Brian arrived at the San Francisco airport two hours before the flight to Paris. He was wearing three shirts, a jacket, two pairs of socks, a pair of shorts, and two pairs of jeans. He was carrying one small backpack, which was very full, but he didn’t have any other luggage. Brian needed to meet a man named Tony before he checked in for his flight. He found Tony near the Air France counter. Tony gave him a round-trip ticket and a small package.
“Give this package to Jean-Paul at the airport in Paris. He will have a sign with your name on it. I think you can find him easily,” Tony said, ”You don’t have any luggage, right?”
“Only this backpack,” Brian answered. ”You said I could bring one carry-on bag.”
“That’s right. One carry-on bag is fine. Have a good trip.”
“Thanks.”
Is Brian a criminal(罪犯)? Not at all. He is an air-courier. And he paid only $110 for the round-trip ticket to Paris. Air couriers get cheap airline tickets because they take important packages and papers to foreign countries. Businesses sometimes need to get packages and papers to people in foreign countries by the next day. Often, the only way they can do this is to use an air-courier company. It is not cheap for a business to send a package with an air courier, but it is quick.
Every year about 80,000 people worldwide travel as air couriers. The number of tickets for courier travel is growing by about 10 percent a year. However, air-courier travel isn’t for everyone. But if you have very little money, can be flexible(灵活的) about your travel plans, and don’t mind wearing the same clothes for a week, it can be a great way to take a vacation!Why was Brian wearing so many clothes for his travel?
A.Because they were the uniforms for air couriers. |
B.Because that made him easier to be recognized. |
C.Because his backpack had no room his clothes. |
D.Because he did not have any luggage with him |
An air courier is a person who_________
A .manages a business company in foreign countries
B. organizes international flights for tourists
C. travels around the world with cheap tickets
D delivers papers and packages to foreign countries.Businesses choose the air-courier service because_____.
A.it costs less | B.it is flexible |
C.it saves time | D.it grows fast |
One of the disadvantages of traveling as an air courier is that he_____.
A. cannot decide when and where to travel
B. cannot take any luggage with him
C. has to wear two pairs of jeans
D saves little money from the travel
(C)
I love it at night. It’s peaceful. And when it cools down I sometimes do some ironing. I don’t really care for it. I work full-time and too busy for most housework. I remember the old woman who taught me to iron. I was about 15 and somehow got a live-in job taking care of a woman who had been an able-bodied, healthy woman until the accident that caused her to be paralyzed(瘫痪).
The woman had an electric wheelchair. She could move her head and arms but not her hands or fingers. She had this clamp(夹子)attached to her arm and I’d have to open it and put a cup or a pencil in it and then she could move it. She would tell me how to do things. She would instruct me in great detail on the correct way to do things. Her home was perfect and beautiful. She would follow me around in her electric wheelchair to make sure I did everything exactly right. I’m sure she had been a perfect homemaker. She would have me fold everything, including socks and pillow cases. I would complain silently and wish terrible things on her. She taught me the right way to make the bed and tuck (塞)the corners. I know sometimes she’d get frustrated and impatient with me. I knew she wanted to grab it and do it herself. But she never yelled(大叫)or scolded. Only insisted I do it right. I didn’t like it much, but I did it.
Today I can iron pretty well. I know where to start on a shirt, the right way to do the collar and sleeves. Now that I think about it, I don’t think she is an old lady. I think she might have been about my age now. Anyway, when I iron, I think of her and silently thank her for all the things I learned.
63. From the passage we can infer that the writer of the passage now is ________.
A.a housewife B.a full-time workerC.a clothes maker D.a college student
64. The writer used to take care of the lady because ______.
A.she wanted to learn how to do housework
B.she was a relative of the disabled woman
C.she wanted to earn some money while sleeping and eating there
D.she had to do something in return to the lady for her kindness
65. When the lady taught the writer how to do housework, the little girl was ______.
A. eager to learnB. unwilling to learn C. forced to learnD. careful to learn
66. What’s the writer’s attitude towards the lady now?
A. Sympathetic B. Fearful C. Hateful D. Grateful
(B)
Suppose a key man in your firm had just met with a terrible accident.The doctor tell you that this man upon whom you depend for directing sales, checking your books or for performing some other important roles, will be laid up for months, You’d have to replace him, wouldn’t you? And probably at a pay about equal to his ?
Then you’d be faced with double paying for one job because stopping the pay of an injured man would simply be out of the question.
You can prevent this kind of unproductive outgo on your payroll by providing your key man with the protection of Travelers Business Accident Insurance!
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59.The above is most probably________.
A.a report B.a letter C.an announcement D.an advertisement
60.Whom might the writing be mainly for?
A.An important person in a firm. B.An employee of a firm.
C.The boss of a company. D.Readers of a newspaper.
61.Why would the pay be doubled?
A.Because two persons are doing one job of the same.
B.Because the important job is worth double pay.
C.Because it is necessary that the injured person should be paid.
D.Because the double pay is for two persons.
62.Travelers Insurance Company ________ for a person insured.
A.will pay for all the cost of treatment
B.will pay the weekly income or even that of lifetime
C.won’t get much from the firm
D.will provide everlasting pension as well as medical expense
第三节:阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
(A)
JIUQUAN, Gansu Province, Sept. 6(Xinhua) ---- China’s manned spacecraft Shenzhou-7 will be launched at an appropriate time between Sept. 25 and 30 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province, a spokesman said here on Saturday. The mission will accomplish the first spacewalk by Chinese astronauts.
“All the major systems involved in the launching are now in the final preparation. The main tests for the spacecraft, the Long-March II-F rocket, suits for the space walk and a satellite accompanying the fly have also been finished, ” said the spokesman.
In addition, the ground control system is fully prepared, including the launch site, the landing site, and the communication for observation and control.
