【2015·四川】B
Nothing could stop Dad. After he was put on disability for a bad back, he bought a small farm in the country, just enough to grow food for the family. He planted vegetables, fruit trees and even kept bees for honey.
And every week he cleaned Old Man McColgin's chicken house in exchange for manure(肥料). The Smell really burned the inside of your nose. When we complained about the terrible smell, Dad said the stronger the manure, the healthier the crops, and he was right. For example, just one of his cantaloupes filled the entire house with its sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.
As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew(炖菜).Dad pulled out a pressure cooker and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots. For about half an hour. the pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad's pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.
Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!
Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around. It didn’t look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn’t offend the nose so much, either. I took a taste. It would never win a prize in a cooking competition, but it was surprisingly edible and we drank up every last drop of soup.Why did Dad clean Old Man Mocolgin’s chicken house regularly?
| A．To earn some money for the family. |
| B．To collect manure for his crops. |
| C．To get rid of the terrible smell. |
| D．To set a good example to us. |
What can we infer about Dad’s stew?
| A．It is popular among the neighbors. |
| B．It contains honey and vegetables. |
| C．It looks very wonderful. |
| D．It tastes quite delicious. |
What does the underlined word “offend” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．To attract | B．To upset |
| C．To air | D．To shut |
What can we learn about Dad form the text?
| A．He is an experienced cook. |
| B．He is a troublesome father. |
| C．He has a positive attitude to life. |
| D．He suffers a lot from his disability. |
Rail passengers are being forced to pay thousands of pounds more in fares as a result of poor advice from the national telephone helpline and individual stations, a consumer organization reveals today. Research by Which found that in some cases passengers are being charged almost double the cheapest price because of errors made by staff.
Which asked 25 questions of both station staff and the National Rail Enquiries(NRES)helpline. Only half of the 50 questions were answered correctly. If customers had followed all the advice given, they would have seen ￡ 1,263,60 worse off.
Bad advice was given for the cheapest fare for a single journey between London and Grantham. For a ticket bought on the day of travel, both NRES and a King's Cross station clerk quoted GNER's ￡ 44.50 fare, ignoring a Hull Trains service which leaves 10 minutes earlier and costs just ￡ 20.
Some of the most costly misinformation was given for journeys where season tickets should have been recommended. Passengers making a return journey between Swindon and Penzance twice in a week could buy a ticket from one company for ￡ 70 which would cover all the travel. But both NIRES and station staff quoted ￡ 67 for each journey, making ￡ 134. However, the NRES website proved to be a much more reliable source of information.
Which also checked “the earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket” claims by five companies and found this was not always the case. On some services, prices went up and down at random. Ithiel Mogridge, 52, gave one example of poor advice：“Last Christmas I found my brother a ticket on the thetrainline. com to travel from Blackburn to Yate. While the direct route was ￡ 51, this one involved a change in Newport and cost just ￡ 21. I emailed the details to him and and his partner. They went to Blackburn station, where the clerk insisted the fare was ￡ 51.”Malcolm Coles, editor of which. co. uk, said：“Staff training needs to be improved. In the meantime, we've designed a checklist, available at which. co. uk/railiadvice.”According to the passage “Which” is a________.
| A．national telephone helpline |
| B．department under the British Rail |
| C．consumer organization |
| D．website under the National Rail Enquiries |
When the author said that customers “would have been ￡ 1,263,60 worse off”， he was telling us that customers would have________.
| A．saved ￡ 1,263,60 if they had followed the advice |
| B．spend ￡ 1,263,60 more than the lowest price |
| C．used ￡ 1,263,60 for the survey of 25 questions |
| D．been cheated of ￡ 1,263.60 from the poor advice |
The phrase “at random” in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to“________”．
| A．casually |
| B．purposefully |
| C．exactly |
| D．inevitably |
At one time no one could travel on an English road faster than four miles an hour. That was the law until 1896. A man had to walk in front of a car which could not go faster than man. At night the man had to carry a red lamp.
Once Charles Rolls brought a car from France to England, but he wanted to drive faster than four miles an hour. In order to have no trouble with the police, he had a talk with some of the police officers，who ordered their policemen to_look_the_other_way when the car came along the road. This was a good plan in the country, but not so easy to follow in the busy streets of London.
