WhatisyourfavoriteEnglishlette-优题课

Bill Javis took over our village’s news-agency at a time of life when most of us only wanted to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-agency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity and order and regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.
Every day he opened his shop at 6:00 a. m. to catch the early trade; the papers arrived on his doorstep before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the afternoon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his neatest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometimes in the afternoon-, the evening paper landed on the doorway, and at 4 o’ clock Bill reopened his shop. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.
He lived in a flat above the ship, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the afternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was astonished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the, water. He had no luck, I could, see, but he was making no effort to move. “What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.
For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire engine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, "Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right. "
I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock round with him before.
5. Bill Javis became a news-agent when ________.
A. he need the money. B. he decided to take things easy
C. he was quite an old man D. he gave up clock-repairing
6. Bill opened the shop so early in the day because ________.
A. he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work
B. the shop had to be open when the morning papers came
C. he was never sure of time
D. it was then that he did a lot of business
7. On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because ________.
A. he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing
B. he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all
C. Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange
D. Bill stayed in his flat
8. From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?
A. The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.
B. Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep.
C. The writer’s watch was fast.
D. Bill’s clock was wrong; it was old.

America is growing older. Fifty years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. Today, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect American society in many ways — education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the aging of America has made us a very different society — one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior is suitable at various ages.
A person’s age no longer tells you anything about his/ her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29-year-old university president or a 35-year-old grandmother, or a 70-year-old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.
Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother or my father was at my age.” No one says “Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.
1. It can be learned from the text that the aging of the population in America ________.
A. has made people feel younger B. has changed people’s social position
C. has changed people’s understanding of age D. has slowed down the country’s social development
2. The underlined word “one” refers to ________.
A. a society B. AmericaC. a place D. population
3. “Act your age” means people should ________.
A. be active when they are old B. do the right thing at the right age
C. show respect to their parents young or old D. take more physical exercises suitable to their age
4. If a’ 25-year-old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it _________.
A. normal B. wonderful C. unbelievable D. unreasonable

When several different people look at the same person, it’s not unusual for each of them to see different things; when you alone observe one behavior or one person at two different times, you may see different things. The following are but some of the factors that lead to these changing perceptions(感知认可)
(1) Each person’s perceptions of others are formed by his or her own cultural conditioning education, and personal experiences.
(2) Sometimes perceptions differ because of what we choose to observe and how we deal with what we’ve observed. It is not necessarily true that person’s perception is based on observations of a particular person. Your observations may be totally controlled by what others have told you about this person; or you may focus (聚集) primarily on the situation or role relationship. Most people do not use the same yardstick (标准)to measure their parents, their friends, and strangers.
(3) Sometimes we see only what we want to see or don’t see what may be obvious to others because of our own needs, desires, or temporary emotional states. This is a process known as selective perception. Selective perception is obviously more difficult when contradictory (矛盾的) information is particularly obvious, but it can be done. We can ignore (忽视) the stimulus He’s basically a good boy so what I saw was not shoplifting.
We can reduce the importance of the contradictory information — All kids (孩子) get into mischief (顽皮). Taking a book from the bookstore isn’t such a big deal. "We can change the meaning of the contradictory information." It wasn’t shoplifting because he was going to pay for it later. (from www.nmet113.com)
9. The first factor given by the author that affects our perception is ________.
A. the abilities of one’s auditory (听觉的) and visual (视觉的) sensors
B. cultural background and personal experiences
C. experiences one learns from others
D. critical measures taken by other people
10. While observing a particular person, ________.
A. one is likely to take all aspects (方面) to consideration
B. one pays more attention to his/her advantages
C. children often differ from grown-ups in perception
D. one tends to choose certain cues (提示) to look for
11. Observation of the same person by two people at the same time may differ because________.
A. their measuring yardsticks are not the same
B. either of them may be slow to catch information
C. the time for observation is not long enough
D. each of them uses different language to express his/her impressions
12. The word "stimulus" in paragraph 4 refers to________.
A. something attractive B. selective perception
C. contradictory information D. shoplifting
13. The worst thing in selective perception is that________.
A. perceived information runs against your desire
B. facts can be totally ignored or distorted (扭曲)
C. importance of the contradictory information can be overrated (估计过高)
D. the same information may not be dealt with in the same way

