A student is learning to speak British English.He wonders：Can I communicate with Americans？Can they understand me？Learners of English often ask：What are the differences between British and American English？How important are these differences?
Certainly，there are some differences between British and American English.There are a few differences in grammar.For example，speakers of British English say“in hospital”and“Have you a pen？”；Americans say “in the hospital”and“Do you have a pen？”．Pronunciation is sometimes different.Americans usually sound “r”s in words like“bird”and“hurt”．Speakers of British English do not sound “r” in these words.There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary.For example，“colour”and“honour”are British；“color”and“honor”are American.
These differences in grammar，pronunciation，spelling and vocabulary are not important，however.For the most part，British and American English are the same language.According to this passage，a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that ______.
| A．British people cannot understand him |
| B．American people cannot understand him |
| C．the grammar is too hard for him |
| D．the spelling is too hard for him |
American English and British English are different in ________.
| A．spelling | B．pronunciation |
| C．grammar | D．all of the above |
What is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Whether there are differences between British English and American English. |
| B．Whether British English and American English are one language or two. |
| C．How the differences between British English and American English came about. |
| D．How important the differences are. |
Do you know how to play a game called “Musical Chairs”？It is easy to play and most people enjoy it. All you need are some chairs, some people and some way of making music. You may use a piano or any other musical instrument, if someone can play it. You may use a tape recorder. You can even use a radio.
Put the chairs in a row. The chairs may be put in twos, back to back. A better way is to have the chairs in one row with each chair facing in the opposite direction to the chair next to it.
The game is easy. When the music starts, the players walk round the chairs. Everyone goes in the same direction, of course, they should walk in time to the music. If the music is fast they should walk quickly. If the music is slow, they should walk slowly.
The person playing music cannot see the people in the game. When the music stops, the players try to sit on the chairs. If a person cannot find a chair to sit on, he drops out. Then, before the music starts again, one chair must be taken away. When the music stops again, one more player will be out.. At last, there will be two players and one chair. The one who sits on the chair when the music stops is the winner.If ten people are playing musical chairs，you must begin with _______.
| A．nine chairs | B．ten chairs | C．eleven chairs | D．one chair |
Which of the following is not suitable for playing musical chairs？ _______.
| A．A piano | B．A radio | C．A tape recorder | D．A telephone |
The chairs should be put _______.
| A．with the desks | B．before the winner | C．all over the room | D．in a line |
When the music starts，the players must _______.
| A．run about the room | B．get down |
| C．walk around the chairs | D．sit on the chairs |
Which of the following statements is NOT true？
| A．The game “Musical Chairs” is not difficult to learn. |
| B．The last one can sit on the last chair. |
| C．The winner can sit on the chair. |
| D．If the person plays music, he cannot be the winner. |
This is a story from 28 years ago. My dad was a used car salesman. Every Thursday night, he would head off to Shreveport, LA for an auction. Most of the time, I drove a car over there for him so he could sell it at the auction.
One day, I was riding with my dad when he noticed a hitch-hiker with a backpack. Without hesitation, he pulled the car over and offered him a ride. Dad asked him his name, and proceeded to talk to him about all sorts of things. Dad asked him where he was going. The hitch-hiker told him he was heading for the west. I can’t recall why but he told Dad a lot of things that had occurred to him and that persuaded him to make that decision. He talked about the tragic events that occurred to him several years before. He was low in spirits, but I could see that the hitch-hiker’s attitude was changing as someone was really listening to him.
We drove 45 minutes before the hitch-hiker got off. We pulled over and Dad told him to keep his head up and things would start looking up for him soon. He reached into his pocket and handed the hitch-hiker a twenty-dollar bill. The guy smiled. He nearly lit up right there on the cold, dark highway.
