Kenyon Scudder once told me a story about his friend, Michael. Michael happened to be on a train sitting next to a young man who seemed worried. Finally the young man told the friend that he was a convict (罪犯) returning home from a prison far away. What he did had brought shame (羞耻) on his family, and they had neither visited him nor written to him. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too busy to write.
When he was set free he had written to tell them he wanted to go home. To make matters easy for them, however, he had asked them to put up a signal (信号) for him when the train passed their little farm. If the family had forgiven (原谅) him, they were to put up a white ribbon (丝带) in the big apple tree near the railway. If they didn't want him back, they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, and go far away.
As the train neared his hometown his suspense became so great that he was afraid to look out of the window. He asked Michael to watch for the big apple tree. They changed seats. In a minute, Michael put his hand on the young convict’s shoulder. "There it is," he said, his eyes filled with sudden tears. "It’s all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons."For which of the following reasons might the young man be worried?
| A．His family might not allow him to go home. |
| B．His family would not remember him. |
| C．His family hadn’t written to him frequently. |
| D．His family hadn’t visited him for a long time. |
According to the passage, the white ribbon in the big apple tree means ________.
| A．pleasure | B．forgiveness |
| C．happiness | D．education |
The word "suspense" underlined in the last paragraph can best be replaced by ________.
| A．pain | B．interest |
| C．worry | D．happiness |
Why did Michael cry at the end of the story?
| A．The young man couldn’t live with his family. |
| B．There were many white ribbons on the apple tree. |
| C．He was moved by the young man. |
| D．The young man was very sad. |
It looks like a mobile phone, but the service is much cheaper. It acts like a mobile phone, but only in your own city. Beyond the city walls, it’s useless.
“Little Smart”, also called “xiaolingtong”, has always been compared to mobile phones. But actually, it is more like one of those cordless phones(无绳电话) used around the home. The only difference is that this one reaches much further than from the bathroom to the living room. It can travel across an entire city.
Cheap costs are the main reason for the success of Little Smart. It costs 25 yuan a month for the line and about 0.1 yuan per minute to use. A mobile phone, on the other hand, can cost four or five times as much. What’s more, unlike mobile phones, there’s no fee(费) for incoming calls. So these low charges have attracted many users.
But, Little Smart is not really that smart. Users often complain about its bad voice quality. And there are not as many stations to pick up its signals as there are for mobiles. “I couldn’t receive a phone call if I was on a bus,” said Li Ping, a user in Hangzhou. “It worked fine when I stood still, but there were breaks in signal when I was moving.”
Scientists are trying to make Little Smart more user-friendly. Messaging and Internet access(接入) have been added to the service. And the latest Little Smart handset even has color screen.Why is Little Smart popular in China?
| A．It looks like a mobile phone. | B．The service is much cheaper. |
| C．There is no fee for incoming calls. | D．All of the above. |
How is the charge of Little Smart?
| A．About 10 fen per minute to use. |
| B．It costs four or five times more than a mobile phone. |
| C．It only costs 25 yuan each month. |
| D．There’s no fee for calls. |
Why are users not satisfied with Little Smart?
| A．They can’t hear each other clearly out of the city. |
| B．There are so few stations for Little Smart to pick up its signals. |
| C．When you use it, you must stand up. |
| D．The charges are low. |
The underlined word “handset” in the last paragraph means “______”.
| A．the hand bag | B．telephone | C．service | D．mobile phone |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．It’s wrong to say that Little Smart is smart. |
| B．Scientist are trying to make Little Smart smaller. |
| C．Little Smart will be better than today. |
| D．People will change Little Smart into a mobile phone. |
People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or other historic remains. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. Most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.
Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money for the sun because they have so little of it. People in cities like London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam spend much of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the year it rains. This is the reason why the Mediterranean has always attracted them. Every summer many people travel to Mediterranean resorts (度假胜地) and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason. Sun!
The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economies of Mediterranean countries. Italy's 30,000 hotels are booked without a break every summer. And 13 million people visited French beaches, parks, and roadsides. Spain's long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit there yearly, or one tourist for each person living in Spain.
But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism that it can deal with. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. None of this, however, is ruining anyone's fun. Obviously, visitors don't go there for clean water. They allow traffic jams and endure crowded beaches. They don't even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is , the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it's still better than sitting in cold Berlin, London, or anywhere else. The writer seems to imply that Europeans travel mostly for the reason that _____.
| A．they want to see historic remains |
| B．they wish to escape from cold, dark and rainy days |
| C．they would like to take pictures in front of famous places |
| D．they are interested in different cultural and social customs |
According to the passage, which of the following countries attracts more tourists than the others?
| A．Italy. | B．Greece. | C．France. | D．Spain. |
The underlined part in Passage 3, "one tourist for each person living in Spain" means _____.
| A．all the 37 million people living in Spain are tourists |
| B．every person living in Spain has to take care of a tourist |
| C．every year almost as many tourists visit Spain as there are people living in that country |
| D．every family in Spain is visited by a tourist every year |
What does the underlined phrase "without a break" mean?
| A．不休息 | B．不绝交 | C．不间断 | D．不打碎 |
According to the passage, which of the following might ruin the tourists' fun at Mediterranean resorts and beaches?
| A．Polluted water | B．Crowded buses | C．Rainy weather | D．Traffic jams |
Scientists have learned a lot about the kinds of food people need. They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day. They are: (1) green and yellow vegetables of all kinds; (2)citrus （柑橘）fruits and tomatoes; (3) potatoes and other fruits and vegetables ; (4) meat of all kinds, fish and eggs; (5) milk and foods made from milk; (6) bread or cereal (谷物), rice is also in this kind of foods; (7) Butter or something like butter.
