题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
河北省石家庄市第二中学2018-2019学年高二上学期英语12月月考试卷
I have learned something about myself since I moved from Long Island to Florida three years ago. Even though I own a home in Port St, Lucie just minutes from the ocean, an un-controllable urge wells up to return to Long Island even as others make their way south. I guess I am a snowbird stuck in reverse. Instead of enjoying Florida's mild winters, I willingly endure the severe weather on Long Island, the place I called home for 65 years.
I'm like a migratory bird (候鸟) that has lost its sense of timing and direction, my wings flapping against season.
So what makes me fly against the tide of snowbirds? The answer has a lot to do with my reluctance to give up the things that define who I am. Once I hear that the temperature on Long Island has dipped into the range of 40 to 50 degrees, I begin to long for the sight and crackling sound of a wood fire. I also long for the bright display of colors-first in the fall trees, and then in the lights around homes and at Rockefeller Center. Floridians decorate too, but can't create the special feel of a New England winter.
I suppose the biggest reason why I return is to celebrate the holidays with people I haven't seen in months. What could be better than sitting with family and friends for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner, or watching neighbors children excitedly open gifts on Christmas? Even the first snowfall seems special. I especially enjoy seeing a bright red bird settling on a snow-covered branch. (My wife and I spend winters at a retirement community in Ridge, and I'm grateful that I don't have to shovel.)
While these simple pleasures are not unique to Long Island, they are some of the reasons why I come back. Who says you can't go home?
Want to choose an English novel to enjoy? Here are four popular books sold on the website of Amazon, with formats and editions of kindle, hardcover, or paperback.
| The Handsome Enemy By Emily Walters ASIN: B01N7L0WCA Despite her unwillingness, Reagan Lister is required to work with Greg Pilster, another great lawyer, to prove that a senator's son is not guilty of a murder for her latest case. The dangers in the process bring the two closer together and Reagan realizes that Greg, who she thought was her enemy, is winning her heart. The truth of the case is something that neither of them expected. |
| And the Mountains Echoed By Khaled Hosseini ASIN: B009XIXVU6 Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel that explores the many ways in which brothers and sisters nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another, and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. |
| The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd ASIN : B000W4RFBQ From the author of The Invention of Wings and set in South Carolina in 1964, the bestselling novel tells the story of Lily Owens, an escaped black girl taken in by three black beekeeping sisters and introduced to their attractive world of bees and honey. This is a remarkable novel about great female power and it's regarded inspirational. It was adapted into an award-winning movie in 2008. |
| Just Dreams By L. J. Taylor ASIN: B00N6IRDGW Just Dreams is the first book in the Brooks Sisters Dreams Series. Lawyer Kathy Brokks agrees to represent Charles Morgan Jr. in a high-profile case against a powerful government defense contractor. But when Charles' hidden agenda threatens to expose the government's dirty little secrets, what started out may cost Kathy her career and even her life. |
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