Several times each year the Queen gives afternoon tea parties at which guests are served tiny cakes filled with cream from her own cows. Cakes and sandwiches are bought in by footmen, yet you never see the Queen touch a thing. She simply sits beside a big silver plate, pouring cups of tea for everyone and carefully avoiding the cakes.
At cocktail parties the Queen moves from group to group, chatting informally, and manages to make one glass of diet drink to last a whole evening. Tours abroad are difficult because hosts seem to believe the warmth of their welcome must be shown with wonderful state banquets(宴). But the Queen has perfected the art of appearing to enjoy her meal without actually eating much. During one visit to the Pacific islands of Tonga, a specially-prepared dinner was set up in a hut made of wood and bamboo leaves. Deep holes were dug in the ground, filled with hot stones and baby pigs, and the pigs were slowly cooked with dry heat over several days. The Queen looked uneasily at her plate when she discovered a whole roast(烤) pig was her serving.
Then she became uneasy when a turkey, some meat, bananas and an apple were also carried in for each guest. So she depended on her old favourite trick of talking with her host, King Tupou IV, carrying on a warm conversation. At the same time she pushed her food around her plate and only ate a piece of turkey and some fruit.
Reporters traveling with her have noticed that the Queen will sometimes seem so interested in a foreign leader’s political(政治的) chat that she simply never has time to finish a meal before it is time to get up and make her speech. She will lift her fork, then put it down again to make another point, leaving almost all of her meal untouched.
1.The Queen talked with her host and carried on conversation with him. The purpose of doing this is ________.
A. to show her politeness
B. not to eat much
C. to show her great interest in food
D. to hide her dislike to the food
2.We can infer(推断) from the passage that tours are difficult for the Queen, because ________.
A. she has to meet with so many important leaders
B. she has to eat much oily food
C. hosts always give wonderful state banquets
D. she has so many reporters to travel with her
3.What probably is the Queen’s art of acting at state dinners?
A. Appearing to enjoy her meal without actually eating much.
B. Drinking much water.
C. Eating a piece of turkey and some fruit.
D. Eating much without being noticed.
The dodo was a ground nesting(筑巢), flightless bird. An adult dodo could grow to a height of about a meter and weigh between 45-50 pounds. The natural habitat of this kind of bird lay in the forest of Mauritius.
Seed(种子) and fruits that were found in the forest were the main food of the dodo birds. As they could easily get the food they required in the forest, they didn’t need to fly. As time went by, they finally lost the ability to fly. It turned out to be a major disadvantage for dodos, as they were left with no ability to protect themselves against human beings’ attacks in their natural habitat, which drove this kind of bird to extinction(灭绝).
The extinction of the dodo started in 1505, when Portuguese sailors set their foot on the Island of Mauritius. Before this, the dodo didn’t face any danger. People began to hunt them. It was not long before animals, like cats, pigs and monkeys, were also introduced to the island by humans. When ships arrived, the rats on these ships came onto the land. Though these animals were not able to attack huge dodos, it was easy for them to attack dodos’ nests on the ground. These animals continued to feed on dodo eggs.
The dodo became a relatively(相对地) rare bird in Mauritius at the beginning of the 17th century, and became extinct in the end. The last reported sighting of a dodo was in 1681.
1. Why did the dodo lose its ability to fly?
A. Because it liked walking on the ground.
B. Because it had no enemies in the forest.
C. Because it was too big to fly.
D. Because it didn’t need to fly to look for food.
2.What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?
A. Humans hunted for dodos for money .
B. Dodos’ nesting places were attacked by human beings.
C. The dodo became extinct because of human activity.
D. Other animals on the island lived mainly on dodos’ meat.
3. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The extinction of the dodo.
B. The appearance of the dodo.
C. The actions taken to protect the dodo.
D. The punishment for hunting the dodo.
This dictionary tells you about English words and how to use them in reading, writing and speaking English. It gives the meaning of words, and it can help you with spelling, word building, grammar and pronunciation as well.
To use your dictionary correctly, you need to understand how the dictionary works. At the front of the book, you will find some exercises to help you make the most use of your dictionary. If you look up the word “centre”, you will find two spellings for this word. “Centre” is used in British English, while “center” is used in American English. When there are differences between British and American spelling, the dictionary shows it with the word “BrE” for British English and “AmE” for American English.
The dictionary also helps you pronounce words correctly. If you turn to the inside back face, you will see all the phonetic letters(音标) with some words to show you how they are pronounced. Just have a look at this page when you’re not sure how to say a word.
The most important reason for using a dictionary is to find out the meaning of a word— its definition. In this dictionary, the definitions have been written using only 2000 words. This means that the definitions of even the most difficult words are simple and easy to understand.
1.According to the passage, “theater” is used in _______ English.
A. Australian B. Canadian
C. American D. British
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. All of the words in the dictionary have two spellings.
B. You can turn to the inside back face if you are not sure about the pronunciation.
C. There are two thousand words in this dictionary.
D. The dictionary can help you with listening, speaking, reading and writing.
3.The dictionary explains ________.
A. some of the difficult words
B. the words of two meanings
C. all the easy words
D. all the words in a simple way
Last summer a snowstorm hit a small town nearby. I saw, in the local newspaper, a picture of a young woman, a little boy and a younger standing in front of a totally destroyed(摧毁的) house, eyes wide open with fear. I noticed their clothing closely matched ours. This would be a good chance to teach my children to help those unlucky ones.
I their situation to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Martin, and encouraged the boys to donate some of their less favorite toys. My little daughter, Meghan, quietly when the boys piled up the old toys. After a while, Meghan walked up with Lucy, her much-loved doll, hugged tightly(紧紧抱在) in her arms. She put her round little into Lucy’s, giving her a final kiss, and then put her down on top of the others. “Oh, honey”, I said, “you don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much.”
Meghan nodded, trying to hold back her tears(眼泪). “Lucy makes me happy, Mummy. Maybe she’ll make that little girl happy, too.”
The boys watched in surprise as their baby sister put Lucy in the . When I stared(凝视) at Meghan, thinking over my donation, they went, without a word, to their room and both with their loved items. Martin thought for a short while, then looked over at Meghan and put his model car next to Lucy. Amazed, I took my old jacket out of the box, and put in it a new one I had bought the week before, hoping the young woman would it as much.
Anyone can give away what they no longer require, but true generosity is giving what you . I, who had meant to teach, was taught.
1.A. man B. woman C. boy D. girl
2.A. styles B. colors C. sizes D.prices
3.A. announced B. explained C. showed D. translated
4.A. watched B. behaved C. counted D. waited
5.A. eyes B. ears C. face D. head
6.A. gently B. quickly C. happily D. gratefully
7.A. car B. box C. room D. picture
8.A. played B. dealt C. returned D. disappeared
9.A. wash B. keep C. wear D. love
10.A. buy B. need C. mean D. dislike
— Reading is the best way to pass time on the train.
— ________. I never go traveling without a book.
A. You are joking B. It sounds like fun
C. I don’t think so D. That’s true
Sorry, Madam. You’d better come tomorrow because it’s ________ the visiting hours.
A. during B. at C. beyond D. before
