Traveling by subway can sometimes be quite an adventure, especially during rush hour. There are the times when you have to avoid cups of coffee that could spill (溅) on you. The smells of some passengers’ food are very strong, too. According to the Beijing subway passenger regulations, which went into effect on May 15th, passengers except babies and the sick are no longer allowed to eat or drink on the subway. Violators (违反者) who do not stop after being asked to will be asked to get off. The violation will also be recorded in the violators’ credit record.
Some support the rule. The reason is that the smell of food and drink can annoy other passengers. “The smell of food fills the carriage, causing people discomfort, especially in the hot summer, Besides, eating on the subway produces rubbish. And on subway trains, people often spill their drinks,” said Zheng Yiou, 17, a student from Hefei.
However, others question this rule. “Some citizens live so far from their work places that they have limited time to have breakfast before they go to work. Eating while they travel saves them time and decreases the chance that they will be late for work,” He Songlin, a 17-year-old student from Chengdu said, “And some people, like those with low- blood sugar levels, get sick if they can’t eat when they must.”
Other Chinese cities like Nanjing and Chengdu have similar regulations. Some foreign cities also ban eating and drinking on the subway. For example, eating and drinking have long been banned on the subway in Washington DC. Singapore fines people who eat or drink on the subway up to 500 Singapore dollars, which is RMB 2,417 yuan.
Chen Yanyan, a professor from Beijing University of Technology, believed we should consider the need of some people to eat or drink on the subway. “Commuters (上班族) and travelers are sometimes too busy to eat. Maybe we could learn from Tokyo, where there are many subway stations equipped with services, allowing passengers to eat and drink,” she said.
1.In which city was subway passenger regulations carried out on May 15th?
A.Chengdu. B.Nanjing.
C.Washington DC. D.Beijing.
2.What’s the punishment for the passengers who break the rules in Singapore?
A.Eating on the subway. B.Drinking on the subway.
C.Being fined up to 2417 yuan. D.Being asked to get off the train.
3.What is Chen Yanyan’s attitude to eating or drinking on the subway?
A.Worried. B.Sympathetic.
C.Doubtful. D.Uninterested
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A.Food and Drink Banned on Subway.
B.The Adventure of Subway Traveling
C.Ways to Eat and Drink on Subway.
D.The Services on Subway Stations
Robert Jarvik, born on May 11, 1946 in Michigan and raised in Stamford, is a medical scientist and researcher, who played an important role in the invention of the artificial heart. He was interested in medicine from a young age. He watched his father perform operations and gained a patent (专利权) for a machine applied in the medical operation before he graduated from high school.
Jarvik attended Syracuse University and considered a career in art. When his father developed heart disease suddenly, he decided then to work on a medical career. He applied to medical schools, but was not admitted to any schools in the US. Before long, he was admitted to the medical school in Italy and stayed there for two years. He returned to get a degree in medicine from New York University in 1971.
After working for a period of time, Jarvik got a job in the organ transplant (器官移植) program at the University of Utah in 1972. He worked with the director of the program, Willem Kolff, who invented the kidney dialysis (肾透析) machine.
By the time Jarvik came to the University of Utah, the organ program had already developed the primary artificial heart. He improved it by creating a diaphragm (横膈膜), which solved many issues with the heart. Eventually, he created the first artificial heart in 1981, the Jarvik-7, to be placed in a human patient, which was considered one of the most important inventions in human history.
Barney Clark, a retired dentist suffering from serious heart disease, received the Jarvik-7 transplant on December 2, 1982. He lived for 112 days after the operation, but the transplant was considered a success. Though receiving criticism for the risk referred to transplant an artificial heart, the Jarvik-7 still became very important for patients who were waiting for a heart. In 1987, Jarvik moved to New York City and formed Jarvik Research Inc. He began developing a new heart — the Jarvik 2000. This smaller machine fits inside a patient’s heart rather than replacing the entire organ.
1.What method does the writer use to develop the passage?
A.By discussing research experiments.
B.By following the natural time order.
C.By presenting some research results.
D.By comparing opinions from different fields.
2.The underlined word “issues” in Paragraph 4 probably means “________”.
