Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mum, you must come and see the daffodils(水仙花) before they are over."

I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Lake Arrowhead. "I will go next Tuesday," I promised, a little unwillingly, on her third call. 

The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible(看不见的) in the cloud and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see!" 

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in such weather all the time, Mum.You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." 

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small road and on the far side of a small church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read "Daffodil Garden". We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up amazed. Before me lay the most beautiful sight. Flows of flowers of different colors seemed poured down the peak and slopes. There were five acres of flowers! A sea of daffodil! It was like a fairyland all beyond description.

"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. "It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. That's her home. "Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio(露台), we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.  The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs(鳞茎)" it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman." The third answer was, "Began in 1958." 

I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than fifty years before, had begun—one bulb at a time—to bring beauty and joy to this remote mountain top. Just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world where she lived and created something of magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small amounts of daily effort, we too can accomplish great things. Everyone can do something to change the world.

21. The writer wasn’t going to see the daffodils at first because ______.

     A. she cared more about the children.                                  

     B. they were on a remote mountain top.

     C. it was not easy for her to drive there.                                       

     D. the weather was not good enough.

22. What do we know from the passage about the woman who grew daffodil?

     A. She must have been a modest woman.                           

     B. She worked as a professional gardener. 

     C. She grew the daffodils over 50 years by herself. 

     D. Being poor, she made a living by selling daffodils.

23. What has the writer learned from this experience?

     A. It's never too late to learn. 

     B. Nothing is too difficult if you put your heart into it.

     C. People can change the world where they live by growing flowers. 

     D. Accumulation(积累) of small steps may lead to something magnificent.

24. Which may be the best title for the passage?

     A. One bulb grown, magnificence dawns.

     B. A woman and Daffodils. 

     C. The Daffodil Garden.

     D. An Unforgettable Experience.

Schedule a Tour

    University of South Carolina （USC) is famous for its warm southern hospitality(好客). Schedule a visit and feel it in person. Our walking tours are led by current students, called University Ambassadors, who are looking forward to telling you what it's like to live and study in USC. Our walking tours run Monday through Friday and most are around 2 hours. The university will be closed on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in observance of the holiday. We welcome your visit year round and will be ready for you, rain or shine. Please refer to the list below to determine which tour is best for you and remember to book at least two weeks in advance.

25. Why is USC closed to visitors on July 4?

     A. To prepare a tour.                     B. To update its website.

     C. To celebrate the holiday.           D. To encourage a self-guided walk.

26. Who does Admitted Student Day target at?

     A. AU visitors to USC.                 B. Those applying for fall 2017.

     C. Independent consultants.            D. Those admitted for fall 2017.

27. If a 15-people group requests a summer visit, they need to               .

     A. submit Group Visit interest Form                                     B. email visior@mailbox.sc.edu

     C. call 800-922-9755                   D. check out Virtual Tour

Why doesn’t the unemployment rate ever reach zero? Economists, who generally believe that supply tends to meet demand, have long thought about this question. Even in good times, i.e. not now, there are people who can’t find work. And even in bad times, i.e. now, there are job openings. With over 14 million people out of work and looking for a job, you would think every available job would be filled. But that’s not the case. Not now and not ever.

       On Monday, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the prize for economics to the three scholars who have done the most to explain this phenomenon. Two of the winners are Americans, Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern. The third winner is Christopher Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics and was born on Cyprus.

  Like most economists, what they have found about why the jobless and ready-employers don’t find each other seems obvious. You have to find out there is job opening you are interested in. Employers need to get resumes. It takes a while for both employers and employees to make the decision that this is what they want. And these guys came up with a framework to study the problem of why people stay unemployed longer than they should and what can be done about it.

       So what would today’s Nobel Prize winners do to solve the current problem of the unemployed? And does the awarding of the prize contribute to the politicians’ lowering joblessness?

       Speaking from his north London home, Pissarides told The Associated Press the announcement came as “a complete surprise” though his work had already helped shape thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

       For example, the New Deal for Young People, a British government policy aimed at getting 18-24-year-olds back on the job market after long periods of unemployment, “It is very much based on our work,” he said.

       “One of the key things we found is that it is important to make sure that people do not stay unemployed too long so they don’t lose their feel for the labor force,” Pissarides told reporters in London. “The ways of dealing with this need not be expensive training – it could be as simple as providing work experience.”

28. According to the writer, which is true about finding jobs?

     A. It is always difficult to find a job.                                         

     B. Everyone can find a job in good times.

     C. It is possible to find a job even in times as bad as now.

     D. Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to find a job in bad times.

