Having driven almost thirty hours, I decided to stay in South Carolina for a few days. The next morning, I purchased a three-day fishing license and bait (饵料) before heading to the lake.
Opening my trunk, I carefully took out my fishing gear (用具), put it on the lake’s edge, baited up and began to fish.
“Good morning,” said someone, walking up from behind me.
Turning around, I saw a game warden (猎场管理员) with a clip-board.
“Good morning,” I said, nodding my head.
“Catch any fish?” he asked.
“No sir, just relaxing and killing time.”
“Can I see your fishing license?”
I handed him the license I had purchased at the bait shop.
“Can I see your driver’s license, too?” he requested.
“I see the name on the driver’s license is spelled Kiser and the name on the fishing license is Kaiser,” said the warden.
“The gentleman at the bait shop must have written it wrong,” I told him.
“Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to write you up for fishing with an invalid license and take away your fishing gear.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I responded, with a surprised look on my face.
Sure enough I was written up and my fishing gear taken away. I was told that I would have to pay a fine and that my stuff would be sold at auction（拍卖）.
I stood there almost in tears as he drove away. Those rods and reels were very special to me. I had used them over twenty years, fishing with my friends, who were now all dead.
After returning home in Georgia, I telephoned South Carolina trying to explain the situation, but no one would listen. I was told that the Department of Fish and Game had a “zero tolerance” for fishing and hunting violations. Finally, in tears I paid the fine and gave up the fight.
Nine months later, I received a letter. I had no idea who it was from as there was no return address. On a plain piece of notebook paper was written “Auction for the Department of Fish and Game held this Saturday at 11:00 am.”
On Saturday, at six in the morning I headed to South Carolina. By ten o’clock I had found the auction. There were numerous boats and piles upon piles of fishing equipment. All at once, there it was—my wonderful stuff all thrown in a pile as if it was worth nothing.
As the auction began I took my seat. In my wallet was twenty-seven dollars. For more than an hour I waited for my property to be brought to the auction block.
“We have three rods and reels here. I guess we will sell this as a unit,” said the auctioneer.
“50 dollars,” yelled someone in the crowd.
“51 dollars,” yelled another man.
I rose from my seat and walked out of the auction.
“66 dollars,” I heard as the bidding continued.
“100 dollars,” came another bid. The auction became silent.
“100 dollars once, 100 dollars twice, 100 dollars three times. Sold for 100 dollars,” went the auctioneer.
I walked to my truck, got in and just sat there. Suddenly I heard something hit the side of my truck. Turning around, I saw the back of a man putting my three rods and reels into my truck. It was the same game warden who wrote me the ticket almost a year ago!
As I got out of the truck he stuck out his hand and said, “I wasn’t wrong. It’s the law that is wrong.”
I shook his hand, thanked him and drove away. I cried as I crossed the South Carolina Georgia state line. Who wrote a letter to the writer telling him about the auction?
| A．The Department of Fish and Game. | B．The game warden. |
| C．A person unmentioned in the passage. | D．The auction organizers. |
Why did the writer walk out of the auction while it was going on?
| A．He realized he was unable to get back his fishing gear. |
| B．He was too nervous to stay inside till the auction ended. |
| C．He couldn’t bear hearing people selling his fishing gear. |
| D．He knew the game warden was waiting for him outside. |
What did the game warden mean by saying “It’s the law that is wrong”?
| A．It didn’t make any sense to prohibit people from fishing freely in South Carolina. |
| B．The writer did break the law by fishing with an invalid license whatever the reason. |
| C．The writer should have been allowed a chance to explain and get his things back. |
| D．The auction should not have been held to sell the boats and fishing equipment. |
Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future but with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My degree, with honors, in English literature had not really prepared me for anything practical. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, but I had no idea how to do that. That’s when I learned about the Lighthouse Project.
I started my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer by reading as much as I could about the experiences of previous volunteers. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and that I would be away from my family and friends for a very long time. In short, I did not take my decision to apply for the Lighthouse Project lightly. Neither did my family.
Eventually, however, I won the support of my family, and I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and survive the test alone. Several months later, I finally received a call asking me to report for the duty. I would be going to a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Where? What? Nigeria? I had no idea. But I was about to find out.
After completing my training, I was sent to the village that was small and desperately in need of proper accommodation. Though the local villagers were poor, they offered their homes, hearts, and food as if I were their own family. I was asked to lead a small team of local people in building a new schoolhouse. For the next year or so, I taught in that same schoolhouse. But I sometimes think I learned more from my students than they did from me.
Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or unusual to me no longer did, though I did not get anywhere with the local language, and I returned to the United States a different man. The Lighthouse Project had changed my life forever.According to the Paragraph 2, it is most likely that the author
| A．discussed his decision with his family. |
| B．asked previous volunteers about voluntary work |
| C．attended special training to perform difficult tasks |
| D．felt sad about having to leave his family and friends |
In his application for the volunteer job, the author
| A．participated in many discussions |
| B．went through some interviews and presentations |
| C．wrote quite a few papers on voluntary work |
| D．faced strong competition from other candidates |
On arrival at the village, the author was
| A．asked to lead a farming team |
| B．sent to teach in a schoolhouse |
| C．received warmly by local villagers |
| D．arranged to live in a separate house. |
I fell in love with England because it was quaint (古雅)—all those little houses, looking terribly old-fashioned but nice, like dolls’ houses. I loved the countryside and the pubs, and I loved London. I’ve slightly changed my mind after seventeen years because I think it’s an ugly town now.
Things have changed. For everybody, England meant gentlemen, fair play, and good manners. The fair play is going, unfortunately, and so are the gentlemanly attitudes and good manners—people shut doors heavily in your face and politeness is disappearing.
