It's slimbudget time in Las Vegas
Las Vegas? It's where halfprice flights are wide open and where reservations are easily booked on a moment's notice. Tourism is down, so rooms are plentiful, as well as inexpensive.
Getting there: The best way to get there from McCarran Airport is to exit the baggage claim through Door 11 and check in at any number of shuttle booths. Shuttle vans that run between the airport and the Las Vegas Strip cost $6 for a oneway trip.
Leaving Las Vegas：Many Vegas vacationers are eager to get there and slow to leave. So take the “redeye” back home. Most redeye flights leave around midnight, leaving you with an extra night of gaming, and fun without added expense of a higher hotel charge. You can sleep the whole way home.
Romantic getaway: Las Vegas is no longer all about gaming. The artwork at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is certainly comparable to that at the Louvre. Speaking of Paris, take a trip up the Eiffel Tower at ParisLas Vegas. The Eiffel Tower Experience costs just $10($7 for kids) and is unquestionably worth the price of admission. For an intimate evening, don't hesitate to book reservations at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Get an impressive nighttime view of the Fountains at Bellagio by asking for seating alongside the floortoceiling windows. This is truly a oneofakind finedining experience. Details：www.parislasvegas.com.
Be sure to wear comfortable shoes：Casinos(娱乐场) can appear very close together, but actually may not be. Know the tram systems that run up and down the Strip. Most tram lines are free.
Shows：Purchase show tickets at one of the many “Half Priced Show” booths on the Strip. You can experience a unique show each night of your stay. Need a look at what's playing when you'll be there? Visit www.booklasvegasshows.com.
Buffets：In Vegas you can take anything to the next level—including eating. Seven casinos on the Strip have teamed up to bring you an amazing deal：seven buffets—breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner—all for just $44.99 within a 24hour period. Details：www.harrahs.com/total/lasvegas/buffetofbuffets.What is the author's purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To introduce the present situation of Las Vegas. |
| B．To attract readers to travel to Las Vegas. |
| C．To tell readers how to go to Las Vegas. |
| D．To show his own travel experience. |
If you want to know more about food in Las Vegas, you should ________.
| A．visit www.parislasvegas.com |
| B．visit www.booklasvegasshows.com |
| C．visit www.harrahs.com/total/lasvegas/buffetofbuffets |
| D．visit www.newyorknewyork.com/attractions/ |
therollercoaster.aspxIf a couple and a 5yearold child want to take the Eiffel Tower Experience, they have to pay ________.
| A．$10 | B．$20 |
| C．$27 | D．$34 |
From the passage, we can conclude that ________.
| A．Las Vegas is famous as a gaming city |
| B．eating in Las Vegas is very expensive |
| C．all the redeye flights leave around midnight |
| D．a round trip in Las Vegas costs $6 |
A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders: Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British English and American English? How important are these differences?
Certainly! There are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “have a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital!” and “Do you have a pen?”. Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British English and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British English, “color” and “honor” are American.
These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.According to the passage, a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that___.
| A．British English cannot understand him |
| B．American people cannot understand him |
| C．the grammar is too hard for him |
| D．the spelling is too hard for him |
American English and British English are different in ________.
| A．spelling | B．pronunciation |
| C．grammar | D．all of the above |
What is not mentioned (提及) in the passage?
| A．Whether there are differences between British English and American English. |
| B．Whether British and American English are one language or two. |
| C．How the differences between British English and American English came about. |
| D．How important the differences are. |
Most ________ say “ Do you have a watch?”
| A．British people | B．Americans | C．children | D．teachers |
According to this passage, British people and Americans have ________ difficulty in understanding each other.
| A．little | B．much | C．some | D．great |
As we all know, the Dragon Boat Festival is our country’s traditional festival, but do you know there is also a Dragon Boat Festival in South Korea, which also falls on May 5 of the luar calendar(阴历)? It has been reported that South Korea will apply to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 联合国教科文组织) to make the celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival its own intangible cultural heritage (非物质的文化遗产). If successful, people from other countries may see the Dragon Festival as a Korean creation.
As the birthplace of the yearly event more than 2,000 years ago, China is not happy with the situation. "It would be a shame if another country successfully made a traditional Chinese festival part of its own cultural heritage ahead of China," said Zhou Heping, deputy(副) culture minister. The Ministry of Culture is even thinking of making its own application to UNESCO, covering all traditional Chinese festivals, including the Dragon Boat event.
It is thought that the festival is held in memory of the great poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), who lived in the State of Chu during the Warring States Period. Qu was known to be a patriot (爱国者) and admired by ordinary people.
He is said to have jumped into Miluo River, because he had lost hope in his country's future. When people heard about Qu's death, they sailed up and down the river searching for his body. They also beat the drums to frighten away the fish and threw Zongzi into the water to stop the fish touching Qu. Dragon boat racing is said to come from this search for the poet's body.
