Flow like the river of change
Little stream ran down from a high mountain through many villages and forests. Then it reached a desert. “I went through so many difficulties. I should have no problem crossing the desert,” she thought. As she started, she found herself slowly disappearing into the sand. After many tries, she still failed. “Maybe I can’t reach the ocean,”she said sadly to herself.
At this time, a deep voice said, “If a breeze（微风）can cross the desert, so can a river.” It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream answered, “That’s because a breeze can fly, but I cannot.”
“That’s because you can’t give up what you are. Let yourself evaporate（蒸发）into the breeze, and it can take you across,” said the desert. “Give up what I am now? No! No!” The little stream could not accept this idea. “The breeze can carry the vapor（蒸汽）across the desert and let it leave as rain. The rain will form a river again,” said the desert. “And whether you’re a river or vapor, your nature never changes.” Hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the breeze. It carried her to the next stage of her life.
The course of our lives is like the experience of the little stream. If you want to go through difficulties in your life to head for success, you should also change the way you are.he little stream aimed to reach _____.
| A．the forest | B．the ocean |
| C．the desert | D．the river |
he little stream _____ before she got to the desert.
| A．didn’t meet much difficulty |
| B．was worried about herself |
| C．knew well about the desert |
| D．was confident about herself |
At first, the little stream didn’t accept the desert’s advice because _____.
| A．she failed many times |
| B．she was afraid of the breeze |
| C．she wasn’t able to fly |
| D．she wouldn’t give up what she was |
he little stream finally crossed the desert by _____.
| A．evaporating into the breeze | B．forming a river |
| C．disappearing into the sand | D．changing her nature |
What does the story mainly tell us?
| A．The road to success is not always easy and smooth. |
| B．Whatever others say, we should always be ourselves. |
| C．To succeed, we should change the way we are if necessary. |
| D．We may experience difficulty in life just like the little stream. |
Winter is the time of year when people feel very blessed. This isn't because people feel thankful for the cold weather, nor because the important festivals---Christmas or Spring Festival---offer an excuse to celebrate. In fact, “Bless you!” is a common response if someone sneezes, a symptom(症状）of catching a cold or the flu.
Colds and the flu are the most common illnesses of autumn and winter as the weather gets colder. Viruses cause them. If you get one you will feel annoyed, but it is not usually serious. The flu is spread from person to person when we come into contact with a person with the virus. We get the virus on our hands and then we touch our noses and our mouths. We can pass on the flu before we realize we have it. You can infect(传染) others one day before symptoms develop and for up to five days after becoming sick.
Getting a flu vaccination is the best way to prevent the illness. Even if your body has built up antibodies（抗体）for one kind of flu. The vaccine（疫苗）is only effective for one year and viruses are different from year to year, so it is necessary to get a flu vaccination every year. The best time to get the vaccination is October or November. Besides, there are other ways to reduce your chance of getting a flu. Wash your hands. Get enough rest. Eat garlic regularly. Don't let stress control you. Exercise regularly.We say “Bless you!” when __________.
| A．we feel annoyed at someone. |
| B．someone sneezes. |
| C．someone catches a cold or the flu. |
| D．we celebrate some important festivals. |
How many ways are mentioned in the passage to stop you from catching the flu?
| A．6 | B．5 | C．7 | D．3 |
The passage is intended to tell us ___________.
| A．how to keep healthy . | B．the causes of flu . |
| C．the influence of flu . | D．what to do about flu. |
We can infer the passage that____________.
| A．People catch a cold or the flu only in autumn or winter. |
| B．people getting a flu vaccination won’t catch the illness for life. |
| C．flu can cause symptoms such as sore throat and a runny nose. |
| D．people with the virus of flu but having no symptoms can still infect others. |
The booking notes of the play “the Age of Innocence”:
Price: ＄10
BOOKING
There are four easy ways to book seats for performance:
------ in person
The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a. m. -8 p. m.
------ by telephone
Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card
（Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted）
------ by post
Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.
------ on line
Complete the on-line booking form at www. Satanfiedtheatre. com
DICOUNTS:
Saver:＄2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.
Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.
Standby: best available seats are on sale for ＄6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible（suitable）for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other
customers.
Group Bookings:
There is a ten per cent discount for parties of twelve or more.
School: school parties of ten or more can book ＄6 standby tickets in advance will get every tenth ticket free.
Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.If you want to book a ticket, you CANNOT_____
| A．use the Internet |
| B．ring the booking number and pay for the tickets by credit card. |
| C．go to the Box Office on Sundays. |
| D．complete a booking form and post it to the Box Office. |
If you make a group booking for a group of 14 adults, how much should you pay?
| A．＄120 | B．＄150 | C．＄140 | D．＄126 |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．There are only 8 wheelchair spaces in the theater. |
| B．The audience can‘t refund money if the performance is on show. |
| C．A group of 12 persons can get 10 per cent discount. |
| D．A school party of 15 students should pay 90 for the standby tickets. |
What kind of tickets are the cheapest?
| A．The standby tickets. |
| B．The standby tickets for school parties of ten or more. |
| C．The tickets for Saver discount. |
| D．The tickets for group booking. |
Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family were rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had，the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning，the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.
