More than 27,000 people from around the UK set off at dawn from London to begin the cycle route through Surrey to the Sussex coast.
The annual（一年一度的）54-mile ride raises money for the British Heart Foundation（BHF） and is Europe’s largest charity cycling event. Cyclists began the exhausting journey at Clapham Common at 6 a. m. , hoping to reach Brighton seafront within an average of six hours.
Money from today's event will help the charity to continue its vital work through heart research and the development of its care and support services. Among those taking part was BBC Breakfast's resident（居民）Dr Rosemary Leonard and several colleagues.
BHF spokeswoman Gemma Cloke said, “It was quite cold this morning, but everyone set off without any problems.” Those taking part range in age from 14 to those in their 70s. Last year cyclists raised￡4. 1 million for the charity, and have raised more than￡50 million since the BHF became involved in the event in 1980. The first ride was held in 1976. It is hoped this year's fund raising total could reach￡4. 5 million. She added : “We have a lot of people taking part, from the more experienced cyclists to those cycling with friends and family in memory of someone and to raise money through sponsorship.”
“People are always pleased knowing the money is going to a good cause. There is so much support along the route, with local residents watching the ride. ”
“One of the highlights for participants（参加者）is coming along the seafront while people are clapping, which can really help when they've been in the saddle (自行车车座) for a long time. ”What can we know about the cycling event from the text?
| A．It is the world’s largest charity cycling event. |
| B．Cyclists may raise more money than last year. |
| C．The first event was held by the BHF in 1980. |
| D．The route of the event is 54 kilometers long. |
What can we learn from what Gemma Cloke said?
| A．Cyclists will receive encouragement from local people. |
| B．Some people doubt whether the money is properly used. |
| C．Most of the cyclists are professional. |
| D．Local people have little interest in cycling events. |
The local residents’ attitude towards the ride is .
| A．doubtful | B．unconcerned | C．worried | D．supportive |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Cyclists have raised over￡50 million for the BHF. |
| B．More than 27,000 people like travelling by bike in the UK. |
| C．Charity cycling event wins support from local people. |
| D．More than 27,000 people in the UK join in the charity bike ride. |
School education is very important and useful. Yet no one can learn everything from school. A teacher, no matter how much he knows, can not teach his students everything they want to know. The teacher’s job is to show his students how to learn. He teaches them how to read and how to think. So much more is to be learned outside school by the students themselves.
It is always more important to know how to study by oneself than to learn some facts or a formula by heart. It is actually quiet easy to learn a certain fact in history or a formula(公式) in mathematics. But it is very difficult to use a formula in working out a maths problem. Great scientist, such as Einstein, Newton and Galileo, didn’t get everything from school. But they were all so successful and invented so many things for men. They worked hard all their lives, wasting not a single moment. They would ask many questions as they read and they did thousands of experiments.According to the passage, a good teacher should be one who is to_________.
| A．help his students to gain a good memory. |
| B．train his students’ ability to learn |
| C．teach his students everything he knows |
| D．have his students studying long hours |
If a student want to learn better, the most important thing for him to do is_______.
| A．to learn all the useful facts and formula by heart |
| B．to do everything as his teacher have said in class |
| C．to absorb (吸收) as much knowledge from his teacher as possible |
| D．to think more while he is studying |
The main reason for the success of the great scientists is that________.
| A．the teachers who had taught them were all experienced. |
| B．they used to work and study without a moment’s rest. |
| C．they had received more schooling than other people |
| D．they know how to study and worked hard |
What’s the good advice the writer gives us?
| A．We can learn better without teachers |
| B．We should do more asking and thinking while studying |
| C．We should pay enough attention to classroom |
| D．Book knowledge is of little use |
When I lived inSpain, some Spanish friends of mine decided to visitEnglandby car. Before they left, they asked me for advice about how to find accommodation (住所). I suggested that they should stay at“bed and breakfast”houses, because this kind of accommodation gives a foreign visitor a good chance to speak English with the family. My friends listened to my advice, but they came back with some funny stories.
