The tradition of birthday parties started a long time ago. There are some traditions that you can find almost anywhere, anytime, such as sending birthday cards, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake and singing the 'Happy Birthday' song. Others are only found for certain ages and in certain countries.
In China, on a child's second birthday, family members put many things on the floor around the child. According to Chinese tradition, the first thing that the child picks up tells you what profession(职业) the child will choose later in life.
For Japanese children, the third, fifth and seventh birthdays are especially important. At this age, there is a special celebration Shichi-Go-San (seven, five, three in Japanese) when children go to the temple wearing a new kimono (和服). The priest (僧侣) gives them special sweets, and the parents usually organize a party for their friends in their home.
In Argentina, Mexico and several other Latin American countries, girls have a special birthday celebration when they reach the age of fifteen. After a special ceremony (仪式), the girls dance a waltz with their father and other boys.
Eighteen is the traditional “coming of age”— the age when (in many countries) you have the right to vote (选举), join the army and (in Britain) drink alcohol or buy a house.
In many English-speaking countries, a twenty-first birthday cake often has a key on top, or the cake itself is sometimes in the shape of a key. The key means that the young person is now old enough to leave and enter the family home at any time they want to! Which of the following birthday traditions can be found almost anywhere, anytime?
| A．Putting many things on the floor. |
| B．Wearing a new kimono. |
| C．Dancing a waltz. |
| D．Sending birthday cards. |
In many countries you can ________ when you reach the age of eighteen.
| A．join the army |
| B．have a key |
| C．have a special ceremony |
| D．have special sweets |
Which of the following sentences is NOT true?
| A．The tradition of birthday parties started a long time ago. |
| B．Some birthday traditions are only found in certain countries. |
| C．You become the owner of your house at the age of fifteen. |
| D．In many countries you have the right to vote at the age of eighteen. |
Which is the best title of this passage?
| A．Birthday Traditions around the World |
| B．Chinese Birthday Celebrations |
| C．Japanese Special Celebration |
| D．The Drinking Age in Many Countries |
Audrey Hepburn (奥黛丽·赫本) won an Academy Award as Best Actress for her first
major American movie, Roman Holiday, which was released in 1953. But she is remembered as much for her aid work as for her acting.
Born in Belgium in 1929, Audrey’s father was British and her mother was Dutch. Audrey was sent to live at a British school for part of her childhood. During World War II, she lived and studied in the Netherlands. Her mother thought it would be safe from Gerrnan attacks. Audrey studied dance as a teenager and during college when she returned to London after the war. But she realized she wasn’t going to be a ballerina(芭蕾舞女演员). So she began taking acting parts in stage shows. Later she began to get small parts in movies.
But it was Audrey Hepburn’s move to America that brought her true fame. In 1951 she played the character“Gigi”in the Broadway play of the same name to great critica1 praise. Two years later, Roman Holiday made her a star at the age of 24.
Audrey made more than 25 movies. Among her most popular roles was Holly Golightly in Breakftist at Tiff any’s in 1961. Three years later she played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.
She was married two times and had one son by each husband. In 1989, the UN Chi1dren’s Fund named Audrey a goodwill ambassador. She travelled all over the world in support of UNICEF(联合国儿童基金会)projects. The UN agency said she was a tireless worker. She often gave 15 interviews a day to gain money and support for UNICEF projects.
Audrey Hepburn often said her loyalty to UNICEF was the result of her experiences as a child during World War Ⅱ. She said she knew what it was like to be starving and to be saved by international aid. She was a goodwill ambassador until her death in 1993 from colon cancer.In Paragraph 1,“her aid work”means.
| A．winning an Academy Award as Best Actress |
| B．taking acting parts in stage shows |
| C．making her own movies |
| D．acting as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF |
The reason why Audrey lived and studied in the Netherlands was that.
| A．she wanted to be a ballerina |
| B．her parents were from Britain |
| C．it was safe there |
| D．the education there was excellent |
We can infer from the passage that.
| A．Audrey’s parents lived in Germany during World War Ⅱ |
| B．Audrey lived in America in the 1950s |
| C．Audrey was made to give up dancing |
| D．the character“Gigi”in the Broadway play was her most popular role |
is NOT mentioned in the passage about Audrey Hepburn.
| A．Marriage | B．Identity | C．Contribution | D．Religion |
is the right order for Audrey’s life.
①The first time she began to play in movies.
②She returned to London from the Netherlands.
③She won an Academy Award as Best Actress.
④She travelled all over the wor1d in support of UNlCEF projects.
⑤She played a part in My Fair Lady.
| A．②①③⑤④ | B．①②③⑤④ | C．②①⑤③④ | D．①②⑤③④ |
Linda Evans was my best friend—like the sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming, horseback riding.
