Ellen Parker was worried about her health. She could not walk very quickly and it was
difficult for her to climb stairs. She was soon out of breath.
“I suppose I had better go to the doctor,” she thought.
She went to the doctor and told him her problem.
“I’m not at all surprised, ”he said. “It’s clear what your problem is.”
He examined her and then gave her some advice.
“If you don’t do what I say, Mrs. Parker,” he said, “you will have a heart attack. It could
kill you.”
Ellen was very worried as she left the doctor’s. She knew that she had to take his advice but
that it would not be easy and it would take time.
The next day she went shopping. The first shop she went into was a butcher’s shop（肉铺）.
“I’d like ten pounds of steak（牛排）, please,” she said.
“Certainly, madam,” the butcher replied and went into the cold room and found a large
piece of steak. He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and placed it on the scale
（天平）.
“That’s just under ten pounds,” he said.
“That’s big enough,” Mrs. Parker said.
The butcher worked out the price.
“At ＄4. 99 a pound that will＄49. 50, please. Would you like me to cut it up into
smaller pieces for you?”
“Oh, I don’t want to buy the meat,” Mrs. Parker said.
“If you don’t want to buy it,” the butcher replied angrily, “why did you ask me to get it for
you?”
“My doctor told me that I am overweight and have to lose ten pounds. I wanted to see what
ten pounds of flesh looked like.”The reason why Ellen Parker visited the doctor is that________.
| A．she had had a heart attack. |
| B．she had a problem with her health. |
| C．she was unhappy about her weight. |
| D．she could not sleep well. |
Parker asked for ten pounds of steak because ________.
| A．she wanted to buy some for dinner. |
| B．she wanted to lose weight. |
| C．her doctor had told her to eat steak. |
| D．she wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like. |
What was Ellen Parker’s real problem？
| A．She ate too much steak. |
| B．She weighed too much. |
| C．The doctor did not know. |
| D．She could not walk very quickly. |
What did the doctor think might happen to Ellen？
| A．She might put on more weight. |
| B．She might stop eating too much. |
| C．She might have a heart attack. |
| D．She might go to another doctor. |
The students in America usually begin high school at the age of 13 or 14. Some leave at the age of 16. But most finish the 4-year high school study. They do not get their first full-time work or begin college studies until they are 17 or 18 years old.
The high school day is about 7 hours long. Part of the day is made into classes of about 50 minutes long. The students have lunch in the middle of the day. American students study English, history, math, science, art and languages. Some also learn job skills. They can learn how to use a computer or how to mend a car. Other students may learn by working in an office, a hospital or other places one day a week.
Jean Wilton Anderson is 16 years old. She lives with her parents and two younger brothers in Bethesda, Maryland, 
near Washington D.C. Jean studies at Walt Whitman High School. There are abou
t 1,500 students at the school. Most of them will go up to colleges.
Jean wakes up early every morning. She begins school at about 7:30. This is her third year of high school. Every day she takes classes to learn
English, world history, physics and trigonometry（三角学）. She also has a class 
about different religions（宗教）.And she plays the violin in music class. School ends at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Yet, Jean stays 2 or more hours longer every day for sports. Jean arrives home at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon. She eats dinner. Then she starts her homework. Students in America have their way of talking. They use the word “like” all the time. Jean and her girlfriends wear blue jeans and shirts or sweaters every day. The boys at her school also wear blue jeans. But they like to wear blue jeans that are several sizes too large for them.
Like students of her age in most parts of the country, Jean begins to drive a car. She does not have her car. She must use the family’s car. Most of the students in high school have their own cars. Many of them drive their cars to school every day. Which of the following is not true to the high school?
| A．The school day usually lasts for 7 hours. |
| B．The students only have 6 subjects to learn. |
| C．Each class will last for 50 minutes. |
| D．The students can learn some skills out of the school. |
Jean Wilton Anderson __________________.
| A．has a four-people family | B．lives in the city of Washington |
| C．has studied in the high school for 3 years | D．drives her own car at the age of 16 |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Students in high schools use the word “like” very often |
| B．The boy students wear blue jeans as the girls. |
| C．Many high school students go to school in their own cars. |
| D．Boy students wear jeans of larger size because they grow fast |
In the 13th century, the famous Italian traveler, Marco Polo, traveled a long way to China. During his stay in China, he saw many wonderful things. One of the things he discovered was that the Chinese used paper money. In western countries, people didn’t use the paper money until 15th century. However, people in China began to use paper money in the 7th century.
A Chinese man called Cai Lun invented paper almost 2,000 years ago. He took the wood from trees and made it into paper. He then put these pieces of paper together and made them into a book.
Now paper still comes from trees. We use a lot of paper every day. If we keep on wasting so much paper, there will not be any trees left on the earth. If there are no trees, there will be no paper. Every day, people throw away about 2,800 tons of paper in our city. It takes 17 trees to make one ton of paper. This means that we are cutting nearly 48,000 trees every day. Since it takes more than 10 years for a tree to grow, we must start using less paper now.
So how can we save paper? We can use both sides of every piece of paper, especially when we are making notes. We can use cotton handkerchiefs and not paper ones. When we go shopping, we can use fewer paper bags. If the shop assistant gives us a paper bag, we can save it and reuse it later.
