Sometimes it is difficult to talk to taxi drivers. They must give all their attention to the road as they work out the shortest way to the place where you are going. However, passengers from Wangfujing were in surprise when they took a taxi. The driver just would not stop talking ―in English.
Organized by the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy, “Dare to Speak” examines if Chinese people will speak English in “real-life” situations. Matthew Knowles, an acting student from South Carolina at Beijing Film Academy, acted the part as the “driver”. He collected six passengers on Saturday morning, most of whom were female white-collar workers.
“Of course they were surprised at first, wondering why I’m driving a taxi, and wondering whether this is a real taxi, but then most of them were pretty willing to speak,” he said. Knowles said he was also surprised by his “passengers”. “Apart from my first ‘passenger’, who could speak very little English, all the rest spoke English very well, and it was fun to communicate with them,” he said, adding that some “passengers” were quite talkative.
The “foreign taxi driver” project was just one of the “Dare to Speak” activities, which have been going on since the end of October. Other projects included a foreign store owner near a high school in Beijing, a cook in a Shanghai university canteen. They were testing the willingness of Chinese people, especially students and white-collar workers, to speak to foreigners in English. Rong Xin, senior manager of IELTS (雅思) with the British Embassy, said they hoped to let IELTS takers in China know that communication is the most important goal of IELTS.
“We hope that more and more IELTS takers in China can realize the importance of communicating in English in real life, instead of just getting high test scores,” she said. Why did Matthew Knowles drive a taxi?
| A．He enjoyed chatting with people in English. |
| B．He played the role of a taxi driver in a film. |
| C．He took part in the project “Dare to speak” |
| D．He wanted to improve his Chinese while driving. |
The Chinese may meet and talk to _______ in “Dare to speak” projects.
| A．a white-collar worker |
| B．a high school student |
| C．a restaurant manager |
| D．a foreign store owner |
The purpose of the project “Dare to Speak” is to _______ .
| A．draw Chinese people’s attention to IELTS |
| B．remind language learners of the goal of learning |
| C．attract more foreigners to start business in China |
| D．give more chances for English learners in China |
D
February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day, it is a custom for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals! This is what you see on Valentine’s Day, a day named after Valentine who was a priest in the third century Rome. When the emperor decided that single men could become better soldiers than those with wives, he didn’t allow marriage.
But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, the emperor sentenced him to death. While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Valentine died for what he believed in and so he was made a Saint (圣徒), as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic characters.
Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is also popular among Chinese young people. Some students are planning to make Valentine’s cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others want to hold parties at which they will exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine.
68. Which of the following is not a custom for a boy to do on Valentine’s Day? A. to take his girlfriend out to dinner B. to buy his girlfriend flowers and chocolates C. to make Valentine’s cards for teachers and friends
D. to spell out his girlfriend’s name with rose petals
69. Why did the emperor in Rome not allow marriage in his country?
A. Because there were few women in his country at that time.
B. Because he thought men without wives could be better soldiers.
C. Because there wasn’t enough food for so many people.
D. Because he wanted to control the birth rate.70. Valentine was put into prison because ______.
A. he killed one of the soldiersB. he stole a lot of food
C. he didn’t obey the emperor’s order D. he didn’t want to be a soldier
71. The last paragraph mainly tells us ______.
A. students in China send cards to their teachers
B. it is a good idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China
C. it is interesting to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China
D. Valentine’s Day is also popular in China now
C
1970 was World Conservation（自然保护）Year. The United Nations wanted everyone to know that the world is in danger. They hoped that people would act quickly in order to conserve nature（大自然）. Here is one example of the problem. At one time there were 1,300 different plants, trees and flowers in Holland, but now only 866 remain. The others have been destroyed by modern man. It is said that there are tens of thousands of kinds of animals in the world, but now many have died out（绝种）. We are changing the earth, the air and water, and everything that grows and lives . We can't live without these things. If we continue like this, we shall destroy ourselves.
What will happen in the future？Perhaps it is more important to ask“What must we do now？”The people who will be living in the world of tomorrow are the young of today. A lot of them know that conservation is necessary. Many are helping to save our world. They plant trees, build bridges across rivers and so on. In a small town in the United States a large group of girls cleaned the banks of 11 kilometres of their river. Young people may hear about conservation through a record called“No one's going to change our world.”It was made by the Beatles, Cliff Richard and other singers. The money from it will help to conserve wild animals.
65、“No one's going to change our world”was .
A、an important book published in 1970
B、an idea that nobody would accept（接受）
C、a record calling on people to conserve nature
D、a newspaper report in 1970
66、What's the most important thing for us to do to save our world？
A、We should know what will happen in the future.
B、We should plant more trees and flowers.
C、We should clean the banks of our rivers.
D、We must do what we must do to save our world.
67、What's the main idea of the passage？
A、1970 was World Conservation Year.
B、The United Nations wanted everyone to know that the world is in danger.
C、Conservation is necessary.
D、Young people are helping to save our world.
B
Once a New Zealand teacher asked where I live. “In the white building,” I answered.
“At our university both girls and boys live in the same dormitory.” I added.
