Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials （商业广告）thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste." "Drink Good Wet Root Beer." "Fill up with Pacific Gas." Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"
The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless （鲁莽的） or daring, the ride can be as thrilling （惊心动魄的） as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.
The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the arm rests even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.
| A．To give the writer’s opinion about long bus trips. |
| B．To persuade you to take a long bus trip. |
| C．To explain how bus trips and television shows differ. |
| D．To describe the billboards along the road. |
| A．bus drivers who aren’t reckless |
| B．driving alone |
| C．a television set on the bus |
| D．no bill boards along the road |
| A．the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun |
| B．they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between |
| C．the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses |
| D．both traveling and watching TV are not exciting. |
| A．exciting | B．comfortable |
| C．tiring | D．boring |
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!The writer of this passage must be ______.
| A．an American | B．a Chinese | C．a professor | D．a student |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport |
| B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home |
| D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
| A．strict with time | B．willing to spend time | C．careful with time | D．serious with time |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
| A．Friendships between Chinese |
| B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’ hospitality |
| D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendship |
There are many fun, free activities that you can do as a family. All that is required is a bit of imagination and some time set aside for fun. And the best part is that these are the kind of memories a child will remember for a lifetime.
Family game night
Find out any of the games that are already around the house. Kids often get computer games for Christmas or birthdays, and would love to have a chance to play with their family. Or, make up some games of your own. “Charades” is a fun game to play that will challenge a child to use his/her imagination. Divide the family into teams and let each team come up with words that the other has to act out.
________________________
Pick some time for the family to sit down and come up with their own masterpiece. It doesn't need to be just a drawing -- take some old magazines sitting around the house, let the kids cut out pictures and paste them into their own montage. Or, use items from nature. Let them use leaves, pine cones, twigs and whatever else they can find to create something from their imaginations.
Family Picnic
Taking the family for a picnic is a great way for some fun that doesn't cost any money. If the weather is nice, take them to a park or playground and let the kids have a day of playing. Or, if it is the middle of winter and a foot of snow is on the ground, set up a picnic in the living room.
Family Field Trip
A family field trip doesn't have to cost a dime. Ask a nearby farm if it would be alright to bring your kids out for a tour and to see some of the animals. Or take them to a park and make a scavenger hunt where they need to find certain items from nature. Ask a local business if you could bring the family for a tour to see how things work -- you might be surprised at the number of people who would be thrilled to share what they do with others, and it could be an interesting lesson for the kids.We can learn from the passage that “charades” ________.
| A．is a computer game |
| B．is too difficult for children |
| C．involves acting out words |
| D．should be played by more than four people |
What is the best title to be put in the blank of part two? ____________
| A．Family art time | B．Family gardening time |
| C．Family music time | D．Family cleaning time |
According to the passage, the family picnic____________.
| A．should be held in the middle of winter |
| B．can be held inside your house |
| C．will be very meaningful if held in offices |
| D．will cost much money if held on a farm |
Who might be most interested in this passage? _________.
| A．Parents | B．Teachers | C．Farmers | D．Employers |
The writer wrote this passage mainly to _____________.
| A．encourage children to use imagination. |
| B．share precious family memories |
| C．discuss young children’s interests |
| D．suggest fun activities to families |
Around twenty years ago I was going through hard times. I could not find a satisfying job. To my shame, I had to drive a school bus to make ends meet and lived in a friend’s house.
One afternoon, while driving through a quiet suburban (郊外的) neighborhood I was so sad that I kept asking myself “Why has my life become so hard?” “What’s wrong with the world?” Then I pulled over the bus to drop off a little girl and as she passed she handed me a pretty earring, saying she found it on the floor of the bus and I should keep it in case the owner came to look for it.
In the evening, the owner did come to look for her earring. When I handed it to her, she got very excited and continued saying “Thanks, you’re a real gentleman.” I told her that she should thank the little girl who had found it. She said, “Yes, and you are a good driver, too. What a lovely world it is!” Then she left with satisfaction. I was touched by her last words. I had thought something was wrong with the world just because of my poor condition. In fact, nothing was wrong with the world. I should change my attitude towards life. I should be positive about life.
