There are many kinds of sales. For example, a “back-to-school sale” is held near the beginning of the school year. Parents like the lower prices of the clothes and school supplies for their children.
A “midnight madness” event starts very late at night. An “early bird special” sale starts very early in the morning. This kind of sale is popular the day after Thanksgiving in November.
A favorite sale among many people is the “buy one, get one free” sale. You buy one thing and get a second one without cost. When people see the word “free” in an advertisement they know they are getting a good deal. As a matter of fact, it is not the case.
Another kind of sale is a “going out of business” sale. This is when a storeowner tries to sell all the goods in the store before closing the business permanently(永久地).
Let us say the store sells floor coverings. The owner lowers the prices and puts up a sign that says: “Going out of business sale. All items MUST be sold by tomorrow.”
People who buy the floor coverings think they are getting a special deal because everything must be sold in a short period of time. Then, days later they see the store did not close permanently. And they see the same sign that claims the store is going out of business. Some business owners really do not end the business. They just want to earn more money.
People also hold their own sales. They hold garage sales and yard sales outside their home. They sell things they no longer want. Groups such as religious centers or schools hold bake sales. They sell cakes, cookies and other baked goods to raise money.
In America, you can always find a good sale, no matter the day or time of year. There is the Independence Day sale, Veteran’s Day sale, clearance sale, sidewalk sale, red tag sale, white sale, blue light special, liquidation sale, half-off sale, warehouse sale, tent sale ...What does the passage mainly deal with?
A.How to save money in shopping. |
B.Different kinds of sales. |
C.Shoppers’ ways to earn money. |
D.Reasons for the popularity of sales. |
What do we call the sale if it starts before the sun rises?
A.A “back-to-school sale”. |
B.A “midnight madness” event. |
C.An “early bird special” sale. |
D.A “buy one, get one free” sale. |
Why do parents like a “back-to-school sale”?
A.Because it has a variety of school supplies. |
B.Because it is held at the beginning of the school year. |
C.Because it provides plenty school uniforms. |
D.Because they can save money. |
What’s the purpose of some owners who do “going out of business” sale repeatedly?
A.They want to close the business permanently. |
B.They want to give special offers to customers. |
C.They want to sell all their goods in a short period of time. |
D.They want to cheat the customers into buying their goods. |
Every year landslides (滑坡) cause 25 to 50 deaths and $1.5 billion in damage in the United States. They account for 15 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in Europe. And in December, a single event killed more than 200 people in the Philippines. Sending workers to stabilize (加固) mountainsides using steel bars and cement (水泥) can help prevent disaster, but it introduces new difficulties. Shaking drills produce harmful dust and loosen heavy, dangerous debris (岩屑). "It's quite a risky job,"says Giorgio Pezzuto of D'Appolonia, an engineering company in Italy.
D'Appolonia, working with eight other companies, may have an answer: a three-ton robot called Roboclimber. "The idea is to operate a machine far away that can drill without a human being on board,"says Pezzuto, manager for the project, which is supported by the European Commission. Engineers claim that the machine will be faster and cheaper than manual labor. The robot, a large radio-controlled four-legged mechanical spider(蜘蛛), has cost at least $2 million so far. The final product should be able to climb unstable mountainsides, drill holes, in_sert bars and cement, and collect data on the slope's stability. Testing should begin in May.
64. The underlined word "event"(in Paragraph 1) refers to _____.
A. landslide B. machine C. earthquake D. flood
65. The purpose in writing this text is _____.
A. to tell people how serious the damage caused by landslides is
B. to tell people that sending workers to stabilize mountainsides is a risky job
C. to introduce a product that can be used to stabilize mountainsides
D. to show people how to use a new product
66. What does the robot look like?
A. A human being. B. A spider. C. A truck. D. A drill.
67. The biggest advantage of this product is that _____.
A. it will be faster and cheaper than manual labor
B. it can climb mountainsides, drill holes, in_sert bars and cement
C. it can collect data on the slope's stability
D. it can drill without a human being on board
On the New York set of the film Hide and Seek, ten-year-old Dakota Fanning spends her time playing a deeply disturbed girl who deals with her mother's suicide (自杀) by creating an imaginary friend, who may not frighten her family.