Beyond my expectation（出乎意料）, however, my attempt（努力）to show I am speaking American English（AE） turned out to be something else. The New Zealander seemed very puzzled（迷惑）at my answer.
With a half smile, she asked, “Really？Do they live in the same room?”
“Oh, no. They live in different rooms but in the same building.” I reacted（反应）quickly.
Later I got to know the word “dormitory”. In AE it means one building, whereas（而，却）it means one room in British English（BE）.
The New Zealander misunderstood me because she spoke New Zealander English（NE）, which, as we know, is much related to BE.
Nowadays, not a few English learners, who try to catch up with the fashion（时髦）, choose to speak AE.
Yet, the problem is that they cannot speak pure AE, but half AE and half BE instead.
I think it necessary to keep one style in order to avoid（避免）misunderstanding.
61、Which of the following is right？
A、AE and BE are two different languages.
B、There are some differences between AE and BE.
C、New Zealanders speak BE.
D、New Zealanders cannot understand Americans.
62、What I said to the New Zealander is .
A、really pure AE B、really pure BE
C、half AE and half BE D、not English at all
63、According to the passage , .
A、few people speak AE B、more people speak BE
C、BE is becoming fashionable D、AE is becoming fashionable
64、The writer wrote the passage in order to .
A、tell us a funny story
B、warn us not to make mistakes
C、tell us the differences between AE and BE
D、encourage us to speak one style of English
第三部分：阅读理解（共 20 小题；每小题 2 分，满分 40 分）
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.
Considering that there was no better way. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it：“Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently：“Take this to the butcher（* person whose job is selling meat）and he's going to give you your lunch today.”
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.
At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers（*people who buy sth. from a shop）.
But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled . He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today？”
Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it！
56、Mrs. Smith treated her little dog quite .
A、cruelly B、fairly C、kindly D、friendly
57、It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper Mrs. Smith gave it .
A、might do it much harm B、could do it much good
C、would help the butcher D、was worth many pounds
58、The butcher did not give any meat to the dog .
A、before he felt sure that the words were really written by Mrs. Smith
B、when he found that the words on the paper were not clear
C、because he had sold out all the meat in his shop
D、until he was paid enough by Mrs. Smith
59、From its experience, the dog found that .
A、only the paper with Mrs. Smith's words in it could bring it meat
B、the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it
C、Mrs. Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher
D、a piece of paper could bring it half a pound of meat
60、At the end of the story, you'll find that .
A、the dog was clever enough to write on the paper
B、the dog dared not go to the butcher's any more
C、the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog
D、the butcher found himself cheated by the clever animal
D
HOLIDAY HOMES IN MALLORCA
Holiday houses in Mallorca sailing and fishing port - quiet even in summer season．Beautifully situated houses with sights of sea and mountains, yet near to shops and restaurants．Cars and bicycles for hire．Sailing and sports clubs nearby．
ITALY IN COMFORT
Luxury coach trips of Italy, out of normal holiday season．21 days to visit five Italian cities starting from London 1st May, 1st September．The trips are guided by Professor Martin Davis, Head of Italian Studies, London University．See the arts and culture of historic Italy．
KIBBUTZ HOLIDAYS IN ISRAEL
Working holidays on a kibbutz （co-operative farm） in Israel．All nationalities welcome for one to three months, if prepared to work morning with kibbutz members．Accommodation, food and trips to historic sights all provided free - you pay only for the special low-cost return flight．
TWO WEEKS ON A CARIBBEAN ISLAND
Two-week holidays in the Hotel Splendid, on a lovely beach with golden sands and deep-blue sea．Tennis, golf, sailing and all water sports, trips around the island arranged．Near to town of Castries with lively evening entertainment - dancing．
1st November - 31st March =￡720 per person
1st April - 30th October =￡850 per person
Jack and his wife Mary, who have recently retired, want to see places of cultural and historic interest abroad, but Mary hates flying．
Peter and Maria, university students, want to travel as far as possible on little money, and would like to get to know a country by working there for three months with other young people．
Michael, a young computer programmer, has been working hard and needs a holiday to relax in winter．He would like to go somewhere warmer and sunny, where he can swim in the sea, and he enjoys sports and dancing．
Henry and Kate, both teachers, and their two sons, have to take their holiday during the school summer holidays．There must be plenty for the boys to do, although Harry and Kate just want to have beautiful scenery, good food and wine- and peace．
57．Michael would most probably go to _______ for his holiday．
A．Italy B．Israel C．Mallorca D．a Caribbean island
58．The best holiday for Jack and Mary would be _______．
A．the 21 - day coach trip of Italy
B．the 2 -week stay in the Hotel Splendid
C．the 14 -day trip around a Caribbean island
D．the working holidays for 1 -3 months on a kibbutz in Israel
59．Henry and Kate and their sons would like _______．
A．a holiday working on a kibbutz in Israel
B．a holiday visiting cities by coach in Italy
C．a holiday house in the fishing port in Mallorca
D．a holiday hotel on a lovely beach on a Carribean Island
60．You can find this passage most probably in _______．
A．a school library B．a tourist agency C．the post office D．the museum