Getting out of my car one evening in late January, I met my neighbor Theresa, who had seen me drive in. “Mrs Taylor is in the hospital again,” she said. “I thought you’d like to know.” I had last seen Mrs Taylor a day or two before Christmas when I took her a little loaf of pumpkin bread, and she came from the backroom in her wheelchair to talk with me. Mrs Taylor and I had been neighbors for 17 years. I remember the dog she and her husband used to have. They called him Beau. He greeted everyone who walked by, and Mr Taylor loved him.
Most of my conversations with Mrs Taylor had been incidental — visits by the mailbox, running into one another at the gas station where she helped me put air in my tire, quiet talks at the funeral home where we went to honor the memory of a mutual (相互的) friend.
When my husband and I moved here with our four noisy, laughing kids, it must have seemed as if the peaceful quiet of the neighborhood had been forever broken. But we showed our enthusiasm to the neighbors sincerely although we had little in common with the mostly elderly folks on our street. Over the years they helped us love our children, picking them up when a bicycle overturned and sending the kids cards for their graduation. We have enjoyed the comfort of living beside people who help us if our tree falls on the fence and feed the cat when we’re away.
Mrs Taylor did not survive her latest set-back. Once again I walked into the funeral home to say good-bye to a neighbor. I remembered the barking dog, the chats by the mailbox, the friendly wave across the fence. I remembered, and I was sad, but I had no regrets. Now there is a new family moving into the Taylor place. I see children’s toys in the yard. It’s time to take a walk.
1. What can we know according to the first paragraph?| A．Mrs Taylor has a big and happy family. |
| B．The author likes Mrs Taylor’s dog very much. |
| C．The author would like to know Mrs Taylor is in the hospital. |
| D．Mrs Taylor had been in poor health before Theresa told the author. |
| A．Helpful. | B．Unprepared. | C．Unpleasant. | D．Delightful. |
| A．She let her children be less noisy and naughty. |
| B．She tried to know more elderly folks in her street. |
| C．She treated everyone in the neighborhood warmly. |
| D．She enjoyed the comfort of living beside neighbors. |
| A．The True Neighbor | B．Gratitude to my neighbor |
| C．Mrs Taylor — A Respectable Woman | D．Expectation for New Neighbor |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】“What is success?” Mr Gruber asked in his 6th grade business class. It was his opening conversation for the first class of the term.
“Success is riding in a sweet car, watching an 80 - inch TV, and living in a place with at least twelve rooms.” One student answered, earning laughs from all the students. Mr Gruber smiled, but shook his head. “Tom, that is excess (过量). That is not success. ”
“How about being able to provide for your family?” A blonde girl named Sandy in the front suggested as an answer.
“Now we’re getting closer,” Mr Gruber smiled, “but try thinking about what you need and what you want.”
“Getting everything you want.” Tom shouted out an answer again, trying for more laughs.
Mr Gruber sighed.“I believe we've already talked about excess versus (与……比较) success.”
“Getting everything you need, but some of what you want?” James, sitting in the back wondered aloud. “Quite right!” Mr Gruber clapped. “Success is getting everything you need and some of what you want. The more you get that you want, the more successful you are. You do reach a point where you are living in excess, though.”
“What does this have to do with business?” Tom asked. It seemed if it wasn't funny, he wasn't happy. “Well, Tom, think of it this way: the point of business is to make a living to support your family. Once you have properly seen to their needs, you can then see to getting the extras that you want. ”
“What if I don't have a family?” he continued to be difficult.
“Then you have to provide for yourself, a family of one. ”
“He has goldfish to think about!” Peter, Tom's friend, shouted out.
“Then he needs to provide for a family of one with a fishbowl. ” Mr. Gruber corrected himself. Tom nodded, satisfied with that answer. “So in the next nine weeks, we're going to study basic business situations, like having a checking account and understanding credit cards.” Tom rubbed his hands together excitedly. “When do we get to start spending?”
