It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their ears, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.
The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries (食品杂货) saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.
I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that，several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, and then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity (人性) as a whole. And it has influenced (影响) us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.Why was the bike so important to the couple?
| A．The man’s job was bike racing. | B．It was their only possession. |
| C．It was a nice Kona 18 speed. | D．They used it for work and daily life |
We can infer from the text that ________
| A．The couple worked 60 hours a week | B．people were busy before Christmas |
| C．the stranger brought over the bike | D．life was hard for the young family |
How did people get to know the couple’s problem?
| A．From radio broadcasts. | B．From a newspaper. |
| C．From TV news. | D．From a stranger. |
What do the couple learn from their experience?
| A．Strangers are usually of little help. | B．One should take care of their bike. |
| C．News reports make people famous. | D．An act of kindness can mean a lot. |
It is not only experts in China who are arguing over whether women should work after marriage or not. Worldwide this question is being discussed as an interestingly large number of married women enter the workplace. Take the United States for example. Since 1960, the percentage of married women in the work force has jumped from 31.9 per cent to 59.4 per cent.
American women first moved into the paid labour force during the World War II, when men left their jobs to fight. In the last fifty years, more and more women have worked outside the home. And over these years of developing, Americans have changed their social values as a result. In 1975, women aged 35 and above made up half of all working women. And by 1980, 60 per cent were women at the age of 45 and above.
Now in Japan, women’s work group is M-shaped with middle-aged women and those aged 20-25 at the two peaks. According to statistics(统计)， 37.7 per cent of Japanese women at childbearing age(25-29) still engaged themselves in work in 1980. and the number reached 50 per cent the next year.
Being a housewife has always been regarded as a “graceful occupation” in Japan. Some young Japanese women believe it is good to be a “ professional housewife”. However, old attitudes have been changing everywhere, and sometimes just out of economic necessary. In recent years, a great number of city housewives have poured out of homes to take part time jobs. Even the UN has given its support.. The 34th Congress of the United Nations in 1979 put forward the decision for formal agreement on the getting rid of discrimination(歧视) against women.
So far, most UN members have agreed on it, but some still haven’t, including the United States.From the first passage, we can learn that ________________.
| A．experts encourage women to take paying jobs. |
| B．men encourage women to take paying jobs |
| C．government encourage women to take paying jobs. |
| D．more and more people begin to care about women’s life |
In the United States _________________.
| A．married women are lazier than their husbands. |
| B．Husbands are lazier than their wives |
| C．Few married women used to work outside |
| D．More married women used to work outside |
Married women in Japan________________.
A, all work outside their homes
B. seldom work outside their homes
C. have different opinions on their working outside
D. all do housework at their homesMore and more women have taken jobs outside for the reason that ____________.
| A．they have no children to take care of |
| B．they have no housework to do |
| C．they want to make more friends |
| D．they want to improve their living conditions |
“Get out of the plane!” Justin shouted. Teddy and he dropped to the ground,….
When Kathy and Victor reached the edge of the grassland, flames(火焰)were shooting more than five meters into the air.
Kathy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. One glance told her they needed medical attention immediately. She questioned Justin, “ Is there anyone in the plane?”
“No,” he said.
“Where are you able to radio for help?”
“There was no time.”
“ I’m a distance runner.” Kathy said, “I’ll go for help.” Looking at the seriously injured men, she said, “It may take me several hours to get out.” She started out.
When she was 23, Kathy set a women’s-course record in a Marathon. She had run 42 kilometers. But now she was running the race of her life. She had nearly 30 kilometers of hard wilderness to cover to get help.
Kathy had been running for two hours. This was far back into the wilderness. The trail(小径) grew unclear. She stopped to take a quick compass(指南针) reading. She had run for more than 20 kilometers. Her heart fell, her muscle(肌肉) aching. Finally she saw her car in the distance.
She jumped into the car and sped away. She reached a holiday house and called the police.
