It took place at the Biltmore Hotel. My grandmother, my mother, and I were having lunch after a morning spent shopping. I gladly ordered a Salisbury steak. When brought to the table, it was accompanied by a plate of peas. I do not like peas now. I did not like peas then. I have always hated peas.
“Eat your peas,” my grandmother said.
“Mother,” said my mother in her warning voice. “He doesn't like peas. Leave him alone.”
My grandmother did not reply, but leaned in my direction, looked me in the eye, and spoke out the fateful words that changed my life, “I’ll pay you five dollars if you eat those peas.”
I only knew that five dollars was a huge, nearly unimaginable amount of money, and awful as peas were, only one plate of them stood between me and the possession of that five dollars. I began to force them down my throat.
My mother looked livid (铁青色的). My grandmother had a self-satisfied look and said, “I can do what I want, Ellen, and you can't stop me.” My mother glared at her mother. She glared at me. No one can glare like my mother. If there were a glaring Olympics, she would undoubtedly win the gold medal.
I, of course, kept shoving peas down my throat, and every single pea made me want to throw up, but the magical image of the five dollars floated before me, and I finally swallowed every last one of them. My grandmother handed me the five dollars with satisfaction. My mother continued to glare in silence.
That night, at dinner, my mother served two of my all-time favorite foods, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Along with them came a big, steaming bowl of peas. She offered me some peas, and of course I declined. My mother fixed me with a cold eye as she heaped（堆积) a huge pile of peas onto my plate. Then came the words that were to haunt (萦绕) me for years. “You ate them for money,” she said, “You can eat them for love.”
1. From the passage, we can conclude the mother’s attitude towards the author is .| A．sympathetic but disappointed | B．annoyed but satisfied |
| C．sympathetic and scared | D．scared and disappointed |
| A．regarded these words as dangerous |
| B．didn't expect it to be so influential |
| C．believed in the existence of fate (命运) |
| D．knew they would change his life |
| A．the way her son ate the peas was harmful to his health |
| B．she had lost face for losing the competition of glaring |
| C．her son shouldn’t have had peas because of money |
| D．her mother shouldn’t have been so kind to her son |
| A．A powerful mother and a more powerful grandmother. |
| B．An argument caused by a plate of peas. |
| C．A choice between money and love. |
| D．The haunting of a plate of peas. |
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【推荐1】One evening last summer, when I asked my 17-year-old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response took me by surprise. “What’s a colander (漏勺)?” he asked.
I could only blame myself. In the family, nobody’s hands went in the sauce except my own. But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn’t prepared Ray for. I felt confident that I’d raised a self-reliant boy, as we all try to do. But could he boil water? Suddenly it hit me: He’d be leaving the house in a year to attend college. No way was I going to send a spoiled prince into the world.
As parents, while we focus on our children’ s confidence and character, we perhaps don’t always consider that we are also raising someone’s future roommate, boyfriend, husband, or father. I wanted to know that I’d raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, “What’s for dinner?” So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course. I was delighted to find that he didn’t say no.
For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine. One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting. Then he rolled out the piecrust and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven.
Grandparents being tailors, Ray was genetically programmed to quickly master the basics like refastening a button. One day we covered Advanced Laundry, in which I taught him never to mix a red sweatshirt with white or put sweaters in the dryer. I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother — he tried to beg off sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive — but it couldn’t be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping. “I appreciate what you do as a mom,” he told me one day.
Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there’s nothing masculine (男子气概的) about being helpless. Not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family. That’s what I call a man.
1. Hearing her son’s question, the author felt ______.| A．angry | B．shocked |
| C．disappointed | D．calm |
| A．Ray made great progress in cooking. |
| B．Ray preferred sewing to cooking. |
| C．Ray was unwilling to take the course initially. |
| D．Ray always thought it attractive to do housework. |
| A．fell in love with housework |
| B．did other work in the house |
| C．acknowledged his mother’s efforts |
| D．began to be more independent |
| A．Are women Programmed for Housework? |
| B．Should Boys be Involved in Housework? |
| C．I’m Proud of My Private Cooking Course |
| D．A Present for My Future Daughter-in-law |
I spent that summer and autumn riding happily．My sister Liz, a prisoner（囚犯，俘虏） of her five-speed bicycle, never had a chance to keep up．Just before the Christmas deadline to pay my dad back, we were hit with several snowstorms．This allowed me to shovel enough driveways （车道） to pay off my debt．I was now officially a bike owner; it was a feeling unlike any other．
On that Christmas morning, my dad gave me a used portable （便携式的） record player．I was excited．However, my joy was short-lived after my dad called my sister to the kitchen．“We have one more gift for you．” he said as he opened the door that led to the garage．There, on the steps, stood a new ten-speed bicycle．
“It’s not fair,” I complained．“I worked so hard for my bike．and it’s not even new．Then Liz gets a new bike．She didn’t have to do anything for it．” My dad smiled．“She didn’t have to do anything for it because
By spring Liz and I were riding all over town together now that she could keep up．As we grew, Liz and I became true friends．
Still I wasn’t smart enough to figure out what my dad meant until years later．That new bike was not a gift for Liz — it was a gift for me．He’d given me the gift of my sister’s company, the ability to stay together rather than drift apart （逐渐疏远） in the face of my ability to travel．He gave me my best friend．
