E
Just days after the January 4 premiere (首映) of Hollywood blockbuster Avatar in China, the box offices across the country had gone beyond 100 million yuan (around $14.7 million), thanks to the enthusiasm of huge number of Chinese movie fans. China Film Group Corp. Estimates are that the total box office may finally reach 500 million yuan.
Though almost every movie theater in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai gives Avatar top billing(最优先的档期), with as many as 20 show times a day, Chinese audience still find it tough to get a ticket. In Beijing, the Wanda Movie Theater in Shijingshan, the first IMAX theater in Asia, is the first choice for Avatar moviegoers. The theater shows the 3D IMAX version of Avatar five times a day, and tickets are generally sold out a day in advance.
In Shanghai, to get an IMAX ticket for Avatar can mean waiting in freezing weather all night for a show three days later. Shanghai local media reported that on Friday, around 500 people were queuing for tickets at 8 a.m. in front of the downtown Peace Cinema, including some who had waited for 12 hours. Movie fans came equipped with quilts, wooden stools and snacks, in a scene reminding of that at train ticket windows before the New Year, when huge numbers of Chinese travel to be with family.
For the 3D version of Avatar, ticket prices varied for different theaters and time slots(场次), ranging from 60 yuan to 120 yuan. Meanwhile, illegal tickets traders asked as much as 600 yuan for the IMAX version in Shanghai. The Peace Cinema is planning to raise the ticket price for the IMAX version to as much as 200 yuan from the current 150 yuan from Jan. 14 for some time slots.
A report by the People's Daily owes the difficulty in getting tickets partly to the lack of 3D screens in China. There are only 11 IMAX commercial theaters in nine cities across China. Because of this, people are traveling long distances to see the movie. In southern China, the IMAX-equipped Dongguan Wanda theater has seen a huge coming of people from Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Wednesday afternoon, due to a technical breakdown of the system, the movie was stopped for an hour, and the sound didn't come together with the picture. In the end, the general manager of the theater had to beg forgiveness on his knees twice to lessen the angry audience who drove a long way to see the movie. The theater had to pay back each audience member the full ticket price as well as 200 yuan for traffic expenses.
The world-wide gross(总收入) for "Avatar" is now at $1.335 billion, second only to the $1.843 billion pulled in by "Titanic," another film directed by Cameron. But how long will 'Avatar' manage to hold its death grip around the number one spot?
57. The behavior of movie fans in Shanghai shows that __________.
A. the time slots of the film are not enough |
B. people are too enthusiastic about the film Avatar |
C. Chinese seldom have chances to enjoy Hollywood blockbusters like Avatar |
D. the tickets for the film are harder to get than train tickets before the New Year |
58. Chinese audience still find it difficult to get a ticket for Avatar because __________.
A. the weather is freezing and the queue is too long |
B. the cinemas have raised the ticket price for Avatar |
C. not many 3D screens are available in China |
D. there are many illegal tickets traders in different cities |
59. From“how long will 'Avatar' manage to hold its death grip around the number one spot?”in the last Paragraph, we learn that the writer __________.
A. thinks the film is sure to hold the number one spot |
B. questions the truth of the number one spot of the film |
C. concludes that the film Avatar is not better than Titanic |
D. doubts whether the film can keep its popularity with the people |
60. The best title of the passage should be __________.
A. Hollywood Blockbuster Avatar Hitting China |
B. Chinese People Kneeling Down for a Film |
C. Lack of IMAX Theaters in China |
D. Difficulty in Seeing Avatar in China |
A tourist comes out of the airport. There are a lot of taxis, but he asks every taxi-driver’s name, and takes the third taxi. It costs 5 from the airport to the hotel. “How much does it cost for the whole day?” the tourists asks. “100,” says the taxi-driver. This is very expensive, but the tourist accepts the price.
The taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere. He shows him all monuments and all the museums. In the evening they go back to the hotel. The tourist gives the taxi-driver 100 and says, “What about tomorrow?” The taxi-driver looks at the tourist. “ Tomorrow? It’s another 100 tomorrow.” But the tourist says, “That’s OK. If that’s the price. See you tomorrow.” The taxi-driver is very pleased. The day the taxi-driver takes the tourist everywhere again. And in the second evening they go back to the hotel. The tourist gives the taxi-driver another 100 and says, “I’m going home tomorrow.” He likes the tourist, above all, 100 a day is a good money. “So you are going home, where do you come from?” he asks.
“I come from New York.”
“New York!” says the taxi-driver, “I have a sister in New York. Her name is Susannah, Do you know her?”
“Of course I know her. She gave me 200 for you.”The tourist is _______.
an Englishman
a Frenchman.
a Swedish.
an American.The tourist asks every taxi-driver his name because_______
A.he is afraid f being cheated |
B.he knows one of the taxi-drivers |
C.he knows of one of the taxi-drivers |
D.there is a friend of his among the taxi-drivers. |
Why is the taxi-driver very pleased with the tourist?
A.None but the tourist agrees to the price given without arguing with him |
B.His sister knows the tourist. |
C.His sister had brought so much money to him |
D.He wants to be the guide of the tourist. |
We can conclude that _______
A.he tourist will give the taxi-driver another 200 |
B.the tourist makes fun of the taxi-driver |
C.the tourist will give the taxi-driver half of sum |
D.the taxi-driver insists that the tourist should pay him another 200 |
A brother and sister have been reunited after more than 60 years, thanks to a letter in the Welwyn and Hatfield Times.
For years John Hannant Kept a photograph of his long-lost sister, hoping they would meet again. Margery, the eldest of the three children, had signed up to the Royal Air Force as part of the war effort, when John was still a baby. The family lost touch and as the decade s passed only a single letter gave a clue to her whereabouts. The clue was enough for a WHT reader to recognize Margery and put the family back in touch..