Biomass energy (生物能).often forgotten as a promising alternative (替代物) to oil, received its day in the sun with the gathering of the Bio-Energy World Congress and Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, late in April, 1990. Nearly 1, 700 scientists, businessmen, and policy-makers, one-quarter from the foreign nations, gathered for a week to discuss various means of squeezing usable energy out of trees, crops, manure, seaweed, algae, and urban waste. Biomass in the United States contributes 2. 5 percent of the total supply, but this amount can be doubled by 2000 and then doubled again by the year 2010.
Eight percent of Sweden’s energy supply, for example, is presently coming from wood bark and pulp remainings, Sweden intends to raise this percentage by more intensive harvesting of waste food lying around in forests, and through the planting of so-called energy forests of fast-growing trees such as willow and birch.
Brazil is frequently pointed to as a nation with a major successful investment (投资)in energy coming from grains: it presently runs 330,000 automobiles on a water and alcohol (酒精) mixture, replacing 10 percent of its previous oil supply. Brazilian representatives (代表) at the conference said they wish to double this in five years, with a final goal of total replacement. Most of the cars are built at the factory to use the mixture, while older models are changed through low-cost government programs.
4. In Line 2, the phrase received its day in the sun most probably means ________.
A. came to the public mind B. had its turn in the sunlight
C. was regarded as a solar energy D. came from the energy of the sun
5. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?
A. 1, 700 scientists attended the conference.
B. A quarter of American businessmen were present at the conference.
C. Foreign policy-makers accounted for a quarter.
D. Three-quarters of the representatives were from the U. S.
6. Of the total supply in 2010, biomass in the U. S. will be________.
A. 5% B.20% C.10% D.15%
7. Which of the following is not regarded as biomass energy?
A. Willow and seaweed. B. Wood and grains.
C. Water and alcohol mixture. D. Crops and oil mixture.
8. A suitable title for this passage would be ________.
A. An Energy Conference B. Approval of Biomass Energy
C. Bio-Energy for Automobiles D. Keys to Energy Crisis

The baby boy, born at two minutes past midnight Thursday in a Beijing hospital, counted China’s 1.3 billionth citizen and the date, January 6, 2005, became the 1.3 Billion Population Day of China.
With 3,600 grams and 52 cm, the boy is in good condition. So far, the boy has no name. His mother is Lan Hui in her 31 with the Shell Group of Companies and the boy’s father is one staff from Air China.
"I am very happy, and I am the happiest man in the world," the boy’s father said.
Gu Xiulian, Vice-Chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee and President of the ACWF, visited the hospital to see the new coming citizen. Zhang Weiqing, director of National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) of China, awarded him the certificate and gifts.
China mainland would reach 1,299,880,000 by the end of 2004, with a daily net increase of 20,800 on average. Based on this statistics, on January 6, this population would top at 1. 3 billion. NPFPC had determined in advance that the first baby born in this hospital after midnight would be the symbolic 1.3 billionth Chinese.
On the same day, more than 20,000 other babies were added to China’s population list.
The nation’s population policy over the past 25 years has contributed to balanced development, delaying the date of the landmark figure by four years.
1. The baby is regarded as China’s 1. 3 billionth citizen because ________.
A. our population was just one less than 1.3 billion before his birth
B. he was the first baby China had on January 6,2005
C. he was lucky enough to be born at the right time and place
D. he was the healthiest of all born on the same day
2. The baby’s birth is worth so much attention because ________.
A. 1.3 billion is a landmark figure in China’s population statistics
B. 1.3 billion is a turning point in China’s population growth
C. the birth symbolizes China’s success in family planning
D. the birth makes China’s population large enough for celebration
3. Which statement is correct according to the statistical data?
A. In 2004 China had 20,800 babies born on an average day.
B. China’s population reached 1.3 billion by the end of January 5.
C. The exactly 1.3 billionth citizen should be born on January 5.
D. China’s actual population became over 20,000 larger on January 6