I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles” of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often confused in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks (地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, ‘Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite, They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
1.When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place they usually _________.
A. describe the place carefully
B. show him a map of the place
C. tell him the names of the streets
D. refer to recognizable buildings and places
2.What is the place where people measure distance in time?
A. New York. B. Los Angeles. C. Kansas. D. Iowa.
3.People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ________.
A. in order to save time B. as a test
C. so as to be polite D. for fun
4.What can we infer from the text?
A. It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences.
B. It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly.
C. People have similar understandings of politeness.
D. New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
A good heart
Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa among great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship（奖学金） to study medicine — but Coach (教练) John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea. Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth, or the duty to share his fortune with others. He built a new hospital in his old hometown in the Congo. A friend has said of this good-hearted man: “Mutombo believes that God has given him this chance to do great things.”
Success and kindness
After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming children’s videos (录象) in her own house. The Baby Einstein Company was born, and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. And she is using her success to help others — producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new program: “I believe it’s the most important thing that I have ever done. I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe.”
Bravery and courage
A few weeks ago, Wesley Autrey was waiting at a Harlem subway station with his two little girls when he saw a man fall into the path of a train. With seconds to act, Wesley jumped onto the tracks, pulled the man into the space between the rails (铁轨), and held him as the train passed right above their heads. He insists he’s not a hero. He says: “We have got to show each other some love.”
1.What was Mutombo praised for?
A. Being a star in the NBA.
B. Being a student of medicine.
C. His work in the church.
D. His willingness to help the needy.
2.Mulombo believes that building the new hospital is___________________.
A. helpful to his personal development
B. something he should do for his homeland
C. a chance for his friends to share his money
D. a way of showing his respect to the NBA
3.What did the Baby Einstein Company do at its beginning?
A. Produce safety equipment for children.
B. Make videos to help protect children.
C. Sell children’s music and artwork.
D. Look for missing and exploited children.
4.Why was Wesley Autrey praised as a hero?
A. He helped a man get across the rails.
B. He stopped a man from destroying the rails.
C. He protected two little girls from getting hurt.
D. He saved a person without considering his own safety.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Tom was one of the brightest boys in the year, with supportive parents. But when he was 15 he suddenly stopped trying. He left school at 16 with only two scores for secondary school subjects. One of the reasons that made it cool for him not to care was the power of his peer (同龄人) group.
The lack of right male (男性) role models in many of their lives — at home and particularly in the school environment (环境) — means that their peers are the only people they have to judge themselves against.
They don’t see men succeeding in society so it doesn’t occur to them that they could make something of themselves. Without male teachers as a role model, the effect of peer actions and street culture (文化) is all-powerful. Boys want to be part of a club. However, schools can provide the environment for change, and provide the right role models for them. Teachers need to be trained to stop that but not in front of a child’s peers. You have to do it one to one, because that is when you see the real child.
It’s pointless sending a child home if he or she has done wrong. They see it as a welcome day off to watch television or play computer games. Instead, schools should have a special unit where a child who has done wrong goes for the day and gets advice about his problems — somewhere he can work away from his peers and go home after the other children.
1.Why did Tom give up studying?
A. He disliked his teachers.
B. His parents no longer supported him.
C. It’s cool for boys of his age not to care about studies.
D. There were too many subjects in his secondary school.
2.What seems to have a bad effect on students like Tom?
A. Peer groups. B. A special unit.
C. The student judges. D. The home environment.
3.What should schools do to help the problem schoolboys?
A. Wait for their change patiently.
B. Train leaders of their peer groups.
C. Stop the development of street culture.
D. Give them lessons in a separate area.
4.A teacher’s work is most effective with a schoolboy when he __ .
A. is with the boy alone
B. teaches the boy a lesson
C. sends the boy home as punishment
D. works together with another teacher
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
When I first got an e-mail account ten years ago, I received communications only from family, friends, and colleagues. Now it seems that every time I check my e-mail, I have an endless series of advertisements and other correspondence that do not interest me at all. If we want e-mail to continue to be useful, we need specific laws that make spamming (发送垃圾邮件) a crime.
If lawmakers do not do something soon to prohibit spam, the problem will certainly get much worse. Computer programs allow spammers to send hundreds of millions of e-mails almost instantly. As more and more advertisers turn to spam to sell their products, individual (个人的) e-mail boxes are often flooded with spam e-mails. Would people continue to use e-mail if they had to deal with an annoying amount of spam each time?
This problem is troubling for individuals and companies as well. Many spam e-mails contain computer viruses that can shut down the entire network of a company. Companies rely on e-mail for their employees to communicate with each other. Spam frequently causes failures in their local communications networks, and their employees are thus unable to communicate effectively. Such a situation results in a loss of productivity and requires companies to repeatedly repair their networks. These computer problems raise production costs of companies, which are, in the end, passes on to the consumer.
For these reasons, I believe that lawmakers need to legislate (立法) against spam. Spammers should be fined, and perhaps sent to prison if they continue to disturb people. E-mail is a tool which helps people all over the world to communicate conveniently, but spam is destroying this convenience.
1.What does the underlined word “correspondence” in the Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A. messages B. ideas
C. connections D. programs
2.According to the text, what is the major cause of the flooding spam?