“We didn’t stay at bed and breakfast houses,” they said, “because we found that most families were away on holiday.”
I thought this was strange. Finally I understood what had happened. My friends spoke little English, and they thought “VACANCIES” meant “holidays”, because the Spanish word for ‘holidays” is “vacaciones”. So they did not go to house where the sign(标牌) outside said ‘VACANCLES’, which in English means there are free rooms. Then my friends went to house where the sign said ‘NO VACANCLES’, because they thought this meant the people who owned the house were not away on holiday. But they found that these houses were all full. As a result, they stayed at hotels!
We laughed about this and about mistakes my friends made in reading other signs. In Spanish, the word ‘DIVERSION’ means fun. In English, it means that workmen are repairing the road, and that you must take a different road. When my friends saw the word ‘DIVERSION’ on a road sign, they thought they were going to have fun. Instead, the road ended in a large hole（洞）.
English people have problems too when they learn foreign languages. Once inParis when someone offered me some more coffee, I said ‘Thank you’ in French. I meant that I would like some more. However, to my surprise, the coffee pot was taken away! Later I found out that ‘Thank you’ in French means ‘No, thank you.’My Spanish friends wanted advice about ______.
| A．learning English |
| B．finding places to stay inEngland |
| C．driving their car on English roads |
| D．going toEnglandby car |
I suggested that they stay at bed and breakfast houses because ______.
| A．they would be able to practise their English |
| B．it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels |
| C．it would be convenient for them to have dinner |
| D．there would be no problem about finding accommodation there |
“NO VACANCIES” in English means ______.
| A．no free rooms | B．free rooms | C．not away on holiday | D．Holidays |
If you see a road sign that says ‘Diversion’, you will ______.
| A．fall into a hole |
| B．have a lot of fun and enjoy yourself |
| C．find that the road is blocked by crowds of people |
| D．have to take a different road |
When someone offered me more coffee and I said ‘Thank you’ in French, I ______.
A didn’t really want any more coffee
B. wanted them to take the coffee pot away
C. really wanted some more coffee
D. wanted to express my politeness
Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandis one of the most loved children's books of all time, and many adultsenjoy it as well. It tells the story of a young girl named Alice, who follows a rabbit entering a magical world called Wonderland: she has many experiences which seem to change the rules of reasoning or commonsense. The popularity of the book comes from its imagination, interesting story, and art work.
The writer of the book is Lewis Carroll. In fact, Lewis Carroll was not the writer's real name. His realname was Charles Dodgson. One day, he took a boat ride down the Thames River to have a picnic withthree little girls who were friends of the family. To keep them entertained on the ride, he told them a story in which Alice, the middle child, was the main character. They enjoyed the story very much.
Charles later wrote the story down under the nameAlice's Adventures under Groundand gave it to Alice as a Christmas present. Later, he gave a copy to his friend George MacDonald. George read it to his childrenand they loved it. George suggested to Charles that he make a book from his story. Charles then wrote moreparts to the story until it was around 35,000 words. It was first printed in 1866, with art work by JohnTenniel, under the nameAlice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book was an immediate success.
One of its first fans was Queen Victoria. She immediately requested a collection of all of Lewis Carroll's works. She was surprised to find that they included many works on math. In fact, Charles Dodgson was a highly respected mathematician. This can be seen in many puzzles and plays on reasoning that appear in hisbooks and poems.
