When I was sixteen years old, I made my first visit to the United States. It wasn't the first time I had been abroad. Like most English children, I learned French at school. And I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn't understand French. But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problem.
How wrong I was! The misunderstanding began at the airport. I was looking for a public telephone to give my American friend Danny a call and tell her that I had arrived. A friendly old man saw me looking lost and asked if he could help me.
"Yes"，I said，"I want to give my friend a ring. " "Well, that's nice，" he said，"Are you getting married? But aren't you a bit young?"
"Who is talking about marriage?" I replied. " I only want to give my friend a ring to tell her Five arrived. Can you tell me where there is a phone box?"
"Oh，" he said，"There is a phone downstairs. "
When at last we met, Danny explained the misunderstanding to me.
"Don't worry，" she said to me. "I had so many difficulties at first. There are lots of words which American use differently in meaning from British. You'll soon get used to all the funny things they say. Most of the time, British and American people understand each other ！" Where was the writer from? He was from __________.
| A．America | B．France |
| C．England | D．another country |
The writer thought __________ in America.
| A．he wouldn't have any language difficulties |
| B．he would not understand the Americans |
| C．the Americans might not understand him |
| D．he would have difficulty at the airport |
The writer wanted to __________.
| A．buy a ring for his friend |
| B．make a call to his friend |
| C．go to the telephone company |
| D．see his friend off |
From the passage we can see that " give somebody a ring"__________
| A．means the same in America as in England |
| B．means " call somebody" to the old man |
| C．has two different meanings |
| D．means " be going to get married" in England |
In the last paragraph the word" they" refers to __________.
| A．the old man and the boy |
| B．the Americans |
| C．the British |
| D．the French |
When you get in your car, you reach for it．When you’re at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it．When you get into a lift, you play with it．
Cigarettes? Cup of coffee? No, it’s the third most addictive thing in modern life, the cell phone．And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships．
With its shiny surface, its smooth and satisfying touch, its air of complexity, the cell phone connects us to the world even as it disconnects us from people three feet away．In just the past couple of years, the cell phone has challenged individuals, employers, phone makers and counselors（顾问）in ways its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined．
The costs are becoming even more evident, and I don’t mean just the monthly bill．Dr．Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality．
It sounds extreme, but we’ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him．
Is it just rude, or is it a kind of unhealthiness? And pardon me, but how is this improving the quality of life?
Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell-phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation．He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with．Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don’t have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says．
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it’s because it has become very widespread．Consider that in 1987, there were only 1 million cell phones in use．Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them．They far outnumber wired phones in the United States．Which of the following best explains the title of the passage?
| A．Cell phone users smoke less than they used to． |
| B．Cell phones have become as popular as cigarettes． |
| C．More people use cell phones than smoke cigarettes． |
| D．Cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes． |
The underlined word “curb” in Paragraph 2 means ____．
| A．ignore | B．control |
| C．develop | D．rescue |
The example of a woman talking on the phone in the car supports the idea that ．
| A．cell phones do not necessarily bring people together |
| B．talking on the phone while driving is dangerous |
| C．women use cell phones more often than men |
| D．cell phones make one-on-one personal contact easy |
Children's lives have changed greatly over the last 50 years．But do they have a happier childhood than you or I did?
It's difficult to look back on one's own childhood without some element of nostalgia(怀旧的). I have four brothers and sisters, and my memories are all about being with them．Playing board games on the living room floor, or spending days in the street with the other neighborhood children, racing up and down on our bikes, or exploring the nearby woods．My parents scarcely appear in these memories, except as providers either of meals or of severe blame after some particularly risky adventure．
These days, in the UK at least, the nature of childhood has changed dramatically．Firstly, families are smaller, and there are far more only children．It is common for both parents to work outside the home and there is the feeling that there just isn't time to bring up a large family, or that no one could possibly afford to have more than one child．As a result, today's boys and girls spend much of their time alone．Another major change is that youngsters today tend to spend a huge amount of their free time at home, inside．More than anything this is due to the fact that parents worry far more than they used to about real or imagined dangers, so they wouldn't dream of letting their children play outside by themselves．
Finally, the kind of toys children have and the way they play is totally different．Computer and video games have replaced the board games and more interesting activities of my childhood．The irony（令人啼笑皆非的事情） is that so many ways of playing games are called "interactive”. The fact that you can play electronic games on your own further increases the sense of loneliness felt by many young people today．
Do these changes mean that children today have a less relaxing childhood than I had? I personally believe that they do, but perhaps every generation feels exactly the same．What is the purpose of the direct question given in the first paragraph?
