A recent survey in the United States showed that the average family spent more money on its pets than on its children. Although rather shocking, it should not surprise anyone who has seen the doggy parlors(客厅) where loved pets rest. Are Americans unique in treating their little friends in this way? No, the English, too, pay more attention to their pets.
This can clearly be seen when we look at pet foods, which often contain more vitamins than human food. They certainly cost much. Last year the British public spent two hundred million pounds on pet food alone, to say nothing of veterinary bills or animal furniture. It is difficult not to feel angry about this when considering what the same amount could do for victims of starvation and poverty, so it is not unusual for me to get hot under collar when I read an old man left all his money to his dog instead of his children.
There are a variety of reasons why I find pets-raising alarming. They cause physical problems. An example of this is New York where they have great difficulty getting rid of the mess that dogs leave on the streets. Many people find this funny, but in a number of large cities it is a major problem. Animals can cause disease, too. It is the threat of rabies — a disease with no known cure.
Another problem is the carelessness of pet owners. Most little children want a dog or a cat, and they continually push their mothers and fathers until they get one. It is only when the "sweet little thing" has been brought home that the parents realize how much time and money must be spent on "Rover" or "Bonzo". Then they just abandon it. As a result, they are allowed to run free. English farmers lose hundreds of sheep a year, killed by someone's pet and you must have read of children being hurt by some pets of their own.
Lastly, I would only suggest that we have got our priorities wrong and that something should be done about it. In my view, it's time we stopped being sentimental about pets. I can see no reason why we should get upset when animals are cut up for medical experiments. This will lead us to discovering cures for serious human diseases, then I say, “keep cutting!”The doggy parlors are mentioned in the 1st paragraph to show ________.
| A．where Americans keep their pets |
| B．what costly lives the pets are living |
| C．why children love their pets so much |
| D．how much pets depend on their masters |
In the second paragraph "to get hot under the collar" probably means ________.
| A．getting quite hot | B．feeling overwhelmingly angry |
| C．becoming excited | D．receiving a fashionable shirt |
According to the author, in which field can animals be most useful?
| A．Pet. | B．Food. | C．Medicine. | D．Sports. |
What is author’s attitude towards pets-raising?
| A．Pitiful. | B．Neutral. | C．Opposed. | D．Supportive. |
It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle. As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade（消退）, or so we thought. We bought her a lovely doll, and a doll house. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd, she said that she “really wanted a bike more than anything else.” But it was just too late. With such a lot of preparations to do for the Christmas dinner we did not have the time to buy our little girl a bike. So, here we were Christmas Eve around 9:00 p.m., with Almie and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, sleeping in their beds. Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. “What if I make a little bicycle out of clay (泥) and write a note that she could trade（交易，交换） the clay bike in for a real bike?” her dad asked. So he spent the next four hours making a tiny clay bike. On Christmas morning, we were excited for Almie to open the little gift box with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud. “Does this mean that I can trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?” I said, “Yes.” Almie had tears in her eyes when she replied, “I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I'd rather keep this than get a real bike.” At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle in the world!
1.Choose the right time order of the following events.
a. The girl asked for a new bike.
b. The girl opened the little gift box.
c. The parents bought the girl a modern and popular doll.
d. The father made the girl a bike with clay.
e. The girl would rather keep the clay bike than get a real one .
A．a, b, c, e, d B．a, c, d, b, e
C．a, c, b, d, e D．a, b, d, c, e
2.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A．The parents wanted the girl to have the clay bike for ever.
B．Tears were in the girl's eyes because she didn't like the present at all.
C．The girl never lost her desire for a bike.
D．The parents paid little attention to the daughter's desire for a bike.
3.Why did Dad make the clay bicycle?
A．He wanted his daughter to buy a real one . B．He didn't want to disappoint his daughter.
C．He thought his daughter would like it . D．He wanted to give his daughter a surprise.
4.What can we know from the last sentence?
A．The parents were sad and encouraged.
B．The parents felt neverous and shy.
C．The parents were moved and felt proud of the girl
D．The parents felt unhappy for the girl.
5. Which do you think is the best title （标题）for the story?
A. A lovely little girl B. A great and serious father
C. A clay bike D. Christmas shopping
Here are a few tips we’ve put together to help you learn English well.
Speak, speak, speak!
Practise speaking as often as you can—even speaking to yourself is good practice. Try recording yourself whenever you can. Compare your pronunciation with the master version, see how you can do better and have another try. If you do this several times, you will find that each version is better than the last.
Why not learn with someone else?
It helps if you can learn with someone else. If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working. Agree times to meet and set goals for the week, and test each other regularly.
Don’t get stuck by a word you don’t know
Practise improvising (即兴的) ways of getting your meaning across while speaking spontaneously (本能), even if you don’t know the exact words or phrases. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time. A basic example is the use of tenses. If you don’t know the past tense but want to talk about yesterday, use the verb in the present tense and use the word for “yesterday”. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to get your meaning across.
Language learning is also about intuition (直觉)
Guesswork is important in learning a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren’t expected to understand everything first time round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time. Learn to make maximum use of all the clues you can pick up. For example, what do the speakers sound like? Happy? Angry? Calm? Etc.
Build up your vocabulary
A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once. It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time. Take a maximum of six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them. Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, then come back to them later. Much of the vocabulary in the course is presented by topic.
