A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor （售票员）hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior（行为） , "said a middle-aged man.
"Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor. "
Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said , "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised..."
Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap（大腿） interrupted, "I know his name. I call him Dad."The passengers were ________ to see the conductor's kindness to the woman and the child.
| A．excited | B．pleased | C．interested | D．surprised |
One passenger suggested writing a letter to the company to ______ .
| A．make a demand for more buses |
| B．thank the conductor for his good service |
| C．criticize the conductor for his rude behavior |
| D．invite a newspaper reporter to write about the conductor |
The word "he" in the last paragraph refers to _______.
| A．the gentleman | B．the conductor |
| C．the middle-aged man | D．the three-year-old child |
It is clear from the story that the conductor _______.
| A．has changed his attitude towards his work |
| B．has now been kind and polite to all passengers |
| C．has not changed his rude behavior to passengers |
| D．has now been kind and polite to women with children |
Whether we find a joke funny or not largely depends on where we have been brought up．The sense of humour is mysteriously(神秘地)connected with national characteristics．A Frenchman ,for instance, might find it hard to laugh at Russian joke．In the same way, a Russian might fail to see anything amusing in a joke which would make an Englishman laugh to tears．
Most funny stories are based on comic situations．In spite of national differences, certain funny situations have a worldwide request．No matter where you live, you would find it difficult not to laugh at, say ,Charlie Chaplin’s early films．However, a new type of humour, which stems largely from America, has recently come into fashion．It is called “sick humour”．Comedians base their jokes on tragic situations like violent (cause by force)death or serious accidents．Many people find this sort of joke distasteful．The following example of “sick humour” will enable you to judge for yourself．
A man who had broken his right leg was taken to hospital a few weeks before Christmas．From the moment he arrived there, he kept on pestering(纠缠) his doctor tell him when he would be able to go home．He was afraid of having to spend Christmas in hospital ．Though the doctor did his best, the patient’s recovery was slow．On Christmas day, however, the doctor consoled(安慰)him by telling him that his chances of being able to leave hospital in time for New Year celebrations were good．The man took heart and, sure enough , on New Year’s Eve he was able to hobble(跛行) along to a party．To compensate(补偿)for his unpleasant experiences in hospital , the man drank a little more than what was good for him．In the process, he enjoyed himself and kept telling everybody how much he hated hospitals．He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg．Whether you find “sick humour” funny or not will depend on ________．
| A．your having been brought up in America |
| B．the joke being related to a really comic situation |
| C．your ability to see the funny side of an unpleasant event |
| D．your ability to laugh until you cry |
The man spent Christmas day feeling miserable because ________．
| A．the doctor had failed to cure him |
| B．he was not able to be with his friends |
| C．being unable to walk, he did not enjoy the celebrations at the hospital |
| D．he thought he might also miss the New Year’s Eve celebration |
The point of the joke taken to explain “sick humour” is that ________．
| A．no sooner was the out of hospital than he had to go back in again． |
| B．the man should not have said how much he hated hospitals |
| C．the man would be unable to walk for the rest of his life |
| D．the man had not got a leg to stand on |
What can you learn from this story ?
| A．On New Year’s Eve, the man was able to walk properly to the party． |
| B．At the party , he enjoyed himself but only drank a little． |
| C．He had to go to hospital again though he hated it． |
| D．The man got well soon because the doctor took good care of him． |
In Britain arrangements for inviting and entertaining guests at a wedding are usually the responsibility of the bride's family．In most cases it is mainly friends and relations of both families who are invited but when bride's father is a businessman of some kind, the wedding reception may provide a useful occasion for establishing social connections with clients or customers and other people whose goodwill may be of advantage to him．it is, however, the bride's mother who has the job of sending out the formal printed invitation cards．
In the case of a church wedding, the vicar of each parish(教区) in which the bride and bridegroom live is normally informed about a month in advance of the ceremony so that an announcement of the coming wedding can be made in church on each of three Sundays before it takes place．Anyone who may know of an existing marriage of either partner is ordered to give information, though this means of avoiding bigamy must have been more effective in the days when people attend the religious service and the bride usually wears the traditional long white dress and veil, while her bridesmaids, who are children, wear long dresses in attractive colors．This may also happen in the case of a civil wedding in a register office but is probably less usual．
The reception which follows may be held in a restaurant, a local hall or, when there are few guests, in the bride’s own home．Refreshments are provided, a special iced wedding-cake is cut(usually to the accompaniment of speeches)and distributed to the guests, toasts are drunk and dancing may follow．At some point in the celebrations, the bride goes off to change into everyday clothes and then leaves the party with her husband to go on their honeymoon, the journey they will make together, often in romantic surrounding abroad．It is the bride's parents who normally have to________．
| A．make all the arrangements for the wedding |
| B．provide hospitality for the people attending |
| C．decide who shall be invited |
| D．pay all expenses involved |
What possible difference is suggested between a church and a civil wedding?
| A．Civil weddings are less commonly followed by a reception． |
| B．It is less usual for guests to attend the civil wedding formalities． |
| C．Guests at civil weddings are less formally dressed． |
| D．There could be less attention paid at the latter to convention and picturesque effect． |
The reception normally takes place in the bride’s home if________．
| A．this is a large one． |
| B．there is enough room to entertain the people invited． |
| C．the parents cannot afford to hire a hall． |
| D．there is to be no party afterwards． |
The couple leave for their honeymoon________．
| A．after the church or register office ceremony |
| B．immediately after the cake has been cut and the speeches made |
| C．at the end of the reception |
| D．as soon as the bride is ready |
All plant cells are able to take up water. Even dead ones do to a certain degree. Absorption of water by dead cell walls makes wood swell(肿胀). In common land plants, the living cells of roots take up most of the water. Land plants without roots do exist, however. Those greenish-yellow lichens(苔藓)you see on tree trunks and on rocks in the high mountains have no roots. Half a billion years ago, when water plant started to invade the land, the first primitive land plants did not have roots; they were marsh (沼泽) plants.
