Concern with money, and then more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modern life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are working harder than ever before in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappearing. Offices, shops, and factories are discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunch rooms. In almost all lines of work emphasis now falls on ever increasing output. Thus the “typical” Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of only a generation ago. He gains in creature comfort and ease of life. What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality.
Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the United States is a world symbol of the technological society and its consumer products. The so called Americanization of France has its critics. They fear that “assembly line life” will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French style. What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local café?
Since the late 1950s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable violence.
In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old.Which of the following is a feature of the old French way of life?
| A．Leisure, elegance, and efficiency |
| B．Elegance, efficiency, and taste |
| C．Leisure, elegance, and taste |
| D．Elegance, efficiency, and leisure |
Which of the following is NOT true about Frenchmen?
| A．Many of them prefer the modern life style. |
| B．They actually enjoy working at the assembly line. |
| C．They are more concerned with money than before. |
| D．They are more competitive than the old generation. |
The passage suggests that _________.
| A．in pursuing material gains the French are suffering losses elsewhere |
| B．it’s now unlikely to see a Frenchman enjoying a stroll by the river |
| C．the French are fed up with the smell of freshly picked apples |
| D．great changes have occurred in the life style of all Frenchmen |
Which of the following is true about the critics?
| A．Critics are greater in number than people enjoying the new way of life. |
| B．Students critics are greater in number than critics in other fields. |
| C．Students critics have, on occasion, resorted to violent means against the trend. |
| D．Critics are concerned solely with the present and not the future. |
Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
| A．Changes in the French Way of Life |
| B．Criticism of the New Life Style |
| C．The Americanization of France |
| D．Features of the New Way of Life |
The Chinese-born American architect Ieoh Ming Pei is one of the most creative architects of our times. He has incorporated both eastern and western ideas into his designs.
Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou, China on April 26, 1917. His father was a famous banker. In 1935, at the age of 17, he came to the United States to study architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1942, he entered the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy selected Pei to design the Kennedy library. After that he became well-known all of the world. People named it one of the Ten Best Buildings in the United States. In 1968, Pei started work on the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C.. Over one million people visited the building during its first 50 days in existence.
Following the East Wing project Pei's fame has continued to grow widely. In 1983, French President commissioned(委任) Pei to help make the Louvre more modern. Ten years later, the completion of Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre created a new historic landmark for Paris. Pei described it as, "the greatest challenge and greatest accomplishment of my career." At Fragrant Hill, a 300-room hotel in the Chinese capital, Pei has attempted to bring to his native China his often-quoted "third way of making buildings." Avoiding both a complete copying of traditional Chinese motifs(特色) as well as the modernism of the West, Pei has managed, at Fragrant Hill, to make one of his most eloquent(有说服力的) statements.
Pei has designed nearly 50 projects in the United States and abroad. About half of these projects have won major awards. Pei has been awarded the highest honors from nations over the world. In 1990, Pei was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President George Bush for his contributions to world peace and service to the US government.
56. Which is the right order of the events of Ieoh Ming Pei?
Pei started work on the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, in Washington DC.
Ieoh Ming Pei entered the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
The completion of Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre created a new historic landmark for Paris.
Ieoh Ming Pei was selected to design the Kennedy library.
Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou.
Pei was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President George Bush.
Ieoh Ming Pei came to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
French President commissioned Pei to help make the Louvre more modern.
A. e-g-d-b-a-h-c-f B. e-g-b-d-a-h-c-f C. e-g-b-d-h-a-c-f D. e-g-b-d-a-h-f-cThe underlined word “incorporate” can be replaced by __________.
| A．divide | B．combine | C．separate | D．part |
It was ____________ that Ieoh Ming Pei became world-famous.
| A．after the completion of Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre |
| B．after he designed East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, in Washington DC |
| C．after he designed the Kennedy library |
| D．after he designed the Fragrant Hill |
__________ is an excellent building that shows both the traditional Chinese motifs and the modernism of the West.
| A．Fragrant Hill |
| B．Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre |
| C．The East Wing of the National Gallery of Art |
| D．Kennedy library |
We can infer that about _________of Ieoh Ming Pei’s projects have won major awards.
| A．50 | B．15 | C．25 | D．35 |
CONCORD， N.H.—Torrential rain forced hundreds of people from their homes in parts of New England on Sunday， as water flowed over dams an
d washed out roads.
