The cash machine is 47 years old, but where was the birthplace of this world-beating invention? New York? Tokyo? No. The first ever cash machine was born in Enfield Town, north London. It was a Scottish inventor, John shepherd Barron, who realized the concept of a self-service machine that could be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to withdraw cash from one’s own bank account. It struck the inventor while he was in the bath. He hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, replacing chocolate with cash.
On September 2 in 1969, America’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) appeared in public, giving out cash to customers at Chemical Bank, New York. It was only able to give out cash, but in 1971, an ATM that could handle many functions, including depositing(存款) money, was introduced. Today there are over one million ATMs around the world, with a new one added every five minutes. It is reported that Americans over the age of 18 use their ATM card six to eight times a mouth. Not surprisingly, ATMs get their busiest workouts on Fridays. In the 1990s, banks began charging fees to use ATMs, a profitable move for them and an annoying one for consumers.
Consumers were also faced with an increase in ATM crimes. Robbers preyed(抢夺) on people using money machines in poorly lit or otherwise unsafe locations, and criminals also thought up ways to steal customers’ PINs (personal identification numbers), even setting up fake money machines to capture the information. In response, city and state governments passed laws such as New York’s ATM Safety Act in 1996, which required banks to install such things as surveillance cameras (监控摄像头), reflective mirrors and locked entryways for their ATMs. What does the underlined word, “It”, in the first paragraph, probably refer to?
| A．The opening time of the bank. |
| B．The concept of an ATM. |
| C．Ordinary banking service. |
| D．The act of withdrawing cash. |
Which of the following is true about ATM?
| A．It appeared earlier than the chocolate bar dispenser. |
| B．It was invented by a Scottish man in 1971. |
| C．It was at first free of charge for its consumers. |
| D．It was originally designed to deposit money. |
What can we learn from the text? "
| A． Americans under the age of 18 are not allowed to have an ATM card. |
| B． People are more likely to turn to ATMs for banking service on Fridays. |
| C． Criminals usually choose unsafe locations to steal customers' PINs. |
| D． The ATM crime rate in New York is much lower than that in other state |
Which of the following might be the best title for the text?
| A． How to Operate on an ATM |
| B． What is Waiting for ATMs in the Future? |
| C． The First ATM Opened for Business |
| D．The Unknown Truth about ATM |
The man who invented Coca-Cola was not a native Atlanta, but on the day of his funeral every drugstore in town shut up the shop in honor of him. He was John Styth Pemberton, born in 1833 in Knoxville, Georgia, eighty miles away. Pemberton was a chemist, sometimes known as Doctor, who, during the Civil War, became an officer and led a cavalry troop. He settled in Atlanta in 1869, and soon began making such patent medicines as Triplex Liver Pills and Globe of Flower Cough Syrup.
In 1885, he registered a trademark for something called French Wine Coca-Ideal Nerve and Tonic Stimulant. A few months later, he formed the Pemberton Chemical Company, and hired an accountant named Frank M. Robinson, who had not only a good head for figures, but, attached to it, so unique a nose that he could judge the ingredients of a batch of syrup merely by sniffing it.
In 1886 --- a year in which, as contemporary Coca-Cola officials like to point out, the English writer Conan Doyle made Sherlock Holmes known publicly and France found the truth about the Statue of Liberty --- Pemberton invented a syrup that he called Coca-Cola. It was a change of his French Wine Coca. He had taken out the wine and added a bit of caffeine, and, when the end product tasted awful, had thrown in some cola nut oil and a few other oils, mixing the mixture in a three-legged iron pot in his back yard and swishing it around with an oar.
He distributed it to soda fountains in used beer bottles, and Robinson, with his elegant account’s script, instantly designed a label, on which "Coca-Cola" was written in the style which is still employed. Pemberton looked upon his mixture less as a drink than as a headache cure.
