Have you heard of the scandal that happened in one of Great Britain’s biggest supermarket chains called Tesco? The British love Tesco as it sells very cheap products and it can be found on almost every corner of a British city or town.
On January 15th 2013 food inspectors discovered 30 % horsemeat in a certain brand of frozen beefburgers that were mostly sold by Tesco in the UK and Ireland.
In times of social media like Facebook and Twitter the news has spread fast and customers have been very concerned about what the food they buy actually contains. Tesco said it had taken away the burgers from the shop shelves immediately, and apologized to their customers. They also promised that they would find out what exactly happened and that they would work harder than ever so this would never happen again. Customers are also able to return the beefburgers and get a refund, that is, their money back.
However, it will be hard for Tesco to get the people’s trust back. Just imagine buying lovely beefburgers that you fry at home and suddenly you find out that you have actually eaten horsemeat! In this case not only horse lovers will be upset!
By the way, why are British people so shocked about eating horsemeat? In history, horses have played great roles as working animals and as an important means of transport. When Britons of today think of horses, they think of majestic animals or cute pets rather than meat.
But this is not the only reason for the protest: Customers also want to be sure that the products they buy contain what it says on the label. Hopefully, supermarkets can avoid mistakes like that in the future. Maybe there should be stricter regulations and more controls of our food? Otherwise we will soon find ourselves eating panda meat instead of pork and parrot instead of chicken. So the next time you are in a supermarket maybe check the ingredients of your food before you buy it or you could get a nasty surprise …What is the scandal?
| A．Tesco’s products were much more expensive than they are supposed to be. |
| B．Tesco didn’t react immediately to a food quality issue. |
| C．Tesco sold expired food. |
| D．Horsemeat was found in burgers sold in Tesco. |
What didn’t Tesco do in response to the scandal?
| A．It withdrew the beefburgers. |
| B．It made an apology to the public. |
| C．It investigated and found out the cause and effect of the scandal. |
| D．It returned money to customers who bought the beefburgers. |
Which statement isn’t among the reasons why customers are furious?
| A．People trusted Tesco so much that they never expected a scandal like this. |
| B．Everyone can call himself or herself a horse lover in the UK. |
| C．Sellers shouldn’t cheat customers. |
| D．The horse is humans’ friend. |
Thirty years ago, the Earnshaw family lived at Wuthering Heights, with two teenaged children Hindley and Catherine. Mr. Earnshaw travels to Liverpool, where he adopts a homeless Gypsy boy, naming him "Heathcliff". Hindley finds himself robbed of his father's love and care and becomes bitterly jealous of the newcomer. However, Catherine grows very attached to him. Soon, the two children spend hours on the moors (荒原) together and hate every moment apart.
Because of the conflict(冲突), Hindley is eventually sent to college. However, he marries a woman named Frances and returns three years later, after Mr. Earnshaw dies. He becomes master of Wuthering Heights, making Heathcliff their servant instead of a family member.
Months after Hindley’s return, Heathcliff and Catherine travel to Thrushcross Grange to spy on the Linton family. However, they are found and try to escape. Catherine is caught by a dog, and then brought inside the Grange to have injuries tended to while Heathcliff is sent home. Catherine eventually returns to Wuthering Heights as a changed woman, looking and acting as a lady. She laughs at HeathcIiff’s dirty appearance. When the Lintons visit the next day, Heathcliff dresses up to impress her. It fails, however, when Edgar, one of the Lintons' children, argues with him. Heathcliff is locked in the attic, where Catherine later tries to comfort him. He swears revenge(报复) on Hindley.
In the summer of the next year, Frances gives birth to a son, Hareton, but she dies before the year is out. This leads Hindley to fall into a life of drunkenness and waste. Two years pass and Catherine has become close friends with Edgar, growing more distant from Heathcliff.
One day in August, while Hindley is absent, Edgar comes to visit Catherine. Before long, they declare themselves lovers. Catherine explains to Nelly, her servant, that she does not really love Edgar but Heathcliff. Unfortunately, she could never marry Heathcliff because of his lack of status and education. She therefore plans to marry Edgar and use that position to help raise Heathcliff’s status. Unfortunately, Heathcliff has overheard the first part and runs away, disappearing without a trace. After three years, Edgar and Catherine are married.