And above all, have fun!
1. Why should one have himself recorded when practicing speaking?
A. To encourage others to start.
B. To record his own progress.
C. To improve his speaking.
D. To compare himself with others.
2. Which of the following is the most important in learning English?
A. Speaking. B. Pleasure. C. Intuition. D. Vocabulary.
3. It is important in Tip 3 that is helpful when you are learning English.
A. body language B. a good memory C. a good friend D. a proper dictionary
4. Which of the following seems NOT to be true in learning a language?
A. Practice makes perfect. B. A good beginning is half done.
C. Rome is not built in a day.D. Don’t run before you can walk.
5.The underlined word “maximum” in Paragraph 5 might mean ________________.
A. 小心的 B. 大胆的 C. 最小量的 D. 最大量的
We are often asked to make a speech in life. Most of us are afraid of it and don’t do a good job. Here are some simple steps to make your speech a successful one. First of all, find out everything you can about your subject and at the same time find out as much as you can about your audience. Who are they? What do they know about your subject? Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech.Then try to arrenge your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible. Never forget your audience. Don’t talk over their headsor talk down to them. When you are giving your speech, speak slowly and clearly, look at your audience and pause for a few seconds from time to time to give your audience chances to think over what you’ve said. Just remember: be prepared, know your subject and your audience, say what you have to say and be yourself so that your ideas will bring you and your audience together.
1. “Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech.” means that while preparing your speech , you must ________________.
A. put your shoes away and put on theirs
B. try on their shoes to see if they fit you
C. wear the shoes in the same size as theirs
D. He wondered if he was in good health.
2. When he is giving his speech, the speaker should ________________.
A. let his eyes rest on the subject
B. follow the audience step by step
C. face the audience in a natural way
D. look up and sown from time to time
3. During the course of a speech, it is not right for a speaker to ____________.
A. think nothing of the audience B. speak in a clear voice
C. take a short stop at times D. give a lot of examples
4.
What does the underlined word “pause” mean in the passage?
A. listen B. stop C. chjoose D. search
5. Which title best gives the main idea of the passage?
A. How to Remember the Audience
B. How to Pick out the Topic for a Speech
C. How to Prepare the Material for a Speech
D. How to Iprove Your Speech
第三部分：阅读理解 (共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选山最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该项涂黑。
Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Most Chinese hotels often provide guests with things like disposable (一次性的) toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and slippers. Many guests like the idea because they don't have to bring their own. But, if you travel to Beijing, remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposables. They want to ask people to use less disposable things.
Many disposable things are made of plastic. People throw them away after only using them once. It is a waste of natural resources (资源) and is very bad for the environment. Do you know, one Chinese person makes as much as 400kg of waste a year! Most of that waste comes from disposable things. In Beijing, people throw away about 19,000 tons of plastic bags and 1,320 tons of plastic lunch bowls every year! Plastic can take between 100 and 400 years to break down. So the less plastic we throw out, the better. So, wherever you travel, bring your own things and use them again and again.
Back at home and school, you can also do something to make our world a better place. Try to do these things in your daily life: Use cloth shopping bags, not plastic ones. After using a plastic bag, wash it out and let it dry. Then you can use it over and over again. Do not use paper cups. At your school canteen（食堂）, use your own bowl and chopsticks instead of disposable ones.
1. Why do many hotels provide guests with some disposable things?
A. Let their guests be convenient during their travelling.
B. Hope their guests use less disposable things.
C. Wish their guests to save money
.
D. Want their guests to use more disposable things.
2. Some Beijing hotels will no longer provide guests with ____.
A. cheap food and drinkB. disposable things
C. good service D. free TV programmes
3. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Many disposable things are made of plastic.
B. Throwing disposable things away is a waste of natural resources.
C. Plastic is very bad for the environment.
D. Plastic breaks down easily.
4. What can we do to make our world a better place at home and school?
A. Use shopping bags made of plastic.
B. Do not throw away paper cups.
C. Use disposable plates, bowls and chopsticks.
D. Do not forget to reuse daily necessities（日用品）.
5. We can tell from the story that ____.
A. people don't like disposable things at all
B. we can't use paper or plastic bowls at school
C. we should use less plastic things and protect our environment
D. hotels won't provide disposable things because they want to save money
Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food? Some people go to fast food restaurants for these.
In the past, people usually went to diners（路边小餐馆）for these reasons. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.
A man named Walter Scott had the first“diner”in 1872. It wasn’t really a diner. It was only a food cart. People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools, and people sat down while they ate.
Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in a diner at any time. Diners changed in other ways, too. The original menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels. Diners today look similar to the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually buildings with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters with stools, booths, and tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern diner.
Today, many people eat in fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today.
1. What meals did the first diners serve?
A. Only breakfast B. Only lunch
C. Only night meal D. All of the above
2. According to paragraph 3, diners changed in_______.
A. two ways B. three ways C. four ways D. five ways
3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Diners existed before fast food restaurants
B. The menu included more food than sandwiches and coffee
C. Burger King is a fast food restaurant
D. Sandwiches became bigger
4. The main idea of the passage is_______.
A. the diner is a traditional, popular place to eat in the United States
B. Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside
C. American diners serve many types of food 24 hours a day to their customers
D. diners are different from fast food restaurants in many ways