“Bad luck always comes in three” and last Saturday seemed to prove it. After trouble with the car, the television, we spent the evening waiting for the next trouble.
Shortly after dinner we both smelled smoke.
My wife, who was often careless when cooking, ran to the kitchen but returned looking puzzled. I rushed up the stairs to see smoke coming from under our bedroom door. I went to the bathroom and tied a wet cloth over my face.
Then I returned to the bedroom, opened the door andcrawled (爬) in—there would be less smoke at floor level. With one hand reaching out in front of me I advanced carefully feeling for the switch to turn off the electric blanket.
At that moment I heard the bell of a coming fire engine. Thank goodness my wife had not been wasting her time.
1. The wife rushed into the kitchen because ______.| A．the smoke came out of the kitchen |
| B．she left something in the kitchen |
| C．she was afraid the smoke was caused by her carelessness |
| D．things in the kitchen were easy to cause fire |
| A．the fire | B．the kitchen | C．electricity | D．bad luck |
| A．the wife telephoned the firemen | B．the firemen saw the smoke and came |
| C．thewife was downstairs doing nothing | D．they were in great danger |
| A．an unlucky person will have trouble one after another |
| B．an unlucky person will only have trouble three times |
| C．“THREE” is an unlucky number |
| D．“THREE” always comes with a bad luck. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Children should do housework. That’s a controversial idea, though not everyone will admit it. A few parents will declare that their children are too busy for housework. Many more of us assign housework, or say we believe in them, but the housework just doesn’t get done.
That' s a problem. For starters, housework is good for kids. Being a part of the routine work of running a household helps children develop an awareness of the needs of others, while at the same time contributing to their emotional well-being.
One small study, done over a period of 25 years, found that the best predictor for young adults success in their mid-20s was whether they participated in household tasks at age 3 or 4. Those early shared responsibilities extended to a sense of responsibility in other areas of their lives.
But for all that their help matters, few kids are doing much around the house at all. In a survey of 1, 000 American adults, 75 percent said they believed regular housework made kids "more responsible”. Yet while 82 percent reported having had regular housework growing up, only 56 percent of those with children said they required them to do housework.
Sports and homework are not get-out-of-housework-free cards. The goal, after all, is to raise adults who can balance a caring role in their families and communities with whatever lifetime achievement goals they choose. Housework teaches that balance.
What should you do when getting children to do housework? Accept no excuses. Don’t worry if you must repeat yourself again and again. If you’re spending more time getting the child to do this job than it would take to do it yourself, then you’re doing it right. Can an allowance help? Maybe. But if you’re trying to teach kids to share the responsibility of a home, paying them for routine housework is not the right message.
1. What is most parents’ problem with children doing housework?| A．They are against the idea. | B．They fail to put it into practice. |
| C．They doubt the possibility of it. | D．They are finding excuses for their children. |
| A．To state the reasons for early success. |
| B．To give examples of some successful people. |
| C．To prove doing housework is beneficial. |
| D．To suggest kids take responsibility for their behavior. |
| A．820 | B．560. |
| C．750. | D．440 |
| A．To criticize some irresponsible parents. |
| B．To discuss the impact of a good family atmosphere. |
| C．To advise parents to spend more time with their kids. |
| D．To offer parents some advice on assigning children housework. |
【推荐2】Every summer the heat was miserable. This summer was no exception.
Jamal lay on the porch(门廊), holding a glass of sweet tea to his forehead, trying to absorb some of the cool. It was early afternoon, and his grandmother had lain down for her daily nap.
“Jamal! Jamal!” said Lisa, trying to get his attention.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m going to sort out the attic(阁楼). Want to come?” she asked calmly. Lisa was two years younger than Jamal and was used to being blown off.
“You’re crazy,” Jamal said. “It’s got to be 100 degrees up there, not to mention that it’s dusty and full of spiders and who knows what else.”
“Grandma said that if we see anything we want up there, we can keep it,” said Lisa.
“What makes you think I want any of that old junk?” asked Jamal.
“Suit yourself,” said Lisa. She went to the bedroom to change into old clothes that could get covered in sweat, dust, and possibly dead spiders.
Up in the attic, Lisa began to see Jamal’s point. The heat in the house rose upwards, only to be trapped in the small attic. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust
As Lisa began going through the boxes, she realized that no one had touched them for years. After a couple of hours, Lisa’s back ached, and her shirt was wet through.
