If you watch British television on Friday March 15, you might be surprised to see celebrities wearing funny red noses and joking around. But don’t worry, they’re not mad, it’s all part of a biennial fund-raising event called Red Nose Day.
Organized by the charity Comic Relief, founded in 1985 by two British comedians, the aim of the event is to raise money to fight poverty and injustice in the UK and Africa.
Celebrities and public figures support the event by making appearances on comic TV shows broadcast by the BBC. This year, for example, UK Prime Minister David Cameron appeared in a music video by One Direction, which the band produced for the event.
But Britons don’t just raise money for charitable causes on one day a year, they do it all year round. One way of doing so is by shopping in charity shops.
These small, inconspicuous shops sell clothes, books and household goods just like any other shop. But there’s one big difference—it’s all secondhand.
There are nearly 10,000 charity shops in the UK, according to the Charity Retail Association. Their business model is simple: Anybody who has things they don’t want anymore can donate them to a charity shop, where they are checked for damage, cleaned and priced. Most items go back on sale at a small part of their original price and the money that is made by selling them is used for a charitable cause.
The idea of buying used clothes may sound off-putting, but for shoppers who have less spending money, such as the elderly or those in low-paying jobs, it has been a welcome option for years.
Now, “thrifting”—shopping at charity shops— is also becoming popular with young people looking for alternative fashion.
“I love shopping at thrift stores. You can find very unique clothes for a very cheap price. It doesn’t bother me that other people may have worn them, I simply wash them before I wear them,” said Anne Marie, a 19-year-old Internet user from the US, in a comment on a Yahoo forum.
So next time you spot a charity shop, why not go inside? Who knows, you might find a lovely dress for just a few pounds. Even better, you can enjoy wearing it in the knowledge that your money helped a good cause. What do famous people in Britain do in support of the Red Nose Day event?
| A．Appear on comic TV shows. |
| B．Donate large sums of money. |
| C．Donate expensive clothes to charity shops. |
| D．Play in a music video with the Prime Minister. |
What do we learn from the passage about Comic Relief?
| A．It was founded in 1985 by two British comedians in Africa. |
| B．It organizes the Red Nose Day fund-raising event. |
| C．It runs nearly 10,000 charity shops in the UK. |
| D．It is financially supported by the UK government. |
One reason for the popularity of the thrift shops is that __________.
| A．they sell a wide variety of goods |
| B．their business model is simple |
| C．their goods are carefully checked, cleaned and priced |
| D．they provide things, sometimes special, at low prices |
The passage is written mainly to __________.
| A．inspire more people to join in charitable causes in the UK |
| B．introduce the traditions of the Red Nose Day |
| C．analyze why charity shops are popular in the UK |
| D．explain how charity shops work in the UK |
Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends. They believe that their family members, especially their parents, don't know them as well as their friends do. In large families, it is often for brothers and s
isters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for ad
vice.
It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or many friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone. This communication is very important in children's growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members.
However, pare
nts often try to choose their children's friends for them. Some parents may even stop their children fr
om meeting their good friends. The question of "choice" is an interesting one. Have you ever thought of the following questions?
Who choose your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don't like?Many teenagers think their know them better than their parents do.
| A. friends B. teachers |
| C. brothers and sisters D. classmates |
When teenagers stay alone, the usual way of communication is to .
| A. go to their friends B. talk with their parents |
| C. have a discussion with their family D. talk with their friends on the phone |
Which of the following is different in meaning from the sentence "Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends."?
| A. Some parents may even not allow their children to meet their good friends. |
| B. Some parents may even ask their children to stay away from their good friends. |
C. Some parents may even not let their children meet their good friends . |
| D. Some parents may want their children to stop to meet their good friends. |
The passage suggests (暗示) that _______.
| A. Parents cannot choose friends for their children successfully |
| B. Perhaps some children's friends are chosen by their parents. |
| C. Children won't let their parents choose friends for them. |
| D. Parents often try to choose their children's friends for them. |
Which of the following do you think is right according to the passage?
| A. Parents should like everything their children enjoy. |
| B. In all families, children can choose everything they like. |
C. Parents should try their best to understand their children bett er. |
| D. Teenagers can only go to their friends for help. |
Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in intercultural(跨文化的)experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness (意识, 认识)of being unclear.
Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm even when things do not go as one wants them to, or hopes they will, or has even been sure they will. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not.
A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in his own reactions than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to.
