Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
Almost everybody in America will spend a part of his or her life behind a shopping cart(购物手推车). They will, in a lifetime, push the chrome-plated contraptions many miles. But few will know—or even think to ask—who it was that invented them.
Sylvan N. Goldman invented the shopping cart in 1937. At that time he was in the supermarket business. Every day he would see shoppers lugging(吃力地携带) groceries around in baskets they had to carry.
One day Goldman suddenly had the idea of putting baskets on wheels. The wheeled baskets would make shopping much easier for his customers, and would help to attract more business.
On June 4, 1937, Goldman’s first carts were ready for use in his market. He was terribly excited on the morning of that day as customers began arriving. He couldn’t wait to see them using his invention.
But Goldman was disappointed. Most shoppers gave the carts a long look, but hardly anybody would give them a try.
After a while, Goldman decided to ask customers why they weren’t using his carts. “Don’t you think this arm is strong enough to carry a shopping basket?” one shopper replied.
But Goldman wasn’t beaten yet. He knew his carts would be a great success if only he could persuade people to give them a try. To end this, Goldman hired a group of people to push carts around his market and pretend they were shopping! Seeing this, the real customers gradually began copying the phony(假冒的)customers.
As Goldman had hoped, the carts were soon attracting larger and larger numbers of customers to his market. But not only did more people come—those who came bought more. With larger, easier-to-handle baskets, customers unconsciously bought a greater number of items than before.
Today’s shopping carts are five times larger than Goldman’s original model. Perhaps that’s one reason Americans today spend more than five times as much money on food each year as they did before 1937—before the coming of the shopping cart.
1.What do the underlined words “chrome-plate contraptions” in Paragraph 1 refer to ? ( no more than 3 words)
2.What was the purpose of Goldman’s invention? (no more than 8 words)
3.Why was Goldman disappointed at first? (no more than 6 words)
4.Why did Goldman hire people to push carts around his market? (no more than 10 words)
Read the following passage. Complete the diagram by using the information for the passage. Write NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS for each answer.
Since it was founded a year ago, the babysitting pool has become increasingly popular in the United States. More and more mothers have joined it and have benefited from it. What attracts them most is the idea that you pay your babysitter not in cash, but in paper cards. When you join the babysitting pool, you are given thirty cards, which are worth 30-minute babysitting time each. For each half an hour while you are gone, the babysitter gets paid one card.
There are rules regulating this service. You should not watch more than three kids at a time including your own. On big holidays, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, the babysitter should be paid twice as much, which means two cards for every half an hour. When you leave the babysitting pool, you should return all the cards. If you are out of cards, you cannot use money instead. You should have to baby-sit for others to earn enough cards so that you will have them handy when you yourself need a babysitter.
Many mothers think highly of this service. It keeps children in constant touch with one another, and makes life easier for the mothers. Since in most cases, the babysitter is the mother who watches other kids at her own home, it is still possible for her to do her own things while the kids play with each other. In fact most mother babysitters find that their own kids are less of a monster and easier to watch when they are around other playmates. Moreover, since the babysitting pool service does not involve money, it will not be a financial loss to the family.
In the past year, the babysitting pool has helped so many mothers with their work that they all think that it is indeed a good community service worth keeping.
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive(漂亮的) people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants (被告). But in the executive (行政的；管理的) circle, beauty can become
a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plain(平常的，不漂亮的) men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine and an attractive man more manly than the less attractive ones. Thus, an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the "manly" qualities required.
This is true even in politics. "When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently," says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.
1.The word "liability" most probably means __________.
A. disadvantage B. advantage C. misfortune D. trouble
2.In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness ________.
A. makes women look more honest and capable B. strengthens the qualifies required
C. is of no importance to women D. often enables women to succeed quickly
3.Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _______.
A. turns out to be a disadvantage to men
B. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women
C. affects men and women alike
D. has as little effect on men as on women
4.It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often _____.
