单选题 I have an infatuation (迷恋) with autumn. The colors of the season, and the smells, havealways thrilled me. I have always found joy in this time of year. The last few autumns of my life,however, I recollect in shades of gray rather than cheerful oranges and yellows.
When I became a single mother, every aspect of life took on new meaning. Since I was usedto carrying out most of the parental duties without much help during my marriage, I truly did notforesee how different parenting would become after the marriage was over. But suddenly I realized Iwas a statistic. The daily routine was not changed so much; it was the angle at which I had begunto look at life.
I believed my ex-husband's lawyer was tracking every grade the children made, and I wasunder a microscope in this new town where the children and I moved our "broken home." Ifeared having to eventually establish my family with each new teacher and each new term as asingle-parent family. I just wanted to be us again, without the stigma (特征) of the label thatput on us.
During those few gray years, I would reassure myself that soon things would be better, andthat I would someday be able to feel whole again. There is no mathematical equation of adultsproportioned to children to equal a stable, loving family. Every family has its strengths. In fact,studies show that in families who read together, eat together and communicate openly, childrenare likely to succeed academically, as well as socially and emotionally. I am sure these habits arejust as effective when practiced in single-parent families. I realize now that I am not a statistic. Weare an active, vital family in this charming community, where we are not marked by any stigma ofany statistics of any focus groups.
We are given opportunity, all of us. We are surrounded by beauty and immersed inpossibility. There is joy to be found here, in what we see around us and in creating our ownrendition of how we want to be seen. There is strength and grace in our own willingness to breakfree from conformity without falling behind the barriers of self--imposed limitations or preconceivednotions of where we should fit in this world according to research.
单选题 What does the last sentence of paragraph one imply?
  • A. The author moved to a new place.
  • B. The climate changed greatly in the last few years.
  • C. In the last few years, the author' s mood changed.
  • D. There were some natural disasters.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 由题干“although…different cultures”确定本题涉及第2段内容要点(despitedifferences in cultures)。
单选题 After the divorce,______
  • A. there wash' t any change, since she used to play a main part in taking care of the children
  • B. she became interested in statistics
  • C. everything in her life was changed
  • D. it was the way by which she looked at life that changed
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 由题干之关键词high-voltage transformers确定本题问及第4段的内容要点。
单选题 According to the passage, ______brought the unpleasant change in her life.
  • A. a kind of discrimination against single-parent families
  • B. her ex-husband
  • C. social scientists
  • D. the feeling about autumn
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 题干中提及的Madonna和MiChael JaCkson在第5段被提及,仅为名人,不是英雄,因为他们一生仅为自己的名利奋斗,即答案为C项。
单选题 In the few gray years, the author______
  • A. felt helpless and sad
  • B. had the help from her friends
  • C. never lost hope, and believed that everything would change someday
  • D. became very nervous and silent
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题要点为最后一段第3句:They have the skill and charm to move the masses及最后一句中的magnetic personalities。
单选题 What is the author's main point?
  • A. Every family has its happiness and unhappiness.
  • B. Her family has suffered a lot.
  • C. Her ex-husband is not a good man.
  • D. Every family has its strength and can create its happiness.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 问及结论的题一般均可从短文结尾处寻找答案,根据题干中historicalchanges确定答案依据为短文最后一句,也即英雄推动历史前进的作用,故不难确定正确答案为A。