I fell in love with England because it was quaint (典雅)—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 ______.
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A．is not used to the life there now |
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B．has lived there for seventeen years |
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C．prefers to live in an old-fashioned house |
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D．has to be polite to everyone she meets there |
2.Where do people usually meet their friends in England?
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A．In a cafe. |
B．In a restaurant. |
C．In a nightclub. |
D．In a pub. |
3.The underlined part “it” (in Para. 4) refers to______.
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A．a taxi |
B．the money |
C．a bomb |
D．public transport |
4.The writer took her neighbour to France for Christmas because he ______.
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A．felt lonely in England |
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B．had never been to France |
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C．was from a typical French family |
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D．didn't like the British idea of family |
Everybody may have seen the film “Death on the Nile (n. 尼罗河)”, but nobody can imagine that the writer of the story, Agatha Christie, saved a baby in a most unusual way.
In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Deleville. Doctors there were unable to find out the cause of her illness, so she was sent to a famous hospital in London, where there were many excellent doctors. The baby was so seriously ill that a team of doctors hurried to examine the baby without delay. The doctors, too, were puzzled by the baby’s illness and they also became discouraged. Just then a nurse asked to speak to them.
“I think the baby is suffering from thallium (n. 铊) poisoning. ” said the nurse. “A few days ago, I read a story ‘A Pale Horse’ written by Agatha Christie. Someone uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are written in the book. They are exactly the same as the baby’s.”
“You’re very good at observing things,” said a doctor, “and you may be right. We’ll carry out some tests and find out whether the cause is thallium poisoning or not.”
The tests proved that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium. Once they knew the cause, the doctors were able to give her correct treatment. The baby soon got well and was sent back to Deleville A week later, it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (n. 杀虫剂) used in Deleville.
1.The baby was sent to a hospital in London because __________.
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A．her parents were living in London then |
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B．the hospitals in Deleville were full at that time |
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C．she was the daughter of a famous doctor in London |
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D．doctors in Deleville were not sure about the cause of her illness |
2.When the baby was first sent to the hospital in London, her illness was considered to be ____________.
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A．quite easy to treat |
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B．the result of thallium poisoning |
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C．a common one |
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D．extraordinarily serious |
3.From this passage it seems that the baby’s illness had something to do with __________.
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A．a dead writer |
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B．the water in Deleville |
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C．a dangerous murderer |
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D．a harmful substance (n. 物质) used to kill pests |
4.As far as we can tell from the story, Agatha Christie ____________.
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A．had never met this baby |
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B．had spent a long time studying the baby’s illness |
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C．visited the baby both in Deleville and London |
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D．gave the nurse some advice on the telephone |
—Which of the two books will you buy?
— I’ll buy _____ of them, because I’m not interested in them.
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A．one |
B．either |
C．none |
D．neither |
Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student．By using your time properly，you can do your homework more quickly．Learning to stuady is not difficult．
The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn．It doesn’t mean that you must always like the subject．It does mean，however，that you must be willing to do whatever is necessary to learn．Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things．Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life．Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier．Sometimes a subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly．Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them．
Here’s some advice for you：have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study，so that you can concentrate(集中)on your study without interruptions(中断，打断)；have everything ready before you sit down to study—a dictionary，paper，a pen and books；be sure you understand what you should learn before you start；read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things；when memorizing(记忆), first find out the main parts and then recite(背诵)the whole thing；check your homework after you finish it：never forget the importance of review and preview．
1.The main idea of the text is ．
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A．to prove that learning is not difficult |
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B．to make the readers be interested in study |
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C．to tell the importance of self-teaching |
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D．to tell the students how to study well |
2.The first thing to remember in studying is that ．
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A．you must like the subject |
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B．you must follow the teacher |
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C．you must enioy learning |
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D．you must study hard |
3.What does the underlined word“preview”mean?
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A．To go over． |
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B．To review again． |
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C．To view in advance． |
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D．To discuss． |
4.Which of the following is NOT the advice given in the text?
