We all remember seeing hitchhikers, standing by the side of the road, thumb, sticking out, waiting for a lift. But it is getting rare nowadays. What killed hitchhiking? Safety is often mentioned as a reason. Movies about murderous hitchhikers and real-life crime have put many drivers off picking up hitchhikers. That no single women picked me up on my journey to Manchester no doubt reflects the safety fear: a large, strangely dressed man is seen as dangerous.
But the reason may be more complex: hitchhiking happens where people don’t have cars and transport services are poor. Plenty of people still hitchhike in Poland and Romania. Perhaps the rising level of car ownership in the UK means the few people lift hitchhiking are usually considered strange. Why can’t they afford cars? Why can’t they take the coach or the train?
Three-quarters of the UK population have access to a car; many of the remainder will be quite old. The potential hitchhiking population is therefore small. Yet my trip proves it’s still possible to hitchhike. The people who picks me up were very interesting-lawyer, retired surgeon, tank commander, carpenter, man who live in an isolated farmhouse and a couple living up in the mountains. My conclusion is that only really interesting people are mad enough to pick up fat blokes in red, spotted scarves. Most just wanted to do someone a good turn; a few said they were so surprised to see a hitchhiker that they couldn’t help stopping.
The future of hitchhiking most likely lies with car-sharing organized over the Internet, via sites such as hitchhikers. org. But for now, you can still stick your thumb out (actually, I didn’t do much of that, preferring just to hold up my destination sign) and people—wonderful, caring, sharing, unafraid people—will stop.
In the UK, with its cheap coaches and reasonable rail service, I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. But having enjoyed it so much, I’m ready now to do a big trip across Europe and beyond. In the 1970s a female friend of my wife’s hitchhiked to India. How wonderful it would be to have another go, though Afghanistan might be a challenge. I wish I’d got that tank commander’s mobile number.The author tried to hitchhike but was rejected by single women drivers because .
| A．they were not heading towards Manchester |
| B．they thought most hitchhikers were dangerous |
| C．hitchhiking had been banned and they didn’t want to break the law |
| D．he was a strong man in strange clothes who seemed dangerous |
Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
| A．Movies have discouraged people from hitchhiking |
| B．Car ownership levels are lower in Romania than in the UK. |
| C．25% of UK people don’t have access to cars. |
| D．Increased car ownership has reduced the need for hitchhiking. |
The “fat blokes in red, spotted scarves” in Paragraph 3 most likely means .
| A．murderous hitchhikers | B．friendly and talkative hitchhikers |
| C．typical hitchhikers | D．strange hitchhikers like the author |
According to the author, future hitchhikers are more likely to .
| A．visit websites and find people to share cars with |
| B．stand by roads with their thumbs sticking out |
| C．stick out signs with their destinations written on |
| D．wait for some kind people to pick them up |
From the last paragraph, we know that the author .
| A．frequently hitchhikes in Britain |
| B．plans to hitchhike across Europe |
| C．thinks public transport is safer for travel |
| D．is going to contact the tank commander |
In 1980，Candy Lightner’s 13-year-old daughter Cad was killed by a drunk driver as she walked down a suburban street in California. “I promised myself on the day of my daughter’s death that I would fight to make this needless accident count for something positive in the years ahead,” Candy Lightener later wrote.
The drunk driver received a two-year prison sentence. However, he avoided prison by serving time in a work camp and a halfway house. Ms. Lightner was very angry about that and so organized Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), which later changed to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The aim of her organization was to raise public awareness of the serious nature of drunk driving and to promote tough legislation against the crime.
Before Ms. Lightner’s MADD, intoxication (醉酒), including drunk driving, was not taken seriously. Intoxication was often used as an excuse for otherwise unacceptable behavior: “I didn’t know what I was doing—I was drunk.”
Candy Lightner appeared on major television shows, spoke before the US Congress, addressed professional and business, groups, and worked tirelessly for years to change public attitudes, change judicial(审判的) behaviour, and promote tough new legislation. Ms. Lightner left MADD because the organization that she herself created is changing its focus. “I didn’t start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving.”