A. practical B. supportive C. old-fashioned D. one-sided
5. The author writes this passage to ________________.
A. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
B. discuss the disadvantages of women being attractive
C. demand equal rights for women
D. state the importance of appearance
The China Daily newspaper group is looking for English-language senior business editors, senior copy editors, copy editors and graphic designers to strengthen its international team. We offer a competitive salary package, free accommodation(住处，住所) with utilities paid for, 90 per cent medical reimbursement, a seven-day paid leave, eleven-day public holidays and a return ticket to the country of residence.
Senior Business Editor
You must:
★ assist the business editor in setting goals and working on achieving them;
★ be an excellent team person who can generate ideas and think creatively and be able to rewrite totally if needed and mentor junior staff;
★ ideally have been working or have worked in a position of responsibility and understand what leadership entails;
★ have had at least five years’ editing experience working on editing the Business Desk and be familiar with industry software.
Senior Copy Editor
You must:
★ work on shifts in the Business Desk and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
★ edit or rewrite copy and give snappy headlines and captions;
★ have had at least two years’ editing experience working on editing desks and be familiar with industry software.
Copy Editor
You must:
★ be good at editing or rewriting copy and writing snappy headlines and captions;
★ be able to work on shifts for different pages, and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print;
★ have two years of editing experience working on copy desks, and be familiar with industry software.
Graphic Designer
You must:
★ have excellent skills in information graphics;
★ be good at illustrations and freehand drawings;
★ be experienced in newspaper or magazine layouts;
★ have a good sense of typography;
★ have good news judgment;
★ be well-versed with Macintosh software, including In Design, Illustrator and Photoshop;
★ be fluent in English.
For enquiries or to apply, write to job @ chinadaily.com.cn.
1.What is the purpose of this passage?
A. To describe the positions of the China Daily newspaper group.
B. To describe the working conditions of the China Daily newspaper group.
C. To advertise for recruiting some good employees.
D. To tell you how to become part of this group.
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The employees(雇员) have to pay for their own food and lodging(住所).
B. The workers there can enjoy a seven-day leave without pay.
C. The senior business editor’s only job is to help the business editor to set goals.
D. The employees have the right to enjoy eleven-day public holidays.
3. How many positions need editing experience?
A. 1. B. 2. C. 3. D. 4.
4.What is NOT required about Graphic Designer?
A. Be well-versed with Photoshop. B. Have excellent skills in information graphics.
C. Having a good sense of typography. D. Writing snappy headlines and captions.
5.Which can be the title of the advertisement?
A. China Daily: New Employees Wanted B. China Daily: Newspaper
C. China Daily: An International Team D. China Daily: The Best Working Condition
I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth.”
I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface”.
As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
I posted the letter and waited for her answer, none came.
My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace. It seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
Now the present of her desk told me that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work though she’d never been able to. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside — a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times.
Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.
1.The writer began to love her mother’s desk _______.
A. after Mother died B. before she became a writer
C. when she was a child D. when mother gave it to her
2.The passage shows that _______.
A. Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter
B. Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done
C. Mother cared much about her daughter in words
D. Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words.
3. The world “gulf” in the passage means _______.
A. deep understanding between the old and the young.
B. different ideas between the mother and the daughter.
C. free talks between mother and daughter.
D. part of the sea going far in land.
4.What did Mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?
A. She had never received the letter.
B. For years, she often talked about the letter.
C. She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in all her life.
D. She read the letter again and again till she died.
5. What’s the best title of the passage?
A. My letter to Mother B. Mother and Children
C. My Mother’s Desk D. Talks between Mother and me.
Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with ONE word that best fits the context.
With the widespread use of the computer, many middle school and primary school students can type very fast. 1. ____, their handwriting is becoming worse 2.____ before. Wrongly written characters and untidy writing are the common problems. The biggest problem is 3. they don’t think it is necessary to practice handwriting any more since typing can take the place of 4. . To me, I always prefer handwriting 5._____ typing. I think handwriting is 6.______ better way to express my feeling. 7.___, Chinese characters are the important part of Chinese culture and typing can never take the place of it. Therefore as a Chinese, we should 8. stop practicing writing them to avoid the wrongly written character and the untidy writing.
