Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be simple fact? Do you argue whether it’s cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit?

If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant. The first blind man who felt the elephant’s trunk said it was like a snake. The second who felt the elephant’s side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear as he touched the animal’s tusk. The fourth, who got hold of the elephant’s tail insisted that it was like a rope. The fifth man said it looked like a tree as he put his arms around one of the elephant’s legs. The sixth, who was tall and got hold of the elephant’s ears, said it was like a huge fan.

Each man’s idea of the animal came from his own experience. So if someone disagrees with you about a“simple fact”, it’s often because his experience in the matter is different from yours.

To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a“simple fact”, try this simple experiment. Get three large bowls. Put ice water in one. Put hot water in the second. Put lukewarm water in the third. Now put your left hand in the ice water. Put your right hand in the hot water. After thirty seconds, put both hands in the lukewarm water. Your right hand will tell you the water is cold. Your left hand will tell you it’s hot!

What makes people think about simple facts differently?

A. The fact that simple facts differ from one another.

B. The fact that people have different experience in the same simple fact.

C. The fact that people often disagree with one another.

D. The fact that it’s hard to make up one’s mind about simple facts.

Which of the following temperatures can the word “lukewarm” be applied to?

A. Around 1℃        B. Above 60℃    C. Around 25℃      D. Below 0℃

After reading the last paragraph, we may think of        .

A. Newton’s law                   B. Gallileo’s theory of falling objects

C. Einstein’s theory of relativity      D. Marx’s On Capital

The main idea of this passage is         .

A. people often judge something according to his own experience

B. people often agree about simple facts

C. it’s hard for a person to make up his mind about a simple fact

D. don’t care too much about simple facts

Spanish men will have to learn to change diapers and do dishwashing under the terms of a new law designed to strike a blow.
The law, due to be passed this month, is likely to cause a revolution in family affairs in a country where 40% of men reportedly don’t do housework at all. It will oblige men to “share domestic responsibilities and the care and attention” of children and elderly family members, according to the draft approved by the Spanish parliament’s justice commission.
“This will be a good way of reminding people what their duties are. It is something feminists (女权主义者) have been wanting for a long time,” said Margarita Uria, of the Basque Nationalist Party, who was behind what is an amendment to a new divorce law.
Failure to meet the obligations will be taken into consideration by judges when determining the terms of divorces. Men who refuse to do their part may be given less frequent contact with their children.
Spanish women spend five times longer on housework than husbands. Even when both have jobs outside the home, Spanish women still do three times as much work in the house.
“It is not just about housework, though,” said Ms. Uria.
A study five years ago by Spain’s Center for Sociological Investigation concluded that fathers spent an average of 13 minutes each day looking after their children.
Only 19 % of Spanish men thought it was right for mothers of school-age children to have a full-time job. More than a third thought mothers should not work outside the home at all.
The Change to the Spanish legal code will see domestic obligations added to a list of marital(婚姻的) duties that currently includes fidelity, living together and helping one another.
That should guarantee that, when the law—which will also make divorce proceedings faster and easier—is voted on in parliament in the next few weeks, the obligation to share domestic chores will be added to the statute books.
【小题1】 What is the percentage of Spanish men who don’t do any housework?

“When I grow up, I want to be...”

Almost all of us have thought about, or been asked to think about, our future careers. Our answers may differ greatly. Even now your aspirations may have changed from when you were in primary school.

However, it seems career options aren’t only based on personal taste. In a survey carried out by Teens, doctors, lawyers, and bankers were some of most popular careers that people said they hoped to follow. This is in line with a similar survey carried out in the UK in May 2011 by job website monster. Co.uk, in which medicine was the top choice among UK teenagers aged between 13 and 17.

Medicine and law are two of the oldest and best known professions. Their prestige (威望) may come from the fact that doctors and lawyers are some of the most esteemed members of society, and they make good money. Joining these high-profile professions is often seen as a sign of upward social mobility.

It is equally unsurprising that banking is now one of the most common career choices. Youngsters worldwide think of banking and see the money rolling in. Wealth is increasingly becoming one of the most important indicators of a successful career. British young men list the UK tycoon Alan Sugar, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg as their top role models “for their wealth”. Just as Chinese teenagers see being a banker as a good and fun pathway to “wealth”.

