1 . Easy reading is hard writing

In an interview with The Daily Beast Last year, Maya Angelou, an American author and poet, discussed her writing career and her daily work habits.

I keep a hotel room in my hometown and pay for it by the month. I go around 6:30 in the morning. I have a bedroom, with a bed, a table, and a bath. I have Roget's Thesaurus =, which is a dictionary, and the Bible. Usually, a deck of cards and some crossword puzzles. Something to occupy my “little mind”. I think my grandmother taught me that. She didn't mean to, but she used to talk about her “little mind” . So when I was young, from the time I was about 3 until 13, I decided that there was a “big mind”and a “little mind”. And the “big mind”would allow you to consider deep thoughts, but the “little mind” would occupy you, so you could not be distracted. It would work at crossword puzzles or play cards, while the “big mind” would delve（探究） deep into the subjects I wanted to write about.

I have all the paintings and any decoration taken out of the room. I ask the management and housekeeping not to enter the room, just in case I've thrown a piece of paper on the floor. I don’t want it discarded（丢弃）. About every two months I get a note slipped under the door. “Dear Ms. Angelou, please let us change the bed sheet. We think it may be moldy（发霉的）!”

But I've never slept there. I am usually out of there by 2. And then I go home and I read what I've written that morning, and I tried to edit them.

Easy reading is hard writing. But if it's right, it's easy. It's the other way round, too. If it's carelessly written, then it's hard to read. It doesn't give the reader what the careful writer can give the reader.

1. What usually occupies Maya Angelou's “little mind”?

A．The Bible.

B．Her dictionary.

C．Her hotel room.

D．Crossword puzzles.

2. Why does Maya Angelou not allow the housekeeping into her room?

A．She thinks that they will ask for something from her.

B．She fears that they may clear up her writing.

C．Her grandmother can help her with the cleaning.

D．She doesn't sleep there and no cleaning is needed.

3. How does Maya Angelou like easy writing?

A．It is fun to read.

B．It is easy to read.

C．It is hard to read.

D．It is no use reading.

4. Where does Maya Angelou edit her writing?

A．At home.

B．In the hotel.

C．At a library.

D．In her grandmother's house.

2 . Facebook appears to be extending its controversial (有争议的) colored posts to comments. The company is testing a feature that would allow users to comment in a variety of different colors. Much like the colored-post feature, this is allowing users to choose from a variety of background colors to overlay (覆盖) their comments on.

Facebook confirmed the test, telling The Next Web, “We’re always exploring new ways for people to connect and have conversations, so we are testing new features on comments.”

Facebook users, however, don’t seem to be interested in the new color choices. Comments regarding the new feature on Twitter were negative overall.

Last December, Facebook first started introducing colored posts with a feature that allows users to choose colors for their text. While it appears to be an image, it’s actually still in text form and the text can be highlighted and copied.

“We’re making people’s text posts more visual,” a Facebook spokesman said.

Starting today, people can update the background color of their text-only posts on Android. The feature’s latest update lets users choose a background color.

“Whether you’re looking for vacation recommendations or informing a group of the address for a party, the text-based feature allows you to update your contacts in a fun and personal way,” the spokesperson said.

Giving users a more customized (定制的) way to share updates is likely part of Facebook’s strategy to get users back to posting more updates personal to themselves.

As videos and news articles have begun taking up more of people’s needs, people have become less comfortable posting their own, raw content among the professional videos, photos and writing.

1. What does Facebook want to do?

A．To make its posts meaningful.

B．To make comments colorful.

C．To allow its users to comment.

D．To forbid users’ comments about posts.

2. What’s Facebook’s users’ attitude toward its new strategy in general?

A．Strange.

B．Enthusiastic.

C．Supportive.

D．Critical.

3. What does the spokesman of Facebook think of its new strategy?

A．It will have unexpected effects.

B．It costs the company a lot of money.

C．It will be fun and personal for the users.

D．It provides the only customized way to chat.

4. What is Facebook’s new strategy for?

A．To make the comments easier to understand.

B．To let people make more friends through it.

C．To make it the most popular chatting website.

D．To attract its users to make more personal posts.

3 . Sunflowers are something most of us usually think about in August, but with the arrival of the seed catalogs(分类), winter is a good time to start thinking about which ones you might want to grow this coming year. Most gardeners are familiar with the tall giant sunflowers. But there are three or four dozen other varieties.

First, you need to understand that sunflowers don’t all bloom at the same time. In my trials I grouped. them according to bloom time. Early means they bloom in late July or early August. The mid-season ones bloom in mid-August. The late season sunflowers usually flower from late August to early September.

For the early sunflowers, in my trials Pacino was one of the best one year, but was not as striking this past year. It has yellow flowers, about four inches across, and is about two fee high. Other low-growing, early choices are the yellow Sunspot, Del Sol, or Dwarf Yellow Spray. The latter has a lot of branches as its name indicates. Double Dandy is an early, low, red and yellow combination.

For the mid-season choices, this past year my best performers included three varieties that attain heights of five feet—the red-orange Claret, the strikingly dark red Moulin Rouge, and the gold Sunny. Two four-foot sunflowers that I’d recommend for home gardens are the red-yellow combination Ring of Fire, an All-America Selections Award winner, Lemonade, with its interesting mix of light and yellow petals(花瓣).

If you are looking for a late season variety, my favorite is Titanic, a double gold, four-foot tall variety that bloomed much of September and into October in my trials this past year. Other good choices include the light yellow Valentine, the gold Soraya, and the double gold Giant Sungold. This winter, as you leaf through(翻阅) the seed catalogs as the the snow gently falls outside your window, think about summer sunflowers. Thoughts of these flowers are sure to warm the coldest of winter days.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．There are many different varieties of sunflowers.

B．The writer likes the tall giant sunflowers best.

C．You can try to grow sunflowers in winter.

D．Sunflowers only bloom in August.

2. Which kind of sunflower may you see in late July or early August?

A．Sunny.	B．Claret.
C．Moulin Rouge.	D．Dwarf Yellow Spray.

3. What do we know about “Ring of Fire” from the text?

A．It is two feet high and about four inches across.

B．The color of it is a combination of red and yellow.

C．It can only be planted in the southern areas of America.

D．It usually blooms much of September and into October.

4. How many kinds of late sunflowers are mentioned in the text?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.