As she walked round the huge department store,Edith reflected how difficult it was to choose a suitable Christmas present for her father.She wish that he was as easy to please as her mother,who was always delighted with perfume.
Besides,shopping at this time of the year was a most disagreeable experience;people trod on your toes,poked you with their elbows and almost knocked you over in their haste to get to a bargain ahead of you.
Partly to have a rest,Edith paused in front of a counter where some attractive ties were on display.“They are real silk”,the assistant assured her,trying to tempt her.“Worth double the price.” But Edith knew from past experience that her choice of ties hardly ever pleased her father.
She moved on reluctantly and then quite by chance,stopped where a small crowd of man had gathered round a counter.She found some good quality pipes on sale—and the prices were very reasonable.Edith did not hesitate for long: although her father only smoked a pipe occasionally,she knew that this was a present which was bund to please him.
When she got home,with her small wellchosen present concealed in her handbag,her parents were already at the supper table.Her mother was in an especially cheerful mood,“Your father has at last to decide to stop smoking.” She informed her daughter.
()10.Ediths father.
A.did not like present
B.never got present
C.preferred ties
D.was difficult to choose a present for
()11.The assistant spoke to Edith because she seemed.
A.attractive B.interested in ties
C.tiredD.in need of comfort
()12.Edith stopped at the next counter.
A.purposelyB.suddenly
C.unwillinglyD.accidentally
()13.Ediths father smoked a pipe.
A.when he was obligedB.on social occasions
C.from time to timeD.when he was delighted
()14.Shopping was very disagreeable at that time of the year because.
A.customers trod on each others toes
B.customers poked each other with their elbows
C.customers knocked each other
D.customers were doing their shopping in a great hurry
Passage Four
The percentage of immigrants (including those unlawfully present) in the United States has been creeping upward for years.At 12.6 percent,it is now higher than at any point since the mid 1920s.We are not about to go back to the days when Congress openly worried about inferior races polluting Americas bloodstream.But once again we are wondering whether we have too many of the wrong sort of newcomers.Their loudest cites argue that the new wave of immigrants cannot,and indeed do not want to,fit in as previous generations did.
We now know that these racist views were wrong.In time,Italians,Romanians and members of other socalled inferior races became exemplary Americans and contributed greatly,in ways too numerous to detail,to the building of this magnificent nation.There is no reason why these new immigrants should not have the same success.
Although children of Mexican immigrants do better,in terms of educational and professional attainment,than their parents, UCLA sociologist Edward Telles has found that the gains dont continue.Indeed,the fourth generation is marginally worse off than the third James Jackson,of the University of Michigan,has found a similar rend among black Caribbean immigrants,Telles fears that MexicanAmericans may be fated to follow in the footsteps of American blacks—that large parts of the community may become mired in a seemingly state of poverty and underachievement.Like AfricanAmericans,MexicanAmericans are increasingly relegated to (降入)segregated,substandard schools,and their dropout rate is the highest for any ethnic group in the country.
We have learned much about the foolish idea of excluding people on the presumption of the ethnic/racial inferiority.But what we have not yet learned is how to make the process of Americanization work for all.I am not talking about requiring people to learn English or to adopt American ways;those things happen pretty much on their own,but as arguments about immigration hear up the campaign trail,we also ought to ask some broader question about assimilation,about how to ensure that people,once outsiders,dont forever remain marginalized within these shores.
That is a much larger question than what should happen with undocumented workers,or how best to secure the border,and it is one that affects not only newcomers but groups that have been here for generations.It will have more impact on our future than where we decide to set the admissions bar for the latest ware of wouldbe Americans.And it would be nice if we finally got the answer right.
()15.How were immigrants viewed by U.S.Congress in early days?
A.They were of inferior races.
B.They were a source of political corruption.
C.They were a threat to the nations security.
D.They were part of the nations bloodstream.
()16.What does the author think of the new immigrants?
A.They will be a dynamic work force in the
B.They can do just as well as their predecessors.
C.They will be very disappointed on the new land.
D.They may find it hard to fit into the mainstream.
()17.What does Edward Telles research say about MexicanAmericans?
A.They may slowly improve from generation to generation.
B.They will do better in terms of educational attainment.
C.They will melt into the AfricanAmerican community.
D.They may forever remain poor and underachieving.
()18.What should be done to help the new immigrants?
A.Rid them of their inferiority complex.
B.Urge them to adopt American customs.
C.Prevent them from being marginalized.
D.Teach them standard American English.
()19.According to the author,the burning issue concerning immigration is.
A.how to deal with people entering the U.S.without documents
B.how to help immigrants to better fit into American society
C.how to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the border
D.how to limit the number of immigrants to enter the
Ⅳ.Writing 12%