A gentleman stopped his car at the door of a flower shop. He planned to order flowers and asked the shopkeeper to deliver them to his mother, who was far away in his hometown.
The gentleman saw a little girl crying on the road before he entered the shop. The gentleman asked her: “Why are you crying?”
“I want to buy a rose for my mother, but I haven’t got enough money,” said the girl.
The gentleman took the girl’s hand and entered the flower shop. He first ordered the bouquet (花束) for his mother and bought a rose for the girl.
When he was walking out of the shop, the gentleman asked the girl if she would like a ride home.
“Will you really drive me home?” she asked.
“Of course,” the gentleman replied.
“Then drive me to my mother. But the place where my mother lives is very far.”
The gentleman drove along the mountain road and finally came to the cemetery (墓地).
The little girl put the flower onto a new grave (坟墓). In order to send a rose to her mother who had died a month before, she had gone on a very long journey.
The gentleman drove the girl to her home and then returned to the flower shop. He cancelled（取消）the bouquet and bought a big bunch (束) of fresh flowers instead. He drove directly to his mother’s home, a five-hour drive from here. He would send the flowers to his mother in person.The word “deliver” in Paragraph 1 means “______________”.
| A．give | B．take | C． send | D．bring |
Why was the little girl crying?
| A．Because her mother died. |
| B．Because she lost her money. |
| C．Because she lost her way home. |
| D．Because she couldn’t afford a rose. |
The little girl asked the gentleman to drive her ______________.
| A．to her home | B．to her school |
| C．to a cemetery | D．to a mountain |
We can tell from the story that ___________.
| A．The little girl loves her mother very much |
| B．The gentleman doesn’t care about his mother |
| C．The little girl’s mother lives far away from her home |
| D．The gentleman’s mother passed away a month ago |
One thing that British and Chinese cultures share is a love for fine tea. Today, when we think of Western tea culture, we often think of the English and beautiful china tea cups.
Afternoon tea
People believe that an English lady, Anna, first introduced the idea of afternoon tea. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the English ate only two main meals each day: breakfast and a heavy supper that would last for several hours in the evening. As a result, people often got very hungry during the long wait between these two meals. To solve this problem, Anna came up with the clever idea of inviting some friends to join her for an afternoon meal between four and five o’clock. This meal included cakes and sandwiches. And tea was served(供应) to wash down the food. In order to make this afternoon meal important, fine china cups and plates and silver teapots, knives, forks and spoons were used. Soon, afternoon tea parties became popular social occasions. Today, afternoon tea parties continue to play an important part in the social life in modern Britain.
Will you come for coffee?
Coffee also has an important role in British culture. People often use the words “Will you come for coffee” to mean “Would you like to come to my home for a chat?” Normally, several different drinks such as tea, hot chocolate or a soft drink like orange juice will be served as well as coffee, and you will be asked what you would like. However, you will not normally be offered wine at a “coffee” party.
Coffeehouses and the London Stock Exchange
In the 17th century London, coffeehouses were busy and noisy places. Businessmen and bankers went to coffeehouses to do their business, as well as to drink coffee. In fact, the London Stock Exchange(伦敦股票交易所) is believed to have started from these coffeehouses. Anna introduced the idea of drinking afternoon tea because she ______.
| A．enjoyed chatting with her friends at home |
| B．loved fine tea and beautiful china tea cups |
| C．wanted to share nice food with her friends |
| D．found people felt hungry during the long wait between the two meals |
What does “social occasions” mean in Chinese?
| A．集体婚礼 | B．社交活动 | C．社区表演 | D．公共场合 |
If someone says to you “Will you come for coffee,” you ______.
| A．will be offered coffee only |
| B．are asked what you would like to drink |
| C．will be asked to have a chat with him or her |
| D．you are invited to take part in an afternoon tea party |
From the last paragraph we can see______
| A．a new business was started in coffeehouses. |
| B．coffeehouses are still used by businessmen and bankers. |
| C．businessmen and bankers went to coffeehouses just for coffee. |
| D．most people wouldn’t like to go to coffeehouses because of the noise. |
Which is the best title of the article?
| A．British and Chinese cultures. | B．The beginning of Tea and Coffee. |
| C．Coffeehouse and Business. | D．English tea and coffee culture. |
As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself” (DIY) is getting more and more popular in the USA.
