Car washes are a common sight throughout Nigeria, but Madinat Aliyu's roadside business is very special: she is the only woman car-washer in the north of the country.
“This job has caused me a lot of problems,” said the 27-year-old, checking cars waiting to be cleaned in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state.
Aliyu took up her work two years ago, hoping to use the 7,000 naira (£28) she earned every month to put her younger sisters and brothers through school following the death of their mother, the only one who made money to support the family. But her family begged her to stop doing this job, and she has received “judgment and warnings” from strangers too.
“My grandmother cried for many days. Some people thought it was a joke to bring more customers (顾客). Others said if she is doing it for money, let's just give her money to stop bringing us shame,” she said as she got water from a well by the roadside. “But I hate laziness or depending on somebody else.”
However, Aliyu has admirers. “Some customers only allow her to wash their cars,” said her colleague (同事) Shamsudeen Mohammed. “I was trained to wash cars by men, and I can honestly tell you women are better to work under,” he added.
Recently another woman came to Aliyu to ask for advice on starting her own car wash. “Unfortunately her family discouraged her. I told her, if you listen to them, you will find yourself begging or marrying a man who is older than your grandfather,” she said.
Though she is considered a pariah (贱民) by many, Aliyu has no plans to stop her work. “I see men doing something and I think I can do it too.”
Madinat Aliyu washes cars mainly to _____.
| A．make a living |
| B．learn about cars |
| C．meet her future husband |
| D．know the life of the poor |
From the fifth paragraph, we know Shamsudeen Mohammed _____.
| A．thought Aliyu did a good job |
| B．trained Aliyu to wash cars |
| C．had more customers than Aliyu |
| D．liked to work with men |
As a woman car-washer, Aliyu _____.
| A．gets her family's support |
| B．dreams of going to school |
| C．is thought highly of by strangers |
| D．sets an example for the women in Nigeria |
Which of the following can best describe Aliyu?
| A．Shy but smart. |
| B．Independent and confident. |
| C．Honest but lazy. |
| D．Humorous and imaginative. |
C
English songs have been very popular for people around the world for many decades.Singers, from Elvis Presley to Ricky Martin, from the Beatles to Eminen and from Natalie Cole to Britney Spears, have all been sitting in everyone’s heart, even for people who don’t speak English. But will you have better English skills if you listen to English songs for a long time?
From my experiences, some people listen to English songs for 20－30 years but still haven’t accomplished any good English skills. Some people choose English songs to be the “main learning approach”， but most of them have failed.
Listening to English songs does not help you to speak English fluently. It does help you gain some vocabularies. Most of them are unusual ones that you don’t use in your everyday life. You won’t learn the sentence “It is a complicate project. We really need to meet the deadline.” in any English songs.
People like using English songs to practice English skills because it’s easy and enjoyable.They think that sitting in the car listening to English songs day by day can improve their English skills. It is not that actually.
You will not improve your listening skills because normal people don’t speak with melody (乐调). People don’t talk like Eminen’s songs (well, actually, some teenagers do). You can’t get yourself familiar with English pronunciation or accent just from listening to English songs. The words that they pronounce in the songs are not the words that you will hear in your everyday life.It often even confuses you more how English is pronounced.
I would fully encourage you to watch English movies, listen to radio news or other normal talks, but not music. Of course, you can consume it for fun but not the aim to improve your English skills.What’s the main idea of the passage?_____
| A．How English songs aid people with practicing English skills. |
| B．Where people can find good English songs to practise their English skills |
| C．Why people are not willing to develop their English by listening to English songs. |
| D．Who has made English songs popular throughout the world. |
English songs are beneficial to English learners if they hope to ________.
| A．adapt to express themselves in daily life |
| B．enlarge their vocabularies |
| C．improve their listening skills |
| D．speak English fluently |
what can we conclude from the text ? ________.
| A．English songs get people familiar with English pronunciation or accent |
| B．watching English movies or listening to radio news can be great helpful to English learners |
| C．worldfamous singers have done a lot to help people learn English |
| D．most people who listen to English songs in their car speak English very well |
B
Many people take it for granted that black is a color of bad things while white should always mean something good. This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity. However, that is not always the case. Did you know that the same one color may mean differently in different places of the world?
