Pulling heavy suitcases all day in the summer is hard work, especially when you’re a thin 14-year-old. That was me in 1940—the youngest and smallest baggage boy at New York City’s Pennsylvania Railway Station.
After just a few days on the job, I began noticing that the other fellows were overcharging passengers.I’d like to join them, thinking, “Everyone else is doing it.”
When I got home that night, I told my dad what I wanted to do.“You give an honest day’s work,” he said, looking at me straight in the eye.“They’re paying you.If they want to do that, you let them do that.”
I followed my dad's advice for the rest of that summer and have lived by his words ever since.
Of all the jobs I've had, it was my experience at Pennsylvania Railway Station that has stuck with me.Now I teach my players to have respect for other people and their possessions.Being a member of a team is a totally shared experience.If one person steals, it destroys trust and hurts everyone.I can put up with many things, but not with people who steal.If one of my players were caught stealing, he'd be gone.
Whether you’re on a sports team, in an office or a member of a family, if you can’t trust one another, there’s going to be trouble.
1.What can be inferred about the baggage boys?
A.They could earn much, but they had to work hard.
B.Many of them earned money in a dishonest way.
C.They were all from poor families.
D.They were all thin, young boys.
2.What does the father's advice imply?
A.It is wrong to give more pay to the passengers.
B.Don’t believe them if they are paying you more.
C.Don’t follow others to overcharge the passengers.
D.It is difficult to work hard and live as an honest boy.
3.The writer can't put up with stealing because he thinks that ______.
A.it is a totally shared experience B.it is considered as the most dangerous
C.it does great harm to human relationship D.it may lead to the loss of his sports team
4.It can be concluded from the text that ______.
A.his father's advice helped him to decide which job to take up
B.working in the sports team was his most important experience
C.he learnt much from his shared experience with his team members
D.his experience as a baggage boy had a great influence on his later life
Shopping is not as simple as you may think! There are all sorts of tricks at play each time we reach out for that particular brand of product on the shelf. Colouring, for example, varies according to what the producers are trying to sell.Health foods are packaged (包装) in greens, yellows or browns because we think of these as healthy colours.Ice cream packets are often blue and expensive goods, like chocolates, are gold or silver.
When some kind of pain killer was brought out recently, researchers found that the colours turned the customers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective.
Eventually, it came on the market in a dark blue and white package—blue because we think of it as safe, and white as calm. The size of a product can attract a shopper.But quite often a bottle doesn’t contain as much as it appears to.
It is believed that the better-known companies spend, on average, 70 per cent of the total cost of the product itself on packaging!
The most successful producers know that it’s not enough to have a good product.The founder of Pears soap, who for 25 years has used pretty little girls to promote (推销) their goods, came to the conclusion: “Any fool can make soap, but it takes a genius to sell it.”
1.Which of the following may trick a shopper into buying a product according to the text?
A.The cost of its package. B.The price of the product.
C.The colour of its package. D.The brand name of the product.
2.The underlined part “the colours turned the customers off”(in Par A.3 ) means that the colours _____.
A.attracted the customers strongly B.had weak effects on the customers
C.tricked the customers into shopping D.caused the customers to lose interest
3.Which of the following is the key to the success in product sales?
A.The way to promote goods. B.The discovery of a genius.
C.The team to produce a good product. D.The brand name used by successful producers.
4.Which of the following would be the best title for this text?
A.Choice of Good Products B.Disadvantages of Products
C.Effect of Packaging on Shopping D.Brand Names and Shopping Tricks
If the world were a village of 1,000 people it would include:
• 584 Asians
• 124 Africans
• 95 Eastern and Western Europeans
• 84 Latin Americans
• 55 former Soviets (including Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other national groups)
• 52 North Americans
• 6 Australians and New Zealanders
The people of the village would speak:
• 165 Mandarin
• 86 English
• 83 Hindu/Urdu
• 64 Spanish
• 58 Russian
• 37 Arabic
The above list covers the mother tongues of only half the village.
One-third of the people in the village are children, and only 60 are over the age of 65.Just under half of the married women in the village have access to modem equipments.
This year 28 babies will be born.Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from cancer.Two of the deaths will be of babies born within the year.With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018.
In this village of 1,000 persons, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 receive only 2 percent of the income.
About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water.
Of the 670 adults in the village, half can not read nor write.
The village has a total yearly budget, public and private, of over $3 million—$ 3 ,000 per person if it is distributed evenly.Of the total $3 million:
$ 181,000 goes to weapons and warfare
$ 159,000 to education
$ 132,000 to health care
These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people.The other 900 are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together.
