If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate(价钱). From then on, they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly(相应地).
With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.
In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?While taking a taxi in Finland, ________.
| A．a passenger can go anywhere without having to pay the driver |
| B．a passenger pays two US dollars for a taxi ride |
| C．a passenger can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go |
| D．a passenger needs to provide good faith demonstration(证明) before leaving without paying |
We know from the passage that big hotels in Finland ________.
| A．are mostly poorly managed |
| B．provide meals for any diners |
| C．provide free wine and charge for food |
| D．provide meal for only those who live in the hotels |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The workers in Finland are paid by the hour. |
| B．The workers are always honest with their working hours. |
| C．The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay. |
| D．The bosses in Finland are too busy to check the working hours of their employees. |
The word “those” in the last but one paragraph probably refers to _______.
| A．people who are dishonest |
| B．people who often have meals in big hotels |
| C．people who often take taxis |
| D．people who are worthy of trust |
Clyde, a small-clawed otter, was moved from Auckland Zoo to Wellington Zoo two months ago. The zookeepers hoped he and the other otter Bonnie might start a family together.
But only two days after he arrived, Clyde went missing. He had dug his way under one of the walls and was nowhere to be seen.
The zookeepers set up cages inside the zoo, with plates of Clyde’s favorite fish in them, hoping to catch him.
Two days went by and still there was no sign of Clyde.
At last a couple saw Clyde at their house --- a whole kilometer away in Newtown. Clyde was hiding in an out-of-reach hole outside their laundry.
The zookeepers arrived and set up some more traps to try to catch him. But Clyde is a pretty smart otter. Twice he managed to get the fish out of a trap without being caught.
Five days after he’d escaped, Clyde’s days on the run came to an end when he was finally caught in one of the traps.
It was no good putting Clyde back in his old home---he’d only dig his way out again. So he and Bonnie were put into the zoo hospital. There was no chance of their escaping from there.
Meanwhile, the zookeepers were working hard to make Clyde’s old home safer. They put an iron barrier underground to stop him digging their way out. Then Bonnie and Clyde went home again.
But a month after his first escape, Clyde was out again. Once more the zookeepers came
hurrying to catch Clyde. They found him by following the bubbles he made in the river nearby.
Nobody knew how Clyde had escaped. But this time he was only out for an hour. So---back he went to the hospital again.
Poor Clyde. It seemed that he wasn’t happy at Wellington Zoo, even though he and Bonnie were getting on well together. The keepers didn’t like seeing him unhappy, so they planned to look for a home for him somewhere else.Where was Clyde found after his first escape?
| A．Back in Auckland Zoo. | B．In a river nearby. |
| C．At a house a kilometer away. | D．In the zoo hospital. |
How did zookeepers catch Clyde after his second escape?
| A．They set up cages in the zoo. |
| B．They attracted Clyde with fish. |
| C．They dug a hole outside his home. |
| D．They followed the bubbles in the water. |
What do we know about Clyde?
| A．He often gets ill. |
| B．He is good at digging. |
| C．He likes hiding in a hole. |
| D．He escaped to meet Bonnie. |
Where is the passage most likely to have been taken from?
| A．A news report. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A book review. | D．A research paper. |
William Shakespeare was a writer of plays and poems. Some of his most famous plays are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth. He wrote thirty-seven plays in all. They are still popular today.
He was born in 1564 in England. At school he liked watching plays. He decided to be an actor when he finished school at the age of fourteen. In 1582, he married a farmer’s daughter. She was eight years older than he was. Their first child was a daughter. Later they had twins. In 1585, Shakespeare left his hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon. His wife and children stayed behind. No one knows why he left or what he did between 1585 and 1592.
At twenty-eight he moved to London and joined a theatre company which opened the Globe Theatre in 1599. He became an actor, and he also wrote plays. He usually acted in his own plays. He earned almost no money from his writing. But he made a lot of money from acting. With the money he bought a large house in his hometown.
At the age of forty-nine, Shakespeare retired (退休) and went to live in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died at the age of fifty-two. He left his money to his family. He left his genius to the world. You still see his plays in English and in many other languages. He is one of the most famous writers in the world.Shakespeare wrote many famous plays except _______.
| A．Hamlet | B．Macbeth |
| C．Romeo and Juliet | D．Man and Superman |
Shakespeare decided to be an actor in _______.
| A．1578 | B．1582 | C．1599 | D．1616 |
In 1585, Shakespeare left his hometown Stratford-upon-Avon _______.
| A．with his wife | B．with his daughter |
| C．with his wife and children | D．alone |
Shakespeare got much money from _______.
| A．writing | B．plays | C．acting | D．retirement |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE? ________.
| A．Shakespeare had two children |
| B．Shakespeare wrote both plays and poems |
| C．Shakespeare left his money to the Globe Theatre |
| D．Shakespeare wrote plays in English and some other languages |
“No man is an island” is a well-known line from John Donne’s Devotion. It was written more than three hundred years ago. Even now people still agree with him. No one can live a completely lonely life. Without other people, life will become empty and sad. We all need to have friends.
For some of us, although making friends is not difficult, feeling shy, we may not want to make the first move. It is also difficult at times to keep the friends we already have.
