Everyone's at it, even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn't done an eBay deal. So I decided to try my hand at online auction.
Buying for beginners: Sign up on www.eBay.co.uk. Most items (e.g. tables, computers, and books) ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with “Buy It Now” and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away.
If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids for you.The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days, and when they finish you get an email telling you whether you have won the item.
How to pay: Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a cheque or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card.
Selling made simple: If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item.I followed my friends' advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10-day auction, starting on a Thursday.This way buyers had two weekends to bid.
The big things in life: It's easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collected or sent by delivery men.Check the ways of delivery before you bid.The passage suggests that a buyer ________.
| A．has more than one chance to bid |
| B．should make payment immediately |
| C．can only buy one item |
| D．must give the credit card to the seller |
The easiest way of making payment mentioned in the passage is ______.
| A．through an online payment system |
| B．through a local bank system |
| C．by sending the money to the seller |
| D．by paying the delivery man directly |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．Big items can't be sold on eBay. |
| B．Including a picture of the item for sale helps make the selling simple. |
| C．Sellers can only be paid in one way. |
| D．Most items ready for auction don't have a picture. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to make payment online. |
| B．Ways of making delivery online. |
| C．Advantages of an online auction system. |
| D．How to use an online auction system. |
How many men do housework? Recently a European Commission tried to find out people’s ideas and reactions to the women’s movement. As part of their survey (调查), they asked many men and women the question, “Who does the housework?” The men answered very differently from the women!
The housework they asked people about were: preparing meals, washing dishes, cleaning the house and babysitting. 48% of British husbands said they did these things. 37% of Danish men helped in the house. But only 15% of Italian men said they did the housework, many of them said they never helped at all!
But there was an interesting point of view from the wives. According to British wives, only 38% of their husbands helped in the house. And Italian wives said that their husbands hardly ever helped. The Italian and British men did not tell the truth! The Commission found that Danish men were the most trustful husbands; their answers were the same as their wives’ answers.
Do the men you know help in the house? Do you think the survey gives a true picture in your experience? Write and tell us what you think.The survey was carried out in ______.
| A．Britain | B．Europe | C．Denmark | D．Italy |
The subject for the survey is ______.
| A．how many boys do the housework |
| B．who are more diligent（勤劳）, wives or husbands |
| C．how many women do the housework |
| D．who does the housework at home |
From the passage we can see that ______.
| A．there were more husbands who did the housework than wives |
| B．husbands did half of the housework all the time |
| C．there were more wives who did the housework than husbands |
| D．wives did all the housework at home |
More ______ husbands help in the house than ______ husbands.
| A．British; Danish | B．Italian; Danish | C．Danish; British | D．Italian; British |
The elephant was lying heavily on its side, fast asleep. A few dogs started barking at it. The elephant woke up in a terrible anger: it chased the dogs into the village where they ran for safety. That didn't stop the elephant. It destroyed a dozen houses and injured several people. The villagers were scared and angry. Then someone suggested calling Parbati, the elephant princess.
Parbati Barua’s father was a hunter of tigers and an elephant tamer（驯兽者）. He taught Parbati to ride an elephant before she could even walk. He also taught her the dangerous art of the elephant round-up -- how to catch wild elephants.
Parbati hasn’t always lived in the jungle. After a happy childhood hunting with her father, she was sent to boarding school in the city. But Parbati never got used to being there and many years later she went back to her old life. “Life in the city is too dull. Catching elephants is an adventure and the excitement lasts for days after the chase,” she says.
But Parbati doesn’t catch elephants just for fun. “My work,” she says, “is to rescue man from the elephants, and to keep the elephants safe from man.” And this is exactly what Parbati has been doing for many years. Increasingly, the Indian elephant is angry: for many years, illegal hunters have attacked it and its home in the jungle has been reduced to small pieces of land. It is now fighting back. Whenever wild elephants enter a tea garden or a village, Parbati is called to guide the animals back to the jungle before they can kill.
