It was shortly before midnight, and Dr Patricia was getting ready for bed. The phone rang on the end of the line was a woman about to break a promise. The woman was her mother's neighbour. Flora Harris had made the neighbour swear she wouldn't tell her daughter she'd a heart attack and was in the hospital, for fear her daughter would worry. The neighbour wisely decided to disobey orders. Harris desperately wanted to get to the hospital immediately, but she couldn't. She lives in Washington, D.C, and her mother lives in California. For the past year a half, Harris has gone to Los Angeles every other month to take care of her mother. Flora Harris takes care of her husband, James, who's 91 and has Alzheimer's disease. They live in their own home, and a caregiver comes to help them a few hours a day. Harris is one of many Americans facing the heartache of how to take care of aging parents from afar. She's often worried, not to mention extremely busy with a demanding job, two teenage daughters and the frequent trips to California. In some ways, Harris is lucky. She has the resources to make the trips to Los Angeles. Plus, Harris is a doctor who treats the elderly. " But it's still tough," she said. " I can foresee what the next few years are going to look like, and it's not a pretty picture. My father's going to need diapers . There will come a time when he won' t recognize me and he's easily excited. I worry he's going to be violent and hurt my mother." So what do you do when you live a continent away for your aging, sick parents? There are no magic answers. You can hire someone to help, but you can't _ it completely. What's the main idea of this passage? A) Aging people in the USA are increasing. B) The rate of heart disease is high in America. C) It is difficult to tend aging parents from afar. D) Harris advises on tending aging parents from afar.
C
Utopia is a perfect place. It is a place without war, hunger, poverty, or crime. It is a place where the people work together and share. There is no money in Utopia because the people do not need money. They do not have personal possessions because everything belongs to everyone. All of the people are equal in Utopia, and the laws are all fair. Utopia is not a new place. Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, described a perfect society in his famous dialogue The Republic. In Plato's Republic, philosophers were the kings, and every person had a place in the society. In 1516, Sir Thomas More wrote about an island in the Pacific Ocean where everything was perfect. He named the island " Utopia". In 1602, Tommaso Campanella wrote The City in the Sun about a perfect community on the island of Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka ) ; and in 1872, Samuel Butler wrote a novel about a perfect country which he named " Erewhon". " Utopia" is a Greek word that means " not a place", and "Erewhon" is the English word " nowhere" spelled backwards. Utopia is a perfect place, but it is not a real place. Most 'real' Utopias last only a short time. This is because everyone wants to live in it, but no one knows how to make it work. As a result, when we say something is ' Utopia' today, we mean that it is a good idea, but it is not realistic. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage? A) A place without war B) A Good Idea C) A Perfect Place D) The Utopian Community
C
Q: It is a hot summer day,and you feel thirsty. A friend gives you a glass of cold lemonade.How do you feel when you see the glass? Will you describe your feeling as happiness or as pleasure? I believe you will say it is a feeling of pleasure.There is a connection between these two kinds of feelings,and sometimes one causes the other,but they are not the same.Pleasure is more dependent on the five senses while happiness is independent of them. When you are happy,little unpleasant events usually do not disturb you.When you are unhappy,you feel as if everything is against you.You may compensate for it by eating chocolate and sweets because this gives you pleasure;yet you stay unhappy.A person may smoke cigarettes because it gives him pleasure,yet,this does not make him happier,especially if he knows the fact that it is not good for his health The physical world is always in a changing state.At each moment a new thing is being created,changed,transformed and then destroyed.This is the normal state of things and no one can change it.If we stay still in a certain state,we are sure to experience unhappiness sooner or later.On the other hand,if we adjust to the environment,nothing can influence our moods.Then outer events have nothing to do with our inner joy of mind. The room of the mind was filled with worry or fear.If you are free of thinking about them, the room has been emptied,and then you will see what is happening and experience it When your mind stays quiet,you will see that happiness comes from the inside. We can learn from the passage _ . A) happiness is more dependent on the five senses B) pleasure sometimes arouses happiness C) you feel happy when nothing around you changes in a certain state D) you feel unhappy because you have to adjust to the environment
A: B
(Q).
Having spring around makes you feel different after such a long winter journey. The power of sunshine brings us a lot of comfort, optimism, self-confidence and of course a smile. Imagine how great it will be if we are so positive all year round! Living like this is possible if you really think about it. In order to exist in such a state of happiness, we must have sunshine radiating from within ourselves, shining from our hearts, minds and souls. Actually,that's your choice, and if you think that way then your own life will reflect that attitude of yours! In order to make "sunshine" or rather, "light" part of our being, it is so important that you watch your thoughts, your words and your actions so that you will accept what you really feel you'd like to create in your own life. Watch your thoughts and really become aware of how many negative thoughts pass through your mind about yourself and other people around you. Watch to see how often you gossip about other people, which is actually often attached with feelings of jealousy and insecurity about yourself. You are also supposed to take a close look at your "intention". How many of you do something for another person without expecting to receive something in return? It might not even have to be a material or physical thing you expect; expecting to be recognized for what you have done is enough to create conditions on Having spring around makes you feel differentyour intention. Think about it! Putting all of these together, it seems that most of us are creating monsters inside us just by simply talking, thinking and not putting our heart out with the right intention towards helping someone else. If you take all your negative attitudes in one hand and measure your need to feel "sunshine" in the other, you will see how both these elements really contradict each other. Be brave and break your patterns and your habits this spring, and by doing so,you will allow the true sunshine to take place by radiating out from your heart and into your life and the lives of... You can have sunshine shining from your inside _ . A) by measuring what you need B) by helping someone else C) by watching what you think, say and do D) by changing your intention
(A).
C