sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.
As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew(炖菜).Dad pulled out a pressure cooker and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots. For about half an hour. the pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad's pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.
Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!
Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around it didn?t look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn?t offend the nose so much, edible, and we drank up every last drop of soup. 34.Why did Dad clean Old Man Mocolgin?s chicken house regularly? A. To earn some money for the family. B. To collect manure for his crops. C. To get rid of the terrible smell. D. To set a good example to us. 35.What can we infer about Dad?s stew? A. It is popular among the neighbors. B. It contains honey and vegetables. C. It looks very wonderful. D. It tastes quite delicious.
36.What does the underlined word “offend” in the last paragraph mean? A. To attract
B. To upset
C. To air
D. To shut
37.What can we learn about Dad form the text? A. He is an experienced cook. B. He is a troublesome father.
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C. He has a positive attitude to life. D. He suffers a lot from his disability. 【答案】 34.B 35.D 36.B 37.C 【解析】
试题分析：本文主要讲述了作者的父亲买了一个小农场，在里面种满了各种蔬菜、果树甚至还养了蜜蜂。
但作者的父亲收获的时候，他炖了一锅蔬菜，闻到味道时，作者和其他人觉得烧得很糟糕，但是最后全部都吃光了。
考点：考查记叙文阅读
C
Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers, But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.
Mothers have long known that their home worked was just heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as＄172,000 a year.
The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are
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working, to determine the figure. This would make their yearly income ￡3000 more than the Prime Minister earns.
By analysing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week,40 of which would usually be paid at a standard rate 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18,it found that ,on most days, mums started their routine work at 7am and finished at around 11pm.
To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour,it suggested some of the roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time lawyer, at ￡48.98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jobs”,with psychologist（心理学家）a close second.
It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional（情感的） demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.
Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.
The study shoes mothers matter all year long and not just on, Mother?s Day. The emotional ,physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness. Investing（投入）in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent. 38.How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister? A.￡30,000. B.￡142,000. C.￡172,000. D.￡202,000. 39.The biggest challenge for most mothers is from.
A. emotional demand B. low pay for work C. heavy workload D. lack of training 40.What is stressed in the last paragraph?
A. Mothers?importance shows in family all year long. B. The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile. C. Mothers?devotion to children can hardly be calculated. D. Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return.
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41.What can we conclude from the study?
A. Mothers?working hours should be largely reduced. B. Mothers should balance their time for work and rest. C. Mothers?labour is of a higher value than it is realised. D .Mothers should be freed from housework for social life. 【答案】 38.B 39.A 40.B 41.C
【解析】：这是一篇写在母亲节的文章，在母亲节这一天，每个人都会对母亲做出一些事，比如一束花等等，但是作者认为，母亲这一职业值得全年的关注，因为它包含太多。
38.B细节理解题。根据文章的they would earn as much as＄172,000 a year.以及This would make their yearly income ￡3000 more than the Prime Minister earns.可知，总理的工资是172000-3000=142000。故选择B。
39.A 细节理解题。根据文章倒数第三段的It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional（情感的） demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.可知，选择A。
40.B 细节理解题。根据最后一段的The emotional ,physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness.可知，选择B，指母亲付出的牺牲是巨大的，但是又是值得的。
41.C 推理判断题。根据文章第一段的But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.可知，作者认为母亲的重要性应该得到更多的关注，故选择C。 考点：考查说明文阅读
D
Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of
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wearing themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all night一as well as during the day, British-based researchers say.
David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, take away signs and homes is affecting the birds' biological clock, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep.
Dr Dominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put the birds? health at risk. His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some genes being active at the wrong time of day. And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at night.
He told people at a conference, \they are increasing their song output at night and during the day they are still singing. Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy. So by increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy.\
And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal. Dr Dominoni said, \live, gulls are a serious problem. I have people coming to me saying `You are the bird expert. Can you help us kill these gulls?'.During the breeding(繁殖)season, between April and June, they are very active at night and very noisy and people can't sleep.\
Although Dr Dominoni has only studied light pollution, other research concluded that robins living in noisy cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise.
However, some birds thrive(兴旺)in noisy environments. A study from California Polytechnic University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery. It is thought that they are capitalising on their predators(天敌)fleeing to quieter areas.
42.According to Dr Dominoni's study, what cause robins to sing so much? A. The breeding season.
B. The light in modem
D. The noise from heavy machinery.
C. The dangerous environment.
43.What is the researchers' concern over the increase of birds' song output?
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