A.items B.incidents
C.problems D.debates
3.Which of the following incidents made Robert Jarvik determine his life-long career?
A.His father developed heart disease suddenly.
B.He received a patent for the medical operation.
C.He took part in the organ program at the University of Utah.
D.He was refused to be admitted to any medical school in the US.
4.What is the greatest achievement for Robert Jarvik as a medical scientist?
A.He invented the kidney dialysis machine.
B.He created the first artificial heart in 1981.
C.He created a diaphragm to fit inside a patient’s heart.
D.He did the first heart transplant operation for a heart patient.
Choose Your One-Day-Tours!
Tour A - Bath &Stonehenge including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge -￡37 until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter. Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Costume Museum, Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.
Tour B - Oxford & Stratford including entrance fees to the University St Mary’s Church Tower and Anne Hathaway’s -￡32 until 12 March and ￡36 thereafter. Oxford: Includes a guided tour of England’s oldest university city and colleges. Look over the “city of dreaming spires(尖顶）” from St Mary‘s Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.
Tour C - Windsor Castle &Hampton Court: including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace -￡34 until 11 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry VILL’s favorite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle(entrance fees not included).With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze(迷宫) where it is easy to get lost!
Tour D –Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great -￡33 until 18 March and ￡37 thereafter. Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.
1.Which tour will you choose if you want to see England’s oldest university city?
A.Tour A B.Tour B
C.Tour C D.Tour D
2.Which of the following tours charges the lowest fee on 17 March?
A.Windsor Castle & Hampton Court B.Oxford & Stratford
C.Bath & Stonehenge D.Cambridge
3.Why is Hampton Court a major tourist attraction?
A.It used to be the home of royal families B.It used to be a well-known maze
C.It is the oldest palace in Britain D.It is a world-famous castle
A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics, and wars. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions, and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors ― or of people very different from our own ― can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than what can be found in most history books.
In history books, objective information about the political life of a country is presented: that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective: it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Franciso Goya was perhaps the first truly political artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May, 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its misuse of power over people. Over a hundred years later, symbolic images were used in Pablo Picasso’s Guernica to express the horror of war. Meanwhile, on another continent, the powerful paintings of Diego Rivera, Jose Clements Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros ― as well as the works of Alfredo Ramos Martinez ― showed these Mexican artists’ deep anger and sadness about social problems.
In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. Four hundreds of years in Europe, religious art was almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that depicted people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand biblical stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast, one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic（伊斯兰教的）belief that statues are unholy（不神圣的；亵渎的）.
1.Which of the following sentences is WRONG according to the passage?
A.Art history concentrates on religious beliefs, emotions and psychology only.
B.Art can provide information about the everyday activities of ancient people.
C.Information and facts about politics are given objectively in history.
D.Franciso Goya was perhaps the first truly political artist.
2.History books are objective because _____.
A.personal and emotional opinions are expressed through it
B.it will make the viewers angry and sad about history
C.it can help us understand historical facts better
D.opinions about facts are not expressed
3.The two pictures The Third of May, 1808 and Guernica mentioned in paragraph 2 show that _____.
A.art is subjective
B.artists are very similar even over a hundred years
C.art can reflect political life of a country
D.history books present objective information
4.In paragraph 2, the underlined “another continent” refers to _____.
A.Europe B.America
C.Mexico D.Middle East
5.The passage is mainly discussing _____.
A.the difference between general history and art history
B.the development of art history
C.the influence of artists on art history
D.what we can learn from art
6.It may be concluded from this passage that _____.
A.Islamic artists focus on creating architectural decorations with pictures of flowers or geometric (几何) forms
B.history teachers are more objective than artists
C.it is more difficult to study art history than general history
D.people and stories from the Bible were painted on churches and other buildings in order to popularize the Bible
I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happened to be that put-upon member of society ― a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I’m convinced that things are being run just to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a new motto for the so-called “service” organization ― Staff Before Service. How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there aren’t enough staff on duty at all the service counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to increase counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that bringing all their cash registers into operation at any time would increase expenses. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service counters to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.