“Lisa, honey!” she heard her grandmother call. “Come take a break and have some tea.”
Lisa went downstairs and took a picture with her. “Grandma, is this really you?”
Her grandmother laughed. “What, you can’t believe it? Yes, that’s me; that was taken at my home coming almost sixty years ago.”
“You were beautiful, Grandma,” said Lisa admiringly.
“You’d be surprised, Lisa,” her grandmother responded. “Adults, all of us, were once young and irresponsible like you.”
“I don’t think Mom was ever like that …” said Lisa.
“Your mother…” her grandmother’s voice became low as she carefully chose her words. “When your father died in the service, your mother was still just a girl herself. You were a baby, and Jamal was only two. She had to grow up real fast.”
Lisa nodded. She finished her tea, thanked her grandmother, and turned to go back upstairs.
1. What was Jamal’s attitude towards Lisa’s suggestion of exploring the attic?| A．Enthusiastic. | B．Interested. |
| C．Negative. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Enjoy yourself | B．Please yourself |
| C．Take care of yourself | D．Help yourself |
| A．Lisa’s mother had to drop out of college and start working. |
| B．Lisa’s mother had to become carefree and irresponsible very quickly. |
| C．Lisa’s mother had to become responsible and mature very quickly. |
| D．Lisa’s mother had to take on more responsibility than she was able to handle. |
| A．Lisa found her mother’s love letters. |
| B．Lisa found nothing important but junk. |
| C．Lisa found a box of spiders and was scared to death. |
| D．Lisa found something about her mother’s miserable childhood. |
【推荐3】I always pictured myself graduating from college, getting a cool job and even having a cute little place of my own. So far, I have a master's degree and the coolest job ever as a physician assistant. But instead of waking up in a pretty apartment, I hear the earlymorning sound of my parents making coffee downstairs.
At 27, I still live with my parents, and I love it.
My decision to live at home was not one of absolute necessity. As a physician assistant, I make a good salary and would be able to live on my own comfortably if I needed to do so. By the time I finished graduate school, I had had a D|S150,000 debt from both undergraduate and graduate education. With several of these loans earning a 7.9% interest rate, my father calculated that my loans were increasing by D|S15 a day in interest alone. At this rate, it would take me 30 years to pay off my student loans, with much of the payment going straight to interest. At last, I decided to live with my parents.
Beyond the endless supply of homecooked meals, the best thing about moving back home is that I am not alone. Several of my physician assistant friends are in the same boat as I am — we are all highly educated, whitecollar employees who live at home. Our coworkers in the medical field think it is a great idea because many of them are facing the same piles of debt. They often say if they could do it all again, they would do the same thing.
There's a stigma (耻辱) that comes along with this arrangement. Some people might assume that we are too lazy to find a job. I don't think my neighbors understand it, as they continually ask me when I am going to graduate and if I am old enough to look after their children. My mom just tells them that I'm successful, welleducated and that I save lives.
I love living at home. Now I've paid off D|S68,000 of my student loans. Our new relationship is symbiotic (共生的). My parents benefit from having an extra set of hands around the house to help with housework and a constant source to explain all popculture references.
1. The author once imagined ________.| A．having her own beautiful house | B．having her parents pay off her loans |
| C．living with her parents after graduation | D．always being taken care of by her parents |
| A．Because she missed them very much. |
| B．Because she couldn't cook by herself. |
| C．Because she needed to repay a huge debt. |
| D．Because she was not able to support herself. |
| A．Critical. | B．Approving. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．they know she is a helpful lady | B．they know she is welleducated |
| C．they think she doesn't have a job | D．they think she is popular with kids |
【推荐1】As 17-year-old Norwood drove through St. Peters-burg, Florida, last February, the laughter and chatter from the four teenage girls inside her car quickly gave way to screams. As they approached a crossing, another car T-boned them, sending their car sailing into the yard of a nearby home, coming to a stop only when it crashed into a tree.
As smoke rose from the other car, a bystander shouted, “It’s about to blow up! Get out!” Shaken, but otherwise OK, she crawled (爬行) out through the window. Along with two of her friends, who’d also managed to free themselves, she ran for her life.
