Americans with small families own a small car or a large one. If both parents are working, they usually have two cars. When the family is large, one of the cars is sold and they will buy a van(住房汽车)
A small car can hold(容纳)four persons and a large car can hold six persons but it is very crowded(拥挤). A van hold seven persons easily, so a family three children could ask their grandparents to go on a holiday travel. They could all travel together.
Mr. Hagen and his wife had a third child last year. This made them sell a second car and buy a van. Their children sixth and seventh seat are used to put other things, for a family of five must carry many suitcases(衣箱)when they travel. When they arrive at their grandparents’ home , the suitcases are brought into the two seats can then carry the grandparents.
Americans call vans motor homes. A motor home is always used for holidays. When a family are traveling to the mountains or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or weeks. All the members of a big family can enjoy a happier life when they are traveling together. That is why motor homes have become very popular. In America there are many parks for motor homes.From the passage, a van is also called ____________.
| A．a motor car | B．a motor home | C．a motorbike | D．a big truck |
Before Mr. Hagen and his wife bought a van, they__________.
| A．sold their old house |
| B．moved to their grandparents’ house |
| C．built a new place for a van |
| D．sold their second car |
A motor home is usually owned by a family with__________.
| A．a baby | B．much money |
| C．more than two children | D．interest in vans |
Americans usually use motor homes____________.
| A．to travel with all the family members of holiday |
| B．to do some shopping with all the family members |
| C．to visit their grandparents at weekends |
| D．to drive their children to school every day |
Motor homes have become popular because___________.
| A．they can take people to another city when people are free |
| B．they can let families have a happier life when they go out for their holidays |
| C．some people think motor homes are cheap |
| D．big families can put more things in motor homes |
Can you imagine living in a house built by recycled waste?
Texas home builder Dan Phillips transforms trash into artful treasures, creating beautiful floors with wood pieces, kitchen counters from ivory -colored bones and roofs out of license plates （牌照）．
The fantastic houses which spring from his imagination are made almost entirely of materials which would otherwise have ended up in a garbage area．
" People have been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years; using whatever is available to build shelter, " Phillips said．"If you think about carefully what could be used, then building materials are everywhere．
The thirteen homes he has built so far would fit better in an art museum than the residential streets of Huntsville, a conservative town of about 35 ,000 people．
Living in these houses is a bit like living in a roadside attraction．"Almost every day, somebody knocks on the door and says ' Is there any way that we could see?' "said Edie Wells, an artist who rents a room in the Bone House．Her home features a stairway made of bones, floors covered in wine corks （软木塞） and beer bottle caps．Wells said visitors are most impressed when they see a bathroom with its walls, floor and ceiling entirely covered with broken mirror pieces．
In addition, each house is highly energy efficient with plenty insulation （隔热材料） , an on-demand solar hot water heater and a system that can collect and recycle rainwater to clean the toilet and wash clothes．
Phillips founded Phoenix Commotion 12 years ago with the aim of creating a new model for sustainable housing．For as little as $ 10,000 it builds affordable homes for single parents, low-income families and artists．
The company has used hundreds of tons of construction waste by recycling the materials into habitable buildings．
Phillips tries to spread his recycled-house idea by speaking at events across the United States, and by using the Internet to reach out to like-minded individuals．Phillips said: "I'm not going to be saving the world anytime soon．But there needs to be at least some visibility for this model in this century．Which of the following is NOT the advantage of the homes built by Phillips?
| A．environmentally-friendly | B．energy efficient |
| C．convenient | D．cheap |
What do we know about Dan Phillips?
| A．He is serious and hard-working． |
| B．He is full of imagination and intelligence． |
| C．It didn't take him long to build the houses． |
| D．He didn't give speeches in the United States． |
According to the passage, the houses are like artful treasures because they are.
| A．made of bones | B．museums |
| C．admired by people | D．made of various trash |
Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Home Builder Dan Phillips |
| B．Green Homes |
| C．Home Builder Dan Phillips Tunis Trash into Green Homes |
| D．A Home Builder' s Life |
Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house．In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out of the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went．
He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, a crocodile was swimming toward him．His mother in the house was looking out of the window and saw the two．In great fear, she ran toward the water, shouting to her son as loudly as she could．Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother．It was too late．Just as he reached her, the crocodile reached him．From the shore, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the crocodile snatched his legs．That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two．The crocodile was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go．A farmer happened to drive by, heard their screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the crocodile．
Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived．His legs were extremely scarred by the attack of the animal．And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved．
The newspaper reporter, who interviewed the boy, asked if he would show him his scars．The boy lifted his legs．And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms．I have great scars on my arms, too．I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go．”
Never judge another person’s scars, because you don’t know how they were made．By saying “But look at my arms．I have great scars on my arms, too” in paragraph 4,the boy really wants to show__________．
| A．how deep the scars made by the crocodile were |
| B．what a brave and courageous boy he was |
| C．how many scars and scratches he had |
| D．how great and beloved his mother was |
Hearing Mother’s shouts, the boy______．
| A．remained in the middle at a loss |
| B．didn’t stop swimming forwards |
| C．swam back towards the shore |
| D．was ready to fight the crocodile |
Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
| A．A crocodile attacked him when the boy and his mother were swimming． |
| B．The crocodile bit the arms of the boy when it reached him． |
| C．There is always an interesting story behind every scar． |
| D．It was the farmer who shot the crocodile． |
Which of the following will be the best title for the text?
| A．Scars of Love | B．Women Hold up Half the Sky |
| C．A Terrible Experience | D．Don’t Judge by Appearances |
What’s your idea of a good time? What about dancing in a rainy field with one hundred and fifty thousand other people while a famous rock band plays on a stage so far away that the performers look like ants?
