In the United States, it is not usual to telephone someone early in the morning. If you telephone early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate(立即的) attention. So it is with the telephone calls made after 11:00 pm. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he may think that it’s a matter of life and death. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance.
In social life, time plays a very important part. In the USA guests are likely to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party reaches them only three or four days before the party date. But it is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be thought silly to make an appointment(约会) too far ahead because plans which are made for a date more than a week away may be forgotten. The meaning of time is not the same in different cultures that treat time differently; being on time is valued highly in American life, for example. If people are not on time, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible(责任). In the USA no one would think of keeping a business friend for an hour; it would be too impolite. A person who is 5 minutes late is asked to make a shout apology (道歉). If he is less than 5 minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation(解释), though perhaps he will not complete the sentence.
1.A call at midnight would mean_________.
A．the matter is less important
B．the matter is too difficult to handle
C．the matter requires immediate attention
D．it is a matter of life and death
2.According to the passage, time plays a very important part in__________.
A．everyday life B．personal life
C．getting along with others D．business
3.In the passage, the writer suggests that invitation cards should be sent___________.
A．three or four days before the party date in all cultures
B．three or four days before the party date in some cultures
C．three or four days before the party date in the USA
D．at your chosen time
Having returned from her round trip (往返旅程), the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes (应给予) me￡12,” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office, “you sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me ￡12.”
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, madam,” he said politely, “I’ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sunburnt,” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”
“Yes,” She answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”
“That’s fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can’t swim a bit yet. Of course, she’s only three…”
“I’m four,” the child said proudly. “I’ll be four and a half.” Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, madam,” he said. “But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”
“Err, well…” the woman looked at the child. “I mean… she hasn’t started school yet. She’s only four.”
“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, madam. A child’s return ticket to Jersey costs… let me see…￡13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.50. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…”
The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the office.
1.The woman was angry because__________.
A．she couldn’t use the ticket for her round trip
B．she had to return home a day earlier than she had planned
C．she spent more money than she had expected
D．Harry had sold her a ticket to Jersey where there was no sailing
2.Harry started talking to the little girl__________.
A．because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do
B．because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl
C．because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice
D．when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl
3.The woman left the office without saying anything because__________.
A．she wanted to go home and get money for the child’s ticket
B．she was so angry that she didn’t want to have anything more to do with the young man
C．she was moved by Harry’s kindness
D．she knew she would have to pay the railway if she insisted
History, as we know, is filled with facts, with places, names, dates, and events.
History is also filled with feelings, with pain, joy, excitement, and fear.
Facts are set down in books, but what happens to feelings? How can you take the pain, for example, and write it into a history book? You can’t. But you can put it to music. Take the blues for example.
The blues started when black musicians in the South began to sing about their hard times, those times which made them feel blue. The early blues was the beginning of other musical styles, from jazz to rock and roll.
Music, you might say, is a record of feelings.
Of course, facts are important: the civil rights movement, the race for space, the Vietnam War. But the feelings behind these events – the pride of being black, the excitement of a rocket blast (点火起飞), the pain of a war – are also an important part of history.
1.In the passage, the word “blue” and the word “blues” are related to __________.
A．a feeling and a kind of music B．a color
C．a kind of music and a person D．people and their feelings
2.According to the writer’s idea, what can make people feel blue?
A．A history book B．Music.
C．History. D．Hard times.
3.Besides the above, the writer also explains ___________.
A．what caused the Vietnam War
B．the feelings behind some important events
C．the relation between history and music
D．why he wrote the article
完形填空 先通读下面的短文，掌握其大意, 然后从下面四个答案中选择可以填入相应空白处的最佳答案。 (本大题共10分，每小题1分)
Once there was a king who told some of his people to dig a pond (池子).The king then told his people that one person 1 each family had to bring a glass of milk during the night and put it into the pond. So, by the morning, the pond should be 2 of milk.
After 3 the order, everyone went home. As one man prepared his milk, he thought that since everyone was bringing milk, he would just 4 a glass of water and put that into the pond instead. 5 it was dark at night, no one would notice it, so he quickly went and put the water into the pond and 6 home.
In the morning, the king went to visit the pond. To his surprise, the pond was only filled with water! What happened? Yes! Everyone had the same idea 7 that man. They all thought, “I don’t have to waste my milk. Someone else will do it.”
Dear friends, when you plan to help poor people or people in trouble, do not think that 8 will take care of it. 9 , it starts with you. If you don’t do it, no one else will, so change yourself and make a 10 .
1. A．at B．from C．on D．with
2. A．filled B．empty C．crowded D．full
3. A．giving B．refusing C．receiving D．offering
4. A．hide B．steal C．waste D．drink
5. A．If B．Since C．While D．After
6. A．left B．came C．returned D．arrived
7. A．with B．to C．as D．of
8. A．others B．the others C．none D．neither
9. A．However B．Instead C．Therefore D．Of course
10. A．face B．mistake C．living D．difference
--- Are you going to take part in the speech competition?
--- _________. It’s too good a chance to miss.
A．No problem B．Thanks a lot
C．Never mind D．That’s for sure
Moyan is the first Chinese person ________ the Nobel Prize in Literature. It’s the first time the Chinese people _________ such great achievements in this field.
A．to win; have achieved B．to win; to achieve
C．has won; have achieved D．has won; to achieve
