“Meet me in the conference room with the contracts and a cup of coffee,” my boss barked at me. “Ten minutes. ”
I didn’t respond. I stood still as if my shoes had been glued to the floor. I had no intention of taking a cup of anything to anyone, supervisor or not.
I had seen with my own eyes what such behavior did to a woman. It happened to Mrs. Wilson next door. Old Mr. Wilson couldn’t put in his own false teeth without his wife’s assistance, let alone make himself lunch. It was a miserable union. I vowed by age eight that I would never live like her. I adopted the motto: Don’t help those who won’t help themselves.
I rushed to the file room and pulled my phone. I explained to my father what had happened and asked his advice on what to do, only to be asked back. He must have forgotten the unwritten rule between us about not answering a question with a question. Fortunately, I came up with an idea that would have the best of both worlds.
I took up the files and headed for the coffee pot. I took two cups and made two cups of coffee. Then I walked into the boss’ office with a cup of coffee in each hand. I handed my boss a cup of coffee and drank at the same time as him.
“Let’s take a break,” partway through the meeting, my boss stood, saying. “I need more coffee.” I picked up my empty cup. “I do, too,” I said, and handed it to him across the table. “Thanks,” I added, looking at him expectantly. The boss was staggered for a moment, and then took the cup from me.
When I finally left my boss’ office, I hid in the bathroom and called my dad. My father’s laughter on the phone made me feel even prouder.
1. Why does the author mention the Wilsons?| A．To show how the couple grew old together. |
| B．To picture what she will be like when she ages. |
| C．To stress her opposition to inequality in society. |
| D．To explain her unwillingness to serve the coffee. |
| A．She meant to share instead of serving. |
| B．She planned to have the boss serve her later. |
| C．She intended to play a trick on her mean boss. |
| D．She wanted to save the trouble of doing it again. |
| A．Annoyed. | B．Shocked. | C．Confused. | D．Excited. |
| A．She figured out how to show respect for her superior. |
| B．She found it practical to seek solutions from her father. |
| C．She took a sensible approach to standing up for herself. |
| D．She considered it significant to fight against men bravely. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】A common claim states that a sheet of paper cannot be folded in half more than seven times. But is this true?
In 2002, Britney Gallivan, then a junior in high school in Pomona, California, folded a single piece of paper in half 12 times. She currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most times to fold a sheet of paper in half.
The prompt that led Gallivan to accomplish this was an extra-credit challenge in math class to fold anything in half 12 times. Her teacher asked the students to fold something thicker: a piece of paper.
Gallivan said “it was very frustrating, as I had many unsuccessful attempts at trying to fold different papers in half. I began to question if folding paper in half more than eight times could be impossible.” However, Gallivan recalled. “I knew I needed to understand what was limiting the folding progression.”
The equations (方程式) that Gallivan came up with calculated how many times a sheet of paper could be folded. She found that in order to fold many times, a long thin sheet is needed — the more a sheet is folded, the thicker the resulting stack becomes, and once the stack becomes thicker than it is long, there is nothing left to fold. She ultimately set her record with a sheet of tissue paper she found online that was 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) — more than three-quarters of a mile, or over a kilometer long, Guinness World Records noted.
“Working on the problem took a tremendous amount of time and effort,” Gallivan said. “As frustrating as it was at times, I learned an immense amount from the experience, which has been valuable to me throughout my life in more capacities than one would expect.”
Since Gallivan set her record, others have made claims of folding a sheet of paper more than 12 times. Still, “I anticipate that my current record will be surpassed,” Gallivan said.
1. What prompts Gallivan to accept the challenge?| A．Peer pressure. |
| B．Mathematics anxiety. |
| C．Academic requirement. |
| D．Guinness World Records. |
| A．The stack is as thick as it’s long. |
| B．The paper is neither long nor thin. |
| C．The stack is thicker than it’s long. |
| D．The paper is longer than it’s thick. |
| A．It’s risky. |
| B．It’s fruitless. |
| C．It’s meaningless. |
| D．It’s energy-consuming. |
| A．Gallivan’s record is impossible to break. |
| B．Folding paper in half is merely a math problem. |
| C．Folding things in half may not be limited to 12. |
| D．Folding paper 12 times is a required credit in high schools. |
【推荐2】When I first heard about the improv(即兴表演) classes, I was torn. As an introvert, I feared getting on stage and improvising in front of strangers. However, I knew I wanted to work as a science communicator after finishing my Ph.D., so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to improve my speaking ability and gain confidence thinking on my feet.
During our first class, we learned a core concept of improv: “yes, and.” It means that, as improvisers, we accept what fellow performers say. If someone says that rhinos(犀牛) are librarians, for example, then rhinos are librarians. We do not question the logic; we say “yes” and continue with the scene as if no him is wrong.
