More and more people are annoyed at the continually rising house prices. They want to know who is to blame for it. Local governments, developers and speculators share a vested interest in it. People who are really in need of homes are most likely to suffer heavy losses.
Many local governments depend on selling land to keep its normal operation. The higher land prices, the more money. Therefore, developers back the local governments by buying land at high prices. In return, the governments make favorable policies to help the developers. For example, drive all the possible home buyers to this nasty market. They even encourage large numbers of speculators to catch more people.
Rising house prices have already become the fence which divides the Chinese society. It has caused widespread dissatisfaction. The government will lose the support of the common people if leaving house prices out of control. Besides, rising house prices willstop us building the new country side as the present policy actually forbid people to flow freely from cities to the countryside.
Collecting taxes on houses can fundamentally solve this problem. On one hand, it will discourage the speculators. On the other hand, it will offer a stable tax resource apart from reducing the sales cost of the developers. Secondly, stop the developers selling the houses before completion. If so, the developers will certainly try their best to sell all their houses once completed. And this will also lower speculators' expectation of price rising, which will decrease speculations.The only victims of rising house prices are __________.
A.governments |
B.real home buyers |
C.developers |
D.speculators |
The local governments reward the developers by __________.
A.offering enough land |
B.allowing sales in advance |
C.providing enough buyers |
D.making favorable policies |
We can infer from the passage that continually rising house. prices will __________.
A.benefit the government |
B.draw more home buyers |
C.help the housing industry develop soundly |
D.affect the sound development of the Chinese society |
Collecting taxes on houses has all the following effects except __________.
A.making the developers do their best to sell their houses |
B.cutting down speculations |
C.supplying a stable tax resource for the government |
D.decreasing the sales cost |
In urban China,where English is almost the official second language,many Chinese people have learned to speak as professionally as native speakers. However they may have an accent and make a few minor grammatical mistakes.Years ago many people used a certain Chinese-English dictionary or a series of textbooks and accepted their teachings. Consequently,language learners developed a peculiar vocabulary. Some people call these word choices “Chinglish”. The words are not incorrect—native speakers still understand them—but they stand in the way of using standard English. Here are some common examples, both from written and spoken English:
Clever (adj.): Native speakers usually say “smart” instead. “Smart” is a broader and more common word. “Clever” suggests an ability to think your way out of a specific problem or take advantage of a specific situation. Being smart serves you for life.
Examination(n.): Use “exam”, the short form of it, or the more common word, “test”. (The verb for all three words is “take”.) Another word you may hear is “quiz”. It means a short and relatively unimportant test that the teacher often gives as a surprise.
Film: This is largely a technical word. The common term is “movie”. (Native speakers often say “short film for the movie”.)
House (n.): a stand-alone building with its own street entrance that is home to one family. A home in a building full of families is an “apartment” or a “flat”. When in doubt, just say “home”.
Puzzled (adj.): We use this word to describe mild reactions to difficult math problems, and not even very often for this purpose (we say “I’m stumped” or “I have no idea” instead). But when we’re addressing a life issue such as whether to pursue (从事) a graduate education or go straight to work, we say “confused”. This is a stronger word as well as a more common one.
49. The writer wrote this passage to______.
A. prove there are so many Chinese people learning English in a wrong way
B. teach us to choose correct and exact English words to express ourselves
C. tell people that if we want to speak English as well as native speakers we must memorize as many English words as possible
D. explain what Chinglish is
50. According to the passage, which of the following is more common?
A. Would you like to go to the film tonight?
B. He will take an examination next week.
C. Tom is cleverer than his brother.
D. He felt confused whether he would go abroad for further study.
51. This passage suggests that______.
A. native speakers say “I’m puzzled with this math problem.” more often used than they say “I’m stumped with the math problem.”
B. the word “home” is much often used than the word “house” in spoken and written English
C. the word “examination” is more common than its short form“exam”
D. we can say “do a quiz”
52. We can infer from the passage that______.
A. native speakers can understand “Chinglish”
B. saying “take a test” is more common
C. to English learners, developing more English vocabulary doesn’t mean speaking good English
D. it’s easy to learn English words well
Meat and vegetables are measured in grams and kilograms. Milk and other liquid foods are measured in liters or milliliters. These units only measure quantity; they do not measure the value of the food to the body. The unit which measures the quality or value of food is the calorie which is the amount of heat given off by food when it burns. This measurement tells how much energy a certain food has when it is completely used by the body.