There are many books about friendship, but Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, written in 1936, is the most famous. This “how to” book about getting along with other people became a best seller. It was later put into 28 languages.
Dale Carnegie’s advice seems to be simple, but can his advice help you? Do you need to change the way you act? Here is the list of advice from his book:
Be friendly and polite.
Always greet with a smile. Begin with “Excuse me” or “Would you please” when you want to ask somebody. Remember to say “Thank you” and try to be as helpful as you can.
Go out of your way to be nice.
Find some time to do special things for other people. Making some soup for a sick neighbour may seem like a little thing to you, but it will make your neighbor feel a lot better.
Remember names.
They say that the sweetest music to a person’s ears is the sound of his or her own name.
Be open-minded.
Try to understand other people’s ways and ideas and learn something from them.
Listen patiently.
When someone is talking to you, look at him or her, listen carefully and say something when necessary.The underlined sentence “No one can live a completely lonely life.” means “_____”.
| A．No one can live a hard life. | B．No one can live without difficulty. |
| C．No one can live alone. | D．No one can live on an island. |
The best title for the passage should be _______________.
| A．How to Make Friends | B．A Famous Book |
| C．Friendship First | D．John Donne and Dale Carnegie |
Some of us find it not easy to make friends because _____________.
| A．we are afraid of making bad friends |
| B．we are shy to take the first action |
| C．we feel sure that we already have enough friends |
| D．we feel worried that we won’t be able to keep our friends |
We can learn from the passage that ________________.
| A．John Donne learned something from Dale Carnegie |
| B．Friends are always friends |
| C．Few people bought Carnegie’s book |
| D．The writer of this passage agrees with John Donne and Dale Carnegie |
Which of the following is not talked about in Carnegie’s book?
| A．Say “Excuse me” before you ask. |
| B．Don’t visit your neighbors too often. |
| C．Think more about others. |
| D．People enjoy hearing their own names. |
Now some women are spending a weekend at Mother’s Camp（营地）. There, husbands and children are not allowed. Why would a woman want to take a vacation without her family? Some women say they need time to be alone.
At Mother’s Camp a woman has room to herself. She can sleep, read or watch TV, and no one will bother her. No children will ask, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” No husband will say, “Oh, dear, I can’t find any clean socks.” In fact almost 50% of women in the United States work outside the home. Many of them work full-time and then come home to a second job----taking care of their homes and families. These working women say one of their biggest problems is housework.
In the United States, working wives do about 75% of the housework. Many of their husbands say they want to help. But then they burn the rice or they can’t find the pans. They ask so many questions that their wives decide it is easier to do the job themselves.
Some women go to Mother’s Camp just to get a break from housework. For two days they don’t cook, they don’t clean, they don’t look after their children and husbands. What do they do? They enjoy warm, sunny weather, walking, swimming or boating in a clear blue lake and sing songs around the campfire. They relax away from home. They have a really wonderful vacation at Mother’s Camp. From this passage we can seein the United States.
| A．women want to work outside the home |
| B．working wives do most of the housework |
| C．husbands do as much housework as their wives |
| D．women do not like to stay at home with their families |
At Mother’s Camp, women can’t .
| A．watch TV | B．read newspapers |
| C．swim in the lake | D．bring their husbands and children |
Why would some mothers like to be alone? Because.
| A． they don’t like their husbands and children |
| B． they have to work full-time |
| C． they are too busy to relax themselves |
| D． they want a new life |
is one of the biggest troubles for working wives in the United States.
| A．Housework | B． Working outside the home |
| C．When to take a vacation | D． Looking after their children |
What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．Busy Working Mothers | B．Welcome to Mother’s Camp |
| C．Mothers Relax Away from Home | D．Mothers in the US |
All around the world, people drink tea. But tea does not mean the same thing to everyone. In different countries people have very different ideas about drinking tea.
In China, for example, tea is always served when people get together. The Chinese drink it at any time of the day at homes or in teahouses. They prefer their tea plain with nothing else in it. Tea is also important in Japan. The Japanese have a special way of serving tea called a tea ceremony. It is very old and full of meaning. Everything must be done in a special way in the ceremony. There is even a special room for it in Japanese homes.
Another tea drinking country is England. In England, the late afternoon is “teatime”. Almost everyone has a cup of tea then. The English usually make tea in teapot and drink it with cream and sugar. They also eat cakes, cookies and little sandwiches at teatime.
In the United States people drink tea mostly for breakfast or after meals. Americans usually use tea bags to make their tea. Tea bags are faster and easier than making tea in teapots. In summer, many Americans drink cold tea --- “iced tea”. Sometimes they drink iced tea from cans, like soda.The passage is mainly talking about _________.
A. Chinese teaB why tea is important
C. the teatime in England D. different ways of tea drinkingThe word “plain” in line 4 may mean _____________.
| A．simple | B．going | C．hard | D．drink |
The Chinese drink tea __________.
| A．for breakfast | B．in a special way |
| C．when they get together | D．only in teahouses |
Iced tea is popular _____________.
| A．in winter | B．in England | C．for lunch | D．in America |
The English like to _____________.
| A．eat something with their tea | B．drink their tea plain |
| C．have tea with dinner | D．drink their tea in teahouses |