We drove on and my dad did not say a single thing. I was still completely amazed by what I had just witnessed. I was always told by everyone never to pick up a hitch-hiker and yet my dad did it every single time he saw one. While reflecting upon that story I came to understand that just one single kind act could change someone’s life, and I am sure that my father’s deed made that poor man’s day.The underlined words “that decision” in Para. 2 refer to ___________.
| A．catching the car | B．heading for the west |
| C．talking about his experiences | D．driving 45 minutes |
What made the hitch-hiker become less upset?
| A．The writer’s father offering him a free ride |
| B．The writer’s father really listening to him |
| C．The writer’s father agreeing to driving him to his destination |
| D．The writer’s father talking to him about all sorts of things |
When his father helped the hitch-hiker, the writer ___________.
| A．was deeply moved | B．strongly disagreed |
| C．admired his father | D．couldn’t understand |
Which of the following words cannot be used to describe the father?
| A．willing to help | B．easy-going | C．far-sighted | D．full of sympathy |
The author wrote the text mainly to _________.
| A．show his respect for his father |
| B．tell a story about his kind father |
| C．prove his father is the best teacher |
| D．advise people to learn from their fathers |
The Wife-carrying World Championship has been celebrated in a small town in central Finland since 1992. in 1992, the people of the town decided that it was time to restart some long-forgotten traditions. Back in the late 1800s, there was a robber called Rosvo-Ronkainen in that area. He was said to only accept men as members of his gang who proved their worth in challenges. At that time, it was also a common practice to steal women from neighboring villages.
The Wife-carrying World Championship is becoming increasingly popular. A large number of competitors, people, and journalists from Finland to Canada attend the Wife-carrying World championship every year.
The event is well-known for its warm and humorous atmosphere. The Wife-carrying World Championship is held on a 253.5 meters long official track. The track has two dry obstacles and a water obstacle, about a meter deep.
There are a few basic rules and the winning team is the couple who complete the course in the shortest time. The wife to be carried may be your own, or your neighbor’s. the minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49kg. if she is less than 49kg, the wife will be given a heavy bag to carry. Each time a competitor drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds.
Along with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there is also a team competition. The distance is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink the official “wife-carrying drink” before continuing the race. A special prize is awarded to the team with the best costumes.
Alongside with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there are bands playing music, a wife-carrying dance and other forms of entertainment.According to the passage, the Wife-carrying World championship ___________.
| A．was first celebrated in 1992. |
| B．was first held by Rosvo-Ronkainen |
| C．is celebrated in Finland or Canada every year |
| D．will award “wife-carrying drinks” to the winners |
The Wife-carrying World championship is famous because ___________.
| A．it is held on a 253.5 meters long track |
| B．many competitors take part in it |
| C．it has a pleasant atmosphere |
| D．the winner will be awarded a lot of money |
If a husband drops his wife three time in the competition, he will be fined ________.
| A．15 seconds | B．35 seconds | C．45 seconds | D．60 seconds |
compared with the Wife-carrying World championship, the team competition _______.
| A．is more exciting | B．has a special prize |
| C．has a different track | D．has three teams altogether |
The passage is written mainly to ____________.
| A．warn people that the competition is dangerous |
| B．attract more visitors to the Wife-carrying World championship |
| C．introduce how the Wife-carrying World championship has become popular |
| D．tell us something about the Wife-carrying World championship |
Dogs have an understanding of fair play and become angry if they feel that another dog is getting a better deal, a new study has found.
The study looked at how dogs react when a companion is rewarded for the same trick in an unequal way. Friederike Range, a researcher at the University of Vienna in Austria, and her colleagues did a series of experiments with dogs who knew how to respond to the command “give the paw “. The dogs were normally happy to repeatedly give the paw, whether they got a reward or not. But that changed if they saw that another dog was being rewarded with a piece of food, while they received nothing.
“We found that the dogs hesitated significantly longer when obeying the command to give the paw,” the researchers write. The unrewarded dogs eventually stopped cooperating.
