Soup on my nose, a nearly spilled glass of wine and chocolate down my white blouse, as blind dates suggest, this was a really messy one. I have never made so much noise with plates and glasses, nor had I dined with a never-before-met companion. This blind date was quite different: we could see nothing. "Put your left hand on my shoulder, and then we'll take small steps forward," said Michael, the visually impaired(视力障碍的) server, in an East London accent. We three felt our way carefully bumping past heavy curtains before being arranged at the dining table, where we would eat and drink three completely secret and unseen courses.
Welcome to Alchemy in the Dark, Hong Kong's first full-time restaurant in total darkness. Upon arrival, diners briefly tell the chef on their allergies(过敏性反应), lock away their mobile phones and enter the windowless restaurant, which can seat 25. When the meal is over, the contents of the delicious menu are shown --- often to the diners' surprise. "This is definitely duck," my friend said, while eating chicken. "This soup," I declared, "is carrot and coriander." Even the too-close smell did not reveal the real tomato and cumin flavors. Dining in the dark changes everything: the sense of smell is heightened, manners go out of the window ----using your hands to feel around the plate becomes normal--- and there is a strange thrill in being able to ignore your facial expressions. Best of all? You don't have to spend hours beforehand(事先) wondering what to wear.
Alchemy in the Dark is at 16 Arbuthnot Road, Central, (tel: 6821 2801) and is open Monday to Saturday, from 7pm to 11pm. Reservations are required. A three-course meal with wine pairing costs HK$700 per person. Five per cent of all profits go to the Hong Kong Society for the Blind.
How did the author and her companion arrive at their dining table?
| A．By using a map |
| B．By being led |
| C．By feeling their way. |
| D．By finding it by themselves |
According to passage, which of the following is true?
| A．The diners might eat what they are allergic to. |
| B．The author enjoyed a special lunch at Alchemy in the Dark. |
| C．The restaurant donated some money to the H. K Society for the Blind. |
| D．The diners aren’t allowed to take phones to the restaurant at any time. |
From the passage we can learn that the author ___________.
| A．had the table booked |
| B．shared the meal with a friend. |
| C．practiced how to eat in total darkness. |
| D．chose her clothes in advance for the meal. |
The last paragraph is intended to ____________.
| A．present some facts about eating in the dark. |
| B．inform what to do at Alchemy in the Dark |
| C．conclude the experience of eating at Alchemy in the Dark. |
| D．provide some information about Alchemy in the Dark. |
It was the first month of winter -- an exciting day for every child but not for most teachers. Up until now, l had been able to dress myself for recess(课间休息), but today I would need some help. Miss Finlayson, my kindergarten teacher at Princess Elizabeth School near Hamilton, Ontario, had been through first snow days , many times in her long career, but I think struggled still remember this one.
I managed to get into my wool snow pants. But I struggled with my jacket because it didn’t fit well. It was a hand-me-down from my brother, and it made me wonder why I had to wear his ugly clothes. At least my hat and matching scarf were mine, and they were quite pretty. Finally it was time to have Miss Finlayson help me with my boots. In her calm, motherly voice she said, "By the end of winter, you will be able to put on own boots. “ I didn’t realize at the time that this was more a statement of hope than of confidence.
I handed her my boots and stuck out my foot. Like most children, I expected the adult to do the work. After much wiggling and pushing, she managed to get first one into place and then, with a sigh, worked the second one on too.
I announced，“They’re on the wrong feet．”With the grace that only experience can bring，she struggled to get the boots off and went through the joyless task of putting them on again．Then I said，“These aren’t my boots．you know．”As she pulled the offending boots from my feet，she still managed to look both helpful and interested．Once they were off．I said，“They are my brother’s boots．My mother makes me wear them，and I hate them!” Somehow，from long years of practice，she managed to act as though I wasn’t an annoying little girl．She pushed and shoved less gently this time，and the boots were returned to their proper place on my feet．With a great sigh of relief，seeing the end of her struggle with me，she asked，“Now，where are your gloves?’’
