Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.
Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.
Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain’s owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy’s restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers’ speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.
The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original sons performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intension was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.
Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover. (营业额)
These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated. Which was one of the problems Sparrow faced before Pearson became CEO?
| A．The number of its customers was declining |
| B．It was in need of financial support |
| C．Its customers found the food unhealthy |
| D．Most of its restaurants were closed |
What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Customers of Sparrow restaurants |
| B．Sparrow restaurants |
| C．other fast-food chains |
| D．Customers of other fast-food chains |
For what purpose did Pearson start the advertising campaign?
| A．To stress the unusual tradition of Sparrow |
| B．To lean about customers; spending power. |
| C．To meet the challenge from Marcy’s restaurants. |
| D．To build a good relationship with the public |
What was Pearson’s achievement as a CEO?
| A．He made Sparrow much more competitive |
| B．He managed to pay off Sparrow’s debts. |
| C．He helped Sparrow take over a company |
| D．He improved the welfare of Sparrow employees |
Two thieves came to a house to steal something.They dug a hole in the wall of the house.
There lived many mice in the house.The woman in the moonlight saw a mouse crawl（爬行）into the house.“Look！In comes one，”she said to the man in the house.The thief was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled out of the house and said to the one waiting outside，“She found me when I was just in.” But the thief outside didn’t believe him，so he said，“Let us two try to crawl into the house together.”At that time two mice happened to crawl into the house，too.The woman saw the mice and shouted，“In come two，catch them！” The two thieves were terribly frightened.The man in the house said，“You saw them come in but where are they？ I will catch them tonight.”The two thieves started running away at once.
The two thieves wanted to make it clear whether they had been found or not the night before.The next day they acted as men selling sweet potatoes and came before the house.The man and the woman were ploughing in their fields.The rein（缰绳）broke and the woman came home for a rope.She saw two men selling sweet potatoes and wanted to buy some.She picked out two which looked like mice.At the time the man couldn’t wait for her any longer in the fields and he ran back from the fields to hurry her up.The woman showed the sweet potatoes to the man and said，“How they look like the two of last night.”The man said，“I asked you to fetch a rope，why don’t you hurry for it？”The two thieves ran away quickly without their sweet potatoes.The two thieves failed to steal anything from the house because______.
| A．they were found out |
| B．they were frightened by what they had heard in the house |
| C．they didn’t work together well with each other |
| D．mice stopped them from doing so |
From the last paragraph，we know that ______.
| A．the two thieves were famous selling sweet potatoes |
| B．the woman recognized the two thieves |
| C．the woman pretended to know nothing about the two thieves and made fun of them |
| D．the two thieves didn’t know that they were not found at all |
“______”is the best title for this passage.
| A．Two Clever Thieves | B．Terrible Mice |
| C．Hit the Mark by a Fluke（歪打正着） | D．A Clever Couple |
Which of the following statements is false？
| A．The two thieves not only failed to steal things but also lost their sweet potatoes. |
| B．Whenever they found mice，the people in the house would try to catch them. |
| C．The two thieves ran away at once，because they thought the woman had seen them. |
| D．The man let the woman go home for a rope，which would be used for catching the thieves. |
After several days’ warm weather around the New Year’s Day，a strong cold wave with a sandstorm from Mongolia attacked Tianjin Sunday afternoon.
From 3 o’clock p.m.，the strong cold wave from Mongolia engulfed（吞没）most areas of North China and the biggest wind-force was 7.Tianjin also suffered this year’s first sandstorm with the cold wind whistling.The sky became dusky and the air was permeated with sand.By 11 o’clock at night，the wind became weaker and the sandstorm died down.From Monday morning，the northern areas had a big drop in temperature.It is learned that flu and the infection of the upper respiratory tract are easy to be infected due to the severe pollution by dust in the air.Relevant experts remind residents to pay attention to their health care..The underlined word“permeated”most probably means______.
| A．cleared | B．filled | C．blowing | D．replaced |
We learn that ______from the passage.
| A．sandstorms result in the fall of temperature |
| B．we can easily get infected by the dusty air |
| C．it is usually warmer before sandstorms come |
| D．sandstorms usually come around the New Year’s Day |
任务型读写（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。
注意：每个空格只填一个单词。
The USA is the first country where Mother’s Day appeared.
On May 9th, 1906,an American Anne Jevis’s mother died. Ann was in deep sorrow. In order to memorize her mother, she put forward a proposal to fix a day as Mother’s Day. On May 7th ,1914,the Congress of the USA passed a law ,making the second Sunday of May “Mother’s Day”.
Today millions of Americans observe Mother’s Day in some ways. They buy more than 150,000,000Mother’s Day greeting cards. Companies produce more than 1,000 different kinds. Most of the cards show pictures of flowers, hearts or other things that people feel are linked to being a mother. They have messages that express a person’s love for his or her mother. Some are humorous. And some have no words. People can express their own feelings for their mother. Many people give flowers for Mother’s Day. It is one of the busiest days of the year for the flower industry. Many people have written songs about mothers and Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day is a time for young children to do special things for their mother. Some would make a special gift or draw a special picture. One family activity on Mother’s Day is to have the children cook the early morning meal .Then they serve the food to their mother while she is still in bed. Or they might clean the house so she does not have to do it. Fathers might take care of the children that day so the mothers can rest, or take a walk, or read a book. Many mothers feel that this free time on their special day is a very good Mother’s Day gift.
