DIY, which means Do It Yourself, is quite popular in UK. Lots of stores and supermarkets sell DIY things. TV proprammes show people how to DIY.
English people like DIY. There is a saying in UK –“An Englishman’s home is his castle”. Huge numbers of people spend their holidays making their homes beautiful “castles”. If there is anything that needs fixing around their houses, such as painting the walls or putting in a new shower, they will do the jobs themselves. They share DIY experiences with their friends. More and more people have discovered the joy of DIY. Sometimes people also DIY for saving money. With the economic downturn at present, many people can not afford to buy a bigger house. They are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. It is not surprising that DIY is so popular.
DIY can be difficult. There is a huge market for DIY furniture which people need to put together themselves with a few basic tools. However, people often find it not easy to build a piece of furniture because they can’t understand the instructions. Sometimes the instructions are simple and clear, but the furniture itself is difficult to build. One thing is for sure, though most DIY projects are started with the best intentions, many of them may not get finished. DIY can also be dangerous. For example, anything electrical should be done by a professional worker. Unluckily, many people don’t care about this warning and put themselves in danger. It is reported that in just one year over 230,000 people were hurt while doing DIY in UK, including 41,000 who fell off ladders.
Therefore, DIY can bring us fun and help us save money, but it is not always as easy as it is thought to be if we bite off more than we can chew. Maybe factories should make products that are easier and safer for us to DIY.How do many English people spend their holidays according to the passage?
A.Making their homes beautiful. | B.Visiting their friends. |
C.Travelling all over the world. | D.Making a lot of money. |
Why do English people like DIY?
A.Many stores sell DIY things. | B.DIY can bring them fun. |
C.TV programmes teach them to DIY | D.All DIY projects are easy. |
What can we learn from the passage?
A.DIY is a waste of money. | B.It is always difficult to DIY. |
C.We should be careful while doing DIY. | D.It’s very safe for us to DIY |
In the passage, “we bite off more than we can chew” probably means ___________.
A.we can eat everything we like | B.we should do something difficult |
C.we do something that is too difficult | D.we eat too much food that is not safe |
What is necessary to know when we speak English besides using grammar?
A.Introduction. | B.The culture. | C.Grammar. | D.Topics. |
"When speaking to a stranger, ask them where they are from and then make a connection (联系) with that place" can be used as a sentence to_______.
A.speak about location | B.talk about sports |
C.address people | D.talk about work |
We can learn from the text that_______.
A.Americans shake hands when greeting same sex friends |
B.different sex friends should hold hands when first meeting |
C.when you speak to others, it's polite to look into their eyes |
D.smoking is not allowed in the modem United Sates |
What would be the best title for the text?
A.American English Tips. | B.Language Differences. |
C.The Different Language Culture. | D.American Customs. |
The Internet, mobile phones and iPads are parts of our lives now. Technology is greatly affecting all ways of our lives, from the ways we work to the ways we play. And it even causes a number of social problems such as cloning (克隆) humans.
We have had lots of technology and it has changed our lives a lot. We are sure that humans will continue to use more and more technology. Here are some examples of modern technology that will change our ideas and will affect our lives greatly.
Global Positioning System (GPS) (全球定位系统)
It's a system that uses radio signals from satellites to show exact (精确的) information. It tells you where the user is on the earth in all weather conditions. It's made up of three parts: satellites, control equipments (设备) on land and receivers.
Space Technology
Russian and American scientists have worked together for the International Space Station, (ISS) for a long time. They hope the ISS will provide a long-lasting lab. Such a lab will bring humans limitless (无限的) advantages. It's even hoped that one day space technology will take humans to their new houses in space.
Underwater Robot
Hercules is a kind of underwater robot with some high technology equipments. It will be used to search for ancient ships which were destroyed into the deep sea during their journey long ago.
The world is changing so quickly that it's hard for us to catch up with all the new inventions because they seem to come out every month. It's important for us to learn about new technology and the role that it plays in our lives. So we should be willing to accept modem technology, or we will fall behind the times. _______ can tell you where the user is on the earth exactly.
