I was just a boy when my father brought me to Harlem for the first time, almost 50 years ago. We stayed at the Hotel Theresa, a grand brick structure at 125th Street and Seventh Avenue. Once, in the hotel restaurant, my father pointed out Joe Louis. He even got Mr Brown, the hotel manager, to introduce me to him, a bit paunchy but still the champ as far as I was concerned.
Much has changed since then. Business and real estate are booming. Some say a new renaissance is under way. Others decry what they see as outside forces running roughshod over the old Harlem.
New York meant Harlem to me, and as a young man I visited it whenever I could. But many of my old haunts are gone. The Theresa shut down in 1966. National chains that once ignored Harlem now anticipate yuppie money and want pieces of this prime Manhattan real estate. So here I am on a hot August afternoon, sitting in a Starbucks that two years ago opened a block away from the Theresa, snatching at memories between sips of high-priced coffee. I am about to open up a piece of the old Harlem -- the New York Amsterdam News -- when a tourist asking directions to Sylvia's, a prominent Harlem restaurant, penetrates my daydreaming. He's carrying a book: Touring Historic Harlem.
History. I miss Mr Michaux's bookstore, his House of Common Sense, which was across from the Theresa. He had a big billboard out front with brown and black faces painted on it that said in large letters: "World History Book Outlet on 2,000,000,000 Africans and Nonwhite Peoples." An ugly state office building has swallowed that space.
I miss speaker like Carlos Cooks, who was always on the southwest corner of 125th and Seventh, urging listeners to support' Africa. Harlem's powerful political electricity seems unplugged -- although the streets are still energized, especially by West African immigrants.
Hard-working southern newcomers formed the bulk of the community back in the 1920s and '30s, when Harlem renaissance artists, writers, and intellectuals gave it a glitter and renown that made it the capital of black America. From Harlem, W. E. B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Zora Neal Hurston, and others helped power America's cultural influence around the world.
By the 1970s and '80s drugs and crime had ravaged parts of the community. And the life expectancy for men in Harlem was less than that of men in Bangladesh. Harlem had become a symbol of the dangers of inner-city life.
Now, you want to shout "Lookin' good!" at this place that has been neglected for so long. Crowds push into Harlem USA, a new shopping centre on 125th, where a Disney store shares space with HMV Records, the New York Sports Club, and a nine-screen Magic Johnson theatre complex. Nearby, a Rite Aid drugstore also opened. Maybe part of the reason Harlem seems to be undergoing a rebirth is that it is finally getting what most people take for granted.
Harlem is also part of an "empowerment zone" a federal designation aimed at fostering economic growth that will bring over half a billion in federal, state, and local dollars. Just the shells of once elegant old brownstones now can cost several hundred thousand dollars. Rents are skyrocketing. An improved economy, tougher law enforcement, and community efforts against drugs have contributed to a 60 percent drop in crime since 1993.
At the beginning the author seems to indicate that Harlem
A.has remained unchanged all these years.
B.has undergone drastic changes.
C.has become the capital of Black America.
D.has remained a symbol of the dangers of inner-city life.
时间:2023-09-26 10:01:40
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My friend helped me()my cat when I was on vacation with my wife
A . look for
B . look on
C . look after
D . look u
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He took()my job when I was on holiday.
A . on
B . over
C . off
D . after
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When I got home, my little brother was()
A . slept
B . sleep
C . asleep
D . to slee
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I was busy with my paper when I heard someone()in the room above.
A、moving on
B、moving off
C、moving up
D、moving about
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Some people say I bear a striking _____(相像) to my father. I look just the same as my father was in his childhood.
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It was early December 2003, my first seaon as a Salcation Army bell ringer, when I was confronted __________ the question.
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I was just _____ by the airlines that my flight has been rescheduled.
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His name was ______ of my tongue, but I just couldn't remember it.
A.at the end
B.at the edge
C.on the tip
D.on the point
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My panic was______and ceased when I began to have my class.
A.transient
B.permanent
C.trivial
D.contemporary
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I was extremely exasperated when I saw that my room was littered with wood shavings.
A.startled
B.exalted
C.rapturous
D.irritated
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Too Late to Regret it When I was a junior, I met a second-year student in my department. He wasn't tall or good-looking, but he was very nice, attractive and athletic. He had something that I admired very much. He was natural, warm, and sincere.
