The Channel is the name given to the stretch of water which separates England and France. Ferries operate all year round to carry people across the Channel, and they are busy most of the year. January is the only quiet month nowadays. As well as summer holiday-makers, there are day trippers and coach traffic, not to mention lorries and other commercial vehicles. Some ferries carry cars and their passengers, while others also connect train passengers with the Continental rail network.
The biggest hazard for the ferry is the wind. The crew listens to BBC weather reports four times a day. Or they sometimes get gale warnings from local radio station.
Crossing the Channel by ferry is a bit like trying to cross Oxford Street on a busy afternoon, according to one ferryboat captain. The ferries from Folkstone and Dover to Calais and Boulogne have to cross the main flow of traffic. This consists of ships traveling through the Channel to and from Northern Europe. There may be four hundred ships making the journey at any one time, and they all pass through a “choke point” which is only fifteen miles (twenty-five kilometers) wide. The cross-channel ferries have to sail right through the middle of all this traffic.The passage is mainly concerned with _____.
| A．the English Channel |
| B．the weather on the Channel |
| C．cross-channel ferries |
| D．what crossing the Channel by ferry is like |
The word hazard is closest in meaning to ________.
| A．trouble | B．danger | C．enemy | D．problem |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．if there is a gale warning from the BBC, the ferries will stop operating. |
| B．the traffic on the Channel is very busy only in winter |
| C．ferries are busiest in the afternoon |
| D．the crew of the ferry listens to the weather reports four times a day |
Where does this passage most probably appear?
| A．In a dictionary. | B．In a novel. |
| C．In a transportation magazine. | D．In a geography textbook. |
My grandmother was a master gardener. She could make anything bloom (开花). Even me. For most of her life, she lived on a farm in the mountains of North Carolina, where she raised four children, buried a husband, and watched the changing of the seasons.
After my parents divorced(离婚), my dad moved back to the farm. I visited on weekends or holidays. While my dad ate my grandmother’s vegetables, I breathed in her flowers. I was a skinny kid, but her flowers filled a thousand hungry places in my soul. When my regular farm tasks were done, I was free to climb the mountain, singing songs and gathering flowers. Sometimes the plants scratched (划伤) me. My grandmother would say: “Beauty has a price. I hope it was worth it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I’d say. “It was.” Then I’d scratch some more. I loved gathering flowers on my own. But what I loved best was gathering them with her. I walked behind her like a sponge (海绵) with legs, trying to soak (吸收) it all up. At the end of the day, we’d sort the flowers and make bouquets (花束): One for the living room, one for the kitchen, and three for the bedrooms. Even then, as a child, I knew what I needed most from my grandmother was not her flowers, but her time.
She’s been gone for years, but sometimes, when I reach down to pick a flower or pull a weed, I see her hand, not mine. I thought I’d grow up to be a gardener too. I told myself, someday, when my children had children, I’d be a gardening grandma. Then the grandbabies started showing up, and I discovered I’d much rather chase after them than go digging. The truth is, I’m no gardener. I’m a picker, not a planter.
I differ from my grandmother in lots of ways, but this: I will always carry within me a heart she made from her own. They don’t need to plant a garden. My children are my flowers. Delight and complete me with a beauty that is worth any price.
All I need to do is care for them with time, water them with love, and hope that someday, when they hold their first grandchild, they might see my hand.The author liked gathering flowers with her grandmother mainly because ______.
| A．her grandmother taught her everything about flowers |
| B．her grandmother would never let the flowers scratch her |
| C．spending time with her grandmother was good for her emotional needs |
| D．her grandmother let her decide where to put the flowers in the house |
We can infer from the article that the author ______.
| A．has always dreamed of a flower garden of her own |
| B．had great fun planting flowers with her own grandchildren |
| C．often helped with the farm work when she visited her grandmother |
| D．started to live with her grandmother after her parents got divorced |
How did the author feel when she found out that she was a picker rather than a planter?
| A．Angry. | B．Disappointed. |
| C．Calm. | D．Worried. |
In the author’s eyes, her grandmother was mostly ______.
| A．wise and humorous | B．inspiring and caring |
| C．hardworking and brave | D．tough and stubborn |
What does the article mainly talk about?
| A．The qualities that make the author different from her grandmother. |
| B．The wonderful time the author spent with her grandmother in her childhood. |
| C．The efforts the author made to become as great a gardener as her grandmother. |
| D．The author’s memories of her grandmother and how she influenced the author. |
One day a student went to see his teacher. He had been given an important position and now was coming to say goodbye to his teacher. The old man asked him how he would live among high officials. The student answered, " I will be all right. I have prepared a hundred high hats, one for each official I will meet. I am sure I will succeed.” The teacher got angry on hearing this. “What?” he cried. “Is this what ten years of my teaching has made of you? Nothing but flatterer(拍马屁的人)?” “Excuse me, honored master,” the student rose to his feet and apologized hurriedly. “But you have always been buried in your studies and don’t know how vulgar(庸俗的) the world has come to be. There are few men in the world who are above flatterers like you.” "There is something true in what you said,” the teacher nodded, smiling with one of the student’s "high hats” on.The student came to say goodbye to his teacher because_____________.
| A．he had got hundred hats to sell |
| B．he moved away to another city |
| C．he had got a fairly high position in society |
| D．he wanted to see his parents in his home town |
The student would live among high officials by___________.
| A．selling hats to them |
| B．flattering them |
| C．making a hundred hats for them |
| D．serving them |
The teacher was angry with__________.
| A．himself | B．the society |
| C．his student | D．high officials |
The underlined phrase “rose to his feet” means________.
| A．stood up | B．kicked with his feet |
| C．became quite excited | D．raised his feet |
Verbier language school
Beginner? Fluent? Young? Young at heart? VLS can help you learn or improve your language skills in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere with fun, professional teachers.
