Four years ago my sweet mom went to be with her Lord. She did it her way.
I got the call at work, and I headed home quickly. Mom and Dad lived on a small farm that they had owned since I was seven. I hated going there every weekend. There was nothing for a young girl to do but watch the one station on the old TV set, if the weather allowed reception.
My mom, on the other hand, loved the peace and quiet of the land and loved to work in the garden among her flowers and vegetables. The place was rustic, with no indoor plumbing or heat. We had a big wood stove in the kitchen that did its best to heat the little farmhouse, but it always seemed cold and too quiet to me.
In the evenings, my mom and I would sit for hours singing in the little kitchen. I sang the melody and Mom harmonized. Her favorite song was "Moon River" and we sang it over and over. Mom told me stories about how when I was a little girl, I could sing before I could talk. She loved to tell how my playpen（婴儿圈栏）sat in the kitchen next to the radio and there was one song I particularly loved called "Ivory Tower".
As time passed, I had my own children and went to visit every week or two. The kids loved the farm and the tractor rides with my dad. Me, well, I still hated the silence of the farm. While my mom loved to sit at her kitchen table and look out at her garden and flowers and retell all the old stories, I missed the hustle and bustle（喧闹）of my life at home. But I sat there listening quietly as she reminisced.
Now, I sat back in the silence and the silence was deafening so I finally leaned over to turn on an old radio. Music always comforted me.
My heart skipped a beat. "Moon River" was playing on the radio. I sat there stunned, with a tear running down my cheek, as I listened to every familiar note.
Then the radio announcer of this oldie station came on. "Here's one we haven't heard in a while," and an unfamiliar song began. I began to cry harder as I heard the words sung over the airwaves. "Come down, come down from your Ivory Tower...."
【小题1】 The writer didn’t like staying in the farm for the following reasons EXCEPT that ________.

When we are unfamiliar with something, we may feel nervous and fearful. The help of others is a good    36    to help us pull through.

I write for a big newspaper, and I wanted to    37    a story about parachute jumping（跳伞）. To make it a realistic as well as exciting    38   , I decided that I had to make a jump myself    39   . Unluckily, I’m not good at any    40   , let alone（更不用说）parachute jumping.

My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a    41   . He took me to a ground school. The first day’s    42    included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from a(n)   43 . For this, I had to wait until the following    44   .

The next morning, I was taken to the airfield.    45   , a heavy parachute was put on my back. Then I was    46    to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway. Once on board, the plane was soon    47   . I began to feel nervous. As we reached one thousand meters, Harry, my teacher, hooked（钩）a    48    from my parachute to a steel ring inside the plane. The line was to pull my parachute    49   after I jumped.

“Get    50   , Henry,” Harry said. I moved carefully to the door. I wanted to    51   , “NO, no, no!” But no word came.

“Jump!” Harry called    52   . “Jump!”

Away from the plane, and down, down I fell, arms stretched. It worked All at once I was very happy. Then I felt a quick    53   . My big parachute had opened! It was the best    54    I ever had. I looked down. There were rivers, trees, fields and houses. I heard the soft sound of the air. This was    55   .

A. way              B. chance                            C. idea                         D. value

A. tell               B. write                        C. read                         D. copy

A. film             B. poem                       C. story                        D. program

A. secretly         B. instead                            C. finally                      D. first

A. sport            B. driving                     C. lesson                      D. drawing

A. try               B. hand                        C. gift                          D. suggestion

A. jumping        B. journey                    C. training                    D. entertainment

A. tree                     B. tower                       C. building                   D. airplane

A. week            B. month                      C. evening                    D. morning

A. Besides         B. Once                        C. There                       D. However

A. asked            B. invited                            C. forced                      D. taught

A. slowing        B. climbing                  C. landing                    D. filling

A. belt                     B. steel                         C. line                          D. seat

A. light             B. broken                            C. fixed                        D. open

A. ready            B. up                           C. on                           D. away

A. cry               B. rest                          C. laugh                       D. lie

A. softly           B. loudly                      C. nervously                 D. excitedly

A. comfort        B. wind                        C. pull                         D. push

A. failure          B. experience                C. competition                     D. danger

A. tiring            B. shocking                  C. true                         D. fun

         Specialists say it is not easy to get used to life in a new culture. “Culture shock” is the term these specialists use when talking about the feelings that people have in a new environment. There are three stages of culture shock, say the specialists. In the first stage, the newcomers like their new environment. Then, when the fresh experience dies, they begin to hate the city, the country, the people, and everything else. In the last stage, the newcomers begin to adjust to their surroundings and, as a result, enjoy their life more.

There are some obvious factors（因素）in culture shock. The weather may be unpleasant. The customs may be different. The public service systems—the telephones, post office, or transportation—may be difficult to work out. The simplest things seem to be big problems. The language may be difficult.

         Who feels culture shock? Everyone does in this way or that. But culture shock surprises most people. Very often the people having the worst culture shock are those who never had any difficulties in their own community. Coming to a new country, these people find they do not have the same established positions. They find themselves without any identity. They have to build a new self-image.

