Jenny found her old bicycle at the back of the garage.It was a lot smaller than she remembered.When she sat on it and put her feet on the pedals,her knees nearly touched her chin. She then asked her dad for a new bicycle.
“Well,I’m sorry,but I can’t afford a bicycle now,“said Dad.“Why don’t you work and earn some money? You can save up for a bicycle yourself.”
Jenny began to work.That day she earned five dollars for cutting the grass and ten dollars for mowing the lawn for her dad.
That night Jenny went on the computer.She wrote“Gardening and Housework—Ten dollars an hour.Call Jenny at 23 Roseville Lane.“She decorated the page with pictures of cleaning and gardening equipment.She printed it fifty times.Then she posted the pages through all the doors on her street.
That week,Jenny was very busy! Lots of people had jobs to do,but they didn’t have time to do them.So they called Jenny.Every day,Jenny rushed home from schoo1.She did her homework quickly,and then she went out to work.
At the end of the week.she had$65! She told her father.
“That’s enough for a second hand bicycle.”he said.
“Yes,but if I work for one more week,I might have enough money for a new bike,“said Jenny.“In two more weeks,I could buy a really good bicycle! I think that's what I'll do. I want to have the best bicycle in the class,because I earn it myself!”
Jenny’s dad hugged her.“I think you learned something important.We appreciate things a lot more when we earn them.When we get something without earning it,we do not realize its true value.”What was the problem with Jenny’s old bicycle?
A.It was broken. | B.It was too dirty. |
C.Jenny didn't like it. | D.It was too small. |
Why didn’t Jenny’s dad buy her a bicycle?
A.He wanted to teach her a lesson. |
B.He was too busy. |
C.He had just bought Jenny a birthday present. |
D.He didn’t think it was a good idea. |
How much money did Jenny earn on the first day?
A.$10. | B.$5. | C.$65. | D.$15. |
How did Jenny tell her neighbors about her new business?
A.She mailed letters to them. |
B.She delivered messages by hand. |
C.she sent them an email. |
D.She talked to all her neighbors. |
We can infer from Jenny’s words at the end of the story that she was ___________.
A.pleased because she had learnt a useful lesson |
B.grateful to her father for his advice |
C.optimistic about making more money |
D.disappointed because she couldn’t afford a new bicycle |
When a dog bites a man, it usually doesn’t make news. However, this saying change when Beijing and several other Chinese cities announced the “Civilized Dog Raising” campaign in November.
The government will require Beijingers to get licenses for their dogs, and will enforce the one-dog, one-family policy. Police say the "one-dog policy" is aimed at reducing the number of dog bites and lowering the risk of rabies. According to the Ministry of Health, rabies has become the top infectious disease in China. Dangerous dogs and dogs taller than 35 centimeters, such as Great Danes, have been banned from urban areas.
Pet owners are also required to clean up their dog's droppings and make sure dogs are leashed (拴着), especially in public areas. Some public areas, such as banks, are closed to dogs entirely.
Dogs are regarded as man's best friend and the history of raising dogs can be traced back to the stone age. It therefore seems sad that dogs are unwelcome in Beijing. But it is not the case that Beijingers dislike dogs. Actually, there are many dog lovers in Beijing. The city now has more than 550,000 registered dogs, up 20 percent from the previous year.
The problem is, actually, about living space. Different from many Westerners, most Beijingers live in urban apartment buildings, not houses in the suburbs. There is very limited open space for walking dogs. The barking, the waste, and unleashed dogs in buildings, elevators and places people gather can cause fear, fights and frustration.
Beijing is not the only city to have a dog problem. Paris, London, New York and Vienna all face similar challenges and have common rules for dogs and their owners.Which of the following may be a suitable title for the story?
A.Man's Best Friend | B.Civilized Dog Raising |
C.No Room For Dogs | D.When A Dog Bites A Man |
What can be inferred from the above passage?
A.If a dog bites a m![]() |
B.Rabies is the most serious infectious disease in Beijing. |
C.Soon there will be no dangerous dogs or dogs taller than 35 centimetres in Beijing. |
D.Beijing has trouble accommodating so many dogs. |
According to the passage, what should you NOT do if you are a dog owner in Beijing?
A.Walk your dog in public places. |
B.Have more than one dog. |
C.Raise your dog in urban apartment buildings. |
D.Let your dog bark in places where people gather. |
In the writer's opinion, the main cause of the dog prob
lem in Beijing is _____________.
A.the limited living space in urban areas |
B.its lack of rules for dogs and their owners |
C.Beijingers and westerners having different lifestyles |
D.the increasing number of dangerous dogs |
Move Earth – it’s no science fiction
LONDON – Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets (彗星) in the direction of Earth,
and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.
The plan put forward by Dr Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams ,needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,” Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated. In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere(生物圈)— by cooking us.
That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation(误算)in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is “most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?
A.A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth. |
B.Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon. |
C.Earth will become too hot for mankind![]() |
D.The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth. |
If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of ______years.
A.12 billion | B.6 billion | C.18 billion | D.24 billion |
What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?
A.The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the moon. |
B.Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to deat![]() |
C.The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth. |
D.Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened. |
What does the underlined word “compromise” mean?
