You’ve just come home, after living abroad for a few years. Since you’ve been away, has this country changed for the better—or for the worse?
If you’ve just arrived back in the UK after a fortnight’s holiday, small changes have probably surprised you—anything from a local greengrocer suddenly being replaced by a mobile-phone shop to someone in your street moving house.
So how have things changed to people coming back to Britain after seven, ten or even 15 years living abroad? What changes in society can they see that the rest of us have hardly noticed—or now take for granted? To find out, we asked some people who recently returned.
Debi: When we left, Cheltenham, my home town, was a town of white, middle-class families—all very conservative (保守的). The town is now home to many eastern Europeans and lots of Australians, who come here mainly to work in hotels and tourism. There are even several shops only for foreigners.
Having been an immigrant (移民) myself, I admire people who go overseas to find a job. Maybe if I lived in an inner city where unemployment was high, I’d think differently, but I believe foreign settlers have improved this country because they’re more open-minded and often work harder than the natives.
Christine: As we flew home over Britain, both of us remarked how green everything looked. But the differences between the place we’d left behind and the one we returned to were brought sharply into focus as soon as we landed.
To see policemen with guns in the airport for the first time was frightening—in Cyprus, they’re very relaxed—and I got pulled over by customs officers just for taking a woolen sweater with some metal-made buttons out of my case in the arrivals hall. Everyone seemed to be on guard. Even the airport car-hire firm wanted a credit card rather than cash because they said their vehicles had been used by bank robbers.
But anyway, this is still a green, beautiful country. I just wish more people would appreciate what they’ve got. After a short overseas holiday, people tend to _______.
| A．notice small changes |
| B．expect small changes |
| C．welcome small changes |
| D．exaggerate small changes |
How does Debi look at the foreign settlers?
| A．Cautiously. |
| B．Positively. |
| C．Sceptically. |
| D．Critically. |
When arriving at the airport in Britain, Christine was shocked by _______.
| A．the relaxed policemen |
| B．the messy arrivals hall |
| C．the tight security |
| D．the bank robbers |
Which might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Life in Britain. |
| B．Back in Britain. |
| C．Britain in Future. |
| D．Britain in Memory. |
Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the best. For example, to absorb heat from the sun to heat water, you need large, flat, black surfaces. One way to do that is to build those surfaces specially, on the roofs of buildings. But why go to all that trouble when cities are full of black surfaces already, in the form of asphalt (柏油) roads?
Ten years ago, this thought came into the mind of Arian de Bondt, a Dutch engineer. He finally persuaded his boss to follow it up. The result is that their building is now heated in winter and cooled in summer by a system that relies on the surface of the road outside.
The heat-collector is a system of connected water pipes. Most of them ran from one side of the street to the other, just under the asphalt road. Some, however, dive deep into the ground.
When the street surface gets hot in summer, water pumped through the pipes picks up this heat and takes it underground through one of the diving pipes. At a depth of 100 meters lies a natural aquifer (蓄水层) into which several heat exchangers (交换器) have been built. The hot water from the street runs through these exchangers, warming the ground-water, before returning to the surface through another pipe. The aquifer is thus used as a heat store.
In winter, the working system is changed slightly. Water is pumped through the heat exchangers to pick up the heat stored during summer. This water goes into the building and is used to warm the place up. After performing that task, it is pumped under the asphalt and its remaining heat keeps the road free of snow and ice.Which of the following is TRUE according to the first two paragraphs?
| A．Arian de Bondt got his idea from his boss. |
| B．Large, flat, black surfaces need to be built in cities. |
| C．Heat can also be collected from asphalt roads. |
| D．The Dutch engineer's system has been widely used. |
For what purpose are the diving pipes used?
| A．To absorb heat from the sun. |
| B．To store heat for future use. |
| C．To turn solar energy into heat energy. |
| D．To carry heat down below the surface. |
From the last paragraph we can learn that _________.
| A．the system can do more than warming up the building |
| B．some pipes have to be re-arranged in winter |
| C．the exchangers will pick up heat from the street surface |
| D．less heat may be collected in winter than in summer |
What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
| A．What we shall do if the system goes wrong. |
| B．What we shall do if there are no asphalt roads. |
| C．How the system cools the building in summer. |
| D．How the system collects heat in spring and autumn. |
Money Matters for Students
GETTING A GRANT（补助）
Who pays?
The Local Education Authority (LEA) for the area in which the student is living.
Who can get this money?
Anyone who gets a place on a first degree course, although a student who has already attended a course of advanced further education may not. Students must also have been resident in the UK for at least three years, which can exclude (排除) some students from overseas.
SPECIAL CASES
If a student has worked before going to college:
A student who is 26 or more before the course starts and who has worked for at least three of the previous six years will get extra money--￡155 a year if 26, increasing to a maximum of ￡615 at 29 or more.
If a student is handicapped (残疾的):
LEAs will give up to ￡500 to help meet extra expenses—such as buying a tape recorder for a blind student, extra heating or special food.
Banking:
Most of the big banks offer special services to students who open accounts (in the hope that they will stay with the bank when they become rich officials). A student won’t usually have to pay bank charges as long as the account stays in credit. Some banks allow students to overdraw by ￡100 or so, and still don’t make charges (though they do charge interest).A student from Japan who has been staying in England for a year and intends to go to college in a few months will _________.
| A．get money if he is taking a first degree course |
| B．be unable to get money from any LEA |
| C．get money from any LEA when he has finished his course |
| D．have to open a bank account before he gets any money |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．A student already attending a course of advanced education is sure to get a grant. |
| B．A student aged 30 can get extra money—￡615 a year. |
| C．A student usually must pay back charges when the account is in credit. |
| D．Students are allowed to overdraw by ￡100 or so in any bank. |
Why is it likely that a bank will welcome new students as their customers?
| A．They know students receive money regularly. |
| B．They charge students extra. |
| C．They hope students will be rich in the future. |
| D．They need student accounts in term-time. |
Where can you probably read this passage?
| A．A notice-board in a college. | B．A dictionary. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A banking office. |
There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.
