Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis Cricket — anything with a round ball, I was useless." he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits (成就). Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future. Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. "John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ’You are completely crazy,’" Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter (遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.The turning point in Saunders’ life came when ________.
| A．he started to play ball games |
| B．he got a mountain bike at age 15 |
| C．he ran his first marathon at age 18 |
| D．he started to receive Ridgway’s training |
We can learn from the text that Ridgway ________.
| A．dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy |
| B．built up his body together with Saunders |
| C．hired Saunders for his cold-water experience |
| D．won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic |
What do we know about Saunders?
| A．He once worked at a school in Scotland. |
| B．He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole. |
| C．He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid. |
| D．He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole. |
The underlined word "Intrigued" in the third paragraph probably means ________.
| A．Excited | B．Convinced | C．Delighted | D．Fascinated |
It can be inferred that Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ________.
| A．was accompanied by his old playmates |
| B．set a record in the North Pole expedition |
| C．was supported by other Arctic explorers |
| D．made him well-known in the 1960s |
Close contacts between Japan and the rest of the world were created in the twentieth century. In the last forty years, business contacts between Japan and the West have become very important. Many foreign companies now have offices in Japan and Japanese businessmen do business around the world. Differences between Japanese and Western ways of doing business, however, often bewilder foreign businessmen and make doing business in Japan difficult for foreigners.
The American businessman, for example, wants to start talking business immediately. He does not want to wait. The Japanese businessman， on the other hand， likes to arrive at decisions after giving them serious thought. Another thing foreign businessmen have difficulty in understanding is when a Japanese means “Yes” or “No”. This is because of cultural differences between Japanese and Western society(社会)， Which make it difficult for a Japanese to say “No” directly.
In the USA， it is easy to say “No” to something one does not want to do. But in Japan， it is very difficult to say “No”. To refuse an invitation or a request(请求) with “No” is felt to be impolite. It is thought to be selfish and unfriendly. So instead of saying “No” directly， the Japanese have developed many ways to avoid(避免) saying “No”. These can help them avoid hurting other people’s feelings. However， this often makes their ways of doing business rather difficult for foreigners to understand and follow.What often makes foreigners feel difficult to do business in Japan?
| A．Their different ways of doing business. |
| B．Their different lifestyles. |
| C．The fact that the Japanese never say “No”. |
| D．The fact that the Japanese are slow to take action. |
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined expression “bewilder foreign businessmen” in Paragraph One?
| A．cause foreign businessmen to change their minds. |
| B．give a feeling of surprise to foreign businessmen. |
| C．attract foreign businessmen’s attention. |
| D．make foreign businessmen think wrongly. |
What fact does the passage lead you to believe?
| A．American businessmen do things more slowly than Japanese ones. |
| B．American businessmen like to say “Yes” and “No”. |
| C．Americans usually say what they are thinking. |
| D．Americans do not say what they think or feel clearly. |
From the passage we can infer(推断) that __________.
| A．Japanese businessmen are good at business |
| B．foreign businessmen should try to know Japanese ways of doing business |
| C．foreign businessmen must be more polite |
| D．you must learn from Japanese businessmen if you want to succeed |
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon. They don’t feel hurt. If the same two people meet again, even years later, they pick up the friendship .This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand .Friendships between us develop more slowly but may become lifelong feelings, extending（延伸）deeply into both families.
There is another difficult point for us to understand .Although Americans treat friends warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to them if it requires a great deal of time. But in China ,we are usually generous with our time. We, as hosts, will appear at an airport even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take a day off from our work to act as guides to our friends : It is opposite in America ,Americans can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily plans. They will probably expect the visitors to get themselves from the airport to the hotels. And they expect the visitors will phone them from there. Once the visitors arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full ,warm and real.