A.provide | B.benefit | C.share | D.endanger |
Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors (统治者) and generals and soldiers, while the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year, or manured (施肥)a field; but we know all about the killers and destroyers.
People think a great deal of them, so much that on all the highest pillars (纪念柱)in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors. It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized. Animals fight; so do savages(野蛮人); so to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently — this, after all, is what conquerors and generals have done — is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized peoples ought to be able to find some ways of settling their d
isputes other than by seeing which side can kill off greater number of the other side, and then saying that the side which has killed most has won. And not only has it won, but, because it has won, it has been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that power is right.
This is what the story of mankind has on the whole been like. Even our own age has fought the two greatest wars in history, in which millions of people were killed or mutilated (disabled). And while today it is true that people do not fight and kill each other in the streets — while, that is to say, we have got to the stage of keeping the rules and behaving properly to each other in daily life — nations and countries have not learnt to do this yet, and still behave like savages.In the opening sentence, the author indicates that .
A.most history books were written by conquerors, generals and soldiers |
B.history book tell us far more about conquerors, generals and soldiers than actual creators of civilization |
C.those who rally helped human civilization forward is not mentioned in history books at all |
D.conquerors, generals and soldiers should be least mentioned in history books |
According to the passage, most people believe that the greatest countries are those that.
A.built the highest pillars for their conquerors |
B.were ruled by the greatest number of conquerors |
C.won the greatest number of battles against other countries |
D.were beaten in battle by the greatest number of other countries |
In the author’s opinion, the countries that conquered a large number of other countries are
.
A.certainly both the most powerful and most civilized. |
B.neither the greatest nor the most civilized in any way. |
C.possibly either the most civilized or the most powerful in a way. |
D.likely the most powerful in some sense but not the most civilized. |
The meaning of the last sentence in Paragraph 2 is that.
A.fighters believe that the winner is right and the loser wrong. |
B.only those who are powerful have the right to go to war. |
C.those who are right should fight against those who are wrong. |
D.only powerful nations might win the right to rule weak ones. |
Very few people were coming to eat at the White Rose Restaurant, and its owner did now know what to do. The food in his restaurant was cheap and good. But nobody seemed to want to eat there.
Then he did something that changed all that, and in a few weeks his restaurant was always full of men with their lady friends. Whenever a gentleman came in with a lady, a smiling waiter gave each of them a beautiful menu. The menu looked exactly the same on the outside, but there was an important difference inside. The menu that the waiter gave to the man gave the correct price for each dish and each bottle of wine, while the menu that he gave to the lady gave a much higher price. So when the man calmly ordered dish after dish and wine after wine, the lady thought he was
much more gen
erous than he really was.
Why didn’t people come to the White Rose Restaurant to eat first?
A.Because the price was high. | B.Because the food was too cheap. |
C.Becau![]() |
D.The passage didn’t mention. |
According to the passage we can conclude that the people who eat at this restaurant are mostly
.
A.poor old people | B.rich young people |
C.men with their girl friends | D.parents with their children |
According to the passage we can infer that when men with their girl friends eat at this restaurant, the food was paid .
A.always by the ladies only | B.always by the men only |
C.sometimes by the ladies | D.either by the men or by the ladies |
According to the passage we can know that, generally speaking, .
A.men are more generous than women |
B.women are more generous than men |
C.men like their lady friends to be generous. |
D.women like their men friends to be generous |
The Internet has led to a huge increase in credit – card fraud. Your card information could even be for sale in an illegal Web site. Web sites offering cheap goods and services should be regarded with care. On-line shoppers who enter their credit-card information may never receive the goods they bought. The thieves then go shopping with your card number — or sell the information over the Internet.
Computers hackers have broken down security systems, raising questions about the safety of cardholder information. Several months ago,25 000 customers of CD Universe, an on-line music retailer(批发商),were not lucky. Their names, addresses and credit-card numbers were posted on a Web site after the retailer refused to pay US $157 828 to get back the information.
Credit-card firms are now fighting against on-line fraud. MasterCard is working on plans for Web-only credit card, with a lower credit limit. The card could be used only for shopping on-line.
However, there are a few simple steps you can take to keep from being cheated.
Ask about your credit-card firm's on-line rules: Under British law, cardholders are responsible for the first US $78 of any fraudulent spending.
And shop only at secure sites: Send your credit-card information only if the Web site offers-advanced secure system.
If the security is in place, a letter will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. The Web site address may also start with https:// — the extra “s” stands for secure. If in doubt, give your credit-card information over the telephone.
Keep your password safe: Most online sites require a user name and password before placing an order. Treat your passwords with care.
What do most people worry about the Internet according to this passage?
A.A lot of stolen credit-cards were sold on the Internet. |
B.Fraud on the Internet. |
C.Many Web sites are destroyed. |
D.Many illegal Web sites are on the Internet. |
What is the meaning of “fraud”?
A.cheating B.sale C.payment D.safety
How many pieces of advice does the passage give to you?
A.Four. | B.Three. | C.Five. | D.Six. |
You are shopping on the site: http://www.shopping.com,and you want to buy a TV set, what does this article suggest doing?
A.Order the TV set at once. |
B.Do not buy the TV set on this site. |
C.E-mail the site your credit-card information. |
D.Tell the site your password and buy the TV set for you. |