Over the years, the Dragon Boat Festival has spread throughout the world. In Japan and Viet Nam, as well as South Korea, the festival has mixed with and become part of the local culture.The Dragon Boat Festival _______.
| A．is also kept by South Korea |
| B．comes from South Korea |
| C．was created by South Korea |
| D．is South Korea’s cultural heritage |
What is the reaction of the Ministry of Culture to South Korea’s intending to make the Dragon Boat Festival its own culture heritage?
| A．Fighting against South Korea |
| B．Telling South Korea it’s not right to do so |
| C．Considering to do the similar thing |
| D．Asking South Korea not to do so. |
What is the purpose of the Dragon Boat Festival’s being held?
| A．In memory of Qu Yuan |
| B．In memory of all the patriots of China |
| C．To frighten away the fish |
| D．In honor of QuYuan’s birthday |
After Qu Yuan’s death, Zongzi was thrown into the water to _______.
| A．feed him. |
| B．protect his body from going bad. |
| C．prevent the fish biting his body |
| D．attract his soul |
Now, the Dragon Boat Festival has become ______ activity.
| A．a nationwide | B．a worldwide |
| C．an Asian | D．a foreign |
I know what you’re thinking：pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time, others think they’re “saving” calories（卡路里）, still others just don’t like breakfast food.
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all，”says Katherine Brooking, R. D.，who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s“SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself', “You can always eat it tomorrow, ”I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means __________.
| A．pizza topped with fruit |
| B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables |
| D．food remaining after a meal. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to__________.
| A．eat something for breakfast |
| B．be careful about what you eat |
| C．heat up food before eating it |
| D．eat calorie-controlled food |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
The text is written mainly for those__________.
| A．who go to work early | B．who stay up late |
| C．who want to lose weight | D．who eat before sleep |
What does the author advise the readers to do?
| A．Better eat up all the food at dinner in the night. |
| B．Better eat less in the night. |
| C．Better eat leftovers in the morning. |
| D．Better get up late and eat nothing in the morning in order to burn more calories. |
Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair. The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth－so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. "OK," he said, "I’ll give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing."
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I’ll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You’re right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, “ Would you mend this chair for me?”. “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it," he said. "We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver (five pounds)?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused (感到有趣) by the whole thing.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer _____.
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The underlined word "approach" in the second paragraph means _____.
| A．plan for dealing with things |
| B．decision to sell things |
| C．idea of repairing things |
| D．way of doing things |
The expression "the penny dropped" in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper _____.
| A．changed his mind |
| B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose |
| D．decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay?
| A．￡5. | B．￡7. | C．￡20. | D．￡27. |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was _____.
| A．honest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
Recently, a study was carried out to determine who was the greatest American president. Sixty-five presidential historians took part in it, and they judged the past forty-two American leaders based on ten leadership qualities, including public persuasiveness(信服), crisis leadership, management of the economy, moral leadership, and conduct of international relations. The historians also looked at administrative ability (管理能力), relations with Congress, ability to set goals, and the pursuit of equal justice for all. Finally, the experts took into consideration the historical period in which the president lived.
The historians chose Abraham Lincoln as American’s greatest president. He had also been named the greatest president in a similar study in 2000.Abraham Lincoln was the president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s, and was able to unite it in the end. He also took the first steps to abolish(废除) slavery in America.
Edna Medford, a professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was an adviser on this study and the earlier one. She says Abraham Lincoln is seen to represent the values the nation most honors, such as truthfulness, moderation, and respect for human rights.
The historians put American’s first president, George Washington, second on the list, while Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman follow in that order. John F. Kennedy, the country’s first Roman Catholic president, is sixth on the list. Like Lincoln, Kennedy was murdered while in office.
Among recent presidents, Ronald Reagan was named the tenth best and Bill Clinton rated fifteenth, while the historians put former president George W. Bush at number thirty-six. His father, George H.W. Bush, did much better, being placed at number eighteen.We learn from the text that ___________.
| A．this is the second time Abraham Lincoln has been chosen as America’s greatest president |
| B．Edna Medford didn’t take part in the study conducted in 2000 |
| C．George H.W. Bush was thought to have done worse in office than George W.Bush |
| D．Harry Truman was rated the fourth-best president by the study |
Which of the following belong to the ten leadership qualities considered?
a. Being able to persuade the public.
b. Taking effective measures during a financial crisis.
c. Balancing home life and career.
d. Pursuing equal justice for all.
| A．a,b,c | B．b,c,d | C．a,b,d | D．a,c,d |
Who is rated worst among the following four presidents?
| A．John F. Kennedy | B．George W. Bush |
| C．Bill Clinton | D．George Washington |
The text is mainly about ________.
| A．the ten qualities a great president needs |
| B．how Abraham Lincoln improved the country |
| C．the values the American nation honors most |
| D．a study of American presidents |