Today, though, she has the day off. "This week I only worked two days,"says Fanning, sitting in a sofa in her hotel's library, "but I get bored when I'm not working. Especially because it's cold here and I can't do anything, you know? So, I've been knitting (编织) --- all day, every day."The actress, who's held her own opposite Oscar winners such as Sean Penn and Denzel Washington, recently mastered the fine art of scarves (围巾). Though she's about ready to move on to hats, she first plans to make a souvenir (纪念品) scarf for Robert De Niro, who plays her father in the film. "He's the nicest guy you'd ever meet in your entire life,"she says, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I would make him a brown one.”
Like any other fifth-grader, Fanning spends several hours a day going to school. In addition to her personal trailer (活动住房) --- which is kept well-supplied with hot chocolate packets, lemon Gatorade, and a TV that doesn't always work --- she has another trailer where her teacher, Jan, conducts classes in history, spelling, reading, math, science and health. "We have this big board where we have a calendar (日历),"Fanning says. "When we were here in January, I wrote the calendar in all blue. February was red, and March was green.”
On this particular morning, she had a spelling test. "There was a topic for each of the word lists,"she says, sitting on her knees. "This one was flowers --- they were all names like oxygen, carbon dioxide, chrysanthemum (菊花)..."Chrysanthemum? "Well, they didn't make me spell that one. They just had me fill in the ‘e'. But I can spell it: c-h-r-y-s-a-n-t-h-e-m-u-m.”
60. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Dakota Fanning is a young gifted actress.
B. Dakota Fanning is a lonely orphan.
C. Dakota Fanning is a creative pupil.
D. Dakota Fanning has many interests.
61. Dakota Fanning has to knit all day in order to _____.
A. kill time B. make money C. master a skill D. make a scarf for her boyfriend
62. By saying that "He's the nicest guy you'd ever meet in your entire life”, Dakota Fanning really means that _____.
A. she is the daughter of Robert De Niro
B. she has fallen in love with Robert De Niro
C. she is in love with Robert De Niro
D. she admires Robert De Niro very much
63. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Dakota Fanning's Role
B. Dakota Fanning's Knitting Art
C. Dakota Fanning's Day Off
D. Dakota Fanning's Spelling Test
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The storage of classified (分类的) research at all 24 labs run by the US Department of Energy was shut down this week after officials decided that the security (安全) problems recently found at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico might also exist elsewhere.
Several computer disks went missing at Los Alamos earlier this month, forcing Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to stop all work at the lab until the problems are found out. As of 26 July, two missing disks had still not been found, and 15 employees had been suspended in connection with the disappearance.
Now all energy labs will stop doing classified research that involves(需要) removable storage devices --- such as computer disks --- until all the devices are given explanation for and new procedures are in place for monitoring their handling by laboratory employees.
"While we have no evidence that the problems being investigated are present elsewhere, we have a responsibility to take all necessary action to prevent such problems,"Abraham said on 23 July.
The shut-down isn't quite as dramatic(惊人的)as it sounds, experts say. Only two labs will be seriously affected: Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Together with Los Alamos, these two labs conduct the most part of the country's nuclearweapon programmes. At Livermore, 876 employees will be suspended during the storage of some 12,000 items of classified removable
material.
At other labs, far fewer people will be affected. "The impact (影响) should be the smallest,"says Martha Krebs, former director of the energy department's science office.
