If the rose can be said to be a special flower, then the apple can be said to be a special fruit. It is very important in American culture. American stories speak of Johnny Appleseed, who went throughout America collecting apple seeds and planting apple trees. He had a great love for nature and went through fields and farms adding richness and beauty to the country.
One of the first sayings taught to school children is, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” This short saying encourages children to eat fresh fruit to keep healthy. If someone always says good words to a person, people will call him an “apple polisher”. This, however, is not a good name. If someone is very dear to us, we say that he or she is the “apple of our eye”.
Most people believe that the fruit which Eve gave to Adam was an apple, even though the Bible(圣经) never says so. The apple, therefore, is a deep part of the language and stories of America.
An apple is also delicious. Apples can be cooked in many ways, used as a dessert, and made into sweet juice.
In many parts of the country during the harvest season, a popular activity is to go into an apple garden to pick apples. Washington, D. C. and New York are both famous for their apples.
Finally, when it’s time to take a vacation to American cities, one can always visit New York, which is “the biggest apple” of all the American cities.
1.What does the underlined phrase “apple polisher” mean?
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A．Something for cutting apples. |
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B．A person who likes to please others. |
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C．A person who is dealing with fruits. |
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D．A machine for cleaning apples quickly. |
2.Which of the following is TRUE with apples?
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A．Apples are medicine. |
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B．Apples are the most important food. |
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C．New York is famous for its big apples. |
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D．The Bible says Adam was given an apple. |
3.The passage is mainly about .
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A．stories about the apple |
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B．apples in American culture |
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C．some famous sayings of the apple |
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D．big cities that is famous for apples |
Comets(彗星) are parts of our solar system. Like the planets, they go around the sun.
But comets are not made of solid rocks like planets. A comet is a ball of dust, stones, and ice. Many people call comets dirty snowballs.
The “snowball” may be only a few miles across. But when the sun heats the “snowball,” much of it is changed to gases. The gases spread out and form the comet’s head, which may be thousands of miles across.
A comet moves fast in its trip around the sun. But when we see it, the comet does not seem to move. That’s because it is so far away. The moon moves fast, but when you look at it, you can’t see any motion(运动). That’s because the moon is far away.
Each year astronomers(天文学家) discover new comets. Some of them are seen only once. They make one trip around the sun and then go away out into space. The sun’s gravity cannot hold them.
Other comets, like Halley, keep returning. They have been captured by the sun. Halley’s earliest visit was probably 3,000 years ago. It may keep returning for another 3,000 years.
But every time a comet goes around the sun, the comet loses part of itself. Gases and dust are pulled out of the comet. That’s why Halley is now dimmer（暗淡的） than it used to be. Next time it visits us, in 2062, it may be even dimmer. Each visit it may get dimmer and dimmer, until it finally disappears.
1.What is this passage mostly about?
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A．Comets and the sun. |
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B．Why comets are like snowballs. |
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C．Who discovered the first comet. |
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D．Facts about comets. |
2.How does the writer help the reader understand what a comet looks like?
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A．By telling about a famous one. |
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B．By explaining how far away it is. |
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C．By describing how fast it moves. |
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D．By describing it as a dirty snowball. |
3.What is the most likely reason the writer wrote this passage?
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A．To give information about comets. |
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B．To tell readers about famous comets. |
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C．To explain the importance of comets. |
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D．To encourage readers to look for comets. |
In the mid 1990s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies which sold things in stores. Then, there were Internet companies which didn’t have stores, they sold things only over the Net.
Traditional companies didn’t want to lose any business. Quickly, they created their own websites and began selling things over the Net. These are the so-called “brick and click” companies. Many stores are made of brick, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That’s where the name “brick and click” comes from.
By the late 1990s, e-businesses like Amazon.com, Buy.com, and eToys.com were in trouble. Their profits(利润) were not very high, and there was a lot of competition. Many of these businesses lost a lot of money, and in 2000, many e-businesses were out of business.
In the world of e-commerce(电子商务), companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will brick and click companies win the war? Only time will tell.
1.Many traditional companies created their own websites in .
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A．the early l990s |
B．the mid l990s |
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C．the late l990s |
D．1990s |
2.Why were Internet companies in a lot of trouble in the late 1990s?
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A．Competition was heavy. |
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B．Their websites were bad. |
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C．They didn’t know what to sell. |
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D．Their profits were high. |
3.Which would be a brick and click company?
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A．A clothing company with no website. |
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B．A bookseller with five stores and an Internet site. |
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C．A video seller with a big website but no stores. |
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D．A restaurant. |
People of Burlington are being disturbed by the sound of bells. Four students from Burlington College of Higher Education are in the bell tower of the church and have made up their minds to 15 the bells nonstop for two weeks as a protest（抗议） against heavy trucks which run 16 through the narrow High Street.“They not only make it 17 to sleep at night, but they are doing damage（损害） to our houses and shops of historical 18 ,”
said John Norris, one of the protesters.
“ 19 we must have these noisy trucks on the roads,” said Jean Lacey, a biology student, “why don’t they build a new road that goes round the town? Burlington isn’t much more than a 20 village. Its streets were never meant for heavy traffic”.
Harry Fields also studying 21 said they wanted to make as much noise as possible to force the government officials to realize what everybody was having to stand. “Most of them don’t live here anyway,” he said, “they come in for meetings and the Town Hall is soundproof（隔音的）, so they probably don’t 22 . It’s high time they realized the problem.” The fourth student, Liza Vernum, said she thought the public were mostly on their side, and even if they weren’t they soon would be.
I asked if they were 23 that the police might come to stop them.
“Not really,” she said, “actually we are suitable bellringers. I mean we are assistant bellringers for the church. There is no 24 against practising.”
I left the church with the sound of the bells ringing in my ears.
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—Thank you. It’s kind of you to help me with my English.
—________.
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A．Well done |
B．All right |
C．Take it easy |
D．That’s OK |
－Do you know ?
－Yes. She said she was in Sanya.
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A．where Mrs White spent her holidays |
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B．where did Mrs White spend her holidays |
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C．where will Mrs White spend her holidays |
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D．where Mrs White will spend her holidays |
