People who traveled in the past had to put up with many discomforts which we do not have nowadays, and of course they traveled far more slowly. Roads were bad indeed and you often found you could not get along at all because of the mud. In dry weather many places were thick in dust and when it was stormy, trees might fall across the road and it was nobody’s business to clear them away.
Ordinary people traveled on foot or on horseback, but everyone who could afford it kept a private coach. There were public coaches too. called “stage coaches” because long journeys took several days and were done in stages, with stops over night at inns. Some stage, coaches ran only in the summer months. Others all the year around. They were very slow and crowded and passengers often became in on the way because of the swaying (摇晃).
Break downs were frequent, since many roads were not smooth. So a coach might very easily turn right over. Early in the century coach and wagon builders were encouraged to put very wide wheels on their vehicles. So that these might level the roads a little. But many people complained of this since it slowed travel down a good deal.
Most travelers during the 18th century wrote bitterly about the state of the roads. One visitor to Sussex took six hours to travel nine miles in his coach; another wrote to a friend that on time of his journeys “almost every mile was marked by the overturn of a carriage”.
1.Which of the following mainly prevented people from travelling fast in the past?
A. Falling trees B. Thick dust
C. Muddy road D. Many discomforts
2. The underlined word “them” in the first paragraph refers to _____.
A. the discomforts B. the blocked roads
C. the dusty places D. the fallen trees
3. Public coaches were called “stage-coaches” because ______.
A. the long journey was broken into several parts
B. they were slow and crowded
C. they stopped for meals at inns
D. they served public people only
4. The sentence “almost every mile was marked by the overturn of a carriage” suggests that ______.
A. the coaches were of poor quality
B. the writers liked to describe the road bitterly
C. the road condition was really poor
D. travelling about in the past was extremely slow
______ is it _____ has made Peter _____ he is today?
A. What; that; what B. That; that; what C. What; what; that D. What; that; that
短文写作 （25分）
根据下图为某英语杂志写一篇题
为“The importance of communication”的稿件，
描述下面的漫画内容并谈谈自己的观点。
注意：1．词数120左右；
2．描述图片。
3．简单举例表达个人观点4．结构完整，语意连贯。
对话填空（10分）
阅读下面对话，掌握其大意，并根据所给首字母的提示，在标有题号的右边横线上写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。
A: Betty, we haven't been out for over a month. Let's go (76)s______this evening.
B: Fine. Where would you like to go? To see a film or to watch a play?
A: A modern (77)t_____is on this week. Let's go and watch it, shall we?
B: The newspaper said it was the (78)l______interesting play of the year.
A: How about the film "World Without Thieves"? That should be (79)e_______.
B: We've already seen it. Don't you (80)r_______?
A: Then let's go to the (81)n_____cinema. The film "Not One Less" is being (82)s_______.
B: Good. What time does it (83)s________.
A: 15 minutes ago. We just (84)m________it.
B: Well, Will you please go back together with me to get my (85)d______camera and then go to the park?
A:That’s a good idea.
In the old days, children were familiar with birth and death as part of life. Now this is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters who have never been close by during of the birth a baby and have never experienced the death of a family member.
Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes. When they get sick, we send them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit terminally (晚期的）in patients— even when those patients are their parents. This deprives（剥夺）the dying patient of family members during the last few days of his life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience.
Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed about 500 terminally in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit, not just to them but to the members of their families as well. We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential outcome.
It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients’ communication in order to truly understand their needs, fears and fantasies . Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly, and frankly about their trouble. Many of them shared with us their great need to be informed, to be kept up - to - date on their medical condition and to be told when the end was near. We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly were better able to cope with the coming of death and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance before death.
1. The elders of today's Americans _______ .
A. are often absent when a family member is born or dying
B. are unfamiliar with birth and death
C. usually see the birth or death of a family member
D. have often experienced the fear of death as part of life
2. Children in America are deprived of the chance to________.
A. visit a patient at hospital B. visit their family members
C. learn how to face death D. look after the patients
3. The need of a dying patient for people to accompany him shows________.
A. his wish for communication with other people B. his fear of death
C. his unwillingness to die D. he feels very upset about his condition
4. It may be concluded from the passage that________.
A. dying patients should be truthfully informed of their condition
B. dying patients are afraid of being told of the coming of death
C. most patients are unable to accept death until it can’t be avoided
D. most doctors and nurses understand what dying patients need
Beldon and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart．Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday-makers and other tourists．
Last August there was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel in Beldon．The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper．The Beldon Post:
FIRE AT SEABREEZE
Late last night firemen hurried to the Seabreeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom．The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire．We say again to all our visitors： “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed．” This was Beldon’s first hotel fire for five years．
The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one：
ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE
Last night Beldon firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Seabreeze Hotel．An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire．The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels．When I put my bedside light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp．” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield．
What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident．There was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel last August: that is one fact．Do we know anything else? Yes, we know that firemen went to the hotel．
Now what do you think of the rest of the “news” ?
1.Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?
A. It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers．
B.Beldon and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer．
C.A fire broke out at night in Seabreeze Hotel last summer．
D. Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter．
2.Which of the following are probably facts?
a.The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel．
b.A cigarette started the fire．
c.An old lamp started the fire．
d.The fire broke out at night．
e.There has never been a fire in Canfield．
A.b and c B. a and d C. c and e D.a and c
3.The Canfield Times used the headline like this in order to make its readers think _________.
A. hotels in Beldon often catch fire
B. hotels in Beldon don’t often catch fire
C. this was the second fire at the Seabreeze Hotel
D. Beldon was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe
4.The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Beldon Post by saying that _______．
A. the bedroom lamps were very old at the Seabreeze Hotel
B. the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place
C. such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years
D. the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things