Six months after their marriage, Heathcliff returns as a gentleman, having grown stronger and richer. Catherine is delighted to see him although Edgar is not so keen. Edgar's sister, Isabella, now eighteen, falls in love with Heathcliff. He looks down upon her but encourages the adolescent love, seeing it as a chance for revenge on Edgar. When he embraces Isabella one day at the Grange, there is an argument with Edgar, which causes Catherine to lock herself in her room and fall ill.
Heathcliff has been staying at the Heights, gambling with Hindley and teaching Hareton bad habits. Hindley is gradually losing his wealth, mortgaging （抵押) the farmhouse to Heathcliff to repay his debts.
While Catherine is ill, Heathcliff leaves with Isabella, causing Edgar to disown （与……断绝关系) his sister. The two marry and return two months later to Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff hears that Catherine is ill and arranges to visit her in secret. In the early hours of the day after their meeting, Catherine gives birth to her daughter, Cathy, and then dies. Hindley dies six months after Catherine. Heathcliff finds himself the master of Wuthering Heights and the guardian of Hareton.From the first paragraph, we can know ______ .
| A．Hindley hates the fact that his parents give all their love and care to Catherine |
| B．Mrs. Earnshaw adopts Heathcliff in Liverpool |
| C．Hindley is the oldest of all three children |
| D．Catherine likes Heathcliff so much that she enjoys staying with him for long |
After Frances dies, Hindley________.
| A．lives a disordered life | B．locks Heathcliff in the attic |
| C．argues with Heathcliff very often | D．returns to Wuthering Heights as a changed man . |
The underlined part "the first part" in Paragraph 5 most probably refers to ________ .
| A．Catherine says that Edgar has asked her to marry him and she has agreed |
| B．Catherine loves Heathcliff but can't marry him because of his lack of status and education |
| C．Catherine decides to marry Edgar, with whose help she can help raise Heathcliff’s status |
| D．Catherine and Edgar declare themselves lovers to the family |
At the end of the story________.
| A．Isabella dies after his brother disowns her |
| B．Catherine becomes the master of Wuthering Heights |
| C．Wuthering Heights falls into the hands of Heathcliff |
| D．Hindley dies and leaves Wuthering Heights to Cathy |
The art of reading fiction is largely a matter of inferring meanings. To infer means to understand facts which are not directly stated---only suggested. Inference is one of the commonest ways of knowing things: a child holds his knee and cries; this action implies his feeling; an observer infers that the child is hurt. To infer accurately in everyday life requires caution in observing; to infer skillfully in fiction requires caution in reading; both require disciplined imagination.
The short-story reader can expect to find certain basic elements in any story. For example, all stories involve a person or persons, in a particular setting, faced with a demand for a response. The response called for may be a physical action, such as defeating an adversary(对手) or escaping from a danger; or it may be a mental action, such as adjusting to others or within oneself. In either case, the short story is a description in two ways: first, it shows the motives for a given human action; second, it makes a point about the general human situation. Such descriptions, however, rather than being stated directly, usually are implied by the elements of the story.
When the reader of a story understands all the facts and their interrelationships, he is ready to infer the significance of the story as a whole---its comment on the human situation. This comment, or theme, is the seed from which the story grew. It is also the idea by which all the separate elements of the story are governed, while these in turn further shape and modify the theme. In addition to action, character, and setting, these elements include structure, mood, tone, and point of view.