People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things. Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways. People in different countries eat at different times of the day. In some places people eat once or twice a day; in other countries people eat three or four times a day. Scientists say that none of the differences is really important. It doesn’t matter whether foods are eaten raw or cooked, canned or frozen. It doesn’t matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o’clock in the afternoon or at eleven o’clock at night. The important thing is what you eat every day.
There are two problems, then, in feeding the large number of people on earth. The first thin g is to find some ways to feed the world’s population so that no one is hungry. The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kind of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy. According to the scientists, which of the following groups of food is the healthiest for your lunch?
| A．chicken, apples, cereal, cabbages. | B．potatoes, carrots, rice, bread. |
| C．oranges, bananas, fish, tomatoes. | D．beef, pork, fish, milk |
It is important for people to eat __________.
| A．three times a day | B．dinner at twelve o’clock |
| C．cooked food all the day | |
| D．something from each of the seven kinds of food every day. |
People in different countries and different places of the world________________.
| A．have the right kinds of food to eat | B．cook their food in the same way |
| C．have their meals at the same time | D．eat food in different ways. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People in some places don’t have enough to eat. |
| B．There are too many people in the world. |
| C．One of the problems is that no one is hungry. |
| D．The scientists are trying to make people e grow to be strong and healthy. |
If there is paragraph 4, what do you think is going to be talked about?
| A．When people eat their lunch. | B．What to do with the two problems. |
| C．How to cook food in different ways. | D．Why people eat different kinds of food. |
| Welcome A board Your Piccadilly Flight To Heathrow The Piccadilly line to Heathrow(伦敦希思罗机场) is not only the most convenient (方便的) way to travel but also the most cost-effective. So the next time you’re traveling to Heathrow, make sure you fly Piccadilly line. Your Piccadilly flight features: lDepartures from 36 stops on the Piccadilly line, or from over 200 stations only one change way lService every 5 minutes to and from Heathrow throughout the day lJourneys from central London taking less than 50 minutes lOnly £3.70 for a single adult fare lSee tables below for journey times Fares to and from central London lAdult single £3.70 lChild single £1.50 If you are traveling as a group, then you are allowed to use the Family Travelcard, which means each adult can travel for £3.40 and each child for £0.80. The group must be made up of 1 or 2 adults traveling with 1-4 children (from 09:30 Monday-Friday and at any time weekends and Public Holidays). Members within the group do not need to be related. Traveling to Heathrow
|
Which of the following statements is TRUE about the Piccadilly line?
| A．The Piccadilly line is the most convenient one around the world. |
| B．Taking the Piccadilly line can save the passengers more money. |
C．The Piccadilly line is the o nly public transportation to Heathrow. |
| D．The flight from Earls Court to Piccadilly Circus takes 39 minutes. |
At what time does the first train from Earls Court arrive at Heathrow on Sunday?
| A．07:49. | B．06:34. | C．07:54. | D．06:31. |
If Mr. Smith wants to take the train with his five-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter at 08:00 on Sunday morning, how much should he pay?
| A．£5.00. | B．£6.70 . | C．£5.20. | D．£4.20. |
When taking the Piccadilly line, whether to or from Heathrow, one may _________.
| A．expect a train every 5 minutes at the stop | B．get to the first stop no later than 23:30 |
| C．get a discount once traveling in groups | D．get to the destination within 34 minutes |
H5N1 avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu (流感), has killed at least 15 people across Asia and was proved in China on January 27. No human cases have been found in the mainland, but 13 of the country’s 31 provinces have reported the disease in poultry.
The Chinese government has taken measures to prevent and control the disease. Poultry within 3 km of infected (受感染的) farms is to be killed and those within 5 km vaccinated (接种疫苗). At the same time, there will be continuous monitoring and daily reports on the disease across the country, and increased production of bird flu vaccines.
Among the 11 Asian countries and regions having bird flu in animals, only Vietnam and Thailand have reported human cases. The people infected were reported to have caught the disease from poultry.
While the World Health Organization ( WHO) says there is “no proof (证据) of human-to-human infection (传染)” of bird flu, the big fear is that the disease could combine with a human flu virus (病毒) to produce a deadly new disease that will kill millions of people across the world. Many Asian farmers live closely with their animals and sell live chickens in the market. This greatly increases the chance of humans being infected wi
th bird flu.
A spokesman of the WHO said that Asian countries having bird flu should introduce a more healthy way of raising and selling chickens. The people there have to completely change their way of life and manners towards animals. Here are some safety measures for people to stay healthy;
* Keep fit through usual exercise;
* Avoid infected poultry and infected people;
* Avoid eating uncooked or under-done poultry and eggs;
* Make sure there is always fresh air in your home;
* Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing;
* Wash your hands as often as possible.What does the underlined word “poultry” mean?
| A．Wild birds. |
| B．Wild animals. |
| C．Home-raised birds. |
| D．Home-raised animals. |
From the passage, we learn that __________.
| A．infected poultry within 3 km was killed in China |
| B．the first bird flu case was proved in China on Jan. 27 |
| C．human infected cases were found in 11 Asian countries |
| D．over two thirds of China have been affected by the bird flu |
What do people fear most?
| A．Poultry will infect many people. |
| B．There will be human-to-human infection. |
| C．The disease can spread quickly among people. |
| D．A new disease combining bird flu and a human flu will break out. |
