It was 7:00 am in Kyoto, Japan, and the taxi company had just called a second time to say they couldn’t find my house. Once again I spelt out directions even a blind person could follow. I glanced impatiently at my watch, and waited. Only two hours remained until my flight left—and it was an hour and a half trip to the airport.
Outside, heavy rains were pouring down. My house was so far north in the city that buses pass only here times a day.
The telephone rang again. “Terribly sorry,” began the man at the taxi company. Then I realized that the taxi company, flooded with calls, could only offer in-city runs. I had heard this happens when the weather gets bad. I shouted into the phone that I had a plane to catch and I would meet the taxi outside my house.
Standing in the wind-driven rain, I looked up and down the road. No taxi. A car went by, the driver and passenger staring at the crazy foreigner in the downpour.
Finally a white car appeared and pulled to a stop. A young man threw open the door, waving for me to get in. Shaking with cold and anger, I climbed in.
In the most polite Japanese, the man said he was called Mike, with who I had spoken three times that morning. He had left his post in the office and raced here in his personal car. He apologized again, but didn’t explain why a taxi would not pick me up. Delivering me straight to the airport, he refused the 2,000 yen I pressed into his hand.
A few hours later, as the storm-delayed 727 took off, I opened the newspaper. On the second page my eyes caught the headline of a short article: Taxi Strike Begins This Morning in Kyoto.
1.Why did the writer call a taxi early in the morning?
A. He wanted to catch a plane.
B. He as unable to find the airport.
C. There were few taxis in town.
D. All the buses stopped because of the rain.
2.What was the reason for the taxi company not being able to pick him up?
A. More people were riding in taxis on rainy days.
B. The writer didn’t give the correct address.
C. The taxi drivers refused to work.
D. The taxi drivers didn’t like to drive long distance.
3.The writer got to the airport ____________.
A. by riding in Mike’s car from the taxi company
B. with the help of Mike from the post office
C. by getting a lift in a passing car
D. with the help of a taxi driver sent by his company
4.We can learn from the text that the driver was _____________.
A. quick-minded at taking action
B. a self-employed driver
C. unwilling to drive to the airport
D. warm-hearted toward people
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
One night Mrs. Riley, an elderly woman, was walking along a dark London street. She was carrying her handbag in one hand and a plastic carrier bag in the other. There was nobody else in the street except two young men. They were standing in a dark shop doorway. One of them was very tall with fair hair, the other was short and fat with a beard.
The two young men waited for a few moments, and then ran quickly and quietly towards Mrs. Riley. The tall one held her from behind while the other one tried to seize her handbag.
Suddenly Mrs. Riley threw the tall one over her shoulder. He crashed into the other one and they both landed on the ground. Without speaking, Mrs. Riley struck both of them on the head with her handbag and walked calmly away.
The two surprised young men were still sitting on the ground when Mrs. Riley crossed the street towards a door with a lighted sign above it. Mrs. Riley paused, turned round, smiled at them and walked into the South West London Judo Club.
1.The two young men were standing in a dark shop doorway because .
A. they had nothing to do
B. they were homeless
C. they were waiting for a victim
D. they were guarding the shop
2.How did the story end?
A. The woman was robbed of her handbag.
B. The woman taught the two young men a lesson.
C. The woman reported the two young men to the police.
D. The woman sent the two young men to a judo club.
3.The story tells about an elderly woman who .
A. went shopping at night
B. was on her way home
C. had just left a shopping center
D. had a skill of self-defense
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
Government statistics recently showed that in the UK, more than 3,000 people a year experience electric shocks in their home. A smaller number of people are killed after contact with power lines outside the home. Electric shocks can cause a person’s heart or breathing to stop, can also cause burns and are potentially fatal. It is essential for people to learn basic first aid techniques to deal with such emergencies.
What to do?
If you are the first person to reach someone who has had an electric shock, don’t touch them!
If they are still holding the appliance that has given them shock (e.g. a hair dryer), unplug it or turn off the power at its source. Under no circumstances will you try to move the appliance with your hand!
