Each man and each woman there asked to help.

The people who were watching from the beach ______.

A．offered to help without knowing what to do

B．did not know there was something wrong with the ship

C．realized the trouble but could do nothing about it

D．did not want to put themselves in any danger

The comprehension passages on this course are designed to help you increase your reading speed. A higher reading rate, with no loss of comprehension, will help you in other subjects as well as English, and the general principles apply to any language. Naturally, you will not read every book at the same speed. You would expect to read a newspaper, for example , much more rapidly than a physics or economics textbook—but you can raise your average reading speed over the whole range of materials you wish to cover so that the percentage gain will be the same whatever kind of reading you are concerned with. The reading passages which follow are all of an average level of difficulty for your stage of instruction. They are all approximately 500 words long. They are about topics of general interest which do not require a great deal of specialized knowledge. Thus they fall between the kind of reading you might find in your textbooks and the much less demanding kind you will find in a newspaper or light novel. If you read this kind of English, with understanding, at, say, 400 words per minute, you might skim through a newspaper at perhaps 650~700, while with a difficult textbook you might drop to 200 or 250. Perhaps you would like to know what reading speeds are common among native English-speaking university students and how those speeds can be improved. Tests in Minnesota, U. S. , for example, have shown that students without special training can read English of average difficulty, for example, Tolstoys War and Peace in translation, at speeds of between 240 and 250 w. p. m. with about 70% comprehension. Minnesota claims that after 12 half-hour lessons, once a week, the reading speed can be increased, with no loss of comprehension, to around 500 w. p. m. It is further claimed that with intensive training over seventeen weeks, speeds of over 1 000 w. p. m. can be reached, but this would be quite exceptional. Questions:

The special season of pre-1949 films mentioned______.

A．was shown in cities all over the world

B．consisted mainly of films banned since 1957

C．was organized by the China Film Archive

D．gave young film-makers a second chance to see films of the 1930s and 1940s

A married couple was in a car when the wife turned to her husband and asked, " Would you like to stop for a drink?" "No thanks," he answered truthfully. So they didnt stop. The result? The wife—who had indeed wanted to stop—became irritated because she felt her preference had not been considered. The husband, seeing his wife was angry, became frustrated. Why didn t she just say what she wanted? Unfortunately, he failed to see that his wife was asking the question not to get an instant decision, but to begin a negotiation. And the woman didn t realize that when her husband said no, he was just expressing his preference, not making a ruling. When a man and woman interpret the same interchange in such conflicting ways, its no wonder they can find themselves leveling angry charges of selfishness at each other. Research shows that the seemingly senseless misunderstandings that haunt our relationships can at least in part be explained by the different conversational rules by which men and women often play. Men grow up in a world in which a conversation is often a contest—either to gain the upper hand or to prevent other people from pushing them around. For many women, however, talking is typically a way to exchange confirmation and support.Women often think in terms of closeness and support, they struggle to preserve intimacy. Men, concerned with status, tend to focus on establishing independence. A cartoon I once saw shows a husband opening a newspaper and asking his wife, " Is there anything you d like to say before I start reading?" We know there isn t—but that as soon as the man begins reading, his wife will think of something. The cartoon is funny because people recognize their own experience in it. What s not funny is that many women are hurt when men don t talk to them at home, and many men are frustrated when they disappoint their partners without knowing why. When we don t see style. differences for what they are, we sometimes draw unfair conclusions ("You don t care about me."). But once we grasp the two characteristic approaches, we stand a better chance of preventing disagreements from spiraling out of control. Learning the other s ways of talking is a leap across the communication gap between men and women, and a giant step toward genuine understanding.

Which of the following words is closest in meaning to "irritated" in Paragraph 1?

A．Silenced.

B．Excited.

C．Angry.

D．Calm.

Throughout the colonial period there was a remarkable shortage of women, which varied with the regions and was always greatest in the frontier areas. This shortage enhanced women's status and position and allowed them to pursue different careers. (80) The Puritans (清教徒) regarded idleness (无所事事) as a sin, and believed that life in an underdevelopment country made it necessary that each member of the community perform. an economic function. Thus work for women was not only approved but also was regarded as a civic (市民的) duty. Puritan town councils (议会) expected widows (寡妇) and independent women to be self—supporting. There was no social prohibition against married women working; one the contrary, wives were expected to help their husbands in their trade and won social approval for doing extra work in or out of the home.

The vast majority of women worked within their homes, where their labor produced most articles needed for the family. The entire colonial production of cloth and clothing and partly that of shoes was in the hands of women. In addition to these occupations, women were found in many different kinds of employment. They were butchers, silversmiths and gunsmiths. They ran mills, plantations, shipyards, and every kind of shop. They were gatekeepers, jail keepers, journalists, printers, nurses, and teachers.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．Colonial marriages

B．The Puritan religion

C．Colonial women's employment

D．Education in the colonies

Questions are based on the following passage．

Throughout the colonial period there was a remarkable shortage of women, which varied with the regions and was always greatest in the frontier areas．This shortage enhanced women&39;s status and position and allowed them to pursue different careers． (80) The Puritans (清教徒) regarded idleness (无所事事) as a sin, and believed that life in an underdeveloped country made it necessary that each member of the community perform. an economic function． Thus work for

women was not only approved but also was regarded as a civic (市民的) duty． Puritan town councils (议会) expected widows (寡妇）and independent women to be self-supporting．There was no social prohibition against married women working; on the contrary, wives were expected to help their husbands in their trade and won social approval for doing extra work in or out of the home．

The vast majority of women worked within their homes, where their labor produced most articles needed for the family．The entire colonial production of cloth and clothing and partly that of shoes was in the hands of women．In addition to these occupations, women were found in many

different kinds of employment．They were butchers, silversmiths and gunsmiths．They ran mills,plantations, shipyards, and every kind of shops．They were gatekeepers, jail keepers, journalists,．printers, nurses, and teachers．

What does the passage mainly discuss? 查看材料

A.Colonial marriages．

B.The Puritan religion．

C.Colonial women"s employment．

D.Education in the colonies．

Throughout the colonial period there was a remarkable shortage of women, which var-ied with the regions and was always greatest in the frontier areas. This shortage enhanced women's status and position and allowed them to pursue different careers. The Puri-tans (清教徒) regarded idleness (无所事事) as a sin, and believed that life in an under-developed country made it necessary that each member of the community perform. an eco-nomic function. Thus work for women was not only approved but also was regarded as a civic (市民的) duty. Puritan town councils (议会) expected widows (寡妇) and independ-ent women to be self-supporting. There was no social prohibition against married women working; on the contrary, wives were expected to help their husbands in their trade and won social approval for doing extra work in or out of the home.

The vast majority of women worked within their homes, where their labor produced most articles needed for the family. The entire colonial production of cloth and clothing and partly that of shoes was in the hands of women. In addition to these occupations, women were found in many different kinds of employment. They were butchers, silversmiths and gunsmiths. They ran mills, plantations, shipyards, and every kind of shops. They were gatekeepers, jail keepers, journalists, printers, nurses, and teachers.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．Colonial marriages.

B．The Puritan religion.

C．Colonial women's employment.

D．Education in the colonies.