As nanny(保姆), cook, cleaner, shopper, driver, and gardener, she has one of the most demanding jobs in Britain today. And paying someone else to do the chores(家务活) which take the average housewife 71 hours a week would cost ?349.

   At over ?18,000 a year that’s more than the earnings of 70 percent of the population, including train drivers, firemen, prison officers, and social worker. Looking after a baby less than a year old takes a housewife into a even higher pay league. According to a stud, she earns ?457 a week – at nearly ?24,000 a year, the same as teachers, engineers, and chemists.

   Researchers put a price on each chore, then tried to find out how long the average person takes doing them. They found housewives spend an average 70.7 hours a week on housework – with looking after the children (17.9hours) and cooking and cleaning (12.9 hours each) the most time-consuming(费时).

   A wife with a part-time job still works and average of 59 hours a week at home. Those in full-time employment put in longer hours at home than in the workplace. The good news is that these hours sharply as children get older. While the average mother with child under one puts in 90 hours weekly, the figure drops to 80 hours from one to four and to 66 hours from five to ten.

   Mother-of-four Karen Williams from London said, “Paying the housewives may not be practical, but the government should recognize the value of housework, perhaps through the tax. Running a house takes a lot of time and most husbands don’t understand this. For example, my husband only puts a shelf up now and again. He never cleans the kitchen – that’s the real test.”

Who earns most according to the text?

   A. A social worker.                    B. A fireman.

   C. A gardener.                        D. A teacher.

We lean from the text that looking after children ______.

   A. takes more time than doing any other housework

   B. means more duties than being a teacher

   C. requires the mother to be well-educated

   D. prevents the mother from working outside

According to the text, a housewife with a baby less than one year old may work _____.

   A. 66 hours a week               B. 71 hours a week

   C. 80 hours a week               D. 90 hours a week

By mentioning her husband, Karen Williams wants to show that ______.

   A. housework is no easy job

   B. her husband has no time to clean the kitchen

   C. a housewife needs to be paid for cleaning

   D. the kitchen is hard to clean

One day, I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physical problem ，while the student claimed a perfect score. I was elected as their arbiter( 仲裁人).I read the examination problem： “Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer(气压计).” The student had answered： “Take the barometer to the top of the building，attach a long rope to it，lower it to the street，and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of it is the height of the building. ”
The student had really answered the question completely ，but the answer didn’t confirm his competence in physics. I suggested the student try again. I gave him six minutes to answer the question, warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. Five minutes later, he said he had many answers and clashed off one, which read： “Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, use the physical formula (公式）to calculate the height of the building. ”
At this point, my colleague had to accept it, and then the student made almost full marks. I couldn’t help asking the student what the other answers were. He listed many others ，and then added₅ “Probably the best is to take the barometer to the. administrator and said to him，' Sir, here is a fine barometer. If you tell me the height of the building, I will give it to you.，”
Then, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did ，but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
The name of the student was Bohr who later was famous all over ,the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922.
【小题1】The student got a zero at the beginning because_______.

I walked alongside my father, clutching his right hand．All my clothes were new: the black shoes, the green school uniform, and the red cap．They did not make me happy, however, as tins was the day I was to be thrown into school for the first time．I tried in vain lo convince him that I did nothing wrong all the way, but it didn't help．

When we．arrived at the sate we could see the courtyard, vast and full of boys and girls．I hesitated and clung to his hand, but he gently pushed me from him．"Be a man, "he said．"today you truly begin your life．You will find me waiting for you when it's time to leave．"

I took a few steps．Then the faces of the boys and girls came into view．I did not know a single one of them, and none of them knew me．I felt I was a stranger who had lost his way．But then some boys began to glance at me in curiosity, and one of them came over and asked, " Who brought you? "

    "My father," I whispered．

    ''My father's dead, " he said simply．

I did not know what to say．The gate was now closed．Some of the children burst into tears．The bell rang．A lady came along, followed by a group of men．The men began soiling us into ranks．We were formed into an intricate pattern in the great courtyard surrounded by high buildings．

Well, it seemed that my misgivings had had no basis．From the first moments I made many friends and fell in love with many girls．I had never imagined school would have this rich variety of experiences．

We played all sorts, of games．In the music room we sang our first songs．We also had our first introduction to language．We saw a globe of Earth, which revolved and showed the various continents and countries．We started lean-line numbers, and we were told the story of the Creator of the universe．We ate delicious food, took a little nap, and woke up to go on with friendship and love, playing and learning．

Our path, however, was not totally sweet and unclouded．We had to be observant and patient．It was not all a matter of playing and fooling around． Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting．And while the lady would sometimes smile, she would often yell and scold．Even more frequently

she would resort to physical punishment．

The bell rang, announcing the passing of the day and the end of work．The children rushed toward the gate, which was opened again．I said goodbye to friends and sweethearts and passed through the gate．I looked around but found no trace of my father, who had promised to be there．I stepped aside to wait.