However, not every child has the makings of doctor, lawyer, or banker. They are those who see fulfillment and happiness in other areas, and many teenagers dare to ink more individuality into their career options. As the Teens’ survey discovered, a variety of unconventional jobs---coffee shop owner, gourmet(美食家)，waiter at a fast food restaurant---are among teenagers’ career choices. They can be equally interesting and rewarding jobs.

With every choice comes responsibility and challenge, and all career paths require specific education and training, you have to learn to balance optimism and confidence with being realistic about your particular talents and skills.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Choosing a good job is very important.??

B. Careers in teenagers’ mind.

C. Teenagers in the UK like doctors.???????

D. The choice of career needs challenge.

2.What is the top career choice among UK teenagers aged between 13 and 17 according to

the article?

A. Bank??????? ????????????? B. Law??????? ????????????? C. Medicine????? ????????????? D. Education

3.According to the article, all of the following are the benefits of being a doctor except_____.

A. respect from others????????? ? B. upward social mobility

C. high pay????????????????? ????????????? D. the oldest profession?

4.What do youngsters think is increasingly becoming one of the most important indicators of

a successful career?

A. Prestige?????? ????????????? B. Fulfillment?????? ????????????? C. Happiness????? ????????????? D. Wealth

5.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. According to your particular talents and skills, you can choose your favorite career.

B. Specific education and training can help get a good job.

C. Whatever career you choose, you should balance optimism and confidence with being realistic about your particular talents and skills.

D. Responsibility is the most important when you choose a good job.

Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be simple fact? Do you argue whether it’s cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit?

If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant. The first blind man who felt the elephant’s trunk said it was like a snake. The second who felt the elephant’s side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear as he touched the animal’s tusk. The fourth, who got hold of the elephant’s tail insisted that it was like a rope. The fifth man said it looked like a tree as he put his arms around one of the elephant’s legs. The sixth, who was tall and got hold of the elephant’s ears, said it was like a huge fan.

Each man’s idea of the animal came from his own experience. So if someone disagrees with you about a “simple fact”, it’s often because his experience in the matter is different from yours.

To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a“simple fact”, try this simple experiment. Get three large bowls. Put ice water in one. Put hot water in the second. Put lukewarm water in the third. Now put your left hand in the ice water. Put your right hand in the hot water. After thirty seconds, put both hands in the lukewarm water. Your right hand will tell you the water is cold. Your left hand will tell you it’s hot!

What makes people think about simple facts differently?

A. The fact that simple facts differ from one another.

B. The fact that people have different experience in the same simple fact.

C. The fact that people often disagree with one another.

D. The fact that it’s hard to make up one’s mind about simple facts.

Which of the following temperatures can the word “lukewarm” be applied to?

A. Around 1℃              B. Above 60℃    C. Around 25℃      D. Below 0℃

After reading the last paragraph, we may think of        .

A. Newton’s law                  B. Gallileo’s theory of falling objects

C. Einstein’s theory of relativity      D. Marx’s On Capital

The main idea of this passage is         .

A. people often judge something according to his own experience

B. people often agree about simple facts

C. it’s hard for a person to make up his mind about a simple fact

D. don’t care too much about simple facts

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant （不相关的）. A half century ago in the United States, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the boundaries still exist, but they seem not clear.  

The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer; in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should become more “flexible,” is often debated. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of  time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?  

These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years ― but unless we meet the truant officer （学监）, we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parents’ demand rather than to the law. As adults we are familiar with “extra pay for overtime working,” but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes （构成） “overtime” is a matter of legal definition. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight-saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how we organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law ― as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.  

67. By saying “Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be”, the writer means that      .  

A. work time is equal to rest time  

B. many people have a day off on Monday  

C. it is hard for people to decide when to rest  

D. the line between work time and rest time is unclear  

68. The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people  

A. fail to make full use of their time                 B. enjoy working overtime for extra pay  

C. are unaware of the law of time                   D. welcome flexible working hours  

69. According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they ______.  

A. need to acquire knowledge                          B. have to obey their parents  

C. need to find companions                             D. have to observe .the law  

70. What is the main idea of the passage?  

A. Our life is governed by the law of time.  

B. How to organize time is not worth debating.  

C. New ways of using time change our society.  

D. Our time schedule is decided by social customs.