Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food? Some people go to fast-food restaurants for these reasons. In the past, people usually went to diners（小餐馆）for these reasons. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.
A man named Walter Scott had the first “diner” in 1872. It wasn’t a real diner. It was only a food cart. People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late-night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late-night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools, and people sat down while they ate.
Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in diner at any time. Diners changed in other ways, too. The original menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels.
Diners today look similar to the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually buildings with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters with stools, booths, and tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern diner.
Today, many people eat in fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today.A man named Walter Scott had the first “diner” in 1872. Why is the word “diner” in quotation marks(引号)？
| A．Because it is spelled differently from “ dinner” |
| B．Because the first diner was not what it is now |
| C．Because diner was a new word |
| D．Because it is a special kind of restaurant |
According to paragraph 3, diners changed in __________
| A．Two ways | B．three ways | C．four ways | D．five ways |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Diners existed before a fast-food restaurant |
| B．The menu included more food than sandwiches and coffee |
| C．Burger King is a fast-food restaurant |
| D．Sandwiches became bigger |
The main idea of the passage is that ______________.
| A． The diner is a traditional , popular place to eat in the United States |
| B． Samuel Johns built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside |
| C． American diners serve many types of food 24 hours a day to their customers |
| D． Diners are different from fast-food restaurants in many ways |
The people below are looking for someplace to enjoy some entertainments in Beijing. After the description of these people, there is information about places A — F. Decide which place would be the most suitable for the person mentioned in1---5and write down the correct letter ( A — F ) on your answer sheet. One place is not suitable for all.
_____Stephen studies art in Beijing University. He shows great interest in paintings and he is especially interested in those oil paintings that reflect the variety of life.
____ Mark has just come to China and he is very interested in Chinese culture. He has been waiting for a long time to have a chance to see a wonderful Chinese acrobatic (杂技的) performance in China.
____ Oscar is a student from Yangzhou University, visiting his friends who share the same interest in music. They are planning to find someplace to enjoy rock and roll and pop songs.
___ Charles works in Philips Company, Shanghai Branch. He is going to Beijing on business in middle September. He will be free in the evening, so he wants to go to someplace to enjoy some music performed by foreign bands.
____ Carol studies Chinese in Beijing. She is free recently during the day time, so she would like to find someplace where she can attend some kind of activity so that she can learn some details about Chinese modern literature.
| A．Capital Theatre: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe will present “The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills (寒战) will run down your spine (脊柱) as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge. Time: 7:30 p.m., September 13 — 19. |
| B．Huangshicheng Gallery: A group ink pain ting exhibition is running. About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display. Time:9 a.m.— 5 p.m. until September 10. |
| C．The Wangfung Art Gallery: A joint show of oil paintings by 10 young and middle-aged artists will be hosted by the gallery. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wonderous variety of life in unique styles. Time: 9 :30 a.m. — 4:30 p.m., daily. |
| D．Anyuan Museum: The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an indepth study of the development of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949. |
Time: 9 a.m. — 4 p.m., daily.
E. The Olympic Center: "The Fashionow Night of Chinese Rock" is set to bring back fans out by the thousands next month. Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals.
Time: September 16.
F. Grand Theater of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities: La Petite Band, the Baroque Orchestra of Belgium, will perform as part of activities across the world to commemorate (纪念) the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.
Time: 7:30 p.m. September 11 — 14.
There are good Santas and there are bad Santas. The good Santas all realize one thing: In the mind of a child, Santa Claus is perfect.
That’s difficult. And so they come from around the world to attend the Charles W. Howard School in Midland, Mich. The school offers a three-day, 40-hour course for Santas hoping to be excellent. A former Macy’s Santa named Charles Howard founded the Michigan school in 1937. “Many people will think if you have a suit and you’re a Santa,” said Tom Valent, the school’s current dean. “It’s more than that.”
The school teaches everything from breathing techniques for carol singing to the beard maintenance. There are lessons in child psychology, sign language and even media training for talk-show appearances and call-in shows. Santas also need to make sure they know all the names of the reindeer(驯鹿). What’s harder to deal with, however, is children who ask for Christmas gifts like bringing daddy home or making mommy happy again.
After spending time in the classroom, Weir went to the mall to test his training. However, at one point, his hat fell off, and he was unsure how to react. “You’re the real Santa,” Valent said. “Pick that hat up, slip it back on, keep smiling and do your job. You’ve got to stay on top of your game. Even the last one at night, when you’re tired, you’ve got to remember: This one’s forever, so do a good job.”According to the passage, good Santas should be the ones that ______.
| A．can offer the children some gifts |
| B．help adults look after their children |
| C．have ability to make children happy |
| D．should be perfect in the mind of children |
The Michigan school was founded by Charles Howard with the purpose to ______.
| A．train the pet reindeer for the Santas |
| B．earned money from its students |
| C．train perfect Santas for the world |
| D．show the world’s concern to the poor |
According to Weir’s performance, we can conclude that ______.
| A．Weir was short of experience |
| B．Weir was not fit for the job as a Santa |
| C．Weir did very badly in the game |
| D．Weir was not a good student in school |
People say teenagers are no good. They make too much noise in shopping malls; they drive carelessly up and down America’s main streets. And at least some of the time those things are true. But we shouldn’t forget that there are hard moments in the life of a teenager too.