At first it was hard, and then it got easier. Every day I could find things to make me happy. Then one night there was a phone call for me at my friend’s house from a lady who was a manager in a large hospital. She said she had read my application form and asked me if I would like to work in the hospital. I said yes and got the job. Looking back at the experience I know the most important is to have a positive attitude towards life.We know from the second paragraph that ________.
| A．the author cried while driving that afternoon |
| B．a girl picked up an earring before getting off |
| C．there was only one passenger on the bus |
| D．the girl gave the author an earning as a gift |
The author decided to have a change in life because ________.
| A．what the earring owner said moved him |
| B．he didn’t want to be a driver any more |
| C．his friends helped him become positive |
| D．he was offered a better job in a hospital |
When the author got a call from the manager of the hospital, he felt ________.
| A．annoyed | B．delighted | C．shocked | D．disappointed |
Who was the owner of the earring lost on the bus according go the passage?
| A．One of the author’s friends. | B．A real gentleman |
| C．A manager in a hospital | D．Not mentioned |
What does the author want to show in this passage?
| A．Lost things should be returned to the owner. |
| B．Life is usually hard for the young at the beginning. |
| C．One should hold a positive attitude towards life. |
| D．It is not easy to find a good job nowadays. |
While football fans feel strongly angry and shocked about mistakes made by referees (裁判) because they cannot see clearly what has happened, a small German company is quietly pleased.
For Cairos Technologies, mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy. The company has developed a tiny chip(芯片) that fits inside a football and determines whether the ball has crossed the goal line, by being able to discover its exact location on the field. The world football organization, FIFA, has shown interest in the technology. It is very possible that the new technology will be used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"We've been testing the technology at the main soccer stadium in Nuremberg for some time and more recently in an under-17 FIFA Cup in Peru," said Gunter Rohmer, a director of the company. "The technology has performed well, and we're pretty optimistic（乐观）that it will be used at the games in Germany next year."
The chip only weighs 12 grams, and is placed in the center of the football. It sends 2,000 signals a second to a receiver network of 12 antennas(天线),placed around the field. The receivers then send information about the ball's location to a central computer, and because it works in real time, it can immediately tell the referee whether a goal has been scored. The chip even can tell when the ball crosses the line in mid-air. Oliver Braun, one of the inventors of the chip, says that feedback from German referees was generally positive. Germany sports-wear giant Adidas is also optimistic about using this kind of chip in other ball sports.
FIFA aims to test the technology later this year at another game in Japan before deciding whether or not to introduce it in all 12 stadiums in Germany for next year's World Cup.Carlos Technologies is pleased because ________.
| A．football fans are angry with referees |
| B．their new product can satisfy football fans |
| C．their new product will have a good market |
| D．they can sell a lot of football in the future |
In the first sentence in Paragraph 2,"... mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy" means ___________.
| A．Carlos Technologies can't afford the high price for advertising their product |
| B．Mistakes in production are also a kind of advertisement |
| C．Carios Technologies has already spent a lot of money on advertising their product |
| D．Referees' mistakes will be of great help for the sale of Carlos Technologies' new product |
The underlined word "feedback" probably means ___________.
| A．information given back by a user | B．advice given by someone |
| C．supplying food to customers | D．food given back by consumers |
The new product has drawn attention from some _________.
| A．famous people | B．referees | C．big companies | D．countries |
According to the passage , the following are true except _______ .
| A．The chip sends 2,000 signals a second |
| B．The chip even can tell when the ball crosses the line in mid-air. |
| C．The chip will be used at the game in Japan. |
| D．The chip will also be used at the games in Germany next year." |
Louis Pasteur, one of the world's great scientists, was born in 1822, and died in 1895.While still a young boy, Louis Pasteur made his decision to become a scientist. He spent much of his life time studying the diseases of cattle, chickens and other tame animals. His wife learned to help him with his work. Almost everyone knows that Pasteur is the man responsible for finding a way of preventing milk from spoiling (变质). Not many people know he was the first to imagine and to prove that air we breathe is full of germs (细菌). One of his greatest successes was finding a treatment for people and animals to prevent a disease called rabies (狂犬病). Louis Pasteur won many honors and could have got large amount of money. But Pasteur preferred to live simply. The real happiness of this unusual man came from his work. Louis Pasteur did so well in his life that the French government took up his work and created the Institute Pasteur in the year 1888.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．Pasteur was a scientist and doctor as well. |
| B．Pasteur lived for less than seventy years. |
| C．Everybody knows that Pasteur succeeded in finding a way of preventing milk from spoiling. |
| D．Pasteur's wife was of some help to him in his work.. |
From the passage, we know that Pasteur lived a simple life. This is because ________.
| A．he earned little money. |
| B．he cared much about money. |
| C．what he really enjoyed was a simple life. |
| D．of all mentioned above. |
Why were many honors given to Louis Pasteur?
| A．Because he was the greatest scientist in the world. |
| B．Because he spent much of his life time studying the diseases of people . |
| C．Because he lived simply. |
| D．Because he was a great success as a scientist. |
Pasteur could have got large amount of money if he had___________.
| A．cared much about it. |
| B．made more discoveries. |
| C．lived a better life. |
| D．achieved more successes. |
To Louis Pasteur the real happiness in his life was to __________.
| A．study | B．work |
| C．get large amount of money | D．raise tame animals |