In the Englishspeaking world, black is the color of mourning. People wear black clothes at the funeral. Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed (流血)．Yellow is the word for fear. If you are afraid, you are yellow. Yet none of these sayings is true outside the Englishspeaking world. In China and Korea white is the color of mourning. In Russia, China and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence. In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear.
Even within the Englishspeaking area it is not difficult to find color contradictions (矛盾). A red cap in the United States is a porter in a railway station. In Britain, however, a red cap is a military policeman. Both names are logical because both men wear red caps. Similarly, the British term for an American white collar worker is sometimes called a blackcoated worker.
One does not have to cross an area to find color differences. Would you rather be redblooded or a blueblooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest. The expression “blue blood” comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly said that they had “blue blood”. Actually they meant that they had no Moorish or Jewish blood. But then why “blue” blood? Because they were fairskinned, and it is only natural that their blood vessels (血管) stood out appearing blue.Yellow is concerned with anger in ________.
| A．Russia | B．Britain |
| C．Germany | D．China |
The two meanings of the term “red cap” form a difference in ________.
| A．pronunciation | B．climate |
| C．logical relationship | D．custom |
Britain as well as America would probably agree that ________.
| A．black stands for the color of mourning |
| B．a blackcoated worker is employed in an office |
| C．red represents beauty and excellence |
| D．a red cap is a porter in a station |
The best title for this passage is “________”．
| A．The Origin of Blue Blood |
| B．The Development of the Symbolic Use of Colors |
| C．Colors That Carry Bad Meanings |
| D．The Meaning Concerned with Certain Colors |
A
On Aug.11 shopper Jenni Ware bought 207 dollars' worth of groceries at Trader Joe's and when she was waiting to pay,she realized that she had lost her wallet.Carolee Hazard,who was in line behind her,offered to pay the bill!Jenni later sent Carolee a check for 300 dollars,and suggested that Carolee treat herself to a massage with the cash leftover.
Carolee turned to her online Facebook group for advice on what she should do with the 93 dollar gift.The idea Carolee chose was to give it to a local food bank.
Carolee not only sent in the money that Jenni had given her to Second Harvest Food Bank,but matched that amount herself.So did a Facebook friend.And another,and another.So far,over 10,000 dollars have come in from people in many countries to feed the hungry through local food banks.
Carolee has started the "93 Dollar Club" on Facebook,where people across the globe can read the story and comment on it.There are links on that page which people may use to give money to a food bank close to them.Carolee says,"It's been amazing to see this grow and how excited people are getting.I have told the story to my friends and they say it encourages them to do good immediately."
Carolee and Jenni are no longer strangers.They've become Facebook freinds and they've made a real_world connection that will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Junni remembers that she was in a "bad mood" that day in the grocery store,and Carolee's help reminded her that there are good people in the world.Jenni said,"It's just a reminder that there are these amazingly kind people out there.And it also reminds me of hwo good I want to be."Why did Carolee offer to pay for the groceries?
| A．Carolee and jenni were Facebook friends. |
| B．Carolee wanted to set up the “93 Dollar club” |
| C．Jenni was Carolee’s neighbor. |
| D．Caroleewas always ready to help others. |
How much money did Carolee send in to Second Harvest Food Bank?
| A．＄93 | B．＄186 | C．＄207 | D．＄300 |
Caroleedry set up the “93 Dollar club” to_____
| A．Help people make Facebook friends |
| B．Make her story known to people across the globe |
| C．Call on people to donate money for hungry |
| D．Make herself known to the public |
It can be inferred from jenni’s words that ____
| A．She believes there are many kind people in the world |
| B．She does not believe in humanity |
| C．She doubts whether she can become a kind person |
| D．She believes Carolee will be her life-long friend |
D
The Philippines was mourning the passing of Dr. Alejandro R. Roces on May 23, 2011. Dr. Roces is an outstanding artist, historian, educator and essayist.