         Culture shock gives rise to a feeling of disorientation（迷失方向）. This feeling may be homesickness. When homesick, people feel like staying inside all the time. They want to protect themselves from the strange environment, and create an escape inside their room for a sense of security. This escape does solve the problem of culture shock for the short term, but it does nothing to make the person familiar with the culture. Getting to know the new environment and gaining experience — these are the long-term solutions to the problem of culture shock.

76. When people move to a new country, they _______.

         A. will get used to their new surroundings with difficulty

         B. have well prepared for the new surroundings

         C. will get used to the culture of the country quickly

         D. will never be familiar with the culture of the country

77. According to the passage, factors that give rise to culture shock include all of the following except __________.

         A. language communication                                    B. weather conditions and customs

         C. public service systems                                              D. homesickness

78. According to the passage, the more successful you are at home, _______.

A. the fewer difficulties you may have abroad          

B. the more difficulties you may have abroad

          C. the more money you will earn abroad               

D. the less homesick you may feel abroad

79. When people are homesick, they tend to ______.

         A. find some people to talk to                                      B. go outside to have a walk

         C. visit their friends far away                                       D. stay indoors all the time

80. The writer tells us that the best way to overcome culture shock is to ______.

A. protect ourselves from unfamiliar environment     

B. develop a strange sense of self-protection

C. get familiar with new culture                                      

D. return to our own country

  How to make friends with people from a different culture? The rules are as follows:
Appreciate the person
Most Americans like to be recognized as individuals as someone special with unique, personalities. Therefore never say,“you are from America so I want to be your friend.” Also don’t imply that the reason why you approached them is that you wanted someone to practice your English with . That turns people off. Instead try saying,”“you seem like a real nice and interesting person and I would like to get to know you better .’ This way , they are much more inclined to be friendly because you see them as a three dimensional person and appreciate them for who they are in the inside . And by doing so , you not only learn about Americans and practice your English , but also gain a real friend in the process
Quit Calling Us Foreigners.
Please avoid calling a foreigner especially in his face . The word makes people feel like an outsider , and even unwelcome , suggesting separation and insurmountable difference , widening an already existing gap in the situation. When Americans travel , they rarely say,“I’m foreign to your place .” They tend to say ,”I’m new in town . I’m new here.” The reason is because new and unfamiliar things can become old and familiar. But can foreign things become native? You catch my drift.
Just Do It .
Some students like to be told about American culture but are less interested in spending the time and effort to actually experience it .As Americans always say ,“get your hands dirty.” You should have first hands on experience, or you will never really know anything.
Find that Common Language.
Now I just must stress the importance of finding a common language. By that I don’t mean English, Chinese , German ,French,etc. I mean finding something you have in common with another person on a spiritual and philosophical level: likes , dislikes, worldviews, ways of thinking and attitudes toward life. And to start , you must first enhance your knowledge of the particular culture from which your potential
【小题1】 The underlined sentence“get your hands dirty” means     .
A get involved   B talk about American culture    C star with dirty work   D Don’t wash your hands too often
【小题2】 Americans prefer to make friends with those who    .
A  avoid talking about their homeland     B  recognize their personalities
C  obey rules of communicating with friends   D  needn’t practice English while playing together
【小题3】According to the passage , which of the following is friendly?
A   I am longing to make friends with an American.
B   This is my friend Tom , who is a foreigner.
C   There must be a gap between us in many things.
D   You ‘ve  got a great personality
【小题4】  In the last paragraph , the author suggests we should   
A  Learn at least one foreign language well
Bfind common interests or opinions with our potential new friend
C make sure we can understand each other
D ask where our potential new friends come from

Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practising until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. A great athlete practises until he can play quickly, accurately, without thinking. Tennis players call that ”being in the zone.” Educators call it “automaticity”.

   A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and decoding the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase. With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about decoding the words, so he can concentrate on the meaning of the text.

   It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois Schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found automatic readers in the first grade who were reading almost three times as fast as the other children and scoring twice as high on comprehension tests. At fifth grade, the automatic readers were reading twice as fast as the others, and still outscoring them on accuracy, comprehension and vocabulary.

   “It’s not I.Q. but the amount of time a child spends reading that is the key to automaticity,” according to Rossman. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will in all likelihood reach automaticity. At home, where the average child spends 25 hours a week watching television, it can happen by turning off the set just one night in favor of reading.

   You can test your child by giving him a paragraph or two to read aloud—something unfamiliar but appropriate to his age. If he reads aloud with expressions, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, he probably is an automatic reader. If he reads haltingly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, he needs more practice.

13．The first paragraph tells us            .

A．what automaticity is                    B．how accuracy is acquired

C．how a child learns to walk               D．how an athlete is trained

14．The Illinois study shows that the automatic reader’s high speed         .

A．costs him a lot of work            B．affects his comprehension

C．leads to his future success         D．doesn’t affect his comprehension

15．A bright child          .

A．also needs practice to be an automatic reader

B．always achieves great success in comprehension tests

C．becomes an automatic reader after learning how to read

D．is a born automatic reader

16．The main idea of the passage is           .

A．how to score high on comprehension tests

B．reading is the key to school success

C．how to test your child’s reading ability

D．automaticity is important for efficient reading