The governors of New Hampshire and Massachusetts declared states of emergency. Maine’s governor also declared a state of emergency for one county. “It’s a very serious situation，” said New Hampshire Governor John Lynch， adding that forecasters were predicting 12 to 15 inches of rain by the end of the storm in parts of southern New Hampshire. “It continues to change and the situation continues to worsen.”
In some towns， police and fire crews used boats to get people out of their homes and stranded cars after hundreds of roads were damaged. Others got around in kayaks(皮船). Some towns shut down， not letting anyone pass except emergency vehicles. “The town is cut right in half，” said Glenn Laramie， police chief in Andover， N.H.
A dam in Milton， N.H.， was in danger of failing， which could send a 10-foot wall of water downstream， the National Weather Service said in a bulletin. People downstream were being evacuated from the town.
In Massachusetts， cars were pulled from flooded streets in downtown Peabody， about 20 miles north of Boston， and about 300 people were evacuated from an apartment complex for seniors. Businesses stacked sandbags at their doors， trying to prevent damage from water that at one point rose to waist-deep.
Some parts of New Hampshire had seen 7 inches of rain by midday Sunday and forecasters said up to 5 more inches might come during the day. About 100 residents were evacuated from their homes in Wakefield， N.H.， because of concerns about two dams in the area.
Flooding in New Hampshire in October killed seven people， carried off homes and washed away miles of roads down to bedrock.
In Maine， flooding was reported on 60 roads in the southern part of the state， said governor’s spokeswoman Crystal Canney. More than 50 homes in Sanford and several in Kennebunk also were evacuated， state officials said.Which is NOT true according to the article？
| A．The situation in N. H. is very serious. |
| B．New England is a region of the U.S. |
| C．A state of emergency was declared in three whole states. |
| D．Seven people lost their lives in New Hampshire in October. |
What is the main idea of the passage？
| A．Two dams failed in New Hampshire. |
| B．Flood in New Hampshire. |
| C．State of emergency in New England. |
| D．Severe floods in three U.S. states. |
In paragraph 4， the underlined word “evacuate” most probably means“ ”.
| A．rescue | B．trapped | C．send away | D．wash away |
Which is NOT a part of New Hampshire？
| A．Peabody | B．Concord | C．Milton | D．Andover |
What was mentioned to cope with the situation？
| A．Some towns shut down. | B．Some dams were open. |
| C．People all left their homes. | D．Some temporary houses were built. |
A 26-year-old Montreal man appears to have succeeded in his quest to barter a single， red paper clip(夹子) all the way up to a house. It took almost a year and 14 trades， but Kyle MacDonald has been offered a two-storey farmhouse in Kipling， Sask.， for a paid role in a movie.
MacDonald began his quest last summer when he decided he wanted to live in a house. He didn’t have a job， so instead of posting a resumé， he looked at a red paper clip on his desk and decided to trade it on an Internet website. The response was immediate —a fish pen was offered for exchange. MacDonald then bartered the fish pen for a handmade doorknob from a potter in Seattle.
In Massachusetts， MacDonald traded the doorknob for a camp stove. He traded the stove to a U.S. soldier in California for a generator. Then he exchanged the generator for an “instant party kit” — an empty keg(小桶) and an illuminated Budweiser beer sign. MacDonald then traded the keg and sign for a snowmobile. He bartered all the way up to an afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper， a KISS snow globe and finally a paid role in a Corbin Bernsen movie.
“Now， I’m sure the first question on your mind is， ‘Why would Corbin Bernsen trade a role in a film for a snow globe？ A KISS snow globe，’ MacDonald said on his website.”Well， Corbin happens to be arguably one of the biggest snow globe collectors on the planet.
Now， the town of Kipling， Sask.， Canada， with a population of 1,100，has offered MacDonald a farmhouse in exchange for the role in the movie. The town is going to hold a competition for the movie role.
MacDonald said： “There’re people all over the world that are saying that they have paper clips clipped to the top of their computer， or on their desk or on their shirt， and it proves that anything is possible and I think to a certain degree it’s true.”