I looked into her eyes and said．“I didn’t want to lose them．so I put them into the toes of my boots．”According to the passage，the little girl gotfrom her brother．
| A．the wool snow pants and the jacket | B．the jacket and the boots |
| C．the jacket and the hat | D．the boots and the gloves |
What made it so hard for the teacher to help the little girl put her boots on?
| A．The gloves in the toes of the boots． | B．The slowness of the teacher． |
| C．The wrong size of the boots． | D．The unwillingness of the girl． |
It can be inferred that before the little girl finally went out to enjoy the first snow of winter，the teacher had to help her put on her boots．
| A．once | B．twice | C．three times | D．four times |
Which of the following sentences from the text BEST indicates that the teacher is very considerate?
| A．In her calm，motherly voice she said，“By the end of winter，”(Paragraph 2) |
| B．With the grace that only experience can bring，she struggled to(Paragraph 4) |
| C．She still managed to look both helpful and interested．(Paragraph 4) |
| D．She managed to act as though I wasn’t an annoying little girl.(Paragraph 4) |
Transport Guide
The Brisbane City Council (BCC) is responsible for bus and ferry services with in the city limits and suburbs. Most buses will either arrive at the city or an interchange where connecting buses can be caught．BCC buses operate from 5:30 am to 11:00 pm Monday to Thursday and 5:30 am to 12:00 a m on Fridays. On weekends and public holidays buses operate less frequently Pre-paid bus tickets can be purchased from the QUT (Queensland University of Technology)bookshop, the campus news agency, most other news agencies and general stores, and any BCC Customer Service Centre. Short-term students at QUT cannot use their ID cards to gain a discount fare on BCC public transport. You will need to buy an adult ticket to travel. Bus fares are dependent on the number of zones you have to travel. There are several types of ticket:
| Zone |
Cost (AUD) |
|||||
| Single |
Daily |
Off-peak Daily |
Ten-Trip Saver |
Weekly |
Monthly |
|
| 1 |
2.50 |
4.20 |
3.50 |
16.80 |
16.80 |
67.20 |
| 2 |
2.90 |
5.00 |
4.10 |
20.00 |
20.00 |
80.00 |
| 3 |
3.30 |
5.80 |
4.70 |
23.20 |
23.20 |
92.80 |
Single: one way ticket to reach your destination, including transfers within 2 hours.
Daily: unlimited travel within the zones.
Off-peak Daily: discounted unlimited travel between 9:00 am and 3:30 pm and after
7:00 pm Monday to Friday, and all day on weekends and public holidays.
Weekly: unlimited travel within the zones for one week from the date of issue.
Monthly: unlimited travel within the zones for one calendar month from the date of issue.
Ten-trip Saver: 10 trips at any time within the zones on buses and ferries only.
Transport routes, timetables and fare information are available from:
Public Transport Information Centre
69 Ann Street (corner of George St)
Brisbane City
Phone l3 12 30(Transport Information Service) The transport guide above is most likely provided by．
| A．Public Transport Information Centre | B．the Brisbane City Council |
| C．Queensland University of Technology． | D．BCC Customer Service Centres |
We can learn from the passage that．
| A．buses are scheduled as usual on weekends and public holidays |
| B．regular students at QUT need to buy adult tickets |
| C．Pre-paid tickets can be bought from the Public Transport Information Centre |
| D．Ten-trip Savers can be used at off-peak time |
An exchange student staying at QUT for five days has to travel between zones every day．What type of ticket would he probably buy?
| A．Single． | B．Weekly． | C．Off-peak Daily． | D．Ten-trip Saver． |
A company advertised in the newspaper for a sales position. Details of the requirements, salary and benefits were given. It was also clearly stated that applicants needed to take an aptitude test (能力倾向测试) and an interview. However, looking at the whole advertisement, one could not find any contact information of the company.
Most interested applicants thought that it was the company’s HR department’s carelessness or a printing error. They therefore waited patiently for the newspaper to publish an amendment(订正). But instead of waiting for the newspaper to publish the company details, another three applicants took the initiative(主动性) to find out the company’s contact information themselves.
