News(March6,2008)thatMicrosoft-优题课

I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor—and go to court(法庭).
After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful
and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $ 200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I'd have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every time I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $ 115 each time. The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $ 215.
My lawyer was at all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided
seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss(解雇) him. And he made mepay him $ 770.
Now I had to act as wn lawyer. Due to my inexperience,I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time,… and I left without getting a cent.
My experiences taught me two things about America:firstly,in a country like America money is everything. It is more important than friendship,honour or professional morality(职业道德). Secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated. So when we talk about America, we should see both its good and bad sides.
1.The author's roommate offered to help him because
A. he felt sorry for the author.
B. he thought it was a chance to make some money.
C. he knew the doctor was a very good one.
D. he wanted the author to have a good lawyer.
2.A good doctor is essential for the author to ________.
A. be properly treated
B. talk with the person responsible for the accident
C. recover before he leaves America
D. eventually get the responsible party to pay for his injury
3.The word “charge” in this passage means________.
A. be responsible B. accuse C. ask as a price D. claim
4.Both the doctor and the lawyer in this passage are very ________.
A. friendly B. greedy C. professional D. busy
5. What conclusion can you draw from the story?
A. Going to court is something very common in America.
B. One must be very careful while driving a car.
C. There are more bad sides in America than good sides.
D. Money is more important than other things in the US.

It was 3:21 a.m. when nineyearold Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the cracking(爆裂声) of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the twostorey house at Baldwin, Long Island.
With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smokefilled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, collapsed on the lawn.
The nine-year-old boy raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother's room. He found it impossible to wake her up. Mrs Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy remained calm and, as a fireman said later,“acted with all the selfcontrol of a trained adult.”
On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother.
First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden.
He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smokefilled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor?
Grasping firmly a ball of string from the garage, Glenn raced back into the
house and dashed upstairs to his mother's room. Tying one end of the string to her hand he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden.
Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan:“The string will lead
you to Mother.” Mrs Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor.
1.Why did Glenn run downstairs first?
A. He wanted to find out what was happening.
B. He was worried about his mother's safety.
C. He wanted to save his sister and his brother.
D. He went to see if his father had come back from work.
2. How did Glenn help the firemen to save his mother?
A. By throwing water all over her and her bed.
B. By carrying her to safety with his brother.
C. By pushing and pulling at her.
D. By tying a string to her hand.
3. Who called the fire brigade and ambulance service?
A. Glenn. B. Glenn's father. C. Glenn's sister. D. Glenn's neighbor.
4.What did Glenn do to protect himself?
A. He put a wet cloth around himself. B. He threw water all over his head.
C. He hid himself in the bathroom. D. He rushed out to the lawn.
5. Glenn saved his family because ________ .
A. his father had taught him to do so on the phone
B. he had learned something about the first aid
C. he had dealt with the emergency calmly and wisely
D. he had followed his mother's instruction

I needed to get some money so, after Christmas, I took a job in the clothes department at Graham's for the first fortnight of the January sale. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but it was an experience I'll never forget.
I could never understand why there were so many things in the sales; where did they all come from? Now I know the secret! Firstly, there is the special winter stock(货物) and the stock that people buy all the year round; some of these things are slightly reduced. Secondly, there are the summer clothes they couldn't sell last year; these are heavily reduced to clear them. Thirdly, there are cheap clothes bought in specially for the sales; these are put out at high prices ten days before the sale begins and then are reduced by 60% in the sale. Clever! Lastly, they buy in “seconds”(clothes not in perfect condition) for the sale and they are sold very cheaply.
When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already a queue around three sides of the building. This made me very nervous.
When the big moment arrived to open the doors, the security guards, looking less
confident than usual, came up to them, keys in hand. The moment they had unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for protection as the noisy crowd charged in. I couldn't believe my eyes; this wasn't shopping, it was a battlefield! One poor lady couldn't keep her feet and was knocked over by people pushing from behind.
Clothes were flying in all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted. Quarrels broke out. Mothers were using their small child
ren to crawl(爬行) through people's legs and get hold of things they couldn't get near themselves.
Within minutes I had half a dozen people pushing clothes under my nose, each wanting to be the first served. Where had the famous English queue gone? The whole
day continued like that, but I kept my temper(脾气)! I was taking money hand over fist and began to realise why, twice a year, Graham's were happy to turn their expensive store into a battlefield like this.
In the sale fever, people were spending money like water without thinking whether they needed what they were buying. As long as it was a bargain it was OK.
You won't believe this but as soon as I got home I crashed out for four hours. Then I had dinner and went back to bed, fearing the sound of the alarm which would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale.
1.What kind of clothes is likely to be sold 5% cheaper?
Last summer's clothes.
B.Clothes not in perfect condition.
C.Clothes bought in specially for the sales.
D.Clothes for winter.
2.Which of the following statements is true?
A.The customers gave up the queuing, for which the English are famous.
B.The customers kept their temper while looking for clothes they wanted.
C.Small children enjoyed crawling through people's legs.
D.The security guards were fearless of the crowd.
3.In the author's opinion, why were Graham's happy to make their expensive store into a “battlefield”?
A.There were too many clothes and they wanted to clear them in the sales.
B.They were eager to show that they were clever at doing business.
C.They could take the chance to raise the prices of all their clothes.
D.They wanted to make more money by having sales.
4.The expression “_________crashed out” means ________.
A.chatted with her friendsB.slept soundlyC.broke downD.dined out
5. What would be the best title for the passage?
A.The Best Bargain B.Hunting for a Job
C.Sale FeverD.A Pleasant Fortnight