Dr. Roces, popularly known as “Anding”, was Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965. During his term, he led the campaign to change Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, recovered Dr. Jose P. Rizal’s scripts, which had been stolen from the National Archives, and led the change from English to Filipino(菲律宾语) on the country’s stamps and currency. He was chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board(影视评论和分类委员会) in 2001, and also served the country in many other important positions.
“Anding”came from the noble Roces group of publishers, known for their humane（人道的）deeds. Born on July 13, 1924 in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, he studied at Arizona State University for a degree in fine arts. He achieved his master’s degree in arts from Far Eastern University, and received an honourary doctorate(博士学位) from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
His literary works reflect the country’s rich culture, history, and traditions. He received numerous awards for his great contribution to his country and people, such as the Diwang Lahi Award in 1966. He was also honoured by several countries, such as the Federal Republic of Germany, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
Our people bid farewell to this great man, Dr. Alejandro R. Roces. May he rest in peace.Which of the following is NOT true about Dr. Roces?
| A．He made a great contribution to his country and people. |
| B．He was a man with a great longing for knowledge. |
| C．He was honoured both by his own and other countries. |
| D．He wrote numerous works about Spain’s culture and traditions. |
Which of the following is the CORRECT order of Dr. Roces’ achievements?
a. He won the Diwang Lahi Award.
b. He served as Secretary of Education.
c. He gained a degree in fine arts at Arizona State University.
d. He became chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.
| A．badc | B．dacb | C．cbad | D．cabd |
Which of the following was NOT a contribution of Dr. Roces as Secretary of Education?
| A．Changing the Independence Day of his country to June 12. |
| B．Writing many works about his country’s history. |
| C．Getting back the stolen scripts of Dr. Jose P. Rizal. |
| D．Getting Filipino printed on the stamps and currency. |
C
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, is an impressive deed for anyone, but especially for one man who reached the 19,340-foot peak without the use of his legs.
Chris Waddell, 43, broke his back in a skiing accident while at college in Vermont in 1988. The athlete was left paralysed from the waist down, but never gave up sports. During one sports meeting for the disabled, Waddell was the top male skier, winning 12 medals in four events. Not content with this achievement, Waddell decided to climb the highest mountain in Africa with his arms.
The adventurer began the climb with seven teammates and 60 porters, who provided support and placed boards across gaps. Despite the difficulties, the group completed the 30-mile hike from rainforest to glacier in an impressive six and a half days ---- just a couple of days longer than most able-bodied hikers.
He certainly inspired a student, Brandon Gell, after speaking at Horace Greeley High School in New York. Gell said,“I began thinking of the difficulties in my life, and they seemed unimportant. Waddell’s determination and struggles inspire me to push my own limits.”
Waddell says,“A revolution begins with something small and leads to something big ---- one turn of the crank(曲轴) can lead to peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and one word to a child can change the nature of that child’s perceptions(洞察力).”The underlined words, “was left paralysed”, in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．was given scars |
| B．became hurt deeply |
| C．was not able to bend |
| D．became unable to move |
Which of the following about Chris Waddell in NOT true?
| A．He never gave up as an athlete. |
| B．He was not satisfied with the achievement of winning 12 medals. |
| C．He can climb faster than most able-bodied climbers. |
| D．He reached the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro without using his legs. |
According to the passage, 60 porters went with Chris Waddell in order to _____.
| A．guarantee his safety |
| B．carry him across gaps |
| C．carry him up the mountain |
| D．put down boards to let him cross gaps |
For Brandon Gell, the story of Chris Waddell is _______.
| A．tragic | B．dramatic |
| C．inspiring | D．romantic |