In the early decades of the United States. the agrarian movement promoted the farmer as s

In the early days of the United States, postal charges were paid by the recipients, and charges varied with the distance carried. In 1825, the United States Congress permitted local postmasters to give letters to mail carriers for home delivery, but these carriers received no government salary and their entire compensation depended on what they were paid by the recipients of individual letters.

In 1847 the United States Post Office Department adopted the idea of a postage stamp, which of course simplified the payment for postal service but caused grumbling by those who did not like to prepay. Besides, the stamp covered only delivery to the post office and did not include carrying it to a private address. In Philadelphia, for example, with a population 150,000, people still had to go to the post office to get their mail. The confusion and congestion of individual citizens looking for their letters was itself enough to discourage use of the mail. It is no wonder that, during the years of these cumbersome arrangements, private letter-carrying and express businesses developed. Although their activities were only semilegal, they thrived, and actually advertised that between Boston and Philadelphia they were a halfday speedier than the government mail. The government postal service lost volume to private competition and was not able to handle efficiently even the business it had.

Finally, in 1863, Congress provided that the mail carriers who delivered the mail from the post offices to private addresses should receive a government salary, and that there should be no extra charge for that delivery. But this delivery service at first confined to cities, and free home delivery became a mark of urbanism. As late as 1887, a town had to have 10,000 people to be eligible for free home delivery. In 1890, of the 75 million people in the United States, fewer than 200 million had mail delivered free to their doors. The rest, nearly threequarters of the population, still received no mail unless they went to their post office.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

A£®The increase of private mail service.

B£®A comparison of urban and rural postal services.

C£®The development of government postal system.

D£®The history of postage stamps.

In the early days of the United States, postal charges were paid by the recipients, and charges varied with the distance carried. In 1825, the United States Congress permitted local postmasters to give letters to mail carriers for home delivery, but these carriers received no government salary and their entire compensation depended on what they were paid by the recipients of individual letters.

In 1847 the United States Post Office Department adopted the idea of a postage stamp, which of course simplified the payment for postal service but caused grumbling by those who did not like to prepay. Besides, the stamp covered only delivery to the post office and did not include carrying it to a private address. In Philadelphia,

for example, with a population 150,000, people still had to go to the post office to get their mail. The confusion and congestion of individual citizens looking for their letters was itself enough to discourage use of the mail. It is no wonder that, during the years of these cumbersome arrangements, private letter-carrying and express businesses developed. Although their activities were only semilegal, they thrived, and actually advertised that between Boston and Philadelphia they were a half-day speedier than the government mail. The government postal service lost volume to private competition and was not able to handle efficiently even the business it had.

Finally, in 1863, Congress provided that the mail carriers who delivered the mail from the post offices to private addresses should receive a government salary, and that there should be no extra charge for that delivery. But this delivery service at first confined to cities, and free home delivery became a mark of urbanism. As late as 1887, a town had to have 10,000 people to be eligible for free home delivery. In 1890, of the 75 million people in the United States, fewer than 200 million had mail delivered free to their doors. The rest, nearly three-quarters of the population, still received no mail unless they went to their post office.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

A£®The increase of private mail service.

B£®A comparison of urban and rural postal services.

C£®The development of government postal system.

D£®The history of postage stamps.

Fast food has grown remarkable, not only in the United States, but also

around the world. Restaurant chains represent a multi-billion-dollars industry ¡¾S1¡¿______

that shows no sigh of slowing down. Innovations for operations and products ¡¾S2¡¿______

have kept the industry growing and, some critics would argue, led to speed up ¡¾S3¡¿______

the pace of contemporary life.

