Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony(仪式) but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Frequently it happens that a place has two names: one is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits die hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore (新加坡) are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road(斯坦福路) and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries--in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus--obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example. “Bras Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay (马来语). Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent (月牙) because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again.We learn from Paragraph 1 that ________.
A.the government is usually the first to name a place |
B.a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
C.many places tend to have more than one name |
D.people prefer the place names given by the government |
What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A.Change suddenly. |
B.Change significantly. |
C.Disappear very slowly. |
D.Disappear mysteriously. |
Which of the following places is named after a person?
A.Selector Airbase. |
B.Raffles Place. |
C.Piccadilly Circus. |
D.Paya Lebar Crescent. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers. |
B.Some places in Singapore are named for military(军事) purposes. |
C.The way Singaporeans name their places is unique. |
D.Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain. |
Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique(古董)shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't oven look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean?You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,’Would you mend this chair for me I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused(感到有趣)by the whole thing.
We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.
A.was rather impolite |
B.was warmly received |
C.asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
D.asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.
A.changed his mind | B.accepted the offer |
C.saw the writer’s purpose | D.decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay?
A.£ 5. | B.£ 7. | C.£ 20. | D.£ 27. |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________
A.hanest | B.careful | C.smart | D.funny |
How many coins nave you got in your pocket right now? Three? Two? A bent one?
With a phonecard you can make up to 200 calls without any change at all.
(1) What do you do with it?
Go to a telephone box marked(you guessed it) “phonecard”.Put in your card, make your call and when you’ve finished, a screen tells you how much is left on your card.
(2) Now appear in a shop near you.
Near each Cardphone place you’ll find a shop where you can buy one. They’re at bus, train and city tube stations(地铁).
Many universities, hospitals and clubs. Restaurants and gas stations on the highway and shopping centres. At airports and seaports.
(3) No more broken payphones.
Most broken payphones are like that because they’ve been vandalized(故意破坏). There are no coins in Cardphone to excite thieves’ interest in it. So you’re not probably to find a vandalized one.
Get a phonecard yourself and try it out ,or get a bigger wallet.
The passage is most probably ________ .
A.a warning |
B.a note |
C.an advertisement(广告) |
D.an announcement |
There are three sections(部分) in the passage. Which section do you think is about why phonecards are good?
A.Section 1. | B.Section 2. |
C.Section 3. | D.None. |
Choose the right order or the steps under“How do you use a phonecard”.
a. Put in your phonecard.
b. Look at the screen to find out how many calls you can still make.
c. Go to a telephone box marked “Phonecard”.
d. Make your call.
A.a, b, c, d | B.c, a, d, b |
C.a, d, c, b | D.c, d, a, b |
An explosion on Thursday killed one and injured 21 in a busy street in Tongren, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province.
The bomb was hidden in a rubbish bin in the city’s commercial hub(商业中心),where lots of shops and restaurants are concentrated.
The ear-splitting blast was heard around 12∶50 p.m.,said a local newspaper, citing witnesses. The power of the blast shattered(使粉碎)nearby shop windows and ripped the stainless(不生锈的)steel rubbish can to pieces.
One passer-by,identified(确认)only as Zhang,said she was shocked by the noise and saw a lot of pedestrians lying on the ground when she got to the scene.
Thirteen of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the explosion. A doctor there said five were in serious condition but already out of danger after emergency treatment. The others were just slightly hurt.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, said an officer with the Tongren police, but refused to speculate as to the cause.
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A.All the injured were taken to a hospital |
B.8 of the injured were not taken to a hospital |
C.The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a restaurant |
D.The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a shop |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.One passer- by, indentified only as Zhang, saw the man throwing a bomb into a bin. |
B.Some customers in restaurants were injured. |
C.The writer didn’t get to the scene. |
D.All customers in shops got hurt. |
In the last paragraph the underlined word“ speculate” probably means ________.
A.tell | B.guess |
C.discuss | D.talk |
What of the follwing can be the best title for the passage?
A.Bomb Hidden in a Rubbish Bin |
B.The Cause of the Explosion |
C.A Terrible Thing |
D.Market Blast Kills 1 ,Injures 21 |
Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interest is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive designs. There are 100, 000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a blank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.
The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later the first British card appeared, and. now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light , and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4, 000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28, 000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors magazine.
The text is mainly about ________ .
A.the history of phone cards |
B.phone card collecting as a hobby |
C.reason for phone card collecting |
D.the great variety of phone cards |
When did people in Britain begin to use phone cards?
A.In 1971. | B.In 1975. |
C.In 1976. | D.In 1981. |
The main mason for most people to collect phone cards is that ________ .
A.they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep |
B.they like to have something from different countries |
C.they want to make money with cards |
D.they think the cards are convenient to use |
Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word“obey”is hardly exact as a description of the eager and delighted co- operation(合作) usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gestures and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It’s agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particular expression like delight, pain, friendliness and so on. But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store. This self - imitation(自我模仿)leads out to deliberate(有意的)imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.
It is a problem we need to get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will. change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use, at seven months, of“ mama” as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at another time for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however , whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of his ability in an attempt to teach new words.
Children who start speaking late ________
A.may have problems with their listening |
B.probably do not hear enough language spoken around them |
C.usually pay close attention to what they hear |
D.often take a long time in learning to listen properly |
A baby’s first noises are ________ .
A.an expression of his moods and feelings |
B.an early form of language |
C.an imitation of the speech of adults |
D.a sign that he means to tell you something |
The problem of deciding at what point a baby’s imitation can be considered as speech ________ .
A.is important because words have different meanings for different people |
B.is not especially important because the change takes place gradually |
C.is one that should be ignored(忽略)because children’s use of words is often meaningless |
D.is one that can never be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age |
The speaker implies that ________ .
A.even after they have learnt to speak, children still enjoy imitation |
B.children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly |
C.children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak |
D.patents can never hope to teach their children new sounds |