Fiction reading requires an awareness of all the ways in which a story communicates. It also requires attention to detail. What the author provides is a network of points which serve as clues to his meaning. He invites the reader to develop the meaning by inference, actually to create much of the story himself and so make it part of his own experience.Accordingtotheauthor,"infer"means ________.
| A．knowingfactsbeyondthestatement |
| B．lookingformoreevidencesforthestatement |
| C．findingoutadifferentmeaningfromthestatement |
| D．addingsomefactstothestatement |
Whatisinferringinfictionbasedon?
| A．Readers’guessing. | B．Thebasicelementsofthestory. |
| C．Thesettingofthestory. | D．Theinterrelationshipsbetweenpeopleinthestory. |
Whatistheimpliedmeaningofthelastsentence?
| A．Inferringcanreallyhelpthereaderdevelopimaginationandenrichhimself. |
| B．Inferringcanhelpthereaderwriteastoryofhisown. |
| C．Thereadershouldlookforanexperiencedescribedinthestoryhereads. |
| D．Theexperiencedescribedinthestorywillleaveagreatimpactonitsreader. |
Whatisthemainideaofthispassage?
| A．Inferringisanartofwriting. | B．Inferringisaneedinfictionwriting |
| C．Inferringisthebasicskillinreadingfiction. | D．Inferringiscommoninreading. |
The long, lonely voyage of the Japanese ghost ship is over.
A US Coast Guard cutter poured cannon fire(开炮) into an abandoned Japanese ghost ship that had been floating since last year’s tsunami, sinking the ship into waters more than 305 meters deep in the Gulf of Alaska and removing the danger it created to shipping and the coastline on Thursday.
The cutter’s guns tore holes in the 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru, and then it began to take on water and lean to one side. In about four hours, the ship disappeared into the sea, said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow.
The ship had no lights or communications system, and its tank was able to carry more than 7,570 liters of diesel fuel. Officials, however, didn’t know exactly how much fuel was aboard.
“It’s less risky than it would be running into shore or running into other ships,” coast guard spokesman Paul Webb said.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the problem and decided it was safer to sink the ship than let the fuel evaporate and pollute the sea environment.
Ryou-Un Maru was probably among the first wave of the 1.5 million tons of garbage of refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, roofs and fishing nets heading toward North America since last March when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan.
As the coast guard was ready to fire on the ship, a Canadian fishing ship, the 19-meter Bernice C, claimed the rights to save the ghost ship in international waters.
Plans to sink it were paused so the Canadian crew could have a chance to take the stricken ship. A Canadian official with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that the Bernice C was unable to drag it.
Then the Canadian boat left, and once it was about 10 kilometers from the Japanese ship, the Coast Guard began to fire, first with 25 mm shells, then a few hours later with ammunition twice that size.
State officials have been working to test the danger of garbage including materials affected by a damaged nuclear power plant, to see if Alaska residents, seafood or wild animals could be affected.Which of the following is NOT the reason for sinking the Japanese ship?
| A．It had no lights or communications system. | B．It might be washed up onto the shore. |
| C．It was a danger to other passing ships. | D．The oil it carried could pollute the sea. |
The plan to fire on the Japanese ghost ship was paused because ________.
| A．the ghost ship was beyond the reach of the Coast Guard’s guns |
| B．the shells were not powerful enough to sink the ghost ship |
| C．state officials worried the ghost ship might give out radiation |
| D．a Canadian fishing boat wanted to save the ghost ship |
Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?
| A．Japanese ghost ship arriving at US | B．Tsunami garbage heading to US |
| C．Cannon fire sinking Japanese ghost ship | D．Japanese ghost ship polluting the Pacific |
Motorists over the age of 75 face compulsory tests of their eyesight and ability to drive under proposals being considered by ministers.
The biggest overhaul of motoring law in a generation could also lead to all drivers having to give assurances（保证）of their fitness to get behind the wheel every 10 years.
Other changes under consideration include issuing（发放）daylight driving licenses for motorists with night blindness, together with stricter checks on all drivers whose medical condition brought a threat to other road users.
It is understood that the proposals will be part of a review of the law governing the medical fitness of drivers that will be announced publicly by the summer.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is dealing with a rising number of motorists who are concerned that they have conditions---from failing eyesight to epilepsy---that could affect their driving.
In 2006, the DVLA dealt with 600,000 motorists whose physical ability to drive needed to be recertified（重新认证）, a 20 per cent rise on the previous year. With an ageing population, the biggest challenge is dealing with the rising number of elderly motorists. By 2021, there will be an estimated three million drivers over the age of 70 on Britain’s roads.