1.The writer hesitated and clung to his father's hand when they got to the school gate because ____．

    A．he loved his father and didn't want to leave his father

    B．he had thought attending school meant being punished

    C．he was afraid of the punishment given by teachers

    D．he did not want to leave his mother and his rather alone at home

2.What happened to him first during his first day at school?

    A．He was moved to tears by a sad story told by a girl．

    B．He together without other students was grouped．

    C．He learnt music and other courses and had a good time．

    D．He got punished by die woman teacher because of his impatience．

3.Which of the following subjects did he not probably have?

    A．Cooking．      B．Math．         C．Music．        D．Geography．

4.From the last but one paragraph we can learn that ______.

    A．they got on well with one another all the time

    B．they had a good time at school without being scolded

    C．their teacher was more kind to them than strict with them             

    D．more often than not they experienced physical punishment

5.The writer stepped aside after he got out of the school gate because           .

    A．he was polite to let other students go before him 

    B．he left something behind in his classroom         

    C．he wanted to say goodbye to his teacher

    D．his father has promised to wait for him

A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious (妒忌的) and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn’t take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly undermine its foundations(地基).
The next morning, the tower was leaning(倾斜) slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: “ I think the tower is going to fall down.” And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: “ The tower is ticklish ( 怕痒的) ！” She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn’t fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.
The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city.
【小题1】Why did the people of the second city plan to destroy the neighboring tower?

Night after night，she came to tuck me in，even long after my childhood years．Following her longstanding custom，she'd lean down and push my long hair out of the way，then kiss my forehead．
I don't remember when it first started annoying me—her hands pushing my hair that way． But it did annoy me，for they felt work—worn and mush against my young skin．Finally，one night，I shouted out at her，"Don't do that anymore--your hands are too rough!" She didn't say anything in reply．But never again did my mother close out my day with that familiar expression of her love．
Time after time，with the passing years，my thoughts returned to that night．By then I missed my mother's hands，missed her goodnight kiss on my forehead．Sometimes the incident seemed very close，sometimes far away．But always it lurked，in the back of my mind．
Well，the years have passed，and I'm not a little girl anymore．Mom is in her mid—seven—ties．and those hands I once thought to be so rough are still doing things for me and my family．She's been our doctor，reaching into a medicine cabinet(医药箱)for the remedy(药物)to calm a young girl's stomach or soothe(安慰)the boy's scraped knee．She cooks the best fried chicken in the world…gets stains out of blue cans, like I never could…
Now, my own children are grown and gone．Mom no longer has Dad，and on special occasions．I find myself drawn next door to spend the night with her．So it was late on Thanksgiving Eve, as I slept in the bedroom of my youth, a familiar hand hesitantly run across, my face to brush the hair from my forehead．Then a kiss，ever so gently，touched my brow(额头)．
In my memory，for the thousandth，time，I recalled the night my young voice complained，"Don't do that anymore--your hands are too rough!" Catching Mom's hand in hand，I blurted (冲口说出)out how sorry I was for that night．I thought she'd remember ，as I did．But Mom didn't know what I Was talking about．She had forgotten--and forgiven—long ago．
That night, I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my gentle mother and her carrying hands. And the guilt that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found．
1．What would be the best title for the text ?
A．Mother's Hands        B．Appreciation for Mother．
C．My Childhood Years．  D．My Unselfish Mother．
2. The author began to get annoyed because—
A．her mother's hands were really old and tough
B．she thought she didn't need her mother's care
C．she didn't like her mother any more
D．her mother stayed in her room too long
3. What do we know about the author?
A. With time passing, she began to understand her mother．
B．She was an only child in the family．
C．She never forgave herself．
D．Her mother was a doctor．
4．By saying "Then a kiss，ever so gently，touched my brow．"，the author means
that________
A．children need Mother's kissing     B．mothers kiss their children gently
C．mothers love their children forever  D．children depend on their mothers
5．It can be inferred from the text that _____________
A．the author began to spend nights with her mother
B．her mother  never kissed  author again
C．her mother forgave her at last
D．the author felt guilty of what she did to her mother