Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a lot of antique (古董)shops near my home. So I left my home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth. So I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked at it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it?" "Twenty pounds." I said. "OK," he said, "I will give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it is nothing. "the shopkeeper answered.
Everything was going according to my plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "It will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I will buy it." I said. "What do you mean? You just sold it to me." "Yes, I know, but I have just changed my mind, I am sorry. I will give you twenty - seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy." he said. Suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." " You are right," I said, "What would you have done if I had walked in and asked you to mend the chair?" "I would not have agreed to do that. We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it, and too much trouble. But! will mend this for you. Will you pay it for five? ". He was a very nice person and was greatly amused (感到有趣)by the whole thing. We can learn from the passage that in the first shop the writer________.
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair. |
The expression" the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper_________.
| A．changed his mind | B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose | D．decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay for the repair?
| A．5. | B．7. | C．20. | D．27. |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was___________.
| A．honest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a ＄10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to “speak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees-anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology , laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “ Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we’re giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do
everything.”
1. The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to ________.
A. use for their schoolwork B. use the Internet
C. work at home D. connect them to libraries
2.Why is the word “speak” in the second paragraph in quotation marks(引号)?
A. They don’t really talk. B. They use the computer language.
C. Laptops have speakers. D. None of the above reasons is correct.
3. Which of the following is true about Westlake College?
A. All teachers use computers. B.1500 students have laptops.
C. It is an old college in America. D. Students there can do everything.
4. A window on the world in the last paragraph means that students can ________.
A. attend lectures on information technology
B. travel around the world
C. get information from around the world
D. have free laptops
5. What can we infer from the passage?
A. The program is successful. B. The program is not workable.
C. The program is too expensive. D. We don’t know the result yet.
Weekend one –day out
A walk along the Great Wall
Beijing Hikers is organizing a hike in a village along the Great Wall in Changping District, north of downtown Beijing. The walk will take around three hours covering a distance of 10 kilometres.
Time:8:30 a.m~4:30 p.m,Dec,4
Cost:200 yuan(US$25) per adult, 150 yuan ((US$18.5)for under~12s.
Meeting place:8:30 a.m. in front of Satarbucks at Lido Holiday Inn, Jiangtai Lu
To sign-up(one day before the hike)and more information ,contact Huijie at 139 100 5516.
Skiing and hot springs
Cycle China plans a day’s skiing fun at a resort around Beijing followed by an outdoor hot spring bath for your sore body.
Cost:.50 yuan (US$43.40)
Time :8:30 a.m~6:30p.m, Dec.4
Location: Meet at the office of Cycle China, opposite the east gate of Jinshan Park, Xicheng District.
For more information and reservation, email reserve@ cyclechina. Com or call 139 1188 6524.
Horse riding
This is a trip to a professional horse- riding club with well- trained bilingual instructors, offering lessons to people who love riding and those willing to learn more. The club is located in Hebei Province next to the Kangxi Grassland.
Time:1:30a.m~4:30p.m,Dec.4
Cost:3320 yuan (US$40.74)including one hour’s riding, transportation, guide ,lunch
To sign-up and more information, contact Lucy at 8580 5080 or 130 1117 1326.
1. This passage is written mainly for ______.
A. touristsB. holiday-makers C. guidesD. sportsmen
2. If Mary, who is ten years old, wants to hike along the Great Wall with her parents, they will pay______dollars.
A. 400B. 450C. 68.50 D. 65
3. If you are interested in the knowledge about horse riding, you’ll contact______ .
A. 139 1188 6515 B. 139 1188 6524
C. 130 1117 1326 D. 139 1002 5516
4. Cycle China is______
A. a website which offers traveling information B. a traveling agency
C. a trainer for skiing D. a resort which offers hot spring bath
II.阅读理解( 满分34分)
A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to warm themselves up during one particularly icy cold winter. They planned to stay at the very same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years ago. They both had jobs, so it was decided that her husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday, and his wife would follow him the next day. Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the hotel. There he decided to open his laptop(笔记本电脑) and send his wife an e-mail back in Minneapolis. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address and sent the e-mail without noticing his error.
