Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day． "I was a clothes addict, "he jokes．" I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled．" Today David wears casual clothes – khaki pants and sports shirt – to the office． He hardly ever wears a necktie． "I'm working harder than ever," David says, "and I need to feel comfortable．"
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work． In the United States, the change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual． In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday, but only on Friday． This became known as "dress-down Friday" or "casual Friday．" "What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing．" said business consultant Maisly Jones．
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it's easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code． "A lot of young people don't want to dress up for work," says the owner of a software company, "so it's hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code．" Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes． In a study conducted by Levi Strauss and Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale （士气）． Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative effect on productivity． Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money． "Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day," one person said． "For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes．"David Smith refers to himself as having been "a clothes addict," because ．
| A．he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt |
| B．he couldn't stand a clean appearance |
| C．he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time |
| D．he didn't want to spend much money on clothes |
David Smith wears casual clothes now, because ．
| A．they make him feel at ease when working |
| B．he cannot afford to buy expensive clothes |
| C．he looks handsome in casual clothes |
| D．he no longer works for any company |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is FALSE?
| A．Many employees don't like a conservative dress code． |
| B．Comfortable clothes make employees more productive． |
| C．A casual clothes code is welcomed by young employees． |
| D．All the employers in the U．S． are for casual office wear． |
According to this passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Company workers started to dress down about twenty years ago． |
| B．Dress-down has become an everyday phenomenon since the early 1990s． |
| C．"Dress-down Friday" was first given as a favor from employers． |
| D．Many workers want to wear casual clothes to impress people． |
In this passage, the following advantages of casual office wear are mentioned except ．
| A．saving employees' money | B．making employees more attractive |
| C．improving employees' motivation | D．making employees happier |
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 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 it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. "OK," he said, "I’ll give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing."
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I’ll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You’re right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ’ Would you mend this chair for me?’ "I wouldn’t have agreed to do it," he said. "We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for five pounds?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused (感到有趣) by the whole thing. We can learn from the text 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 underlined word "approach" in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．plan for dealing with things | B．decision to sell things |
| C．idea of repairing things | D．way of doing things |
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?
| 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 |
If you are planning to study in the United States, you need to consider several factors. Everyone has different opinions about where is the best place to live in. Also, the best places to live are not always home to the best schools. Finally, many schools specialize in different areas of study. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, is a great school for computer science and technology-related fields of study. However, if you want to study oceanography（海洋学）, your interests may be better served by attending school in a place that is on a coastline or near the ocean.
Now I am sure that you know which schools are considered the best in the country. So I will tell you about which states I believe are the best to live in.
California is a nice state. Northern California specifically has very good weather. Los Angeles in Southern California is another story though. Life in Los Angeles is full of excitement and fast, and sometimes dangerous. As for me, I enjoy the time I spent in Massachusetts, Virginia and Maryland and these states have a lot of history and culture. The weather is not as perfect as California, but it is still quite nice. My favorite area of America is the Mid-west. Middle America, I think, is home to the true American sense of values. In addition, there are many good universities there.
Also, you need to think about your likes and dislikes and then research the various states. You like sunshine and hate snow? Then you probably won’t like the Midwest or even the Northeast. Open space, nature and peace and quiet? Then you probably should stay away from America’s large cities. Are you interested in government? Then Washington D.C. is the only place for you. Whatever you decide, put some thought into it. The place you live could be the difference between a great study-abroad experience and a state of great suffering on earth. From the first paragraph we can conclude （得出结论）that in the USA _______.
| A．all colleges and universities lie in big cities |
| B．all colleges and universities lie in beautiful places |
| C．famous colleges and universities lie in nice places |
| D．famous colleges and universities may not lie in nice places |
What should be considered first if you want to study in the USA?
| A．The climate. | B．The scenery. | C．The study condition. | D．The living condition. |
From the third paragraph we can find that _______.
| A．California is the best place to live in |
| B．California is the worst place to live in |
| C．California is a state with different climates |
| D．California is a small state in the USA |
If you study in Middle America, you can probably _______.
| A．find the best universities | B．feel the real character of the nation |
| C．meet the most famous professors there | D．face more difficulties |
From the last paragraph of this passage we can get to know that _______.
| A．Washington is the largest city in the USA |
| B．Washington is the political centre of the USA |
| C．you can’t find sunshine in the Midwest |
| D．you can’t find any universities out of big cities in the USA |
When you want to go shopping, decide how much money you can spend on new clothes. Think about the kind of clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes on sale.