The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen?” “Why did you not watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement，I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune，I asked God if I could seal(封口) the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed，the angel of death(死神) came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”The underlined part “the pair” in the second paragraph two refers to.
| A．the poor couple | B．the rich couple |
| C．the guests | D．the angels |
The younger angel was very angry because .
| A．the older angel treated the two families unfairly. |
| B．the older angel killed the farmer’s cow. |
| C．the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live. |
| D．the angel of death took the cow away. |
Why did the older angel let the farmer’s cow die?
| A．Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife. |
| B．Because she wanted to teach the younger angel a lesson. |
| C．Because she was sympathetic to the rich. |
| D．Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow. |
The story tries to tell the reader that .
| A．the young should always learn from the old |
| B．angels are always ready to help the poor. |
| C．angels are always ready to help the rich. |
| D．sometimes things are not what they seem. |
Not many things in life can be more irritating: you are having a conversation with friends, but they check their phones and begin replying to texts or checking their emails. The Guardian (卫报) described the scene of a friend’s face buried in a screen as “a distinct 21st-century problem”. A new word has been created to describe this --- phubbing. It is the act of looking at your mobile phone instead of paying attention to others during a social interaction. Like pointing at one’s nose, phubbing is widely considered rude behavior. People everywhere are beginning to lose patience with the phenomenon.
A “Stop Phubbing” campaign group has been started in Australia and at least five others have sprung up in its wake as anger about the lack of manners grows. The campaign’s creator, Alex Haigh, 23, from Melbourne, said, “A group of friends and I were chatting when someone raised how annoying being ignored by people on mobiles was.” He has created a website where companies can download posters to discourage phubbing.
Phubbing is just one symptom of our increasing dependence on mobile phones and the Internet, which is replacing normal social interaction. A survey found that one out of three Britons would answer the phone in a restaurant and 19% said they would while being served in a shop. The survey came after a supermarket assistant in south London refused to serve a woman until she stopped using her phone. A poll, for a Sunday paper, also found that 54 percent of people checked Facebook, Twitter or other social media every day, with 16 per cent checking more than ten times a day. An unsurprising 63 per cent of people carry their phone with them “almost all, or all of the time”, it found.
Phil Reed, a professor of psychology at Swansea University who has studied the Internet addiction disorder, said many phubbers show symptoms of addiction to their mobile phones.
Time magazine once pointed out, “Phubbing has a much greater potential harm to real-life connections by making people around us feel like we care more about posts than their presence.”
In the UK, Glamour magazine even imagined how novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817) would have written about people with bad mobile phone manners: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man or woman in possession of a good mobile phone must be in want of manners.”Phubbing has come about because _______.
| A．distrust has already been everywhere among people |
| B．the friendship between people is becoming fragile |
| C．people are getting dependent on attraction online |
| D．there has been a lack of means of communication |
Which of the statements is TRUE about the “Stop Phubbing” campaign?
| A．It was first started in America and then it spread to Melbourne. |
| B．Companies can update posters against phubbing on the website. |
| C．Alex Haigh, 23, was the first one to find phubbing annoying. |
| D．Up till now, at least six groups have claimed to support it. |
The supermarket assistant refused to serve the woman mainly because _______.
| A．the woman buried her face in the mobile phone screen for a very long time |
| B．the woman ignored respect and manners by focusing only on her phone |
| C．the assistant lost his patience with the woman who was using her phone |
| D．it is rare for customers to answer the phone while being served in shops |
In the last paragraph, the writer wants to tell readers that ______.
| A．one with a mobile phone should mind his/her manners |
| B．Jane Austen must have worked for Glamour magazine |
| C．phubbing is going to be forbidden immediately in the UK |
| D．people with good manners must have good mobile phones |
Extracts (摘录) From Information Booklet For Car Ferry Passengers
CAR DECKS
Car drivers are advised to use the handbrake before leaving their cars, to lock all doors and to take with them all belongings that may be needed during the crossing.
CURRENCY EXCHANGE
We regret that there are no facilities aboard for the exchange of cheques of any kind but most European currencies together with Euro cards and various types of international credit cards are accepted for payment in restaurants, shops, cinemas, etc. and to carry out other transactions (交易) on board.
PASSENGER FACILITIES ON BOARD
The following are a small selection of those available.
PROMENADE DECK(散步甲板): Here you can enjoy a pleasant stroll, go for a jog, or sit or lie back in the sunshine in adaptable reclining seats(躺椅). We would however suggest passengers that decks may be slippery in wet or freezing weather.
VIEWING BRIDGE: This is situated below the Captain's Bridge and offers a view over the bow of the ship. The viewing bridge is reached from the promenade deck via the foremost stairway.
A LA CARTE RESTAURANT: This serves the same breakfast buffet as the main dining room. Scandinavian and international specialties are available at lunch and dinner times. No reservations required.
DUTY-FREE SHOP: This is a supermarket offering Scandinavian and international goods, foodstuffs, spirits, tobacco goods, sweets etc.
OPENING TIMES: The opening times of the various shops, restaurants and other facilities are shown on the relevant entrance doors as well as on the boards in the main halls on Decks 4.Passengers to the A La Carte restaurant _______.
| A．can enjoy a buffet free of charge |
| B．cannot reserve a place for lunch or dinner |
| C．can have the full menu whenever they like |
| D．can sit wherever they like when they come in |
According to the information given, the promenade deck can be used for _____.
| A．exercise and relaxation |
| B．enjoying the view over the sea |
| C．taking exercise in all kinds of weather |
| D．spending the night |
Which of the following car ferry passengers might have trouble or difficulty on the ferry?
| A．A British standing on the viewing bridge below Captain's Bridge. |
| B．An Australian taking with him all his belongings in the car. |
| C．A Canadian with only banknotes from his own country. |
| D．A German going for a walk on promenade deck. |