One day a teacher was giving her young students a lesson on how the government works. She was trying to explain the principle of income tax (收入税).
“You see ,” she began , speaking slowly and carefully , “each person who works must pay part of his or her salary (薪水) to the government . If you make a high salary , your taxes are high . If you don’t make much money , your taxes are low .”
“Is that clear?” she asked. “Does everyone understand the meaning of income tax?” The students nodded.
Are there any questions?” she asked. The students shook their heads.
“Very good!” she said.” “Now, I would like you to take a piece of paper and write a short paragraph on the subject of income tax.”
Little Joey was a slow learner. He had lots of problems with spelling and grammar, but this time he at least seemed to understand the task. He took his pen and after a few minutes, he handed the teacher the following composition:
Once I had a dog. His name was Tax.
I opened the door and in come Tax.The teacher was trying to explain one day.
| A．the basic principles of the income tax |
| B．how the government works |
| C．everyone should pay income tax |
| D．how much tax one should pay for his income |
After the teacher’s explanation, .
| A．all the students shook their heads |
| B．many of the students were still puzzled |
| C．Most students understood the meaning of income tax |
| D．Some students didn’t understand their teacher |
The students were asked .
| A．to say something about income tax |
| B．to answer some questions on income tax |
| C．to write a composition on “income tax” |
| D．to explain the principle of income tax |
Little Joey .
| A．was clear about the subject | B．grasped what income tax meant |
| C．wrote a paragraph about his dog | D．did as what he was told to do |
She handed me a five dollar bill through the car window, then turned and walked away. I don’t know her name, nor where she was going ,but I know I will never forget that stranger who generously saved me from a lot of frustration（挫折） and prevented me from walking a mile or more to my destination.
That day My husband, Leo, and I were already a half hour late for an important conference . We had taken the wrong fork in the expressway, and found ourselves stuck in traffic that was blocked for four miles due to a serious accident.
Just then, one tapped on the window on the passenger side. It was a short, medium-built woman, who was all bundled up in jacket and scarf, wearing jeans and boots. Surprised, I was reluctant, at first, to roll the window down. What could she possibly want? I lowered the window just enough to hear what the woman had to say. Through the window, she shoved a five dollar bill. “I don’t have change,” she said, “but here is an extra five dollar bill. Use it to pay for your parking spot.” I was floored! Was this woman, whom I’d never seen before, actually giving me this much money? Yes, that was exactly what she was doing! She wouldn’t take the check I offered her for the cash. She just walked away.
What kept the author and her husband from arriving on time?
| A．They had a traffic accident. | B．They took a wrong turning. |
| C．Their car broke down half way. | D．The traffic was heavy on the freeway. |
The problem the author had in parking their car was that .
| A．they couldn’t pay for parking by check |
| B．neither of them had money with them |
| C．they had no five-dollar bill |
| D．there was no parking lot near the conference |
The underlined word “dejected” probably means .
| A．embarrassed | B．confused | C．disappointed | D．worried |
.Why was the author unhappy to roll down the window?
| A．She was frustrated for coming too late. |
| B．She feared the woman would beg for money. |
| C．She didn’t expect to be disturbed（打扰）by strangers. |
| D．She didn’t know what the woman would do. |
The author writes the text to .
