Black has long been praised for its ability to better women’s figures and suit every occasion. But the color has a side-effect—it ages the face.
While black does give the appearance of a slimmer figure by making the shadows less visible, wearing it next to the face brings out a negative effect. Black clothing can highlight （突出） dark lines under the chin, shadows around the eyes and wrinkles on the face. The effect can be as serious as making women feel exhausted, self-conscious and upset. Wrinkles and sunken areas appear deeper and more pronounced, meaning the effect is more obvious in older women.
Dark scarves, hats and high-collared coats are apparently particularly likely to emphasize aging features of the face. But fear not. The effect can be tempered by a splash of color around the neck—in the form of a scarf or a piece of jewelry—or a low neckline.
Famous actress Joan Collins is among the few who can get away with the side-effect. But those who should consider changing their dresses include many European stars. The majority of women who have what is known as a “warm” skin tone, based on yellow and gold colors, will not look young and healthy with black against their faces. Warm skins do not match well with black against their faces as it takes away all the golden glow that they have as a basic skin tone. Black looks for dark things on the face and highlights them, particularly as women age.
The good news for those who like black dress is that a simple test can help determine whether they can wear black well: Hold the color up against your face, stand in front of the mirror and look for dark lines under the chin, shadows around the eyes or lines on the face that are highlighted. If there are no dark areas or shadows, you can probably wear black close to your face and look great. Otherwise, change your ways.According to the passage, wearing black clothes probably ________________.
| A．makes the wearer less energetic |
| B．gives away the wearer’s age |
| C．darkens the wearer’s skin tone |
| D．makes the wearer feel confident |
The underlined word “tempered” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by _______________.
| A．observed | B．ignored | C．weakened | D．measured |
We can infer from the passage that _______________.
| A．high-collared coats are not suitable for warm-skinned women |
| B．a woman from eastern Asia may not look young with black against her face |
| C．men with deep wrinkles would look unhealthy in black |
| D．Joan Collins has a warm skin tone |
The black dress will be probably suitable for you on condition that there are no ___________.
| A．wrinkles on your face |
| B．dark circles around your eyes |
| C．sunken areas that are highlighted |
| D．dark areas or shadows on the face |
It was time for a school holiday and I was at home. My family’s house was located in (位于) an area by the sea.
I just sat down in front of the television. Suddenly I heard a loud noise and then the first shock started to hit. My mom and I ran to the front door. We got out and we were standing in the street holding on to each other to stand up. The ground was covered with snow. I could remember watching black cracks in the earth snaking their way along the ground. A tree in our back yard was actually cut in half.
As suddenly as the earthquake started, it was over. Dead silence. Then a light snow began to fall. All the power was off—no radio, no TV and no communication with the outside world. We found out later that the ground area was lowered an average of 35 feet.
My dad succeeded in getting home from where he worked in the city centre. Later that evening we were told to leave the area because a terrible ocean wave was expected. We spent the night and the next day and night away from home at the shelter.
I often think about the courage my dad showed during that time. Before Dad retired, he was a senior manager of a famous local company. This company was damaged because of the quake. Dad stayed in the company to rebuild the business and rebuild our family home.In which season did the earthquake take place?
| A．Spring. | B．Summer. |
| C．Autumn. | D．Winter. |
After the earthquake, the writer’s father ______.
| A．opened up his own company |
| B．lived with his family and did a better job |
| C．helped neighbors build their houses |
| D．became a famous person in their town |
What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．My father | B．My mother and I |
| C．A quake in my town | D．Earthquake tips |
Gold Coast family holidays are always great fun whether you are from Australia or from abroad. There are beautiful beaches, adventure parks, nature parks and so much more.
There are so many sights to see here. It is a pity to drive in a car and you’ll miss a great part of it. Australia is home to many animals and birds that can only be seen when moving slowly and going into the areas that they live.
