Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity(生产力) per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to “spend” a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America, which increase the rewards to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP(国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in its interest. It is too early to explain the different trends（趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance?
小题1:Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?| A．Spain. | B．France. | C．Germany. | D．America. |
小题2:What message can we get from the text?| A．The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America. | | B．Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US. | | C．People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer. | | D．Americans are happier than Europeans. |
小题3:Which of the following would be the best title for the text?| A．Americans and Europeans | | B．Staying at Home | | C．Work and Productivity | | D．Work and Happiness |
|
小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:D |
试题分析: 尽管美国人工作时间长但是每小时的生产效率却和其他一些富裕的欧洲国家相同，作者认为美国人喜欢工作时间长是因为工作会给人带来一种满足感，因此美国也成为了工作人数最多的国家。在本文中作者通过对比的方法对此现象进行了剖析。
小题1:D细节理解题。根据文章第三段The United States also has more of its people at work,可知美国工作的人数比别的国家要多，故答案选D。
小题2:B细节理解题。文章第二段介绍了为什么在美国人们的工作时间要更长一些，给出了两种可能的原因，由此判断B选项内容正确。
小题3:D主旨大意题。在文中作者对比了美国和其他富裕国家人们的不同工作时间和工作效率，分析认为工作带来的满足感可能是美国人喜欢工作的原因，但是最后提出尽管美国人喜欢长时间工作，但是人们的幸福感却没有像其他国家一样增长，由此可知文中中心内容是讲述工作和幸福的关系，故D选项内容更能反应文章中心，答案选D。 |
核心考点
试题【Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They w】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
Shakespeare once called the English countryside “the precious stone set in the silver sea”- and he is not the last to sing high praises of its beauty and historical charm(魅力).
The countryside is particularly beautiful during the summer, especially in August and September. As one travels the countryside, you’ll find more of its treasures: so many plants and animals, romantic castles(浪漫的城堡), secret gardens, and villages so unchanged in the last decades that they seem to have been caught under a fairy’ s spell.
Must-sees include Derbyshire, called “the heart of England” and home to the National Park. The great peaks were the muse（创作灵感）of the Bronte sisters (and if you love the book Jane Eyre, you can visit North Lees hall, where the real Eyre family once lived).
History lovers will enjoy a visit to Lincoln city (its most famous son is Lord Alfred Tennyson). It is also known for its cathedral(大教堂), the charming tea shops, a small castle. One would never guess its violent past—built by Romans, it was once a center for arrow(箭) making.
Harry Potter fans shouldn’t miss a visit to Alnwick, which is better recognized as the “Hogswarth” in the movies.
Let’s not leave out the Wessex region, where one can see one of England’s greatest mysteries, Stone Henge. You can also go to the City of Bath, which has been famous for its medicines springs since the Roman times. Other popular tractions include Salisbury Cathedral, and landscaped(景色优美的) gardens of Stourhead, and the cobbled(用鹅卵石铺的) streets of Shaftesbury. This is also home to Oxford, one of the world’s most famous universities.
Art lovers will also like a visit to East Anglia, whose landscapes inspired the painter Constable (he was born in Dedham village). This is also home of the University City of Cambridge, and the famous architectural(建筑上的) attraction, King’s College Chapel. Be sure to visit the aircraft museum of Duxford.
小题1:What was Shakespeare’s attitude towards the English countryside?| A．Uninterested. | B．Dissatisfied(不满意的). | | C．Surprised. | D．Admiring. |
小题2:According to the text, Lincoln city________.| A．produced arrows in the past | | B．will be enjoyed by music lovers | | C．was the place where the Eyre family once lived | | D．has one of the world’ s most famous universities |
小题3:When traveling in the countryside, Harry Potter fans are advised to visit ________.| A．the Wessex region | B．Derbyshire | C．Yorkshire | D．Alnwick |
小题4:The text is most probably taken from ________.| A．a travel guide | | B．a book review(书评) | | C．a history paper | | D．a newspaper report |
|
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Brother Michael and Chris were born in the early 1960s and grew up in a black neighborhood in Richmond, California. Both boys were in the primary school and brought home mostly A’s on their report cards.
