A man claiming to be a pastor(牧师) apparently tried to stiff a waiter on a tip, explaining that his work for God allowed him not to leave one.
A photo of the receipt, posted to Reddit.com, shows a bill for $34.93 with an automatic 18 percent gratuity(小费) (or $6.29) added above a blank space for an additional tip.
“I give God 10%,” the diner wrote on the receipt, scratching out the automatic tip. “Why do you get 18?” He then wrote “Pastor” above his signature, and an emphatic “0” where the additional tip would be. (The automatic gratuity, however, had already been added to the total.)
The Reddit user who submitted the image explained in the comments section that the receipt was part of a total bill for a party of 20, which is why the gratuity was automatically added.
“Parties up to eight ... may tip whatever they’d like, but larger parties receive an automatic gratuity," the server wrote. "It’s in the computer; it’s not something I do.”
The server added: “They had no problem with my service, and told me I was great. They just didn’t want to pay when the time came.”
Scribbling(乱涂) notes on receipts has become something of a trend. Earlier this month, the manager of a North Carolina Red Robin surprised an overdue pregnant woman by comping her meal.
“Once seated, a manager came up to us and started talking,” the woman's husband told Consumerist. “He was extremely friendly and jokingly asked my wife if this was her last meal before heading to the hospital.”
When the check came, a note from the manager next to her portion of the bill read: “MOM 2 BEE GOOD LUC.”
“It was a pleasant surprise and made my tired-of-being-pregnant wife a little more cheery,” the man said.What did the pastor mean by saying, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”
| A．He was bargaining with the waiter. |
| B．He didn’t mean to pay the gratuity at all. |
| C．God gave him the privilege not to pay a gratuity. |
| D．The gratuity had already been paid by his friends. |
What do you learn from the article?
| A．The pastor paid ten percent gratuity of the meal to God. |
| B．A party of six diners can choose whatever gratuity they want to pay. |
| C．According to the husband, the wife enjoyed the process of being pregnant. |
| D．The pastor paid $34.93 in total for the meal. |
What does the underlined word “stiff” mean?
| A．amuse | B．abuse | C．persuade | D．fail to pay |
第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
第一节：阅读选择（计分30）
A
Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be simple fact? Do you argue whether it' s cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit?
If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant. The first blind man who felt the elephant' s trunk said it was like a snake. The second who felt the elephant's side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear as he touched the animal' s tusk. The fourth, who caught hold of the elephant's tail insisted that it was like a rope. The fifth man said it looked like a tree as he put his arms around one of the elephant' s legs. The sixth, who was tall and got hold of the elephant' s ears, said it was like a huge fan.
Each man' s idea of the animal came from his own experience. So if someone disagrees with you about a "simple fact", it' s often because his experience in the matter is different from yours.
To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a "simple fact", try this simple experiment. Get three large bowls. Put ice water in one. Put hot water in the second. Put lukewarm water in the third. Now put your left hand in the ice water. Put your right hand in the hot water. After thirty seconds, put both hands in the lukewarm water. Your right hand will tell you the water is cold. Your left hand will tell you it's hot!
56. What makes people think about simple facts differently?
A. The fact that simple facts differ from one another.
B. The fact that people have different experience in the simple facts.
C. The fact that people often disagree with one another.
D. The fact that it' s hard to make up one's mind about simple facts.
57. The writer's advice is____.
A. we should never think about simple facts
B. we should never judge something with a one-sided view
C. we should not agree about simple facts
D. we must learn from the six blind men
58. After reading the last paragraph, we may think of ____.
A. Newton' s law B. Galileo' s theory of falling objects
C. Einstein' s Theory of Relativity D. Marx' s On Capital
59. The main idea of this passage is ____.
A. people often judge something according to his own experience
B. people often agree about simple facts
C. it's hard for a person to make up his mind about a simple fact
D. you should not care too much about simple fact
People who breathe infected air from a TB patient can become infected with the tuberculosis（肺结核） bacteria（细菌）. However, most people with active tuberculosis do not expel （驱逐，逐出）very many TB bacteria. So, the spread of the disease usually does not happen unless a person spends a large amount of time with a TB patient. Those most at risk are family members, friends and people who live or work closely with a patient.
Tuberculosis can attack any part of the body. However, the lungs are the most common targets（目标） of the bacteria. People with the disease show several signs. They may expel air from the lungs suddenly with an explosive（爆炸性的） noise. This kind of cough continues for a long period of time. People with a more severe case of tuberculosis also may cough up blood.
