Carrying a passenger on a bicycle is an offence punishable by law. Everyone knows that but still some of us do it.
I had done it many times before until something happened to teach me never to do it again. It was not the police. Rather it was an unforgettable, and unpleasant, experience.
It happened one evening when my friend Segaran and I wanted to go and visit another friend who lived some distance away. I had a bicycle. Segaran did not. So, as usual, he sat side-saddle on the horizontal bar of the bicycle while I pedalled. We had done it many times before, so it should not be any problem.
Near my friend’s house, we got onto a gravel(碎石) path made slippery by the recent rain. Still we managed to move along, thoroughly enjoying the rough ride.
As we passed by a stream, I made the mistake of going too near the bank. The rain had softened the soil and it could not hold our combined weight. One moment we were going along merrily, the next we were tumbling head over heels into the stream.
Splash! Splash! Splash! We plunged into the river bicycle first, followed by Segaran, then me. Normally the stream is only a few centimetres deep with clear water. When we fell in, it was a metre deep with smelly black water. The water prevented us from getting badly injured but we also had to pay the price of swallowing some of it. It tasted horrible. Segaran got the worst of it for being sandwiched between the bicycle and me. Our pride was far more hurt.
We walked all the way home. I had to push the bicycle because its front wheel was bent out of shape. From that moment I promised never to carry anyone on a bicycle again.________ taught the author never to carry a passenger on a bicycle again.
| A．The police | B．The experience |
| C．Segaran | D．The visited friend |
Where did they land when they fell off the bike?
| A．Into the dirty river | B．Onto the friend’s house |
| C．Onto the gravel path | D．Into the softened soil |
The author felt hurt mainly because ________.
| A．he swallowed some dirty water |
| B．he got badly injured in the water |
| C．he made Segaran sandwiched and hurt |
| D．he failed in a thing he had thought was easy |
Where does the following paragraph go back into the passage?
We retrieved ourselves and the bicycle from the stream. We were both dirty and wet. Obviously we were in no condition to visit anyone. So we decided to go home.
| A．Between Paragraph 3 and 4 |
| B．Between Paragraph 5 and 6 |
| C．Between Paragraph 6 and 7 |
| D．After the last paragraph |
The following are the world-renewed attractions（迷人地方） in London, so don’t miss them while touring there.
Shakespeare’s Globe
Shakespeare’s Globe, which officially opened in 1997, is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, built in 1599, and brings Shakespeare’s world to life. As a visitor to the exhibition you’ll discover how shows were produced in the theatres during Shakespeare’s time. The guide-storytellers take you on a fascinating half-hour tour.
Price: Adult ￡9.00；Child(5-15) ￡6.50; Student ￡7.50; Under 5 FREE.
The Tower of London
The tower, nearly 100 feet high, with walls 15 feet thick, was built in the early 1080s. King Henry Ⅲ made this tower his home. King Edward V and his
younger brother were murdered inside by their uncle. Queen Elizabeth I was shut up in the tower for two months by her half sister Mary who felt that her throne(王位)was being threatened(威胁). In 1603, part of the tower became a museum.
Price: Adult ￡16.50; Child (5-15) ￡9.50; Under 5 FREE; Student ￡13.50; Family (two adults with three children) ￡46.00.
Banqueting(宴会) House
Banqueting House is the remains of Whitehall Palace which was built in 1529 and was home to the English kings. It was destroyed by fire. Famous for its architecture and painting, the building is also known for being the scene(地点) of Charles I’s execution(处决)。
Price: Adult ￡4.50; Child ￡2.25; Student (with ID) and senior citizen (60+) ￡3.00; Under 5 FREE.
Tower Bridge Exhibition
Tower Bridge has stood over the River Thames in London since 1894 and is one of the finest, most recognizable bridges in the world. At the Tower Bridge Exhibition you can enjoy breath-taking views from the high-level walkways and learn about the history of the bridge and how it was built. You can then visit the Victorian engine rooms, home to the original steam engines that used to power the bridge.
Price: Adult￡6.00; Child (5-15) ￡3.00; Under 5 FREE; Senior citizen(60+) ￡4.50; Student￡4.50.
1. Which of the following places has the longest history?
A. Whitehall Palace. B. The Globe Theatre.
C. The Tower of London. D. Tower Bridge.
2. If two parents with their 4-year-old son visit the Tower of London, they should pay .
A. ￡33 B. ￡43 C. ￡46 D. ￡52
3. Queen Elizabeth I was shut up in the tower for two months by Mary mainly because .
A. Mary didn’t like her ]
B. she tried to steal Mary’s treasure
C. Mary feared she would become the Queen
D. she intended to murder Mary
4. How many places used as a king’s home are mentioned in this passage?
A. One. B. Two. C. Three. D. Four.
Life is difficult.
But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it.
Most don’t fully see this truth. Instead, they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties stand for a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or upon their family, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is painful. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness, loneliness, regret, anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings , often as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems , life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole of solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure .When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said,“Those things that hurt, instruct(teach).” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.