Since the story was first printed, it has kept selling up to the present day. It has been translated into over fifty languages and has had several movies based on it. The story is even mentioned in the popular 1999 film The Matrixby the character Morpheus.The passage is mainly about _____.
| A．Charles' family life |
| B．a girl's adventurous experience |
| C．a magical world called wonderland |
| D．the birth of a book and its lasting influences |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer published his works under his real name. |
| B．The character Alice was based on from George's child. |
| C．John contributed partly to the popularity of the book. |
| D．Charles offered a copy to George as a present. |
We can learn from the passage that _____.
| A．Queen Victoria asked for a few of Charles' writings |
| B．Charles was good at reasoning and writing |
| C．Charles had his works translated into fifty languages |
| D．The Matrix was based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
Which of the following is the right order of the passage?
a. Charles gave his story to Alice as a Christmas present.
b. Charles had a picnic with three little girls on the Thames.
c. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first printed in l866.
d. More parts were added to the story by Charles.
e. The book won a large number of fans.
| A．c-b-a-d-e | B．c-a-b-e-d | C．b-a-d-c-e | D．b-a-c-e-d |
We know the westerners like to plan for their time carefully in order to do all the things that are important to them. So if your American or English friend asks you to dinner, he usually invites you a week ahead. But ifyou really have no time and can't go to the dinner, you can ring him to say sorry. The dinner is usually served at home, sometimes at a restaurant. You should get there on time, and don't forget to put on your fine clothes.It is also a good idea to take some little presents to your friend, such as flowers, chocolates and so on. Whenyou are at dinner, you should also observe (遵守) some other customs. Here I'll give you some dos and don'ts about them in the following:
1) Don't leave bones on the table or the floor. (You should put them on your plate with fingers.)
2) Don't use your bowl to drink soup, but use your spoon to help you instead.
3) Don't talk with much food in your mouth.
4) Don't ask others to have more wine. (This is quite different from that in China.)
5) After dinner, use your napkin (餐巾) to clean your mouth and hands.
6) Make sure small pieces of food are not left on your face.
Then after dinner, you can stay there a little time. And your friend will be pleased if you leave in half anhour or so. Next day, you had better ring him up to thank him for the good dinner.If your American or English friend wants to invite you to dinner, he will invite you _________
| A．on the night before the dinner |
| B．on the day before the dinner |
| C．at the last moment |
| D．a week before the dinner |
It would be impolite to _____.
| A．put bones on your plates with fingers |
| B．persuade others to drink more |
| C．drink soup with your spoon |
| D．make sure that there is nothing left on your face after dinner |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．After dinner, you'd better stay and talk with your friends for a long time to show your thanks. |
| B．You'd better ring your friend the next day to show your thanks. |
| C．After dinner, you'd better leave in half an hour. |
| D．After dinner, use napkin to clean your mouth. |
It’s Pigs’ Hometown
The story happened during the Second World War. An old man lived in a small town of Germany. He had three sons and they all worked in the same factory where he had worked. After the war had begun, his sons were all made to join the army one after another and they all died in the fights. The old man was very sad. He didn’t have enough food and was often hungry. And nobody helped him and he didn’t know how to go on living.
It was a very cold winter night. The old man couldn’t go to sleep. He had been hungry for two days and it was so cold in his room that ice could be seen. He had to get up and began to run in the room until he lay down on the floor. The next morning he had to beg from door to door. He had been to a lot of cities and knew a lot.
Once he came to a village, but the villagers were all poor and couldn’t give him anything. He was too hungry to go to another village. He thought hard and found a way. He came to a police station and called out, “Hitler is a foolish pig!”
Out came an old policeman at once. He took the old man into a room, gave him some bread and a cup of tea. Then he said, “Don’t say so in our village, sir!”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said the old man. “I don’t know it’s Hitler’s home town.” “No, no, sir,” the policeman said in a hurry. “It’s pigs’ hometown!”The old man’s son joined the army because ___________
| A．they were all strong |
| B．they loved their country |
| C．they wanted to be full |
| D．they had to do so |
The villagers didn’t give the old man any food because _______.
| A．they weren’t kind-hearted |
| B．his sons were in the army |
| C．they were also hungry |
| D．they hated him |
The policeman thought _______.
| A．Hitler was more foolish than pigs |
| B．the old man insulted(侮辱) their hometown |
| C．the old man had to say sorry to him |
| D．the old man had to fight with Hitler |