It’s the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is lowered. As for us guests (and how the meaning of that word has been cut away little by little.), we just have to put up with it. There’s also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been gradually withdrawn from service in the interests of “efficiency” (i.e. profits) and replaced by coin-eating machines which supply everything from beer to medicine, not to mention the creeping（慢慢加剧的） threat of the tea-making set in your room: a kettle with teabags, milk bags and sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I don’t, especially when I am paying for “service”.
Our only hope is to repeat our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, restore that other, older saying ― Take Our Custom（买卖） Elsewhere.
1.The author feels that nowadays customers are _____.
A.not provided with proper service
B.considered to be lower members of society
C.not worthy of special treatment
D.regarded as privileged
2.In the author’s opinion, the quality of service is changing because _____.
A.more consideration is given to the staff than customers
B.customers are becoming more demanding
C.customers are unwilling to be satisfied with
D.the staff are less considerate than employers
3.According to the author, long queues at counters are caused by _____.
A.deliberate（故意的）understaffing
B.lack of cooperation among staff
C.the reducing supply of good staff
D.inefficient staff
4.The disappearance of old-style hotel porters can be attributed to the fact that _____.
A.the personal touch is less appreciated nowadays
B.few people are willing to do this type of work
C.machines are more reliable than human beings
D.self-service provides a cheaper alternative
5.The author’s final solution to the problem discussed in the passage is _____.
A.to put up with whatever service is provided
B.to fully use all kinds of coin-eating machines
C.to make strong complaints wherever necessary
D.to go where good service is available
As I jogged over the bridge and round the corner on my regular early morning run, he was standing opposite the jeweler’s, looking extremely suspicious. But the moment he saw me, instead of trying to avoid me, he came straight across the road as I drew level with the jeweler’s. Halfway across he began addressing me: “I thought you were going to…” — but his voice trailed away as he received no reply and no sign of recognition from me. It was quite obvious that he had mistaken me for someone else. But he started up again as if nothing had happened．“Good morning, ” he said．“Nice to bump into someone so early. Someone to talk to. I’ve taken to talking to myself on this job.”
I hate meeting people when I’m out early, and I was almost out of breath, so I just paused in my stride, nodded in a friendly manner, and went on up the road. The stranger had spoken quietly, and quite slowly. And I had noticed that he was well dressed, too. But if he looked suspicious dressed like that at that time of the morning, what about me? I was in a track suit, with an old sweater round my shoulders and a cap on my head．As to his odd remark about “talking to himself on this job”, I hadn’t paid any attention to it, although now it began to worry me. Was he perhaps a plain clothes policeman? At the time I somehow felt he was.
I had just turned the corner into the High Street when I heard the sound of breaking glass somewhere behind me, and I thought the sound came from the street I had just left. I stopped dead and almost without thinking looked back around the corner. The stranger was not there, but almost immediately an alarm bell in the jeweler’s began ringing furiously.
I found out later that a burglar had broken into the jeweler’s shop and stolen watches and rings worth about ￡5,000. The police are still looking into the matter, but I’m afraid to go and tell them what I know now because they might even suspect me of committing the crime, and it might be difficult for me to prove my innocence. After all, I haven’t offered my assistance as a witness, and the only other person around that morning was the “stranger” who had spoken to me.
1.From the passage we can infer that the author _____.
A.always goes past the jeweler’s
B.didn’t like talking to the strangers
C.meets a few people every morning
D.saw a plain clothes policeman that morning
2.Why did the stranger talk to the author?
A.Because the stranger took the author as someone else.
B.Because the stranger loved talking to people.
C.Because the stranger recognized the writer.
D.Because the stranger took a job of talking to himself.
3.Why did the stranger seem suspicious?
A.He was about to go into the jeweler’s.
B.He was far too friendly.
C.He was dressed too well for that time.
D.He talked to himself a lot.
4.If the writer had been on the spot, _____.
A.he might have been badly injured
B.he would have seen what happened
C.he wouldn’t have heard the alarm bell
D.the stranger wouldn’t have broken the window
5.What idea does the author convey in the last paragraph?
A.he thinks the stranger is innocent
B.the burglar didn’t steal very much
C.he might commit the crime to the police
D.he hesitates whether to report to the police about what he knew