But halfway down the street, she realized that her best friend, Simmons, wasn’t with them. Norwood ran back to the car and found Simmons passed out in the back seat. She threw open the back door and pulled her friend out, avoiding the broken glass as best she could. She dragged Simmons a few feet to safety and laid her on the ground. “I checked her pulse.” Nothing.“I put my head against her chest.” No sign of life. “That’s when I started CPR (心肺复苏术).”
Had the accident happened a few weeks earlier, she might not have known what to do. But Norwood, who wants to pursue a career in medicine, had earned her CPR certificate just the day before. Kneeling on the lawn and looking down at her dying friend, Norwood knew she had precious little time to practice what she’d learned. She started pumping Simmons’s chest and breathing into her friend’s mouth in hopes of filling her lungs with the kiss of life. No response. And then, after the 30th try, Simmons began coughing and gasping for air. The CPR had worked! Soon, the ambulance arrived and rushed Simmons to the hospital, where she received treatment for a cut in her forehead. And then she heard how her best friend had saved her life. “I wasn’t shocked,” Simmons told CNN. “She will always help any way she can.”
1. What happened to Norwood’s car in Florida last February?| A．It lost its way at a crossing. |
| B．It crashed into a nearby building. |
| C．It was hit by another car from the side. |
| D．It stopped in St. Peters- burg as planned. |
| A．To call for help. | B．To check the car. |
| C．To put out the fire. | D．To rescue her friend. |
| A．Norwood was a certificated on- the- job doctor. |
| B．Simmons didn’t come to herself after the CPR. |
| C．Norwood learned how to perform CPR recently. |
| D．Simmons was surprised to be saved by Norwood. |
| A．Calm and dependable. | B．Friendly and selfless. |
| C．Honest and responsible. | D．Helpful and sympathetic. |
【推荐2】Suddenly another thought went through Kate’s mind like an electric shock. An express train was due to go past about thirty minutes later. If it were not stopped, that long train, full of passengers, would fall into the stream. “Someone must go to the station and warn the station-master, ” Kate thought. But who was to go? She would have to go herself. There was no one else.
In wind and rain she started on her difficult way. Soon she was at the bridge that crossed the Des Moines River, a bridge also built of wood, just like the bridge across Honey Creek. The storm had not washed this away, but there was no footpath across it. She would have to cross it by stepping from sleeper (枕木)to sleeper. With great care she began the dangerous crossing, sometimes on her hands and knees, hardly daring to look down between the sleepers into the wild flood waters below. If she should slip, she would fall between the sleepers, into the rapidly flowing stream.
At last -- she never knew how long it had taken her- - she felt solid ground under her feet. But there was no time to rest. She still had to run more than half a mile and had only a few minutes left. Unless she reached the station before the express did, many, many lives would be lost.
She did reach the station just as the train came into sight. Fortunately the station-master was standing outside. “The bridge is down! Stop the train! Oh, please stop it!” Kate shouted breathlessly.
The station-master went pale. He rushed into the station building and came back with a signal light. He waved the red light as the train came into the station. It was not a second too early.
1. What did Kate decide to do?| A．Stop the express train. | B．Check the signal light. |
| C．Meet the passengers. | D．Visit the station-master |
| A．Fruitless. | B．Boring. |
| C．Well-planned. | D．Risky. |
| A．He suddenly fell ill. | B．He realized the danger. |
| C．He discovered his mistake. | D．He became over-excited. |
【推荐3】BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident.
Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates(最新报道)on the rescuers’ progress.
The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a.m-more than three hours after it happened.“It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine.
The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group.
At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4, 800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p.m.Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later.
He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years.The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each.The company has not released the names of the miners.
The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect (remove) the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that.“ We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. High levels of carbon monoxide were discovered shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided(减退), authorities said.