| A．warn readers of the difficulty with parking |
| B．express her gratitude to the stranger |
| C．talk about her bad experience |
| D．call on readers to lend a helping hand if possible |
The idea of sailing west to reach the riches of the East Indies and the Asian mainland was much in fashion with cultured Europeans during the late fifteenth century. Learned people agreed that the earth was round: their only questions were how long and how dangerous would be a trip to reach the Orient. Christopher Columbus, the son of an unknown weaver, and himself a weaver of ambitious dreams, made his historic voyage to the New World in 1492. He didn't go to school very much, but be learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Sailing with a tiny fleet of three ships, the Santa Maria and two smaller ships, the Pinta and the Nina and a crew of ninety sailors, be found the thirty-three-day crossing easier than his nearly-decade-long effort to find royal sponsors willing to support it. The trip drew not only on his own skills as an expert ship's captain, but also on his ability to plan such an expedition, obtain governmental approval and financing, and finally, demonstrate its success so that such explorations could continue. He tried for years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money. Finally they agreed, but he made more demands. He wanted to be made a knight, admiral of the Ocean Sea. He wanted to be the viceroy(总督)and governor general of all lands he would discover. Also he wanted one-tenth of everything he found of value in the new lands. The explorations that followed Columbus-those of Cabot, Verrazano, Cartier, and many others-benefited from a new maritime technology borrowed from Arab sailors and from a variety of new vessels (船，舰) such as the light-weight caravels employed by Columbus. Sailors also perfected sails and various types of riggings that gave ships added stability and greater maneuverability(可操作性)on the open seas. And when leaving sight of the coast, new navigational aids-charts, compasses, and astrolabes-permitted them to determine their position with some, though not perfect, accuracy. Columbus himself made a total of four voyages to the New World but he did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关)． Columbus not only discovered a New World, but led the way for other explorers. What was the dream destination of Europeans in the late fifteenth century?
| A．The oriental countries. | B．The East Indonesia. |
| C．The Old World. | D．The African mainland. ． |
What preparations did Columbus make for his first voyage to the New World?
①He planned the expedition thoroughly.
②He spent almost ten years in looking for sponsors.
③He gathered a great many ships.
④He hired 90 sailors.
⑤He demonstrated his success of former far-reaching explorations.
| A．①②③④⑤ | B．①②④ | C．①④⑤ | D．②④⑤ |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．Christopher Columbus was an ambitious explorer |
| B．he was a geologist with ambitious dreams |
| C．Columbus became extremely wealthy after making a total of four voyages |
| D．he was an unsuccessful canvasser(游说者) |
What equipment aided the sailors in locating relatively more accurately?
| A．A variety of new vessels. | B．The light-weighted caravels. |
| C．Various types of riggings. | D．Charts, compasses and astrolabes. |
In the passage, the author mainly tells us ________.
| A．the tragedy of Columbus's life as a whole |
| B．Columbus's life story and his achievements |
| C．Columbus's exploration to the East Indies and Asia |
| D．how Columbus arrived in the New World ． |
MEGADIM, Israel (AP)-The worst forest fire in Israel's history on Thursday destroyed one of the country's few forested areas, killing at least 36 guards on their way to rescue prisoners there, destroying homes and forcing the evacuation (疏散) of thousands. The fire ran through the Carmel forest in Israel's Galilee, reaching the coastal city of Haifa, jumping from place to place in the forest. The fire broke out around midday and quickly spread and was still burning out of control as midnight approached. Investigators (调查者) supposed that the fire could have been set accidentally, or it might have been a criminal act, but pretty much ruled out (排除) some sort of attack by a Palestinian group. “This is a huge disaster，” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “The government is using all means to control the fire.” He said some countries such as Cyprus, Italy, Russia and Greece agreed to provide backup. Most of the dead were Prison Service guards racing through the fire toward a prison to evacuate the prisoners, most of them Palestinians. A tree fell across the road, blocking their bus. Some guards were burned alive inside, while others died as they tried to escape. Fourteen bodies were found near the burnt bus 10 hours after the fire started. The fire heavily damaged one of Israel's few large forests, made up of natural growth and planted areas, a favorite place for camping and a home for dozens of species of wildlife. Forestry workers tried to evacuate animals from the fire. The forest recovered slowly from a fire in 1989, but experts said Thursday's big fire was many times worse. Some Prison Service guards died when they tried to ________.
| A．control the running prisoners | B．put out the fierce forest fire |
| C．get away from the burning bus | D．save the guards trapped in the fire ． |
According to the investigators, which of the following might be the cause of the fire?
| A．Prisoners set the fire purposely. | B．The fire broke out all by itself. |
| C．A Palestinian group did it. | D．The fire was started by accident. |
We learn from the text that ________.
