“It is a dreadful thing to be poor a fortnight before Christmas, ” said Clorinda, with the mournful sigh of seventeen years.

Aunt Emmy smiled. Aunt Emmy was sixty, and spent the hours she didn’t spend in a bed, on a sofa or in a wheel chair; but Aunt Emmy was never heard to sigh.

“The gifts which money can purchase are not the only ones we can give,” said Aunt Emmy gently, “nor the best, either.”

“Oh, I know it's nicer to give something of your own work,” agreed Clorinda, “but materials for fancy work cost too. That kind of gift is just as much out of the question for me as any other.”

“That was not what I meant,” said Aunt Emmy.

“What did you mean, then?” asked Clorinda, looking puzzled.

Aunt Emmy smiled.

“Suppose you think out my meaning for yourself,” she said. “That would be better than if I explained it. Besides, I don't think I could explain it. Take the beautiful line of a beautiful poem to help you in your thinking out: 'The gift without the giver is bare.”

“I'd put it the other way and say, 'The giver without the gift is bare,” said Clorinda. “That is my predicament(窘境)exactly. Well, I hope by next Christmas I'll not be quite bankrupt. I'm going into Mr. Callender's store down at Murraybridge in February. He has offered me the place, you know.”

“Won't your aunt miss you terribly?” said Aunt Emmy gravely. “I think she would rather have your companionship than a part of your salary, Clorinda,” said Aunt Emmy. “But of course you must decide for yourself, dear.”

“Well, I must say bye-bye and run home.” Clorinda lived just across the road from Aunt Emmy in a tiny white house behind some huge willows. But Aunt Mary lived there too--the only relative Clorinda had, for Aunt Emmy wasn't really her aunt at all. Clorinda had always lived with Aunt Mary ever since she could remember.

Clorinda puzzled over Aunt Emmy's meaning for days. Then all at once it came to her. On Christmas Day, Clorinda went over to Aunt Emmy's. Aunt Emmy was lying on the sofa before the fire, and Clorinda sat down beside her.

“I've come to tell you all about it,” she said. “Aunt Emmy, I thought for days over your meaning ... And then one evening it just came to me. At first I didn't think I could give some of them, and then I thought how selfish I was. I would have been willing to pay any amount of money for gifts if I had had it, but I wasn't willing to pay what I had. I got over that, though, Aunt Emmy. Now I'm going to tell you what I did give.”

“First, there was old Aunt Kitty. You know she was my nurse when I was a baby. She is always glad when I go to see her, but I've never gone except when I couldn't help it. She is very deaf, and rather dull and stupid, you know. Well, I gave her a whole day. I took my knitting yesterday, and sat with her the whole time and just talked and talked. She was so pleased and proud; she told me when I came away that she hadn't had such a nice time for years. ”

“Then there was ... Florence. You know, Aunt Emmy, we were always intimate friends until last year. Then Florence once told Rose Watson something I had told her in confidence. I found it out and I was so hurt. I couldn't forgive Florence, and I told her plainly I could never be a real friend to her again. Florence felt badly, because she really did love me, and she asked me to forgive her, but it seemed as if I couldn't. Well, Aunt Emmy, that was my Christmas gift to her ... my forgiveness.”

“I gave Aunt Mary her gift this morning. I told her I wasn't going to Murraybridge, that I just meant to stay home with her. She was so glad--and I'm glad, too, now that I've decided so.”

“Your gifts have been real gifts, Clorinda,” said Aunt Emmy. “Something of you--the best of you--went into each of them.”

“I didn't forget you, Aunt Emmy,” she said, as she unpinned the paper.

There was a rosebush. Aunt Emmy loved flowers. She put her finger under one of the roses and kissed it.

“It's as sweet as yourself, dear child,” she said tenderly. “And it will be a joy to me all through the lonely winter days. You've found out the best meaning of Christmas giving, haven't you, dear?”

“Yes, thanks to you, Aunt Emmy,” said Clorinda softly.

1.Clorinda felt anxious before Christmas because___________.

A. She had to leave Aunt Mary

B. She didn’t know what kind of Christmas gifts she should buy

C. She had not enough money to buy Christmas gifts

D. She had no time to make a proper decision

2. Which of the following sentences can best explain the line “The gift without the giver is bare.”？

A. A gift is valued by the mind of the giver.

B. Forgiveness is a gift for the giver and the receiver.

C. You cannot buy love or respect with expensive gifts.

D. Think twice before you give gifts to somebody

3.What is the gift that Clorinda gave to old Aunt Kitty?

A. Passion?? ????????????? ????????????? B. Sympathy?? ????????????? ????????????? C. Kindness?? ????????????? ????????????? D. Company

4.What does the underlined phrase “in confidence” mean?

A. respectfully??? ????????????? B. confidently??? ????????????? ????????????? C. secretly??? ????????????? ????????????? D. willingly

5. Which two words can best describe Aunt Emmy?

A. cute and joyful??????????????????? ????????????? B. kind-hearted and emotional

C. optimistic and wise???????????????? ????????????? D. gentle and timid (羞怯的)

6.Which of the following is the best title?

A. A Special Christmas?????????????????? B. Clorinda’s Gifts

C. Aunt Emmy????????????????????????? D. Clorinda’s Choice

It is found that American students spend less than 15% of their time in school. While there’s no doubt that school is important, a number of recent studies reminds us that parents are even more so. A study published earlier this month by researchers at North Carolina State University, for example, finds that parental involvement — checking homework, attending school meetings and events, discussing school activities at home — has a more powerful influence on students’ academic performance than anything about the school the students attend. Another study, published in the Review of Economics and Statistics, reports that the effort put forth by parents (reading stories aloud, meeting with teachers) has a bigger impact on their children’s educational achievement than the effort devoted by either teachers or the students themselves. And a third study concludes that schools would have to increase their spending by more than $1,000 per pupil in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement.