One night Roils and some friends started from London on their journey to Cambridge. One of the men walked in front with the red lamp, but he walked as fast as he could. The police became very interested in walls and shop－fronts when they heard the car, and not one of them saw it.
They reached a hill, but what a waste of time it was to drive down the hill at four miles an hour! Rolls was getting ready to jump into the car, but then he noticed a policeman who was not looking the other way. The slow car reached him.
“Good evening，” said the policeman, looking at the car.
“Good evening，” said Rolls, holding the lamp.
“One of these horseless things，” said the policeman, looking at it with interest.
“Yes，” said Roils, and waited.
“I've often wanted a ride in one. but of course policemen can't buy things like that.” He turned and looked hopefully in Roll's face.
“Jump in.” said Rolls.
“Thanks，” said the policeman, and did so.“ Now, ”he said, “sitting down, you can let it go just as you like down this hill.
There isn't another policeman on this road for a mile and a half.”The policemen were told “to look the other way”(the underlined part in Paragraph 2)so that________.
| A．they could watch the car coming from the other direction |
| B．the car could go faster than four miles an hour |
| C．they could make sure no one was in the way |
| D．the car would not hit them on the road |
In what way did the policemen carry out the order from their officers?
| A．They greeted Rolls when the car came along. |
| B．They walked in front of the car with a red lamp. |
| C．They pretended to be attracted by something else. |
| D．They stood on duty every 1.5 miles along the road. |
The policeman who said “Good evening” to Rolls wanted to________.
| A．teach Roils a lesson |
| B．have a talk with Rolls |
| C．take a free ride home |
| D．have a car ride experience |
After the policeman jumped into the car, Rolls________.
| A．dared not drive the car faster than he was allowed to |
| B．could drive as fast as he wished within a certain distance |
| C．could drive on any road he liked for the rest of the journey |
| D．drove his car as fast as he could down the hill to Cambridge |
Some of Beijing Zoo's animals are suffering menu changes because of the bird flu spread in Asia.
Gone are the lions' and tigers' delightful “live” chicken dinners. In their menus, instead, are raw beef and mutton. While the lions and tigers go chicken less, the zoo's birds are also receiving some special and uncomfortable treatment these days. The peacocks in Befalling Safari Animal World, who used to be featured in the park and could walk around showing off their beautiful feathers, now are forced to stay in cages.
And turkeys at the Beijing Zoo—believed to be most likely to suffer from the bird flu virus have been moved out of their old home to places separate from visitors. In most cases，display areas with birds have been closed for health reasons.
Yet a good thing about the present situation is that the living conditions of the zoo's birds are being improved, with keepers keeping the display areas cleaner and not as crowded as before. Almost all zoos have done more frequent cleaning and disinfection for bird cages——measures to prevent infection.
In this special period, pigeons(鸽子)are_frowned_upon._In Beijing, many homing pigeon lovers use balconies(阳台)to build cages for birds. Most neighbours are fed up with these cages since they can produce waste and feathers. Now the city's homing pigeon organization is asking all its members to stop letting pigeons out of their cages and keep cages clean. Still, pigeons and some other birds seem less lovely to people than before.
As a Chinese newspaper put it “Doves, are you still angels？”which of the following shows the menu changes in the Beijing Zoo?
| A．The lions and tigers have “live” chicken dinners. |
| B．The lions and tigers eat raw beef and mutton. |
| C．The lions and tigers have chickens only for supper. |
| D．The lions and tigers have beef and mutton for part of meals. |
We can conclude from the text that________.
| A．turkeys have been moved out of the zoo because of the bird flu virus |
| B．peacock shows used to be free of charge |
| C．people can hardly see peacock shows in the Beijing Zoo now |
| D．homing pigeons are safe from the bird flu virus |
The underlined sentence in the text means“________”．
| A．pigeons receive the best care |
| B．people are worried about pigeons |
| C．people feel displeased with pigeons |
| D．people show no interest in pigeons |
阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。
Rush hour traffic is a problem in many big cities around the world. Commuters(道勤者)rush to and from their jobs in cars, buses, subways, trains, and even on bicycles. Large cities in the United States have two rush hours—one in the morning and one in the evening. But in cities in other parts of the world, there are four rush hours. In Athens and Rome, for example, many workers go home for lunch and a nap. After this midday break, they rush back to their jobs and work for a few more hours.