In the mean time: In Houston, a woman had just returned from her husband’s burial. He was a minister of many years who had been “called home to glory” following a heart attack. The woman checked her e-mail, expecting message from family and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted(昏厥)and fell to the floor. Her son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
From: Your Departed Husband
Subject: I’ve arrived!
I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful(平静)as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here.
1. Why did the couple decide to go to Florida for weekend?
A. To visit their family and friends B. To escape from the cold winter
C. To escape from their busy work D. To attend a friend’s funeral
2. What mistake did the husband make after checking into the hotel?
A. He checked into a wrong hotel B. He forget to bring the laptop
C. He misspelled her wife’s address D. He forgot to mail his letter
3. The expression “called home to glory” probably suggests that the man had______.
A. gone back to his hometown B. called his family to say hello
C. been awarded an honor D. died and gone to heaven
4. How did the woman probably feel after reading the e-mail?
A. Pleased B. Inspired C. Frightened D. Moved
5. Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. The woman’s husband died of a heart attack
B. The woman liked to chat with her friends by e-mail
C. The couple held their wedding in Florida 20 years ago.
D. His wife wouldn’t go to Florida for his error.
The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.
The most widespread fallacy(谬误) of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz Concentration Camp(奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms.
1. The writer offered__________examples to support his argument.
A.4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 3
2. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.
B. Colds are not caused by cold.
C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.
D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one.
3. Arctic explorers may catch colds when_______.
A. they are working in the isolated arctic regions
B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather
C. they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions
D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world
4. Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit_______.
A. suffered a lot B. never caught colds C. often caught colds D. became very strong
5. The passage mainly discusses_______.
A. the experiments on the common coldB. the fallacy about the common cold
C. the reason and the way people catch coldsD. the continued spread of common colds
On any weekend throughout the year one can spend hours browsing through neighborhood flea (跳蚤) markets. These are very popular for those who are in search of bargains and who have a keen eye for picking through what others have discarded. They hunt and search for something they can reuse. Americans love secondhand merchandise (商品) which can be bought cheaply and restored to its original use. In many cases the condition and the quality are still good, though the style might be outdated.
For some people searching through flea markets is a hobby which reaps rewards. They look for possible antiques among the items for sale or for old furniture which can be restored with a little care and used again. Many wise collectors often find rare items worth much more than their bargained price. Since prices are usually not fixed, if one is persistent a bargain can easily be struck. The owner may be selling a rare collectable and may not even be aware of its value. One of the great pleasures of shopping at such markets is the chance to bargain with the shop owner and settle for a price which one can afford and is willing to pay.
Perhaps even more enjoyable than flea markets are the weekend outdoor garage sales which have now become very much a part of American culture. These are held usually in the spring and fall when the weather is still good. Usually a homeowner, having decided that he would like to clear his residence of accumulated items which are no longer useful to him, advertises in a local paper that he is holding a garage sale. More than likely the goods on display are in good condition and great buys can be found if one has the time and patience to search carefully. The home owner places items for sale on display along the driveway leading to his garage or on his front lawn and waits for people to look at what he has to sell. Old magazines, books, paintings, bicycles, ice-skates, items of clothing and electrical appliances of every sort appear on a regular basis. If the owner is in a position where he must sell his home or plans to move soon, then he may be forced to practically give things away at a price far below their true worth.
1. What do you usually do before holding a garage sale?
A. Put on an advertisement in a local newspaper.
B. Display your goods in front of the garage.
C. Find rare items and fix their prices.
D. Clear your garage and front lawn.
2. The underlined word “discarded” in Paragraph 1 probably means ____.
A. distributed B. rejected C. discovered D. stored
3. When people shop at a flea market, how can they settle on a price?
A. They can bargain on a price acceptable to both. B. They can question their value.
C. They can expect a 50% discount. D. They can compare with the other sellers.
4. What do we know about the garage sale?
A. It is only held in the spring of the year.
B. The goods on display are totally useless.
C. Garage sales are popular with Americans.
D. All the goods are selling far below their real value.