I regret that there are so few comfortable meeting places. You’re forced to live indoors. In Paris I go out much more, to restaurants and nightclubs. To meet friends here it usually has to be in a pub, and it can be difficult to go there alone as a woman. The cafes are not terribly nice.
As a woman, I feel unsafe here. I spend a bomb on taxis because I will not take public transport after 10 p. m. I used to use it , but now I’m afraid.
The idea of family seems to be more or less non-existent in England. My family is well united and that’s typically French. In Middlesex I had a neighbor who is 82 now. His family only lived two miles away, but I took him to France for Christmas once because he was always alone.The writer doesn’t like London because she ______.
| A．is not used to the life there now |
| B．has lived there for seventeen years |
| C．prefers to live in an old-fashioned house |
| D．has to be polite to everyone she meets there |
Where do people usually meet their friends in England?
| A．In a cafe. | B．In a restaurant. |
| C．In a nightclub. | D．In a pub. |
The underlined part “it” (in Para. 4) refers to______.
| A．a taxi | B．the money |
| C．a bomb | D．public transport |
The writer took her neighbors to France for Christmas because he ______.
| A．felt lonely in England |
| B．had never been to France |
| C．was from a typical French family |
| D．didn't like the British idea of family |
Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata（奏鸣曲）by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.
Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable .They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn’t even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.
Samuel can’t understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me ---I hear the notes and can bear them in mind---each and every note,” says Samuel.
Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can’t play it. Samuel says confidently,” It’s all about super memory---I guess I have that gift.”
However, Samuel’s ability to remember things doesn’t stop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.
Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.What is special about Samuel Osmond?
| A．He has a gift for writing music. |
| B．He can write down the note he hears. |
| C．He is a top student at the law school. |
| D．He can play the musical piece he hears. |
What can we learn from Paragraph 2 ?
| A．Samuel chose law against the wish of his parents. |
| B．Samuel planned to be a lawyer rather than a musician. |
| C．Samuel thinks of himself as a man of great musical ability. |
| D．Samuel studies law and music on the advice of his teachers. |
Everyone around Samuel was surprised because he _________.
| A．received a good early education in music |
| B．played the guitar and the piano perfectly |
| C．could play the piano without reading music |
| D．could play the guitar better than his father |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．The Qualities of a Musician |
| B．The Story of a Musical Talent |
| C．The Importance of Early Education |
| D．The Relationship between Memory and Music. |
Less than one year after France imposed a nationwide ban on smoking in most public places, it will, from Jan. 1, 2009, extend the ban to bars, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs—and the most cherished of all: cafés.
Ireland and Italy show that countries with long-standing smoking traditions may introduce bans fairly smoothly, as they did in 2004 and 2005. In Germany, where regulations vary locally, Berlin will join France on Jan 1. But fierce critics of the new law in France say it all but destroys the café's basic function: to serve as the socio-economic glue of society.
Cécile Perez, owner of La Fronde, a typical Parisian neighborhood café, said: “In the morning, street cleaners in bright green uniforms sip coffee next to well-dressed businessmen; at lunch hour, working-class types rub shoulders with those of the latest fashion at the bar, while couples of all ages rub noses over salads; during the after-work rush, there is a steady soundtrack of clinking glasses combined with conversation; the constant, no matter what time of day, is the smoke that drifts through the air in curls and clouds, seemingly unnoticed.”
“Our motto in France is: liberty, equality, fraternity,” Olivier Seconda, a regular at the café, said. “The café is the place that represents that. You’re free to smoke, everyone pays the same price for a beer and different kinds of people talk with one another. This new law goes against that.”
Seconda expects the ban to be felt even more strongly in small villages far from Paris, where the café is often the only means of social activity. “People already miss the space that allows people of all walks of life to share something—even if it is sometimes no more than a few words and the smoke floating between them.”Cécile Perez mentions the curls and clouds of smoke drifting through the air to ______.
| A．describe a friendly atmosphere |
| B．show the beauty of his own café |
| C．support the ban on smoking |
| D．remind us of something unnoticed |
Olivier Seconda implies that ______.
| A．the café provides people with enough liberty, equality, and fraternity |
| B．people, regardless of their social classes, enjoy equal rights in a café |
| C．the new ban on café smoking should be put in effect only in villages |
| D．people would not find fun in a café without smoking a cigarette |
The passage is written to _______.
| A．show the writer’s personal opinion against a new law |
| B．provide information for law-makers to pass a new law |
| C．tell why some people are unhappy about smoking ban in cafés |
| D．compare attitudes to a law, held by people from different countries |
The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts had found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received.
Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany’s University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent changes recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. “As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said.
He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels (元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years. “Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don’t notice from year to year.”
“We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper. “In 1952 she would have been heard saying ‘thet men in the bleck het’. Now it would be ‘that man in the black hat’. Similarly, she would have spoken of ‘citay ’ and ‘dutay’ , rather than ‘citee’ and ‘dutee’ and ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’. In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’.”
The Queen’s broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch.
The results were published in the Journal of Phonetics.The Queen’s broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because ______.
| A．she has been Queen for many years. |
| B．she has a less upper-class accent now. |
| C．her speeches are familiar to many people. |
| D．her speeches have been recorded for 50 years. |
Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English?
| A．“dutay” | B．“citee” | C．“hame” | D．“lorst” |
We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on _________.
| A．speech sounds | B．Christmas customs |
| C．TV broadcasting | D．personal messages |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The Queen’s Christmas speeches on TV. |
| B．The relationship between accents and social classes. |
| C．The changes in a person’s accent. |
| D．The recent development of the English language. |