56. Why was the storage of classified research at all 24 labs shut down?
A. Because the security problems might be present elsewhere.
B. Because the security problems existed elsewhere.
C. Because two missing computer disks had still not be found.
D. Because officials decided to stop doing such research.
57. How many labs conduct the country's nuclear weapon programmes according to the text?
A. About 24. B. Only 2. C. More than 2. D. Over 15.
58. The underlined word "suspended"in the second paragraph probably means "______”.
A. hung from above B. stopped from holding a position C. doubted D. fired
59. It can be inferred from the text that _____.
A. the computer disks must have been stolen by terrorists
B. the people living in the United States have little security
C. the United States is a country whose security is very bad
D. the missing of the computer disks caused great fear among Americans
It was a dark and cold night. The car driver didn’t have even one passenger all day. When he went by the railway station, he saw a young man coming out with two bags in his hands. So he quickly opened the door of the car and asked, “Where do you want to go, sir?”
“To the Star Hotel,” the young man answered. When the car driver heard that, he didn’t feel happy. The young man would give him only three dollars because the hotel was not far from the railway station. But suddenly, he had an idea. He took the passenger through many streets of the big city.
After a long time, the car finally arrived at the hotel. “You should pay me fifteen dollars,” the car driver said to the young man. “What! Fifteen dollars? Do you think I’m a fool? Only last week I took a car from the railway station to this same hotel and I only gave the driver thirteen dollars. I know how much I have to pay for the trip. I won’t pay you one dollar more than I paid to the other car driver last week. ”
73. Which of the following is true?____________
A. The young man went past the railway station.
B. The young man was working in the railway station
C. The young man had just got off a train.
D. The young man was waiting for his friend there.
74. The driver felt very _________ when he saw the young man coming out of the railway station.
A. sad B. sorry C. happy D. worried
75. The driver took the passenger through many streets so as to_________.
A. make the young man happy
B. let the young man think it was very far from the station to the hotel.
C. Let the young man have a good look at the city.
D. Get more than twenty dollars.
For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He flunked physics in high school, getting a grade of zero. Sparky also flunked Latin, algebra and English. He didn't do much better in sports. Although he did manage to make the school's golf team, he promptly lost the only important match of the season. There was a consolation(安慰) match; he lost that, too.
Throughout his youth Sparky was awkward socially. He was not actually disliked by the other students; no one cared that much. He was astonished if a classmate ever said hello to him outside of school hours. There's no way to tell how he might have done at dating. Sparky never once asked a girl to go out in high school. He was too afraid of being turned down.
Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates...everyone knew it. So he rolled with it. Sparky had made up his mind early in life that if things were meant to work out, they would. Otherwise he would content himself with what appeared to be his inevitable mediocrity(平凡).
However, one thing was important to Sparky - drawing. He was proud of his artwork. Of course, no one else appreciated it. In his senior year of high school, he submitted some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook. Although the cartoons were turned down., Sparky was so convinced of his ability that he decided to become an artist.
After completing high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was told to send some samples of his artwork, and the subject for a cartoon was suggested. Sparky spent a great deal of time o it. Finally, the reply came from Disney Studios. He had been rejected once again. Anther loss for the loser.
So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography(自传) in cartoons. He described his childhood - a little boy loser and chronic underachiever. The cartoon character would soon become famous worldwide. For Sparky, the boy who had such a lack of success in school and whose work was rejected again and again, was Charles Schultz. He created the Peanuts comic strip(连环漫画) and the little cartoon character whose kite would never fly and who never succeeded in kicking a football--Charlie Brown.
68.From the first paragraph we can see that Sparky was in high school.
A.a failure B.an artist C.a good player D.a top student
69.Sparky never asked a classmate to go out with him because he was afraid of .
A.making mistakes B.making friends
C.being refused D.being invited
70.In his senior year, Sparky felt confident that he had ability to .
A.play golf B.draw cartoons C.learn English D.write novels
71.His only success mentioned in this passage is .
A.his golf match in high school B.his artwork sent to the Yearbook
C.his subjects in the senior year D.his autobiography in cartoons
72.From the passage we can infer that Sparky is a person.
A.weak B.proud C.disabled D.determined