I got a taste of how difficult that was when acting out my first scene. My classmate turned to me and said, “Mom is going to be so mad.” Mad about what? My mind spun out ideas, and my inner critic shot them all down. We broke the car? No, that’s too easy. We failed a test? No, you don’t want your classmates thinking you’re stupid on the first day. I finally landed on an answer: “Yes, we’re going to be late for dinner.” The scene proceeded from there, and we eventually finished as two sisters who lost their way on a hiking trail.
The first few scenes were hard, but as weeks turned into months, I became more comfortable thinking on my feet and even started to enjoy our classes. I never silenced my inner critic entirely, but over time, I didn’t police my words with quite so much effort. I also became better at listening, relating to my conversation partners, and communicating clearly in the moment.
That training proved useful 6 months ago, when my experiments generated unreasonable data. Early on in graduate school, I would get stuck when this happened; my inner critic would assume I had made a mistake. But then, after embracing the “yes, and” concept, instead of getting discouraged, I kept exploring the data and ended up identifying a new type of cell—one that wasn’t behaving as expected. If I hadn’t accepted the possibility that the results were real, I would have missed out on the most exciting finding of my Ph.D. so far.
All scientists can benefit from this lesson. If the data say rhinos are librarians, then it’s worth investigating whether rhinos are, in fact, librarians. Our job as scientists isn’t to generate data that support a preconceived(预想的) story. Our job is to say “yes, and.”
1. Why did the author take the improv classes?| A．To improve her logical mind. | B．To finish her Ph. D. assignment. |
| C．To develop her communication skills. | D．To pursue her interest in performance. |
| A．Conflicted. | B．Bored. | C．Discouraged. | D．Embarrassed. |
| A．accept failures | B．make a new discovery |
| C．make up for a mistake | D．correct unreasonable data |
| A．The unknown can be an inspiration. | B．The unexpected can be rewarding, |
| C．The unfortunate can be a chance. | D．The unusual can be decisive. |
【推荐3】I should not have dressed up. Obviously, no other fifth grader had felt driven to celebrate the first day of school via fancy clothing. So I stood out not just as a newcomer, but as an awkwardly dressed one. Scratching at black tights with the toe of my sneaker, I paused uncertainly in the doorway of the Writing Room.
Pausing uncertainly, however, was not the way of the world of Mr. Matthews. This red-haired, red-beard, red-faced man seemed to call wildly to me to enter. I walked over to a seat and in three minutes of casual observation was convinced that I had never known an adult like him. He laughed from his belly, moved his ears on request, and his face then turned even redder. His students loved him; it was evident from the way they greeted him to the way they relaxed when they entered his room.
On the contrary, I was not relaxed. I was uninterested in writing. My only previous writing experience had been in cloth-covered books with more room for pictures than print. I had no idea what to expect from a class that was just called “Writing”, but I was certain I wasn’t going to like it.
Yet Mr. Matthews spent that first class entertaining us. He told stories, jokes, and then ended the class early, making us have a rest. Our homework to write about the best part of summer seemed almost an afterthought for him.
However, I was seized by a desire to do my homework. It wasn’t anything specific he had said in class that day, but the way he had acted. I wanted this man to like and approve of me, and the quickest way to earn this was through my writing.
That night, despite having dealt with a word processor all of twice in my life, I wrote with passion. Proudly handing it in the next morning, I was sure it was the best thing I’d ever written. For the rest of the year, this one-man audience inspired me to improve continuously. The fifth grader would never have guessed that, six years later, writing would become a voluntary, daily activity, flowing from journals to emails to poetry workshops to newspapers.
All because she wanted to win a crazy teacher’s favor!
1. Why did the author hesitate to enter the Writing Room?| A．Because she observed her classroom carefully. |
| B．Because she was overdressed for her first school day. |
| C．Because she was laughed about her appearance at school. |
| D．Because she made a new friend outside the Writing Room. |
| A．Favorable but not good at it. | B．Uninterested and without experience. |
| C．Relaxing and want to try. | D．Proud and do a good job. |
| A．Shy and sensitive. | B．Brave and smart. |
| C．Strict and punctual. | D．Funny and interesting. |
| A．Her wish to impress her teacher. |
| B．Her great future job goal. |
| C．Her teacher’s encouragement. |
| D．Her excellent writing skills. |
【推荐1】Donald had his own difficulties in sleeping that night. Not just because of the bright lights of the shelter or people’s constant voices, it was the happening repeatedly nightmare that caused him to stay awake, to fear sleep. Donald was back in his small house. He did his best to ignore the howling winds outside his window. Yet he could not turn out the fearful whimpers (呜咽) of his little dog, or the uncomfortable sounds of his mother anxious in her room next door, unable to sleep through the storm despite her insistence they would be all right.
Donald did not want his mother to be upset, but on some level, he was glad to hear she was awake. It meant he was not alone in the dark. Though he was 12, until recently it was impossible for Donald to fall asleep unless his mother lay down by his side.