From its inception, fast food has lived up its name. In the early days of fast ¡¾S4¡¿______

food, as Americans came to depend more on their cars, outlets offered

drive-service, enabled customers to park and eat in their cars. This service ¡¾S5¡¿______

reduced the cost of operating a restaurant and establishing relatively low prices. ¡¾S6¡¿______

Given the popularity of fast food for lunch and dinner, it was only a matter

of time before marketers and franchisees realized they could expand their line

of production by offering breakfast to hungry people in a hurry. ¡¾S7¡¿______

For many people, however, fast food has become symbolic of a fast-pace ¡¾S8¡¿______

lifestyle. that is neither natural nor healthy. An organization called Slow Food

was established in Italy in 1986 to oppose fast food and its assembly-line

approach to cooking and eating. The Slow Food manifesto, endorsed in Paris

1989 by delegates from 15 countries, states, "We are slaved by speed and have ¡¾S9¡¿______

all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Live, which disrupts our habits,

pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Foods." To fight the

negative connotations of fast food, many companies now emphasize on the ¡¾S10¡¿______

word "flesh" in their advertising and use the term "quick service" to describe

their operations.

¡¾S1¡¿

In the United States, the fourth Thursday in November is called Thanksgiving Day. On this day, Americans give thanks for the blessing they have enjoyed during the year. Thanksgiving is usually a family day celebrated with big dinners and happy reunion.

The first American Thanksgiving was held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.

It was in September of 1620 that the Puritans, or Pilgrims as they called themselves, left England aboard the Mayflower in search of religious freedom. After 65 days at sea, they landed in Province town Harbor, inside the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

For about a month, the Pilgrims lived aboard ship and then sailed to Plymouth Harbor.

The Pilgrims were not trained and equipped to cope with life in the wilderness. During their first winter, they suffered tremendously. Hard work, diseases, bitterly cold weather, and insufficient food killed about half of them. By the end of this terrible first winter, only about 50 Plymouth colonists remained alive.

In spring 1621, the Indians of Massasoil's tribe taught the Pilgrims how to hunt, fish, and grow food. They taught the Pilgrims to use fish for fertilizer when growing corn, pumpkins, and beans. Because of this help from the Indians, the Pilgrims had a good harvest.

William Bradford, the governor chosen by the Pilgrims, was following an ancient tradition when, in the fall of 1621, he established a day of Thanksgiving to God. He invited Chief Massasoil and his men to share the Thanksgiving feast.

The Indians gladly accepted and sent deer meat for the feast. The Pilgrim men went hunting and returned with turkey and other wild animals. The women of Plymouth prepared delicious dishes from corn, berries, squash and pumpkins.

The first Thanksgiving dinner was cooked and served out-of- doors. Although it was late autumn, huge fires kept the hosts and guests warm.

Many of the traditions of the modern American Thanksgiving come from that first Thanksgiving celebration. Today's Thanks giving turkey is much like the ones that were hunted in the forests around Plymouth. Squash and corn, which were also harvested by the early Pilgrims, appear on the Thanksgiving table. Pumpkin pie is a traditional Thanksgiving dessert.

Every year, about 500,000 Americans take a journey into early American history by visiting Plymouth, a modern city that respects its past. In Plymouth Harbor, sightseers tour Mayflower ¢ò, a recently built ship similar to the original Mayflower. Then they spend a few hours walking through a reproduction of the original Pilgrim village. Modern Americans take great pride in these courageous ancestors who had so little by today's standards, but who were thankful for receiving the things they valued most--a good harvest and the freedom to live and worship as they pleased.

The present passage is probably taken from ______.

A£®a geography book

B£®a book about customs

C£®a travel book

D£®a book about the American way of life

Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today? The fact is that family members provide over 80% of the care that elderly people need. In most cases the elderly live in their own homes. A very small percentage of America's elderly live in nursing homes.

Samuel Preston, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, studied how the American family is changing. He reported that by the time the average American couple reaches about 40 years of age, their parents are usually still alive. The statistics show the change in lifestyles and responsibilities of aging (ÀÏÁ仯) Americans. The average middle-aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents sometime after their own children have grown up. Moreover, because people today live longer after an illness than people did years ago, family members must provide long-term care. These facts also mean that after caregivers provide for their elderly parents, who will eventually die, they will be old and may require care too. When they do, their spouses (Åäż) will probably take care of them because they have had fewer children than their parents did.