The awareness of being unclear is a more difficult concept than patience or a sense of
humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear to the newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in the situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can’t be sure of different people’s roles in what is going on. “It’s like I just got here from the moon,” a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said, “things are just so different here.”The passage mainly tells us .
| A. that it’s not easy to travel abroad |
| B. that humor is very important in communication |
| C. of some characteristics in dealing with foreigners |
| D. of three main ways useful for communicating with foreigners |
According to the passage, what characteristic should be most focused on?
| A. Patience. |
B. The awareness of being unclear. |
| C. The sense of humor. |
D. Understanding each other. |
“The awareness of being unclear” refers to .
| A. knowing the meaning of an exact situation |
| B. not stating clearly what happens |
| C. realizing the possible misunderstanding in a situation |
| D. being aware of the unclear situation |
According to the writer, the Chinese students are .
| A. a hard-working student |
B. recently back from the moon |
| C. interested in the study of moon |
D. not used to the culture in America |
Which of the following can best sum up the passage?
| A. A. It is necessary to learn the language before you go to the country. |
| B. Americans are used to the culture of other countries. |
| C. One needs many characteristics to live in a foreign country. |
| D. To live in a foreign land one should get fully prepared. |
We were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought m
e to this spot in a small town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.
“Look down, Elsa,” father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the crisscross (十字形) of twisting, turning streets leading to the square. “See, my dear,” father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can’t get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she could not believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
When I turned to father for help, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
At school the next day, I secretly poured my luncheon（午餐）soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I asked our cook to serve it to mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered（喷溅出）“ The cook must have gone mad！” Quickly I told her what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!
In the years that followed I often remembered the lesson father taught me. I began to work as a fashion designer two years ago. I wouldn’t stop working until I tried every possible means to my goal. Father’s wise words always remind me that there is more than one way to the square.The author’s father took her to the top of a church tower to ____________.
| A. enjoy the beautiful scenery of the whole town |
| B. find out how many ways lead to the square |
| C. inspire her to find out another way to solve her problem |
| D. help her forget some unpleasant things earlier that day |
What did the author want her mother to do earlier that day?.
| A. Do something delicious for lunch. |
| B. Taste her awful lunch. |
| C. Dismiss the mad cook. |
| D. Speak to the school about lunch. |
The underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph suggests that__________________.
| A. the cook agreed to serve the soup to the writer’s mother. |
| B. the author’s mother was angry with the cook. |
| C. her father persuaded her mother successfully. |
| D. the method the author thought of was effective. |
What did the author’s mother think of her luncheon soup after she tasted it?
| A. It was delicious. |
B. It wasn’t so bad as the author said. |
| C. It is terrible.. |
D. It was as good as her cook did. |
By sharing her own experiences, the author tries to tell us ____________.
| A. when one road is blocked, try another |
| B. how bad the lunch of her school is |
| C. how wise her father is |
| D. about the church tower near her home |
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 go. 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 night-clubs are closing and every-body wants to go home. There are 35,000 night-clubs in Tokyo, and you do not often see one that is empty(空的).
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.
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．it has a larger population | B．there are more traffic jams |
| C．night clubs are sometimes empty | D．it is more difficult to go somewhere on foot |
Fires break out___________ in Tokyo according to the writer.
| A．not very often | B．only several times a day |
| C．quite often | D．very seldom |
Which of the following is NOT true about Tokyo?
| A．The streets become more crowded at 11:30 at night. |
| B．There are more trains than cars. |
| C．Fire-engines are very busy in the city. |
| D．Tokyo people are friendly. |
The Internet has got into all the fields of our life. We can study and work on it. We can find a job on it. We can communicate on it. We can treat friends on it. We can buy and sell on it. We can do almost everything on the Internet, and almost anywhere, anytime.
However, although the Internet provides services for us, it is silently getting our privacy(隐私) to some degree. The services on most websites require our personal information. If we want to enjoy these services, we have to provide much of our information, including our names, sex, addresses, telephone numbers and sometimes bank accounts(帐户). Because weak network sometimes is unsafe, our information might be open, stolen or sold. Even sometimes it will be used freely by others.
Considering（考虑到...） the above mentioned, you must pay attention to the safety when using the Internet. First, when you need Internet service, you should always look through those big legal(合法的) websites. Second, if the service requires important personal information, you should think twice before you type it in. Third, store your own important card key(电子钥匙) and don’t tell others easily.According to the passage, we shouldn’t ______by using the Internet.
| A．learn English | B．give our friends’ information to others |
| C．chat with friends | D．look for jobs |
The underlined word “it” refers to ______.
| A．the telephone number | B．the name | C．the information | D．the bank account |
Which of the following ways is correct to protect our information on the Internet?
a. Surf the safe Web . b. Think over and over before typing it in.
c. Don’t chat with friends on line d. Don’t use your key easily.
| A．a,b,c. | B．b,c,d. | C．a,b,d. | D．a,c,d. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Don’t believe others if you don’t know them. |
| B．Remember never use the ID card on the Internet. |
| C．Never use the Internet in the future. |
| D．From now on, we must pay attention to the safety of the information on line. |