In the summer of 1980 a Spanish tourist, Gaspar Carner, went to Great Britain on holiday. When he was travelling in Scotland, he decided to visit Loch Ness, the famous lake where people say there is a monster. But while he was going across the lake in a boat, his bag fell into the water. In the bag were his passport, car keys, pen, and all his money. Loch Ness is 150 meters deep, so he didn’t expect to see the bag again!
Fourteen years later, in 1994, some scientists decided to explore the lake. They looked for the Loch Ness monster. Suddenly one of them saw something black in the water. They carefully went nearer. They thought the black thing was the monster. They went nearer and nearer. It was a bag. They took the bag out of the lake. They found that the photo on the passport was still clear. One of the scientists knew Gaspar Carner. So the bag was returned to him.Carner visited Loch Ness _____.
A.on business | B.on holiday | C.for exploring | D.for money |
Why is the lake famous? Because _____
A.it’s very deep. | B.there’s a bag in it. |
C.there may be a monster | D.it’s in Scotland |
What’s in Carner’s bag? _____.
A.A monster | B.Something black | C.Photo | D.Many useful things |
How did the explorers know the bag was Carner’s? _____.
A.One of the explorers knew Carner |
B.Carner recognized (认出) the bag |
C.Carner was very famous |
D.They expected it was the monster |
Why didn’t Carner expect to see the bag again?
A.There was nothing important in his bag. |
B.He didn’t like his bag. |
C.The monster ate his bag. |
D.He thought Loch Ness was so deep that his bag couldn’t be found. |
Having returned from her round trip (往返旅程), the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes (应给予) me£12,” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office, “you sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me £12.”
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, madam,” he said politely, “I’ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sunburnt,” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”
“Yes,” She answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”
“That’s fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can’t swim a bit yet. Of course, she’s only three…”
“I’m four,” the child said proudly. “I’ll be four and a half.” Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, madam,” he said. “But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”
“Err, well…” the woman looked at the child. “I mean… she hasn’t started school yet. She’s only four.”
“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, madam. A child’s return ticket to Jersey costs… let me see…£13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe £1.50. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…”
The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the office.The woman was angry because__________.
A.she couldn’t use the ticket for her round trip |
B.she had to return home a day earlier than she had planned |
C.she spent more money than she had expected |
D.Harry had sold her a ticket to Jersey where there was no sailing |
Harry started talking to the little girl________.
A.because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do |
B.because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl |
C.because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice |
D.when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl |
The woman left the office without saying anything because _______.
A.she wanted to go home and get money for the child’s ticket |
B.she was so angry that she didn’t want to have anything more to do with the young man |
C.she was moved by Harry’s kindness |
D.she knew she would have to pay the railway if she insisted |
How can a small stamp be worth $16,800?
Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on a two-penny stamp has made it worth a million and a half times its face value.
Do you think it impossible? Well, it is true. And this is how it happened.
The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the former British colony (前英国殖民地) of M auritius (毛里求斯岛), a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to London. Mauritius was about to become the fourth country in the world to put out stamps.
Before the order was filled and the stamps arrived from England, a big dance was planned by the commander-in-chief (总司令) of all the armed forces on the island. The dance would be held in his house and letters of invitation would be sent to all the important people in Mauritius. Stamps were badly needed to post the letters. Therefore, an islander, who was a good printer, was told to copy the pattern of the stamps. He carelessly put the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid”, two words seen on stamps at that time, on the several hundred that he printed.
Today, there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left--- fourteen One-penny Reds and twelve Two-penny Blues. Because there are so few Two-Penny Blues and because of their age, collectors have paid as much as $16,800 for one of them.When a mistake is made in the printing of the stamp, the stamp___________.
A.will be thrown away |
B.increases in value |
C.is not worth buying |
D.is worth no more than its face value |
Why did Mauritius print some stamps too? Because__________.
A.London stamps were not well printed |
B.London would not print them |
C.invitations to a big dance had to be posted quickly |
D.Mauritius had a very good printer |
“Post Paid” means___________.
A.the same as “Post Office” |
B.the Post Office is the place to buy stamps |
C.money has been paid for the stamp |
D.the letter must be posted |
Stop. Listen! What do you hear? You may hear many different sounds. Some of those sounds may be noise. Noise is a loud or unwanted sound.
Noise can be caused by many kinds of machines, such as motorcycles, jet planes and farm tractors(拖拉机). Rock music is also noise.
