精读材料Respect differenceLi Ruiyi has gotten used to religion at school.PHOTO COURTESY OF LI RUIYI不同宗教信仰在美国高中是如何融合的？ON the first day of school, I sat in the homeroom, excited and a bit nervous, trying to make sense of what was being said over the loudspeaker. Suddenly, everyone in the room started mumbling (咕哝) something together, their eyes half-closed, ending their words with a gesture of a cross.Confused, I put up my right hand and patted my shoulders, trying to copy them. Half a semester had passed when I finally realized that it was the morning prayer (祷告).This was just the beginning. Afternoon reflection, school dismissal (放学) prayer . school life in a Catholic (天主教的) academy is timed around religious procedures (程序). Even when Im at home, I need to hold hands with my host family and say a little prayer before dinner starts and reflect upon my day with other family members before bedtime. On Sundays, church is always on our schedule (日程表).However, to my surprise, quite a few students at my school are non-Christians, and the number is still growing. One of my friends has an Asian family and his mother believes in Buddhism (佛教),but he still chose to come to this Catholic school. “This school is one of the best in the city,” he said, “and religion isnt really that big of a deal. Americans believe in all kinds of things.”He got it right. The US is packed with people with different beliefs, yet they can somehow set aside these differences and hug each other.My first host family were Catholics who took the Bible only as an allegory (寓言), but that didnt prevent them from making friends with Christians who thought every story in the Bible was for real.My English teacher is proud of her atheism (无神论), but interestingly, shes always the most faithful (虔诚的 ) one during prayer. And the school Chinese professor never forgets to try to spread Confucianism (儒教) in class.At first, I was worried that I wouldnt be able to get along with so many different people with such big differences in belief, but later I discovered that it didnt really matter. Diversity, a key part of the character of the nation, is in the blood of every American. They never mind taking their own stands but at the same time, they respect others rights to pursue (追求) their own beliefs. With all the differences, this one agreement is enough to hold them together as a nation.Choose the best answer:1. The first three paragraphs were written mainly to _.A. explain what people usually do during morning prayerB. show how difficult it was for the author to fit in at her new schoolC. describe how important religious procedures are at the authors new schoolD. tell readers that the author doesnt like religious procedures to be taken so seriously2. What is the most probable reason for the number of non-Christians growing at the authors school?A. The school enjoys a good reputation.B. Other Catholic schools dont accept non-Christians.C. They want to have a taste of life at a Catholic school.D. There are all kinds of interesting teachers in the school.3. The underlined phrase “that big of a deal” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by “_”.A. that important B. that excitingC. that annoying D. that demanding4. From the text, it can be concluded that _.A. going to a Catholic school will change your religious beliefsB. living with differences means you need to respect differences firstC. the author had no trouble at all understanding people with different religious beliefsD. one should try to understand why some choose certain religious beliefs in order to get along with themD1 1-4 CAABBarbie starting to change with times新版芭比娃娃展现美国多元审美观念。词数 325 建议阅读时间 5 分钟 SHE has been a part of US culture for more than half a century. Tall, blond and blue-eyed, Barbie is often thought of as the typical all-American girl.First sold by US toy maker Mattel in 1959, the iconic (标志性的) doll was created so that girls could try out grown-up activities like socializing and working. Over the years, with changes of clothes and accessories (装饰), Barbie has had different careers, working as a waitress, a teacher and a doctor.But in recent years, Mattel has been criticized for giving girls an impossible standard of beauty to meet. Critics say that Barbies unrealistic body, which looks impossibly tall, thin and busty (胸部丰满的), does not show what American women should look like. “The doll may be perfectly pretty, but it also limits girls imaginations and certainly doesnt show the different body types todays children see all around them,” The Huffington Post noted.So it was time for a makeover. Last year, new skin tones (肤色) and hairstyles were introduced. And on Jan 28, Mattel announced three new Barbie body types: curvy, tall and petite (娇小的).Just as women dont come in one shape, now Barbie dolls wont either. As Time magazine put it, “American ideas about beauty have evolved (演变).” Today the curvy bodies of US socialite Kim Kardashian West and singer Beyo