July 21st. 2007 was a typical English summer’s day--it rained for 24 hours! As usual, I rushed home from work at midday to check on the house. Nothing was amiss. By the time I left work at 5p.m., however, the road into our village was flooded. Our house had never been flooded but, as I opened the front door, a wave of waters greeted me. Thank God! The kids weren’t with me, because the house was 5 feet deep in water. We lost everything downstairs. And the plaster had to be torn off the wall’s ceilings pulled down.
At first we tried to push on through. We didn’t want to move the children out of home. So we camped upstairs. We put a sheet of plastic across the floor to protect us from the damp. But after three months, we felt very sick, so we move to a wooden house in a park. The house was small, but at first we were all just delighted to be in a new place. Unfortunately, things took longer than expected and we were there for 10 months. The life there was inconvenient. What surprised me most was how much I missed being part of a community. We had lived in a friendly village with good neighbors, and I’d never thought how much I’d miss that.
Although our situation was very bad, it’s difficult to feel too sorry for yourself when you look at what’s happening elsewhere. I watched a news report about floods in Northern India and thought. “We didn’t have a straw hut(茅草房) that was swept away, and our house is still standing. We’re lucky.” We moved back home in August. With December coming, there’s reconstruction work to be done, so it’s difficult to prepare for Christmas. But I can’t wait--I’m going to throw a party for our friends in the village to say thanks for their support. This year, I won’t need any gifts--living away from home for months has made me realize how little we actually need or miss all our possessions. Although we are replacing things, there’s really no rush--we have our home back. And that’s the main thing.What does the underlined word “amiss” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．Found. | B．Missing. | C．Right. | D．Wrong. |
It can be inferred from the text that the author _________.
| A．cared much about her children |
| B．was sick of staying upstairs alone |
| C．could not stand living in a wooden house |
| D．did not deal well with her family affairs during the flood |
Why does the author say that they were lucky in the third paragraph?
| A．Because her situation was not serious. |
| B．Because some others suffered even more. |
| C．Because she had ever been to Northern India. |
| D．Because very few other places were also flooded. |
What does the author mainly want to express by telling her story?
| A．She realized she needed no more possession. |
| B．She valued human feelings more than before. |
| C．She found Christmas gifts no longer badly needed. |
| D．She thought her own home was the most important of all. |
Exchanging music over the Internet is fun and easy. Better yet, it's free, which means you don't have to pay for any more expensive music CDs. Several online file-sharing services make it easy for music lovers to exchange their favorite tunes with one another.
However, this illegal sharing of music — a form of music piracy(盗版)— is doing harm to the music industry. Industry experts estimate (估计) that US$4.3 billion in worldwide sales was lost to music piracy last year. These lost profits could force record companies to stop producing the music of many popular artists. That would hurt both musicians and music fans alike.
Music producers are puzzled about how to fight music piracy. Their efforts to fight piracy using the law have had only limited success. The music industry did win a legal victory against Napster, a famous music website. The courts ordered Napster to stop giving away copyrighted music from their site. But a number of other music-sharing networks have sprung up in its place.
These new networks are made up of thousands, or even millions, of individuals. Unlike Napster, there's no one company controlling the distribution(发行)of music over each network. So it's nearly impossible to stop the illegal activities.
Now people in the music industry have decided that " if you can't beat them, join them." They've begun to offer legal alternatives to online music piracy. Major music producers have given companies like Apple Computer permission(许可) to sell their music online. Apple's iTune Music Store allows computer users to legally download any song for 99 cents.
Will these new measures save the music industry from piracy? That depends on whether music fans are willing to pay 99 cents fro a song that they can download illegally for free. Unfortunately, many people believe music should be free. The music industry, however, hopes to persuade these music fans to change their tune.This text is written to _____.
| A．discuss music piracy on the Internet |
| B．introduce the popularity of online music |
| C．persuade music fans to give up downloading music |
| D．protect copyrighted music from being downloaded illegally |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Some online file-sharing services are responsible for music piracy. |
| B．Napster, a famous music website, broke down because of its piracy. |
| C．There have been no perfect measures to put an end to piracy. |
| D．Legal sharing of music is available at Apple's iTune Music Store. |
Which of the following statements would the author agree with?
| A．The only effective way to fight music piracy is to stop it by law. |
| B．Music lovers will be persuaded to pay for online music in time. |
| C．It is certain that no one will be willing to pay for online music. |
| D．There is a long way for music industry to go in fighting piracy. |
The underlined word "illegal" in Paragraph 2 probably means _____.
| A．being protected by the law | B．popular | C．being against the law | D．surprising |
People in the United States honor their parents with two special days：Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible(有责任感的) citizens. They give love and care. These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery(墓地).On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is “the thought that counts”. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.Which of the following is NOT a reason for children to show love and respect for parents?
| A．Parents bring up children. |
| B．Parents give love and care to children. |
| C．Parents educate children to be good persons. |
| D．Parents pass away before children grow up. |
What do you think “florists” do?
| A．They sell flowers. |
| B．They make and sell bread. |
| C．They offer enough room for having family parties. |
| D．They sell special gifts for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. |
Which do you think is right about “carnation”?
| A．It has only two kinds of colors. |
| B．It refers to the special clothes people wear on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. |
| C．It’s a kind of flower showing love and best wishes. |
| D．People can wear carnations only on the second Sunday in May. |
What do you know from the passage?
| A．Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are both in May. |
| B．Fewer women worked outside the home in the past. |
| C．Not all the children respect their parents |
| D．Fathers are not as important as mothers at home. |
On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day,.
| A．people usually have family parties |
| B．everyone goes to visit the cemetery |
| C．children always go to parents’ home |
| D．hand-made cards are the most valuable gifts |
The office has always been a place to get ahead. Unfortunately, It is also a place where a lot of natural resources start to fall behind. Take a look around next time you’re at work. See how many lights are left on when people leave. See how much paper is being wasted. How much electricity is being used to run computers that are left on. Look at how much water is being wasted in the rest-rooms. And how much solid waste is being thrown out in the rubbish cans. We bet it’s a lot.