Professor Reason recently persuaded 35 people to keep a diary of all their absentminded actions for two weeks. When he came to analyse their embarrassing errors, he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groups.
One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work one morning threw her pet dog her earrings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her ear. “The explanation for this is that the brain is like a computer,”explains the professor.“People programme themselves to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman's custom every morning to throw her dog two biscuits and then put on her ear rings. But somehow the action got reversed(颠倒) in the programme.” About one in twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were these “programme assembly failures”.
Twenty percent of all errors were “test failures”— primarily due to not verifying the progress of what the body was doing. A man about to get his car out
of the garage passed through the back yard where his garden jacket and boots were kept, put them on—much to his surprise. A woman victim reported:“I got into the bath with my socks on.”
The commonest problem was information “storage failures”. People forgot the
names of people whose faces they knew,went into a room and forgot why they were
there, mislaid something, or smoked a cigarette without realizing it.
The research so far suggests that while the “central processor” of the brain is liberated from secondtosecond control of a wellpractised routine, it must repeatedly switch back its attention at important decision points to check that the action goes on as intended. Otherwise the activity may be “captured” by another frequently and recently used programme, resulting in embarrassing errors.
1.The purpose of Professor Reason's research is _______.
A.to show the difference between men and women in their reasoning
B.to classify and explain some errors in human actions
C.to find the causes which lead to computer failures
D.to compare computer functions with brain workings
2.Which of the following might be grouped under “programme assembly failures”?
A.A woman went into a shop and forgot what to buy.
B.A man returning home after work left his key in the lock.
C.A lady fell as she was concentrating on each step her feet were taking.
D.An old man, with his shoes on, was trying to put on his socks.
3.The word “verifying” in paragraph 3 can be replaced by _______ .
A.improvingB.changingC.checkingD.stopping
4.According to the passage, the information “storage failures” refer to _______ .
A.the destruction of information collecting system
B.the elimination of one's total memory
C.the temporary loss of part of one's memory
D.the separation of one's action from consciousness

As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen a washing machine and a microwave oven. Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week.
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the longhours work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of l
iving and downshifting is one of them.
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year. One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs(郊区), leaving their two children with a nanny(保姆). Most evenings Daniel wouldn't get home until eight or nine o'clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It's taken some getting used to, but it's been worth it. We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it's made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.”
Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I'm not really a country girl, but I suppose I'm gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about ittoo much or you might not do it at all.”
1.What do the first two paragraphs tell us?
A.People seldom work long hours to make money.
B.People hardly buy more things than necessary.
C.People are sure everything they own is in the right place.
D.People realise there is more to life than just making money.
2.When Daniel was a reporter he ________ .
A.lived in central London B.disliked his job
C.missed his childrenD.was well paid
3.Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm ________.
A.was easy to organizeB.has improved family life
C.was extremely expensive D.has been a total success
4.What does the underlined “it” in the last paragraph refer to?
A.Childcaring. B.Liz's advice. C.Downshifting. D.Liz's job.
5.The underlined word “_________downshifting” in the second paragraph means ________ .
A.repairing your car by yourself
B.spending money carefully
C.moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life
D.living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week