1. What do we know about the author’s bike?
| A．It was worth $120． |
| B．Allen bought it for him． |
| C．It was very fashionable． |
| D．He didn’t like it actually． |
| A．He had paid off his debt． |
| B．He had learned to ride a bike． |
| C．He could also own Liz’s bike． |
| D．He could sell his bike to Liz． |
| A．His sister got a new record player． |
| B．His father didn’t care about him． |
| C．The record player wasn’t new． |
| D．His sister got a better gift． |
| A．moved | B．satisfied |
| C．puzzled | D．disappointed |
| A．the new bike actually belonged to him |
| B．the new bike wasn’t bought by his father |
| C．his father actually gave him a more valuable gift |
| D．his father loved his sister more as a matter of fact |
【推荐3】I'm Alice. When 1 was young, my mother made the same dish five nights a week because we were low on cash. She boiled potatoes, carrots, and sometimes, other vegetables on the kitchen stove. Only small amounts of the roast beef that she cooked once a week were added to the bowls. She called it stew(炖菜).
I would hear other children talk about hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes from fast food restaurants, which were expensive at the time. I wished we could eat like that once in a while, but my parents couldn't afford it.
But I look back and I think how blessed I was. My mom took the time to prepare the stew nearly every night. Her portions were right——focusing on the vegetables and not on the meat——and we weren't eating the fat and salt we would have had in take-out food.
I had a lot fewer head colds and flus than my classmates then. If 1 did get sick, I'd be home for a day or two, not a whole week like many of them. Though I became ill more often in my thirties, I have to admit I'd been eating lots of fast food, making up for not getting it as a child. But when I went back to prepare homemade meals without those extra fat and salt, I started to feel healthier.
Today I often find myself enjoying a bowl of my mother's stew. I realize how lucky I was to have a mother who would like to take the time to prepare the slew for her family five evenings a week. That stew was made with love and it has left me with a memory that will warm me forever.
1. Why did Alice's mother cook the stew nearly every night when she was young?| A．Because it was a balanced meal. | B．Because it was their favorite. |
| C．Because it was easily cooked. | D．Because it might cost less. |
| A．To show us how to cook the stew. | B．To explain the effects the stew has on her. |
| C．To tell us how great her mother is. | D．To warn us of the danger of fast food. |
| A．Caring | B．Strict. | C．Humorous. | D．Cautious |
| A．My Mothers Daughter | B．My Unforgettable Childhood |
| C．Grateful for the Stew | D．Serving Food and Kindness |
【推荐1】Many disaster-relief programs transport tons of supplies, such as food, water and heavy equipment, by road using large trucks. But some supplies may weigh just a few kilograms or less. For example, a package might contain a few doses of life-saving medicine.
The parachutes (降落伞) that carry these packages from planes are often made of nylon (尼龙). After one use, these parachutes are usually discarded. Because nylon is a polymer (聚合物), it does not decompose quickly. Therefore, Natalie looked for a greener alternative.
Nylon is strong, but a parachute used only once for light packages does not need to be that strong. Paper might be good enough, thought the teen. Plus, a paper parachute can be folded into a tiny package, just like a fabric parachute. Moreover, she notes there are many different ways to fold the unopened paper parachute.
Natalie came up with several folded designs and tested them. Her first models were small, so she could test them indoors. Two were triangular (三角形的). Two more were rectangular (长方形的). One of the rectangular ones opened most smoothly, she found. It also fell and landed most steadily as it dropped through the air. “Such features can be important when the goal is to deliver a package to the ground softly and accurately,” she says.