One morning in 1886, a man suffering from a headache dragged himself into an Atlanta drugstore and asked for a bottle of Coca-Cola. According to usual practice, druggists should pour a teaspoonful of syrup into a glass of water, but at that time, the man on duty was too lazy to walk to the fresh-water tap. Instead, he mixed the syrup with some soda water, which was closer at hand. After drinking it, the suffering customer cheered up almost at once, and word quickly spread that the best Coca-Cola was a fizzy (冒泡泡的)one. According to the passage, which of the following about Pemberton is wrong?
| A．He was highly respected by Atlantans because of his great contribution. |
| B．Medicines like Triplex Liver Pills and Globe of Flower Cough Syrup are his patent products. |
| C．During the Civil War, he was an officer of a cavalry troop, a chemist and a doctor. |
| D．Coca-Cola which is very popular now was invented by him. |
Why do contemporary Coca-Cola officials especially like to mention the year 1886?
| A．Because Conan Doyle contributed to Pemberton’s Coca-Cola invention. |
| B．Because France sent the Statue of Liberty to America and Pemberton loved it. |
| C．Because they are still proud of Pemberton’s invention. |
| D．Because Pemberton made more money for the company this year than in any other year. |
What does the passage tell us about Frank M. Robinson?
| A．He helped his boss and began making patent medicines together with his boss in 1869. |
| B．He had a special nose with an acute sense of smell and especially was good at drawing. |
| C．When he found the end product tasted awful, he threw in some cola nut oil and other oils. |
| D．He designed a label “Coca-Cola” for the Coca-Cola Company with his elegant handwriting. |
How did Pemberton change French Wine Coca formula to make it taste delicious?
| A．He mixed it with several oils instead of water. |
| B．He put some beer into the mixture. |
| C．He added more coffee into the mixture than before. |
| D．He added some cola nut oil and a few other oils. |
According to the passage, what was Coca-Cola intended for at first?
| A．It was intended for the children as a soft drink. |
| B．It was intended for a substitute for French Wine Coca |
| C．It was intended for a cure for the common headache |
| D．It was intended for the need of the war |
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A,B,C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
Zoo Lights
6pm---10pm Thursdays through Wednesdays, through Jan. 7. The Phoenix Zoo’s 15th-annual holiday light festival features more than 2 million lights and light displays throughout the zoo, as well as a new arctic exhibit and jingo, the talking giraffe. Phoenix Zoo, 455 N. Galvin Parkway, $7 ahead of time. Phoenix. $8 at gate. (602)273-1341. www.phoenixzoo.org.
Cowboy Christmas
5pm---9pm Thursdays, 5pm---10pm Fridays and Saturdays, 5pm---9pm Sundays through Wednesdays, through Jan 1. Rawhide’s Main Street will be lit with 150,000 lights, including a 100-foot tall “tree of lights” and nightly lighting ceremony. Rawhide at Wild Horse Pass, 5700 W. North Loop Road, Gila River Reservation. FREE. (480) 502—5600. www.rawhide.com.
Arizona Celebration of Lights
6pm---9pm Thursdays, 6pm---l0pm Fridays and Saturdays, 6pm---10pm Sundays through Wednesdays, through Jan.1. A 2-mile drive featuring 300 light displays with more than 5 million lights. Community Church of Joy, 21000 N. 75th Ave., Glendale. $12 per car, $8 for adults, free for kids aged 4 and younger, $2 discount with canned food or toy donations. (623)561—0500. www.joyonline.org.
Glendale Glitters Quiet Nights
6pm---10pm Thursdays through Wednesdays, through Jan.6. A display featuring 1.4 million lights decorates downtown Glendale. It also features an animated musical light show in the north part of town. The center of the display is at Murphy Park. Murphy Park, 5850 W. Glendale Ave. Glendale. FREE. (623)930—2820.