During the wait she walked around, relaxing her legs and drinking water. It took almost two hours for a helicopter to reach her. They needed her for one more task.“Now, she was running the race of her life” means that ________________.
| A．she would set up a new record |
| B．she was running for the lives of others |
| C．she would run a race without others |
| D．she couldn’t rely on Victor this time |
Why did Kathy stopped to have a look at her compass? Because ______________.
| A． she didn’t trust her memory | B．she had lost her way |
| C． The trail grew vague | D．Of the wilderness |
Why did she walk around, relax her legs and drink water? Because ______________.
| A．She was too tired |
| B．she felt thirsty |
| C．she wanted to regain lost energy |
| D．nothing else could be done then |
What do you think of her final task was?
| A．Giving the injured food and drinks. |
| B．Taking them to the nearest hospital. |
| C．To show the police where the injured was. |
| D．To go back to put out the big fire. |
Today, Friday, December 14
JAZZ with the Mike Thomas Jazz Band at The Derby Arms. Upper Richmond Road West, Sheen.
DISCO Satin Sounds Disco. Free at The Lord Napier, Mort lake High St., from 8 am. to 8 pm. Tel: 682-158.
Saturday, December 15
JAZZ Lysis at The Bull's Head, Barnes. Admission 60p.
MUSICAL HALL at The Star and Garter, Lower Richmond Road, Putney, provided by the Aba Daba Music Hall company. Good food and entertainment fair price. Tel: 789-749.
FAMILY night out? Join the sing-along at The Black Horse. Sheen Road, Richmond.
JAZZ The John Bennett Big Band at The Bull's Head, Barnes. Admission 80p.
THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion(手风琴). Tel: 789-536
Sunday, December 16
DISCO Satin Sounds Disco, free at The Lord Napier, Mort Lake High Street, from 8 am to 8 pm.
FOLK MUSIC at The Derby Arms. The Short Stuff and residents the Norman Chop Trio. Non-remembers 70p. Tel: 688-626.
HEAVY MUSIC with Tony Simon at The Bull, Upper Richmond Road West, East Sheen.
THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion.Where and when can you hear the Norman Chop Trio?
| A．At the Derby Arms on Sunday. |
| B．At the Bull's Head on Sunday. |
| C．At the Bull on Saturday. |
| D．At the Black Horse on Saturday. |
Where and when can you hear the Mike Thomas Jazz Band?
| A．At the Black Horse on Friday. |
| B．At the Derby Arms on Friday. |
| C．At the Star and Garter on Saturday. |
| D．At the Derby Arms on Sunday. |
Which telephone number do you have to ring if you want to enjoy the electric accordion on Saturday. ?
| A．789-749. | B．688-626. | C．682-158 | D．789-536 |
Where should you go if you want to spend the Saturday by joining the entertainment with your family.?
| A．Disco at The Lord Napier. |
| B．The sing-along at The Black Horse. |
| C．The electric accordion at The Derby Arms. |
| D．Jazz at The Bull's Head. |
Cities need to put efforts to deal with pollution and clear the air.
Chinese cities will need to put efforts to clear up the sky when a new department to improve regional air quality is set up by 2015，according to the latest plan released by the State Council.
Besides the existing pollution control program for CO2，regional emission caps(区域排放上限) for other certain chemicals will be established in the three key air polluting areas—the Yangtze River Delta，Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin- Hebei region. Coal-consumption caps will also be tried out in some areas，according to the plan.
The plan is aimed at dealing with regional air pollution—such as acid rain and smog—which have become increasingly obvious in China in recent years and caused a severe threat to people’s health，Zhang Lijun，viceminister of environmental protection，said in an interview on Monday.
The air quality in a city affects the areas nearby because pollutants can travel in the sky，said Chai Fahe，vice-director of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.
“So efforts to reduce air pollution in a single city，targeting a certain pollutant(污染物) will not be enough，” Chai said.
Zhang said the country’s major industrial districts—the Yangtze River Delta，Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region—have recorded more than 100 misty days annually in recent years.
These three regions，home to at least 200 million people，occupy only 6.3 percent of the country’s area but consume 40 percent of the country’s coal and produce half of its steel，according to official figures.