For Americans , it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to restaurants, except for business matters. Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. So accept their hospitality（好客）at home and enjoy your visit in America!The underlined phrase “pick up” in Paragraph 1may mean “_______”.
| A．keep out | B．give up | C．pay no attention to | D．continue |
Which of the following is the typical（典型的）way of American hospitality?
| A．Treating friends at home. |
| B．Taking days off to be with friends. |
| C．Meeting friends at the airport at midnight. |
| D．Sharing everything they have. |
Which of the following statements in True according to the passage?
| A．Americans are always generous with their time. |
| B．Americans don’t feel hurt if their friendships disappear soon. |
| C．Chinese friendships develop more slowly but will never disappear. |
| D．Chinese friendships are more sincere than American friendships. |
There are over 800 boarding (寄宿) schools in the UK with students from home and foreign countries. Boarding schools started hundreds of years ago in the country. But the earliest boarding schools were set up for white, rich boys only. Now both boys and girls can go to boarding schools from the age of 7 to 18.
What to do
In the UK, boarding schools have three terms in a school year, with about 13 weeks in each term. Students study and live together. They can’t go outside if they are not allowed to. In some schools, each student has his or her subject plan. Besides the usual classrooms and laboratories, the boarding schools have lots of other facilities for their students, including music rooms, boats, swimming pools, cinemas and theatres. Most boarding schools have a “light out” time. So when it’s time to go to bed, all the lights in the bedrooms are turned off. There are house-masters to take care of students all the time, especially after school hours.
What to wear
Nearly all students at boarding schools wear a school uniform. Boys usually wear a shirt and a tie, and girls wear a white blouse, sometimes also a tie and a skirt. As students get older, the rules become less strict.
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In the UK, boarding schools provide students with delicious food. They can choose to have a full English breakfast or simply bread. They can also choose between a meal with no meat and another meal at lunch and dinner. And there is always self-service for salad (沙拉), other side dishes and a dessert. Students can also make themselves something to eat at any time in a kitchen, or drink tea or have a snack between meals.Which of the following is TRUE according to (根据) the passage?
| A．Only white children were allowed to attend the earliest boarding schools. |
| B．Students in a boarding school are looked after only after school hours. |
| C．As students get older, the rules about wearing school uniforms become stricter. |
| D．Students can have different activities in a boarding school. |
Which is the best title for the last paragraph?
| A．What to eat | B．When to eat | C．Where to eat | D．How to eat |
The underlined word ‘facilities’ means _____________.
| A．教师 | B．设施 | C．活动 | D．课程 |
Britain Today
Food
British people like good food, and more than half of them go to a restaurant every month . Fast food is also very popular— 30% of all adults have a hamburger every three months, but 46% have fish and chips!
Cinema and TV
Films are very popular in Britain, and about 60% of people between 15 and 24 go to the cinema every month. At home, men watch TV for about three hours every day — two hours more than women.
Holidays
British people love going on holiday, and have 56 holidays every year. Most of these holidays aren't in the UK—27% are in Spain,10% are in the USA, and 9% are in France , 15% are in China. Maybe this is because the weather in Britain isn't very good! Which food could be more popular among British adults, a hamburger or fish and chips?
| A．A hamburger. | B．Fish and chips. | C．Both. | D．Neither. |
How long do British women spend watching TV every day?
| A．Three hours. | B．Four hours | C．Two hours | D．One hour |
Among the following countries , British people's least favorite country for a holiday is ____.
| A．Spain | B．France | C．America | D．China |
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real，yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two，perhaps a few letters for a while— then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance，even years later，they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand，because friendships between us develop more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings，extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes，share their holidays，and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives，they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes，we，as hosts，will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans，however，express their welcome usually at homes，but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes，the welcome will be full，warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans，it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants，except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend，we will probably be ______.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport |
| B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home |
| D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
| A．strict with time | B．willing to spend time |
| C．careful with time | D．serious with time |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
| A．Friendships between Chinese |
| B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’hospitality |
| D．Americans’and Chinese’s views of friendships |