When you are on a bicycle, you have the advantage of being able to stop whenever you want to catch sight of (看见) an interesting animal or bird that you have never seen before. It is a quieter mode (方式) of transportation as well, so you might even be able to take a picture. When you are on the beach, you can breathe that clean air and view the beauty of the water and sand. It is a totally different experience from either simply sunbathing or passing it in a car.
There are many choices of hiring (租) a bicycle to experience the Gold Coast attractions. There are stores that will fit a bike perfectly to your size. These bikes for both adults and children are in many styles and colors to please any taste. If you have ever wanted to try a tandem bike (双人单车), now is your chance, because they have those too.
A bicycle hire on Gold Coast is something that everyone should try at least once. This is a wonderful chance for anyone who likes to cycle and it is also a cheap way to travel with your family.You’d better not drive in a car on Gold Coast because ______.
| A．you will break the traffic rules |
| B．you will cause much noise |
| C．you can’t enjoy the beautiful sights well |
| D．you can’t drive into some parks |
The following advantages of hiring bikes are mentioned EXCEPT that ______.
| A．you can take photos of animals |
| B．it is a cheap way of traveling |
| C．you can get a clearer sight of animals |
| D．it is a good way to do sunbathing |
What is paragraph 4 mainly about?
| A．How to hire bikes on Gold Coast. |
| B．What kinds of bikes there are in stores. |
| C．What bikes are the most popular. |
| D．Who can hire bikes on Gold Coast. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards a bike hire on Gold Coast?
| A．He supports it very much. |
| B．He thinks it’s a personal choice. |
| C．He doesn’t like this way of traveling. |
| D．He thinks it’s only good for adults. |
It is important to learn business English if you are going to be successful in another country where English is the primary language. It will also be a great idea to practice speaking and writing in business English. If a university offers a course on business English, it will be a good idea to take the class. Reading, writing and speaking English is necessary to start a business.
Business English is different from asking where to find the nearest hotel. There are classes you can take to help you but there are things that you can learn on your own. Vocabulary and grammar are a good place to start with. You need to know what words mean. Later, try to pronounce the words and then look them up in the dictionary. Try using them in a sentence and ask someone who is good at English to help you. Once you have an understanding of English, you can use it in business English.
In business you will have to learn such things as taking messages, answering the phones with proper words and communicating with your co-workers. You may have to learn how to make travel plans. Business English is very different than spoken English. Grammar is the same but you have to learn things like expressing yourself in a proper manner or maybe making a report in your office.
If you are working in the customer service sector (客户服务部门), you really have to learn business English. Dealing with the public is sometimes more important than asking your boss for a raise (加薪). Most businesses offer training classes and some companies offer classes on how to do the job with proper business English.Why do people learn business English?
| A．They want successful communication. |
| B．They want to ask the boss for a raise. |
| C．They want to have their own company. |
| D．They will have a chance to get a better job. |
We can learn from the text that business English ______.
| A．is much more difficult than daily English |
| B．pays more attention to the forms of expressions |
| C．is required by most international companies |
| D．can give you a hand when dealing with people |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A．The development of business English. |
| B．The tips on learning business English. |
| C．The introduction to business English. |
| D．The comparison between business English and daily English. |
The following language skills are mentioned of business English EXCEPT ______.
| A．listening | B．reading |
| C．speaking | D．writing |
Two good friends, Sam and Jason, had a car accident. The next morning, Sam woke up but Jason was still unconscious (昏迷的). When Dr. Smith saw Sam awake, he smiled at him and asked, “How are you feeling today?” Sam smiled back and said, “Wonderful! Promise me you won’t tell Jason anything.” Dr. Smith was moved by Sam’s words and said, “You are a very brave man. You know I won’t do that. Trust me.”
Months later Jason recovered. He stopped hanging out with(与…出去玩)Sam. He felt unhappy to spend time with a disabled person like Sam. Sam was lonely and heartbroken. One day Sam died in despair (失望). When Jason was on his burial (葬礼), Dr. Smith gave Sam’s letter to him.