| A．To show who the passage is written for． |
| B．To gather people's opinions on childhood． |
| C．To compare the childhood lives of two generations． |
| D．To get people's attention and lead in the topic． |
Which is NOT a reason for the changes?
| A．Families are smaller today． |
| B．Toys can be played by children alone at home． |
| C．It's too dangerous to play outside． |
| D．Parents worried too much about their children. |
What has the writer focused on in the fourth paragraph?
| A．Some games that young people play today aren't really good． |
| B．Computer and video games have replaced the board games． |
| C．Young people today shouldn't play electronic games. |
| D．Board games are much more interesting than computer games． |
It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, “a brilliantly（精彩地）written book”. However, he then went on to talk about Mr Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t. In the World Book Day’s “Report on Guilty Secrets”, Dreams From My Father is at number 9.The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I’m not one to lie too often (I’d hate to be caught out), I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire top ten. But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell’s 1984.I think it’s really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven’t read him, but haven’t lied about it either ) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to “impress” someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in depth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Fortytwo percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I’ll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).
| A．By judging his manner of speaking. |
| B．By looking into his background. |
| C．By mentioning a famous name. |
| D．By discussing the book itself. |
| A．Charles Dickens is very low on the topten list. |
| B．42% of people pretended to have read 1984. |
| C．The author admitted having read 9 books. |
| D．Dreams From My Father is hardly read. |
| A．control the conversation | B．appear knowledgeable |
| C．learn about the book | D．make more friends |
| A．Favorable. | B．Uncaring. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Friendly. |
Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family’s last vacation. It was my six year old son’s winter break from school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a weeklong trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York, so I had to get back. But that didn’t mean my husband and my son couldn’t stay. I took my nine month old and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged — okay, ordered — them to wait it out at the airport, to “earn” more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I’m a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I’ve made a living looking for the best deals and exposing（揭露）the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC’s Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money’s worth. I’m also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn’t hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it’s the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.
| A．They took a later flight. |
| B．They had early bookings. |
| C．Their flight had been delayed. |
| D．Their flight had been cancelled. |
| A．She rarely misses a good deal. |
| B．She seldom makes a compromise. |
| C．She is very strict with her children. |
| D．She is interested in cheap products. |
| A．She’s a teacher. |
| B．She’s a housewife. |
| C．She’s a media person. |
| D．She’s a businesswoman. |
| A．How to expose bad tricks. |
| B．How to reserve airline seats. |
| C．How to spend money wisely. |
| D．How to make a business deal. |
Doctors are known to be terrible pilots. They don’t listen because they already know it all. I was lucky: I became a pilot in 1970, almost ten years before I graduated from medical school. I didn’t realize then, but becoming a pilot makes me a better surgeon. I loved flying. As I flew bigger, faster planes, and in worse weather, I learned about crew resource management（机组资源管理）, or CRM, a new idea to make flying safer. It means that crew members should listen and speak up for a good result, regardless of positions.
I first read about CRM in 1980. Not long after that, an attending doctor and I were flying in bad weather. The controller had us turn too late to get our landing ready. The attending doctor was flying; I was safety pilot. He was so busy because of the bad turn, he had forgotten to put the landing gear（起落架）down. He was a better pilot — and my boss — so it felt unusual to speak up. But I had to: Our lives were in danger. I put aside my uneasiness and said, “We need to put the landing gear down now!” That was my first real lesson in the power of CRM, and I’ve used it in the operating room ever since.
CRM requires that the pilot/surgeon encourage others to speak up. It further requires that when opinions are from the opposite, the doctor doesn’t overreact, which might prevent fellow doctors from voicing opinions again. So when I’m in the operating room, I ask for ideas and help from others. Sometimes they’re not willing to speak up. But I hope that if I continue to encourage them, someday someone will keep me from “landing gear up”.
| A．They like flying by themselves. |
| B．They are unwilling to take advice. |
| C．They pretend to be good pilots. |
| D．They are quick learners of CRM. |
| A．he saved the plane by speaking up |
| B．he was in charge of a flying task |
| C．his boss landed the plane too late |
| D．his boss operated on a patient |
| A．following flying requirements |
| B．overreacting to different opinions |
| C．listening to what fellow doctors say |
| D．making a mistake that may cost lives |
| A．CRM:A New Way to Make Flying Safe |
| B．Flying Makes Me a Better Doctor |
| C．The Making of a Good Pilot |
| D．A Pilot Turned Doctor |