Next year marks the 150thanniversary of when large numbers of Chinese started working on a huge project in the United States. They help to build America's first transcontinental railroad between 1863 and 1869, connecting the East Coast with the West. People know little about the Chinese railroad workers and what happened to them after the project was finished. Stanford University in California wants to learn more about the lives of these men by reaching out to their families. Bill Yee's ancestors came from southern China. He said, "My great-great-grandfather came to America during the'gold rush'days and he returned to China as a wealthy man. And then my great-grandfather came to work on the railroad and died there." But that did not stop his grandfather from coming to the US on false papers. He operated a laundry. Bill Yee's father continued to run the business and has never returned to China. "Things were pretty bad in some parts of China in the 1860's. They came to America at all costs in order that they no longer had to bear hunger," Bill Yee said. Shelley Fisher Fishkin is helping to direct the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University. She said, "Many of the Chinese workers who came to work on the transcontinental and other railroads returned to China after their work was done and created families there. Some of them settled in America and created new families, but they had families who they left when they came here and they may have descendants in China." There is a need to create a record of the object and spoken history from the families of the railroad workers. "The US could not have become the modern industrial nation without the railroads. And the railroads would not have come together without the work of these Chinese workers," said Shelley Fisher Fishkin. Why did Stanford University carry out the project? A) Because they want to help the Chinese railroad workers' descendants to get together. B) Because they want to show the importance of America's first transcontinental railroad. C) Because they want to learn more about how to build a railroad in the past in America. D) Because they want Americans to remember the Chinese railroad workers' role in US history.
D
When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, they usually talk simultaneously about a variety of subjects, including children, men, careers and what's happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen--they can't do both--and they don't understand that women can. Besides, women consider that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships--not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring at the screen. During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts. Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a means of bonding . A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours. There is no convincing evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls' mothers talked to them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to, and looked at, baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents respond to the brains of their children. Since a girl's brain is better organized to send and receive speech, we therefore talk to them more. Consequently, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually disappointed to... Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A) Women are Socially Trained to Talk B) Talking Maintains Relationships C) Women Love to Talk D) Men Talk Differently from Women
D
Q: As is known to all, color1s appear in every language to express people's feeling and thoughts.Then, what is the situation in American English? Red is a hot color1.Americans may say they are red hot about something unfair.They are red hot when they are very angry about something.The small hot-tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hot for their color1 and their fiery taste.Fast loud music is popular with many people.They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland Jazz. Pink is a lighter kind of red.People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health.The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century.It comes from the fact that many babies are born with nice pink skin that shows that they are in good health. The color1 black is often used in expressions.People describe a day on which everything goes wrong as a black day.People or things on a blacklist are connected with things illegal now.But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations. The color1 green is natural for trees and grass.But it is an unnatural color1 for humans.A person who has a sick feeling in his stomach may say he feels a little green.A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green. Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has.That person may say he is green with envy.Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks.Dollars are called greenbacks because green is the color1 of the back side of the paper money. People use "in the pink" to express they are in good health because _ . A) the expression has a very long history B) the color1 pink makes people feel happy C) people think the color1 pink is gentler than red D) healthy babies are born with nice pink skin
A: D
A young father was visiting an old neighbor. They were standing in the old man's garden,and talking about children. The young man said,"How strict should parents be with their children?" The old man pointed to a string between a big strong tree and a thin young one."Please untie that string," he said.The young man untied it,and the young tree bent over to one side. "Now tie it again,please," said the old man,"but first pull the string tight so that the young tree is straight again." The young man did so.Then the old man said,"There,it is the same with children.You must be strict with them,but sometimes you must untie the string to know how they are getting on. If they are not yet able to stand alone,you must tie the string tight again.But when you find that they are ready to stand alone,you can take the string away." The young man untied the string _ . A) in order to throw it away B) so that both of the trees would grow straight C) only to find that the thinner one bent over to one side D) in order to let the old man teach him
C