With the start of the new semester students around the country exchange their fun and fashionable clothes for boring school uniforms.
"The uniform makes us look like a bunch of clones, especially when we are doing morning exercises in the playground, "said Qing, a Senior 2 from a high school in Shanghai. "But we are not exactly the same from the top to the bottom. The boys wear different sport shoes and girls have different decorations ( 装饰品 )in their hair. These are the areas where you can express yourself" said Qing.
Although it might be strange for boys to talk about fashion, they do care about what they wear in school, especially shoes, according to Qing.
"Nike and Adidas basketball shoes, although they are still the must for many of my friends ,are becoming out-of-date,” added. He explained, "Since Liu Xiang ran so fast in Athens, running shoes are becoming popular in this autumn."
"Still in fashion are the various baseball caps and American-style T-shirts with random English words printed on them, "said Qing. "The accuracy ( 准确性 )of the written message isn't important. Often, the words are misspelt . Sometimes they do not even make sense “ Qing said with a smile.
Besides sports shoes and T-shirts, styles and colours of school bags are another opportunity for students to express their taste in fashion. Some bags are made more eye-catching by decorating them with small hanging dolls. Other fashionable items are the colourful drink contains which are now popular among girls this semester.
As in China, the new semester in the US also brings new fashion trends: shirts printed with Chinese words, necklaces with Hebrew ( 希伯莱 )or Hindi ( 印度的 )characters, and Brazilian jewelry, are all common in schools in Florida, according to Carmen Domingues, a high school student.What does "a bunch of clones”( Paragraph 2)mean?
| A．All of the clothes are the same. | B．All of the exercises are the same. |
| C．All of the clothes are different. | D．All of the exercises are different. |
How do the students express themselves in school?
| A．The girls wear different sport shoes. |
| B．All the students wear school uniforms. |
| C．The girls have different decorations in their hair. |
| D．The boys drink water from colourful drinks containers. |
Why are Nike and Adidas basketball shoes becoming out-of-date?
| A．Because the shoes are not eye-catching. |
| B．Because running shoes become more popular. |
| C．Because the shoes have been popular for a long time. |
| D．Because they have changed their opinions for Liu Xiang. |
Which of the following is NOT the new fashion trends in the US?
| A．Necklace with Hebrew or Hindi characters. |
| B．Baseball caps and American-style T-shirts. |
| C．Shirts printed with Chinese words. |
| D．Brazilian jewelry. |
Nowroz:Iranian New Year or Nowroz is celebrated on the first day of spring sometime in March. People sing, dance and parade as in a carnival through the streets with drums and trumpets to spread the news of the coming new year.
Rosh Hashanah:The Jewish New Year is called “Rosh Hashanah”, and is celebrated in the month of September. It is a holy (神圣的) time when people think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and promise to do better in the future. Special prayers are held, and an instrument called a Shofar is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruits are served to remind people of harvest time.
Shogatsu:In Japan, the New Year (Shogatsu) celebrations are from January 1 to January 3 and most Japanese don’t work during these days. In Japan, the New Year is a fresh start. This means that in December all duties should be completed. Parties are held to forget the worries and troubles of the old year. Homes and cars are decorated. On New Year’s Eve, most people spend their time with their families.
Bahai New Year:The Bahai people have their own calendar consisting of nineteen months of nineteen days plus a couple of extra days between the eighteenth and nineteenth months. They have, however, adopted the Iranian custom of beginning the New Year in the spring equinox (春分). The New Year celebrations are held on the evening of March 20th.During the Jewish New Year, .
| A．people don’t mention things they have done wrong |
| B．children often wear new clothes |
| C．loaves and fruits are often not allowed to be served |
| D．Shofar is their favourite food |
Which of the following festivals are celebrated in the same month?
| A．Nowroz and Shogatsu. |
| B．Rosh Hashanah and Shogatsu. |
| C．Nowroz and Rosh Hashanah. |
| D．Nowroz and the Bahai New Year. |
What can we learn from the text?
A. Japanese families often stay together to celebrate Shogatsu.
B. The Bahai people usually hold a carnival to celebrate the New Year.
C. The Jewish harvest fruits to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.
In 1955, a man named Raymond Kroc together with two brothers named McDonald opened 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 food there. Kroc opened similar eating places under the same name, “McDonald’s”, and they were an instant success. He later took over the company, and today it is one of the most famous and successful “fast-food” in America and around the world.
Why was his idea 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. In the 1960s, many women returned to the workplace. This meant that they had less time or energy to prepare meals, so they spent more on “ TV dinners ” and fast-food restaurants. Single parents also have little time to spend in the kitchen. People living alone 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 trend of the 1960s, sometimes called the back-to-nature movement influenced many people to avoid food that was packaged (包装) or processed(处理). This preference for natural food continued to this day.
From the success of Raymond Kroc’s fast-food business, we can say that social economic trends influence where and what we eat.The underlined sentence “Cooking for one is often more trouble than it is worth” means that ______.
| A．cooking for some people is worth more money |
| B．it is not worthwhile to take too much time to cook for one person |
| C．there are more problems when one person cooks |
| D．cooking for one person cost more money |
Para 3&4 seem to imply (暗示) that ________.
| A．many married women began to work in the 1960s |
| B．natural foods are still popular today |
| C．fast food is not part of the diet of all Americans |
| D．divorce (离婚) causes people to change their eating habits |
Which of the following is NOT the reason for McDonald’s success?
| A．people living alone tend to depend on fast food |
| B．single parents have little time to spend in the kitchen |
| C．many women returned to the workplace in the 1960s |
| D．Kroc chose the “Mc Donald” brothers as his partners |
The main purpose of the passage is to tell us________.
| A．Raymond Kroc is the most successful fast-food business owner in the world |
| B．social and economic changes affect eating habits |
| C．fast-food is easy to prepare and serve quickly |
| D．Americans eat either fast food or natural food |
On a cold evening I was waiting for a taxi in New York. About 5 minutes later, I was picked up by a driver, and he said how terrible some people were. I knew there was a part of me that wanted to be silent, but I had to listen out of kindness.