But in a black family with eight children, money was always , so the two growing boys often went . They turned to stealing. They stole cookies from the grocery store and bread from the . They even stole money from their parents to feed.
At the end of his first year in high school, Chris received three A’s and F’s on his report card --- the first time he had anything in school. Because Kennedy High School only allowed three failures four years, one more F and Chris would be kicked out of school. That’s when he made up his mind to .
Chris made every effort to become in school. After Chris graduated from college, he worked as a prosecutor(检察官), criminals, drug dealers, and gang members. Today Chris is famous as one of the prosecutors in the trial of the century, the O.J. Simpson trial!
That decision to change took him in an entirely direction from his brother Michael, who changing his bad behavior. After high school, Michael continued his anti-social ---fighting in the streets, taking and stealing. At the age of 42, Michael Darden died from AIDS.
This story us that what we become is determined by the we make. We can choose to get or we can choose to get worse. Chris changed. He changed from being a criminal to prosecuting criminals. His brother Michael, on the other hand, was changed. He was changed by drugs…and finally, he was changed by a deadly disease. Chris made the right choices. He made the changes in his life that helped him his great dreams.
| 小题1: | | A．well- behaved | B．well-dressed | C．well-known | D．well- informed |
|
| 小题2: | | A．plentiful | B．loose | C．common | D．tight |
|
| 小题3: | | A．mad | B．wrong | C．hungry | D．bad |
|
| 小题4: | | A．chemist’s | B．baker’s | C．doctor’s | D．barber’s |
|
| 小题6: | | A．obtained | B．failed | C．passed | D．missed |
|
| 小题7: | | A．beyond | B．by | C．over | D．above |
|
| 小题8: | | A．steal | B．respond | C．stand | D．change |
|
| 小题9: | | A．outstanding | B．friendly | C．powerful | D．outgoing |
|
| 小题10: | | A．treating | B．saving | C．questioning | D．punishing |
|
| 小题11: | | A．leading | B．working | C．acting | D．performing |
|
| 小题12: | | A．similar | B．different | C．new | D．strange |
|
| 小题13: | | A．preferred | B．resisted | C．admitted | D．appreciated |
|
| 小题14: | | A．habits | B．signs | C．behaviors | D．manners |
|
| 小题15: | | A．drugs | B．actions | C．buses | D．pills |
|
| 小题16: | | A．persuades | B．warns | C．convinces | D．wishes |
|
| 小题17: | | A．choices | B．friends | C．promises | D．efforts |
|
| 小题18: | | A．taller | B．cleaner | C．happier | D．better |
|
| 小题19: | | A．illegal | B．useful | C．harmless | D．lawful |
|
| 小题20: | | A．destroy | B．form | C．accomplish | D．approach |
|
|
Most people are aware of what the adoption process is because it has become rather common in our society. Adoption is where a child is legally placed with guardians (监护人) or parents (or perhaps a single parent) other than the birth mother or father. Once an adoption is finalized, all parental rights are turned over to the adoptive parents and there is no legal difference between adoptive parents and natural birth parents. There are generally two types of adoption, which are closed adoption and open adoption.
When an adopted person has access to his or her adoption file and original records, it is referred to as an open adoption. The term is also used to describe any contact that may be between the adoptive family, the birth parents, and the adopted child. The level of openness can change greatly in such contact depending on each individual relationship. There can be indirect contact between the natural birth parents and the child through the form of letters and photographs, or there can be actual physical contact.
A semi-open adoption is where the birth parents may have contact with the adoptive parents before the birth of the child, either once or several times. After the birth there is no more contact. A semi-open adoption may remain as it is or it can become either open or closed.
