When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can remember father’s angry voice: “I want to talk to you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞台的两侧) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music.” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (乐队) which was just below the stage. An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(观众) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “face the music” came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.The expression “face the music” means ______.
| A．plan to go to a concert |
| B．get one’s clue to do something |
| C．have to go through something far less pleasant |
| D．disobey what one's father says |
The passage tells us that the expression was first used by _____.
| A．children | B．novelists | C．actors | D．audience |
In the last paragraph the Chinese meaning of the word “line” is _______.
| A．老板 | B．同事 | C．角色 | D．台词 |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The expression came from James Fenimore Cooper, an American novelist |
| B．The expression has a history of 100 years. |
| C．If someone doesn’t obey his boss, he will have to face the music. |
| D．Almost everyone once had an experience to face the music. |
It's really true what people say about English politeness: it's everywhere．When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say "sorry"．When getting off a bus, English passengers say "thank you" rather than the driver．In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things．
After all, squeezing past others sometimes can't be avoided．and the bus driver is merely doing his job．I used lo think the same way, without questioning it, until I started traveling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of communicating with people．
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time．When people buy something in a shop, customer and retail assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more．In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation．British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room．English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs as opposed to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough．
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others．Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me．my employers stressed several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism．It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable．This also is shown in other ways．British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men．However, 1 do need to point out here
that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men' Yes, the latter are a bit tightfisted．What is the author's attitude towards English politeness?
| A．He appreciates it | B．He gives no personal opinion |
| C．He thinks it is artificial | D．He thinks it goes too far． |
What can we learn about customers and retail assistants in Germany?
| A．It's always a retail assistant who says thank you． |
| B．A customer never says thank you to a retail assistant． |
| C．They always say thank you to each other． |
D．They may say thank you only once． |
We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men _____．
| A．are more likely to be involved in a fighting． |
| B．are not so willing to spend money for women． |
| C．are more polite than English men. |
| D．treat women in a polite way. |
The author develops the text through the method of.
| A．giving comments | B．telling stories |
| C．making comparisons | D．giving reasons |
Beijing has started a battle to get rid of "Chinglish" （Chinese English）．The "Language Mandarins" of Beijing have decided that Chinglish is a disease for China's modernizing claim and must be obliterated before the city hosts the Olympic Games in 2008．
A road sign on the Avenue of Eternal Peace （Chang'an Street） ,for example, advises: "To Take Notice of Safe; The Slippery Are Very Crafty", a warning that the sidewalk was slippery（滑）．Another sign in a Beijing park reads: "Little grass is smiling slightly, please walk on sidewalk．"
Li Honghai, the city official in charge of the battle, said," Linguistic perfection （语言美） is becoming increasingly important with the rise in the number of the foreigners flowing into the city．"
However, not everyone shares the disdain （蔑视） of the Beijing government for the mixed language．"The choice of words is pretty much．One can either choose the verbs, adverbs, nouns or whatever one likes," explained one Hong Kong linguist on an Internet website．
So many examples exist that several Internet sites have been set up to collect Chinglish phrases．Many come from English instructions on packages such as a candle marked with "Keep this candle out of children" and a model boat—curiously named Posh Sailboat—which means, "Please don't place it in dusty play．"
If the battle against Chinglish is successful, Chinese will also turn their attention to the English-language versions of newspapers, which play an even more important role in teaching right English．The underlined word "obliterated" refers to ．
| A．removed | B．exploited | C．translated | D．beautified |
From the passage, we know that
．
| A．everyone shares the disdain for the mixed language |
| B．Chinglish usually communicates in many cases |
| C．all the people don't share the disdain for the mixed language |
| D．several Internet sites have been set up to clear the Chinghsh phrases |
We can infer that the English language versions of newspapers _____．
| A．should report the battle above |
| B．should be paid more attention to |
| C．should collect more Chingliah phrases |
| D．should be in duty to teach normal English |
Which of the following signs is Chinglish?
