When I spent the summer with my grandmother, she always set me down to the general store with a list. Behind the counter was a lady like no one I'd ever seen. "Excuse me," I said. She looked up and said, "I'm Miss Bee." "I need to get these." I said, holding up my list. "So? Go get them. " Miss Bee pointed to a sign. "There's no one here except you and me and I'm not your servant, so get yourself a basket from that pile." I visited Miss Bee twice a week that summer. Sometimes she shortchanged me. Other times she overcharged. Going to the store was like going into battle. All summer long she found ways to trick me. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce "bicarbonate of soda" and memorized its location on the shelves than she made me hunt for it all over again. But by summer's end the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes. The morning I was to return home, I stopped in to get some run. "All right, little girl," she said. "What did you learn this summer?" "That you're a meanie!" I replied. Miss Bee just laughed and said, "I know what you think of me. Well, I don't care! My job is to teach every child I meet life lessons. When you get older you'll be glad!" Glad I met Miss Bee? Ha! The idea was absurd... Until one day my daughter came to me with homework troubles. "It's too hard," she said. "Could you finish my math problems for me?" "If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?" I said. Suddenly, I was back at that general store where I had learned the hard way to add up my bill by myself. Had I ever been overcharged since? What did the author's grandmother always ask her to do during her summer vacation? A) Make lists for her shopping. B) Buy something in the general store. C) Send lists to the lady in the general store. D) Go to see the lady in a store.
B
In today's world English is the most wildly used language. It is our duty to learn English in the new situation of the reform and opening to the outside world. How can we master the English language? I'd like to give you some good advice. First, get interested in it. I enjoy listening to foreign friends talking when I was a child. At the same time I watched the English programme Follow Meon TV. From then on, I kept on learning English. The more I learned, the more progress I made. Second, practice makes perfect. Many people study English very hard, but they are very shy to speak it in public, for they are afraid of making mistakes. Remember you have to make a mistake before you can correct it. A native English speaker makes mistakes sometimes, too. Third, the beginners should be encouraged to pay attention to _ The English language has many idioms. For example, you should say "He is as strong as a cow." If we want to learn English, we must first _ . A) show interest in it B) enjoy listening to it C) watch English programmes on TV D) practice speaking it
A
Q: The story of Graffiti is an interesting one. In the early 1970's, a New York City mailman used to travel across the city on the buses and subways to deliver his mail. He dreamt of riding on all the buses and subways in New York. His problem was that many buses and subways looked the same, so he would have to mark the buses and subways to know which one he had been on before. His name was Vic and his work ID was 156---so he left the mark VIC 156 on every journey he took. Soon people started to notice these sighs and wondered what they meant. When word got round what was happening, people would check the buses and subways to see if Vic had ridden on them. Other people decided they would take Vic's example and started leaving their own names. These marks became known as "Tags" . Tags became more color1ful and artistic and gangs of teenagers started leaving them on the walls in their neighborhood. This was to mark their area from other gangs. For many years people thought nothing of graffiti, but gradually they came to realize that graffiti was an art from that young people used to express themselves. So they gave them special area to paint on. But remember: If you paint on public walls, it is illegal and you shouldn't do it. Vic and 156 stand for _ . A) a man named Vic and work ID number 156 B) a man named Vic and id number 156 C) a bus named Vic and its number 156 D) a subway train named Vic and its number 156
A: A
My father passed away in a nursing home on a September day. I never remembered him telling me he loved me. Upon hearing his death, I didn't feel the need to cry. I struggled with my lack of strong feelings over his passing, knowing it was not healthy for me to avoid sadness. On Christmas Day of the year, I was reflecting on as many good memories of my father as I could. I decided to work out my feelings, so I sat down and wrote my father a letter. Dear Daddy, I remember something today. I remember when I was 3 years old, mom carried me right before bedtime and you sang "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" to me, and I remember your voice like it was just yesterday. I remember the warmth of you lying next to me and how special I felt at that moment. Then my mom carried me off to my own bed to tuck me in. I remember times when I could sit out on the porch with you and watch an approaching thunderstorm, and you would tell me the scientific facts behind lightning and thunder. I thought you knew everything. I remember you taking my two brothers and me on trips to a stream out in the country on summer days. We would walk along the stream, picking wildflowers to take home to mother. I want to thank you for giving me an appreciation of nature and science and of God's beautiful creation, Earth. I want to thank you for making us take part in "family worship" every evening after dinner. I remember that Bible stories and the Golden Rule on how to treat others, and I learnt how to appreciate music in my life from the hymns we sang. I also learnt to harmonize with my sisters. And most of all, I want to forgive you. I forgive you for not being able to tell me that I was a special girl and that you loved me. I longed for your spoken affection. But I realize something in your own upbringing would not allow you to express your feelings verbally . I realize that you did the best that you could with what you knew. I signed the letter and put it into my wooden box to join many other cards and letters from my family and loved ones that I... The writer spent much happy time doing memorable things with father EXCEPT that _ . A) father sang songs for her before bedtime B) father taught her nature, science, and history C) father took her on trips in nature D) father read Bible stories for her
B