I disregarded (不顾) my parents' disapproval. We were very happy together. He picked me up from my dorm every morning, and after class we would sit alongside the stream that ran through campus, or sunbathe (晒太阳) on the lawn. At night he would walk me back to my dorm. He came from a poor family, but in order to make me happy, he borrowed money from his friend to buy presents and meals for me. Our fellow students looked up to him as a role model, and the girls envied (妒忌) me. He wasn't a local, but wanted to stay here after graduation. I thought we had a future together.
However, when I got a part-time job during the summer vacation, people began giving me a lot of pressure, saying that a pretty, intelligent girl like me should find a better guy to spend time with. This was also what my family thought. He spent the summer in his hometown, so I was all by myself. When he got back, I began finding fault with him. But his big heart and warmth soon drove all unpleasant thoughts away. However, I had no idea how badly I had hurt him and that things would get worse.
I had a good part4ime job off campus that paid pretty well. With my good performance at school, I also got admission to graduate school at one of China's best universities. He, on the other hand, did not do so well at school or at work. I had to worry about his living expenses, job and scores.
Almost all my colleagues and friends advised me to break up with him. Then we had a quarrel last June. He was in great pain, and my cold words and bad moods started turning him away.
Graduation time was drawing near, and he said he wanted to go back to his hometown. He said that he couldn't put up with me anymore. I was shocked and looked at him in despair.
True love happens only once, but I found it out too late.
第36题:When did the author fall in love with the boy?
A.When she was a junior.
B.After she had a quarrel with him.
C.When she was a second-year student.
D.After she found a part-time job.
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I was a freshman in college when I met the Whites. They were completely different from my own family. Jane White and I became friends at school, and her family welcomed me like along-lost cousin.
In my family it was always important to place blame when anything bad happened. But the Whites didn't worry about who had done what. Mr. and Mrs. White had six children: three sons and three daughters.
In July, the White sisters and I decided to take a car trip to New York. The two oldest, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy had recently got a driver' s license, and was excited about practicing her driving on the trip.
The big sisters let Amy take over. She came to an intersection with a stop sign, but Amy continued without stopping. The driver of a large truck, crashed into our car.
Jane was killed instantly.
When Mr. and Mrs. White arrived at the hospital, they hugged us all.
To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said, "We' re so glad that you're alive."
I was astonished. No blame.
Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign.
Mrs. White said, "Jane's gone, and nothing we say or do will bring her back. But Amy has her whole life ahead of her. How can she lead a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister' s death?"
They were right. Amy graduated from college and got married several years ago, She works as a teacher of learning-disabled students. She' s also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane.
The writer of the article is ______ .
A.Mrs. White's niece
B.the Whites' cousin
C.Sarah' s friend at college
D.Jane' s friend at school
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When the boy playing by the river fell into the river, I was out of the room______.
A.in flash
B.in a flash
C.as a flash
D.for a flash
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______ when I have just opened my blog, the telephone was ringing.
A.Seldom
B.Rarely
C.Hardly
D.Barely
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My sister()stories when I was young.
A.used to tell
B.was used to tell
C.used to telling
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My panic was_____ and ceased when I began to have my class.
A.transient
B.permanent
C.trivial
D.contemporary
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We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. But most mistakes are about people. "Did Jerry really care when I broken up with Helen?" "When I got that great job did Jim really feel good about it, as a friend?" "Or did be envy my luck?" "And Paul-- why didn't I pick up that he was friendly just because I had a car?" When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad. But when we look back, it's too late.
Why do we go wrong about our friends or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning. And if we don't really listen, we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, "You're a lucky dog." Is he really on your side? If he says, "You're a lucky guy" or "You're a lucky gal," that's being friendly. But "lucky dog" ? There's a bit of envy in those words. Maybe he doesn't see it himself. But bringing in the "dog" bit puts you down a little. What be may be saying is that be doesn't think you deserve your luck.
"Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for" is another noise that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of you life as a whole. But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn't important. It's telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven't got a date for Saturday night.
How can you tell the real meaning behind someone's words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says square with the tone of voice? His posture? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save another mistake.