In Tokyo, there's a big rush hour underground. Most of the people in Tokyo take the subways. The trains are very crowded. Subway employees called packers wear white gloves and help pack the commuters into the trains when the doors place. They make sure that all purses, briefcases, clothes, and hands are inside the trains.
In Seoul, many computers prefer to take taxis to get to work. To hail_a_cab,_many people stand at crossroads and raise two fingers. This means they'll pay the cab driver double the usual fare. Some people even raise three fingers! They'll pay THREE times the normal rate.
Streets in Rome are very crowded with automobiles and mopeds(摩托自行车)during rush hours. The city can't make its streets wider, and it can't build new highways, because it doesn't want to disturb many historic sites in the city, such as the Forum and the Colosseum. It took the city fifteen years to construct a new subway system. Construction had to stop every time workers found old artifacts and discovered places of interest to archaeologists(考古学家)．
In many big cities, there are special lanes on highways for carpools. These are groups of three or more people who driver to and from work together. They share the costs of gas and parking and take turns driving into the city.
Getting to work and getting home can be difficult in many places around the world. Rush hour traffic seems to be a universal problem.Big cities have traffic problems during rush hours because there are________.
| A．special lanes on highways |
| B．many commuters |
| C．four rush hours |
| D．many cars on the street |
Most of commuters in Tokyo________.
| A．take subway trains to work |
| B．are packers |
| C．take taxis to work |
| D．carry briefcases to work |
To “hail a cab” means to________.
| A．pay double the normal rate |
| B．try to get a cab |
| C．prefer to take taxis |
| D．to stand at crossroads |
Why did it take a long time to build a subway system in Rome?
| A．Because the streets were very crowded. |
| B．Because there are many historic sites. |
| C．Because the workers discovered many artifacts and places of interest. |
| D．Because the traffic always stopped the construction. |
Commuters in carpools probably________.
| A．live in the city |
| B．take the subway to work |
| C．save money on gas and parking fees |
| D．have special license plates(牌照) |
Tokyo is one of those places that you can love and hate at the same time.
In Tokyo there are always too many people in the places where I want to be. Of course there are too many cars. The Japanese drive very fast when they can. But in Tokyo they often spend a long time in traffic jams. Tokyo is not different from London, Paris and New York in that. It is different when one wants to walk.
At certain times of the day there are a lot of people on foot in London's Oxford Street. But the streets near Ginza in Tokyo always have a lot of people on foot, and sometimes it is really difficult to walk. People are very polite; there are just too many of them.
The worst time to be in the street is at 1130 at night. That is when the nightclubs are closing and everybody wants to go home. There are 35 000 nightclubs in Tokyo, and you do not often see one that is empty.
Most people travel to and from work by train. Tokyo people buy six million train tickets every day. At most stations, trains arrive every two or three hours. There do not seem to be enough trains. Although they are usually crowded, Japanese trains are very good. They always leave and arrive on time. On a London train you would see everybody reading a newspaper. In Tokyo trains everybody in a seat seems to be asleep, whether his journey is long or short.
In Tokyo, I stood outside the station for five minutes. Three fire- engines raced past on the way to one of the many fires that Tokyo has every day. Tokyo has so many surprises that none of them can really surprise me now. Instead, I am surprised at myself：I must go there next year on business. I know I hate the overcrowded city. But I feel like a man who is returning to his long-lost love.Tokyo is different from London in that________.
| A．it has a larger population |
| B．there are more traffic jams |
| C．it is more difficult to go somewhere on foot |
| D．night clubs are sometimes empty |
Japanese trains________.
| A．often leave and arrive on time |
| B．are often crowded |
| C．are the main means people used to travel to and from work |
| D．all of the above |
Where can you find everybody reading a newspaper?
| A．At most London train stations. |
| B．At most Tokyo train stations. |
| C．On a Tokyo train. |
| D．On a London train. |
Fires break out ________in Tokyo according to the writer.
| A．quite frequently |
| B．only several times a day |
| C．not very often |
| D．very seldom |
Which of the following is NOT true about Tokyo?
| A．The streets become more crowded at 1130 at night. |
| B．There are more trains than cars. |
| C．Fire-engines are very busy in the city. |
| D．Tokyo people are friendly. |