“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Rose,” and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Roses took a 2-week courses for ＄280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has much work at home as well as a job in a shoe-making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for＄420. “I was deeply unhappy about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can do to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a DIY, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who didn’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.Many newly married people in the USA ______.
| A．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| B．must take some courses |
| C．have to learn to make their own furniture |
| D．seldom go to a shop to buy things. |
John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to ______.
| A．make furniture | B．make or repair things |
| C．improve the quality of life | D．save time and money |
Jim Hatfield’s job is to ______.
| A．make shoes at home | B．do housework in a shoe factory |
| C．run a shoe-making factory at home | D．work in a shoe factory |
Jim decided to become a DIY when ______.
| A．he enjoyed doing everything by himself |
| B．he becomes an unusual person |
| C．his car repairs cost very much |
| D．the car repair class wasn’t helpful |
Which of the following statement is right?
| A．If you want to become a DIY, you can only go to DIY classes. |
| B．People who take DIY courses are quite different from the others. |
| C．DIY is becoming more and more popular because of the raising living cost. |
| D．Most families in the country are doing everything because they enjoy the life style. |
Mark Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984. As a little kid, he loved creating little fun computer programs, especially communication tools and games.
When he was a student at Harvard University, Mark founded (创建）Facebook on February 4, 2004. Through Facebook, Harvard students could communicate with each other. Facebook quickly became a great success at Harvard and more than two-thirds of the school’s students used it in the first two weeks. It soon spread further to any university students, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over in the US.
Facebook developed fast and became popular. People can communicate with others, add friends, and send them messages. Now, it has more than 175 million users all over the world.
Many big companies have offered a very high price to buy Facebook, but Mark refused them all. His reason was simple. “We are not planning to sell it. We don’t want to make money from it. We just hope Facebook will make it easier for people to know each other.”
Sometimes the simplest ideas go the furthest. We hope Mark can go much further, maybe even further than Bill Gates! What was Mark interested in when he was a little kid?
Where was Facebook first used in the United States?
How many people use Facebook in the world now?
Why did Mark not want to sell Facebook to other companies?
What do you think of Mark Zuckerberg? （请考生自拟一句话作答）
I won’t forget her advice
I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago. Her husband died of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insights（见解）with us.
The class was nearly over. She said, “Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you an important thought.”
“Each of us is put here on Earth to learn, share, love, enjoy and give all by ourselves. We must make the best of every single day.”
Her eyes were beginning to water and she went on, “So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn’t have to be something you see — it could be a nice smell — perhaps of freshly baked bread, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly blowing the leaves in the trees.”
“Please look for these things, and love them. For, although it may seem common, these things are the stuff（素材）of life. They are the little things we are put here on Earth to enjoy. They are the things we often take for granted. We must make it a point to notice them, for at any time it can all be taken away.”
The class was completely quiet. We picked up our books and went out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole term.
I usually think of that teacher and try to enjoy all of those things that we sometimes overlook (忽略).
Take notice of something special you see during your lunch hour today. Walk barefoot along the beach at sunset. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we regret（后悔）, but the things we didn’t do.What happened to the teacher’s husband?
| A．He was ill. |
| B．He died of a heart attack. |
| C．He made a promise. |
| D．He became a teacher, too. |
The high school teacher shared her insights with her students ____________.
| A．on her way to school |
| B．on her way home |
| C．at the beginning of class |
| D．at the end of class |
The underlined word “breeze” (in Paragraph 4) means ____________?
| A．colourful cloud | B．white snow |
| C．light wind | D．heavy rain |
What is the teacher’s advice?
| A．We should love life and enjoy things around us. |
| B．We should share our important thoughts with others. |
| C．We should never feel sorry for what we have done. |
| D．We should do importand things and overlook little ones. |
Today we’ll talk about the history of blue jeans. For many people, blue jeans stand for (代表) American culture.
The history of blue jeans usually began with a man named Levi Strauss. He did not invent jeans. But he is the first person to produce and sell them in large numbers. Levi Strauss was born in Germany. In 1847, he and his family moved to the United States. He opened a small store and sold jeans. These pants were especially useful for miners (矿工) in California. They needed strong clothing. Levi Strauss worked with Jacob Davis, who had invented a step for making rivets (铆钉) for jeans. They helped make the blue jeans stronger.
In 1873, Strauss and Davis received a patent (专利) to own this invention. Nineteenth century workers would probably be surprised to know that their pants would one day become fashions. Today, jeans are worn by people of all ages. Jeans come in many colors other than blue and in many styles and prices. Fashion designers even create very costly jeans.
Writer James published a book called Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon (偶像). In the book, he says jeans serve as a sign for two American values, creativity and rebellion (叛逆). Why did Jacob use rivets for jeans?
| A．Because they made the blue jeans stronger. |
B．Because they had a history. |
| C．Because they are fashionable. |
D．Because they were dear. |
Which of the following is WRONG about blue jeans?
| A．Miners like to wear strong clothing. |
| B．Jeans have only one color — blue. |
| C．James wrote a book about jeans. |
| D．Levi Strauss is the first person to produce jeans in large numbers. |
The two American values are rebellion and _____________.
| A．protection |
B．ambition |
C．friendship |
D．creativity |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Jeans are popular. |
B．Jeans become fashions. |
| C．The history of blue jeans. |
D．Levi Strauss was a German. |