When I was growing up, my family kept chickens. We always had about a dozen of them at any given time and whenever one died off—taken away by hawk or fox or by some obscure chicken illness—my father would replace the lost hen.
He’d drive to a nearby poultry farm and return with a new chicken in a sack. The thing is, you must be very careful when introducing a new chicken to the general flock. You can’t just toss it in there with the old chickens, or they will see it as an invader. What you must do instead is to slip the new bird into the chicken coop in the middle of the night while the others are asleep. Place her on a roost beside the flock and tiptoe away. In the morning, when the chickens wake up, they don’t notice the newcomer, thinking only, “She must have been here all the time since I didn’t see her arrive.” The clincher of it is, awaking within this flock, the newcomer herself doesn’t even remember that she’s a newcomer, thinking only, “I must have been here the whole time...”
My arrival in India does likewise.
My plane lands in Mumbai around 1:30 AM. It is December 30. I find my luggage, then find the taxi that will take me hours and hours out of the city to the Ashram, located in a remote rural village. I doze on the drive through nighttime India, sometimes waking to look out the window, where I can see strange haunted shapes of thin women in saris walking alongside the road with bundles of firewood on their heads. At this hour? Buses with no headlights pass us, and we pass oxcarts. The banyan trees spread their elegant roots throughout the ditches.
1. What’s the function of the first paragraph?| A．To tell readers her family background. | B．To work up reader’s appetite for the text |
| C．To introduce the following paragraphs | D．To make a summary of her childhood. |
| A．8:00PM. | B．1:00AM. | C．7:00A.M. | D．3:00P.M. |
| A．shelter | B．group | C．farm | D．chicken |
| A．The writer takes a nap in the taxi. | B．The writer knows how to raise chickens. |
| C．Indian women work on their own. | D．Daily life in India surprises the writer. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Jules Verne lived in a small French town named Nantes in his childhood. Verne ran away once as a child and came upon a small boy who was crying. The boy said he had to leave his family to go on a ship, but he didn’t want to. So Verne took his place on the ship. He thought he was going to explore the world, but his father caught up with the ship before it got very far and took Jules home and punished him. Verne said that after that he would only travel in his imagination, and he did.
Verne wanted to write plays. So as a young man he went to Paris and hung out at local theaters and became friends with all the play-writers there. That’s how he met Alexander Dumas. Dumas wrote adventure stories that interested Verne very much. Verne decided to write one of his own, an adventure about the ever so popular hot air balloon trips of that time.
Success was not easy for him, though. He didn’t know much about science and he had a wife and two children to take care of. So he would wake up early each morning and do work and research before he went to work to support his family. Once he felt he knew enough about sience he began to write his story in the morning. Luckily, his book was finally published by a person named Hetzel.
Jules Verne was the first to write a believable story about a person going to the moon. Verne used his knowledge of science to write a book about it. Thanks to his book, people started thinking that going to the moon was more realistic. After Jules Verne died in 1905, other authors started writing about space. Children would read Verne’s book and dream of growing up to build rockets. Because of Verne’s book, the dream of going to the moon was reached.
1. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to ______.| A．discuss the adventures Jules Verne had in his life |
| B．explain the reason why Jules Verne became a writer |
| C．show Jules Verne’s knowledge of science |
| D．give a brief introduction to Jules Verne |
| A．adventurous | B．friendly | C．naughty | D．shy |
| A．Verne was the first person to go to the moon in the world |
| B．Verne’s books were the most popular ones with children at that time |
| C．without Verne’s books people would never have dreamed of visiting the moon |
| D．Verne probably mentioned rockets in his story about traveling to the moon |
| A．Verne wrote many believable novels about people visiting the moon. |
| B．Verne’s first adventure story was about hot air balloon trips. |
| C．Verne’s idea of traveling on a ship was frustrated by his father. |
| D．Verne showed much interest in the adventure stories written by Dumas. |
【推荐2】A Pakistani man who was born without arms has developed into a highly skilled snooker player. In the game of snooker, players traditionally use long sticks to hit colored balls into holes at the end of a table. But Muham-mad Ikram has learned a different method. He uses his chin (下巴) to hit the balls into the holes.
Muhammad Ikram is one of nine children. He did not receive an education and his family faced struggles meeting basic needs. Growing up, Ikram spent much of his time watching people play snooker, a game no one dreamed he could ever play. He says he does not remember exactly how the idea of playing struck him. But at some point, he started practicing the game in secret. “He would eagerly watch other boys play. He would keep wishing he also had arms so he could play like them,” said his mother, Razia Bibi. “Then he started using his chin.”
