A young woman was driving through the lonely countryside. It was dark and raining. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding her hand out as if she wanted a lift.
“I can’t leave her out in this weather,” the woman said to herself, so she stopped the car and opened the door.
“Do you want a lift?” she asked. The old woman nodded and climbed into the car. After a while, she said to the old woman, “Have you been waiting for a long time?” The old woman shook her head. “Strange,” thought the young woman. She tried again. “Bad weather for the time of year,” she said. The old woman nodded. No matter what she said, the hitchhiker (搭便车的人) gave no answer except for a nod of the head or a shrug.
Then the young woman noticed the hitchhiker’s hands which were large and hairy.Suddenly she realized that the hitchhiker was actually a man! She stopped the car. “I can’t see out of the rear screen,” she said. “Would you mind clearing it for me?”
The hitchhiker nodded and opened the door. As soon as the hitchhiker was out of the car, the terrified young woman raced off.
When she got to the next village she pulled up. She noticed that the hitchhiker had left his handbag behind. She picked it up and opened it. She gave a gasp — inside the bag was a gun.The young woman stopped the car because ______.
| A．“the old woman” asked her to |
| B．she knew “the old woman” |
| C．she knocked “the old woman” down |
| D．she wanted to help “the old woman” out in the bad weather |
What’s the weather like that day ?
| A．Sunny | B．Cloudy | C．Rainy | D．Windy |
The young woman asked the hitchhiker to clear the rear screen because _______.
| A．this was the way she thought of to get rid of him |
| B．she couldn’t see out of the rear screen |
| C．the hitchhiker was very helpful |
| D．the rear screen was covered with dirt |
The hitchhiker left the bag with a gun in it behind because _______.
| A．he wanted to give the young woman a warning |
| B．he hadn’t expected that the young woman would leave him behind in the rain |
| C．it was his present for the young woman |
| D．he wanted to kill the young woman with the gun |
What might the man be?
| A．a teacher | B．a soldier | C．a robber | D．an actor |
In the United States, when one became rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a seriesof short stories. He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’ “Keeping up with the Joneses”came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.
| A．want to be as rich as their neighbours |
| B．want others to know or to think that they are rich |
| C．don’t want others to know they are rich |
| D．want to be happy |
It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
| A．live outside New York City | B．live in New York City |
| C．live in apartments | D．have many neighbours |
The underlined word “neighbourhood” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．a person who lives near another | B．people living in an area |
| C．an area near the place referred to | D．an area in another town or city |
Arthur Momand used the name ‘Jones’ in his series of short stories because’ Jones’ is ________.
| A．an important name | B．a popular name in the United States |
| C．his neighbour’s name | D．not a good name |
According to the writer, keeping up with the Joneses is ________.
| A．correct | B．interesting | C．impossible | D．good |
Long long ago people made fires from lightning(闪电)。 But they had to keep the fire burning, for they couldn’t start it again if there was no lightning. Later, they found out hitting two piece of stone together could make a spark (火花). The spark could fire dry leaves. In this way they could make the fire again if it went out. Them people also learned to make a fire by rubbing. They made a hole on a big piece of wood and put a smaller stick into the hole. They turned the stick again and again. After a few minutes they got a fire.
As years went by, people learned other ways to make a fire. Sometimes they used the heat from sun. they held a piece of glass in the right way and made a piece of paper on fire.
About two centuries ago, people began to make matches (火柴). Matches brought people a quick and easy way to make fire. Today matches are still being used, but people have more new ways to make fires. One of them is to use an electric fire starter. Of course an electric fire starter is much more expensive than a box of matches. But it is more useful.A spark can _________.
| A．fire any leaves | B．burn anything | C．burn dry leaves | D．keep fires burning |
We can also get a fire by _________.
| A．making a hole on a big piece of wood |
| B．putting a smaller stick into the hole |
| C．turning the stick hard for a while |
| D．doing all the above together |
Matches have been used _________.
| A．for about two thousand years |
| B．for about two hundred years |
| C．since people began to use fire for cooking |
| D．since people used the heat from the sun. |
From this passage we know _______.
| A．using matches is the easiest and most useful way to make fires |
| B．people don’t use matches any more since they had electric fire starters |
| C．today there are only two ways to make fires |
| D．some forest fires happen from lightning |
Choose the right order of the ways to make fires people got to know _________.
a. with a match b. from the sun c. from lightning
d. by rubbing e. with an electric fire starter.
| A．d ,b, c, a,e | B．d, c, b, a, e | C．c, d, b, a, e | D．c, b, d, a ,e |
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. He was the oldest of five children in his family. His father was a wool weaver. He helped his father with the weaving, but he always wanted to sail the seas.
He didn’t get to school very much, but he learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Some people thought he was trying to prove the world was round, but this is not true. He wanted to find a short way to get to the Indies by ship.
He was a Christian and wanted to tell the story of Christ to the people he would find in the far-away lands. He also wanted wealth for himself and for Spain, and he wanted to be famous. He tried for eight years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money.
They left Spain on August 3, 1492 and sailed toward the west. After many days, the sailors had covered a long distance on the sea and were ready to turn around for home when they saw land, an island Columbus named San Salvador. He thought he had found the Indies and called the people he saw there “Indians”. When they got to Cuba, he thought he was in Japan. The world was a lot larger than he thought.
