Driving a car at a high speed along a highway seems to be fun. You only need to follow the
bright traffic signs beside the highway and it will take you where you wish to go.
But to a London taxi driver, driving is not an easy job. A taxi driver needs to have not only good driving skills but also a good knowledge of the city of London, from the loneliest street to the popular restaurant around. He has to be at the service of all kinds of passengers (乘客) at all times.
A London taxi driver said the following about his job.
During the night it is usual for him to stop two or three times for some food. He said, “I never drink when I’m working, otherwise I’d lose my license (驾驶执照).”
He normally goes home between two and three o’clock in the morning. There are times he has to stay longer and try to make more runs. He said, “That’s the worst thing about working for yourself. If you don’t make money, no one is going to give it to you. ”
London taxi drivers not only “take” but also “give”. Every summer hundreds of poor children from London go for a day at the sea ― by taxi! There rides are paid by the taxi drivers. At the sea, they are met by the mayor (市长) , and a lunch party is also held for the taxi drivers and the children. After a happy day’s running around the beaches and visiting the market there, the children go home again by taxi, free of charge of course!London taxi drivers try to make more runs sometimes mainly because __________.
| A．they make a living by driving |
| B．they prefer to work for themselves |
| C．they want to help more passengers |
| D．they are used to working deep into the night |
How do London taxi drivers “give”?
| A．They give the poor children a lunch party at he sea each summer. |
| B．They give poor children the chance to meet the maor. |
| C．They pay for some poor children’s rides for a day’s tour each summer. |
| D．They play with some poor children at the sea for a day each summer. |
Which of the following words can be used to describe London taxi drivers?
| A．Brave and careful. | B．Rich and generous |
| C．Modest and easy-going | D．Hard-working and kind. |
The passage is most likely to be found from __________.
| A．an advertisement of a taxi company |
| B．an online travel guide |
| C．a website about the taxi drivers in London |
| D．a report about living conditions in London |
"Tammy! Come here, please! Mother needs your help in the kitchen." Her father called out to her.
Tammy was in her room, getting ready to do her homework. "Yes, Daddy!" she replied. "I'll be right there."
She hurried out of her bedroom and down the hallway. She was only nine years old. Her elder sister, Ella, had just moved away to go to a performing arts high school in another city. Her brother, Harry, was in middle school and always got home late. With Ella leaving home, Tammy was expected to do a lot more than she had ever done before, especially now, because her mother was ill.
Her father was in the kitchen. "Tammy, I know you usually do your homework right now, but with things being different, we all have to change a little bit. I'll help you and Harry with your homework later on, OK?"
Her father had an apron（围裙） on over his clothes, and he looked kind of funny. He was doing the dishes and he always splashed（溅出） water all over when he did that. After helping her father with the dishes, Tammy helped set the table.
After supper, her father helped her and Harry with their homework, and then they played a board game so that their mother could lie down for a while.
The next morning, Tammy got up early on her own because she wanted to help her mother with breakfast. She made orange juice and even put bread in the toaster and got out the butter so that her mother could sleep for a few more minutes.
When her mother got up half an hour later, she was very surprised and moved to see the breakfast on the dining table. She gave Tammy a big hug.
"Thank you, Tammy. You really are mother's little helper now, aren't you?"Why did Tammy's sister move out of their home?
| A．Because she hated doing housework |
| B．Because she was busy with her work. |
| C．Because her school was far away from home. |
| D．Because she disliked her family. |
From Paragraphs 3 & 4, we can learn that Tammy_______.
| A．was a middle school student |
| B．did well in all subjects |
| C．always did a lot of housework at home |
| D．was the youngest child in the family |
What can we learn about Tammy's father from the passage?
| A．He was a very serious person. |
| B．He wasn't very good at doing housework. |
| C．He liked playing board games very much. |
| D．He always helped Tammy do her homework. |
Which is the right order for the things that Tammy did in the story?
①Did her homework.② Prepared breakfast.
③ Played a board game.④ Helped with super.
A①②③④B①② ④③C,①④③② D。①③④②Which is the best title for this passage?
| A．Mother's Little Helper | B．The Life of Tammy's Family |
| C．A Happy Family | D．Tammy's School Life |
Selecting a proper summer camp for your child is not an easy task. You have to consider too many factors（因素）. Remember, you are sending your kid to a summer camp not just to let him enjoy himself but also to help him become confident. So you should try to select a summer camp for your kid so that after he returns from the camp, the first thing that he asks you is when you will send him again for camping. Let us see how you can pick the best summer camp for your child.
Search the Internet
If you browse（浏览） the Internet, you will find a number of websites of summer camps where you can find all the detailed information about the camps. For example, how much the whole camping will cost, where the camps are, what children can do in the camps and what additional facilities (额外的设施) they can provide. Don't forget to read the comments（评论） of parents who have sent their children to those camps and pay attention to how they find those camps.