If you can’t turn off the power, use a piece of wood, like a broom handle or a chair, to separate the victim from the appliance or the power source. You may even be able to do this with a folded newspaper.
The victim must remain lying down. If they are unconscious, victims should be placed on their side. But they should not be moved if there is a possibility of neck or spine injuries unless it is absolutely necessary.
It is essential to maintain the victim’s body heat, so make sure you cover him or her with a blanket before you do anything else. If the victim is not breathing, apply mouth-to-mouth resuscitation(恢复呼吸). Keep the victim’s head low until professional help arrives.
If the electric shock has been caused by an external power line, the dangers to the victim and to anybody providing first aid are much greater.
1.What kind of passage is it?
A. An advertisement. B. A horror story.
C. A news report. D. First aid emergency advice.
2.The underlined sentence, “Under no circumstances will you try to move the appliance with your hand!” implies that .
A. you should move the appliance that caused it
B. you should pick up the appliance and turn off the electricity
C. it is very dangerous to touch the appliance with your hands
D. it is unnecessary to unplug the appliance with your hands
3.If you can’t turn off the power, you cannot separate the victim from the appliance or the power source by using _________.
A. a folded newspaper B. a blanket
C. a broom handle D. a chair
4.When a person has got an electric shock, you should .
A. separate the victim from the appliance and let them sit up
B. keep the victim warm and help them breathe again
C. move the victim onto their side if they have got neck injuries
D. keep the victim’s head high until professional help arrives
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A man walks into a doctor’s office. He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear. “What’s the matter with me?” he asks the doctor. The doctor replies, “You’re not eating properly.”
This is a popular joke among British schoolchildren. It reflects Britain’s famous dry and satirical way of seeing the funny side of life. This unique sense of humor is often cited as one of Britain’s defining national characteristics.
“The famous British sense of humor has long been our most cherished national characteristic,” says the British journalist Leo Mckinstry. “We have valued it above historic military victories and great works of literature, above our rich scenic landscape and our talent for invention.”
The British sense of humor differs from other countries because it is generally more negative. When it comes to making the British laugh, there is nothing more effective than a socially inappropriate joke.
Popular British comedy shows such as Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and The office are full of sarcasm(讽刺), teasing and self-deprecation(自嘲). It reflects the culture where mocking, moaning and ridicule is part of everyday life.
While most Britons don’t take these jokes too seriously, foreigners are often puzzled by them. A recent survey found that most foreigners who visited Britain found that the British are “arrogant, unfriendly and have almost no sense of humor”.
Do foreigners not understand British humor or are the British just not as funny as they think they are? Mckinstry certainly thinks the British are funny. “Accusing the British of having no sense of humor is like telling Rolls-Royce that its cars are down-market.” he says.
1.What does the doctor actually mean by the remark, “You’re not eating properly”?
A. What you have had is the cause of these problems.
B. You are not having the right food.
C. You don’t eat the way people usually do.
D. You eat with the wrong cutlery(餐具)
2.The word “dry” in Paragraph 2 means _________.
A. without water or liquid inside
B. special and popular among school children
C. dull and meaningless
D. pretending to be serious when really joking
3.Why do most visitors, who once visited Britain , think that the British are unfriendly?
A. Because the British always take things seriously.
B. Because the British have no sense of humor.
C. Because the British are cold and difficult to get along with
D. Because the British have a different sense of humor
4.Which of the following are NOT the characteristics of British humor?
A. Dry and satirical B. Negative and mocking
C. Encouraging and gentle D. Clever and witty
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Ali is from a Middle Eastern country. He now stays in the USA. He smokes a lot of cigarettes every day. He has smoked for nine years. Ali says, “ I tried to quit smoking in my hometown, but it was impossible. My parents smoke. My brothers smoke. All my friends smoke. At parties and at meetings, almost all the men smoke. Here in the United States, not as many people smoke. ___1.___ ”
Many smokers are like Ali: they want to stop smoking. ___2.___ They know it can cause cancer and heart disease. But it is difficult for them to give up smoking because cigarettes have a drug in them. The drug is nicotine. People who smoke a lot need nicotine.