When Shenzhou-7 enters its orbit, one of the three taikonauts will conduct a space walk, said Zhao Changxi, a senior scientist with the project, earlier.
According to Zhao, cameras would be fixed outside and inside of the ship for live broadcasting of the space walk.
While the last mission of Shenzhou-6, with a crew of two, was aimed at several days of manned flight, this time the task might be more stringent as one of its main goals is the space walk.
Earlier reports said a crew of six astronauts had been chosen for the mission, with three manning the spacecraft and three substitutes.
China successfully put two manned spacecrafts into orbit in 2003 and 2005 respectively, becoming the third country to send an astronaut into space after the United States and the former Soviet Union(now Russia).
56. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Shenzhou-7 is better equipped than the last two spaceships.
B. Shenzhou-7 will be more successful than the last two launches.
C. All the systems involved in the launching have been prepared.
D. China is ready for the launching of Shenzhou-7.
57. We can learn from the passage ________.
A. This will be the third time for Chinese astronauts to have a space walk
B. Three of the six astronauts chosen for the mission will walk in space
C. The space walk will be live broadcasted on TV
D. Everything has been prepared except communication system
58. The underlined word”stringent”most probably means
A. challenging B. encouraging C. interesting D. moving
E
In 1789 the US. government passed a law which said that the land of the American Indians could never be taken from them without their agreement. One hundred years later, however, the Indians only had a very small part of the land that originally belonged to them. How did this great injustice occur?
After 1812 white settlers began to move west across North America. At first, the settlers and the Indians lived in peace. However, the number of settlers increased greatly every year, and slowly the Indians began to see the white settlers as a danger to their survival. To feed themselves, the settlers killed more and more wild animals. The Indians, who depended on these animals for food, had to struggle against starvation. The settlers also brought with them many diseases which were common in white society, but which were new for the Indians. Great numbers of Indians became sick and died. Between 1843 and 1854 the Indian population in one area of the country went down from 100,000 to 30,000.
More land was needed for the increasing number of white settlers. In Washington, the old respect for the rights of the Indians disappeared. The old promises to the Indians were broken; the government began to move groups of Indians from their original homelands to other poorer parts of the country. Some Indians reacted angrily and violently to this treatment. They began to attack white settlers, and the Indian war began. For 30 years, until the late 1880s, different groups of Indians fought against the injustices of the white man. They had a few famous successes, but the result of the struggle was never in doubt. There were too many white soldiers, and they were too powerful. Many Indians were killed; the survivors were moved from their homelands to different areas of the country. It was a terrible chapter in the history of a country that promised freedom and equality to everyone.
72.It can be inferred from the passage that______.
A.in the US there were many laws that provided to the rights of American Indians
B.the law which was passed in 1789 by the US government was not successfully carried out
C.in the 19th century no injustices were done against the Indians by the US government
D.the majority of white settlers were openly opposed to the law passed in 1789
73.According to the passage which of the following is true?
A.The Indians believed that killing too many wild animals had disturbed the balance of nature.
B.The government began to have a better understanding of the Indians in the 1850s.
C.Between 1843 and 1854 about 70,000 Indians were killed in the battle.
D.The whites carried serious diseases into where the Indians lived.
74.It is implied in the passage that______.
A.the Indians had many great successes in the Indians war
B.the Indians had no doubt that they would win the war
C.after the war the Indians stayed where they were before
D.the Indians were too weak to win the struggle
75.The last sentence of the passage______.
A.serves as the author's comment on the historical event described above
B.gives the reader the impression that injustice is everywhere in the US
C.makes a conclusion that such events talked above will never happen again
D.brings about the topic that how the US government will deal with the problem
D
There is probably no field of human activity in which our values and lifestyles are shown more clearly and strongly than they are in the clothes that we choose to wear. The dress of an individual is a kind of "sign language" that communicates a set of information and is usually the basis on which immediate impressions are formed. Traditionally, a concern for clothes was considered to be an affair of females, while men took pride in the fact they were completely lacking in clothes consciousness(意识).
This type of American culture is by degrees changing as man dress takes on greater variety and color. Even as early as 1995, a researcher in Michigan said that men attached rather high importance to the value of clothing in daily life. White-collar workers in particular viewed dress as a symbol of ability, which could be used to impress or influence others, especially in the work situation. The white-collar worker was described as extremely concerned about the impression his clothes made on his superiors(上司). Although blue-collar workers were less aware that they might be judged on the basis of their clothing, they recognized that any difference from the accepted pattern of dress would be made fun of by fellow workers.
Since that time, of course, the patterns have changed; the typical office worker may now be wearing the blue shirt, and the laborer a white shirt, but the importance of dress has not become less. Other researchers in recent years have helped to prove its importance in the lives of individuals at various levels and in different social and economic status groups(阶层).
68.From the passage we know that______.
A.the Americans' values and lifestyles can't be shown clearly in their activity
B.the Americans' values and lifestyles are from the sign language
C.the clothes the Americans choose to wear have something to do with their values and lifestyles
D.the clothes the Americans choose to wear depend on a set of information
69.Traditionally, the Americans usually thought that______.
A.men should care much for clothes
B.women should concern greatly about what they wore but men shouldn't
C.both men and women must pay great attention to their clothes
D.neither men nor women didn't have to show interest in clothes
70.Blue-collar workers pay attention to their clothes because______.
A.they extremely concern about the impression their clothes make on their superiors
B.they know clearly that people will judge them on the basis of their clothing
C.they want to impress and influence others
D.they don't want to be laughed at
71.The passage mainly suggests that______.
A.the Americans pay great attention to the importance of clothes
B.now men in America have made more progress in clothes consciousness
C.now men in America care about clothes more than women do
D.the American culture is greatly changing