On Christmas Eve, the Santa Maria was wrecked near Haiti. Columbus built a fort(城堡) and left 40 men to hunt for gold. Then he returned to Spain on the Nina. The people of Spain welcomed him as a hero. He made three more voyages across the ocean. His 13-year-old son, Ferdinand, went with him on the fourth voyage.
Columbus did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and the queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关节炎). Columbus not only discovered a New World, but he led the way for other explorers.Columbus taught himself Latin because _______.
| A． he wanted to prove the earth was round. |
| B．he wanted to find a short way to the Indies by sea. |
| C．he found Latin was very useful at that time. |
| D．he wanted to travel around the world. |
How was Columbus able to make his voyage to the west?
| A．He was supported by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. |
| B．He worked hard for eight for to save enough money for his voyage. |
| C．The king and the queen helped him with money and ships. |
| D．Many people supported him with money and food for his voyage. |
Why did Columbus call the local people in Salvador “Indians”?
| A．Because he thought he had arrived in Japan. |
| B．Because he thought he looked like in the Indies. |
| C．Because he thought it was a wealthy place. |
| D．Because he thought he had arrived in the Indies. |
From the fifth paragraph we can infer that “Santa Maria” and “Nina” must be the names of_________.
| A．trains | B．ships | C．cities | D．women |
From the text we know that ________.
| A．Columbus lived a difficult life in his later life. |
| B．Columbus was considered as a hero all his life. |
| C．Columbus didn’t get the wealth as he had hoped for. |
| D．Columbus was the first person to travel round the world. |
At five he was collecting old newspapers to make money. And when he was 15 he signed his schoolmates up to start a baby-sitting circle.
Now 20, third-year Cambridge University student, Peter Blackburn is managing director of a company with a £ 30,000 plan. And he thinks it will make more than $15,000 by next summer. He set up Peter Blackburn Ltd last year to bring out a new, color term-planner that now students all over the UK are using.
"I felt that most of the planners going around were pretty unimaginative," he says, "I believed that I could do a better job and decided to have a go".
Blackburn admits that he is putting far more effort into business than his computer studies course at university. While fellow students are out with their friends, he keeps in touch with his business office in Lancashire by movable phone. Before he set up the company he spent one holiday preparing a plan that would persuade his bank to lend him money.
"Most students work hard for a good degree because they believe that will help them get a job to support themselves," he says "I work hard at my company, because that is what will support me next year, after I leave college."
Friends believe that Blackburn will make £ 1 million within 5 years. He is not quite so sure, however. "There's a lot to be done yet," he says.Choose the right order of the facts given in the passage.
a. He spent his holiday preparing a plan. b. He collected newspapers.
c. He set up his own company. d. He asked the bank for money.
e. He set up a babysitting circle.
| A．e, b, c, a, d | B．b, e, a, d, c |
| C．b, e, d, a, c | D．b, e, c, a, d |
When he was quite young, Blackburn _______ .
| A．already made a lot of money | B．already had a business brain |
| C．was already managing director of a company | D．already set up his own business |
The underlined expression in the fourth paragraph "have a go," here means _______ .
| A．give up this job and have a new one | B．leave the company |
| C．have a try | D．develop my business quickly |
In spite of（尽管） a college student, Blackburn _______ .
| A．spends more time on his business than on his studies course |
| B．keeps in touch with his business office by movable phone |
| C．seldom goes out with his friends |
| D．often spends whole holiday preparing business plan |
Which of the following best explain why Blackburn works hard at his company?
| A．He wants to do more business practice before he leaves college. |
| B．He wants to make more money before he leaves college. |
| C．He wants to get a good job like most students after he leaves the college. |
| D．he depends on the company for his living in the future. |
Happiness is for everyone. You don’t need to care about those people who have beautiful houses with large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country roads in their free time.
In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends will help you; when you study hard at your lessons, your parents are always taking good care of your life and your health; when you get a success, your friends will say congratulations to you; when you do something wrong, people around you will help you to correct it. And when you do something good to others, you will feel happy, too. All these are your happiness. If you notice a bit of them, you can see that happiness is always around you.
Happiness doesn’t mean money. It is a feeling of your heart. When you are poor, you can also say you are very happy, because you have something that can’t be bought with money. When you meet with difficulties, you can say loudly you are very happy, because you have more chances to challenge yourself. As the saying goes, life is like a revolving（旋转的）door. When it closes, it also opens. If you take every chance you get, you can be a happy and lucky person.When you do something wrong, people around you will_______.
| A．quarrel with you | B．help you correct it |
| C．do something wrong like you | D．laugh at you |
What will your friends say when you make great progress?
| A．Oh, so do I. | B．Congratulations! | C．Good luck! | D．Just so-so! |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．People who have cars would never like to walk in the open air. |
| B．You can get help from others when you are in trouble. |
| C．You can still be a happy person even if you have little money. |
| D．Happiness is always around you though difficulties come towards you. |
The passage mainly tells us_______.
| A．parents always care for our life and health |
| B．we’re not happy if we meet with difficulties |
| C．happiness is always around us |
| D．life is colorful |