| A．all of the dead were Prison Service guards |
| B．the forest once suffered a fire in the 1980s |
| C．the animals didn't suffer from the fire |
| D．the fire caused 50 deaths altogether ． |
The text is mainly about ________.
| A．the worst forest fire in Israel's history |
| B．the actual cause of the worst ever forest fire |
| C．the damage caused by the forest fire |
| D．the government's efforts in controlling the fire |
The average college student in America spent an estimated seven hundred dollars on textbooks last year. The National Association of College Stores reported more than five billion dollars in sales of textbooks and course materials. Association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now represent just two to three percent of sales. But he says that is expected to reach ten to fifteen percent by 2012. Online versions are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. E-textbooks can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access after the end of the term. And the books cannot be placed on more than one device (装置) so they are not easy to share.
So what do students think of e-textbooks? Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find out. Earlier this year they tested them with five hundred students in twenty classes. The university is unusual. It not only provides laptop computers to all seven thousand of its full-time students. It does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to e-textbooks. The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks. And fifty-six percent said they were better able to find information. But most found that using e-textbooks did not change their study habits. And sixty percent felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all, almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better. But the survey found that cost could be a big influence. Fifty-five percent said they would choose e-textbooks if using them meant their textbook rental fee would not increase. Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the e-textbooks now available because the majority are not interactive. He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video, activities, games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving. But for now, most of the books are just words on a screen. The passage mainly tells us about ________.
| A．the development of e-textbooks |
| B．different attitudes towards e-textbooks |
| C．the sales of textbooks and course materials |
| D．the differences between e-textbooks and physical text-books |
According to the survey, over half of the students think e-textbooks ________.
| A．can be rented for less money | B．help in finding more information |
| C．are convenient to carry around | D．help them do better in their lessons |
It can be inferred from the passage that e-textbooks ________.
| A．will replace physical textbooks | B．are available at any time |
| C．have a very bright future | D．still have a lot to improve |
Visitors to Britain may find the best place to sample local culture is in a traditional pub. But these friendly pubs can be dangerous places of potential gaffes (失礼) for the newcomers. A team of researchers have discovered some of the unknown customs of British pubs-starting with the difficulty of getting a drink. Most pubs have no waiters-you have to go to the bar to buy drinks. A group of Italian youths waiting 45 minutes before they realized they would have to fetch their own. This may sound inconvenient, but there is a hidden purpose.
Pub culture is designed to promote sociability (社交) in a society known for its reserve. Standing at the bar for service allows you to chat with others waiting to be served. The bar counter is possibly the only site in the British Isles in which friendly conversation with strangers is considered entirely suitable and really quite normal behavior. “If you haven't been to a pub, you haven't been to Britain.” This tip can be found in a booklet, Passport to the Pub: The Tourists' Guide to Pub Etiquette, a customers' rule of conduct for those wanting to sample “a central part of British life and culture”．
The trouble is that if you do not follow the local rules, the experience may fall flat. For example, if you are in a big group, it is best if only one or two people go to buy the drinks. Nothing annoys the regular customers and bar staff more than a group of strangers blocking all access to the bar while they chat and hesitate about what to order. The underlined word “sample” in the first paragraph probably means “________”．
| A．taste | B．experience | C．test | D．record ． |
The culture of pub in Britain is so developed to ______.
| A．encourage people to communicate with each other |
| B．encourage more people to consume drinks |
| C．attract more tourists to the pubs |
| D．form its own character of culture |
If you don't follow the local rules in a pub, ________.
| A．you won't buy good local drinks |
| B．you may annoy the regular customers and bar staff |
| C．you may fail to feel the local culture |
| D．you might get into a dangerous place |
What may be the best title for the passage?
| A．Self-service Pubs in Britain | B．British Local Pubs: Special Chat Places |
| C．Local Pub Culture in Britain | D．Manners in British Local Pubs |