A closed adoption is where only the medical and historical information about the biological parents is given to the adoptive family. Typically, the birth and adoptive parents do not know each other’s identities. The record of the birth parents is kept sealed (密封). A closed adoption is usually only effective in the adoption of babies. The adoption of an older child who already knows his or her birth parents cannot be kept closed.
小题1:How many adoption types are mentioned in the passage?小题2:Which of the following statements is TRUE about the closed adoption?| A．The birth parents may have indirect contact with the adoptive parents. | | B．The biological parents may often go to see their birth child. | | C．No information about the biological parents is given to the adoptive parents. | | D．Generally speaking, the adoptive parents do not know the birth parents’ identities. |
小题3:Suppose someone adopts a child and his biological parents often get contact with the child by telephone. We can call this adoption _____.| A．a closed adoption | B．an open adoption | | C．a semi-open adoption | D．a semi-closed adoption |
小题4:From the passage, we know adoption is _____.| A．where a child is brought up by the government | | B．where a child is legally sent abroad by the birth parents | | C．where a child is legally placed with adoptive parents | | D．where a child is sent to live with the children whose parents have died |
|
If you want to see climate change, head north and keep going until you run out of globe. That is easier said than done. The Arctic (北极) is home to few people and covered in ice much of the year. But those who make their way to the icy seas of the Arctic Ocean will see a part of the planet that is warming and changing faster than anywhere else.
In September, scientists announced at the National Snow and Ice Data (数据) Center that Arctic summer sea ice had fallen to its second lowest level since 1979, and probably long before that. The Arctic has lost an area of ice greater than the area of all U.S. states east of the Mississippi River. And what ice remains appears to be getting thinner and weaker.
Nick Toberg and Till Wagner are polar ice scientists who are doing sea ice fieldwork. “There is plenty of data to suggest that the ice is becoming thinner as well as smaller in area,” they say.
The changes happening in the Arctic are a warning for the entire world . As polar expert Walt
Meier puts it, “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.”
Some scientists worry that Arctic sea ice may be going from a downward spiral (螺旋线) to a “death spiral”, one from which there is no escape. As more ice melts (融化), more dark open water appears. The darkness absorbs (吸收) more heat, which speeds up the pace of melting.
Until recently, many scientists thought it might take until the end of the century for the North Pole to become completely ice free during the summer. Now some believe it could happen by 2030 or even earlier. “The melting is happening faster in the real world than it has in the models,” says Nick Toberg.
小题1:The purpose of the first paragraph is to tell readers __________.| A．it’s difficult to arrive at the Arctic | | B．it is too cold for people to live in the Arctic | | C．what caused the climate change in the Arctic | | D．we can see the most obvious climate change in the Arctic |
小题2:From the second paragraph we can learn Arctic summer sea ice __________.| A．is still decreasing | | B．began reducing in 1979 | | C．fell to its lowest level in September | | D．is equal to the Mississippi River |
小题3:What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?| A．The changes don’t affect the Arctic at all. | | B．The changes will only happen in the Arctic. | | C．The changes happening in the Arctic will stop. | | D．The changes will also affect other parts of the world. |
小题4:Nick Toberg may agree that __________.| A．the ice in the North Pole will stop melting | | B．the ice in the North Pole is melting faster than expected | | C．the ice in the North Pole will melt before 2030 or even earlier | | D．the ice in the North Pole will not disappear until the end of the century |
|
Read about some teenage problems on a website for students and Linda’s replies to their online messages.
小题1: Linda advises Simon ____. | A．not to laugh at others | B．to get on well with his friends | | C．to follow his friends | D．to be strong to make decisions |
小题2:The underlined word “anorexia” probably means _____.小题3:The text mainly talks about _____. | A．the pressure from our neighbours | | B．some wrong behaviours at school | | C．problems of losing confidence among teenagers | | D．some teenage problems and certain suggestions |
|