1. From the passage, it can be inferred that______.
A. not everybody has problems.
B. We become stronger by facing and solving problems in life.
C. life is difficult because our problems bring us pain.
D. people like to complain about their problems.
2. The writer uses just one short sentence in the first paragraph probably to _______.
A. save space B. persuade readers
C. make readers laugh D. get readers’ attention
3. According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
A. encourage them to learn B. make them suffer
C. help them to deal with pain D. help them to understand life is difficult
4. By“Those things that hurt, instruct(teach).” Benjamin Franklin
suggests that_____.
A.we don’t learn from experience
B.we don’t learn when we are in pain
C.pain teaches us important lessons
D.pain is unforgetable.
At 3:30 a.m. Pearl Carlson was shaken awake by a forceful pull. King, the family dog, was trying to pull her out of bed.Then she smelled smoke and heard the sound of fire from her parent's room. Pearl's screams awaked her mother， Fern and father, Howard, who had recently been in hospital for lung disease. Helping Howard to a first-floor window, Fern told him to climb out, then ran to her daughter.
Still inside, King appeared at Pearl's window, making squeaking (短促尖叫) sounds. When running toward Pearl's bedroom, Fern realized her husband hadn't yet escaped. She made her way back through the smoke and flames, following King's sound to where Howard lay semiconscious (半昏迷) on the floor. Fern helped him get outside. King came out only after both were safe.
As day dawned, the Carlsons saw that King's paws were badly burned, and his entire body was burned too. His chain collar had gotten so hot that it burned his throat, making it impossible for him to bark (叫) normally. Only after the seven-year-old dog refused food did they find pieces of wood in his mouth and realize that King, who slept outside, had bitten through a wood door to warn his family.
1. Who was King in this story?
A. The family sore B. The family daughter.
C. The family dog. D. The master.
2. According to the story, the first one who was completely out of danger could be .
A. Howard B. Fern C. Pearl and Fern D. Pearl
3. After reading this story, we've learnt that the following statements could be reasonable except .
A. the dog made a big hole in the door
B. the dog awoke mother first
C. the dog was the last one to escape from the burning room
D. the dog was badly burned , hurt and not able to eat
4. From this story it can be inferred that .
A. Pearl loves her parents very much
B. Howard is the best man of the family
C. the woman loves her children more deeply than her husband
D. the dog is man's best friend
三．阅读理解：（20×2.5=50分）
People have smoked cigarettes for a long time. The tobacco used to make cigarettes was grown in what is now part of the United States. Christopher Columbus, who discovered America, saw the Indians smoking, and soon the dried leaves were transported to Europe where smoking began to catch on. In the late 1800s, the Turk(土耳其人) made cigarettes even popular.
Cigarettes smoke contains at least two harmful substances, tar and nicotine. Tar, which forms as the tobacco burns, damages the lungs and therefore affects breathing. Nicotine, which is found in the leaves, causes the heart to beat faster and increases breathing rate.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous. The U.S. Public Health Service stated that cigarette smoking is the cause of lung cancers and several other deadly diseases. The U.S. government now requires that each package of cigarettes bear（带有）a special warning about the danger of smoking.
1. The expression “catch on” in the passage may mean _________.
A. start B. cost a lot C. become popular D. dangerous
2. Before Columbus discovered America __________.
A. Europeans had smoked B. Nobody smoked in the world
C. Nicotine was not in tobacco D. Europeans had never smoked
3. In the nineteenth century smoking became popular because of the people in ________.
A. India B. Turkey C. the U.S. D. British
4. Breathing is affected by ___________.
A. nicotine B. tar C. heat D. both A and B
I came to India a year ago to find a village in which I could live and write but it was many months before I settled down happily in this Himalayan community.
I wasted a lot of time looking for the “typical” village. Yet no such thing exists. Conditions are quite different from village to village. But the villages I stayed in had much in common---poor, dirty and backward. Often the villagers themselves were puzzled and doubtful. Why had I come? I had put aside my work as a political journalist because my ideas had changed. I had come to believe that what was happening in the Third World was more important than anything else. But to understand how three—quarters of the world population live, and what effect their future might have on ours, I felt that I first had to try and share their way of life.
In the end I chose a mountain village because it was little cooler than those in the plains. I took the bus from town along a rocky road. Then came a rough walk down a steep path to the river. After this I began the climb into the hills. Whenever I stopped to catch my breath, there was a beautiful scene. After several hours’ walk the village came into sight.
1. After the writer had arrived in India,________.
A.he spent a year writing about the place he lived in
B.he spent quite some time looking for a suitable place to live in
C.he stayed in an Indian village working for the poor
D.he lived in a Himalayan community for many months.
2.While looking for a typical village, the writer found__________.
A.he was searching for the impossible
B.all the villages were exactly the same
C.he was doing something enjoyable
D.the villagers were curious about him
3.Before coming to India, the writer________.
A.had been a successful politician
B.had made a decision to work for India
C.had studied India culture for some months
D.had worked for newspapers and magazines
4.The write decided to change his way of life because__________.
A.he no longer found his work interesting
B.he hoped to live a peaceful life in the countryside
C.he wanted to find out more about the Third World
D.he wanted to try his luck in a foreign country
5. The village the writer finally chose to live in_________.
A.lay at the end of a rocky road
B.had a beautiful sight of the river
C.was a short walk from the river
D.had better weather than those in the plains.