Connie Lau hates smoking. “It smells awful, and it’s so bad for you. It breaks my heart to see my friends smoking. I try to get them to give up smoking.” She says.
So why does Connie walk into convenience stores and try to buy cigarettes? She is testing to see if stores will sell cigarettes to a kid who is younger than 18. “You have to be 18 to purchase cigarettes, and I’m 16, so if they sell to me, they’re breaking the law,” Connie says.
Connie isn’t a vigilante (治安队员); She works with local police in her town of Castro Valley, California. Officers drive her to stores, and she goes in alone to try to buy cigarettes. If the person behind the counter sells her a pack, an officer comes in and writes the business a ticket for breaking the law.
Most stores obey the law and don’t sell her cigarettes. The law requires that customers show ID if store employees ask them to. “When they ask your age, you can’t lie,” Connie says. “Most stores don’t sell to me. In a year, we’ve visited almost 150 stores and had only 15 sales.”
Working undercover can be scary, even with police nearby. Connie said one cashier refused to sell her cigarettes and then got angry when he found out her age. He threatened to call the authorities. “To calm him down, the police went in to explain that I was undercover,” she says.
Most teens wouldn’t think of going undercover for the police. What’s Connie’s motivation (动机)? For starters, she can’t stand smoking. But she also believes it’s important for young people like her to try to make a real impact in their communities. In her view, teens can do more than get good grades in school, do chores at home, and do well in out-of-class activities.
Every time she stops the sale of cigarettes to children, she’s helping to uphold the law. “A single teenager can make a big difference,” Connie says. “For the most part, when stores get caught, they learn their lesson and don’t do it again.” According to the law what age of person can the store be allowed to sell cigarettes to?
| A．Under 18. | B．More than 18. | C．16. | D．More than 16. |
Connie goes to convenience stores to
________.
| A．discover whether stores can sell cigarettes to kids |
| B．see which stores can sell cigarettes to her friends |
| C．look for her friends |
| D．arrest the smokers |
What would happen if an owner sells cigarettes to kids?
| A．The owner would be arrested. | B．The owner would be fined. |
| C．The kids would be punished. | D．The kids would be removed from school. |
One reason that Connie works undercover is that
________.
| A．she wants more smokers to quit smoking |
| B．she wants to get good grades in school |
| C．she hopes to make a difference in the area |
| D．she hopes to be excellent in out-of-class activities |
Which of the following might be the main idea of the text?
| A．Smoking can be forbidden with the help of a girl. |
| B．A good way to stop a store from selling cigarettes to kids. |
| C．Connie Lau — a brave girl who goes undercover for the policeman. |
| D．Connie Lau goes undercover to stop stores from selling cigarettes to kids. |
The Same Story, Different Reports
Belton and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart. Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday- makers and other tourists(观光者).
Last August there was a fire at the Sea breeze Hotel in Belton. The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper, The Belton Post:
FIRE AT SEABREEZE
Late last night firemen hurried to the Sea breeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom. The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire. We say again to all our visitors: “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed.” This was Belton’s first hotel fire for five years.
The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one.
ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE
Last night Belton firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Sea breeze Hotel. An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire. The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels. When I put my bedside light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp.” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield.
What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident. There was a fire at the Sea breeze Hotel last August: that is one fact. Do we know anything else? Yes—we know that firemen went to the hotel.
Now what do you think of the rest of the “news”?Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?
| A．Belton and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer. |
| B．A fire broke out one night in Sea breeze Hotel last summer. |
| C．It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers. |
| D．Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter. |
Which of the following are probably facts?
a. The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel.
b. A cigarette started the fire.
c. An old lamp started the fire.
d. The fire broke out at night.
e. There has never been a fire in Canfield.
| A．b and c | B．a and d |
| C．c and e | D．a and c |
The Canfield Times used the headline (标题) like this in order to make its readers think _______.
| A．hotels in Belton often catch fire |
| B．hotels in Belton don’t often catch fire |
| C．this was the second fire at the Sea breeze Hotel |
| D．Belton was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe |
The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Belton Post by saying that _______.
| A．the bedroom lamps were very old at the Sea breeze Hotel |
| B．the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place |
| C．the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things |
| D．such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years |
An allowance is an important tool for teaching kids how to budget, save and make their own decisions. Children remember and learn from mistakes when their own dollars are lost or spent foolishly.