The 32-year-old lives in Samundri, a rural town in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He has spent eight years perfecting his game and says he is not afraid to take on any players. “I have met very good snooker players who tell me I am a real genius and I can bring great fame to Pakistan,” he told Reuters Television. Mian Usman Ahmed is co-owner of the Cuemaster Snooker Club. He says Ikram won several prizes in local competitions over the past two years. “He would come to the club and ask if he could be allowed to play. We would look at his arms and feel he was unable to,” Ahmed said. “He insisted we allow him to prove himself. When he did that, we saw he was actually very good.”
When asked what he would say to others with physical disabilities, Ikram said, “No one should lose hope.” He added that he would one day like to compete at the international level, hopefully with government support.
1. What possibly contributed to Ikram’s becoming a snooker player?| A．The idea of supporting his family. |
| B．The encouragement from his mother. |
| C．The hobby of watching snooker games. |
| D．The desire to set an example to the disabled. |
| A．He has brought fame to his country. |
| B．He has won first prize in local snooker games. |
| C．His skills of playing snooker were highly thought of. |
| D．His method of playing snooker shocked other players. |
| A．Kind-hearted and gifted. | B．Inspiring and determined. |
| C．Energetic and intelligent. | D．Active and outgoing. |
| A．To become a professional snooker player. |
| B．To compete in international snooker games. |
| C．To receive education with government support. |
| D．To open a snooker club designed for the disabled. |
【推荐3】As I went down the wooden snowy steps, I held the rough fence with one hand, held my crying daughter Kelly with the other and made my way into the yard. I knew everything would be okay if I located my mother.
Instead of a smile, she greeted me with concern. I knew she had read my face as I’d approached. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
I held the baby out. “I can’t take care of this baby,” I said simply. My mother didn’t take her from my arms as I expected. She smiled slightly, and then replied firmly, “You have to take care of that baby.” This was not the reply I wanted. Couldn’t she hear the baby crying? I wanted her to fix this problem. Instead, she took off her gloves and asked me in for some coffee.
Mom held Kelly while I held the coffee cup. At that moment the baby finally stopped crying. I glanced over at Kelly, content in my mother’s arms. Her tiny blue eyes were fixed on me, as if to ask, “What’s the problem here, Mama?” Her sweet, familiar breath eased the stress in the air. I looked at my mother, feeling foolish but relieved. She stood and placed an arm around my shoulders. “By the time you came along, things were quite the opposite for me. But with your elder brother, you can bet that I often felt helpless.”
The baby showed no signs of our afternoon struggle, while my own hair remained damp and messy from sweat and worry. “Crying is the only way babies have to communicate. Try to listen to her cries and hear them as language. She’s not crying to annoy you; she’s trying to send a message with the only voice she has.”
Once again, her gentle guidance had supported me through a storm and back into clear skies.
1. Why did the author visit her mother in the rough weather?| A．She was concerned about her mother’s safety. |
| B．She was helpless and needed her mother’s help. |
| C．She wanted to learn to care for babies from her mother. |
| D．She intended to borrow some money from her mother. |
| A．Inexperienced but patient. | B．Considerate but impatient. |
| C．Experienced and confident. | D．Thoughtless and unconcerned. |
| A．Taking care of babies was difficult. |
| B．Babies enjoyed annoying their parents. |
| C．The author should let her baby cry more. |
| D．Parents should understand and accept babies’ crying. |
| A．She usually goes shopping with the author. |
| B．She lives a lonely life without her children. |
| C．She often gives advice to the author in trouble. |
| D．She likes to raise small children for young mothers. |
【推荐1】An old man was fishing by a river. A child was watching him. The old man was really good at fishing and it didn’t take him much time to catch a basket of fish. The old man saw that the child was cute, and he wanted to give her the whole basket of fish. But the child shook her head.
The old man was surprised and asked ,“Why don’t you want the fish?”
The child replied, “I want the fishing rod(竿) in your hands.” The old man asked, “Why do you want the rod?”
“It won’t take long to eat up all the fish in the basket. But if I have the fishing rod, I can go fishing by myself and I won’t be afraid of not having any fish to eat.” the girl answered.
I think you will certainly say that the child is very smart. Wrong! If she doesn’t know how to fish, she can’t have fish to eat, even though she has the fishing rod. It’s useless only having a fishing rod. Fishing skills are the most important, not the fishing rod.