It may sound strange but that is what many hundreds of thousands of young people in the UK do every summer．Why? Because summer is the time for outdoor music festivals．
Held on a farm, the Glastonbury Festival is the most well-known and popular festival in the UK．It began in 1970 and the first festival was attended by one thousand five hundred people each paying an admission price of ￡1 — the ticket included free milk from the farm．
Since then the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength — in 2004 one hundred and fifty thousand fans attended, paying ￡112 each for a ticket to the three-day event．Tickets for the event sold out within three hours．Performers included superstars, such as Paul McCartney and James Brown, as well as new talent, like Franz Ferdinand and Joss Stone．
Although many summer festivals are run on a profit-making basis, Glastonbury is a charity event, donating millions of pounds to local and international charities．
Glastonbury is not unique(独特的) in using live music to raise money to fight global poverty．In July of this year, the Live 8 concerts were held simultaneously （同时） in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin．Superstars such as Madonna, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder performed in order to highlight international poverty and debt． What does the author mean by saying “the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength”?
| A．The festival has achieved growing success． |
| B．Great efforts have been made to hold the festival． |
| C．The festival has brought in a large amount of money． |
| D．There have been thousands of fans attending the festival． |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The Glastonbury Festival is run on a profit-making basis． |
| B．Tickets for the 2004 Glastonbury Festival were in great demand despite the high price． |
| C．Both James Brown and Joss Stone were born in poor families． |
| D．In the 1970 Glastonbury Festival, one could have lunch on the farm for free． |
We can learn from the last paragraph that _____．
| A．the Glastonbury Festival is not so popular as the Live 8 concerts |
| B．the Live 8 concerts are held every year in London |
| C．London, Paris, Rome and Berlin are famous for outdoor music festivals |
| D．some superstars are concerned about global poverty |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．How to have a good time |
| B．Charity events around the world |
| C．The Glastonbury Festival |
| D．Superstars’ performances in charity events |
I sat at my seat waiting for the school paper to be passed around. I waited anxiously, knowing that once I received it I would know how good a writer I really am.
When the paper arrived at my classroom, I nearly knocked down five of my classmates to get to the first paper. With a school paper in my hands, I returned to my seat. About a month earlier, I had handed in one of, what I believed to be, my best stories. I named it Symbol of Success. The head of the English Department at my school, Professor Cullen had said that she would include some reviews of students’ stories in the latest school paper. Professor Cullen was known for her rough criticism. Impressing her was very hard but I wanted to be the first to do so.
I sat at the edge of my seat as I read through the other story reviews. There wasn’t one story that got more than three stars .I became calm and wasn’t anxious to know my review. It was long after that I heard someone shout out “Five stars?! Seriously !” from behind me. I turned around and saw the shocked expression of Gene’s face, “Peter, your story got five stars!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I turned my attention back to my story and saw the five stars at the end of the review that I had not read yet. I looked through the review written by Professor Cullen. She wrote that I had a gift for story writing.
I was proud that I achieved what I thought was impossible .For so long I believed I wasn’t as good as I thought I was and that my talent was not enough to cover up my lack of wring skills .But this review proved that I was truly a good writer and that there was a future ahead of me in the field of fiction writing. The review and the five stars meant the world of me. Those five stars became the symbol of my success.How did the writer get the school paper?
| A．His teacher gave it to him first |
| B．The publisher sent it to him first |
| C．His friend helped him get the first one. |
| D．He rushed ahead to get the first one by himself. |
What can we learn about Professor Cullen?
| A．She was very gentle to everyone |
| B．She seldom praised her students. |
| C．She was very cold to her students. |
| D．She was respected by her students. |
We can learn from this text that Peter_______.
| A．had thought his story was better than those of others |
| B．was always anxious to know the review about him |
| C．didn’t know he got five stars until others told him |
| D．looked through a few stories that had got four stars |
What did Professor Cullen think of Peter’s story?
| A．She thought highly of it |
| B．She thought it was just so-so |
| C．She thought it was extremely bad |
| D．She doubted if it was written by him. |
Why did the review and the five stars mean the world to Peter?
| A．Because they helped him learn writing skills |
| B．Because they made him happy for some time |
| C．Because they helped him enter a key university |
| D．Because they made him see his writing talents. |
One of the most difficult problems a young person faces is deciding what to do. Some people, however, from the time they are six years old “know” that they want to be doctors or teachers or firefighters, but most of us do not get around to making a decision about a job until someone or something forces us to face the problem.
Choosing a job takes time, and there are a lot of things you have to think about as you try to decide what you would like to do. You may find that you will have to take special courses for a particular kind of work, or you may find out that you will need to get enough knowledge for a particular job.
Fortunately, there are a lot of people you can turn to for advice and help in making your decision. At most schools, there are teachers to give you information about jobs. And you can talk over your ideas with family members and friends who are always ready to listen and to offer suggestions.In the third paragraph “turn to” means ______.
| A．turn your face around |
| B．change into |
| C．go to someone for help |
| D．give advice |
The best title of this passage is ______.
| A．Getting a Job |
| B．Kind People to Help You |
| C．Choosing a job |
| D．Difficulties Facing Young People |
The passage tells you that ______ for a particular job.
| A．you should have ideas when you are a child |
| B．it’s impossible for you to get enough knowledge |
| C．you have to face the problem |
| D．you may enter a class to study |
Making a decision about choosing your job ______.
| A．needs friends | B．needs time | C．cost money | D．cost your ability |