Everyone can help to save paper. If we all think carefully, we can help protect trees. But we should do it now, before it is too late. When he was in China, Marco Polo ____________.
| A．discovered Cai Lun invented paper | B．learned to make paper |
C．saw many wonderf ul things |
D．read a lot of books |
Which of the following is not a way of saving paper?
| A．To use both sides of every piece of paper |
| B．To use fewer paper bags when shopping |
| C．To use cotton handkerchiefs instead of paper ones |
| D．To grow more trees |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．If we keep on wasting paper, we will have no paper to use one day. |
| B．The Chinese used paper money much earlier than people in western countries. |
| C．About 48,000 trees can be used to make 2,800 tons of paper. |
| D．It is never too late to plant trees for paper. |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．Saving Paper | B．The History of Paper |
| C．Cotton Handkerchiefs Back Again | D．Cai Lun, the Inventor |
Spiderman is one of the most famous comic book heroes of all
time．He was created by Stan Lee in 1963 and was first introduced to the world in the pages of Marvel comic books．
Spiderman’s story is the story of Peter Parker，a child who lost his parents and lives with his aunt and uncle．Peter is a shy，quiet boy wearing glasses and has few friends．One day，on a high school class trip to a science lab，he gets bitten by a special spider．Soon Peter realizes he has amazing powers：he is as strong and quick as a spider and also has a type of sixth sense．He no longer needs his glasses and he can use his super power to fly through the city streets! Remembering something his Uncle Ben has told him，that“with great power，there must also come great responsibility(责任)，”Peter decides to use his powers to fight enemies who do cruel things to people．And so，Spiderman is born．
Life is not easy for Peter even though he is a superhero．He is in love with Mary Jane but cannot tell her about his amazing powers．Besides，his best friend Harry hates Spiderman! Peter is also short of money and time．He has to sell photos of Spiderman(himself!)to a newspaper and he keeps losing his other jobs because he’s so busy saving people! Yet he ha
s to fight different kinds of cruel enemies．
Who created Spiderman?
| A．Stan Lee． | B．Marvel． | C．Peter Parker． | D．Superman． |
What happened to Peter Parker after he was bitten by the spider?
| A．He could not see with his eyes． | B．He became a spider． |
| C．He developed spider-like powers． | D．He was sick． |
．Wh
at does“with great power，there must also come great responsibility”mean?
| A．Powerful people can do whatever they like． |
| B．People with power are always good． |
| C．Powerful people should have a responsibility to do good． |
| D．Powerful people are to blame for all the bad things that happen． |
The law says women should have the chance of doing the same jobs as men and earn the same as them. The reality is very different. Women lose because, 25 years after the Equal Pay Act, many of them still get paid less than men. They lose because they do lower－paid jobs which men just won’t consider. And they lose because they are the ones who interrupt a career to have children. All t
his is reported in an independent study ordered by the Government’s women’s unit. The biggest problem isn’t equal pay in workplaces such as factories. It is the sort of work women do.
Make a list of low－paid－jobs, then consider who does them. Try nurses, secretaries, cleaners, clerks, teachers in primary schools, dinner ladies and child－care helpers. Not a lot of men among that group, are there? Yet some of those jobs are really important. Surely no one would deny that about nurses and teachers, for a start. So why do we reward the people who do them so poorly? There can be only one answer—because they are women. This is not going to be put right overnight. But the government, which emp
loys a lot of them, and other bosses have to make a start.
It is disgraceful（可耻的） that we have gone into the 21st century still treating women like second－class citizens.
Women should have the chance of doing the same jobs and getting the same pay as men_________.
| A．after 25 years |
| B．according to the law |
| C．as a result of those important jobs |
| D．because women are as strong as men |
．We can learn from the text that what really matters in this problem is_________.
| A．that women interrupt a career to have children |
| B．what sort of work women do |
| C．because they are women |
| D．what unfair pay women get in workplaces |
．Which of the following best describe the writer’s idea?
| A．Women and men should get equal pay for equal work. |
| B．Women should strengthen themselves. |
| C．The government ought to protect women against getting paid less than men. |
| D．Some of the jobs that women do are of great importance. |
Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Work to give women a fair pay deal | B．The equal pay act |
| C．The sort of work women do | D．The biggest problem about women |
To face the music
Like every language, American English is full of special expressions, phrases that come from the day-to-day life of the people and develop in their own way. Our expression today is “to face the music”.
When someone says, “well, I guess I’ll have to face the music,” it does not mean he’s planning to go to the concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in by your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you didn’t do this or that. Sour music indeed, but it has to be faced. At sometime or another, every one of us has had to face the music, especially as children. We can all remember father’s angry voice, “I want to talk to you.” and only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “to face the music” is familiar to every American, young and old. It is at least 100 years old. And where did this expression come from? The first explanation comes from the American novelist, James Fenimore Looper. He said, in 1851, that the expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings to go on the stage. When they got their cue to go on, they often said, “Well, it’s time to face the music.” And that was exactly what they did — facing the orchestra which was just below them. And an actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of an audience that might be friendly or perhaps hostile, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So the expression “to face the music” come to mean “having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.”
Other explanations about the expression go back to the army. When the men faced an inspection by their leader, the soldiers would be worried about how well they looked. Was their equipment clean, shinny enough to pass the inspection? Still the men had to go out and face the music of the band as well as the inspection. What else could they do?
Another army explanation is more closely related to the idea of facing the results and accepting the responsibility for something that should not have been done. As, for example when a man
is forced out of the army because he did something terrible, he is dishonored. The band does not play. Only the drums tap a sad, slow beat. The soldier is forced to leave, facing such music as it is and facing the back of his horse.How many ways does the phrase “to face the music” comes from?
| A．1 | B．2 | C．3 | D．4 |
What’s the meaning of “to face the music?”
| A．To face something far less pleasant. | B．To face the stage. |
| C．To face the back of one’s horse. | D．To face one’s leader. |
Which of the following is a situation of facing the music?
| A．When we are playing basketball. | B．When we are making a speech. |
| C．When we are having a party. | D．When we are talking with somebody. |
The underlined word “hostile” means _______.
| A．unfriendly | B．dislike | C．unkind | D．unnecessary |