The President of the United States awarded her the President’s Volunteer Action Award and she was the subject of the movie “Mothers Against Drunk Drivers: the Candy Lightner Story”.One of the purposes of MADD was to______ .
| A．make the public aware of the danger of drunk driving |
| B．fight against the drunk hit-and-run drivers on the road |
| C．make new laws against crimes caused by drinking |
| D．warn people not to drink alcohol while driving |
which way didn’t Ms. Lightner use to achieve her MADD’s goals?
| A．Talking on major TV shows. |
| B．Giving a talk to businessmen. |
| C．Applying for a job with the government. |
| D．Giving suggestions to the US Congress. |
We can learn from the passage that______.
| A．the drunk driver had not been caught |
| B．drunk driving didn’t receive enough attention before MADD |
| C．Candy Lightner played a leading role in a film |
| D．MADD didn’t get much support from society |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Ways to prevent drunk driving |
| B．Purposes of founding MADD |
| C．New law against drunk driving |
| D．Candy Lightner and her MADD |
Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy life.
Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.
Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.
Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. But mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.
Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs. A person who lives an unhappy life can be described as “_______”.
| A．becoming sick as a dog | B．leading a dog’s life |
| C．living in a dog-eat-dog world | D．Working like a dog |
The underlined word “mean” in Paragraph 4 most probably means “_______”.
| A．violent | B．selfish | C．wild | D．Poor |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Everyone can be successful if he learns from the old. |
| B．It might be difficult for the young to learn new skills. |
| C．Junkyard dogs are careful in money arrangement. |
| D．Fierce persons aren’t so awful as their appearance sometimes. |
To support his idea, the author develops the text mainly by _______.
| A．listing reasons | B．using idioms |
| C．giving examples | D．Making comparisons |
My interest in Chinese food started years a90, when l was a young reporter for the Washington Post. Our office wasn’t far from Chinatown, where I found some very good Chinese restaurants．
The first time I ever ate Chinese food I loved it. I noticed the fresh taste of the meat and vegetables. When I learned more about the food, I began to understand why it has this special feature.
Many years ago, China had an energy crisis because it lost much of its wood due to over population and poor management of its forests. This loss was very bad for the country, of course, but it turned out to be very good for the food. Wood became very expensive and hard to get，so the Chinese had to either find a substitute for their valuable wood，or learn how to use it better. There weren’t any substitutes so people found ways to economize.
In order to economize in cookin9, they had to use very little wood. So they started cutting their meat and vegetables into small pieces before they put them in the hot oil．That way，the food cooked faster and they saved their fuel. The food prepared in this way kept its fresh flavor一and it's this flavor that attracts people from other countries to the art of Chinese cooking. This text is mainly about________.
| A．what caused Chinese food to taste fresh |
| B．how Chinese food is cooked in the US |
| C．when the author started to make Chinese food |
| D．why most foreigners like cooking Chinese food |
The author mentioned the energy crisis to show________.
| A．it is important to protect the forests |
| B．it is necessary to find substitutes for wood |
| C．why the Chinese changed their way of cooking |
| D．what problems a big population is causing China today |
It can be inferred from the text that before the energy crisis Chinese food________.
| A．was cooked in rather large pieces |
| B．was cooked in water but not oil |
| C．didn’t taste good |
| D．didn’t look fresh |
Jerry Morris died on 28 October 2009. He was 99 years old. You have probably never heard of him. He was a professor of public health. More than 50 years ago he produced one of the most famous epidemiological (流行病学) papers of the 20th century.
His study showed that bus conductors were much less likely to die of heart disease than bus drivers. Why? Becausethe conductors spent their working day walking. It seems obvious now but in the middle of the last century doctors were puzzled by the rising numbers of people who got heart diseases. Jerry Morris found one of the main causes: asedentary (久坐不动的) lifestyle. He started exercising for a few minutes eachday and lived until his 100th year.