Even among the flowering plants, one finds rootless forms. These flowering plants are the so-called higher plants because they evolved more recently and are thus considered higher on the evolutionary scale. In the Peruvian desert, there grows one of these rootless higher plants, a bromeliad. It is a relative of the pineapple. Even if this plant had roots, they would be of no use, because where the plant grows, it never rains. The plant gets its water exclusively from the dew it collects at night, when its leaves cool off. Such rootless plants, of course, can be moved with ease, but they will only grow when they are placed out in the open. If they are placed too near a house, the radiation from the heat of the house prevents the leaves from cooling and so prevents dew from forming, and the plant dies. In the southern United States and in Puerto Rico, one sees bromeliads growing high above the streets on the insulation of electric wires. These plants get their water from rain, and the only soil they ever come in contact with is the dust that may blow on their leaves.Wood swells because of _______.
| A．the dead cell walls | B．tiny drops of water entering the dead cell |
| C．the growth of the cell | D．the death of the cell |
From the passage we know that the evolutionary scale is arranged according to ______.
| A．evolutionary cycles | B．heights and depths |
| C．time | D．kinds |
The bromeliad is a plant that _______.
| A．has useless roots | B．is a pineapple |
| C．can grow anywhere | D．takes up water through its leaves |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Water plants existed before land plants. |
| B．Only living plant cells take up water. |
| C．The greenish-yellow lichens are uncommon land plants. |
| D．The living cells of roots absorb more water than the rest of the plant. |
The most suitable title for this passage is ______.
| A．water intake by cells | B．rootless plants | C．plant in the desert | D．higher plants |
When you buy a T-shirt, or a fur coat in a store , it often carries a label(标签) telling who made it or from what store it was bought. Indeed, some labels show the dress is famous and it is very expensive, so buyers who deal with the cheapest products would be pleased to do away with labels entirely.
However, there is another label more important than the one showing from which store the dress was bought. When a person buys a fur coat, or a jacket , from a store , a label telling what the product is made of should be carried to it.
This label is required by law. Besides telling what the product on show is made of , the label should be in clear English and be where one can find it easily. The information on the label must be the truth.
The reason for this label is that most buyers today aren’t expert enough to know exactly what kind of fur or material they are buying. The buyer must believe in the store that sells the products or in what the labels say.The author doesn’t agree that_______.
| A．some clothes may carry more than one label |
| B．some clothing stores sell cheap dresses |
| C．shops can sell products with or without labels |
| D．buyers will believe what the label says |
This article mainly refers to__________.
| A．making furs and clothes | B．protecting buyers with law |
| C．keeping the buyers informed | D．businessmen and sellers |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Not all buyers know the materials they are buying. |
| B．A fur coat with a high price often carries a false label. |
| C．A label only says what material the product is made of . |
| D．A T-shirt seldom carries a label. |
| We were disappointed to learn about Chrysler Dodge’s new car, the Viper. It must be the most ungreen car of recent years. It can carry only two people but it is extremely powerful, with a top speed of 165 mph. It will go from 0-60 mph in just four seconds. From our point of view, the worst feature is the petrol consumption: just 15miles per gallon. This is a car from the past, a gas-guzzler for people who want to show off and who don’t care about polluting the air. |
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| ASTON MARTIN DB2/4(1975) This car is a fine example of the power and elegance of the Aston Martin sports cars of the 1950s. It was developed from the earlier DB2, but this model was intended to give more room: if you look in the back window, you will see two small seats. But the main attraction of Aston Martins was their power: almost 200kph. 765 of these cars were manufactured between 1953 and 1959. This model was donated to the museum in 1986. |
| In the future, lorry drivers could be free to doze or read a newspaper as their vehicles travel along the motorways of the world, according to Mercedes-Benz. They say that lorries could travel on special lorry-only lanes, and that electronic safety systems would ‘read’ the road ahead, keep a safe distance between vehicles and set the speed. The driver would only take over when the lorry left the motorway and returned to normal roads. This vision of the future was explained at he Hanover Commercial Vehicle Show recently, at which Mercedes showed their EXT-92 experimental lorry of the future. Among the many features, the lorry would include a luxurious living area for the driver, complete with bunk bed, microwave cooker, television, telephone and fax machine. |
The writer of passage 1 criticizes (批评) the Viper because______.
| A．he/she dislikes the colour | B．it is too small for most families |
| C．it uses too much petrol and pollutes the air. | |
| D．it is very fast and will break the speed limit |
The main purpose of Passage 2 is to______.
| A．try to sell a second-hand car | B．explain why this car has four seats |
| C． give interesting information | D．describe a new car planned for the future |
In Passage 3, the writer’s main purpose is to ______.
| A．warn readers about a dangerous development | |
| B．try to sell a new commercial vehicle | |
| C．inform readers about future transport ideas | D．tell a silly story |
Which of the following would be the best title for Passage 3?
| A．The Dangers of Tired Drivers | B．Lorries which won’t need Drivers |
| C．Lorries which can Fly | D．The Lorry of the Future |