The work of an elephant tamer also involves love and devotion. A good elephant tamer will spend hours a day singing love songs to a newly captured elephant. “Eventually they grow to love their tamers and never forget them. They are also more loyal than humans,” she said, as she climbed up one of her elephants and sat on the giant, happy animal. An elephant princess indeed!For Parbati, catching elephants is mainly to ______.
| A．get long lasting excitement |
| B．make the angry elephants tame |
| C．send them back to the jungle |
| D．keep both man and elephants safe |
Before Parbati studied in a boarding school, ______.
| A．she spent her time hunting with her father |
| B．she learned how to sing love songs |
| C．she had already been called an elephant princess |
| D．she was taught how to hunt tigers |
Indian elephants are getting increasingly angry and they revenge（报复）because ______.
| A．they are caught and sent for heavy work |
| B．illegal hunters capture them and kill them |
| C．they are attacked and their land gets limited |
| D．dogs often bark at them and chase them |
The passage starts with an elephant story in order to explain that in India ______.
| A．people easily fall victim（受害者）to elephants attacks |
| B．dogs are as powerful as elephants |
| C．elephant tamers are in short supply |
| D．the man-elephant relationship is getting worse |
Rome had the Forum (论坛). London has Speaker’s Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.
Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street comers. And just talk. Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, “ Talk to Me,” they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits.
They don’t collect money. They don’t push religion (宗教). So what’s the point?
“To see what happens,” said Liz. “ We simply enjoy life with open talk.”
Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return. “ It started as a crazy idea.” Liz said. “ We were so curious about all the 10 strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their job, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything.” Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She had stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went. Marcia had led her husband to a serious disease. “That was very heavy on my mind.” Marcia said. “ To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good,” she explained.
To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people appeared, as well as some television cameramen and reporters. They may plan more parties or try to attract more people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something the two say they’ll consider before making a decision.
| A．Telling stories to strangers. |
| B．Setting up street signs. |
| C．Talking with people |
| D．Organizing a speaker’s party. |
| A．They knew Liz and Bill very well. |
| B．They happened to meet the writer of the text. |
| C．They organized the get-together in the city park. |
| D．They are examples of those who talked to Liz and Bill. |
| A．Go in for publishing |
| B．Do more television programs. |
| C．Continue what they are doing |
| D．Spend more time reading books. |
| A．They have decided to wait a year or two. |
| B．They will think about it carefully |
| C．They agreed immediately |
| D．They find it hard to do that. |
Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater. Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile.
| A．a travel guide | B．a newspaper |
| C．a textbook | D．a novel |
| A．swimming in the river | B．standing on the river bank |
| C．watching the crocodile | D．fishing in the water |
| A．Her eyes were badly poked. |
| B．She had eight wounds altogether. |
| C．One of her fingers also got hurt. |
| D．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
| A．brave | B．diligent | C．quick | D．humorous |
There are many international organizations which work to save and protect endangered species (物种) and natural environment. If you would like more information about any of the organizations listed below, you can write to the addresses given.
Friends of the Earth (FOE) campaigns on a range of problems including rain forests, the countryside, water and air pollution and energy.
Friends of the Earth International Secretariat
P.O. Box 19199
1000 G.D.
Amsterdam
The Netherlands Greenpeace uses peaceful but direct action to defend the environment. It campaigns to protect rain forests and sea animals, stop global warming and end pollution of air, land and seas. It also opposes nuclear power.
Greenpeace International
Keizergracht 176
1016 DW Amsterdam
The Netherlands BirdLife International is an organization which works to save endangered birds all over the world.
BirdLife International
Wellbrook Court
Girton Road
Cambridge CB3 0NA
England
WWF—World Wide Fund For Nature is the world’s largest private international organization for the conservation of nature and threatened species.
Information Officer
WWF International
Avenue du Mont-Blanc
1196 Gland
Switzerland
| A．call them | B．write them a letter |
| C．visit them | D．send them an e-mail |
| A．reduce pollution | B．defend rain forests |
| C．protect ocean animals | D．save endangered birds |
| A．Friends of the Earth | B．World Wide Fund For Nature |
| C．Greenpeace | D．BirdLife International |
| A．Environmental Protection Organizations |
| B．Global Traffic Problems |
| C．Endangered Animals |
| D．Natural Beauty |