If you wish to protect your heart, you have to do more than wander in the garden. The exercise needs to be reasonable. Jogging is not for everyone and a round trip to the gym takes a couple of hours, plus the monthly membership fee is only good value if you visit regularly. Theanswer is simple: walk.
A half-hour purposeful walk five times a week will lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Older people sometimes feel they have left it too late. But it is never too late to start and there are no upper age limits. Start gently. Take your time: a15-minute flat walk in the nearest park, four or five times a week. Within a month or so, you are already beginning to protect your heart. Build the walks up. When you can comfortably walk for half an hour in the park, go further: try following rivers and canals.
Regular walkers have their own natural gymnasium. Thereis no membership fee, just some of the finest scenery in the world. Great Britain is the walker’s gym. Whenyou have followed the rivers and canals, and are enjoying walking for a couple of hours, head for the coast. Once again, build it up slowly. When you are comfortable with long coastal walks, you can think of our national parks.Jerry Morris is mentioned in the first paragraph mainly to __________.
| A．make his epidemiological message known to the public |
| B．praise his research into ways of improving public health |
| C．introduce the topic of doing exercise and keeping healthy |
| D．give an example of a person who lives a healthy and long life |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
| A．bus conductors are more likely to die of heart disease than bus drivers. |
| B．doctors in the 1950s knew why heart diseases kept happening to people. |
| C．walking is better than doing sports in a gym because it saves time and money. |
| D．British people love walking because they have free gymnasium with finest scenery. |
What suggestion does the writer give about walking?
| A．Parks are the best place for walking. |
| B．Starters should not push themselves too hard. |
| C．A two-quarter walk a day is suitable for starters. |
| D．People of old age might not be fit enough to start walking. |
What might be the best title for this passage?
| A．Long Life Comes from Walking |
| B．Walking Helps Cure Heart Disease |
| C．A Walk a Day Keeps the Doctors away |
| D．An Hour’s Walk in Nature is Worth Two in the Gym |
There is no question that fewer teenagers are on the roads in the US.
In 1978, 50% of 16-year-olds had got their first driving licence. In 2008, according to the US Transportation Department, it was just 30%. The number of those aged 19 and under with driving licences has also been declining since 1978, when 11, 989, 000 had licence. In 2010, it was 9, 932, 441, or 4.1% of American drivers.
In the UK, 683, 273 teenagers have driving licences- just 1.85% of total licence holders, according to Department of Transport figures from September 2010.
But the decline in the US may have more to do with tougher tests and the introduction of the new rule in many states, which force drivers aged under 16 to be with licensed drivers of 21 years and older when driving.
In recent years, the annual number of journeys being made by American drivers of all ages has declined clearly for the first time ever. Car use began falling in 2007, when average petrol prices almost doubled to $4.12 a gallon, and the economy became worse.
But there are signs that it is getting back to normal and American remains a country on wheels. It has a higher number of cars per head of population than any other country in the world.
“Cars will always be a popular means of transportation in America. You have to take into consideration some places don’t have access to public transportation. Cars are the only way some people can get around,” says Kristin Nevels. This makes driving necessary in some rural states, where about twice as many teenagers are on the road than in big cities. The underlined word “declining” in the second paragraph most probably means “__________”.
| A．rising | B．dropping | C．improving | D．holding |
In recent years cars are used less than before mainly because of __________.
| A．traffic jams | B．harder tests | C．expensive petrol | D．worst economy |
We can learn from the last paragraph that Kristin Nevels __________.
| A．doubts the popularity of the car use in the future. |
| B．thinks American people can not live without cars. |
| C．holds confident attitude to the cars’ future in America. |
| D．believes America should build up its public transportation. |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．The UK has more teenager drivers than the US. |
| B．A 15-year-old boy cannot drive alone in the US. |
| C．The US has very developed bus transportation system. |
| D．Big cities have more teenager drivers than rural areas in the US. |