In the US, people prefer waiting for a table to sitting with people they don’t know. This means a hostess may not seat a small group until a small table is available, even if a large one is. If you are sitting at a table with people you don’t know, it is impolite to light up a cigarette without first asking if it will disturb them.
At American restaurants and coffee shops you are usually served tap (水龙头)water before you order. You may find the bread and butter is free, and if you order coffee, you may get a free refill(重续).
Most cities and towns have no rules about opening and closing time for stores or restaurants, though they usually do make rules for bars. Especially in large cities, stores may be open 24 hours a day.
Serving in restaurants is often large; too large for many people. If you can’t finish your meal but would like to enjoy the food later, ask your waitress or waiter for a “doggie bag”. It may have a picture of a dog on it, but everybody knows you’re taking the food for yourself.
Tips are not usually added to the check. They are not included in the price of the meal, either. A tip of about 15% is expected and you should leave it on the table when you leave. In some restaurants, a check is brought on a plate and you put your money there. Then the waiter or waitress brings you your change.Which statement is TRUE?
| A．American people like sitting with people they don’t know. |
| B．Hostess always seats a small group at a large table. |
| C．American people never sit with people they don’t know. |
| D．American people would not light a cigarette if the people who sit at the same table mind their smoking. |
What is served before you order?
| A．Cold water. | B．Butter. | C．Coffee. | D． Bread. |
What do American people always do when servings are too large for them?
| A．They take the food home with a doggie bag for their dogs. |
| B．They leave the food on the table and go away. |
| C．They take the food home with a doggie bag and enjoy the food later. |
| D．They ask the waitress or waiter to keep the food for them. |
To many basketball fans in Taiwan, the William Jones Cup or the Basketball Association may be their sweetest memory. But if you ask them, “What’s the hottest basketball event now?” There is the only answer: HBL, the High School Basketball League.
Founded in 1988, the HBLwas at first just a high school basketball tournament. After the Taipei School Sport Federation took charge in 1996 and renamed it HBL, everything changed. The Federation decided to co-operated with Nike, the well-known sportswear manufacturer, and use its experience in marketing to promote the game.
The HBL started with 129 teams; today there are more than 250. no longer just of interest to the players, it’s now Taiwan’s biggest basketball event. Fellow students, alumni (男毕业生，男校友), and sports fans all over Taiwan cheer for their favorite teams. At last year’s finals, Taipei and Kaohsiung mayors came to cheer for their teams.
The HBL starts in September with qualifying and preliminary(预备的，初步的) rounds and continues through April of the following year, when the finals are held. Broadcasting the games on television has helped make the HBL a wildly popular event. It’s become the place to spot young basketball talent. Today’s HBL players are tomorrow’s professionals.
Recent HBL tournaments have been very competitive, with no one school taking the advantage. This wide-open quality of the tournament makes it more exciting. Everyone wants to see how this year’s games will come out. HBL fever just keeps getting hotter. What is the hottest event in the eyes of most basketball fans in Taiwan?
| A．HBL | B．The William Jones Cup |
| C．The Basketball Association | D．NBA |
What was it that helped to make the High School Basketball League wildly popular to the public?
| A．The co-operation with Nike, the well-known sportswear manufacturer. |
| B．Broadcasting the games on television. |
| C．Taipei and Kaohsiung mayors’ coming to cheer for their teams at last year’s finals. |
| D．Many tomorrow’s professionals’ joining. |
Why does the writer say“Recent HBL tournaments have been very competitive”?
| A．Because there isn’t a school taking the advantage. |
| B．Because HBL fever just keeps getting hotter. |
| C．Because it’s become the place to spot young basketball talent. |
| D．Because the Taipei School Sport Federation took charge of it. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Today’s Players---Tomorrow’s Professionals |
| B．The High School Basketball League of Taiwan |
| C．The Basketball Fans in Taiwan |
| D．HBL Fever---Just Keeping Getting Hotter |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．At first, the HBL was no more than a high school football ball tournament. |
| B．It was the successful co-operation with Nike, the well-known sportswear manufacturer that changed everything of HBL. |
| C．Many of the mayors came to cheer for their teams during the event. |
| D．Everyone wants to see how the teams will come out to take part in the games. |
There are two ways to save money traveling. The first way is to get the best deals on the specific things you want. There is a limitation to this type of approach (途径，方法) though. If you find the lowest price on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you will save money, but still have a very expensive vacation. Trying to get exactly what you want will generally be an expensive proposition, in travel and in life.
The other approach is to be a true opportunist. This will be difficult for some of you, and entirely unacceptable to others. Nonetheless (尽管如此)，the travelers who get to travel the most, go to the widest variety of places, learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists. This will be true until you are so wealthy that you have no monetary (货币的；钱的)limits.
