We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong. A day may begin well enough, but suddenly everything seems to get out of control. It seems as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions. Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time. The telephone rings and this means your troubles are beginning. While you are on the phone, the baby pulls the tablecloth off the table, destroying your half prepared meal. You hang up hurriedly and attend to your baby. Meanwhile, the meal gets burnt. As if this were not enough to bring you to tears, your husband arrives, unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner.
Things can go wrong on a big scale, as a number of people recently discovered in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. During the rush hour one evening two cars hit each other and both drivers began to argue. The woman immediately behind the two cars happened to be a learner. She suddenly got into a panic and stopped her car. This made the driver following her brake hard. His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake. As she was thrown forward, the cake went right through the windscreen and landed on the road. Seeing a cake flying through the air, a lorry driver who was drawing up alongside the car, pulled up all of a sudden. The lorry was loaded with empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the vehicle and on to the road. This led to yet another angry argument. Meanwhile, the traffic piled up behind. It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again. In the meantime, the lorry driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles. Only two dogs benefited from all this confusion, for they were happily having what was left of the cake. It was just one of those days!
1.According to the author’s opinion, ______.
A. a small matter may cause great trouble B. accidents may happen anytime
C. anyone may have trouble any day D. troubles always come in groups
2. When the telephone rings, ______.
A. your trouble is approaching if you are taking care of your baby
B. you should never go to answer it in a hurry unless you know it’s an important one
C. you’d better have your baby a little distant from your table before going to answer it
D. you’d better just let it ring all the way unless you can find someone to take care of
your baby
3. What did the police do after the accident?
A. They helped the drivers to go on with their journey.
B. They helped the truck-driver to clean up the road.
C. They would find out who should be fined.
D. They tried to stop the people from arguing.
4.From the story we can see ______.
A. such accidents are usually funny
B. such accidents are rather common
C. no one can explain why such accidents happen
D. some drivers should take responsibility for their carelessness
Birthdays often bring surprises. But this year’s surprise on the birthday of the great British playwright William Shakespeare is __21__ one of the most surprising.
On April 22, one day before his 441st birthday anniversary, experts __22__ that one of the most recognizable __23__ of William Shakespeare is a fake (赝品).
This __24__ that we no longer have a good __25__ of what Shakespeare looked like. “It’s very possible that many pictures of Shakespeare are unreliable because many of them are __26__ of this one,” said an expert from Britain’s National Portrait Gallery.
The _27_ comes after four months of testing. Experts from the gallery say the image — commonly known as the “Flower portrait” — was actually __28__ in the 1800s, two centuries __29_ Shakespeare’s death.
The art experts who work at the gallery say they used modern chemistry technology to __30__ the paint on the picture. These checks found traces (痕迹) of paint deep in the picture __31__ about 1814.
Shakespeare __32__ in 1616, and the date that appears on the portrait is 1609.
“We now think the portrait dates back to around 1818 to 1840. This was __33__ there was a new interest in Shakespeare’s__ 34__ ,” Tanya Cooper, the gallery’s 16th century curator (馆长) said.
The __35__ picture has often been used as a cover for __36__ of his plays. It is called the “Flower portrait” because one of its __37__, Desmond Flower, gave it to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
“There have always been __38__ about the authenticity (真实性) of the painting,” said David Howells, curator for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
“Now we know the truth, we can put the image in its proper place in the history of Shakespearean portraiture (画像技法),” he said.
Two other images of Shakespeare are also being studied as part of the investigation and the results will __39__later in May. But for now what Shakespeare really looked like will remain a __40__.
1.A. surely B. never C. hardly D. only
2.A. wondered B. doubted C. found D. considered
3.A. plays B. masterpiecesC. portraits D. photos
4.A. recommends B. advises C. decides D. means
5.A. news B. idea C. design D. expression
6.A. bargains B. productions C. copies D. prints
7.A. justice B. discovery C. invention D. deed
8.A. cloned B. developed C. painted D. copied
9.A. after B. before C. since D. until
10.A. try B. remove C. wash D. check
11.A. looking back B. dating from C. getting along D. starting with
12.A. died B. was born C. succeeded D. was buried
13.A. why B. when C. how D. what
14.A. stories B. pictures C. plays D. photos
15.A. real B. original C. valuable D. fake
16.A. requirements B. collections C. consequences D. playwrights
17.A. owners B. painters C. writers D. readers
18.A. causes B. problems C. questions D. orders
19.A. go about B. come out C. turn up D. break out
20.A. surprise B. problem C. secret D. mystery
---I was riding along the street and all of a sudden, a car cut in and knocked me down.
--- You can never be ______ careful in the street.
A. much B. very C. so D. too
A dozen ideas were considered _____ the chief architect decided on the design of the
building.
A. because B. before C. whether D. unless
Scientists are trying to develop a special material, ________ they will make use of in
spacecraft.
A. it B. one C. that D. what
He was absent for two weeks, so he had a lot of homework to ________.
A. make up B. put up C. take up D. pick up