29. What is it that leads to their winning the prize?

     A. They have found the reason for unemployment.

    B. They have put forward a set of ideas to deal with unemployment.

     C. They have found out why people don’t want to be employed.

    D. They have long studied the problem of unemployment.

30. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

     A. Pissarides thinks his work surprising.

     B. The work of Pissarides has influenced many economists.

     C. Some of the winners’ ideas have been put into practice.

     D. It is probable that unemployed young people in Britain benefit from Pissarides’ work.

31. What is effective in dealing with unemployment according to Pissarides?

     A. Spending large sums of money on training.                     

     B. Providing work experience.

     C.Teaching some knowledge of economics.                                      

     D. Keeping people unemployed for some time.

What do literary tourists look for when they visit the British Isles? Often it’s the charmingly old-fashioned bookshops that provide the perfect excuse to read uninterruptedly and to disconnect from the world. Until recently, the trend for fine coffee and high-speed Wi-Fi was considered by some in the city’s bookish crowd to be ruining London’s centuries-old tradition of disconnected reading.

But a crop of bookshops is fighting against crazy online engagement and is creating environments where the real-life, Internet-free book reading is the most effective way to expand your social and professional networks. Leading the fighting is Libreria Books, which is in the company of Tenderbooks, Buchhandlung Wakther, Lutyens&Rubinstein etc., all independent bookshops without high-speed Wi-Fi and coffee.

Mr. Silva of Libreria was inspired to open his shop after experiencing a common suffering for London’s book-lovers—the repeated ring tones of smart phones ruining the peace of his bookshop experience. He wanted to get people reading without interruption. He said, “You can get Wi-Fi anywhere now, it’s not necessary in a bookshop.”

Their mantra(原则) has drawn a wise, brainy crowd. The bookshop should be an escape from an information overload. “ If someone gets a phone call, they leave the shop. It’s the same with the Internet—people just know this isn’t the space for being on line.” said Tamsin Clark, owner of Tender books. And in face of the Internet overload, some stores are proving to be among London’s hottest places.

Mr. Silva said “an old-fashioned space” is clearly appealing to book-lovers. He said his shop has had twice as many customers as expected, with visitors from as far as Australia and China. Faced with a bookshelf recommended by the Queen or surrounded by first editions, who wants to download a morning full of emails?

32. What would literary tourists like to find in an old-fashioned bookshop?

     A. Free coffee.                                                                       B. Social networks.

     C. High-speed Wi-Fi.                          D. Peaceful reading time.

33. Why did Mr. Silva of Libreria decide to open his own bookshop?

     A. He saw the trend of running bookshops.

     B. He aimed at banning Wi-Fi in bookshops.

     C. He was inspired by other bookshop owners.

     D. He had an unpleasant reading in a bookshop.

34. What do London’s bookish crowd think of the Internet-free bookshops?

     A. Outdated.        B. Attractive.           C. Fashionable.     D. Professional.

35. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?

     A. People prefer reading to being connected.

     B. Emails keep coming in all morning.

     C. You can still work efficiently.

     D. People have no access to downloading emails.

Social media and the mobile web have given rise to a strange phenomenon called the selfie．It refers to a picture of yourself, usually shared on any social networking website．

   36   Some selfies are extreme close-ups, and others show part of an arm held straight outward．A few of them even feature the subject standing in front of a bathroom mirror．

Everyone takes selfies, but the younger crowd seems to be especially involved in the trend．Young people are relatively heavier digital users．They are interested in staying connected to their friends．  37  

There are also kinds of psychological factors driving people to take a selfie and upload it to a social networking site．    38    A quick and easy way to attract other's attention is to get "likes" and comments from friends．Secondly, it's human nature to show off your own great achievements．When you feel good about yourself or look good, it's far too easy to take out your phone and document it all through one or several selfies．   39    That's right．Sometimes people are bored at work, bored at school, bored at home and even bored on the toilet．Last but not least, social media is about being social! If that means uploading as many selfies as possible, then so be it．It's fun, and it's a cool way to sort of document your own life．

Finally, there are things to be mindful of when you're posting．It's easy to think you're sharing a photo with a few people．   40     So don't post anything online, selfie especially．

    A. There are lots of selfie styles．

    B. The rise of selfies has become universal．

    C. Social media, to some extent, is the driving force of their selfie activity．

    D. The desire to take, post and get "likes" on selfies goes back to a biological

behavior．

     E. But the whole world of social media is public and every individual can get

access to it．

    F. There are also people who will take selfies because they have nothing else better

to do．

    G. The leading factor is that people want to get attention from as many people as

possible．