What happens to people who live near noisy machines or use them over a period of time? Doctors have found that these people have trouble in sleeping. But, most important, constant(不断的) loud noise can cause a loss of hearing.
Scientists use a unit of measure called decibel(分贝) to measure the loudness of a sound. The sound of a quiet room, for example, measures 35 decibels. Talking measures between 40 and 65 decibels. Sounds from traffic and from some rock bands can measure over 120 decibels. Noise at this high level(层次) causes the great hearing loss.According to the passage, noise is .
A.any kind of sound | B.a loud or unwanted sound |
C.all sounds that you can hear | D.terrible sound |
A decibel is a .
A.unit that measures sound | B.kind of noise |
C.machine that makes loud noise | D.person who hates sound |
According to the passage, loud noise can .
A.help people to sleep better | B.stop machines |
C.cause a loss of hearing | D.kill people |
We can conclude from the passage that .
A.noise is a serious problem | B.rock music isn’t noise |
C.noise is only from traffic | D.some people hate any sound |
Study the diagram below. would be the quietest.
Room |
Noise Level |
A |
40~65 decibels |
B |
35 decibels |
C |
120 decibels |
D |
130 decibels |
A. Room A B. Room B C. Room C D. Room D
Have you ever done something foolish and it made you feel so embarrassed(尴尬的)?
Well, that’s exactly how I felt. On a Saturday morning last autumn.I went to town to do some shopping and as I was on my way home from the shop,it suddenly began to rain. I at once ran into a nearby phone box because I didn’t have an umbrella.It was raining so heavily that I had to stay in the phone box until it stopped.
A few moments later,I saw a young man walk up to the phone box,wearing a yellow raincoat and holding a box. I didn’t want to go out into the rain,so I picked up the phone and pretended(假装) I was talking to someone. I thought the man would go away,but he didn’t. He just waited in the pouring rain,and I acted as if I was deep in conversation.
Luckily,the rain stopped after about ten minutes.“Okay,Mum,” I said loudly into the phone,“I’ll see you later. Bye!” I put the phone down, picked up my shopping bag and walked out of the phone box. “I’m sorry I took so long.” I said to the man.
“Oh, I don’t want to use the phone,” he answered, smiling.“I’ve just come to repair it. There is something wrong with it, you see .” I felt myself go red in the face and I hurried away with my head down,feeling a complete fool. That was certainly one of the most embarrassing moments of my life!Why did the writer go to the phone box and stay there?
A.Because she wanted to keep warm. |
B.Because she wanted to wait for her friend there. |
C.Because she wanted to phone her mother. |
D.Because it rained heavily and she had no umbrella with her. |
The writer thought that the young man wanted .
A.to repair the phone. | B.to use the phone. |
C.to stay in the phone box. | D.to clean the phone box. |
How long did the man wait for?
A.About five minutes. | B.About fifteen minutes. |
C.About ten minutes. | D.About thirty minutes. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
A.The story happened on a cold Saturday morning last summer. |
B.The writer telephoned her mother. |
C.The writer was on her way home after doing some shopping,suddenly it began to rain. |
D.The writer knew why the man came here. |
Why was the writer embarrassed?
A. Because she did something foolish.
B. Because she got all wet.
C. Because she made the young man wait so long.
D Because she couldn't get out of the phone box.
We,ve Moved! Please come to the party in our new house. 8:00pm.on November 5 Betty and Jack Add:31 Station Street Tel:342-1525 E-mail:betty12@email.net |
Must Sell $275 Best washing machine Only 6 months old Owner going abroad Call Mike Green Add:10 Park Street Tel:342-2691 E-mail:mikegreen@hotmail.com |
Smith,s Book Club New and old books Over 1,000 kinds Good coffee and tea Open every day 10:00 to 22:00 Add:15 North Street Tel:342-7391or 342-7350 E-mail:smith15@yahoo.com |
If you want to go to Betty and Jack,s party, you can call.
A.342-1525 | B.342-7391 | C.342-2691 | D.342-7350 |
Mike Green has to sell his washing machine because.
A.he wants to buy a new one |
B.he will go abroad |
C.he wants to buy a new house |
D.There,s something wrong with it |
Smith,s Book Club is opena day.
A.8 hours | B.10 hours | C.12 hours | D.20 hours |
If you want to read some books, you can go to.
A.31 Station Street | B.15 North Street | C.10 park Street | D.15 Apple Street |
You can use the e-mail mikegreen@hotmail. com if you want to.
A.read some books | B.go to a family party |
C.drink some good coffee | D.buy a washing machine |