Recently, a professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book called Money and the Meaning of Life．He has discovered that how we deal with money in our day-to-day life has more meaning than we usually think．One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week．From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life．
He says our relation with ot
hers often become clearly defined when money enters the picture．You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you are very good friends．But you’ll know him only when you ask to lend you some money．If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stranger than ever before．Or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn’t．This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it．
Since money is important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important．The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book．
Answer: The most surprising thing is why people give me so much respect．I’m nothing．I don’t know much．All I am is rich．
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? How much do I need for any given purposes in my life? In this book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society; to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end．Money plays an important role in the modern world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life．According to the first paragraph, people haven’t realized __________．
| A．how important money is in their day-to-day life |
| B．how one spends money shows what is important to him |
| C．that money is more important than their philosophy of life |
| D．that their understanding of life is more important than money |
What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview is that.
| A．he does not feel that he is well -educated |
| B．he does not consider himself to be very successful |
| C．he does not think that he is a very important person |
| D．he does not think being rich deserves so much attention |
What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?
| A．Money is a means． | B．Money is everything． |
| C．Money is an end． | D．Money is unimportant． |
Which of the following might the author disagree?
| A．Money is important in modern society． |
| B．Wealth will surely bring the owner happiness． |
| C．The meaning of life doesn’t completely lie in money． |
| D．Happiness is not necessarily the result of wealth． |
If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame．Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores．Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion．When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that the has nothing to wear．
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste．Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn．Women who can not afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time altering（改变） the dresses they have．Skirls are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on．
No one can claim that the fashion industry contribulea anything really important to society．
Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability．They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right．There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or delicately picking her way through deep snow in high —heeled shoes．
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious．Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonder, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers．Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide．Designers and big stores always make money _____．
| A．by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing |
B．by mercilessly exploiting wom en workers in the clothing industry |
| C．because they are able to predict new fashions for the coming season |
| D．because they attach great importance to quality of women’s clothing |
To the writer, the fact that woman alter their old fashioned dresses is seen as.
| A．a waste of money | B．an expression of taste |
| C．a waste of time | D．an expression of creativity |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．The fashion industry makes an important contribution to society |
| B．The constant changes in women’s clothing reflect their strength of characters |
| C．Fashion designs should not be encouraged since they are only welcomed by women |
| D．New fashions in clothing are created for the commercial exploitation of women |
By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious”, the writer means that.
| A．women are better able to put up with discomfort |
| B．men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion |
| C．men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers |
| D．women’s inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at |
“NOW I just don’t believe that.” Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It’s simply badly researched, or, the makers must think we’re idiots (白痴). Recently, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on unconvincing tech moments from some top movies. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.
Telegraph writer Tom Chiver’s first example is from the end-of-the-world movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus capable of destroying Windows, the computer system the alien spacecraft uses. “It’s a good thing they didn’t have Norton Antivirus (诺顿防火墙)”, jokes Chivers.
It’s just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from Star Wars, where glowing beams of light traveling through space look very impressive. The problem is that in space there are no air particles for the light to reflect off. In re
ality, they’d be invisible, which wouldn’t look so cool on the big screen.
Chiver’s second piece of Star Wars nonsense is the sound the fighters make in the movies: “the bellow (咆哮) of an elephant mixed with a car driving on a wet road”. But sound needs a medium to travel through, like air. In space, there wouldn’t actually be any sound at all.
Few people would deny that the mind-bending Matrix films make for great viewing, but for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little silly. He comments “…the film is based on the idea that humans are kept alive as electricity generator. This is not just unlikely – it’s fundamentally impossible. They would need more energy to stay alive than they would produce. It’s like saying you’ll power your car with batteries, and keep the batteries charged by running a dynamo (发电机) from the wheels.”
And finally, as Chivers points out, DNA is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day by. In the film the bad guy has “gene therapy” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible.What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．The virus created by the character is capable of destroying spacecrafts. |
| B．Aliens’ using Windows system is totally unconvincing plot. |
| C．The spacecraft should have Norton Antivirus. |
| D．Norton Antivirus can stop a virus. |
We can learn from the example of the Star Wars that .
| A．in space, you can not hear anything |
| B．light beams travel via air particle in space |
| C．Chiver thinks the sound of the fighters is vivid |
| D．the invisible light beams are impressive in the movies |
Chiver uses the example of car batteries in Matrix to imply that .
| A．the basic idea of the film is rather ridiculous |
| B．the science in the movies is very convincing |
| C．the idea that humans can be kept alive as electricity generator is right |
| D．humans would stay alive as long as they would produce enough energy |
We can learn from the movie Die Another Day that .
| A．the idea of gene therapy is creative |
| B．the element of DNA should not be used |
| C．the makers of the 2002 Bond use the genetic technology |
| D．DNA can be replaced but in the real world it is impossible |
Why did Chiver write this passage?
A．To prove all these films are makin g mistakes. |
| B．To show his great concern for the movie industry. |
| C．To joke about some movies in the movie industry. |
| D．To call for the audience to find out mistakes from the movies. |