One day I was driving home with a woman. She rolled down the window, fifty feet away from the driveway and spit her gum （口香糖）out of the window. “Couldn’t you just wait five seconds and put your gum where it belongs?” I asked, annoyed.
She was not the only one who was gum-lazy. Consider the following. Every time I brush chewed gum under my desk, I shake with fright. At Folsom Middle School, whenever I had to walk by the gum wall next to the girls’ locker room, I felt totally disgusted. When I was young, I walked outside during my dance show in my ballet shoes, always stepping right on a big and juicy piece of bubble gum. I was extremely upset.
The worst part of all these incidents is that a trash can is located near. But some people are too lazy to walk towards it.
If you can’t be a responsible gum chewer, don’t chew at all. That’s all I’m going to say.
Take Singapore as a good example. The chewing gum ban in Singapore was placed. It bans the import and sale of chewing gum in Singapore, whether for the purpose of trade or personal chewing. However, the ban has been partly lifted with some types of gum, such as medical gum, allowable. This comes with the warning that it is sold only by a druggist, who has to take down the names of buyers. Obviously, the Singapore government gets angry at gum stuck in keyholes of mailboxes and on elevator buttons.
Not only is it annoying, but chewing gum can actually do harm to the health. Most gum contains aspartame （阿斯巴甜）, a chemical sweetener（增甜剂）that the US government is now deciding whether or not it is a deadly chemical. If it is, it may cause cancer. Other studies suggest that aspartame may cause neurological（神经系统的）disorders. Therefore, aspartame is not allowed to use in the US.
So just say no to chewing gum.What did the author think of the woman’s behavior?
| A．It was strange. | B．It was unacceptable. |
| C．It was dangerous. | D．It was violent. |
According to Paragraph 2, the author _________.
| A．stepped on a piece of gum while dancing |
| B．cleaned gum under her desk sometimes |
| C．was troubled by chewed gum |
| D．often found chewed gum in her locker |
What do we know about aspartame?
| A．It is proved to be a harmless chemical. |
| B．It is the cause of many kinds of cancer.. |
| C．It is being refused by the US government. |
| D．It is the main ingredient of chewing gum. |
What is the main purpose of the text?
| A．To advise people against chewing gum. |
| B．To criticize people who are lazy. |
| C．To persuade people to buy medical gum. |
| D．To make comments on the ban in Singapore. |
The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:
“I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”
“I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”
But, one younger musician said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”
I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.
Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive or negative, they’re rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame (责怪) others, and you play the role of victim (受害者), chances are you will start to as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.
This is an easy exercise: Make a list of the people who you hang out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard (标准) for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.
Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career path.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．A friend in need is a friend indeed |
| B．How to make friendship last for ever |
| C．You are who your friends are |
| D．Friends are the most important in one’s success |
The underlined sentence “they’re rubbing off on you” in Paragraph 6 means ______.
| A．they’ll push you ahead |
| B．they’ll influence you |
| C．they’ll cover your shortcomings |
| D．they’ll help you achieve your goal |
The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show ______.
| A．the musicians’ living conditions are quite poor |
| B．people have poor taste in music |
| C．people have different attitudes towards the same thing |
| D．young people have greater chances of succeeding |
By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7, you can ______.
| A．improve a lot in making more friends |
| B．come to the right way of making friends |
| C．develop a better relationship with your friends |
| D．arrange the time with your friends properly |
The passage is mainly written for ______.
| A．musicians |
| B．managers |
| C．negative people |
| D．people wanting to succeed |
America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home! The writer of this passage must be ______.
| A．an American | B．a Chinese |
| C．a professor | D．a student |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families. |
| B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives. |
| C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy. |
| D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break. |
From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.
| A．warmly welcomed at the airport |
| B．offered a ride to his home |
| C．treated hospitably at his home |
| D．treated to dinner in a restaurant |
The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.
| A．strict with time | B．serious with time |
| C．careful with time | D．willing to spend time |
A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.
| A．Friendships between Chinese |
| B．Friendships between Americans |
| C．Americans’ hospitality |
| D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships |
Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri?鄄beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri?鄄beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins (维生素). The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills. The underlined word “cure” in Paragragh 1 probably means ______.
| A．a medical treatment | B．a kind of vitamin |
| C．a kind of germ | D．a kind of rice |
Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.
| A．spend his holiday |
| B．find ways to grow better crops |
| C．do some research about the island |
| D．help the Javanese with their illness |
Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?
| A．To eat them. |
| B．To carry out his experiments. |
| C．To give the Javanese a surprise. |
| D．To make money by selling them. |
If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.
| A．eat more rice | B．eat more meat |
| C．eat some chicken | D．eat vitamin pills |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．beri?鄄beri was caused by chickens |
| B．the Javanese didn’t like vitamins |
| C．Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful |
| D．the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ |
When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in Spanish.
Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported (出口) to other countries like America and West Germany. Bananas are the country’s second most important export.
Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.
Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate (单独的) schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．How Columbus found Costa Rica. |
| B．How Costa Rica got its name. |
| C．What the Costa Ricans wore. |
| D．What language the Costa Ricans spoke. |
The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses ______.
| A．pink and red | B．grey and black |
| C．blue and green | D．yellow and orange |
In Costa Rica, boys and girls between seven and fourteen ______.
| A．must go to school |
| B．study in the same school |
| C．do not have to go to school at all |
| D．can choose to stop schooling at any time |
From December to February, school children in Costa Rica ______.
| A．have lessons every day |
| B．have their examinations |
| C．help their parents pick coffee beans |
| D．help their parents decorate their houses |
This passage is mainly about ______.
| A．Christopher Columbus |
| B．Costa Rica |
| C．some products from Costa Rica |
| D．the education of Costa Rica |
In England three foreign gentlemen came to a bus stop. They studied the information on the post sign and decided which bus to take. About five minutes later the bus they wanted came along. They prepared to get on. Suddenly people rushed onto the bus and tried to push them out of the way. Someone shouted insulting remarks about the foreigners. The bus conductor came rushing down the stairs to see what all the trouble was about. The three foreign gentlemen looked puzzled and ashamed. No one had told them about the British custom of lining up for a bus so that the first person who arrived at a bus-stop is the first person to get on the bus.
Learning the language of a country isn’t enough. If you want to ensure a pleasant visit, find out as much as possible about the manners and customs of your hosts. You will probably be surprised just how different they can be from your own. A visitor to India would do well to remember that people there consider it impolite to use the left hand for passing food at table. The left hand is supposed to be used for washing yourself. Also in India, you might see a man apparently（显然地）shaking his head at another and assume (认为) that he is disagreeing. But in many parts of India a rotating (旋转) movement of the head is a gesture that express agreement or acceptance. Nodding your head when offered a drink in Bulgaria is likely to leave you thirsty. In that country you shake your head to express “yes” — a nod means “no”.
In Europe it is quite usual to cross your legs when sitting talking to someone, even at an important meeting. Doing this when meeting an important person in Thailand, however, could cause offence (冒犯). It is considered too informal an attitude for such an occasion. Also when in Thailand avoid touching the head of an adult — it’s just not done.
Attitudes to women vary considerably（相当地）around the world. In Japan, for example, it is quite usual for men to plan evening entertainments for themselves and leave their wives at home.
Knowing about customs and attitudes is useful when you are travelling, but you also need to know the language used to express different degrees of formality (礼节).The three foreign gentlemen looked puzzled and ashamed because __________________.
| A．they didn’t know the English language |
| B．someone called their names |
| C．they didn’t know the custom of lining up for a bus |
| D．they knocked someone down while getting on the bus |
According to the passage, which attitude to women is usual in Japan?
| A．Men always go to parties with women. |
| B．Men plan evening entertainments for their wives. |
| C．Men and women have equal rights to go to parties. |
| D．Men plan evening entertainments for themselves, while their wives stay home. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “insulting” in Para. 1 ?
| A．善意的 | B．咨询的 | C．商量的 | D．无礼的 |
From the passage, we know that shaking head means Yes in ______________.
| A．India and Thailand | B．India and Bulgaria |
| C．Bulgaria and Thailand | D．Thailand and Japan |
The underlined sentence “Nodding your head when offered a drink in Bulgaria is likely to leave you thirsty.” means ____________.
| A．It’s probably that you are thirsty if you nod your head |
| B．You’re possibly eager to have a drink if you nod your head |
| C．You probably refuse to drink when you nod your head |
| D．You’d like to have a cup of tea because you nod your head |