People with the disease often have high body temperatures. They suffer what are called night sweats, during which their bodies release large amounts of water through the skin. TB victims also are tired all the time. They are not interested in eating. So their bodies lose weight.
One thing that is especially dangerous about TB is that people with moderate（中等的） signs of the disease may not know they have had it. They may spread the disease to others without even knowing it. So, it is very important for people to get tested for tuberculosis.The spread of the TB is through__________.
| A．food | B．air | C．clothes | D．touching |
Family members are those most at risk to be infected with the tuberculosis bacteria,_____________.
| A．because they have the same bath room | B．because they have blood relationship |
| C．because they love each other very much | D．because they live in the same room |
The common signs of TB are ___________.
| A．cough or even cough with blood, night sweat, and tired of sleeping. |
| B．cough or even cough with blood, night sweat, and eating too much |
| C．cough, fever, feeling tired, night sweat, losing weight |
| D．cough, fever, feeling tired, night sweat, eating too much |
Why may some TB patients spread the disease to others without even knowing it?
| A．Because there is no sign in the early stage of the disease. |
| B．Because these patients don’t show any signs of the disease. |
| C．Because these patients’ signs of the disease are too weak to be noticed. |
| D．Because these patients don’t know how the disease spreads between people. |
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. They should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels. People who are unhappy ________ .
| A．always consider things differently form others |
| B．usually are affected by the results of certain things |
| C．usually misunderstand what others think or say |
| D．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things |
The underlined phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “______ ”.
| A．have a good taste with social life | B．make others unhappy |
| C．tend to scold others openly | D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
We can conclude from the passage that ______.
| A．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| C．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| D．unhappy people can not understand happy persons |
If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should ______.
| A．prevent communication with them |
| B．show no respect and politeness to them |
| C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects |
| D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes |
In this passage, the writer mainly ______.
| A．describes two types of people | B．laughs at the unhappy people |
| C．suggests ways to help the unhappy | D．tells people how to be happy in life |
I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church.
When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the
bottom of one box. I pulled it out.“What is this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had pieced（拼凑） it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.
“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made straight a crooked line. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said. It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another. Why did the author go to mother’s home?
| A．To see her mother’s quilts. |
| B．To help prepare for a show. |
| C．To get together for the family dinner. |
| D．To discuss her grandmother’s life. |
The author was surprised because ______.
| A．the quilt looked very strange. |
| B．her grandmother liked the quilt. |
| C．the quilt was the best she had seen. |
| D．her mother had made some changes |
The italic word “crooked” in the passage most probably means ______.
| A．unfinished | B．broken | C．bent | D．unusual |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Quilt Show | B．Mother’s Home | C．A Monday Dinner | D．Grandmother’s Quilt |
The World Trade Organization (WTO), founded on January 1, 1995, aims to encourage international trade to flow as possible, making sure that trade agreements are respected and that any disputes can be settled.
In the five years since its founding, the WTO has become well known as one of the world’s most powerful economic organizations, taking its place alongside the World Bank and International Money Fund.
The system of global rules for international trade, however, dates back half a century to 1948 when the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was formed after World War II.
As time went by, it became clear that the GATT had two major drawbacks-the limited areas of trade it covered, and the lack of an effective system to settle disputes.
After seven years of trade talks ending in 1994, the so-called Uruguay Round finally give birth to the WTO, complete with an effective system to settle disputes and new rules covering trade in services and intellectual property.
Even after seven years of talks and 22, 500 pages of agreements, there were still problems, especially the difficulty to deal with areas of agriculture and services, which the member nations agreed to revise in 2000. The WTO, with its head office in Geneva, has 135 members with 30 more waiting to join. From the passage we know that the GATT stopped working ________.
| A．soon after World War II ended |
| B．a little more than 50 years after World War II |
| C．just in the year 1994 |
| D．seven years before the Uruguay Round talk |
Compared with the GATT, the WTO _______.
| A．didn’t pay enough attention to services and intellectual property |
| B．got its members to sign the agreements more easily |
| C．has got to many areas of international trade to deal with to work effectively |
| D．can do better to settle disputes in more areas of international trade |
In the new century the WTO will ________.
| A．take the place of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund |
| B．have more members and settle more problems |
| C．make complete new rules in every area of international trade |
| D．have new rules covering trade in services and intellectual property |