How large an allowance is appropriate? Experts say there is not right amount. Actual amounts differ from region to region, and from family to family.
To set an appropriate allowance for your child, work up a weekly budget. Allow for entertainment expenditures such as movies and snacks. Next, include everyday expenses such as lunch money, bus fare, school supplies. "If you make the child responsible for these ‘ ills’," says Josephine Swanson, a consumer specialist, " he or she will learn to budget for necessary expenditures."
Finally, add some extra money to make saving possible. If you can, keep your child’s allowance in line with that of his friends. A child whose purchasing power falls away below his peers’ can feel left out.
It can be tough, but avoid excusing your children when they make a mistake with their allowance. When Brooke Stephens was ten and growing up in Jacksonville, her mother gave her $5 a week, $1.75 of which was for bus fare and lunch." If you lose your money," Brooke’s mother told her, "you walk home."
One week the girl spent all her allowance in a candy store, then she called home for a ride. " Mom made me walk home," recalls Stephens, now a financial planner in Brooklyn. " At first I was angry. But I finally realized that she was trying to teach me an important lesson. "
Experts advise that an allowance should not be tied directly to a child’s daily chores. Kids should help around the house not because they get paid for it but because they share responsibilities as members of a family. You might, however, pay a child for doing extra jobs at home, which can develop his or her initiative. Which of the following is the possible title of the passage?
| A．How to develop a child’s initiative. |
| B．How to work up an amount of pocket money. |
| C．How to teach a child to save money. |
| D．How to teach a child about money. |
It can be inferred from the passage that if a child is given an allowance, he or she may ________.
| A．spend all the money very soon |
| B．be spoiled and finally ruined |
| C．feel responsible and careful about money |
| D．lost the money and can not return home |
In Paragraph 4, the words “his peers” refer to ________.
| A．his parents | B．his teachers | C．his financial experts | D．his friends |
The author implies in the passage that ________.
| A．paying children for their housework is no good |
| B．a child’s initiative can be developed if he or she is paid for all the housework |
| C．children may feel lost and lonely if they have no pocket money |
| D．children may learn to put aside some money if they are given a great amount of pocket money |
How the iron of tomorrow can change your lifestyle today.
(the first Self Cleaning Iron)
General Electric introduces the iron of tomorrow. The iron can clean itself. Inside where a iron gets dirty. Because it cleans itself each time you empty it. How? With a push of a magic blue button.
The magic blue button
The first thing you’ll notice that’s different about this iron is the blue button on the side. It’s marked "Self Clean". Push this blue button, and you can wash out loose mineral deposits(沉淀物) that remain and block up inside. Push this button, and you’ve made life a lot easier.
Less chance of brown spots
Sure, Self Cleaning Iron is going to cut down on brown spots. (Those ugly spots that happen on nice, cleanly pressed clothes.) Because a Self Cleaning Iron becomes clean each time you press that magic blue button.
Steams better longer
Common sense tells you that if you’ve an iron that blocks less often it has to stay younger for a long period of time. In other words, it steams better longer. That’s another joy of owning General Electric’s Self Cleaning Iron.
What does it mean to you
Today you are doing so much more than just running a house and running after the kids. You’re working. You’re going to school. It’s all part of your lifestyle. The iron can change that lifestyle. By giving you less trouble before you iron. If we can make it easier for you to be a better wife, a better mother, a better housekeeper, we want to. The new Self Cleaning Iron is another one of Home-Makers from General Electric.
Lifestyle. We’ re with yours. GENERAL ELECTRICThis passage is ________.
| A．an introduction to General Electric |
| B．an operating instruction of Self Cleaning Iron |
| C．an advertisement of Self Cleaning Iron |
| D．a description of the change of lifestyle |
This iron can clean itself by ________.
| A．emptying itself | B．washing out mineral deposits |
| C．blocking up mineral deposits | D．giving off more steam |
according to the passage, what is most likely to attract the customers?
| A．It is made by General Electric. |
| B．The iron will not produce mineral deposits. |
| C．There will be fewer brown spots on pressed clothes. |
| D．Their clothes will be cleaned at the same time. |
Self Cleaning Iron can help change your lifestyle because________.
| A．you can run your house better |
| B．you don’t have to run after the kids |
| C．you can use it while you are working |
| D．we want you to be a better housekeeper |
Gu Changwei was the first Chinese cinematographer to be nominated (提名) for an Oscar, and he is regarded by Zhang Yimou as the best cinematographer in China. Gu was behind the camera for many of Zhang Yimou’s famous films including the one that rocketed Zhang to fame: "Red Sorghum (高粱)". And now this master of the visual has taken on his first directing role with the film "Peacock". So Gu Changwei has come out from behind the camera into the spotlight (聚光灯).