So parents matter. But it is also revealed in researches that parents, of all backgrounds, don’t need to buy expensive educational toys or digital devices for their kids in order to give them an advantage. They don’t need to drive their offspring (子孫，后代)to enrichment classes or test-preparation courses. What they need to do with their children is much simpler: talk.

But not just any talk. Recent research has indicated exactly what kinds of talk at home encourage children’s success at school. For example, a study conducted by researchers at the UCLA School of Public Health and published in the journal Pediatrics found that two-way adult-child conversations were six times as potent in promoting language development as the ones in which the adult did all the talking. Engaging in this reciprocal（雙向的) back-and-forth gives children a chance to try out language for themselves, and also gives them the sense that their thoughts and opinions matter.

The content of parents’ conversations with kids matters, too. Children who hear talk about counting and numbers at home start school with much more extensive mathematical knowledge, report researchers from the University of Chicago. While the conversations parents have with their children change as kids grow older, the effect of these exchanges on academic achievement remains strong. Research finds that parents play an important role in what is called “academic socialization” — setting expectations and making connections between current behavior and future goals. Engaging in these sorts of conversations has a greater impact on educational accomplishment.

1.Parents are even more important than schools because ______.

A. parental involvement makes up for what schools are not able to do

B. teachers and students themselves do not put in enough effort

C. parental involvement saves money for schools and the local government

D. students may well make greater achievements with parents' attention

2.It can be inferred from the 2^nd paragraph that ______.

A. educational toys are unaffordable nowadays

B. digital devices can give children an advantage

C. some parents believe in enrichment classes

D. talking with children is a very simple task

3.The word "potent" is closest in meaning to ______.

A. powerful    B. difficult     C. necessary        D. resistant

4.Which of the following will more encourage children's success at school according to the passage?

A. Parents order their children to stop playing video games.

B. Parents discuss with their children the possible future career.

C. Parents lecture their children on getting too low marks on tests.

D. Parents introduce colleges around the US to their children.

It is completely 1 to take a gift when you are invited to dinner, but if you want to do so it should be a small, 2 thing. You 3 bring some sweets, or some small toys for the child, or 4 from China. Here are some suggestions; a papercut is a 5 gift (one is fine, not a whole package); if you want to make it 6 different, you can buy a very inexpensive frame (框子) in the local 7 and frame it. Chinese tea is a wonderful gift. It's true 8 Chinese tea is available in the United States, but the 9 that you chose it and brought it with you from China makes it very special. Chinese book marks are very wonderful 10 too, and if you want to buy a set of 11 paintings which you like, you might give one of them as a gift. One of the 12 things you can do is to cook a Chinese dish and 13 it with you. Again, 14 , a gift is not necessary and if you come 15 a group of students, one small token (象征性的) gift is entirely satisfactory. If you 16 ten yuan on something, that's an expensive gift to you. But it's not 17 to most of the Americans we meet. 18 is to bring a nice “token” gift that says “ 19 ”, not a gift that says “ 20 , how much money I spent.”

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The overcoat is much too large for me；it is expensive　　　 .

A.either　　　　　　 B.as well as　　　　 C.so well　　　　　 D.besides

C
What is it that makes people happy? Youth, health, a good job, good looks, a flash car? None of these things, Spanish experts say.
The concept（概念） of happiness is thought to be determined by genetics, while the rest depends on childhood environment and the process（過程） of growing up. Perhaps the most surprising thing about happiness is coming under increasingly close examination in Spain.
As the nation rises to the club of the world's wealthiest countries, people are discovering that material（物質(zhì)的） things do not bring happiness.
"Most people use money as a measure of human value," says Jesus Ynfante, author of a book on Spain's 300 biggest fortunes.  "Expensive products are regarded as the best. The rich are admired simply for being rich," Ynfante said.
Yet psychologists（心理學(xué)家） warn that happiness as a moment of ecstatic pleasure(狂喜)--something that, by definition（定義） ,cannot last--while others speak of it as peace and acceptance of oneself. Polls(問卷調(diào)查) in different countries indicate that between 65 and 85 percent of the world's population regard themselves as reasonably happy.
Around 40 percent of a person's happiness is that it has little to do with age, health, wealth, or other values thought to be important in Western society. For most Spaniards, happiness is linked with feeling close to other people. Happy people accept their limitations and set themselves reachable goals, experts say.
There are life-style choices that favour happiness, such as exercise, eating carbohydrates and exposing oneself to sunlight. But the main secret of happiness is to take pleasure in small things.
“If you are given a choice between eternal（永久的)happiness and a cheese sandwich, take the sandwich,” advises musician Julian Hernandez.
58. Spain, as this passage tells us, __________.
A. has built more clubs than the other countries
B. has owned the largest group of experts
C. has become one of the richest countries in the world
D. has produced the most wealth in the world
59. It can be concluded that Jesus Ynfante is__________.
A. a famous expert            B. a famous psychologist
C. one of the richest Spaniards   D. familiar with the richest Spaniards
60. As psychologists warn in this passage, people can't feel happy even if they_________.
A. have too much money       B. only care about themselves
C. don't do any homework      D. have a few relations
61 Happy people, as we can find in this passage, __________.
A. are always full of feelings                  B. are always born in rich families
C. always enjoy every achievement they get       D. always look down upon themselves