When I was 13, my fami1y moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special times—like my wedding and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped“Address Unknown”. I had no idea about how to find Linda.
Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill.
One day, I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman—Linda’s married name.“There must be thousands of Wagmans.”I thought, but I still wrote to her.
She called as soon as she got my letter.“Mrs. Tobin!”she said excitedly,“Linda Evans Wagman is my mother.”
Minutes later I heard a voice that I recognized at once, even after 40 years. We laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is fil1ed. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again!The writer went to piano lessons with Linda Evans.
| A．at the age of 13 |
| B．before she got married |
| C．before the writer’s family moved away |
| D．after they moved to new homes |
They didn’t often write to each other because they.
| A．got married |
| B．had little time to do so |
| C．didn’t like writing letters |
| D．could see each other on special times |
There was an empty place in the writer’s heart because she.
| A．was in trouble |
| B．didn’t know Linda’s address |
| C．received the card that she sent |
| D．didn’t have a friend like Linda |
The writer was happy when she.
| A．read the newspaper |
| B．heard Linda’s voice on the phone |
| C．met a young woman who looked a lot like Linda |
| D．wrote to the woman whose 1ast name was Wagman |
They haven’t kept in touch.
| A．for about 40 years |
| B．for about 27 years |
| C．since they got married |
| D．since the writer’s family moved away |
Each time I see a balloon, my mind flies back to a memory of when I was a six-year-old girl. It was a rainy
Sunday and my father had recently died. I asked my mom if Dad had gone to heaven. "Yes, honey. Of course." she said.
"Can we write him a letter?"
She paused, the longest pause of my short life, and answered, "Yes."
My heart jumped. "How? Does the mailman go there?" I asked.
"No, but I have an idea." Mom drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon. I asked her what it was for.
"Just wait, honey. You'll see." Mom told me to write my letter. Eagerly, I got my favorite pen, and poured out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink. I wrote about my day, what I learned at school, how Mom was doing, and even about what happened in a story I had read. For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still alive. I gave the letter to Mom. She read it over, and a smile crossed her face.
She made a hole in the corner of the letter where she looped the balloon string. We went outside and she gave me the balloon. It was still raining.
"Okay, on the count of three, let go. One, two, three."
The balloon, carrying my letter, darted upward against the rain. We watched until it was swallowed by the mass of clouds.
Later I realized, like the balloon, that Dad had never let his sickness get him down. He was strong. No matter what he suffered, he'd persevere, dart up, and finally transcend this cold world and his sick body. He rose into sky and became something beautiful. I watched until the balloon disappeared into the gray and white and I prayed that his strength was hereditary. I prayed to be a balloon.When the girl asked her mother if they could write to her father, her mother _________.
| A．felt it hard to answer | B．thought her a creative girl |
| C．believed it easy to do so | D．found it easy to lie |
When the girl was told that she could send a letter to her father, she _________.
| A．jumped with joy |
| B．became excited |
| C．started writing immediately |
| D．was worried that it couldn't be delivered |
In the eyes of the author, what was the rain like?
| A．An incurable disease. |
| B．An unforgettable memory. |
| C．The hard time her father had. |
| D．The failures her father experienced. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．An unforgettable experience | B．The strong red balloon |
| C．Fly to paradise | D．A great father |
C
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure--and so soon--that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead--take me away” when it is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead---take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.What is the function of the first paragraph?
| A．Leading the following paragraphs. |
| B．Showing the main idea of the passage. |
| C．Introducing the background of the passage. |
| D．Giving a summary of the passage. |
Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
| A．is weaker than | B．is stronger than | C．is better than | D．is worse than |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving. |
| B．When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical. |
| C．A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical. |
| D．Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other. |
Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
| A．Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places. |
| B．Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants. |
| C．Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior，and then did some tests to prove his theory. |
| D．Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own. |
New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now a “global village” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly increased by foreign language skills.
Deeply involved with this new technology is a kind of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.
Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to manage back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more common.
Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.
English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn’t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.
The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’s language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign customers over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople ________.
| A．are eager to work overseas |
| B．have to get familiar with modern technology |
| C．are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations |
| D．are attaching more importance to their overseas business |
In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind” (Line 3, Para. 3) probably means ________.
| A．leaving all care and worry behind |
| B．being unable to think properly for lack of insight |
| C．being totally out of touch with business at home |
| D．missing opportunities for promotion when abroad |
According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporations in employing people today?
| A．Ability to speak the customer’s language. |
| B．Connections with businesses overseas. |
| C．Technical know-how. |
| D．Business experience. |
The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can ________.
| A．fast-forward their proposals to headquarters |
| B．better control the whole negotiation process |
| C．easily make friends with businesspeople abroad |
| D．easily find new approaches to meet market needs |