“You already are, Tom. You're spending time with us!” Mr. Gruber laughed. “Now, let's see what you guys know about credit card. . . ”
1. Which student didn't seem to be taking the class seriously?| A．Tom | B．James | C．Peter | D．Sandy |
| A．He himself kept talking | B．He just read from a textbook |
| C．He showed a movie to his students | D．He got his students to take part in a discussion |
| A．Strange | B．Patient | C．Shy | D．Proud |
| A．Get What You Want | B．Needs and Wants |
| C．Try to Get More Money | D．How to Live Well |
【推荐2】A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms (习语), though my teacher emphasized (强调) the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You don’t say!” “You don’t say!” I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not an appropriate topic (适当的话题). “Well, I’d better change the topic.” So I said to him. “Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?” “Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was magnificent.” He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. “The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it.” Soon I was interrupted again by his words: “You don’t say!” I couldn’t help asking, “Why do you ask me not to talk about it?” “Well, I didn’t request you to do so,” he answered, greatly surprised. I said, “Didn’t you say ‘you don’t say’?” Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, “You don’t say’ actually means ‘really!’ It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don’t pay attention to English idioms.” Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself.
Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions. Remember: what the English teachers said is always right to us students.
1. At first, when I heard “You don’t say”, I thought the foreigner meant __________.| A．he was only interested in the Great Wall | B．I had talked too much |
| C．he was not interested in the topic | D．I had to stop talking |
| A．laughed at | B．attacked |
| C．organized | D．stopped |
| A．The Englishman left China without seeing the Great Wall. |
| B．The Englishman visited the Great Wall and thought it worth visiting. |
| C．The Englishman wanted me to act as his guide. |
| D．The Englishman wanted to see the Great Wall after I talked about it. |
| A．I became more careful with everything to do with English idioms |
| B．the Englishman became a real food. |
| C．I felt very peaceful |
| D．I thought the Englishman had made me a fool |
【推荐3】I would mention a journey I made through France the summer after I graduated from college. I had just finished a seasonal job in Paris and was slowly making my way to Greece, where I was to live and teach for a year at Athens College. A business associate of my father’s in Pontarlier, an industrial town near France’s border with Switzerland,said that he was driving to join his family on the Mediterranean and would be happy to give me a lift.
I joined him in Pontarlier,and we climbed into his luxury Peugeot and set south for Marseille. This man — Mr.D., I’ll call him — was wealthy and fancied himself a connoisseur (鉴赏家) of great French food and wine. Like many Frenchmen, he also fancied himself something of a philosopher, and what could be better for a philosopher than a young, attentive, and captive listener?
So he idled (使闲着) us south, stretching what today could be a 10-hour highway drive into a multiple-day moveable feast by taking the most scenic and snail’s-paced-country lanes, stopping at great restaurants whenever the mood struck him, which was often, and discoursing (讲述) lovingly and at length on everything from language to politics to women.
How could I complain? I was getting a ride to the Cote d’Azur — which danced all blue-green sea and sun-bright sand in my mind — in the air-conditioned comfort of an elegant Peugeot, and receiving a first-class education in French cuisine, and all for free!
I recall that journey now as a range of images — long, straight, tree-bordered roads and Van Gogh fields，Renoir afternoons of dappled (斑驳的) sunlight and shade, rocky restaurant balconies bordered with bright flowers, laughter and the clink of glasses and the music of French filling the air. I remember drinking a great deal of what seemed to my uneducated nose and mouth to be extraordinarily flavourful red wine.
Eventually we reached Marseille and parted company — both of us, I think, happy for the journey and for its end. In the following years, when summer arrives, I think of road trips.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic of road trips. |
| B．To stress the author’s preference for summer road trips. |
| C．To offer some basic information of a road trip. |
| D．To show the author’s purpose of a special road trip. |
| A．He has a great talent for doing business. |
| B．He considers himself an expert in a certain field. |
| C．He is rather wealthy and a good listener. |
| D．He is a philosopher fond of educating people. |
| A．Impressive and eye-opening. | B．Unforgettable but short. |
| C．Instructive and classic. | D．Inspiring but tiring. |
| A．He missed Mr.D.very much. |
| B．He can’t help associating road trips with summer. |
| C．He made road trips with his family every summer. |
| D．He planned road trips with Mr.D. in the following summers. |
【推荐1】Mom and I were about to finish cooking dinner, and my little niece Jessica came in to set the table. Instead of going to the dish drawer, she went to the pantry where there was a stack of old, mismatched dinner plates on the bottom shelf.
Mom worked for the local Council on Aging as a housekeeper. She did many of the little things that allowed elderly people to stay in their own homes. Most of her clients (客户) got Meals on Wheels, a service in the 1970s. They received a hot lunch and a cold snack to have later in the evening. This is really not very much food. Every evening Mom would make to-go meals on these mismatched plates covered with aluminum foil (铝箔纸), and then deliver them to the people who she knew didn’t get enough to eat.