What we offer:
Individual (个人) and group French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Swedish lessons for children and adults.
Exam preparation for TEFL, TOEFL, IELTS, Common Entrance, GCSE.
Summer course.
Translation services.
Summer immersion (浸泡式) camps—language and activities including cooking, performances, art and crafts, walking, biking, various sports etc. 9am—4pm (lunch included)
Winter immersion camps—language and skiing. 9am—4pm (lunch included)
Course + prices (Prices shown are for 1 hour lessons, per student):
| Private lessons . |
90 dollars |
| Semi-private (2 people) |
50 dollars |
| Group lessons (3-6 people) |
30 dollars |
Private—one-to-one tuition focusing on the individual needs of the student.
Group—learn in a relaxed and fun environment.
Maximum of 6 students per group so there are still plenty of chances to ask questions.
Children—learning with fun and games in private or group lessons.
Corporate—arrange private or group classes for your company aimed at your specific needs.
Conditions
If registering by phone and email, classes are not confirmed(确认) until a deposit(定金) has been received via the bank or Paypal. Please contact us for bank details.
Payment for the classes must be paid in full in advance or at each lessons.
Students must complete a test at their first lesson to make sure of their level.
Contact us
By post: Verbier Language School, Centre de l’Etoile, Case Postal 475, Rue de M dran 6, 1936 Verbier, Switzerland
By phone: + 41 (0) 796532227
By email:info@verbierlanguageschool.comIn the first paragraph, “Young at heart” refers to ___________.
| A．optimistic people |
| B．the elderly people |
| C．old professional teachers |
| D．people with a strong heart |
It can be inferred that IELTS is _________.
| A．a language course | B．a summer camp |
| C．a sports competition | D．a language test |
John and his father both attend the Group lessons to learn German. They learn two hours each day. How much do they need to pay per day?
| A．200 dollars | B．180 dollars |
| C．120 dollars | D．60 dollars |
In their first lesson, students are required to _______.
| A．report their interest | B．take an exam |
| C．complete a form | D．pay by credit card |
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flow more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending(延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time.
Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| B．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| C．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
| D．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
| A．offered a ride to his home |
| B．treated hospitably at his home |
| C．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
| D．warmly welcomed at the airport |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
| A．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships. |
| B．Friendships between Americans. |
| C．Friendships between Chinese. |
| D．Americans’ hospitality . |
Food picked up just a few seconds after being dropped is less likely to contain bacteria(细菌) than if it is left for longer periods of time, according to the findings of research carried out at Aston University’s School of Life and Health Sciences. The findings suggest there may be some scientific basis to the “5 second rule” --- the belief about it being fine to eat food that has only had contact with the floor for five seconds or less. Although people have long followed the 5 second rule, until now it was unclear whether it actually helped.
The study, undertaken by final year Biology students and led by Anthony Hilton, Professor of Microbiology at Aston University, monitored the transfer of the common bacteria from a variety of indoor flooring types (carpet, cement floor etc.) to toast, pasta, a biscuit and a sticky sweet when contact was made from 3 to 30 seconds. The results showed that: Time is a significant factor in the transfer of bacteria from a floor surface to a piece of food; and the type of flooring the food has been dropped on has an effect, with bacteria least likely to transfer from carpeted surfaces and most likely to transfer from cement flooring surfaces to moist(湿的) foods making contact for more than 5 seconds. Professor Hilton said: “Consuming food dropped on the floor still carries an infection risk as it very much depends on which bacteria are present on the floor at the time.”
The Aston team also carried out a survey of the number of people who employ the 5 second rule. The survey showed that: 87% of people surveyed said they would eat food dropped on the floor, or already have done so. 55% of those who would eat or have eaten food dropped on the floor are women. 81% of the women who would eat food from the floor would follow the 5 second rule. Professor Hilton added, “Our study showed that a surprisingly large majority of people are happy to consume dropped food, with women the most likely to do so. But they are also more likely to follow the 5 second rule.”According to the passage, which of the following is true?
| A．A toast dropped on the carpet is easier to be polluted than that dropped on the cement floor. |
| B．A sticky chocolate dropped on the carpet is easier to be polluted than that dropped on the cement floor within 5 seconds. |
| C．The food dropped on the carpet shares the same potential of being polluted with the food dropped on the cement floor. |
| D．The food dropped on the cement floor is not as safe as food dropped on the carpet within 30 seconds. |
Eating food dropped on the floor still carries an infection risk because it relies on _________ at that time.
| A．the type of bacteria |
| B．the carpet |
| C．the cement floor |
| D．the surface of table |
The passage is developed probably by __________.
| A．time | B．space |
| C．contrast | D．example |
What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．The food which is dropped on the floor can be eaten safely. |
| B．The bacteria have no negative effect on the safety of food. |
| C．A research on the safety of food dropped on the floor is undertaken. |
| D．People surveyed in the research are willing to accept the idea. |