______________
Some camp organizers prefer advertisements in newspapers. Some of the organizers even invite famous people to their camps to communicate with kids. You should keep an eye in the summer camp advertisements in newspapers so that you could pick a suitable one for your kid.
Ask for advice from your child's school teachers
Go to your kid's school and ask his teachers whether they can give you names of some of the summer camps they consider to be the best.
Know the interest of your child
While searching, you will come across different types of camps. They are organized according to the nature and interest of children like a music camp, a sports camp, etc. So it is very important to know what your child is interested in before picking a summer camp.Which of the following can be put on the line before Paragraph 3?
| A．Place advertisements in newspapers. |
| B．Visit the organizers of summer camps. |
| C．Search for advertisements in newspapers. |
| D．Invite famous people to talk with your kid. |
We can know that in the writer's opinion, '
| A．finding a proper summer camp for children is not difficult |
| B．the purpose of a summer camp is not only for children to have fun |
| C．what other parents think about a camp on the Internet is not believable |
| D．children usually don't have to go again after returning from a summer camp |
According to the last paragraph, before making the final decision, parents should_______.
| A．consider the interest of their kid |
| B．rethink if camping is necessary |
| C．know everything about the camp |
| D．know the kid's performance at school |
I grew up in the 1950s with very practical parents. My mother washed aluminum foil（铝箔纸）after she cooked in it, and then she reused it. She was the earliest recycle（回收）queen before people had a name for it．
My father was no different. He preferred getting old shoes fixed to -buying new ones. Their marriage was good and their dreams were focused（集中）．Their best friends lived just a wave away. Though my parents have passed away, I can see them now - Dad in trousers, a T-shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawnmower（割草机）in one hand and dishtowel in the other.
It was the time to fix things -a curtain rod(挂帘杆),the kitchen radio, the screen door, the oven door, and so on. They fixed all things we had. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing and renewing made me want to scream.1 wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant being rich. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more. I often thought like that.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I learned that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away and it will never return. So, while we have it, it is the best that we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken and cure it when it's sick.
This is true for marriage, old cars, children with bad report cards, dogs with bad hips and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it and because we are worth it.We can learn that when the writer was young, she_______.
| A．thought highly of her parents' habits |
| B．often helped her parents fix old things |
| C．often threw things away without being noticed |
| D．at times hated it when her parents fixed old things |
What did the writer realize afier her mother's death?
| A．Her mother truly loved her. |
| B．She had wasted a lot of money. |
| C．Things may never return once they are gone. |
| D．She had hurt her parents for many times. |
What is the writer's purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To advise us to love what we have. |
| B．To encourage us to recycle old things. |
| C．To explain why her parents recycled. |
| D．To help us know about life in the past. |
If cars had wings, they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2011.The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to make such a car-plane called “Transition”, to customers(顾客) by the end of 2012. “It’s the next ‘wow’ vehicle,”said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. “Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car-plane has wings that unfold for flying—a process the company says takes one minute-and fold back up for driving. A runway is still needed to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as an easier and cheaper way to fly.They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go.When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport—you leave it in the car park at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum take-off weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000, But there may be something else you need to pay, like a radio, transponder or GPS and so on.
So far, the company has more than 70 orders. “We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,” Brown said.We can learn from the first paragraph that _________.
| A．car-planes will be popular in 2012 |
| B．people might drive a car-plane in 2012 |
| C．both Transition and Ferrari can take off and land |
| D．Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land. |
| B．A car-plane with radio and GPS will cost $194,000 |
| C．The car-plane may fly at 8,000 feet |
| D．People can park the car-plane in the car park at their home. |
Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “unfold” on this passage?
| A．start | B．spread | C．cover | D．travel |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Cars With Wings May come true soon |
| B．A Ferrari or a Car Plane |
| C．A Easier and Cheaper Way to Fly |
| D．Cars With Wings Can Fly as Fast as Planes |
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived there, I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice(临终医院). I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(计价器).
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a special building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
In the early morning, she suddenly said,” I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I pay you?” she asked.
“Nothing.” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I gave her a hug(拥抱). She held on me and said, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to ______.
| A．show she was familiar with the city |
| B．see some places for the last time |
| C．let the driver earn more money |
| D．reach the destination on time |
The taxi driver did not get the money because he ______.
| A．wanted to give her a hand |
| B．shut off the meter by mistake |
| C．had received her payment already |
| D．was in a hurry to take other passengers |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．No pains, no gains. |
| B．People should respect(尊重) each other. |
| C．An act of kindness can bring people great joy. |
| D．People should learn to enjoy our life. |