There are labels(标签) inside all new clothes. The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes. The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash in cold water. The label on a coat may say “dry clean only”, for washing may ruin this coat. If you do as the directions on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best for a long time.
Many clothes today must be dry cleaned. Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check to see if they will need to be dry cleaned. You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed.
You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made. Well-made clothes last longer. They look good even after they have been washed many times. Clothes that cost more money are not necessarily better made. They do not always fit better. Sometimes less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.If you want to save money, you had better buy clothes that ________.
| A．don’t fit you | B．don’t last long |
| C．need to be dry cleaned | D．can be washed |
The labels inside the clothes tell you________.
| A．how to keep them looking their best | B．how to save money |
| C．whether they fit you or not | D．where to get them dry cleaned |
The first thing for you to do before you buy clothes is ________.
| A．to look for well-made clothes | B．to see how much money you can spend on it |
| C．to know how to wash them | D．to read the labels inside them |
We learn from the passage that cheaper clothes ________.
| A．are always worse made | B．must be dry cleaned |
| C．can not be washed | D．can sometimes fit you better |
The best title for the passage should be ________.
| A．Buy Less Expensive Clothes | B．Taking Enough Money When Shopping |
| C．Being a Clever Clothes Shopper | D．Choosing the Labels inside New Clothes |
I travel a lot, and I find out different "styles" (风格) of directions every time 1 ask "How can I get to the post office?"
Foreign tourists are often confused (困惑) in Japan because most streets there don’t have names in Japan, people use landmarks (地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, "Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop."
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, "Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile."
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. "How far away is the post office?" you ask. "Oh," they answer, "it’s about five minutes from here." You say, "Yes, but how many miles away is it?" They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, ’Sorry, I have no idea." But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers "I don’t know." People in Yucatan believe that "I don’t know" is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan! When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place they usually _________
| A．describe the place carefully | B．show him a map of the place |
| C．tell him the names of the streets | D．refer to recognizable buildings and places |
What is the place where people measure distance in time?
| A．New York. | B．Los Angeles. | C．Kansas. | D．Iowa |
People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ________
| A．in order to save time | B．as a test | C．so as to be polite | D．for fun |
Which sentence is true according to the text?
| A．There is no street names in Japan. |
| B．There is no landmarks in the countryside of American. |
| C．People in Yucatan always give wrong answers when asked the way. |
| D．People in Los Angeles measure distance in time, not miles when asked the way. |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences. |
| B．It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly. |
| C．People have similar understandings of politeness. |
| D．New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors. |
From her first women’s hat shop, opened in 1910, Gabrielle Coco Chanel rose to become one of the most important fashion designers in Paris. Her fashion themes included simple suits and dresses, women’s trousers, perfume (香水) and so on.
She claimed a birth date of 1893 and a birthplace of Auvergne; she was actually born in 1883 in Saumur, though. Her mother worked in a nursing home for pool people. Gabrielle was born there. Her mother died whet she was only six.
She began to use the name Coco during a brief career a, a cafe and concert singer from 1905 to 1908. By the 1920s，her fashion house had expanded greatly. Her relaxing fashions, such as short skirts with casual look, were very different from the fashions popular in the formal decades.
In 1922 Chanel introduced a perfume, Chanel No.5 which became very popular and still remains a popular product today. Pierre Wertheimer became her partner in the perfume business in 1924. Wertheimer owned 70% of the company, Coco Chanel 10% and her friend, Bader, 20%. The Wertheimers continue to control the perfume company today.
She briefly served as a nurse in World War I. The fashion business in Paris was thus off for some years. In 1954 she came back and her women’s clothing business returned to its former popularity. Her natural, casual clothing once again caught the eye of women. She was still working in 1971 when she died.All of the following fashions belong to Chanel’s design style EXCEPT _____
| A．a comfortable suit | B．a tight dress |
| C．a short skirt | D．a loose sweater |
The right order of the following events should be ____
① Chanel began to do business with Wertheimer.
② Chanel served as a nurse.
③ Chanel worked as a singer.
④ Chanel introduced the perfume, Chanel No. 5.
| A．④①③② | B．①②③④ |
| C．③④①② | D．②③④① |
According to the passage, we can see that Chanel ____
| A．was brought up by her father |
| B．worked in a nursing home for some time |
| C．earned more than Wertheimer from the perfume company |
| D．had an active and creative mind |