Studies also show that the visibility(能见度) in eastern regions of China has dropped by 7 to 15 km compared to that in the early 1960s，as a result of air pollution.
Liaoning province，the Shandong Peninsula，Wuhan in Hubei province and its surrounding area，the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan region in Hunan province，the Chengdu-Chongqing region，and the western coast of the Taiwan Straits are also listed as areas to carry out such regional air pollution control programs，according to the plan.
The new plan also requires an improved air quality system，which will measure the pollution levels. “The current system，which only measures some major pollutants，cannot reflect the_truepicture.” said Chai.It will not be enough to reduce air pollution in a single city because ________.
| A．air pollution has been becoming more and more serious in recent years |
| B．air pollution like acid rain and smog is threatening people’s health |
| C．air pollutants in a city can travel in the sky and affect nearby areas |
| D．air pollutants stay in fixed places over the cities |
Suppose the visibility in eastern regions of China was 130 km in the early 1960s，the visibility there nowadays is ________.
| A．123 to 115 km | B．137 to 145 km |
| C．123 to 145 km | D．115 to 137 km |
The main purpose of the passage is ________.
| A．to inform readers of the damage caused by air pollution |
| B．to introduce the new plan to control air pollution |
| C．to provide official figures of air pollution levels |
| D．to point out the regions affected by air pollution |
What does the underlined phrase “the true picture” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．The major pollutants. |
| B．The key polluted areas. |
| C．The major polluted cities. |
| D．The pollution levels. |
I can remember the day my father came home from the war. As he walked up the front path of our home, he saw Mum and me and he dropped the suitcase.
I was only five years old so Dad made a fuss of me, then began making an even bigger fuss of my mother. This left me free to examine all the stuff lying around the broken suitcase, and I was quick to notice a newspaper advertisement displaying a new piano. When Dad saw me holding up the newspaper cutting, he smiled.
“Yes, that’s right,” he said. “I bought your mum a piano for ten pounds down and two pounds a week.”
A few moments later, a horse pulled a cart with a piano on top. Soon we all stared at it in our small lounger room. Mum had never been close to a piano before, except at the kindergarten I attended, and she used to say how wonderful it would be if the teachers could teach her to play.
After tea that night, Mum began to teach herself to play. She plinked the keys for about two hours and drove everybody in the street mad, until Dad gently said, “Enough is enough.”
From that day on, she would plink between doing the cooking and housework. Three months went by and Mum was now a skilled pianist, holding parties with all the neighbors gathering around to sing.
Although we were poor, Mum felt like a princess and was delighted at all the attention she was receiving.
At the height of Mum’s happiness, I began to notice that Dad was looking increasingly worried. It turned out that since returning from the war, he’d been unable to find a job. Then, a few weeks later, I observed two men taking Mum’s piano away. Mum sobbed in the kitchen. Suddenly, it all became clear to me: no job, no money, no piano.
Dad finally got a job. Mum was happy again as if he’d just win the lottery(彩票). Dad had to study to qualify as an account. Every night after dinner he’d place a stack of books on the kitchen table and study late into the night. Mum didn’t say much but I could tell she was proud of Dad.
Two years later, Dad bought Mum another piano. This time he paid cash for it.How did the author’s Dad buy the piano for his mum?
| A．He paid part of the bill regularly. |
| B．He earned it by winning a bet. |
| C．He paid cash for it. |
| D．He bought it as a big bargain. |
By saying “Enough is enough”, the author’s dad meant_______.
| A．practice makes perfect |
| B．it was time to stop practicing |
| C．he couldn’t bear being troubled |
| D．his wife played the piano well enough |
What happened to the author’s mum’s first piano?
| A．It was lost. |
| B．It was broken by one neighbor. |
| C．It was sold by his dad. |
| D．It was taken away. |
What made the author’s mum proud of his dad?
| A．His dad’s willingness to help cook. |
| B．His dad’s winning the lottery luckily. |
| C．His dad’s loyalty to his motherland. |
| D．His dad’s determination to rebuild his life. |