One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn (荆棘) bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“For your wonderful kindness,” the good fairy said to the girl, “I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.” The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.
As the little girl grew up, there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her the secret of happiness. She would only smile and answer, “The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”
When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, believing that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “Tell us, please,” they begged, “Tell us what the good fairy said.” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said, “She told me that everyone, no matter how secure they seemed, no matter how old or young, how rich or poor, had need of me.”Noticing the butterfly was caught by the thorn, the orphan girl _______.
| A．helped the butterfly escape from the thorn |
| B．felt sad, but she didn′t go up to help it |
| C．fell down on it too[ |
| D．failed to help it release from the thorn |
The butterfly _________ after it was saved by the little girl.
| A．flew away | B．still died |
| C．changed into a fairy | D．was more beautiful than before |
The only thing that the little girl wanted was_________.
| A．to be rich | B．to have her own parents |
| C．to have a lot of friends | D．to be happy |
The neighbors all gathered around the old happy woman when she was dying, because ______.
| A．they loved this woman deeply and they didn′t want her to die |
| B．the woman had lots of money to be shared after she died |
| C．they wanted to know the secret of her lifetime happiness |
| D．they wanted to pray for her after her death |
Who give us life, raise us and are our constant support and wellwishers？Our mothers. That’s why millions of people across the world take Mother’s Day as an opportunity to express thanks and send best wishes to their moms.
However, the celebration of Mother’s Day is not the recent thing that many believe it to be. It was the ancient Greeks who started the tradition by celebrating their annual spring festival in honor of Rhea, the mother of many gods and goddesses.
Later, in the 1600s, Mothering Sunday came to be celebrated in England. On the fourth Sunday of Lent (大斋期), children brought flowers and special fruitcakes to show their respect for their mothers. It may be the root of the modern Mother’s Day.
Thanks to the great efforts of Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis, Mother’s Day became an official festival in the US. It is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Later, many countries began to celebrate this day as Mother’s Day.
Today, Mother’s Day is an international festival honoring mothers. It is celebrated all over the world in different ways. In Western countries，the most common way is to treat mothers with breakfast in bed .Kids often allow their mothers to sleep till late in the morning while they prepare her favorite breakfast with their fathers. Some also make handmade gifts or buy beautiful carnations (康乃馨). It is the day when you acknowledge your mothers contribution in your life and pay a tribute (礼品) to her, often with flowers and gifts. It complements Father’s Day, the celebration honoring fathers.
Today, Mother’s Day is a day celebrated on various days in many places around the world.Why do people across the world celebrate Mother’s Day?
| A．Because they want to express thanks and send best wishes to their mothers. |
| B．Because they want to express thanks and send best wishes to Rhea. |
| C．Because Mother’s Day is an official festival in the US. |
| D．Because Mother’s Day is an international festival. |
The modern Mother’s Day came from________.
| A．Greece | B．China | C．America | D．England |
From the passage we can learn that________.
| A．Rhea is the mother of many gods and goddesses of England |
| B．many people wrongly believe Mother’s Day has a short history |
| C．in America Mother’s day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent |
| D．on Mother’s day fathers have to get up early to prepare breakfast |
The passage mainly wants to tell us________.
| A．how to celebrate Mother’s day |
| B．what to do on Mother’s day |
| C．the historical change of Mother’s day |
| D．the meaning of Mother’s day |
Down-to-earth means being honest, open, and easy to deal with. It is a pleasure to find someone who is down-to-earth. A person who is down-to-earth is easy to talk to. He or she accepts others as equals. A down-to-earth person may be an important member of society, of course, but they do not let their importance go to their heads, and they do not consider themselves to be better than others who are less important. Someone who is filled with self-importance and pride, often without cause, is said to have his nose in the air. There is no way a person with his nose in the air can be down-to-earth.
Americans use another expression that is similar in some way to down-to-earth. The expression is both feet on the ground. Someone with both feet on the ground is a person with a good understanding of reality. He has what is called common sense. He may have dreams but he does not allow them to block his knowledge of what is real. The opposite kind of person is one who has his head in the clouds. A man with his head in the clouds is a dreamer whose mind is not in the world. Sometimes such a dreamer can be brought back to reality; and sharp words from the teacher, for example, can usually get a daydreaming student to put both feet back on the ground.
The person who is down-to-earth usually has both feet on the ground. But the opposite is not always true. Someone with both feet on the ground may not be as open and easy to deal with as someone who is down-to-earth. When we have both our feet firmly on the ground, we are realistic and we act honestly and openly toward others, and our lives are like the ground below us, solid and strong.If a person has his nose in the air, he _______.
| A．is confident |
| B．is easy to deal with |
| C．is down to the earth |
| D．is always self-important and pride. |
What can a daydreamer probably be like?
| A．A person full of dreams in life. |
| B．A person with his head in the clouds. |
| C．A person with both his feet on the ground |
| D．A person with a good understanding of reality. |
The underlined sentence “But the opposite is not always true.” most probably means that ______.
| A．the opposite direction is always wrong |
| B．the person who has his nose in the air is not true |
| C．a man with his head in the clouds is often not intelligent |
| D．a person who has both feet on the ground may not be down-to-earth |
From the passage, we can infer the person who is _____ is the most popular kind of person.
| A．down-to-earth | B．standing on the ground |
| C．with his nose in the air | D．with his head in the clouds |