Suddenly there was a crash.Their living room window was shattered (打碎) by 125 miles an hour winds. Troy rushed to Donald and sat anxiously on the edge of his bed. He did his best to calm his mother, and she had to comfort him. Soon water was seeping (渗入) into the single floor house. Quickly it rose from ankle level to leg level. At Donald’s insistence, they pushed their way through the water --- now chest high --- toward the front door. When they fought their way into the living room, water rose to their chins.
It was a struggle for the boy and the mother to stay afloat. In a total panic, desperate to hold on to something, Troy caught a curtain rod. She was breathing hard, shouting that she couldn’t swim.
Donald cried out, “Mom! Hold on!” Just then Donald also caught a floatable wood board.
1. The passage is mainly about_____________.| A．how a storm happened and caused damage |
| B．how a mother and son experienced a storm |
| C．how a mother and son survived a storm |
| D．how a son helped his mother in a storm |
| A．The rising water. | B．The broken window. |
| C．The lucky dog. | D．The noisy environment. |
| A．How the other people struggled in the storm |
| B．Why the rainstorm happened |
| C．What damage the rainstorm caused |
| D．How Donald and Troy struggled to save themselves |
【推荐2】When Narayanswami was invited to a dinner by a friend who worked at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she was excited. Many of the guests flew planes. “I must have expressed some yearning(渴望),”she says, because someone told her “You should join the flying club!” The next day Narayanswami, who was 57 at the time, arranged to meet an instructor. “I said ‘Aren’t I too old?” He said “We’ve got students in their 80s.”
Narayanswami grew up in Southwest London, and at grammar school suffered horrific racist bullying. The library provided shelter. But, as she reached her late teens, she feel family pressure for an arranged marriage; “I really protested,” she says. “But I want to be an astronaut! My mother made a promise. As long as you are getting an education we will not look for a husband for you.”
Narayanswami studied biology at Leicester University, then did a PhD at St Andrew, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of California. “Every time you move you get further away,” her dad remarked on the phone. “I didn’t feel I would be able to escape unless I did that,” she says.
In 2020, aged 64, Narayanswami finished 423 flight hours she needed to earn her pilot's license. Then she applied to Nasa’s astronaut corps, but received a very appreciative rejection. Even now, at 66, she says “I haven't been able to figure out how to deal with it. It doesn’t go away.” The racist bullying she received as a child has cast a very long shadow.
Flying has helped. It is a workout: she has to tow the plane out to the taxiway. And it offers a different perspective. “I can see eagles, bears, mountain lions, birds of prey. I love the beauty of the clouds. They are like hills. Vaster than our hills,” she says.
New possibilities have arisen—Narayanswami chairs the board of the General Aviation Awards in the US—but she finds relaxing difficult. In flight, she is part of a huge network of people who are communicating by radio frequency. There is no sense of skin colour. We are all tied together by our voices.
1. How did the instructor’s words sound to Narayanswami?| A．Disappointing. | B．Embarrassing. |
| C．Annoying. | D．Encouraging. |
| A．Accepting an aged marriage. | B．Receiving an education. |
| C．Keeping a distance. | D．Making a promise: |
| A．It indicates prejudice against her. | B．It ruins her childhood memory. |
| C．It raises concern for her age. | D．It leaves room for negotiation. |
| A．A good way of relaxation. | B．A different dimension of life. |
| C．A rich knowledge of wildlife. | D．A full exhibition of leadership. |
【推荐3】I fell in love with the minister’s son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese. When I found out that my parents had invited the minister’s family over for Christmas Eve dinner, I cried. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?
On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. She was pulling back lines out of the backs of fleshy prawns. The kitchen was littered with piles of raw food: a fish with bulging eyes begging not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil, a bowl of soaking dried fungus back to life, a plate of squids whose backs were crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires.
And then they arrived — the minister’s family and all my relatives. Robert said hello, and I pretended he was not worthy of existence. Dinner threw me deeper into despair. My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food. Robert and his family waited patiently for plates to be passed to them. My relatives whispered with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed fish. Robert made faces. Then my father poked his chopsticks just below the fish eye and pulled out the soft meat. “Amy, your favourite,” he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear. I remained silent for the rest of the night.
After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside. But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.”
1. The writer felt ________ upon knowing that the minister’s family had been invited over for Christmas Eve dinner.| A．excited | B．worried | C．disappointed | D．confused |
| A．paint a vivid picture of how busy her mother was |
| B．explain the reason why her mother created such a menu |
| C．support the claim that the Christmas menu was strange |
| D．introduce the typical Chinese dishes served on Christmas Eve |
| A．She suffered greatly during the dinner. | B．She hated eating the fish cheek below the eye. |
| C．She regretted not talking more with Robert. | D．She was picky about the Christmas menu. |
| A．To inform her of the cultural gap between the east and the west. |
| B．To share her understanding of the word “shame”. |
| C．To encourage her to become integrated into the local community. |
| D．To urge her to be proud of her Chinese roots. |
