Sparrow is a fast-food chain with 200 restaurants. Some years ago, the group to which Sparrow belonged was taken over by another company. Although Sparrow showed no sign of declining, the chain was generally in an unhealthy state. With more and more fast-food concepts reaching the market, the Sparrow menu had to struggle for attention. And to make matters worse, its new owner had no plans to give it the funds it required.
Sparrow failed to grow for another two years. Until a new CEO, Carl Pearson, decided to build up its market share. He did a survey, which showed that consumers who already used Sparrow restaurants were extremely positive about the chain, while customers of other fast-food chains were unwilling to turn away from them. Sparrow had to develop a new promotional campaign.
Pearson faced a battle over the future of the Sparrow brand. The chain’s owner now favored rebranding Sparrow as Marcy’s restaurants. Pearson resisted, arguing for an advertising campaign designed to convince customers that visits to Sparrow restaurants were fun. Such an attempt to establish a positive relationship between a company and the general public was unusual for that time. Pearson strongly believed that numbers were the key to success, rather than customers speeding power. Finally, the owner accepted his idea.
The campaign itself changed the traditional advertising style of the fast-food industry. The TV ads of Sparrow focused on entertainment and featured original songs performed by a variety of stars. Instead of showing the superiority of a specific product, the intension was to put Sparrow in the hearts of potential customers.
Pearson also made other decisions which he believed would contribute to the new Sparrow image. For example, he offered to lower the rent of any restaurants which achieved a certain increase in their turnover (营业额).
These efforts paid off, and Sparrow soon became one of the most successful fast-food chains in the regions where it operated.What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．customers of Sparrow restaurants |
| B．Sparrow restaurants |
| C．customers of other fast-food chains |
| D．other fast-food chains |
For what purpose did Pearson start the advertising campaign?
| A．To build a good relationship with the public. |
| B．To stress the unusual tradition of Sparrow. |
| C．To learn about customers’ spending power. |
| D．To meet the challenge from Marcy’s restaurants. |
What was Pearson’s achievement as a CEO?
| A．He managed to pay off Sparrow’s debts. |
| B．He made Sparrow much more competitive. |
| C．He helped Sparrow take over a company. |
| D．He improved the welfare of Sparrow employees. |
There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing(批评) and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation(模仿). It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact(接触) with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.
53. People who are unhappy _______.
A. always consider things differently from others
B. usually are affected by the results of certain things
C. usually misunderstand what others think or say
D. always discover the unpleasant side of certain things
54. The phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “_______”.
A. have a good taste with social life B. make others unhappy
C. tend to scold others openly D. enjoy the pleasure of life
55. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should _______.
A. prevent any communication with them
B. show no respect and politeness to them
C. persuade them to recognize the bad effects
D. quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes
56. In this passage, the writer mainly _______.
A. describes two types of people
B. laughs at the unhappy people
C. suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness
D. tells people how to be happy in life
After sunset on our last day at the farm I walked out into the desert. In this, the first pleasant moment for a walk after long hot hours, I thought I was the only thing out of doors. Suddenly I stopped. Before me a rattlesnake lay fixed, its head not yet drawn back to strike but only turned a little to watch what I would do. Many snakes will run away at the sight of a man but this rattlesnake felt no necessity to get out of any-body's way. He held his ground in calm watch-fullness waiting for me to show my intentions. My first aim was to take no notice of him; I had never killed an animal if I was not forced to kill. But I remembered that there were children, dogs and horses at the farm as well as men and women with thin clothes on; my duty was to kill the snake. I went back to the farm and returned with a stick. The rattlesnake had not moved; he lay like a wire but more quickly than I could stride he shot into a bush and set up his rattling, warning me by this that I had made an unreasonable attack and attempted to take his life and that if I insisted he would have no choice but to take mine if he could. For a moment I listened to this terrifying sound and then I struck into the bush with my stick and, chop-ping about, dragged him out of the bush with his back broken. w.wHe struck once more at the stick but a moment later his neck was broken and he was soon dead although when I picked him up by the tail his mouth opened, proving that a dead snake may still bite. There was blood in his mouth and poison was dropping; it was not only a dis-gusting(令人作呕的) sight but a pitiful one too. I dropped the body into a green bush and, as I did so, I saw him in my imagination, crawling over the sands as he might have done if I had let him go.
49. At the sight of the author, the rattlesnake .
A. shot into a bush
B. lay motionless but got ready to meet danger
C. drew itself up to strike
D. took no notice of his presence
50. The author had to kill the rattlesnake because .
A. it stood in his way
B. it attempted to take his life
C. it presented a disgusting sight
D. its presence was a danger to the people and animals at the farm
51. Which of the following best describes the rattlesnake?
A. It attacked man without any reason.
B. It would not attack unless it was attacked.
C. It ran away at the sight of man.
D. It exposed itself to danger.
52. It is implied at the end of the passage that the author____.
A. regretted having killed the snake
B. was glad that he had killed the snake
C. felt a little sorry for the snake
D. could not help thinking about the dead snake
European Work Experience Programme
European Work Experience Programme (E.W.E.P.) is an independent British organization which began in 1991 in the city of London. E.W.E.P. provides the opportunity for students from the 25 countries of the European Union and nationals（公民）from Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to live in England, to gain work experience, to practise their English and to get a better insight into the British social and cultural life.
To apply you must fulfil（符合）the following requirements:
Preferred age: 18 to 28 years’ old
Be able to work in the UK for a period of at least two months.
Must have a good knowledge of English.
Due to work permit restrictions（限制）, European Work Experience Programme Ltd (E.W.E.P) will only select you if you are a European Union Member or national from Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
European Work Experience Programme Ltd will find you a suitable job and an accommodation. A representative of E.W.E.P. will be available during your stay to help you and you will get a 24 hours help line service during your stay. The TOTAL fee（费用）for our services is £ 264.63 (394.35 Euros).