___3.____ The nicotine makes him sick. In a few days, the smoker’s body is used to the nicotine, and he feels fine. Later, the smoker needs nicotine to keep feeling fine. Without nicotine, he feels bad.
__4.___ Many people who quit will soon smoke again. At a party or at work they will decide to smoke “just one” cigarette. Then they will smoke another cigarette, and another. Soon they become smokers again. ____5.___
A. It is very hard to quit smoking.
B. It will be easier to change the smoking habit here.
C. Thus nicotine makes smokers addicted to cigarettes.
D. The smokers know that smoking is bad for their health.
E. When a person first begins to smoke, he usually feels terrible.
F. Maybe there is only one easy way to quit smoking: never start.
G. But it is said that medicine is needed to stop them from smoking.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完形填空
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made a deep on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a , I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be soon is the most important tool I’ve ever known to help me make the big in life because almost everything falls away in the face of death, only what is truly important.
About a year ago I was with cancer. My doctor even advised me to go home and get my affairs order, which is a doctor’s way of telling people to prepare to die. I with that diagnosis all the days. , at last an advanced test showed that it was a very rare cancer that is with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all . No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of . It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is , so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be by dogma(教条)—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner . And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart.
1.A. impression B. curse C. decision D. joke
2.A. seen B. looked C. found D. lost
3.A. would B. should C. might D. could
4.A. hurry B. line C. moment D. row
5.A. successful B. rich C. dead D. frustrated
6.A. apologies B. fortune C. impressions D. choices
7.A. proving B. leaving C. confirming D. telling
8.A. diagnosed B. cured C. treated D. found
9.A. on B. for C. in D. at
10.A. met B. got C. did D. lived
11.A. However B. But C. Therefore D. So
12.A. incurable B. curable C. fatal D. changeable
13.A. Anyone B. Someone C. No one D. Everyone
14.A. want B. avoid C. share D. escape
15.A. destination B. life C. science D. disease
16.A. make up B. make for C. make out D. make way
17.A. distant B. short C. long D. away
18.A. limited B. rare C. enough D. lost
19.A. wasted B. cheated C. excited D. trapped
20.A. voice B. love C. direction D. Confusion
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
A successful scientist is generally a good observer who 1. (make) full use of the facts he observes. He doesn’t accept ideas not 2. (base) on obvious facts, and he refuses to accept authority (权威) 3. the only reason for truth. He always checks ideas carefully and carries out experiments 4. (prove) them.
Galileo, however, 5. lived between 1564 and 1642, was 6. (great) of the great men. Before him, 7. (learn) men believed that larger bodies fell more 8. _(quick) towards the earth than smaller ones. But Galileo, going to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa, let fall two solid stones and proved it was wrong. It is his spirit 9. has led _10. all the discoveries of modern science.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
文中共有10处错误，每句中最多两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删减或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出改加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（﹨）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词，并按上述方法修改，否则不计分。
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
As students, we have classes from early morning till late afternoon. Therefore, take a ten-minute break between class is definitely important, even necessary. Otherwise we may feel both physically or mentally tired. During the ten-minute break we did something to get rid of tiredness. What we need is to have real rest instead of getting even tired. So don’t do anything what will make you too much excited. My ten-minute break is always pleasing. I usually do some simple exercises. Sometime I have a free chat with my classmates or just take a walk during the break. When the new class begins, I feel freshly again.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
假设你是李华, 你上个星期天去市图书馆看书时发现以下问题, 你写信向馆长Mr. Li 反映:
1. 新书太少;
2. 书架上的书比较混乱;
3. 阅览室的一盏灯坏了;
4. 管理员工作时彼此闲聊.
注意: 1. 词数100左右;
2. 可适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯;
3. 信的开头和结尾已经为你写好, 不记入总词数.
Dear Mr. Li,
Last Sunday, I went to do some reading in your library. ___________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
So for the sake of readers I suggest that you change all these as soon as possible.
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析