Natalie showcased her designs at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Natalie’s single-use paper parachutes are not harmful to the environment. They are also less expensive than parachutes made from more traditional materials. A nylon parachute of the same size as her design would cost about $31, she says. One made from silk, another common parachute fabric, would cost almost $16. But a parachute made from paper would likely cost less than $1, Natalie estimates.
1. Why are many relief supplies mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To list an example. | B．To answer a question. | C．To lead in the topic. | D．To make a comparison. |
| A．Go bad. | B．Break down. | C．Run away. | D．Bend down. |
| A．A small one. | B．A big one. | C．A rectangular one. | D．A triangular one. |
| A．Reducing Environmental Impact with Paper Parachutes |
| B．Eco-friendly Paper Parachutes for Disaster Relief |
| C．The High Cost of Traditional Parachutes |
| D．A Teen’s Quest for Better Disaster Relief |
【推荐2】I was having a great morning until I sat down in front of my office computer. “Your password has run out,” a server message flashed on my screen, with instructions for changing it. Coming up with a new code doesn’t seem like a big deal unless you work at my company, where we have to change it monthly, using at least one uppercase (大写的) character, one lowercase character, one symbol, and one number. Oh, and the whole thing can’t be fewer than eight characters. And I can’t use any of the same passwords I’ve used in the past three months.
Suddenly I was cross. What didn’t make it any better was that I was deeply depressed after my recent divorce. The flashing cursor (光标) was still waiting for me to type a password that I’d have to re-enter many times for the next 30 days. I remembered a tip from my former boss: I’m going to use a password to change my life.
I decided to choose a password, which would remind me that I shouldn’t let myself be a victim of my recent breakup and that I was strong enough to do something about it. I made my password Forgive@h3r.
I had to type this statement several times a day. Each time my computer would lock. Each time my screen saver with her photo would appear. Each time I would come back from eating lunch alone. In my mind, I wrote “forgive her” every day.
The simple action changed the way I looked at my ex-wife. That constant reminder led me to accept the way things had happened at the end of my marriage and adopt a new way of dealing with my depression. As the month wore on, I felt slow healing began to take place. By the time my server reminded me to reset my password the following month, I felt free.
1. According to the author’s company, which code is suitable?| A．never2&late | B．lu#Life |
| C．HEALTHY*keeping | D．persist@4Ever |
| A．Nervous. | B．Curious. | C．Anxious. | D．Angry. |
| A．To make it easier for him to remember. |
| B．To protect his computer against hacker attacks. |
| C．To reduce his frustration of the recent divorce. |
| D．To inform people of the importance of forgiveness. |
| A．How a Password Changed My Life |
| B．What an Unsuccessful Marriage Taught Me |
| C．Learn the Best Way to Deal with Depression |
| D．Choose a Suitable Password for Your Computer |
【推荐3】Four months into my second faculty job, I was shocked that I had to record the hours I’d worked. At first, I was annoyed that I had to waste my time on such a boring task. But the practice of writing down my work hours is surprisingly inspiring, sending me down a path to better work-life balance.
In my study, I always believed I could perform better with extra effort. My research never felt finished, and I had no idea how many hours I was supposed to work. That made it easy to go down rabbit holes and work more hours than necessary. When I started my first faculty position, my contract stated that I work anywhere from 36 to 48 hours per week. But my teaching and administrative workloads were so high that I regularly reached the 48-hour mark. There was a long time during my first faculty job when my children didn’t see me enough.
In my second faculty position, I expected that my work hours would again be my business. So when I was told to track them, I was surprised. But anyway I decided to keep careful track of my hours, even noting breaks.
I’m glad I did, because the data have completely changed my view of work-life balance. With my tracking, I’ve found that I generally accumulate one week of overtime every two to three months. So now, every time I reach that milestone, I take a few days or even a whole week off. I spend that time at home with my family, or use the days to take a longer vacation. The breaks have improved my happiness and job satisfaction.
The data also help ease any guilt that I may have otherwise felt if taking time off. I still have deadlines, position requirements, and the pressure to publish papers. And I still work a lot, sometimes even on weekends. But I now know how much I work-and that I deserve the time off.
1. How did the author first react to recording working time?| A．She disliked it. | B．She followed it readily. |
| C．She thought it rewarding. | D．She wanted to improve it. |
| A．It increased her confidence. | B．Its working hours were fixed. |
| C．It occupied her too much time. | D．It changed her view on teaching. |
| A．A promotion. | B．More personal time. |
| C．No extra work on weekends. | D．Greater academic success. |
| A．Rabbit holes | B．Work-life balance |
| C．Clocking your work | D．Taking time off work |
