It was a quiet village in which there was a military camp. It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains around. Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers. But it was difficult for the young men to go outside. Mr. White, an officer of forty, was strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp.
Once Mr. White was ill in bed. He couldn’t work and a young officer, Mr. Hunt, began to train the new soldiers instead of him. He knew the young men well and let nine soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday. But night fell and none came back to the camp. He was worried about it and stood at the gate. It was five to twelve when Mr. Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening with the young men. He started the car quickly and set off. At that moment the nine soldiers came back. It seemed they were all drunk. Of course they found the officer was angry.
“I’m sorry, sir,” said the first soldier. “I left the town on time. But something was wrong with my bus on my way here. I had to buy a horse and made it run fast. Bad luck! It died and I had to run back.”
And the other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons. It was the last soldier’s turn. He said, “I’m sorry, sir. I got on a bus on time, but…”
Having heard this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once. He called out, “If you say something was wrong with your bus, I’ll punish you at once!”
“No, no, sir,” said the young man. “My bus was all right, but the dead horses were in its way!” The military camp was built in the village to _______.
| A．stop the soldiers going to towns |
| B．stop the soldiers meeting their friends |
| C．train the new soldiers |
| D．make the young men live quietly |
Mr. Hunt let the nine soldiers have a holiday because _______.
| A．he was kind and understanding |
| B．they felt lonely |
| C．they had something important to do |
| D．they were the best of all the soldiers |
The young officer was worried because _______.
| A．a traffic accident had happened |
| B．he was afraid something happened to the nine soldiers |
| C．the nine soldiers didn’t come back on time |
| D．the nine soldiers drank too much in the town |
The nine soldiers returned to the camp late because _______.
| A．something was wrong with their buses |
| B．their horses died on the return way |
| C．it took them much time to run back |
| D．they all had drunk much in the town |
Which statement do you think is right?
A．The officer believed only th e last soldier. |
| B．The officer believed the nine soldiers. |
| C．The officer believed none of the nine soldiers. |
D．The of ficer wouldn’t punish his soldiers. |
When I was in junior high school, I was really a bad boy. My history teacher—Mr. Oven criticized me a lot because I was naughty in his class. By the end of the first semester, I'd had enough of his words and had decided that I would get my revenge on him.
The opportunity arose one morning when Mr. Oven was called to the office for a certain reason. While Mr. Oven left, my company Billy and I grabbed Mr. Oven's lunch bag from under his desk. I opened his sandwich and placed a bug in between the two slices of bread. We put it back and closed it. To keep it in memory, Billy took photos of the whole process. We laughed for weeks over this.
Well, it all went south during Thanksgiving break. Billy's mother found the pictures in his room, and demanded that he should tell her where these pictures were from. Billy told his mother the whole story, and Mr. Oven was informed. Not only was I punished from school for two weeks, but also I was kicked off the football and basketball team. Before I could return to school, I had to turn in a 1000-word essay on what I did and why I did that. I really felt embarrassed every time I saw Mr. Oven in the hallway for the rest of the school year. I felt a little regret that Mr. Oven left our school the next year.Mr. Oven criticized me a lot because __________.
| A．I disobeyed his rules in class |
| B．I didn't go to his class |
| C．I didn't answer his questions |
| D．I was naughty in my homework |
How can you imagine Mr. Oven when he had his lunch?
| A．He would be glad to eat his delicious sandwich with the bug. |
| B．He would eat it as usual when he had his sandwich. |
| C．He would cry because he was afraid of the bug in his sandwich. |
| D．He would be very angry when he found the bug in his sandwich. |
The underlined sentence "Well, it all went south during Thanksgiving break. " in Paragraph 3 probably means " __________ ".
| A．It was until Thanksgiving break that the secret was let out. |
| B．All the students left on Thanksgiving break. |
| C．All __________ the students went south on Thanksgiving break. |
| D．Billy and I went south during Thanksgiving break. |
Which one was NOT true according to the article?
| A．He had to be punished to leave school for two weeks. |
| B．He was kicked off the football and basketball team. |
| C．He had to eat the sandwich he had made for Mr. Oven. |
| D．He had to write a 1000-word essay to acknowledge his mistake. |
(2014 河北开滦月考) I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court.
After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I'd have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.
My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.
Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time... and I left without getting a cent.The author's roommate offered to help him because __________.
| A．he felt sorry for the author |
| B．he thought it was a chance to make some money |
| C．he knew the doctor was a very good one |
| D．he wanted the author to have a good lawyer |
A good doctor is essential (必要) for the author to __________.
| A．be properly treated |
| B．talk with the person responsible for the accident |
| C．recover before he leaves America |
| D．eventually get the responsible party to pay for his injury |
The word "charge" in the second paragraph means __________.
| A．be responsible | B．accuse |
| C．ask as a price | D．claim |
Both the doctor and the lawyer in this passage are very __________.
| A．selfish | B．friendly | C．professional | D．busy |
What conclusion (结论) can you draw from the story?
| A．Going to court is something very common in America. |
| B．One must be very careful while driving a car. |
| C．There are more bad sides in America than good sides. |
| D．Money is more important than other things in the US. |
A small town in southwest Britain is banning plastic bags in an attempt to help the environment and cut waste—a step that environmentalists believe is a first for Europe.