Drivers must renew their licenses at the age of 70 and every three years thereafter. The applicant is legally required to tell the DVLA of any conditions that could weaken their ability behind the wheel.
Ministers have ruled out a compulsory maximum age for driving but will instead rely on tightening up the checks on motorists over the age of 75. The most likely option would be tests to ensure motorists were fit to drive. They would include an eyesight test and a cognitive（认知） test that would prove a driver's ability to react to road signs, driving conditions, pedestrians and vehicles.
However, checks are likely to be tightened at all ages. The strictest controls are expected to be imposed（强制） on motorists of any age who have had a heart attack or stroke. They could have to produce a doctor's approval to resume（重新得到）driving. Anyone making a false declaration would be guilty of a criminal offence.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The new motoring law will come into effect by the summer． |
| B．Drivers over the age of 75 must renew their licenses every three years． |
| C．Doctors will decide whether one can get their driving licenses． |
| D．Drivers at all ages will be expected to provide their medical condition． |
What is the biggest challenge to the traffic safety in Britain according to the writer?
| A．Ageing population． | B．Increasing number of cars． |
| C．Increasing number of elderly motorists． | D．Driving conditions． |
The underlined word “overhaul” in Paragraph 2 means _______．
| A．change | B．consideration | C．concern | D．challenge |
What can be learned from the passage?
| A．There will be more and more aged drivers in Britain． |
| B．Anyone can get a driving license as long as he/she is in good health． |
| C．Health tends to decline as one gets old |
| D．It will be guilty to make a false declaration． |
A yoga master made a shocking statement that Abraham Lincoln had been a Himalayan yogi in a past life．Lincoln delivered a proclamation setting up Thanksgiving as an American holiday in 1863．Research throws light on a possible Hindu （印度的）origin for the American celebration of Thanksgiving．
"The holiday of Thanksgiving has a Hindu origin," says Richard Salva, author of a book on the reincarnation （转世）of Abraham Lincoln entitled Soul Journey: From Lincoln to Lindbergh which is based on a statement by the great master of yoga, Paramhamsa Yogananda, who declared that Abraham Lincoln had been a Himalayan yogi in a past life, and that he was reborn as the famous pilot, Charles Lindbergh．
“During my search for signs of a past-life yoga practice,” SaIva said, “I noticed that President Lincoln repeatedly chose Thursdays as national days of prayer, fasting （禁食），and thanksgiving．This was interesting, because Thursday is considered a holy day — a day for prayer, fasting, and spiritual reflection — among Hindus, who call it “guru day”.”
“Lincoln also set aside time on Thursdays to grieve(哀悼) for his son,Willie, who died in Washington．Clearly, Thursdays had a spiritual significance in Lincoln's mind.
In his book, Richard Salva presents more than 500 connections between Lincoln, Lindergh, and the ancient spiritual science of yoga. The connections run through every aspect of the human condition and provide convincing evidence that Lincoln had had a Hindu past life.
More than one out of every five Americans today believes in reincarnation—yet few are aware of how past-life patterns affect them. Soul Journey tries to fill this gap, by offering a substitute experience of reincarnation. Through clear and persuasive similarities between the lives of Lincoln and Lindbergh, the book discovers how the hidden laws of fate and reincarnation impact the events of his or her daily life. It addresses other issues, such as the secret spiritual history of America's greatest president, including his past life as a Himalayan yogi; the hidden clues that reveal past lives; the greatness he achieved; and the spiritual principles behind the yoga postures that millions now practice．Based on Richard Salva’s view, ______.
| A．Hindus started the holiday of Thanksgiving |
| B．the Americans copied Thanksgiving from Hindus |
| C．Charles Lindbergh had been a Himalayan yogi |
| D．Thanksgiving had Hindus roots |
We can draw a conclusion from the passage that ______.
| A．in India all the prayers are done on Thursday |
| B．in India Thursday is a religious day |
| C．Abraham Lincoln was once a famous pilot |
| D．Paramhamsa Yogananda once taught Lincoln yoga |
When it came to the comparison between Lincoln and Lindbergh, the author held a ______ attitude.
| A．neutral | B．doubtful | C．negative | D．positive |