Valley of Lights
6pm---12pm Thursdays through Wednesdays, through Dec. 30. A one-mile drive through exhibits featuring more than 100,000 lights and animated displays. Donations accepted. Fain Park, 2200 N. Fifth St., Prescott Valley. FREE. 1一(928)一759—3090. www.pvchamber.org.These ads are all about__________.
| A．night light displays in the Phoenix Zoo | B．celebrations of lights |
| C．Christmas activities all over the world | D．advertisements of some products |
Which of the following websites can offer you further information about the 100-foot tall “tree of lights”?
| A．www. pvchamber. org. | B．www. joyonline. org. |
| C．www. rawhide.com. | D．www. phoenixzoo.org. |
If Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith drive to Arizona Celebration of Lights with their son aged 5, most probably how much will they pay for the visit at least?
| A．$34. | B．$36. | C．$28. | D．$26. |
According to the text, which of the following offer animated displays?
| A．Zoo Lights & Cowboy Christmas. |
| B．Valley of Lights & Cowboy Christmas. |
| C．Zoo Lights & Arizona Celebration of Lights. |
| D．Valley of Lights & Glendale Glitters Quiet Nights. |
What’s the purpose of the text?
| A．To attract more visitors to these activities. |
| B．To collect more donations from the visitors. |
| C．To let kids have an interesting Christmas Day. |
| D．To earn more money. |
Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can’t be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.
Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance(机械维修，保养) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can’t ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope.
When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.
1. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The values are different between the old and the young.
B. The moral problems raised by old people.
C. The personal freedom for the old.
D. Old people’s viewpoint on life.
2. We can know from the first paragraph that________.
A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.
B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.
C. Very old people like to live with their children.
D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people.
3. According to the author, which of the following is right?
A. The older a person, the more care he needs.
B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people’s values.
C. The human body can’t be compared to a car.
D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.
4.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.
A. their money or their health
B. the conclusion you come to
C. your talk to the old people
D. whether age is happy or unpleasant
The blue tits(山雀) have been inspecting the nest-box again this year. The male is the house-hunter but the female will make the final choice. He lands at the hole and turns his head to expose his white cheeks as a signal to attract the female from where she has been feeding.
Among many birds that nest in holes, the male has a light-coloured patch on its plumage(鸟羽) which acts as signal for drawing the female’s attention to a suitable nesting-place. Unlike the blue tit, the redstart(红尾鸲) may be only the male that strikingly coloured and the female is not beautiful.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to spot a pair of redstarts in action in a Walsh wood. The male was leading an interested female to holes that he had previously(先前) checked out. He sat at the entrance of each hole and put his head on to show off his white forehead, or his head in to reveal(显露) his tail.
If the female failed to react to his visual signals, the male sometimes sang for extra effect, while gliding towards her on spread wings and tail. Once the female accepts by following the male through the hole the displays stop, you must be at the right place at the right time to watch them.
1. How do the blue tits choose their nest?
A. They choose their nest together.
B. The male chooses their nest.
C. The house-hunter chooses their nest.
D. The female chooses their nest.
2. The writer was lucky to see ________.
A. how the male made his tricks
B. how an interested female played with the male happily
C. what the male displayed and won the female
D. that the male tried his best but failed to attract the female
3. You can spot a pair of redstarts in a Walsh wood ________.
A. at any time B. regularly C. in April D. occasionally
4. The writer is probably ________.
A. a bird expert B. a bird-hunter
C. a bird raiser D. a scientist
根据对话内容，从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
—Hello. Can I speak to Wu Ming please？
—____1____
—Hello， Wu Ming. This is Wang Hong. Sorry to ring you so late in the
evening， but I‘ve only just got home.
—____2____ What‘s the news？
—I‘d like to ask you about some stamps. Do you still have the cock year stamp？ You had it when I last saw you.
—I‘m afraid I don’t have it. I sold it last week.
—____3____
—I‘m sorry. I didn’t know you wanted it. ____4____
—Yes， please. Thank you. It‘s very kind of you.
—____5____
—Thank you very much.
—Bye-bye.
| A．Do you like collecting stamps so much？ |
| B．That‘s all right. |
| C．Sorry， Wu Ming is out. |
| D．Do you want me to find one for you？ |
E. Oh， what a pity！
F. Yes， speaking.
G. OK， I‘ll ring you if I have any news.