The first time I went to Ecuador, I went there because it was cheap. If it wasn’t, I would have had a great time—somewhere else. The trip lasted a month, and cost $1045, which included airfare and even the $130 fee for a guide to take me to the top or glacier (冰川) covered Mount Chimborazo.
I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami, and back again when I returned from Ecuador. The round-trip ticket cost $158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami was only $256, because it was a courier (信使，通讯员) flight, which meant I signed for some luggage(car parts), and could only take carry-on luggage.
Never did I feel deprived, or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever it was cheap and clean, doing all sorts of inexpensive, but interesting things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my wife Ana.
Being an opportunist means you’ll have just as much variety, and probably almost everything you want—eventually. You just have to stop trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If the guide that took me up Chimborazo hadn’t dropped his price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on EI Altar, another great Andean mountain. That would have left me with enough money for several other minor adventures.The underlined phrase “the best deals” in the first paragraph probably refers to ______.
| A．the best service | B． the lowest price |
| C．the cheapest goods | D． the best approaches |
The return tickets from his hometown to Quito cost the author ______.
| A．$128 | B． $256 | C． $207 | D． $414 |
The last paragraph was to tell us how to ______.
| A．save money for minor adventures |
| B．cut down traveling costs. |
| C．deal with different situations |
| D．become opportunist travelers |
It’s suggested that the author _____.
| A．went hiking on El Altar |
| B．traveled with his wife in Ecuador |
| C．is an opportunist traveler |
| D．likes traveling around the world |
Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage?
| A．Cheap Travel Secrets | B． Travel Secrets |
| C．A Travel Opportunist | D． Travel Tips |
Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership—a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” —two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.Why did the author plan to stop at Oklahoma City?
(No more than 5 words) (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
(No more than 10 words) (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________Why was the battery of the author’s car dead?
(No more than 10 words) (3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________What does the author tries to show by telling his own experiences?
(No more than 12 words) (3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________________
We are well aware of the role of modern transportation in our lives. Not too long ago, people suffered great hardship in order to make a long journey. Moving heavy goods from one town to another involved hard labor. Today, we enjoy the convenience of various kinds of vehicles including ships, planes, trains, and automobiles, which allow us to go wherever we choose and make our workload much lighter.
But modern transportation, along with convenience has brought some problems. With more drivers on the road, there has been an increase in traffic jams and accidents. The exhaust from automobiles has added to our air pollution, aside from additional noise caused by trucks and cars on the road.
Like everything else, modern transportation has more than one face. Here in China, we look to our government experts to solve these problems. Scientists are working on developing modern fuel (燃料) that produces less pollution. However, we can all help reduce air pollution from automobiles by only driving when it is necessary and using public transportation when available.
Title: 1
| Convenience |
● allowing us to go anywhere ● reducing 2 |
| 3 |
● traffic jams and accidents increasing ● the exhaust 4air pollution ● 5caused by vehicles |
| 6 |
● 7solving the problems ● scientists8 ● poeple helping 9by only driving when necessary and using public transportation when10 |
A camera and a computer can “see” something that perhaps millions of pairs of eyes failed to see for 480 years: the Mona Lisa’s necklace. The discovery about the famous painting was made by an American physicist.
The Mona Lisa, painted by the Italian, Leonardo da Vinci, has been on show for many years in Paris. Now a row of white spots on the neck have been “seen”. They are said to be the remains (痕迹) of a necklace which the artist later painted over.
The painting will be examined further by using infrared scanning (红外线扫描) techniques. Laser (激光) technology can be used to show what lies directly under the surface of the finished work, too. This will help us to understand how the artist drew the picture: Did he begin with a quick-made drawing or have second thoughts as he painted the picture?
This kind of knowledge will show us the famous artist at work. It may also help to explain Mona Lisa’s smile, which has puzzled art lovers for centuries. This passage is mainly about ______.
| A．the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci |
| B．an American physicist’s discovery |
| C．further researches on the Mona Lisa |
| D．The uses of modern technology |
The Mona Lisa is ______.
| A．a famous artist | B．a famous painting |
| C．a smiling woman | D．a lost necklace |
In this passage, “the Mona Lisa’s lost necklace” suggests that ______.
| A．Mona Lisa once wore a necklace |
| B．someone stole the necklace from the Mona Lisa |
| C．the artist did not keep the necklace he had painted on the neck |
| D．the artist had a necklace stolen while working on the painting |
According to the passage, the white spots on Mona Lisa’s neck ______.
| A．are still invisible to visitors |
| B．have turned into a necklace |
| C．have already appeared before visitors |
| D．are looking more and more like a necklace |
The painting will be examined further so that people may know more about ______.
| A．Mona Lisa and her smile |
| B．the time when it was finished |
| C．infrared scanning and laser |
| D．this art work and the artist |