A.Satellites | B.Receivers |
C.Global Positioning System | D.Underwater Robot |
According to the passage, which is NOT true about the ISS?
A.It has carried people to other planets. |
B.It will provide a long-lasting lab for us. |
C.Russia and America are working for it. |
D.Humans will get a lot of advantages from it. |
Hercules is used to_______.
A.save lives in the sea |
B.take pictures in the sea |
C.repair the broken ships |
D.look for the ancient ships in the sea |
What is the purpose of the passage?
A.To help us study some new technology. |
B.To tell us technology is changing the world. |
C.To help solve the problems that technology causes. |
D.To remind us the advantages of technology are limitless. |
Last week, the manager of an old jeweler's shop received a letter marked "personal". As he was very busy, the letter lay on his desk till teatime. When he opened it, a $100 note fell. out onto his desk. With the note was a short letter. This is what it said:
Dear sir,
I got engaged (订婚的) forty years ago. Unfortunately at that time there was a lot of unemployment and I lost my job. I was out of work for about six months before I got another one. Of course I was very short of money.
I came to your shop to buy a wedding ring one day. The assistant brought some rings for me to have a look, later she was called away, and then I put one of the rings into my pocket. When she came back, I said I did not know the size of my girlfriend's finger.
So I left the shop without paying for the ring. My wife died a month ago, and the fact that I never paid for her ring has been on my conscience
(让我良心不安) all these years. I always feel guilty about that. At that time the ring cost $ 20, and I think that is about five times- $100 at today's price. Now I am sending you that amount.
Yours truly,
A customer
After reading the letter, the manager said, "Well, well, well, life is full of surprise!"The ring that the customer put into his pocket was_______ at that time.
A.$20 | B.$50 | C.$100 | D.$400 |
The underlined word "unemployment" means "_______" in Chinese.
A.辞职 | B.就业 | C.悲伤 | D.失业 |
How long has the customer's wife been dead?
A.A week. | B.A month. | C.A year. | D.Two months. |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A.The manager opened the letter by himself. |
B.The manager thought life was full of surprise. |
C.When the customer's wife knew the fact, she was impatient. |
D.The customer always feels sad for not paying for the ring years ago. |
While Nick was on the bus reading his newspaper, the man sitting next to him suddenly pushed a large envelope(信封)into his hands. "Here, take this!" the man said, stood up and got off the bus before Nick could say a word.
Nick sat there, holding the envelope. It felt heavy. There was paper inside, or money perhaps. "I'd better hand it over to the police," he thought. There was a police station close to his office. But, as he got off the bus, a man came to him. He seemed to be waiting for something. "He wants the envelope," Nick thought. Nick began to walk quickly, and the man hurried after him. Nick managed to lose the man in the crowd(人群).When he entered the police station, the man was no longer in sight.
Inside the police station, Nick handed over the envelope to the policeman who was on duty. The man opened it. The envelope was full of money, false(假的)money.“Clearly the man made a mistake," the policeman said. "He thought you were one of the gang(团伙)!”
“However," the policeman went on. "I'm afraid I must ask you to keep quiet about all this. We are trying to catch some very clever thieves, and we don't want them to know that we have some of the money. So you mustn't say a word to anyone-not even to your boss!" The man who suddenly gave Nick an envelope was most probably_______.
A.Nick's friend | B.the bus driver | C.a thief | D.a postman |
As Nick got off the bus, a man came to him because_______.
A.he wanted to catch Nick |
B.he thought Nick was a policeman |
C.he wanted to give Nick some money |
D.he thought Nick was one of their gang |
By the last few sentences of the passage, we can infer that_______.
A.Nick let everyone know his wonderful story |
B.Nick's boss was the last to know Nick's story |
C.Nick would keep silent about what happened for some time |
D.the gang already knew the police got some of the false money |
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 repaired, 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 my plan and l 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 repair 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'II repair this for you. Shall we say for five pounds?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused 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.way of doing things |
C.idea of repairing things | D.decision to sell 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 |