Note: guy = boy; gal = girl
In paragraph 1, when the writer recalls some things that happened between him and his friends, ______.
A.he feels happy, thinking of how nice his friends were to him.
B.he feels he may not have "read" his friends' true feelings correctly.
C.he thinks it was a mistake to have broken up with his girlfriend.
D.he is sorry that his friends let him down.
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My father was a gruff man. I couldn't remember the last time he had tenderly stroked my cheek, tousled my hair or used a term of endearment when calling my name. His diabetes had given him a short temper and he screamed a lot. I was envious when I saw other fathers plant gentle kisses on their daughters' foreheads or impulsively give them a big bear hug. I knew that he loved me and that his love was deep. He just didn't know how to express it.
It was hard to say "I love you' to someone who didn't say it back. After so many disappointing times when I would flinch from his sharp rebuff I began to withdraw my own warm displays of affection. I stopped reaching out or hugging or kissing him. At first this act of self-restraint was conscious. Later it would become automatic, and finally it was ingrained. The love between us ran strong but silent.
One rare evening out, when my mother had successfully coaxed my usually asocial father to join us for a night in the town, we were sitting in an elegant restaurant that boasted a small but lively band. When it struck up a familiar waltz tune, I glanced at my father. He suddenly appeared small and shrunken to me not powerful and intimidating as I had always perceived him.
All the old hurts welled up inside but I decided to dare one last time.
"Dad, You know I've never ever danced with you. Even when I was a little girl, I begged you, but you never wanted to! How about right now? " I waited for the usual brusque reply that would once again slice my heart into ribbons. But instead he considered me thoughtfully and then a surprising twinkle appeared in his eye." I have been remiss in my duties as a father then." he uncharacteristically joked. "Let's hit the floor and I'll show you just what kind of moves an old geezer like me still can make!"
My father took me in his arms. Since earliest childhood I hadn't been enfolded in his embrace. I felt overcome by emotion.
As we danced, I looked up at my father intently but he avoided my gaze. His eyes swept the dance floor, the other diners and the members of the band. His scrutiny took in everyone and everything but me. I felt that he must already be regretting his decision to join me for a dance; he seemed uncomfortable being physically close to me.
"Dad," I finally whispered tears in my eyes. "Why is it so hard for you to look at me?" At last his eyes dropped to my face and he studied me intently. "Because I love you so much", he whispered back. "Because I love you. " I was struck dumb by his response. It wasn't what I had anticipated. But it was of course exactly what I needed to hear. His own eyes were misty and he was blinking.
I had always known that he loved me, I just hadn't understood that his vast emotion had frightened him and made him mute. His taciturn manner hid the deep emotions flowing inside. "I love you too, Dad" I whispered back softly. He stumbled over the next few words" I ... I'm sorry that I'm not demonstrative." Then he said "I've realized that I don't show what I feel. My parents never hugged or kissed me and I guess I learned how not to from them. It's... it's.., hard for me. I'm probably too old to change my ways now but just know how much I love you." "Okay" I smiled.
When the dance ended, I brought Dad back to Mom waiting at the table and excused myself to the ladies' room. I was gone just a few minutes but during my absence everything changed.
There were screams and shouts and scrapings of chairs as I made my way back across the room. I wondered what the commotion was all about. As I approached the table I saw it was all about Dad. He was slumped in his chair ashen gray. A doctor in the restaurant rushed over to handle the emergency and an ambulance was called but it was really all too late. He was gone. Instantly they said.
What had suddenly made me after so many years of steeling myself against his constant rejection ask hi
A.He was a bad-tempered man because of the disease he had suffered.
B.He was an asocial man with little idea of using body language.
C.He was an affectionate father who seldom joked.
D.He was a loving father without much warm demonstration of love.
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My friend Mr.Black has come to China every year___he was a boy.
A.since
B.when
C.before
D.after
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When I told my family that I was thinking of takin...