Too many people think that if they have a “fishing rod”, they will no longer fear the difficulties in life. They are just like the child, who thought that if she had a fishing rod, she would have the fish to eat.
1. What was the child doing when the old man was fishing?| A．She was talking with him. | B．She was playing by the river. |
| C．She was watching the old man. | D．She was helping the old man. |
| A．In a basket. | B．In a bag. |
| C．In a glass. | D．In a box. |
| A．Because she wanted to get the old man’s fishing rod. |
| B．Because the fish was not enough. |
| C．Because she didn’t like eating fish. |
| D．Because the fish was too small. |
| A．hard-working | B．lazy | C．clever | D．silly |
【推荐2】When I was at the age of nine, my parents took us to the lake, 10 miles away, every day for a whole summer, me and my two brothers, Hap and Danny. To be honest, we were all a little too wild.
At that time, our car had only an outdated AM radio. A trip to the lake meant over an hour in the car, along with winding mountain roads where the AM radio could not pick up any signal. My parents must have figured out early that if they didn’t keep us three boys busy and focused, we would eventually start fighting just to have something to do. They made up various games. They told wonderful stories. He could even recite (背诵) “Casey at the Bat,” “The Raven,” “Dangerous Dan McGrew” or any of the other narrative poems at the drop of a hat.
One of the poems that fascinated me most was a bit of nonsense verse (打油诗) which I later found out was called “The Dying Fisherman’s Song.” It begins: “It was a summer’s day in winter / And the rain was snowing fast / As a barefoot girl with shoes on/ Stood sitting in the grass...” I was hooked. These lines in my head were kept repeating over and over, week after week, until they burned new electrical pathways in my brain.
I did what any 9-year-old poetry addict would do, given the circumstances: I read CRICKET magazine, hungrily. I was greatly influenced by their poems, and I am so thankful for what its publisher, Marianme Carus, did—creating such a prefect magazine for 9-year-olds. Yes, I fell in love with funny children’s poetry. It’s a love affair that continues to this day, 10 books related with poetry (of my own) later.
1. What can we say about the author’s parents?| A．They were hard on their sons. | B．They knew their children well. |
| C．They were famous game makers. | D．They focused on adventure education. |
| A．Shocked. | B．Scared. | C．Attracted. | D．Confused. |
| A．It made him a child poet. | B．It was intended for young poets. |
| C．It had a significant impact on him. | D．It was Marianme Carus’s first book. |
| A．To introduce a poetry addict. | B．To show off his creation talent. |
| C．To recommend some funny poetry. | D．To share his passion for poetry. |
【推荐3】Never will Kate Baker forget her frightening traveling experience. She and her husband. Bob, were heading to Europe with their 2-year-old son, Neil. "When we got on the plane in New York, all three of us were healthy," she said. "But halfway over the Atlantic Ocean, Neil started to get very warm, and his face was red." Then Neil began foaming at the mouth.
"The flight attendants were going up and down the aisle（过道）, asking anyone if they were a doctor," Kate recalled, "No one would come forward. And then the pilot started announcing, ‘Is there a doctor on board and should I turn this plane around?’ And again, no one came forward."
"When noticing Neil could hardly breathe, I think I must have gone into shock because I couldn't feel anything, and I couldn't speak," Kate said.
Then three women got out of their seats and approached where she was standing in the aisle. They came up to her and put their arms around her. They started speaking to Kate in a language that she didn't understand.
"The tone of their voice was so, so soothing, and they stood there with me with their arms around me." said Kate.
They eventually landed in Amsterdam. But they quickly booked another flight home to New Jersey. They went right to a doctor, who discovered that Neil had just had an ear infection. His symptoms（症状）had probably been due to a rapid increase in his body temperature.
The doctor treated him for the ear infection, and everything was fine. Kate never forgot those women and how supportive they were. She said, "I will never forget them and what they did for me. We may not speak the same language, but it doesn't matter to me because we can connect on a very deep human level."
1. What made Kate's travelling experience frightening?| A．The impatient travelers. | B．The rude flight attendants. |
| C．The sudden illness of Neil. | D．The poor service on board. |
| A．To warn her to be silent. | B．To offer her some comfort. |
| C．To advise her to change a seat. | D．To tell her how to treat her son. |
| A．Comforting. | B．Frightening. | C．Threatening. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．She was fed up with the passengers on board. |
| B．She was grateful to the doctor in New Jersey. |
| C．It's essential to provide medical service on board. |
| D．She felt the warmth conveyed by complete strangers. |
