．The underlined the word “seamstress” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.

A. a person who designs flags          B. a person who makes a living by sewing

C. a person who takes part in revolution      D. a person who creates chairs

42．What does the last paragraph imply according to the passage?

A. It implies that the U.S. is independent from Britain

B. It implies that Washington liked Ross’s design of the flag

C. It implies that Washington might be the designer of the flag

D. It implies that Ross did have helped with the design of the flag