My granddaughter, Shari, owns The Berry (莓果) Factory in Sacramento, California, and her mother, Joan, and I were helping with the Valentine’s Day rush. We’d dipped (浸泡) hundreds of berries, arranged gift baskets and packaged orders to be shipped around the country.
By the end of the day, the two middle-aged women, Joan and I, were exhausted. Shari didn’t seem tired. That was typical Shari. Though she was very busy, I’d seen her give away berries to everybody — parking attendants, mail carriers and hairdressers. “For me?” they would say, bursting into a smile.
As a “thank you”, Shari took us out for dinner. But there was a 45-minute wait at her favorite restaurant. “No big deal. There’s another place just up the road,” she said, driving us there. This time we walked right in.
When the waitress came to take our drink orders, Shari reached into her handbag, pulling something out. “I want you to have these,” she said, handing the waitress a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries. “She will love those berries!” I thought. But the waitress seemed startled. She only let out a “thank you” before grabbing the box and rushing into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, the waitress returned with our iced tea. “I apologize,” she said. “My best friend and I had promised to send each other something every Valentine’s Day. But she passed away last year. I didn’t know how I’d get through this day without her. Then you handed me that box.”“I’m so sorry to hear that,” said Shari. “It’s not much, but I hope you can enjoy them.”“Oh, I will,” the waitress said. “See, every year we always sent each other the same thing; a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries bought from our favourite store, The Berry Factory.”What can be inferred in the first paragraph?
| A．The Berry Factory is a gift store |
| B．The Berry Factory has few shop clerks. |
| C．The Berry Factory has many branches around the country |
| D．The Berry Factory has customers from different parts of the country. |
Which of the following words can best describe Shari?
| A．Talkative | B．Creative | C．Kind-hearted | D．Well-known |
The underlined word “startled” in Paragraph 4 probably means _________.
| A．shocked | B．excited | C．tired | D．frightened |
We can learn from the last paragraph that _________.
| A．the waitress’ best friend didn’t like chocolate |
| B．the waitress’ best friend broke up with her |
| C．the waitress’ best friend worked for Shari |
| D．the waitress’ best friend was Shari’s customer |
To prevent the deserts coming near, China has planted billions of trees---to replace destroyed forests and as barriers against the sand. This isn’t a cure, though, say experts, as thirsty trees can make the problem worse by taking in groundwater.
“Planting tress is one way, but it isn’t that simple. It doesn’t solve the basic issue of water resources,” says Wu Bo, a professor. “We need to calculate how much water the trees will absorb, or else it could have a negative effect.”
Villagers in Zhengxin have taken on this challenge, with limited success. When the irrigation channels began to run dry, Lu Xianglin switched from wheat to cotton on his land. He also planted trees to protect his fields from sandstorms. He says he still gets good yields（产量） using flood irrigation and earns a good income for his family.
Other farmers haven’t stuck it out（坚持到底）: about one in three have left Zhengxin in the past 10 years after their wheat crops died. Young people who can find jobs in the towns rarely return.
Last week, Mr Lu joined the other men in his village on a government-arranged trip to see the land that has been set aside for their relocation, nearly 40 miles to the south. The next day, he was back, shaking his head at the plan. The idea of uprooting his family troubles him, as does the idea of giving up the land that fed his forefathers. He prefers to stay and keep up the fight.
“With enough water, this problem can be solved,” Lu says. “We can plant trees and grass, and they will grow bigger. That will stop the desert.”
Experts say that farmers could switch to drip irrigation （滴灌）to lessen their water intake for growing crops. Elsewhere in the region, farmers have built brick greenhouses as part of a plan to grow vegetables using less water. Roadside signs urge farmers to “Save Water, Protect the Environment”. The negative effect of planting trees in deserts is that __________.
| A．it can make groundwater become less |
| B．it can prevent the sand moving freely |
| C．it can stop crops growing well |
| D．it can get the soil to become poor |
Why did Mr. Lu NOT accept the idea of relocation?
| A．Because the plan of relocation will cost him much money. |
| B．Because his family had trouble moving away. |
| C．Because he was reluctant to give up his land. |
| D．Because he would rather stay than fight against the deserts. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The deserts drive more and more people to leave their homes for their lives. |
| B．People have no means to fight against the land becoming desert. |
| C．Water is the biggest barrier for people to stop the desert. |
| D．Planting trees cannot solve the problem of desertification of farmland. |
What advice is given by experts to save water?
| A．To plant more trees. |
| B．To build greenhouses. |
| C．To change crops. |
| D．To use drip irrigation. |
Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at the age of 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV. He appeared in more than 800 commercials for the hamburger chain named for his daughter. “As long as it works”, he said in 1991, “I’ll continue to do those commercials.”
Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood. “He still won’t let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper fitting shoes,” Wendy said in 1993. Born to a single mother, he was adopted as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan. After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work. “He fed me,” Thomas said, “and if I got out of line, he’d beat me.”
Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants. But he had something much better in mind. “I thought if I owned a restaurant,” he said, “I could eat for free.” A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968.
In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers. With 6,000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes $ 6 billion a year in sales. Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children. He started the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in 1992.
In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida. He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party. The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed.
“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave,” says friend Pat Williams. “He wasn’t a great actor or a great speaker .He was just Joe Everybody.”What is the article mainly about?
| A．The life of Dave Thomas. |
| B．The dream of Dave Thomas. |
| C．The schooling of Dave Thomas. |
| D．The growth of Dave Thomas’s business. |
What do we know about his childhood?
| A．He lived a poor life. |
| B．He had caring parents. |
| C．He stayed in one place. |
| D．He didn’t go to school. |
Choose the right time order of the following events in Thomas’s life.
a. graduated from high school
b. started his own business
c. became a millionaire
d. started a foundation
e. met Harland Sanders
| A．e, b, c, d, a | B．a, e, c, b, d |
| C．e, c, b, d, a | D．a, e, b, c, d |
“He was just Joe Everybody” (in the last paragraph) means_________.
| A．Dave was famous |
| B．Dave was shy |
| C．Dave was showy |
| D．Dave was ordinary |
阅读理解。阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
The Colonel（上校） asked Ashenden a good many questions and then suggested that he had particular qualifications for the Secret Service. Ashenden knew several European languages and the fact that he was a writer provided excellent cover: on the pretext（借口） that he was writing a book he could, without attracting attention, visit any neutral country.
It was while they were discussing this point that the Colonel said, "You know you might get material that would be very useful to you in your work. I'll tell you an incident that occurred only recently. Very dramatic. A foreign government minister went down to a Mediterranean resort to recover from a cold and he had some very important documents with him that he kept in a dispatch case（公文箱）. A day or two after he arrived, he picked up a beautiful blonde at some restaurant or other, and he got very friendly with her. He took her back to his hotel, and when he came to himself in the morning, the lady and the dispatch-case had disappeared. They had one or two drinks up in his room and his theory is that when his back was turned the woman slipped a drug in his glass.
"Do you mean to say that happened the other day?" said Ashenden.
"The week before last."
"Impossible," cried Ashenden. "Why! We've been putting that incident on the stage for sixty years, we've written it in a thousand novels. Do you mean to say that life has only just caught up with us?"
"Well, I can guarantee the truth of the story." said the Colonel, "And believe me, the government has been put to no end of trouble by the loss of the documents."
"Well sir, if you can't do better than that in the Secret Service," sighed Ashenden, " I'm afraid that as a source of inspiration to the writer of fiction, it's washout（失败）."How did the Colonel suggest that Ashenden's being a writer would relate to his work as a spy?
| A．It would make traveling abroad more possible. |
| B．It would make it easier for him to meet people. |
| C．It would enable him to avoid arousing suspicion. |
| D．It would enable him to use the languages he knew. |
The reason for the Minister's trip was ________ .
| A．to fetch some documents |
| B．to get over an illness |
| C．to meet a spy |
| D．to deliver some papers |
According to the Colonel the incident happened _______.
| A．a few days before |
| B．a few weeks before |
| C．two weeks before |
| D．sixty years before |
Ashenden cried 'Impossible' after hearing the Colonel's story because he thought ______ .
| A．it was so stupid |
| B．it was too close to fiction |
| C．it was too embarrassing |
| D．it was too recent |
No matter who you are or where you come from, one thing is certain: you are familiar to the mosquito, although you probably wish you weren't. Mosquitoes are everywhere. They can be found all over the world, and they come in more than 2,500 species(种). Somewhere, at some time, you have surely met at least one.