1. According to the passage, we can infer that ________.| A．all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive |
| B．communication with the trapped miners was cut off |
| C．the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time |
| D．the rescue started as soon as the accident happened |
| A．1,000 feet | B．2,400 feet | C．1,200feet | D．4,800feet |
| A．In a magazine. | B．In a newspaper. |
| C．In a science book. | D．On an advertisement. |
E:entrance P: position where the miners were trappe
A． |
B． |
C． |
D． |
【推荐1】There was a boy in India who was sent by his parents to a boarding school(寄宿学校)．Before being sent away this boy was the brightest student in his class．He was at the top in every competition．He was a champion．
But the boy changed after leaving home and attending the boarding school．His grades started dropping．He hated being in a group．He was lonely all the time．And there were especially dark times when he felt like killing himself．All of this was because he felt worthless and that no one loved him．
His parents started worrying about the boy．But they did not know what was wrong with him．So his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him．
They sat on the bank of the lake near the school．The father started asking him casual questions about his classes, teachers and sports．After some time his dad said, “Do you know son, why I am here today？”
The boy answered back, “To check my grades？”
“No, no, ”his dad replied．“I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me．I want to see you happy．I don’t care about grades．I care about you．I care about your happiness．YOU ARE MY LIFE．”
These words caused the boy’s eyes to fill with tears．He hugged his dad．They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time．
Now the boy had everything he wanted．He knew there was someone on this earth who cared about him deeply．He meant the world to someone．And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him sad！
Thanks a lot, dad．YOU ARE MY LIFE．
1. The father went to the boarding school to ．| A．know if his son was still the best student |
| B．find out what was wrong with his son |
| C．ask some questions about his son’s classmates |
| D．talk with the boy’s teacher about his grades |
| A．unimportant | B．strange |
| C．special | D．difficult |
| A．Because his father didn’t care about his grades any more． |
| B．Because he hadn’t had a talk with his father for a long time． |
| C．Because he had a chance to say his worries． |
| D．Because he was deeply moved by his father’s words． |
| A．send a small boy to a boarding school |
| B．care too much about a student’s grades |
| C．pay no attention to the power of caring |
| D．miss the chance to say thanks to our fathers |
【推荐2】When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note—“Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery”—and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories, I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊). Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to ___________.| A．show his magical power | B．pay for the delivery |
| C．satisfy his curiosity | D．please his mother |
| A．He wanted to have tea there. | B．He was a respectable person. |
| C．He was treated as a family member. | D．He was fully trusted by the family. |
| A．Nobody wants to be a milkman now. |
| B．It has been driven out of the market. |
| C．Its service is getting poor. |
| D．It is not allowed by law. |
【推荐3】Posters were stuck everywhere in the school. Soon, it would be time for the charity funfair(游艺集市). Every year, groups of students set up stalls(摊位) during the funfair to raise funds for different charities. It was, without doubt, the most well-received event every year both among the students and the public.
As Betty walked, she found each poster more interesting than the previous one. Excitement built up within Betty. She had participated in the funfair in previous years and each time she and her friends had managed to come up with an interesting item that attracted the most attention. This year would not be an exception. Betty sat down on a seat, running through the preparations for the funfair. Had they bought all the ingredients? What about the gloves? Question after question popped into her head. She bit her nails nervously.
Almost everyone that Betty knew promised to support her. She and her classmates planned to set up a stall selling sushi. Their poster was red and white, with pictures of sushi across it, and there was even some sushi made of clay(粘土) attached to the top of the poster. Photographs of smiling children in wheelchairs were placed around the poster; some were playing sports. The hearts of all those who saw the poster went out to the children. They were determined to buy sushi, which happened to be their favorite food, at the funfair.
However, many people were attracted by another stall, which was going to challenge visitors to brain games. Everyone loved puzzles. Its poster was unlike others－a die(骰子) in the shape of a cube(立方体) was stuck to it. The cube was spinning(旋转), which made everyone take notice. “Hey! Come on, Betty! We’ll be late! You’re not staring at the spinning die, are you? We could make a spinning sushi too!” joked Betty’s best friend. Betty laughed. A spinning die made sense but a spinning sushi would be ridiculous.
After school, every student in the school would have found out about the funfair. Soon, the word would spread to the neighborhood.
1. Which of the following made Betty nervous?| A．Her group’s supporters would be late. |
| B．Her group might have left something out. |
| C．Her group’s poster would not be attractive. |
| D．Her group could not collect enough money. |
| A．They often play sports. |
| B．They would make a spinning sushi. |
| C．They raised money for disabled children. |
| D．They were taking part in the funfair for the first time |
| A．The charity group they supported. |
| B．The bright color of the poster. |
| C．The puzzles they prepared. |
| D．The spinning die. |
| A．Charities need money. |
| B．A funfair is to be held. |
| C．Everyone is welcome to set up their own stall. |
| D．Students has made a spinning die. |