The letter read, “Dear Jason, I have kept my promise to give you my eyes if anything had happened to them. Now there is nothing more that I can do. You will see through my eyes that you will always be my best friend ... Sam.”
When he finished reading, Dr. Smith added, “I had promised Sam to keep it a secret.” Jason stood there with tears on his face. In the first paragraph, Dr. Smith promised Sam to ______.
| A．make friends with him | B．take good care of Jason |
| C．give Jason the letter | D．keep a secret from Jason |
Why did Jason stop hanging out with Sam?
| A．He recovered but still couldn’t move freely. |
| B．He felt upset to be with a disabled man like Sam. |
| C．He just found another friend. |
| D．He didn’t know what had happened to Sam. |
When Jason finished reading the letter, he felt so ______.
| A．heart-broken | B．worried |
| C．discouraged | D．calm |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Leave your friend when he is in trouble. |
| B．Trust a friend when he has changed. |
| C．Brave people are the best friends. |
| D．Be faithful to your friend forever. |
I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could have never passed botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a week in a laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could never once see a cell through a microscope. This used to make my professor angry. He would wander around the laboratory pleased with the progress all the students were making in drawing the structure of flower cells, until he came to me. I would just be standing there. “I can’t see anything,” I would say. He would begin patiently enough, explaining how anybody can see through a microscope, but he would always end up angrily, claiming that I could too see through a microscope but just pretended that I couldn’t. “It takes away from the beauty of flowers anyway.” I used to tell him. “We are not concerned with beauty in this course,” he would say. “We are concerned with the structure of flowers.” “Well,” I’d say. “I can’t see anything.” “Try it just once again,” he’d say, and I would put my eye to the microscope and see nothing at all, except now and again something unclear and milky. “You were supposed to see a clear, moving plant cells shaped like clocks.” “I see what looks like a lot of milk.” I would tell him. This, he claimed, was the result of my not having adjusted the microscope properly, so he would readjust it for me, or rather, for himself. And I would look again and see milk.
I failed to pass botany that year, and had to wait a year and try again, or I couldn’t graduate. The next term the same professor was eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes. “Well,” he said to me, happily, “we’re going to see cells this time, aren’t we?” “Yes, sir,” I said. Students to the right of me and to the left of me and in front of me were seeing cells; what’s more, they were . Of course, I didn’t see anything.
So the professor and I tried with every adjustment of the microscope known to man. With only once did I see anything but blackness or the familiar milk, and that time I saw, to my pleasure and amazement, something like stars. These I hurriedly drew. The professor, noting my activity, came to me, a smile on his lips and his eyebrows high in hope. He looked at my cell drawing. “What’s that?” he asked. “That’s what I saw,” I said. “You didn’t, you didn’t, you didn’t!” he screamed, losing control of himself immediately, and he bent over and looked into the microscope. He raised his head suddenly. “That’s your eye!” he shouted. “You’ve adjusted the microscope so that it reflects! You’ve drawn your eye!”Why couldn’t the writer see the flower cells through the microscope?
| A．Because he had poor eyesight. |
| B．Because the microscope didn’t work properly. |
| C．Because he was not able to adjust the microscope properly. |
| D．Because he was just playing jokes on his professor by pretending not to have seen it. |
What does the writer mean by “his eyebrows high in hope” in the last paragraph?
| A．His professor expected him to have seen the cells and drawn the picture of them. |
| B．His professor hoped he could perform his task with attention. |
| C．His professor wished him to learn how to draw pictures. |
| D．His professor looked forward to seeing all his students finish their drawings. |
What is the thing like stars that the writer saw in the last paragraph?
| A．Real stars | B．His own eye |
| C．Something unknown | D．Milk |
In what writing style did the writer write the passage?
| A．Realistic | B．Romantic |
| C．Serious | D．Humorous |