When I told my family that I was thinking of taking a cooking job, the roars of laughter were rather discouraging. No one believed that I could cook at all, as I had never had achance to practise at home, Our cook had ruled in the kitchen for thirty years and had an annoying tendency to regard the saucepans, stove and all the kitchen fittings as her own property. I once crept down there when I thought she was asleep in her room to try out an omelette (妙蛋). Noiselessly I removed a frying pan from its hook and the eggs from their cupboard. It was the pop of the gas that woke her, I think, for I was just breaking the first egg when a pair of slippered feet moved round the door and a shout of horror caused me to break the egg on the floor. This disaster, together with the fact that I was using her one very special beloved and cared for frying-pan, upset her so much that she locked herself in the store room with all the food and we had to make our Sunday dinner of bananas. If the family weren&39;t going to be helpful I would look for a job all by myself and not tell them about it until I&39;d got one. I had seen an agency in a local paper, so as soon as there was no one about to say "Where are you going?" I rushed out of the house in search of it. I sat on the edge of a chair and could see my nose shining out of the corner of my eye.I thought perhaps it was a good thing; it might look more earnest. The woman at the desk examined me through her glasses. Having asked me a few questions, she told me that it would be difficult to get a job without experience. "But," she said, "I&39; ve got someone who needs a cook badly. " She wrote down a number, and my spirits went up as I took the slip of paper she held out to me, saying:“Ring up this lady. She wants a cook. You wouldhave to start tomorrow by cooking dinner for ten people. Could you manage that?" “Oh yes," said I, never having cooked for more than four in my life.
Of the following, which would best characterize the response of the author’s family to her plan of taking a cooking job?
A.Pleased
B.Doubtful
C.Uncomfortable
D.Positive
One reason for the author’s: lack of practice in cooking was that___.A.no one in her family would like her to practise cooking
B.everything in the kitchen was property belonging to the cook
C.the cook would never allow her to do any cooking
D.she was not yet born when the cook came to the house
The cook felt uncomfortable when____.A.She heard a shout of horror
B.she heard the sound of a pair of slippered feet moving round the door
C.she saw the author creep down to the kitchen
D.she saw the author break an egg on the floor
When there was no one about, the author rushed out of the house because_____.A.she was afraid of seeing the cook again
B.she couldn’t answer the question her family would ask
C.that was the only chance for her to leave the house
D.didn’t want to reveal what she was going to do
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I had my meals to bring when I was ill in bed with a bad cold.()
对
错
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I had my meals brought when I was ill in bed with a bad cold.()
对
错
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The boy, who was crying as if his heart would break, said, when I spoke to him, that
The boy, who was crying as if his heart would break, said, when I spoke to him, that he was very hungry, because he had had no food for two days.
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I used to think education was the most important thing in my life. Recently my attitude has begun to change, although I still hold that it is essential for everyone in the world today. As a top junior student in my college, I was asked to make a speech on how to learn English well. Standing in front of the audience and facing so many freshmen, I was trembling. I didn&39;t remember any word that I had prepared. I ran out of the conference room without finishing my speech, leaving everyone puzzled. I cried that night in my room, feeling that I was a loser. Studying takes so much of my time that I feel unable to really develop myself. I am just storing knowledge; yet fail to communicate with others. I have received many awards in school, but they don&39;t necessarily reflect anything about me. I don&39;t know how to socialize. When I leave school I fear I will be of no use to society.
I realize that everyone has her or his own way of living. I want to change my lifestyle. Of course I will keep studying. Yet I plan to look for a part-time job, which might turn out to be a good chance to get to know society. I still believe that working my hardest does make me happy. I will still stay on in college, but I will not allow it to shelter me from the real world.
1. From this passage, we know that the author回答.
A. does not think education is the most important thing in her life any more
B. thinks that communication with other people is more important than education
C. realizes that it is more important to really develop oneself than just to store knowledge
2. By saying that she is "a junior student" in her college, the author means that she is回答.
A. a student in her third year in college
B. a very young college student
C. younger than most students in college
3. The author thinks the awards she has received 回答.
A. show that she is a top student
B. show how much time she has spent in learning
C. don&39;t necessarily reflect her real self
4. The author fears that she will be of no use to society, mainly because回答.
A. she feels she is a loser
B. she does not know how to communicate with others
C. studying takes too much of her time
5. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage, when the author says that she wants to find a part-time job?回答
A. The job might enable her to get to know society.
B. She wants to change her lifestyle.
C. She wants to get some shelter from the real world.