In the UK, we like a good bargain. People flock to the sales in January, when stores slash their prices to get rid of all their winter stock. But surprisingly, the British hate haggling. In markets you might see the odd British person battling with a stall owner to bring down the price of a pair of trousers or some furniture. Generally, though, people from the UK are too reserved to haggle. If we think the price of something we want is too high, we’ll simply move on and try somewhere else.
The act of bargaining with someone is very theatrical, in my opinion. It’s a test to see who can stand their ground for the longest. But it is not in British people’s nature to “perform” in public, especially around strangers.
However, in the US, people are generally more willing to haggle. And if you wander into a market, you’re likely to hear a number of phrases that Americans reserve for such occasions.
First, “you drive a hard bargain” is commonly said by the customer to indicate they think the stall holder is working very hard, probably a little too hard, to get the price he wants.
Or you might hear the buyer telling a stall holder that “the kid’s gotta have braces”, which means they don’t have enough spare money lying around to afford the price being offered.
If the customer is really shocked at the price suggested by the seller, they also might say “you’re killing me” to indicate that they think the price is far too high.
In Britain, it’s difficult to imagine anyone saying anything along these lines. If I were forced to bargain, I’d probably say, very simply: “I’m going to make you an offer.” If that offer were refused, I think I’d just walk away.The underlined word “haggling” can be replaced by _______.
| A．arguing | B．bargaining | C．performing | D．insisting |
Why don’t the British haggle generally?
| A．They don’t think it is polite behavior. |
| B．They have sales every January. |
| C．They can always get a better price somewhere else. |
| D．They dislike openly expressing feelings or opinions. |
The underlined phrase “you drive a hard bargain” means_______.
| A．the seller has a lot of deals on offer. |
| B．the buyer will make a final offer |
| C．the stall holder is too insistent |
| D．the buyer doesn’t have a lot of spare money |
What’s the author’s attitude toward bargaining?
| A．Negative. | B．Careless. | C．Positive. | D．Critical. |
How does the passage mainly develop?
| A．By providing examples. |
| B．By making comparision. |
| C．By analyzing causes and effects. |
| D．By following the order of importance. |
Alice Walker makes her living by writing, and her poems, short stories, and novels have won many awards and fellowships for her. She was born in Eatonton, Georgia. She went to public schools there, and then to Spelman college in Atlanta before coming to New York to attend Sarah Lawrence college, from which she graduated in 1966. For a time she lived in Jackson, Mississippi, with her lawyer husband and a small daughter. About Langston Hughes, American Poet, here first book for children, she says, “After my first meeting with Langston Hughes I vowed I would write a book about him for children someday. Why? Because I, at 22, knew next to nothing of his work , and he didn’t scold me; he just gave me a stack of his books. And he was kind to me; I will always be grateful that in his absolute warmth and generosity he fulfilled my deepest dream ( and need) of what a poet should be.?”
“To me he is not dead at all. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of him or speak of him. Once, just before he died, when he was sick with the flu, I took him a sack full of oranges. The joy I felt in giving that simple gift is undiminished by time. He said he liked oranges, too.”What is the main topic of the passage?
| A．Alice Walker’s reflection on Langston Hughes. |
| B．The influence of Alice Walker on the writing of Langston Hughes. |
| C．Langston Hughes’ book about Alice Walker. |
| D．A comparison of the childhoods of Alice Walker and Langston Hughes. |
In the passage, Alice Walker is described as _____.
| A．a research fellow at Spelman College |
| B．a professor at Sarah Lawrence College |
| C．a prize-winning writer of prose and poetry |
| D．an author of plays for children |
Before attending college, Alice Walker went to school in _____.
| A．Atlanta, Georgia | B．Eatonton, Georgia |
| C．Jackson, Mississippi | D．Lawrence, Massachusetts |
The word “vowed” the first paragraph is closest in meaning to _____.
| A．shouted | B．believed | C．refused | D．promised |
It can be inferred from the passage that Alice Walker was 22 years old when _____.
| A．she moved to Jackson, Mississippi |
| B．she moved to New York |
| C．she first met Langston Hughes |
| D．Langston Hughes died |
Whales live in the ocean, but they are not fish. They are warm-blooded mammals and must have air to breathe. The babies are born alive and drink milk from the mother's body. It took millions of years for the whale to develop as it is today.
Every spring groups of whales swim hundreds of kilometers to warm places to bear their young. Each group goes to the same place every year. The mothers take very good care of their babies. The fully grown whales are very gentle and playful with each other, and with humans. They “talk” to each other with a high noise that sounds beautiful. This“talking” can be heard for more than 300 kilometers in open waters.