Should you require any further information, please contact us:
European Work Experience Programme Ltd
Unit 1, Red Lion Court, Alexandra Road
Hounslow, Middlesex, TW3 1JS
United Kingdom
Tel: 44 208 572 2993
Fax: 44 208 572 1114
E-mail: sales@ewep.com
45. What’s the purpose of writing the text?
A. To introduce a new programme in England
B. To attract more students to work in England
C. To describe the working conditions in England
D. To make clear the requirements for students working in England
46. Which of the followings is not the purpose of the progamme？
A. to get a lot of work experience
B. to improve their English rapidly
C. to have better understanding of the British culture
D. to make more money in Britain
47. You can get in touch with E. W. E. P. Ltd by the following ways EXCEPT by_____.
A. making a telephone callB. sending the organization a fax
C. writing an e-mail to the organizationD. going there in person by air
48. Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the text?
A. European Work Experience Programme was set up about twenty years ago.
B. You’ll work in the UK for at least two months if you attend the programme.
C. You can get a 24 hours help from a representative during your stay.
D. You don’t have to hand in 394.35 Euros after you have got a job in Britain.
第二部分：阅读理解（第一节20小题，第二节5小题；每小题2分，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的四个选项 (A、B、C和D) 中, 选出最佳选项。
Every afternoon hundreds of thousands of youth fill Internet cafes, switch on a game console (游戏机), or otherwise sit down to enter fantasy worlds. I’m talking about video games. These games can be fun and exciting, but we need to look out when this pastime becomes an addiction.
Games are often quite exciting and dramatic, but they generally aren’t very intellectual. We don’t learn as much from them as we would only reading a book. Spending too much time playing them can take away our study time. We need to remember that we are students first. Nothing should ever get in the way of proper studying.
Video games can also be a bad effect on younger children who may be watching. Many video games are violent and the object in most of them is to kill the other player(s). This does not send the right message to the children who need to be told that violence is not acceptable and need to be taught how to deal with situations maturely. Even if we do need to sit down and play a violent video game, we need to make sure that it does not affect the younger people around us.
Playing a computer game in our spare time is not a bad thing. Games can be a great way to relax after studying, to connect to our friends, or just to help our creativity. However, games should not become the focus of our life. We need to make sure that playing games never interferes with our studies and that we aren’t thinking about them all day. If we ever find ourselves playing them too much, we need to break the addiction. If that happens, we need to step away from the computer or television screen and learn to spend our time more productively.
41. The writer mainly tells the readers __________.
to play computer games every afternoon
not to play computer games too much
not to affect other people while playing games
to spend more time studying
42. The writer thinks about computer games all of the following except _________.
A. exciting B. dramatic C. intellectual D. violent
43. Computer games may have bad effect on younger children because __________.
these children often stay in Internet cafes all day long
children often forget to do their lessons
computer games are often violent
children don’t have enough money to play computer games
44. The writer advises computer game players ________.
not to affect younger people around
not to play violent games
never to enter Internet cafes
to teach younger children how to play computer games
There was great excitement on the planet of Venus(金星) this week. For the first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as photographs ever since.
The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan (named after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered it with his telescope 20000 light years ago).
Because of excellent weather conditions and extremely strong signals, Venusian scientists were able to get valuable information as to feasibility (可行性) of a manned flying saucer (碟) landing on Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.
“We have come to the conclusion, based on last week’s satellite landing,” Prof. Zog said, “that there is no life on Earth.”
“How do you know this?” the science reporter of the Venus Evening Star asked.
“For one thing, Earth’s surface in the area of Manhattan is made up of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere is filled with carbon monoxide (一氧化碳) and other deadly gases and nobody could possibly breathe this air and survive.”
“What does this mean as far as our flying saucer program is concerned?”
“We shall have to take our own oxygen with us, which means a much heavier flying saucer than originally planned.”
“Are there any other dangers that you discovered in your studies?”
“Take a look at this photo. You see this dark black cloud hovering(盘旋) over the surface of Earth? We don’t know what it is made of, but it could give us a lot of trouble and we shall have further tests before we send a Venus Being there.”
“Over here you will notice what seems to be a river, but the satellite findings indicates it is polluted and the water is unfit to drink. This means we shall have to carry our own water, which will add even greater weight to the saucer.”
“If all you say is true, won’t this set back the flying saucer program several years?”
“Yes, but we shall continue as soon as the Grubstart gives us the added funds.” Prof. Zog replied.
43.During the week of great excitement the Venusian scientists succeeded in getting important information as to ____.
A.the feasibility of landing a satellite on Earth
B.the possibility of making a first-rate flying saucer
C.the feasibility of sending a Venus Being to Earth
D.the possibility of directing a flying saucer into Manhattan
44.According to Prof. Zog, the Venusians will have to take their own oxygen with them when they carry out their flying saucer program because ____.
A.they need it in their way to the planet of Earth
B.the Earth’s atmosphere is filled with deadly gases
C.there is a low level of oxygen for Venusians
D.there is no air on the planet of Earth
45.The “dark black cloud” on the photo refers to ____.
A.the polluted air hovering over the surface of Earth
B.the mass of tiny drops of water floating above Earth
C.the mass of small things moving through the air
D.the dark clouds gathering before a storm breaks
46.The author wishes to call our attention to the fact that ____.
A.that modern man has polluted his environment to such an extend that he might destroy himself if he went on like this
B.that there is a point in spending billions to land a flying saucer on Earth
C.that pollution has become so serous a problem on Earth that even Venusians find life there unbearable.
D.that it is difficult if not altogether impossible, to land a manned flying saucer on Earth