Our bodies use varying amount of calories. The more exercise we take, the more calories we burn. If we eat food which contains more calories than we use up, then it is possible that we would increase in weight. In order to avoid becoming overweight, it is advisable to eat a balanced diet and not eat too many foods that have a high calorie rating. The table below gives you some idea of the number of calories in food.
A. Meats |
B. Fruits |
C. Sweets and Pastries |
D. Vegetables |
Slice of bacon 50 |
Apple 70 |
Small chocolate bar 190 |
60g beans 15 |
Hamburger 300 |
Orange 60 |
Large chocolate bar 225 |
60g carrots 18 |
Slice of beef 100 |
Pear 80 |
Slice apple pie 300 |
60g potato 60 |
Sausage 180 |
Banana 80 |
Doughnut 200 |
60g onion 25 |
Meat pie 500 |
Plum 20 |
Scoop of ice cream 85 |
60g cucumber 10 |
Sausage roll 350 |
Tomato 20 |
Bag of potato crisps 145 |
60g cabbage 15 |
45. Which is the best title of this passage?
A. How to measure the quality of food B. Calories in foods
C. The units of measurement D. How to keep fit
46. To keep the calorie intake down, it is better to eat more ______.
A. chocolate B. meat pie C. fruitD. apple pie
47. Which word in this passage means “heavier than normal”?
A. Advisable B. Overweight C. Balanced D. Measurement
48. When do you need the most calories from your diet?
A. When we sleep. B. In working in the fields.
C. While watching a play. D. After having sports.
Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humour. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.
One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”
After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.
Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.
But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.
41. That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.
A. to see one of his friends
B. because he wanted to do something there for his writing
C. because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there
D. to see one of his relatives
42. The waiters felt sorry because _____.
A. they did something wrong to Mark Twain
B. their hotel was too small
C. the room was not very clean
D. there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room
43. All the people present laughed heartily because _____.
A. the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room
B. the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number
C. Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents
D. Mark Twain made a joke
44. From the story we know _____.
A. no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night
B. the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night
C. Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night
D. there were not mosquitoes in the hotel any longer
Berlin — Germany will allow entry 20,000 foreign high-tech workers, under a plan announced on May 31st. Chancellor(总理) Gerhard Schroreder sees this as a way to keep the country from falling behind in information technology.
The plan for this so-called ‘green cards’, not like the US work permit system, came in answer to industry demands that there were not enough qualified workers to fill positions.
Workers who came to Germany under the new rules, effective from August will be given a five-year work permit after proving they have completed studies in a related field or can promise to at least 100,000 marks (US$48 000).
Family members are also allowed, though they too will receive work permits. “They are strong competition in the rest of the world for these people,” Schroreder said mentioning not only the United States but also British and France. Germany would be making a mistake if it didn’t take part in this competition.
He said employers have already offered 11,000 jobs through a “green card hotline” and some 4,700 applications emailed information requests.
The Chancellor also said the number of workers and the time limits of their stay may be extended, possibly under current German law. Allowing the workers to stay longer means they could finally become citizens. Since the beginning of this year, foreigners who have lived in the country for eight years can ask for being naturalized.
53. From the first paragraph we can get to know that Germany______.
A. is a less-developed country B. used to be a developed country
C. is short of high-tech workers D. once lost interest in information technology
54. If a high-tech worker wants to work in Germany, he or she can enter Germany______.
A. in June B. after July C. before August D. at any time
55. It is mentioned in the passage that competition in high tech______.
A. is only in America,Britain and France
B. has nothing to do with small countries
C. is weak in Asian countries
D. will affect the future of a country
56. To be naturalized as a German, according to this passage, seems______.
A. difficult B. easy C. impossible D. popular
Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I called round. Sprawling himself on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don’t know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She confessed(坦白) that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
71. This text is most probably written by ______.
A. A specialist in teenager studies. B. a headmaster of a middle school
C. a parent with teenage childrenD. a doctor for mental health problems
72. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.
A. the change from good to bad that’s seen in a child
B. the way that parents often blame themselves
C. the opinion that a child has of his parents
D. the advice that parents want their children to follow
73. The boy on the sofa would most probably be described as ______.
A. lazy B. quiet C. unusual D. rude
74. From the second example we can infer that the parents of the two daughters ______.
A. pay no attention to them B. are too busy to look after them
C. have come to hate them D. feel helpless to do much about them
75. What is the author’s opinion about the sudden change in teenage children?
A. Parents have no choice but to try to accept it.
B. Parents should pay still more attention to the change.
C. Parents should work more closely with school teachers.
D. Parents are a fault for the change in their children.