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A．To put a pen，paper and books beside you before study． |
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B．To study at any possible time and place． |
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C．To review and preview． |
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D．To pay attention to the most important things。 |
Due to climate change, Arctic ice is breaking up earlier in the spring, and its area is decreasing. This is creating problems for polar bears that make their homes off northern Alaska and in Hudson Bay.
Polar bears off Alaska normally hunt and raise their young on ice sheets that float on the ocean. But as the ice has melted, the polar bears have been forced to spend more time on land. There, they have begun to frequent beaches, feeding on the remains of whales caught by native hunters. For polar bears, this food is less nutritious than seals that they normally catch on ice sheets. The shrinking（减少） ice has also forced more polar bears into the ocean. In the past, they only had to swim short distances between ice sheets. But as the ice has shrunk, polar bears have been forced to swim longer and longer distances in the open ocean. This poses a severe danger during rough weather, and an increasing number of drowned polar bears have been observed.
In Hudson Bay, the ice breaks up three weeks earlier in the spring now than it did 20 years ago. Polar bears on Hudson Bay fast（绝食） during the summer, waiting for ice to form in the fall to hunt. Every year, the summer gets longer, and the bears get skinnier. Over the past 25 years, the average weight of the female bears has dropped 68 kg. This loss affects their ability to reproduce, and already the number of births has dropped 15 percent. Unless the bears can learn to survive these climate changes, these giants of the ice may one day disappear.
1.What is Arctic ice doing earlier each year?
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A．It’s freezing. |
B．It’s hardening. |
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C．It’s melting. |
D．It’s expanding. |
2.What is true of polar bears that are spending more time on land in Alaska?
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A．Their young are dying. |
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B．Their diet is changing. |
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C．Their health is improving. |
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D．Their families are growing. |
3.What do polar bears in Hudson Bay do during the summer?
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A．They claim territory(地域). |
B．They protect mates. |
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C．They hunt animals. |
D．They stop feeding |
4.In which publication would you most likely find this passage?
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A．Medical News |
B．Society Today |
C．Wildlife Journal |
D．Design Magazine |
Donald had his own difficulties in sleeping that night. Not just because of the bright lights of the shelter or people’s constant voices, it was the happening repeatedly nightmare that caused him to stay awake, to fear sleep. Donald was back in his small house. He did his best to ignore the howling winds outside his window. Yet he could not turn out the fearful whimpers (呜咽) of his little dog, or the uncomfortable sounds of his mother anxious in her room next door, unable to sleep through the storm despite her insistence they would be all right.
Donald did not want his mother to be upset, but on some level, he was glad to hear she was awake, It meant he was not alone in the dark. Though he was 12, until recently it was impossible for Donald to fall asleep unless his mother lay down by his side.
Suddenly there was a crash. Their living room window is shattered (打碎) by 125 miles an hour winds. Troy rushed to Donald and sat anxiously on the edge of his bed. He did his best to calm his mother, and she had to comfort him. Soon water was seeping (渗入) into the single floor house. Quickly it rose from ankle level to leg level. At Donald’s insistence, they pushed their way through the water --- now chest high --- toward the front door. When they fought their way into the living room, water rose to their chins.
It was a struggle for the boy and mother to stay afloat. In a total panic, desperate to hold on to something, Troy caught a curtain rod. She was breathing hard, shouting that she couldn’t swim.
Donald cried out, “Mom! Hold on!” Just then Donald also caught a floatable wood board.
1.The passage is mainly about _____.
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A．how a storm happened and caused damage |
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B．how a mother and son experienced a storm |
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C．how a mother and son survived a storm |
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D．how a son helped his mother in a storm |
2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the story?
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A．The rising water. |
B．The broken window. |
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C．The lucky dog. |
D．The noisy environment. |
3.Which phrase can describe Troy’s feelings at the beginning of the storm most suitably?
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A．In excitement. |
B．In calm. |
C．In anxiety. |
D．In despair. |
4.What will the author most probably talk about next?
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A．How the other people struggled in the storm. |
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B．Why the rainstorm happened. |
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C．What damage the rainstorm caused. |
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D．How Donald and Troy struggled to save themselves |