Now, here are some simple ways you can produce less waste at work. When you are at the copier, only make the copies you need. Use both sides of the paper when writing something less important. Turn off your lights when you leave. Use a lower watt bulb in your lamp. Drink your coffee or tea out of your mugs instead of single-use cups. Set up a recycling box for cans and one for bottles. And when you’re in the bathroom brushing your teeth or washing your face, don’t let the tap run. Remember, if we use fewer resources today, we’ll save more for tomorrow. The main purpose of the passage is to tell people _______.
| A．the disadvantages of working in an office |
| B．the waste produced in an office |
| C．to save resources when working in an office |
| D．how to save water in a restroom |
How many kinds of waste are mentioned in the passage？
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
From the passage we can infer that in the office ________.
| A．using computers is a waste of resource |
| B．many people don’t turn off the computers after using them |
| C．computers are run by electricity |
| D．a computer is not a must for working |
It is suggested that we use both sides of the paper at the copier because _______.
| A．we are short of paper | B．the printing is not important |
| C．we should save paper | D．we have to pay for the paper |
The underlined word mugs is most likely to be _______.
| A．a machine that makes coffee |
| B．a container that can be used again and again |
| C．a paper product for tea |
| D．something that can only be found in an office |
People believe that climbing can do good to health. Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb，you’re wrong. Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms(体育馆). Here，people are learning on special climbing walls. The climbing wall goes straight up and has small holding places for hands and feet.
How do people climb the wall? To climb，you need special shoes and a harness(保护带)around your chest to hold you. There are ropes(绳索)tied to your harness. The ropes hold you in place so that you don’t fall. A beginner’s wall is usually about 15 feet high，and you climb straight up. There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to. Sometimes it’s easy to see the new piece of metal. Sometimes, it’s not. The most difficult part is to control your fear. It’s normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it’s difficult not to feel fear. But when you move away from the wall，the harness and the ropes hold you，and you begin to feel safe. You move slowly until you reach the top.
Climbing attracts people because it’s good exercise for almost everyone. You use your whole body，especially your arms and legs. This sport gives your body a complete workout. When you climb，both your mind and your body can become stronger. What can we infer from the passage?
| A．People are fairly interested in climbing nowadays. |
| B．It is impossible to build up one’s body by climbing. |
| C．People can only learn the skill of climbing outdoors. |
| D．It is always easy to see holding places in climbing. |
The most difficult thing to do in wall climbing is .
| A．to tie ropes to your harness | B．to control your fear |
| C．to move away from the wall | D．to climb straight up |
The word “workout” underlined in the last paragraph most probably means .
| A．settlement | B．exercise | C．excitement | D．tiredness |
Why does the author write this passage?
| A．To tell people where to find gyms. |
| B．To prove the basic need for climbing. |
| C．To encourage people to climb mountains. |
| D．To introduce the sport of wall climbing. |
Having a husband means an extra seven hours of housework each week for women, according to a new study. For men, getting married saves an hour of housework a week. “It’s a well-known pattern,” said lead researcher Frank Stafford at University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. “Men usually work more outside the home, while women take on more of the housework.”
He points out that differences among households(家庭)exist. But in general, marriage means more housework for women and less for men. “And the situation gets worse for women when they have children,” Stafford said.
Overall, times are changing in the American home. In 1976, women busied themselves with 26 weekly hours of sweeping-and-dusting work, compared with 17 hours in 2005. Men are taking on more housework, more than doubling their housework hours from six in 1976 to 13 in 2005.
Single women in their 20s and 30s did the least housework, about 12 weekly hours, while married women in their 60s and 70s did the most-about 21 hours a week.
Men showed a somewhat different pattern, with older men picking up the broom more often than younger men. Single men worked the hardest around the house, more than that of all other age groups of married men.
Having children increases housework even further. With more than three children, for example, wives took on more of the extra work, clocking about 28 hours a week compared with husbands’10 hours. According to the “well-known pattern” in Paragraph 1, a married man___________.
| A．takes on heavier work | B．does more housework |
| C．is the main breadwinner | D．is the master of the house |
How many hours of housework did men do every week in the 1970s?
| A．About 23. | B．About 26. | C．About 13. | D．About 6. |
What kind of man is doing most housework according to the text?
| A．An unmarried man. | B．An older married man. |
| C．A younger married man. | D．A married man with children. |
What can we conclude from Stafford’s research?
| A．Marriage gives men more freedom. |
| B．Marriage has effects on job choices. |
| C．Housework sharing changes over time. |
| D．Having children means doubled housework. |