In 1955, a man named Raymond Kroc entered a partnership with two brothers named Mcdonald. They operated a popular restaurant in California which sold food that was easy to prepare and serve quickly. Hamburgers, French fries, and cold drinks were the main foods on the limited menu. Kroc opened similar eating places under the same name, “McDonald’s” and they were a quick success. He later took over the company and today it is one of the most famous and successful “fast-food” chains(连锁店) in America and the world.
Why was his idea so successful? Probably the most important reason was that his timing was right. In the 1950s, most married women stayed home to keep house and take care of their children. During the 1960s, the movement for equality(平等) between men and women and an economy(经济) that needed more families to have two money-earners resulted in many women returning to the workplace. This meant that they had less time and energy to do housework, so they depended more on fast-food restaurants.
Single parents also have little time to spend in the kitchen. People living alone because of divorce(离婚) or a preference for a “single lifestyle” also depend on this type of food, since cooking for one is often more trouble than it is worth.
Fast food is not part of the diet of all Americans. Another of the 1960s was called back-to-nature movement. More and more Americans based their diets on natural foods. This preference for natural foods continues to this day. These products can now be found not only in the special health food store but also in many supermarkets.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about ____.

When I was young, I belonged to a club that did community service work. There was one specific__16_ that was unusual for me. I spent three or four hours handing out warm dinner to the homeless out in the streets. After that I went to a homeless shelter not far from the Bay Bridge.
I was in high school and at the time my sister was too young to  17  . She wanted to help, 18  she made four or five dozen chocolate chip cookies for me to  19  and hand out to people. When _20_ to the homeless shelter, I passed out the _21_ meals. I began making sandwiches and   22   them with the crowd. I had the containers with my  23  cookies in them and began to  24  , offering them to anyone near me.
I  25  an old gentleman and said, “ Sir, would you like a cookie?” He stopped and turned around, looked at me rightly and said, “ What did you say? Did you call me sir?” I told him I __26_, and his eyes   27   a little bit and said,  “ No one has  28   called me sir.’ So he was completely moved.
It __29_  me.
I explained I had been raised that  30  color and social status, everyone deserved(应得) respect. It   31   me to think that just because he was homeless, no one  32   him the honor. It broke my heart. I just didn’t understand   33 no one ever called him sir? I had never thought that anyone was below me because I wasn’t raised that way. Every   34   person deserves to be treated with respect. Years later, I still carry that memory and the __35__ it taught me. Sometimes, what we take for granted can really make a difference in someone’s life.
How have you made a difference to others? How have others made a difference to you?

I was 15. She looked like she was over 70. But on that day. I think she understood me more than anyone else.
Walking into the church that Sunday was hard. I had never let anyone see me cry. But I knew I would cry that day .My grandfather was suddenly ill .The doctors said he might not live much longer. Everyone in my family was crying .Grandpa was the sweetest man in the world .Why was he leaving us?
There weren't many people at church that day. One of them was an old lady sitting at the end of my row. She was smiling. I closed my eyes and prayed （祷告）for my grandfather to get better. Soon, my eyes were full of tears. I opened my eyes and saw a hand in front of me. It was giving me a tissue(纸巾)。
The old lady was sitting next to me, smiling. She didn't say a word. She just gave me a tissue and a smile. I tried to thank her, but only tears came out. Then she took my hand. I looked into her eyes. They were clear and blue, and they make me feel peaceful. Her smile said to me :I am with you. Everything will be OK. I closed my eyes again. When I opened them, she wasn't there. I left the church but still couldn't find her. I never saw her again.
My grandfather died the next week. We all cried a lot. But when I thought of that old lady's warm smile, I felt a little better.
How did she know how I was feeling ? I wish I could see her again, to say thank you.
【小题1】The author went to church to _____.

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent(聪明的) than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter” while men have more of latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial(空间的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses(胎儿) are about mine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children ad young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier (障碍物) before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.
【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?