Some families will get together for a meal at a local eating place. This means that mothers do not have to cook on their special day. Coming out to dinner has become a tradition on Mother’s Day. As a result, restaurants are extremely crowded that day. It has become one of the busiest days of the year for the restaurant industry in the United States.
Now Mother’s Day has been an international festival and more than 40 countries have accepted this festival.
Title:76Day
| Date |
The 77Sunday of May |
| 78. |
Anne’s 79.at her mother’s death |
| 82. to celebrate |
Cards are sent with flowers or hearts to express80. |
| 81.written for mothers |
|
| Special things done by children |
Make special gifts |
| Draw special pictures |
|
| Cook and serve the early morning meal |
|
| Clean the house |
|
| Special things done by fathers |
Look after children |
| Get together for a meal at a local eating place, which makes restaurants very83. |
|
| 84. |
An international festival celebrated in over 85.countries |
I am so worried about global warming. We need stop cutting down all of the trees so that they can absorb the carbon dioxide. I think the Kyoto Protocol（京都议定书) to stop pollution is a great idea ,and I hope our country will decide to follow it, too.
— Eli S.,10,Texa
People should do all they can to help stop pollution, even if it is something as little as recycling your soda can. Every little thing helps. Maybe schools can put recycling bins in classrooms. Students can bring in all of their cans and bottles and see how many the school can collect.
— Lindsey A.,11, Massachusett
The United States should take action to help stop pollution. Since we are one of the richest countries, we should at least spend a little money to help.
— Aaron z,11,Massachusett
It is not good that the United States is not following the Kyoto Protocol. The U.S. is one of the most pollution emitting (污染物排放)countries in the world. Even if the rest of the world agrees to follow those rules, without the U. S. and its big businesses agreeing, global warming will still be a big problem.
—Augustine S.,11,Ohio
The world needs to learn more about global warming problems. If we do not do something soon then some of Earth’s coolest animals will become extinct. People should use solar power instead of things that pollute the atmosphere!
— Jillian J.,10,Pennsylvania
Global warming is very dangerous, and it must be prevented. Even if people think that it cannot be stopped ,we should at least try. Stopping global warming is more important than keeping our businesses going. What about the penguins(企鹅)and the polar bears? We can’t just let them become extinct.
—Samantha R.,11,IllinoisWhy does Lindsey suggest schools put recycling bins in classrooms?
| A．To keep the classroom clean | B．To help protect wild animals. |
| C．To help protect our earth. | D．To collect waste in classroom. |
Augustine worries that global warming problems will be difficult to solve because.
| A．many people think that global warming cannot be stopped |
| B．more and more trees are being cut down |
| C．American government spends little money stopping pollution |
| D．the U.S. refuses to follow the Kyoto Protocol |
Jillian and Samantha believe that.
| A．solar power is earth-friendly energy |
| B．global warming threatens animals’ survival |
| C．America is the richest country in the world |
| D．the penguins and the polar bears are dying out |
What do the six children mainly talk about?
| A．Environmental problems. | B．The Kyoto Protocol. |
| C．Animal protection. | D．The climate change. |
When Colonel Harland Sanders retired at the age of 65, he had little to show for himself, except an old Caddie roadster, a $105 monthly pension check ,and a recipe for chicken.
Knowing he couldn’t live on his pension, he took his chicken recipe in hand, got behind the wheel of his van (货车),and set out to make his fortune. His first plan was to sell his chicken recipe to restaurant owners, who would in turn give him a residual (酬金)for every piece of chicken they sold—5 cents per chicken. The first restaurateur he called on turned him down.
So did the second.
So did the third.
In fact, the first 1,008 sales calls Colonel Sanders made ended in rejection. Still, he continued to call on owners as he traveled across the USA, sleeping in his car to save money. Prospect number 1,009 gave him first “yes”.
After two years of making daily sales he had signed up a total of five restaurants. Still the Colonel pressed on , knowing that he had a great chicken recipe and that someday the idea would catch on .
Of course, you know how the story ends. The idea did catch on. By 1963 the Colonel had 600 restaurants across the country selling his secret recipe of Kentucky Fried Chicken (with ll herbs and spices ).
In 1964 he was bought out by future Kentucky governor John Brown.Even though the sale made him a multi-millionaire, he continued to represent and promote KFC until his death in 1990.Which of the following statements about Colonel Sanders is wrong according to the passage?
| A．He received a pension of a little more than $100 every month after he retired. |
| B．He couldn’t live on his pension because he had a chicken recipe in hand. |
| C．He didn’t succeed in selling his recipe until he tried 1,009 times. |
| D．He lived a hard life when he stared the business. |
The underlined phrase“catch on ”in Paragraph 6 probably means.
| A．be accepted | B．be grasped | C．be popular | D．be rejected |
The sentence “Of course, you know how the story ends” means.
| A．you are sure to know the result of Colonel Sanders’ business |
| B．You are sure to know Colonel Sanders had finished his story |
| C．It is certain Colonel Sanders ended his business |
| D．It is certain Colonel Sanders knew how to end his story |
Colonel Sanders’ story teaches us an important lesson:
| A．It’s never too late to make a change in your life . |
| B．The early bird catches the worm. |
| C．Live and learn. Life can teach you a lot of lessons. |
| D．Constant dripping wears away a stone. |