Shopkeepers in Modbury, population 1, 5000, agreed to stop handing out disposable plastic bags to customers on Saturday. They said paper sacks and cloth carrier bags would be offered instead.
Last month, San Francisco became the first U. S. city to ban plastic grocery bags. Internationally, laws to discourage the use of plastic bags have been passed in parts of South Africa and Ireland, where governments tax shoppers who use them or fine companies that hand them out. Bangladesh already bans them, and so do at least 30 remote Alaskan villages.
Modbury, about 225 miles southwest of London， has also declared a bag amnesty (宽限期), allowing local people to hand in plastic bags that have piled up at home. They will be sent for a recycling.
The Modbury ban was the idea of Rebecca Hosking, who saw the effect of bags on wildlife while working in the Pacific as a wildlife camerawoman. She said response in the town so far had been "really positive".
"Modbury is quite an old-fashioned town and a lot of people have wicker (柳条)baskets to go out shopping anyway," Hosking told Sky News Television.
The Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research agency， states that 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year in the United States alone. More than 500 billion are used yearly around the world. What was Rebecca Hosking?
| A．A lawyer. | B．An environmentalist. |
| C．A sailor. | D．A photographer. |
The underlined word "disposable" in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．acceptable | B．valuable |
| C．throw-away | D．long-lasting |
It can be inferred from the passage that ______ .
| A．most of the people in Modbury continue to use plastic bags |
| B．fewer and fewer plastic bags will be used in the world |
| C．San Francisco is the first city to ban plastic bags in the world |
| D．most countries in the world have passed laws to ban plastic bags |
Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Environment |
| B．Cutting Waste |
| C．Effect of Plastic Bags |
| D．A British Town Banning Plastic Bags |
Every people has its own way of saying things, its own special expressions. Many everyday American expressions are on colors.
Red is a hot color. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot，they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their color and their fiery taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.
Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health.
Blue is a cool color. The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful. Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a famous song Mood Indigo about the deep blue color, indigo. In the words of the song: "You ain't been blue till you've had that Mood Indigo." Someone who is blue is very sad.
The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has a sick feeling stomach may say she feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.
Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the color of the back side of the paper money.
The color black is used often in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day. A blacklist is illegal now. But at one time，some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations. If you had your wallet stolen while doing some shopping, you may call it ______ .
| A．a white day | B．a black day |
| C．a red day | D．a green day |
Suppose a Mr. Brown says he is very happy because his three children* are all in the pink, this means all his children are ______ .
| A．lucky and wealthy |
| B．gentle and modest |
| C．fit and healthy |
| D．creative and energetic |
When she got home and found nothing had been done by her husband, Jane was really ______ .
| A．red hot | B．green |
| C．blue | D．black |
In the following paragraph, the writer might tell the readers something about ______ .
| A．unpopular polarizations in the world |
| B．people's response towards a black day |
| C．the influence of the traditional blues |
| D．more words about colors，such as brown |
For many in the United States, Arab-Americans are an invisible part of the population. Though Arab-Americans as a community have made great contributions to American society in fields from literature to politics to medicine, many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab backgrounds.
Arab history in the United States goes back to the late 1800's when large numbers of Arab immigrants first began making their journey to a land known simply as "Amreeka".
Historians generally describe Arab immigration to America in two waves. The first wave took place between 1860 and 1924. The first wave consisted of Lebanese and Syrian，and some Egyptian immigrants. These new immigrants，who were mostly Christians, came to America in search of better opportunities. Even the doomed Titanic , which set sail for America in 1912, had close to a hundred Arab passengers aboard. The majority of Arab-Americans today are descendents of the first wave of immigrants； they are the third or more generation Americans.
The second wave of immigrants followed after World War Ⅱ， caused by political unrest in the Middle East. This second wave of immigrants consists of mainly Arab Muslims (穆斯林)and continues to this day.
Arab-Americans make up 3 million of the population in the United States，according to demographers. And quite different from popular belief, 64 percent of them are American-born. Eighty-two percent of Arab-Americans are US citizens.
Arab-Americans are beyond the national average in both education and income. Education is important among Arab-Americans； 82 percent have high school diplomas, 36 percent have bachelor's degrees or higher, and 15 percent have graduate degrees. The- median (中位数的)average income among Arab-Americans is $39, 580, which is higher than the US average. What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Arabs in America. |
| B．The Two Arab Immigration Waves to America. |
| C．Arab-Americans, Contributions to America. |
| D．Arab-Americans, Education and Income. |
The first wave of immigrants took place because ______ .
| A．all Arabs were Christian at that time |
| B．Arabs wanted to hunt for a better development |
| C．the Second World War broke out |
| D．Arabs wanted to gain higher income |
The writer of this passage mentioned Titanic ______ .
| A．to tell us that taking ship at that time was dangerous |
| B．because Titanic became a well-known disaster |
| C．to show us there were many Arabs flocking into America at that time |
| D．to inform us that Arabs are brave enough |
From the last paragraph we can infer that ______ .
| A．Arab-Americans are much more clever than native Americans |
| B．Arab-Americans are hard-working people |
| C．the higher education you receive, the higher income you will get in America |
| D．Arab-Americans play the most important role in the American average in both education and income |