Tim did a search on the Internet. By typing the company’s name, he easily obtained all the information including its contact number. Lisa called up the local telephone number search service and found out the company’s office number. She called up the office and got the required contact information. Donna put in a greater effort in her search. She remembered seeing a poster by the same company in the city so she drove all the way down and made a few rounds to search for it. She finally found it together with the company’s contact information.
Three days after that advertisement was published in the newspaper, most interested applicants were still waiting eagerly for an amendment. On the other hand, the application letters and resumes of Tim, Lisa and Donna had already reached the hands of the company’s HR manager. They were then called up for an interview. During the interview, all went well and immediately they were hired. The three of them were a little surprised at how fast things went on. They were expecting for an aptitude test as stated in the advertisement. The HR director answered them, smiling, “Our test is hidden in the advertisement itself. To be a good salesperson in this age, he or she has to be broad-minded and very importantly, does not follow rigid (死板的) steps or rules. You are all clever. In a short time, you’ve managed to find ways of contacting us. It shows clearly that you have passed the test with flying colors!”
The fools sit around waiting for their chances whereas the wise actively take actions with great initiative.According to the passage the company wanted to test the applicants’ ______.
| A．sales skills | B．carefulness | C．attitude | D．initiative |
Whose search skill is the easiest of all?
| A．Tim’s. | B．Lisa’s. | C．Donna’s. | D．None. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The HR manager of the company made a mistake. |
| B．The company meant to omit (遗漏) its contact information. |
| C．The HR manager of the company was unfit for his / her job. |
| D．A printing error occurred in the advertisement in the newspaper. |
Which of the statements is NOT correct according to the passage?
| A．Many applicants thought the company made a mistake. |
| B．The advertisement was very special to many applicants. |
| C．Whoever found the company’s contact information didn’t need to have an interview. |
| D．The company needed broad-minded and clever salespersons. |
The writer wants to tell us through this passage that ______.
| A．no contact information seen in an advertisement might not be the company’s mistake |
| B．applicants should be careful not to be fooled by the company’s advertisement |
| C．opportunity always belongs to whoever is active and broad-minded |
| D．there are many successful chances to be found in this age |
What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.
| A．bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding |
| B．pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
| C．great and important; common |
| D．hopeful and helpful; careless |
According to the context we can guess that a genius is ________ while an idiot is ________.
| A．a normal person; a funny person |
| B．a strong person; a weak person |
| C．a highly intelligent person; a foolish or weak-minded person |
| D．a famous person; an ordinary person |
A person ________ is more likely to become a genius.
| A．whose parents are clever |
| B．often thinking about difficult problems |
| C．often helped by his parents and teachers |
| D．born with a good brain and putting it into active use |
It is better for parents ________.
| A．to praise and encourage their children more often |
| B．to be hard on their children |
| C．to leave their children alone with nothing to do |
| D．to give their children as much help as possible |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．Parents play an important part in their children’s growth. |
| B．The less you use your mind the duller you may become. |
| C．Intelligence is obviously the result of where and how you live. |
| D．What makes a person bright or stupid is still under discussion. |
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank. O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York. b. Worked in a bank. c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison. e. Had a newspaper Job. f. Learned to write stories.
| A．e. c. f. b. d. a | B．c. e. b. d. f. a | C．e. b. d. c. a. f. | D．c. b. e. d. a f. |
People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because
| A．they had surprise endings | B．they were easy to understand |
| C．they showed his love for the poor | D．they were about New York City |
O. Henry went to prison because .
| A．people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper |
| B．he broke the law by not using his own name |
| C．he wanted to write stories about prisoners |
| D．people thought he had taken money that was not his |
What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
| A．He was well-educated. | B．He was not serious about his work. |
| C．He was devoted to the poor. | D．He was very good at learning. |
Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
| A．His life inside the prison. | B．The newspaper articles he wrote. |
| C．The city and people of New York. | D．His exciting early life as a boy. |