2005年9月全國公共英語等級考試三級真題
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Everyone knows how the story of Cinderella ends, but did you ever really think about how she spent her days before she met the prince? Her daily routine was not fascinating. She did everything from sweeping the floor to cooking the meals. If someone had asked Cinderella, “Are there any kinds of household work that you particularly hate?” she probably would have answered, “Why, none, of course. Housework is my duty!” In the real world, however, most people have definite dislikes for certain sorts of household work. Two of these tasks are ironing clothes and washing dishes.
Ironing clothes is most hated because it is not a task that can be completed quickly or thoughtlessly. Each piece of clothing must be handled individually, so ironing a basket of laundry can take hours! After ironing a piece of clothing with great caution, which requires smoothing out the fabric, and following the seams, you need to place it on a hanger as soon as possible. If you do not follow these directions carefully, it might become wrinkled and you have to start over. Perhaps that is why ironing is not a favorite thing to do. It calls for extreme attention to detail from beginning to end. Another household job that many people dislike is washing dishes. Of course, some people claim that this work is no longer a problem because we have dishwashers now!
However, no one would argue that dishes, silverware, and especially pots and pans washed in a dishwasher don’t come out as clean as they do when washed by hand. For this reason, many of us continues to wash our dishes by hand, but we are not necessarily happy doing it. Cleaning dishes is a job that not only takes a lot of energy but also requires the patience to wash and dry them. In addition, unlike ironing clothes, washing dishes is a thing that usually must be done every day. I don’t know how Cinderella felt about this particular task, but I believe that most people hate it as much as I do.
56.For Cinderella, doing household work is .
[A] an assignment.
[B] a compulsion.
[C] an obligation.
[D] a burden.
57.Most people hate to do clothes-ironing because .
[A] it has to be done by one person.
[B] it must be handled skillfully.
[C] it involves careful planning.
[D] it is time-consuming.
58.To avoid ironing the clothes over again, one should .
[A] know how to iron certain clothes material.
[B] spare no care through all the procedures.
[C] find some proper hangers for the ironed.
[D] pay special attention to the seams.
59.Many people still prefer washing dishes by hand to machine washing because .
[A] hand-washed dishes are cleaner.
[B] dishwashers are not so easily handled.
[C] some dishes cannot be machinewashed.
[D] washing dishes by hand is cheaper.
60.Ironing is different from dishwashing in that .
[A] it requires patience.
[B] it is not a daily routine
[C] it is not laborious.
[D] it demands less care.