Scientists have long known that humans pay close attention to inequity. But researchers always assumed that animals didn’t share the trait. “The argument was that this is a uniquely human phenomenon,” says Frans de Waal, a professor of psychology at Emory University in Atlanta.
That changed in 2003 when he and a colleague did a study on monkeys. The monkeys had to hand a small rock to researchers to get a piece of cucumber in return. They were happy to do this. But if they saw that another monkey was getting a more delicious reward, a grape, for doing the same job, they would throw away the food and rock, and at some point just stopped performing.
In that experiment, the monkeys considered the fairness of two different types of payment. But when Range and her colleagues did a similar study with their trained dogs, testing to see if dogs would become upset if they only got dark bread when other dogs received sausage, they found that as long as the dogs got some kind of food payment, even if it wasn’t the most delicious kind, the animals would play along.How did the dogs in Range’s study react to the order of “giving the paw”?
| A．They took the order even without being rewarded. |
| B．They took the order only when rewarded. |
| C．They turned a deaf ear to repeated orders. |
| D．They hesitated longer when given repeated orders. |
The research by Frans De Waal in 2003 ___________.
| A．originated from Range’s research on dogs. |
| B．showed that animals do pay attention to inequity. |
| C．began the argument that only humans are aware of inequity. |
| D．was conducted to find out how monkeys reacted to humans’ orders. |
Some monkeys in the research become angry because they found another monkey _______.
| A．was given less work. |
| B．was given more food. |
| C．was given the same type of food. |
| D．was given more delicious food. |
Range found that, compared with monkeys, dogs ____________.
| A．care more about whether they are rewarded. |
| B．care less about what they are rewarded with. |
| C．care more about what they are ordered to do. |
| D．care less about who gives them orders. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Animals have various ways to show their anger. |
| B．Dogs are less intelligent than monkeys. |
| C．Dogs have a sense of fairness. |
| D．Most animals want to be rewarded equally. |
February 28th, 2009 2:54 am GMT
I have to say that am shocked at just how bad the new music is. This cannot be the same band that produced great albums such as HTDAAB and ATYCLB! This is awful! They either do not care anymore, or have completely lost it. I never thought U2 would become irrelevant, but they have officially become one of those bands that you will now say, “Remember when they were great?”
----- Posted by Ronald Harris
February 28th, 2009 8:29 pm GMT
Total drivel, Mr Harris. The new album is great, far better than the safe, cynical HTDAAB and ATYCLB. U2 have become inventive again, like they were in the 1990s. thank goodness!
----- Posted by Dan
March 3rd, 2009 12:09 pm GMT
Agree, Dan. The new album is the best since Actung Baby. Magnificent is an anthem in the waiting, Breathe is unbelievable, and Stand Up Comedy is absolutely outstanding----- to name just three! Loving the new sound, pure class as usual.
----- Posted by Martin
March 4th, 2009 7:43 pm GMT
Totally agree with you guys. This album is unbelievable. Breathe is definitely a great song, same with Moment of Surrender. I bet their upcoming tour will be amazing. If you haven’t bought the CD yet, you should. I bought mine on Amozon.com for $3.99. I couldn’t believe it.
----- Posted by Josh BriggsAccording to Ronald Harris, U2’s new album is _________.
| A．pretty good | B．so bad | C．the same as before | D．completely fresh |
whose comment is contrary to the others?
| A．Martin’s | B．Dan’s | C．Josh Briggs’ | D．Ronald Harris’ |
Martin and Josh Briggs both like the song _________.
| A．Magnificent | B．Moment of Surrender | C．Breathe | D．Stand Up Comedy |
Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
| A．Most fans felt disappointed at the new album. |
| B．The new album is available on the Internet. |
| C．The people who made comments are fans of U2. |
| D．U2’s upcoming tour may be a great success. |
The passage is most probably from ________.
| A．a concert poster | B．a TV review | C．a newspaper | D．the Internet |