Yet humans kill over a hundred whales a day. They kill them to make whale oils and a lot of other things. Killing them is a modern business with modern machines and even harpoons( 鱼叉炮) that explode( 爆炸) inside the whales. A whale dies very slowly and in great pain. Some ships kill every whale they can find, even the mothers and babies. Then there are no young whales to grow up or to bear more young.A commonly mistaken belief is that ____.
| A．whales are mammals |
| B．whales must have air to breathe |
| C．whales' babies drink milk |
| D．whales are fish |
In the passage “mammals” refer to ____.
| A．the animals which live in water |
| B．the animals which have wings and feathers |
| C．the animals which are fed on their mothers' milk |
| D．the things which live in earth and have no backbones |
Every spring each group of whales ____.
| A．swim only a few kilometers |
| B．return to the same place as they did before |
| C．go to different places |
| D．go to cold places to bear their young |
When whales talk, it sounds like ____.
| A．talking | B．whispering | C．quarreling | D．singing |
Every year humans kill ____ all over the world.
| A．nearly forty thousand whales |
| B．less than four million |
| C．about four thousand whales |
| D．about fourteen thousand whales |
Each child has his individual（个人的）pattern of social, as well as physical, development. Some of it depends on his home life and his relationships with the people who love him. Children in large families learn how to get along with others through normal brother- sister play and tussles （打斗）. An only child, on the other hand , may have to learn his lessons in social living through hard experiences on the playground or in the classroom. Twins who always have one another to lean on may be slow in responding to others because they do not need anyone else.
A child who is constantly scolded and made to feel he does everything wrong may have a difficult time developing socially. He may be so afraid of displeasing the adults around him that he keeps to himself （where he can’t get into trouble）or he may take the opposite route and go out of his way to create trouble. Like the deserted child, he too may return to infantile （幼稚的）pleasures, developing habits that will satisfy him, but create barriers（障碍）toward social contact.Which of the following may have effect on children’s paten of social development?
| A．Age. | B．Education | C．Home life. | D．Gender（性别） |
The passage implies that which of the following may have the earliest time learning to get along with others?
| A．An only child |
| B．A child from a large family |
| C．Twins |
| D．Children who are continually scolded |
Which of the following is implied by the passage?
| A．Too much scolding of children may make their social development difficult. |
| B．All children developed in the same ways. |
| C．Children who are constantly scolded may learn to get along with others quickly. |
| D．Deserted children often exhibit quicker social development. |
We can inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．continual scolding is not harmful to the child. |
| B．continual scolding holds back healthy social development. |
| C．continual scolding has no effect on obeying orders. |
| D．continual scolding has no effect on physical development |
Where does the passage say the only child learns his social lessons?
| A．School and home | B．Home and playground |
| C．Classroom and playground | D．All of the above |
-What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today’s leading killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memories.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live, Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on—in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by __________.
| A．diseases and aging |
| B．accidents and war |
| C．accidents and aging |
| D．heart disease and war |
In the author’s opinion, today’s most important advance in technology lies in __________.
| A．brain cell | B．the Internet |
| C．medicine | D．human organ |
Humans may live longer in the future because _________.
| A．heart disease will be far away from us |
| B．human brains can decide the final death |
| C．the basic materials of cells will last forever |
| D．human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
How long can humans live in the future according to the passage?
| A．Over 100 years. |
| B．More than 120 years. |
| C．About 150 years. |
| D．The passage doesn't tell us. |
-American office workers spend an average of 52 hours a week at their desks, according to a statistic survey. Some might argue that not all that time is spent working，but still all those hours in windowless offices with artificial light can have an influence.
A few green additions could have a large effect on worker happiness，according to the survey led by Tina Cade from Texas State University.
“We pretty much found out that if you had windows and plants or even if you just had plants in your office, you were more satisfied with your job,” Cade told LiveScience. “We thought it was important for offices because a lot of times people are looking for ways to keep employees happy and do all these expensive things like building a gym. Maybe for less investment they could put in a few plants in important places.”
The team surveyed 450 office workers in Texas and the Midwest，asking questions about job satisfaction and the work environments. When asked about their overall life quality,82 said they felt “content” or “very happy”. Only 69 percent of those who work with plants but without windows，and 60 percent of those who have windows but no plants, said they felt this way.
The group of people who work without plants or windows were the most dissatisfied，with only 58 percent of them saying that overall they were “content” or “very happy”. While no one who works with plants，windows，or both reported they felt “miserable”, 0.8 percent of those who work in offices without either said they were “miserable”. “I was really surprised that having a plant in your office appeared to be more beneficial than having a window in your office,” Cade said. “Everybody says, ‘I need a window!’ but actually it seemed like a plant could be a suitable alternative.”What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Green plants can increase job satisfaction. |
| B．An easier way to increase job satisfaction. |
| C．What the best working environment is. |
| D．Who are happy with their job environment. |
Among the 450 people surveyed, ________.
| A．69 percent have plants in their offices |
| B．60 percent have windows in their walls |
| C．0.8 percent of them feel dissatisfied |
| D．about 18 percent of them are satisfied |
According to the survey，the group of people who work without plants or windows ______.
| A．didn’t feel content at all |
| B．all suffered from work pressure |
| C．were the most dissatisfied |
| D．worked with low efficiency |
Which of the following statement is true?
| A．The employers want to do little to keep employees happy. |
| B．Sometimes it doesn’t need much to increase job happiness. |
| C．A gym contributes less to job happiness than green plants. |
| D．Employers have tried every means to increase job happiness. |