The man told me that he had just come from JFK Airport without a customer. During the taxi ride, what started as anger changed slowly and he mentioned that he had read an article which said that the happiest people are the ones that give, so he hoped he’d have more chance to give in his life. I was really starting to enjoy being with this man.
As we arrived at the place where I wanted to go, I paid my money by credit card. I pulled out an extra $20 and said, “Sir, since we’ve been talking about giving this whole time, I want to share that feeling with you. I’ve already paid my money, but here’s an extra little bit. You can tell the next passenger in this taxi that their ride is a gift from another.”
I thought I was pretty cool at this point, but he turned toward me, tears in his eyes, and said, “Sir, I have a better idea. You give that $20 to a homeless person around here and I will give the next passenger a free ride myself.
It was a great honor meeting that man and learning the lesson of how everyone gives and adds joy to another with their generosity.According to the text, when the author got in the taxi, the driver was.
| A．angry | B．nervous | C．worried | D．regretful |
The author gave the driver an extra $20 in order to _.
| A．help him to get out of trouble |
| B．know what he was really like |
| C．experience the joy of giving |
| D．learn how to get along with others. |
What can be inferred (推断) from the taxi driver’s words in Paragraph 4?
| A．A driver should be willing to help. |
| B．People should understand each other. |
| C．The driver was deeply moved. |
| D．One needs to keep an optimistic attitude (乐观态度). |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．A cold evening in New York |
| B．A lesson learned from a taxi driver |
| C．A gift to a generous stranger |
| D．Always being a happy person |
Many of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in history books are great conquerors and generals and soldiers, whereas the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all.
We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year; but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think a great deal of them, so much so that on all the highest pillars in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors.
It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized. Animals fight; so do savages; hence to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage（野人） is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently—this, after all, is what conquerors and generals have done—is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized people ought to be able to find some way of setting their disputes other than by seeing which side can kill off the greater number of the other side, and then saying that that side which has killed most has won. And not only has it won, but because it has won, it had been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that might（权利） is right.The author thinks that the conquerors and generals and soldiers ________.
| A．only appear glorious in history books |
| B．are greater than any other people |
| C．are not as great as described in history books |
| D．do not really help civilization forward |
As it is indicated in the passage, the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier is put on the highest pillars in the great cities of the world mainly because ________.
| A．people respect them very much |
| B．they fought bravely to protect their cities |
| C．people think they fought too brutally（野蛮地） |
| D．they conquered many cities and countries |
What is the writer’s attitude towards the countries that ruled over a large number of other countries ?
| A．Positive. | B．Critical. | C．Ironic. | D．Respectful. |
The author says that civilized people________.
| A．should not have any quarrels to settle |
| B．should not fight when there are no quarrels to settle |
| C．should settle their quarrels without fighting |
| D．should settle their quarrels by killing the other side |
An “apple polisher” is one who gives gifts to win friendship or special treatment. It is not exactly a bribe(贿赂),but is close to it.
All sorts of people are apple polishers, including politicians and people in high offices ── just about everybody. Oliver Cromwell, the great English leader, offered many gifts to win the support of George Fox and his party, but failed.
There are other phrases meaning the same thing as “apple-polishing” ── “soft-soaping” or “butter-up”. A gift is just one way to “soft-soap” somebody, or to “butter him up”. Another that is just as effective is flattery, giving someone high praise ── telling him how good he looks, or how well he speaks, or how talented and wise he is.
Endless are the ways of flattery. Who does not love or hear it ? Only an unusual man can resist the thrill of being told how wonderful he is. In truth, flattery is good medicine for most of us, who gets so little of it.
We need it to be more sure of ourselves. It cannot hurt unless we get carried away by it. But we just lap it up for its food value and nourishment, as a cat laps up milk, then we can still remain true to ourselves.
Sometimes, however, flattery will get you nothing from one who has had too much of it. A good example is the famous 12th century legend of King Canute of Denmark and England. The king got tired of listening to the endless sickening flattery of his courtiers（朝臣）.They overpraised him to the skies, as a man of limitless power.
He decided to teach them a lesson. He took them to the seashore and sat down. Then he ordered the waves to stop coming in. The tide was too busy to listen to him. The king was satisfied. This might show his followers how weak his power was and how empty their flattery.Which of the following activities has nothing to do with “apple-polishing” ?
| A．A boy tells his girlfriend how pretty she looks |
| B．An employee tells his boss how good he is at management |
| C．A knight(骑士)is said to be of limitless power by his followers |
| D．A teacher praised his students for their talent and wisdom. |
Which of the following statement about flattery is TRUE according to the author ?
| A．Too much flattery can carry us away |
| B．Flattery is too empty to do people any good |
| C．Flattery can get nothing but excessive(过度的)pride |
| D．Flattery is one of the ways to apple-polish people. |
King Canute of Denmark and England took his followers to the seashore because __________.
| A．he was sick of his normal |
| B．he disliked being overpraised any more |
| C．he wanted them to realize how wise he was |
| D．he wanted them to see how weak he was as a king |
The author thinks that flattery can do good to those who _________.
| A．are really excellent |
| B．lack confidence |
| C．are politicians or in high offices |
| D．think highly of themselves |