1.Which of the following is true about Mandarin according to the text?
A.Nearly one-third of Asian people speak Mandarin in the village.
B.About 8.25 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.
C.About 16.5 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.
D.Nearly all the Mandarin-speaking people are from Asia in the village.
2.Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the text?
A.Poverty. B.Education. C.Environment. D.Marriage.
3.The underlined part “have access to” (in Para. 4) means_____.
A.use B.buy C.produce D.try
4.The last sentence in the text implies that most of the people long for _____.
A.a peaceful world B.good education
C.better health care D.a life without anxiety
I fell in love with England because it was quaint (古雅)—all those little houses, looking terribly old-fashioned but nice, like dolls’ houses.I loved the countryside and the pubs, and I loved London.I’ve slightly changed my mind after seventeen years because I think it’s an ugly town now.
Things have changed. For everybody, England meant gentlemen, fair play, and good manners.The fair play is going, unfortunately, and so are the gentlemanly attitudes and good manners—people shut doors heavily in your face and politeness is disappearing.
I regret that there are so few comfortable meeting places.You’re forced to live indoors.In Paris I go out much more, to restaurants and nightclubs.To meet friends here it usually has to be in a pub, and it can be difficult to go there alone as a woman.The cafes are not terribly nice.
As a woman, I feel unsafe here.I spend a bomb on taxis because I will not take public transport after 10 p.m.I used to use it, but now I’m afraid.
The idea of family seems to be more or less non-existent in England. My family is well united and that’s typically French.In Middlesex I had a neighbour who is 82 now.His family only lived two miles away, but I took him to France for Christmas once because he was always alone.
1.The writer doesn’t like London because she ______.
A.is not used to the life there now
B.has lived there for seventeen years
C.prefers to live in an old-fashioned house
D.has to be polite to everyone she meets there
2.Where do people usually meet their friends in England?
A.In a cafe. B.In a restaurant. C.In a nightclub. D.In a pub.
3.The underlined part “it” (in Par A.4) refers to______.
A.a taxi B.the money C.a bomb D.public transport
4.The writer took her neighbour to France for Christmas because he ______.
A.felt lonely in England B.had never been to France
C.was from a typical French family D.didn't like the British idea of family
Since my family were not going to be helpful, I decided I would look for one all by myself and not tell them about it till I’d got one.
I had seen an agency (中介机构) advertised in a local newspaper.I rushed out of the __41_ in search of it.I was wildly excited, and as _42_ as if I were going on the stage.Finding the ___43__ quite easily, I ran breathlessly through a door which said “Enter without knocking, if you please.”
The simple atmosphere of the office __44__ me.The woman looked carefully at me __45_ through her glasses, and then 46 me in a low voice.I answered softly.All of a sudden I started to feel rather 47 She wondered why I was looking for this sort of 48 I felt even more helpless when she told me that it would be 49 to get a job without 50 I wondered whether I ought to leave, 51 the telephone on her desk rang.I heard her say:
“52 , I’ve got someone in the 53 at this very moment who might 54 .” She wrote down a 55 and held it out to me, saying: “Ring up this lady.She wants a 56 immediately.In fact, you would have to start tomorrow by cooking a dinner for ten people.”
“Oh yes,” said I ---- 57 having cooked for more than four in my life.I 58 her again and again, and rushed out to the 59 telephone box.I collected my thoughts, took a deep breath, and rang the number.I said confidently that I was just what she was looking for.
I spent the next few hours 60 cook books.
1.A.bed B house C.agency D.office
2.A.proud B.please C.nervous D.worried
3.A.family B.door C.place D.stage
4.A.calmed B.excited C.frightened D.disturbed
5.A.as usual B.for a while C.in a minute D.once again
6.A.advised B.examined C.informed D.questioned
7.A.encouraged B.dissatisfied C.hopeless D.pleased
8.A.place B.job C.advice D.help
9.A.difficult B.helpless C.possible D.unusual
10.A.ability B.experience C.knowledge D.study
11.A.after B.since C.until D.when
12.A.Above all B.As a matter of fact
C.As a result D.In spite of that
13.A.family B.house C.office D.restaurant
14.A.hire B.accept C.suit D.offer
15.A.letter B.name C.note D.number
16.A.cook B.help C.teacher D.secretary
17.A.almost B.never C.nearly D.really
18.A.answered B.promised C.thanked D.told
19.A.outside B.local C.closest D.nearest
20.A.borrowing B.buying C.reading D.writing
Lack of money _____ her not continuing her studies.
A.explains to B.cares for C.approves of D.accounts for