1 . My 7-year-old daughter Leeny always has her nose in a book. She even took to reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, which was where she lost the book. This is the first lost library book in my life. My family has always been over-educated, but we were poor. I didn’t own books. I borrowed books. However, my daughters have more books now than I owned my whole childhood, and I knowingly contribute to it by adding to the stacks (堆). So it’s probably my fault that when Leeny realized she had lost the book, she shrugged. “Sorry. I can’t find it,” she said. “It’s only $20, right? What’s the big deal?”
I felt the need to make her feel responsible for the book. She agreed to help me clean the chicken coop (笼子) in trade for my paying the library fine. I thought this idea was very clever because cleaning the coop is some work I had been avoiding for months. It was summertime and dust floated in the air. But my girl, my animal-loving mini-me, thought shoveling chicken poop (铲鸡粪) was the most fun she’d had on a Saturday morning in a long time. She didn’t feel any of the emotions that punishment is supposed to introduce. In fact, she looked as if she might lose another on purpose in order to clean the coop again. I stood, somewhat dumbfounded (目瞪口呆的), watching her.
It took me a while to realize what had happened, why my punishment had failed so completely and why I didn’t care. The fact is that I had Leeny help me clean the chicken coop. I was there, too, shoveling chicken poop, fetching the clean straw and feed. Leen’s little sister, Vicki, was inside watching a cartoon while my husband paid bills. Only Leeny and I were outside. She had me all to herself for the first time since Vicki was born, and she was enjoying all the attention for once. I don’t know what she learned about responsibility, but I found that I didn’t care about the book any more. We bonded over that unpleasant job and spent quality time together: mother, daughter, and chicken poop.
1. How did Leeny find reading?| A．It was very challenging. | B．It was of great value. |
| C．It was full of enjoyment. | D．It cost a large fortune. |
| A．The author didn’t own many books. |
| B．Leeny feel irresponsible for the lost book. |
| C．The author’s daughters own too many books. |
| D．The author could never have enough books to read. |
| A．Ashamed. | B．Astonished. | C．Embarrassed. | D．Upset. |
| A．What I owe to Leeny is more attention. |
| B．My punishment failed, but I didn’t care. |
| C．My daughter drove me crazy, but I felt grateful. |
| D．What my daughter loves is cleaning chicken coops. |
2 . Why are people taking pictures of their faces, their hobbies and their food? Why do we capture every single moment?
The special thing about photography is that we can capture moments anywhere and anytime. All we need for this is our smartphone—something that rarely leaves our side.
Every picture you take is a personal story. There is no painting without context(背景). However, unlike a painting, you don’t need to spend hours of your time on it.
If you prefer to share your pictures with the world, you can also get immediate feedback(反馈).
The most amazing thing for me is without question the ability to capture every single click of a button.
| A．It is a way to allow each of you to become an artist. |
| B．It is a way to express yourself through different photographs. |
| C．This enables me to remember every experience as it happens. |
| D．Camera phones allow us to upload our pictures in a few seconds. |
| E．Compared to other forms of visual art, you don’t need any special talent for it. |
| F．I can’t really give you an answer, because I also like taking photos of everything. |
| G．Photography is an amazing tool to appreciate the world around us and to stay in the moment. |
3 . Christy and Ted Wilson set aside time every Sunday evening to go over their shared to-do list. Most of the items are tasks like scheduling doctor appointments and organizing play dates for their three young children.
In every relationship, there’s a question of who is pulling their weight around the house. Now that a majority of married-couple families have two working parents, the old “rough day at the office” excuse doesn’t really cut it.
Women still handle more of the household activities, but men increasingly are spending time on food preparation and cleanup. To keep things fair or at least to avoid fights, couples are turning to technology. They are using project management apps designed for the workplace to divide up and track household to-dos and reserving a portion of their date nights to compare chores. In some cases, they are even turning it into a game, setting rewards for getting things done.
The imbalance doesn’t always follow gender lines (性别界线). There was a time when Mr. Wilson was in more of a “Mr. Mom” role: He was attending business school, while Mrs. Wilson was clocking long hours as a lawyer. So Mr. Wilson had more flexibility to take on more of the child-care and household-management work. The couple’s roles changed after Mr. Wilson graduated and started an e-commerce company. “We have had a lot of switching back and forth of who was in the driver’s seat in terms of household management so one person wasn’t too put upon,” she said. They began using calendars to keep the family schedules straight and sharing a to-do list in the Notes app on their phones. Each can take on chores the other dislikes.
1. What does the underlined part “pulling their weight around the house” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Taking on the household chores. | B．Sharing the burden of buying a house. |
| C．Running around the house to lose weight. | D．Making excuses for not doing any housework. |
| A．To stop their arguments over dates. | B．To play phone games with each other. |
| C．To share and follow household to-dos. | D．To reward themselves for doing the housework. |
| A．Gender plays a key role in management. |
| B．Couples need to switch their roles each day. |
| C．Digital apps can only handle household arguments. |
| D．Understanding and sharing can help solve problems. |
| A．Ways to finish housework. | B．Advantages of the Notes app. |
| C．A family to-do list goes digital. | D．Working parents face difficulties. |
4 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)
When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.
1. What is Jane Addams noted for in history?| A．Her social work. | B．Her teaching skills. |
| C．Her efforts to win a prize. | D．Her community background. |
| A．Jane Addams. | B．Rachel Carson. |
| C．Sandra Day O’Connor. | D．Rosa Parks. |
| A．They receive higher education. | B．They are truly creative. |
| C．They make great achievements. | D．They are peace-lovers. |