Gu Changwei is very serious about his directing "Peacock". To get the authentic atmosphere, Gu took his film crew to the city of Anyang in central China’s Henan province where the story took place, to shoot the film. He chose all new actors because he didn’t want "stars" appeal to weaken the power of the story, and he also had his actors trained in the local dialect. For this film Gu has been able to get out from behind the camera to manage every aspect of the film, and to realize his own ideals in movie-making.
"Peacock" is about the life of an average family in a small town in Henan province in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gu chose this story for his first movie because he grew up during this same period and it struck a chord with him.
“Peacock” wrapped up production in June, 2004. It’s aimed at the foreign film market and will be entered in February’s Berlin Film Festival, and released in China at the same time. But at the end of last October, Gu took “Peacock” to his Alma Mater, the Beijing Film Academy, one of the most famous film colleges in China, to hold a preview. The film was warmly received by both teachers and students.The underlined word “cinematographer” refers to a person who ________.
| A．has been nominated for an Oscar | B．uses a camera to shoot films |
| C．directs first-class films | D．arranges for cinema shows |
Gu didn’t employ “stars” in his film because ________.
| A．tars usually stick to their own acting styles |
| B．the stars may not be able to speak the local dialect |
| C．the stars may share the audience’s attention with the story |
| D．it was not easy for him, a fresh hand, to invite stars to join him |
Gu chose such a story for his first movie because ________.
| A．he was born in the early 1970s |
| B．he grew up in Henan province |
| C．he was popular in Henan province |
| D．the story had something to do with his own experience |
From the passage we can learn that "Peacock"________.
| A．is the film for which Gu is likely to win an Oscar prize |
| B．has already become popular both at home and abroad |
| C．has its production started last summer |
| D．will be publicly shown in spring, 2005 |
Please choose a proper title for this passage.
| A．rom behind the camera into the spotlight |
| B．Chinese cinematographer to be nominated for Oscar |
| C．New faces to appear in “Peacock” |
| D．"Peacock" to enter foreign film market |
Advertising can be a service to the customer. This is true when advertisements give reliable information about the goods advertised. Such information is needed if the customer is to make a sensible choice when he buys. It is useful in that it lets him know of the kinds of goods in the shops. Printed advertisements do this job best. Customers can collect them and compare them. They can be taken along to shops and their claims can be checked against the actual goods in the shops.
however, some advertisements are not very useful to the customer. Instead of helping him to satisfy his real needs, they set out to make him want things. They set out to create a need. These advertisements are cleverly done. The people who produce them understand our weaknesses. They set out to make us believe that what they advertise will make us cleverer, prettier and more handsome, if only we use it. Actually, it is our money they are after and we should be on guard.
Some advertisements mislead customers by using part of the truth to suggest something false, and it is skillfully made to give that idea to the careless reader, listener or viewer.
At its best advertising can be useful to the customer. At its worst it can mislead him. Many newspapers check on the goods for which the advertisements made claims. Most newspapers are very careful about the small advertisements, which try to sell goods directly to the readers by post. Many newspapers print information about this on their small advertisement pages. Advertising has become a very big business, and good firms in it do all they can to make sure it is conducted with some attention to truth. This is a help to the customer. But the best way is for customers to be on the lookout.It can be inferred from the passage that advertisements can be useful if they ________.
| A．how a long list of the goods advertised |
| B．give true information about goods |
| C．tell customers what to buy |
| D．appear on TV and in newspapers at the same time |
Advertisements that play on our weaknesses make us ________.
| A．desire things we do not need | B．purchase the goods we need |
| C．attracted by them | D．become loyal reader, listener or viewer |
according to the text, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．All advertising firms do not care to tell the truth about the goods they advertise. |
| B．All advertising firms only care to make money, as advertising is a big business. |
| C．Most advertising firms make sure that advertisements do not purposely cheat. |
| D．The advertised goods are often of poor quality. |
The underlined word "They" refers to ________.
| A．Goods | B．Customers | C．Shops | D．Advertisements |