MacDonald， who has attracted international media attention in his quest， said the journey has turned out to be more exciting than the goal. “This is not the end. This may be the end of this part of the story， but this story will go on.”The best title for this passage is “ ”.
| A．A lucky paper clip | B．From poor to rich |
| C．A lucky young man | D．From paper clip to house |
The underlined word in line 1 means .
| A．to get something for free | B．to sell something at a price |
| C．to sell goods on the Internet | D．to exchange goods for other goods |
Which shows the correct order of the trades？
| A．Paper clipsnow globesnowmobilehouse |
| B．Paper clipkeg of beerdoorknobsnowmobile |
| C．Paper clipcamp stovesnowmobilemovie role |
| D．Paper clipkeg of beercamp stovesnowmobile |
Which statement about MacDonald’s trades is TRUE？
| A．All of his trades were done in his country. |
| B．A film role was offered due to Bernsen’s hobby. |
| C．They took over a year and some of them were really unbelievable. |
| D．The house in Kipling has been offered to MacDonald to attract media. |
What can we learn about MacDonald？
| A．He wanted to gain fame through his quest. |
| B．His success largely depended on the Internet. |
| C．He never expected his aim could be achieved. |
| D．He intends to begin another quest on the Web. |
Tokyo is one of those places that you can love and hate at the same time.
In Tokyo there are always too many people in the places where I want to be. Of course there are too many cars. The Japanese drive very fast， but in Tokyo they often spend a long time in traffic jams. Tokyo is not different from London， Paris and New York in that. It is different when one wants to walk.
At certain times of the day there are a lot of people on foot in London’s Oxford Street. But the streets near the Ginze in Tokyo always have a lot of people on foot， and sometimes it is really difficult to walk. People are very polite； there are just too many of them.
The worst time to be in the street is at 11：30 at night. That is when the nightclubs are closing and everybody wants to go home. There are 35,000 nightclubs in Tokyo， and you do not often see one that is empty.
During the day， most people travel to and from work by train. Tokyo people buy six million train tickets every day. At most stations， trains arrive every two or three minutes， but at certain hours there do not seem to be enough trains. Although they are usually crowded， Japanese trains are very good. They always leave and arrive on time. On a London train you would see everybody reading a newspaper. In Tokyo trains everybody in a seat seems to be asleep， whether his journey is long or short.
In Tokyo， I stood outside the station for five minutes. Three fire-engines raced past on the way to one of the many fires that Tokyo has every day. Tokyo has so many surprises that none of them can really surprise me now.Tokyo is different from London in that .
| A．there are many traffic jams |
| B．nightclubs are sometimes empty |
| C．wherever I want to be， it’s too crowded |
| D．it is more difficult to go somewhere on foot |
According to the passage， Japanese trains .
| A．are always punctual |
| B．often delay at most situations |
| C．are crowded because they are often late |
| D．are the last means people use to travel to and from work |
What is the story mainly about？
| A．The writer’s impression of Tokyo. |
| B．The reasons why the writer loves Tokyo. |
| C．Different means of transportation in Tokyo. |
| D．Many surprises that Tokyo has brought to the writer. |
Fires break out in Tokyo according to the writer.
| A．very seldom | B．quite frequently |
| C．three times a day | D．the most often in the world |
Which of the following is NOT true about Tokyo？
| A．Tokyo people are friendly. |
| B．There are more trains than cars. |
| C．Fire-engines are very busy in the city. |
| D．The streets become more crowded at 11：30 at night. |
The Best of Friends
The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly held image(印象)of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past.” We were surprised by jus
t how positive today’s young people seen to be about their families,” said one member of the research team.” They’re expected to b
e rebellious(叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation(商议) and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends.” My parents are happy
to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-years-old Daniel Lazall. ”I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21,agrees.”Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenagers rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments,” Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”What is the popular images of teenagers today?
A．They worry about school |
| B．They dislike living with their parents |
| C．They have to be locked in to avoid troubles |
| D．They quarrel a lot with other family members |
The study shows that teenagers don’t want to ___
| A．share family responsibility | B．cause trouble in their families |
| C．go boating with their family | D．make family decisions |
Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents___.
| A．go to clubs more often with their children |
| B．are much stricter with their children |
| C．care less about their children’s life |
| D．give their children more freedom |
According to the authour,teenage rebellion____.
| A．may be a false belief | B．is common nowadays |
| C．existed only in the 1960s | D．resulted from changes in families |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Negotiation in family | B．Education in family |
| C．Harmony in family | D．Teenage trouble in family |