【改编】The island of Great Britain being small (compare the size of Australia), the natural place for holiday relaxation and enjoyment is extensive coastline, above all its southern and eastern coasts, and the favorite resort of the mass-population of industrial Lancashire, is on the north-west coast. Distant and little-inhabited area like Northern Scotland, are too remote for the development of large seaside resorts.
For most children, going to the seaside suggests a week or fortnight of freedom on the beach, ideally a sandy one providing enough opportunities for the construction of sandcastle, fishing in pool, paddling in shallow water or swimming in deep water. Their parents spend sunny days swimming in the sea and sunbathing on the beach. Not that the British sun can be relied on and the depressing sight of families wandering round the town in old –fashioned and under umbrellas is only too common. However, there are always shops with their tourist souvenirs, plenty of cafes and if the worst comes to the worst, the cinema to offer a refuge.
The average family is unlikely to seek accommodation in a hotel as they can stay more cheaply in a boarding-house. There are usually three or four-storeyed Victorian buildings, whose owners spend the summer season letting rooms to a number of couples or families and providing three cooked meals a day at what they describe as a reasonable price, with the hope that in this way they will add enough to their savings to see the winter through. Otherwise there are the camping sites for those who prefer self-catering.
Nowadays, even when an increasing number of people fly off to Mediterranean resorts where a well-developed suntan (晒黑) can be assured, or explore in comfort Swiss lakes and mountains or romantic Italian or Spanish cities, the British seaside is still the main attraction for families, especially those with younger children. As they queue for boats trips, cups of tea or ice-cream under gray skies and in dizzling rain, the parents are reliving (重温) their own childhood when time seemed endless, their own sandcastles the most splendid on the beach, the sea always blue and friendly and the sun always hot.Where do tourists seldom go ?
| A．Australia | B．Great Britain |
| C．Northern Scotland | D．Lancashire |
Why do children prefer the seaside ?
| A．Because they can stay with their parents. |
| B．Because they can play various games on the seaside. |
| C．Because they can meet many other children there. |
| D．Because they can buy whatever they want. |
What attracts people to Mediterranean resorts?
| A．Romantic Italian or Spanish cities |
| B．Ice-cream under gray skies. |
| C．Cups of tea in dizzling rain. |
| D．Reliving their own childhood. |
Which of the following is True according to the passage?
| A．The cinema is the best place to get enough sunshine. |
| B．The English seaside is an ideal place for children. |
| C．Northern Scotland is very popular with tourists. |
| D．Few people in Britain go abroad for holiday. |
Where can you find this passage in a newspaper ?
| A．Economy | B．Science. |
| C．Fashion. | D．Tourism. |
In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge a deposit on beverage (="drink)" containers. Within a year, consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw material for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it would end up buried in landfills(垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.
Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence post, paint brushes, etc.
As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A discard remains a discard unti1 somebody figures out how to give it a second life — and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life va1ue.Without adequate markets to absorb materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually depress prices for used materials.
Shrinking landfill space and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management option. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and reduces the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material.What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?
| A．A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling. |
| B．Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling. |
| C． Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back on returning them. |
| D．Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded plastic soda bottles. |
The returned plastic bottles in New York used to.
| A．be turned into raw materia1s |
| B．be separated from other rubbish |
| C．have a second-life value |
| D．end up somewhere underground |
The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is .
| A．how to reduce their recycling costs |
| B．to sell them at a profitable price |
| C．how to turn them into useful things |
| D．to lower the prices for used materials |
Recycling has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because .
| A．recycling causes litt1e pollution |
| B．other methods are more expensive |
| C．recycling has great appeal for the jobless |
| D．local governments find it easy to manage |
It can be concluded from the passage that .
| A． recycling is to be recommended both economically and environmentally |
| B．local governments in the U. S. can expect big profits from recycling |
| C．rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials |
| D．landfills will sti1l be widely used for waste disposal |
Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Frequently it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay(马来语). Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent(月牙) because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again. We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.
| A．the government is usually the first to name a place |
| B．many places tend to have more than one name |
| C．a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
| D．people prefer the place names given by the government |
What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．Change suddenly. |
| B．Change significantly. |
| C．Disappear mysteriously. |
| D．Disappear very slowly. |
Which of the following places is named after a person?
| A．Raffles Place. |
| B．Selector Airbase. |
| C．Piccadilly Circus. |
| D．Paya Lebar Crescent. |
Bras Basah Road is named _______.
| A．after a person |
| B．after a place |
| C．after an activity |
| D．by its shape |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain. |
| B．Some places in Singapore are named for military purposes. |
| C．The way Singaporeans name their places is unique. |
| D．Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers. |
In a book called Magnificent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Douglas, a description is given of people helping others but doing it secretly. When difficult problems worried an individual, friends nearby would meet to discuss possible solutions without the individual knowing their actions. When a solution was agreed upon, one or two of the friends would carry out the plan and solve the problem secretly, to the great delight of the worried individual. The helpers would stand by privately, content with their success. No reward was given to the problem solvers, not even a sincere “thank you”, because they were never known.
This concept is popular today but in a different way. The phrase “pay it forward” is now used when one person helps another. However, the person helped may not be able to repay the person or group that helped them. So rather than return the favor to their helpers, they are supposed to help someone else in the future, which means they pay it forward. It is a sense of responsibility which makes us want to give back in equal measure to the one who has helped us. But, in this case, the responsibility turns to helping someone in the future.