No one loves the mosquito. But unfortunately, the mosquito may decide who she loves. She? Yes, she. Do you know that only the female mosquito bites? Well, it's true. And it's not because she is unfriendly; she needs blood to reproduce. Do you know how the female mosquito decides whom to bite? She is quite selective, and she chooses her victims(猎物) carefully. First, she uses sensors to find her victim. These sensors are located on her two antennae(触角)and her three pairs of legs. With these sensors, she tests your body moisture, body warmth, and chemical substances in your sweat. If she likes what she finds, she bites. But if you are not attractive, she'll reject you for another one. The next time a mosquito bites you, just remember that you are chosen. You are special.
If the mosquito likes you, she settles onto your flesh very gently, and she breaks your skin with her long nose tip. Long nose tip? What's that? It's a kind of mouth and it sticks out just below the mosquito's eyes. It contains six sharp instruments called styles. She thrusts all six styles into your skin at once, and if she hits a blood pipe, she'll get a full dinner in about a minute. All this usually takes place so quickly and quietly that you may not have doubted anything is happening.
Why does a mosquito bite itch（痒)? The itch is not really from the bite. lt's from the saliva(口水) the mosquito mixes with your blood to keep it from being blocked as she sucks up her long nose tip. By the time the itch begins, she has gone.
And then what happens? Well after her delicious dinner, the mosquito is tired. She just wants to find a place to rest. Heavy with your blood, she picks a spot on a leaf, a wall or a stone to quietly lay her eggs. Just one drop of blood will produce hundreds of eggs.The female mosquito looks for you because she ______.
| A．is thirsty for your blood |
| B．needs blood to reproduce |
| C．loses her heart to you |
| D．feels hungry at the time |
Only when _______does she do biting.
| A．she locates these sensors on her two antennae |
| B．she finds the weather is fine |
| C．she finds body moisture, body warmth and chemical substances |
| D．she finds what she likes |
It is _______that makes you itch.
| A．your blood | B．her bite |
| C．her suck | D．her saliva |
Maggie was very glad that James was not a frequent visitor to the house. In the children’s opinion, they had something that they couldn’t explain or understand about him and that excited their imagination. He stirred(激起) Maggie’s anger, however, so that she often said to her husband. “It’s mercy that brother of yours doesn’t come oftener.”
In fact James came once a year, unexpectedly, around eight o’clock in the evening, and he stayed for six hours of close discussion with his brother. His arrival was a signal to the children that their bedtime would be delayed. Not that he ever spoke to them or played with them. He took no notice of them, as if he was unable to see children, at least until the time came for him to go. Indeed, after his first greeting and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, “You’ll be getting on with the supper, Maggie”. Such was his regard for her.
Maggie paid him back in her own way. She kept the children up, the four of them, to keep her company, she said, but of course they sang and made a noise and broke the endless sound of James’ voice. Very late, they dropped off to sleep in their chairs. Then, when James was about to go, Maggie woke them up and so more or less forced him to part with four shillings before he left. That gave her some satisfaction, for James, though rich, was unwilling to give or share what he had. He always went home by the last train, just after two o’clock.
Maggie’s children secretly stared at their uncle. They could not forget that he had in their mother’s words, “lost two wives and taken a third”. They wondered about those two unfortunate, lost ladies. They asked each other what their fate(命运) had been, and if neither could ever be found again. James never brought his third wife with him nor ever mentioned her. The children decided that he must be so frightened of losing her that he never allowed her outside the door.Maggie never prepared anything special for James because ________.
| A．he was a man difficult to please |
| B．she never knew when he was coming |
| C．she was too busy looking after her children |
| D．he never stayed long enough for a meal |
What do we know about Jame’s behavior?
| A．He was a kind man, with love for the family. |
| B．He was unselfish, especially towards his brother. |
| C．He was anxious to please the family, especially the children. |
| D．He was rude to his sister-in-law. |
Maggie felt pleased when ________.
| A．she paid James the money that she owed him |
| B．James gave some money to the children |
| C．she had to wake James up to catch his train |
| D．James thanked her for the nice supper |
The children did not realize that two of James’ wives ________.
| A．were dead |
| B．suffered from loss of memory |
| C．had run away from him |
| D．might reappear one day |