John, 67, had been searching for a long time and a friend suggested writing to the paper.
“That’s the one that made it, the letter to the paper a few months age,” he said. “It’s like a dream come true. The last time we ever heard from Margery was in 1953 after the floods. She wrote home to know if we were all right. My sister Dorothy wrote back, But Margery had moved again and never got the letter.”
Having retired from his job as a gardener at Park House, Mr. Hannat decided to take action once and for all. He and his wife Doreen, travelled to Margery’s home in Chelwood Avenue, Hatfield , which she shares with her husband Jack Cooke.
Now 88, she was recovering after several months in hospital, but immediately recognized her brother. John said, “It’s something that I never thought was going to happen, but I always hoped it would.” As well as finding his sister, John has also discovered he now has a nephew, niece and six grandnieces and grandnephews.Margery left her family because______
there was a flood in her hometown
she signed up to serve the army
she wanted to get her husband back
a war broken out in her hometownWhen she wrote to John last time ,Margery was ______
A.34 years old | B.40 years old |
C.44years old | D.54 years old |
What do we know about Jack Cooke’s family?
A.Jack now has a son and a daughter. |
B.Jack and his wife live with their children now |
C.Jack’s wife is in good health all the time. |
D.Jack lost touch with his family a long time ago. |
It can be inferred from the passage that______
A.since 1953 Margery has come back home only once. |
B.Margery received only one letter from John. |
C.Margery does not care about her family. |
D.WHT refers to a newspaper. |
One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes. It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that ,”and it is even harder to say, “I was wrong ,and you were right about that.” I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago .He told me he had been the manager of a cartons (纸箱).Then he talk of an incident and I began to remember the incident he was describing.
I was about eight years old at the time , and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular day, I must have found my way to the food department where the incident took place.
There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was a big show of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons. The cartons were put three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of them to admire the show. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the pile of cartons. For some reason, I decided it was up to me to put the cartons back together, so I went to work.
The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees checking some of the cartons to if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as if I was the person who was to blame .He scolded me loudly and wanted me to pay for those broken eggs. My face turned red and I tried to explain, but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot the incident, but the manager did not.How old was the author when he wrote this article?
A About 8years old B About 18 years old
C About 23 years oldD About 15 years old Who was to blame for knocking off the pile of cartons?
A The author B The manager
C A woman D The author’s mother Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A The woman who knocked off the pile of cartons was seriously scolded by the manager.
B The author was loudly scolded by the manager.
C A woman was loudly scolded by the manager.
D It was the author who put the cartons back together.The tone of the article expresses the author’s______
A admiration for the manager’s willingness to admit mistakes
B anger to the manager for his wrong
C dissatisfaction with the woman who knocked off the pile cartons
D regret for the mistake he made in the store
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings.
Week by week her list grew: I was very thin; I wasn’t a good student; I talked too much; I was too proud and so on.. I tried to bear all these all these things as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you are really like? Well, you now have the girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half of the things were true.
some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it, “That’s just for you,” he said. “ You know better than anyone else, the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just closing your ears anger and feeling hurt . When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to other people’s opinions, but hear the truth and do you know is right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice returned to me at many important moments. IN my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
A Not an Enemy, but a Best Friend
B The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had
C My Father
D My ChildhoodWhat does “ week by week her list grew” mean?
A Week by Week, my shortcomings grew more serious.
B She had made a list of shortcomings and kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer.
C I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on.
D Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and point them out.Why did her father listen to her quietly?
A Because he believed that what her daughter’s enemy said was mostly true.
B Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while.
C Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment.
D Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. What did the father do after he heard his daughter’s complaint?
A He told her not pay any attention to what her “enemy” said
B He criticized her and told her to overcome her shortcomings.
C He told her to write down all that her “enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true.
D He refused to take the list and have a look at it.
Our “Mommy and Me” time began two years ago. My next-door neighbor and fellow mother, Christie, and I were out in our front yards, watching seven children of age 6 and under ride their bikes up and down. “I wish I could take one of my children out alone,” said Christie.
Then we worked out a plan: When Christie takes one of her children out, I’ll watch her other three. And when she watches two of mine, I’ll take someone out.
The children were extremely quick to accept the idea of “Mommy and Me” time. Christie’s daughter, McKenzie, went first. When she returned, the other children showered her with tons of questions. McKenzie was smiling broadly. Christie looked refreshed and happy. “She’s like a different child when there’s no one else around,” Christie shared with me quickly. With her mother all to herself, McKenzie didn’t have to make an effort to gain attention.
Just as Christie had noticed changes in McKenzie, I also discovered something different in each of my children during our alone times. For example, I am always surprised when my daughter, who is seldom close to me, holds my hand frequently. My stuttering(口吃的)son, Tom, doesn’t stutter once during our activities since he doesn’t have to struggle for a chance to speak. And the other son, Sam, who’s always a follower when around other children shines as a leader during our times together.
The “Mommy and Me” time allows us to be simply alone and away with each child ---talking, sharing, and laughing, which has been the biggest gain. Every child deserves(应得到)to be an only child at least once in a while. What is the text mainly about?
A.The experience of the only child being with mother. |
B.The advantage of spending time with one child at a time. |
C.The happy life of two families. |
D.The basic needs of children. |
Right after McKenzie came back, the other children were _____________.
A.happy | B.curious | C.regretful | D.friendly |
What is one of the changes the author finds in her children?
A.The daughter acts like a leader. | B.Sam holds her hand more often. |
C.The boys become better followers. | D.Tom has less difficulty in speaking. |
The author seems to believe that ___________.
A.having brothers and sisters is fun | B.it’s tiring to look after three children |
C.every child needs parents’ full attention | D.parents should watch others’ children |