I watched such a moment not long ago at a woman’s funeral which happened in a church. A teenage grandson stepped forward. Softly he began:“ I want to share a few values that Nana taught me. She never failed to see light in any situation. When our family dog would attack her, what would Nana say? ‘Oh, what beautiful markings that dog has.’ That was Nana.
“She was a strong woman who often lived in the shadow of my grandpa, who was a successful businessman in this city. But she was the one behind the scenes who provided the strength and support for Grandpa’s career,” he said, with a voice now trembling. “That was Nana’s way.”
Finally, in a voice breaking free of sorrow, he looked up and said, “Nana taught me courage. She put up a fight to the end, when she died peacefully, which is how she lived her life. That was Nana’s way, and I hope I can carry on in the same manner.”
There are no hearts as sensitive as those of teenagers, because everything is happening to them for the first time. The trouble with teenagers is that they haven’t learned to be controlled. When that boy rose to speak about the woman who had been his dearest friend, his honest voice dragged each of us out into the open where we could no longer hide. I was moved and learned a lot.According to the first paragraph, ______.
| A．young people are living a hard life |
| B．people don’t think highly of the teenagers |
| C．people shouldn’t forget the young people |
| D．young people should keep quiet before the public |
From the boy’s speech, we know his grandmother ______.
| A．was a weak woman living in the shadow of his grandpa |
| B．liked dogs very much even if they often attacked her |
| C．could see everything around her though she was old |
| D．had great influence over the boy when she was alive |
We can infer from the passage that the boy ______.
| A．was filled with sadness and gave up finishing his talk |
| B．was always very good at expressing himself |
| C．practiced a lot in order to give a moving speech |
| D．had great difficulty in accepting the loss of Nana |
The writer wanted to tell the readers ______.
| A．the young people were too weak to face certain facts |
| B．the young people have learned to control themselves |
| C．the adults could learn something valuable from the young |
| D．the adults should teach the young how to deal with the death |
On my first trip in the United States , I went to San Antonion . I was on foot . So I went to only three places there : the Alamo , the River Walk , and the Art Gallery . I especially enjoyed visiting the Alamo , a well- known building in America .
When I arrived at the Alamo , I was deeply impressed because it was well kept and in good shape . The Alamo was erected in about 1722, was later used as a fort(保垒) , and has been kept as a state monument(纪念馆) to the Texan War of Independence against Mexico . During the battle , all of the Texan defenders were killed . I was surprised at the exhibition of rifles , guns , cannons and swords .
I was especially attracted by the paintings of a war . The paintings expressed the feelings of a painter very well . Even thought about 160 years have passed since the Battle of the Alamo , the exhibit is well kept . When I came out after seeing the exhibition , I felt as if I had a victory . The outer wall of the Alamo was destroyed here and there . When I touched the wall , I could feel the damage . After the war , little remained of the Alamo . All of the windows and doors were destroyed . The top part of the gate way disappeared without a trace(遗迹) . I will remember the Alamo forever . It is one of the best places to visit in San Antonio . It can be inferred according to the passage that the author may be a____ .
| A．writer | B．Chinese |
| C．European | D．foreigner to Americans |
The underlined word “erected” (in Paragraph2) means ______ .
| A．found | B．invented | C．repaired | D．built |
People come to visit the Alamo now for ______ .
| A．its height and shape |
| B．its history and the story about it |
| C．the exhibits in it |
| D．its shape |
Which of the following may be the best title for this passage ?
| A．A Famous Building in America |
| B．My First Visit to America . |
| C．The Texan War of Independence against Mexico . |
| D．My Impressions of the Alamo in San Antonio , Texas . |
A major earthquake rocked Haiti at 4:53 pm local time on Jan.12, 2010, killing possibly thousands of people but no official figure has been released so far.
The quake, which struck about 15km (10 miles) south-west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, was quickly followed by two strong aftershocks. In the space of a minute, numerous buildings fell down. A five-story U.N. building was also brought down by the 7.3 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
As night fell, the whole city is in total darkness. You can see thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming. Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti’s president said the cost of the damage could run into billions.
Haiti became the first independent Caribbean state in the early 19th century. Haiti’s location, history and attracting climate once made it a tourist hot place. However, decades of poverty, environmental pollution and violence have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. It has suffered a lot, including four hurricanes and storms in 2008 that killed hundreds. The great earthquake happened to the _______ of the capital city.
| A．south-west | B．north-west | C．south-east | D．north-east |
What can we infer from the underlined sentence?
| A．People in Port-au-Prince don’t like to light on. |
| B．The earthquake happened in the evening. |
| C．Electricity in the city was cut off that night. |
| D．There are no lights at all in Port-au-Prince. |
What’s the meaning of the word in bald “catastrophe”?
| A．chance. | B．joke. | C．illness. | D．disaster. |
Which statement about Haiti is NOT true?
| A．Haiti became an independent state in the early 19th century. |
| B．Haiti belongs to Americas, just like Canada, America and so on. |
| C．At one time, tourism was important to the economy of Haiti. |
| D．Haiti is a country where such strong quacks often take place. |