Suppose your elderly grandmother pays part of your schooling. She may tell you there is no need to repay her because it is a gift from someone who loves you very much. Nothing would please her more than to have you use her money to get a good education.
You may never be able to repay her for such a gift. However, she not only gave you some money, but she provided you with an example that you should also help other people who need it.
People with serious needs are everywhere. Many are children who need better clothes, more books and even better schools. Some are elderly people who can’t afford their medicine or a doctor’s care. Consider how you can “pay it forward” rather than pay money back to your grandmother.The helpers in the book “Magnificent Obsession” were not rewarded because ________.
| A．they hadn’t solved the problems thoroughly |
| B．they had solved the problems secretly |
| C．they were friends of the worried individual |
| D．they expected to be paid back in the future |
The underlined word “pay it forward” means ________.
| A．to repay someone who has helped you |
| B．to pay someone else who needs help |
| C．to help someone who has helped you |
| D．to help someone else who needs help |
What does the writer suggest with the example of “your elderly grandmother”?
| A．We should learn to respect our grandparents. |
| B．We should work hard to get a good education. |
| C．We should also lend a hand to other people in need of help. |
| D．We should never forget to repay people for their help. |
From the passage we know ________.
| A．everybody needs help |
| B．more children need help than elderly people |
| C．it costs a lot of money to “pay it forward” |
| D．nowadays many people help others without being repaid |
By writing the passage, the author wishes people in the world to be ________.
| A．unselfish | B．mysterious | C．honest | D．unforgettable |
In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye. Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong.
Hung recently has made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network. They will publish a full-length record, titled “The True Idol” on April 6.
The idol is a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley. He did a version（改写本）of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on the television show “American Idol 3”, on January 27. The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people. In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act.
Hung’s response? “I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all.” That’s good, because any common person would have found plenty to regret: the off-key singing; the blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high; the terrible dancing; the hips jerking（摇摆）to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet. It was, by all accounts, bad. But, it was this very bad act that sold well.
Marc Juris, president of Fuse, explained it this way: “Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried. That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America. ”
Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big. Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks. Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station.
So, what does Hung think of this?
“There were all these people saying things about me. A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean ”
Now, he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour（魅力）or to accept it. Returning to normal hasn’t been easy. What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Sometimes an idol behaves quite foolishly. |
| B．Hung’s performance attracted the public eye. |
| C．How an unsuccessful person became famous. |
| D．Success sometimes does not require hard work. |
Hung was popular in America for all the following reasons EXCEPT ________.
| A．his shirt and pants | B．his off-key singing |
| C．his hips jerking | D．his excellent version |
What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 6 refer to?
| A．William Hung. | B．Hung’s bad act. |
| C．Hung’s website. | D．The public’s opinion. |
Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened to Hung?
a．The entertainment firms made an agreement with Hung.
b．The judges cut Hung off in mid-act in the singing contest.
c．Hung became popular among Americans.
d．Hung gave a terrible performance though he tried his best.
e．Three websites put Hung’s funny performance on the Internet.
| A．d, b, e, c, a | B．a, c, d, b, e | C．a, d, b, c, e | D．d, b, a, e, c |
Why was Hung able to win the hearts of America?
| A．His success was based on his own hard work. |
| B．He attracted people’s attention in the contest. |
| C．He was good-looking though he didn’t sing well. |
| D．His character was completely different from other idols” |
Smart job-seekers need to rid themselves of several standard myths about interviewing before they start looking for a job. What follows is a list of some of these untruths and some tips to help you do your best at your next interview.
Myth 1: The aim of interviewing is to obtain (means “get”) a job offer.
Only half true. The real aim of an interview is to obtain the job you want. That often means rejecting job offers you don’t want! So before you please an employer, be sure you want the job.
Myth 2: Always please the interviewer
Not true. Try to please yourself. Of course, don’t be hostile—nobody wants to hire someone disagreeable. But there is plainly a muddle ground between being too ingratiating（逢迎）and being hostile.
Myth 3: Try to control the interview
Nobody “controls” an interview. When someone tries to control us, we resent（憎恨）it. When we try to control others, they resent us. Remember you can’t control what an employer thinks of you, just as he can’t control what you think of him. So he is ready to give and take when being interviewed; never control the interview.
Myth 4: Never interrupt the interviewer
Study the style of the effective conversationalists: they interrupt and are interrupted! An exciting conversation always makes us feel free—free to interrupt, to disagree, to agree enthusiastically. Just hang loose. Try being yourself for a change. Employers will either like or dislike you, but at least you’ll have made an impression. Leaving an employer indifferent（冷漠的）is the worst impression you can make.To be your natural self in a job interview will__________.
| A．make your interviewer angry | B．please your interviewer |
| C．leave an impression on the interviewer | D．leave the interviewer indifferent to you |
For job seekers, efforts to control the interview are likely to __________.
| A．affect the interviewer’s opinion of them |
| B．lead to the offer of a job |
| C．enable them to express themselves fully |
| D．help to create a favorable image of themselves |
The most important thing to keep in mind when being interviewed for a job is to _________.
| A．try to obtain the job | B．reject the job first |
| C．qualify yourself for the job | D．see if it is a job you want |
The right attitude to a job interviewer is to be _________.
| A．obedient | B．hostile | C．pleasing | D．agreeable |
“hang loose” in last paragraph means to _________.
| A．stay calm and relaxed | B．become weak and passive |
| C．take charge | D．sit back comfortably |