Because Americans are living longer than ever, more social workers have begun to study ways of caregiving to improve the care of the elderly. They have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic; They believe that they are the best people for the job. The social workers have also discovered three basic reasons why the caregivers take on the responsibility of caring for an elderly, dependent relative. Many caregivers believe they had an obligation (Ö°Ôð) to help their relatives. Some think that helping others makes them feel more useful. Others hope that by helping someone now, they will deserve care when they become old and dependent.

Samuel Preston's study shows that______.

A£®lifestyles and responsibilities of the elderly are not changing

B£®most American couples over 40 have no living parents

C£®middle-aged Americans have to take care of their children and parents at the same time

D£®elderly people may need care for a long time because they live longer after an illness

In the United States the most popular form. of folk dancing since the early days has been square dancing. In early times, when men and women worked in groups to¡¾21¡¿a barn(¹È²Ö) for harvest crops, they danced when the work was done. The music¡¾22¡¿from a violin for the most part. But if there was no one to play an instrument(ÀÖÆ÷), clapping(»÷ÕÆ) was used to¡¾23¡¿the rhythm(½Ú×à) by which to dance. The early settlers(ÒÆÃñ) danced in a store, in a barn, or in a farm kitchen.

After some years¡¾24¡¿, square dancing became¡¾25¡¿popular in cities and towns, but it¡¾26¡¿popular in the country. Then it became popular in the cities once again. Today in¡¾27¡¿parts of the United States you will find some school, club, or other group that is square dancing for fun.

A square is formed by four couples(¶Ô£¬Ë«) who stand¡¾28¡¿the center of the square. Each couple stands on one¡¾29¡¿of the square, the boy on the left and the girl on the right.

The "caller" is an important part of the¡¾30¡¿ since he tells the dancers which steps to do. If the dancers do not know the steps, he teaches them. It¡¾31¡¿ time to learn to be good caller, and good callers are always in demand.

Large or small groups of people can dance at one time. Sometimes 800 or 1,000 people may be dancing at the¡¾32¡¿ time. Or there may be only one square of¡¾33¡¿ people.

Costumes(·þ×°) are worn by some who square dance. This¡¾34¡¿ the dancing more colorful to watch. The costumes vary(²»Í¬) from place to place. Women often wear full skirts of various colors with pretty blouse(ÕÖÉÀ). Men may have colored skirts and western trousers which they wear¡¾35¡¿ when square dancing.

(66)

A£®make

B£®set up

C£®build

D£®form

ÌýÁ¦Ô­ÎÄ£º Alaska which was called Russian America before it was sold to the United States of America joined the Union as the Forty-ninth state in 1959. Alaska is now the largest of all the 50 states Hawaii is fiftieth state of the Union of the United States. It was in 1867 that President A. Johnson's Secretary of State, Seward bought Alaska from the Russians at a cost of $7.2 million. The buying of the huge northern land mass seemed at first something foolishly done. Not only was Alaska difficult to reach, but it was also hard to live in, and appeared to have no importance in time of war. Besides, there are volcanoes there as Alaska lies on the Pacific" ring of fire. "In Alaska large treeless areas are covered with snow all the year. For these reasons the buying of Alaska was called" Seward's Folly" at that time. However in 1896 gold was found in Alaska, and people poured into the land quickly. Since then other important natural resources were discovered, including oil. Soon people changed their thinking about" Seward's Folly. "But most people visit Alaska in order to see the endless beauty of nature that the northern land discloses to them. For instance, there are about 11,000 islands in Alaska. And in a certain area of Alaska the sun does not set for 82 days every year.

When did Seward buy Alaska from the Russians?

A£®In 1869.

B£®In 1959.

C£®In 1867.

D£®In 1872.

A£®in the former

B£®of the past

C£®in the early

D£®in the earlier

A£®in the former

B£®of the past

C£®in the early

D£®in the earlier