It was about ten years before microwave ovens became common, so it was important that the food be on a plate that could be reheated in a regular oven. Instead of a cold sandwich and macaroni salad, Mom’s clients dined on Beef Manhattans, pan-fried chicken or meatloaf, along with veggies and a piece of pie or cake. Mom and Dad did this even after Mom left her job, and Mom continued after Dad’s death until all her former clients had either passed away or moved out.
When I was cleaning out Mom’s house after her death, I kept one as a souvenir (纪念品). Whenever I look at it, I will always remember the lessons of unselfishness and caring for one’s neighbors that were modeled for me by my parents.
1. What did the author’s mother do to earn a living in the 1970s?| A．She was a housewife. | B．She ran Meals on Wheels. |
| C．She delivered food to houses. | D．She did housework for the old. |
| A．It was her job. | B．She was good at cooking. |
| C．She wanted to help beyond her duty. | D．Her family didn’t have enough to eat. |
| A．Kind and considerate. | B．Thoughtful and creative. |
| C．Responsible and proud. | D．Traditional and hardworking. |
| A．She would sell out all her mother’s old plates. |
| B．She would do nice things for her community. |
| C．She would run a restaurant for the homeless. |
| D．She would become a client in the Meals on Wheels. |
【推荐2】My beautiful new watch had run eighteen months without losing or gaining. But at last, one night, I forgot to wind it up and it stopped running. The next day I stepped into the jeweler’s to set it by the exact time, and the head of the shop started to set it for me. Then he said, “She is four minutes slow — regulator wants pushing up.” I tried to stop him — tried to make him understand that the watch kept perfect time. But no; he calmly and cruelly did the shameful deed.
My watch began to gain. It gained faster and faster day by day. Finally, I took it to the watchmaker to be regulated. He forced the watch open, and then said it wanted cleaning and oiling, besides regulating. After this, my watch slowed down to an unbearable degree. I began to miss trains and my dinner.
At last, I took this instrument to another watchmaker. He said the kingbolt was broken. To tell the truth, I had no conception what the kingbolt was. He repaired it, but what the watch gained in one way it lost in another. It would run awhile and then stop awhile, and so on.
So, I went with a heavy heart to one more watchmaker. While I waited and looked around, I presently recognized in this watchmaker an old acquaintance — a steamboat engineer of older days, and not a good engineer, either.
“She makes too much steam and…” he said.
I gave him a heavy blow on the head and ran away.
My uncle William used to say that a good watch was a good watch until the repairers got a chance to look at it. And he used to wonder what became of all the unsuccessful repairmen, and shoemakers, and engineers, and blacksmiths, and governors, and school-principals; but nobody could ever tell him.
1. What did the author say about the jeweler?| A．He was a quiet repairman. | B．He had a hearing problem. |
| C．He had a quick mind. | D．He made a mistake. |
| A．It was unbelievably slow. | B．It ran awhile and stopped awhile. |
| C．It kept perfect time. | D．It gained faster and faster. |
| A．He was an old enemy of the author. | B．He treated the watch cruelly. |
| C．He was talking nonsense. | D．He was a liar. |
| A．Repair work was a complicated job. |
| B．Never get a watch repaired. |
| C．Successful people exist in all walks of life. |
| D．He should listen to his uncle. |
【推荐3】Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your address from there in a telegram (电报)," his wife said. "All right," Dick answered.
He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.
In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."
He found a taxi (出租车) and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.
"Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office."
1. Dick flew to New York because ___.| A．he went there for a holiday | B．he had work there |
| C．he went there for sightseeing (观光) | D．his home was there |
| A．Because she didn't know his address yet |
| B．Because she wanted to go to New York, too |
| C．Because she might send him another telegram |
| D．Because she couldn't leave her husband by himself in New York |
| A．In the center of the city. | B．In a hotel. |
| C．In a restaurant. | D．At his friend's house. |
| A．The manager (经理) of his hotel. | B．The police office. |
| C．The taxi driver. | D．His wife. |
| A．Dick stayed at a nice hotel in the center of the city. |
| B．Dick didn't work on the first night of his arrival. |
| C．Dick forgot to send his wife a telegram. |
| D．Dick wanted to go back to his hotel |