A. Companies rely on e-mail for communications.
B. More people in the world communicate by e-mail.
C. Many computer viruses contain spam e-mail.
D. More advertisers begin to promote sales through spam.
3.What is the purpose of the text?
A. To inform B. To educate
C. To persuade D. To instruct
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。
If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time，they become weak；when you start using them again，they slowly become strong again．Everybody knows this, and nobody would think of questioning the fact. 1. When someone says that he has a good memory，he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by exercising it regularly, either consciously or unconsciously．When someone else says that his memory is poor，he really means that he does not give it enough opportunity to become strong． 2. One of them exercises his arms and legs by playing tennis, while the other sits in a chair or a motor car all day.
If a friend complains that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own fault. 3. , many of us think that his parents are to blame，or that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is just as much his own fault as if it was his arms or legs that were weak．Not all of us can become extremely clever; but all of us can, if we have ordinary bodies and brains, improve our strength and our memory by the same means—practice.
Have you ever found that some people who cannot read or write usually have better memories than those who can? 4. Of course, because those who cannot read or write have to remember things；they cannot write them down in a little notebook．They have to remember dates，time and prices, names，songs and stories；so their memory is the whole time being exercised．
5. ，learn from the poor：practise remembering．
| A. What do you think of it? B. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way． C. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory D. So if you want a good memory E. When someone else says that he is poor in the health F. Why is this? G. The position is exactly the same as that of two people. |
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
完形填空
I was a single parent of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always tight, but we had a ________ over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and if not a lot, always ________ . Not knowing we were poor, my kids(孩子们) just thought I was ________ . I’ve always been glad about that.
It was Christmas time, and although there wasn’t ________ for a lot of gifts, we planned to celebrate with a family party. But the big ________ for the kids was the fun of Christmas ________ .
They planned weeks ahead of time, asking ________ what they wanted for Christmas. Fortunately, I had saved $120 for ________ to share by all five of us.
The big ________ arrived. I gave each kid a twenty-dollar bill and ________ them to look for gifts of about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered(散开). We had two hours to shop; then we would ________ back at the “Santa’s Workshop”.
Driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits, ________ my younger daughter, Ginger, who was unusually ________ . She had only one small, flat bag with a few candies — fifty-cent candies! I was so angry, but I didn’t say anything ________ we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door, ________ to be angry again. This is what she told me.
“I was looking ________ thinking of what to buy, and I ________ to read the little cards on the ‘Giving Trees.’ One was for a little girl, four years old, and all she ________ for Christmas was a doll(玩具娃娃). So I took the card off the tree and ________ the doll for her. We have so much and she doesn’t have anything.”
I never felt so ________ as I did that day.
1.A. roof B. hat C. sky D. star
2.A. little B. less C. enough D. more
3.A. busy B. serious C. strict D. kind
4.A. effort B. room C. time D. money
5.A. improvement B. problem C. surprise D. excitement
6.A. shopping B. travelling C. parties D. greetings
7.A. the other B. each other C. one by one D. every other one
8.A. toys B. clothes C. presents D. bills
9.A. day B. chance C. cheque D. tree
10.A. forced B. reminded C. invited D. begged
11.A. draw B. stay C. move D. meet
12.A. including B. besides C. except D. regarding
13.A. quiet B. excited C. happy D. ashamed
14.A. since B. after C. while D. until
15.A. waiting B. ready C. hoping D. afraid
16.A. out B. over C. forward D. around
17.A. forgot B. stopped C. failed D. hated
18.A. wanted B. did C. got D. played
19.A. made B. searched C. bought D. fetched
20.A. angry B. rich C. patient D. bitter
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在标有1-10的空格处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Mrs. Lester kept on 1. （ask）her husband to take her to the ballet. Mr. Lester hates the ballet, but when his 2. (employ) invited him and his wife, he could not get out of it. As they drove to the theatre that evening, 3. fog got worse and worse. The traffic slowed down to a walking pace and almost stopped. When they 4. (eventual) got to the theatre, the ballet was over. Mrs. Lester could not work out how 5. had taken them so long to get there, even taking the fog into account. The theatre was within walking 【 小题6】 (distant) of their house.
A month later, Mrs. Lester found out 6. had happened. Mr. Lester told a friend of his that he 7. (take) a wrong turning on purpose. This friend told his wife, and the wife immediately went around to tell Mrs. Lester. The two women began to plan a revenge(报复). One day, when Mr. Lester was not in, they broke into his study, 8. he always locked. His hobby was collecting old coins. They were taking some coins out of the case when they heard a car pull up outside the house. Mr. Lester came in and opened the door of the study. There was no chance for the women to get away without 9. (see).
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
短文中共有10处错误，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词的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；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
As summer vacation are coming soon, my classmates are trying very hardly to get train tickets to go home. But I have made up my minds to spend the vacation far from home for first time in my life. My parents have agreed to visiting me, and I will have a different vacation. When they came here, I will show them around my university and the city just as well. I have decided to buy them some nice gifts. It will be a big surprising for them. My parents have done a lot for me, but I think it is high time that I did anything special to express my thanks.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
假定你是李华，准备参加学校举办的主题为“健康成长”的英语作文比赛。请按要求写一篇短文，主要内容包括：
1．乐观的人生态度；
2．努力学习；
3．参加体育锻炼。
注意： 1．词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯：
3．开头已为你写好。
We all want to grow up happily and healthily, and for this goal we must do several things.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析