London, Dec.17 (Xinhua) “Drivers on London Underground trains have started reading out sayings from great thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi , Frindrich Engels, and Albert Einstein in a bid to cheer up passengers ,” officials said. As well as the usual announcements urging passengers to “mind the steps” and warning of delays, the sayings such as “ an ounce ( 盎司) of action is worth a ton of theory” have taken the place of commercial ad in the underground carriages .
New York, Oct.8 (Xinhua) Once as a famous actor, now the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to abandon textbooks in favor of digital ones. He plans to launch this program in August next year when California’s high-school pupils will have access to online math and science text. But some teachers wonder whether his idea of getting rid of textbooks might end up costing more not less, with digital textbook going for $300.
Amsterdam, Nov.30 (Xinhua) A few cups of coffee a day may not only help to put off the disease—dementia(痴呆) but also can treat it, according to Dr. Arendash, who led the research. After giving mice with memory damage water containing caffeine, he found the mice developed better memories and quick thinking. The reason is that caffeine is a safe drug for most people. It easily enters the brain and directly affects the disease process. He suggested people should drink five eight–ounce cups of ordinary coffee, two cups of strong ‘coffee shop’ coffee, 14 cups of tea, or 20 cola drinks to get the same amount of 500 milligrams of caffeine.
1.What’s the purpose of putting up sayings on the underground carriages in London?
A．to help passengers to kill time.
B．to encourage passengers to learn.
C．to lift the spirits of passengers.
D．to make money as a commercial ad.
2.What can we conclude from the second news?
A．digital textbooks will replace traditional textbooks.
B．online math is already available to high-school pupils .
C．digital textbooks are convenient to carry anywhere.
D．Not all the teachers support their governor’s idea.
3.Which of the following statements is true from the third news?
A．The more coffee you drink, the less chance there will be for dementia.
B．Caffeine can make mice become more and more intelligent and energetic.
C．Caffeine can affect the process of the disease—dementia and treat it.
D．Caffeine is a safe drug for all the people for everyday use so enjoy it.
When I worked as a waitress in Chicago, US, my coworkers and I would sigh whenever we heard someone with a foreign accent coming into our restaurant. We knew what it meant to serve a non-American: no tip. We would work just as hard as we always did, but we might not get paid.
Americans have an unspoken rule about tipping: they give tips to almost everyone who offers them a service of some kind. Americans tip their waiters, barbers and taxi drivers. An appropriate tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the amount charged for the service (But the charge for the tip doesn’t appear on the bill. The customer is expected to add it himself/herself.) Tipping less than this sends a message to your waiters that you think they’ve done a bad job serving you. And to leave no tip at all is simply unacceptable.
It’s not that American waiters are greedy. In many countries, waiters are paid a salary for their work. They’ll earn money even if no one comes into the restaurant. This system offers much more safety for waiters than the American version. In the US, waiters know that a night without customers means a night without pay.
Some countries include a tip for waiters – a “service charge” – on the bill itself. Since the tip is included with the other charges, waiters don’t need to worry about people forgetting to tip. But in the US, waiters do not receive a salary, and service charges only appear on bills when there are six or more customers at the table.
Since almost all American customers are familiar with the system, they know to add a tip without being told. But visitors to the US may expect waiters to be paid a salary, or think that the tip is included on the bill.
So much as we waiters loved hearing stories about other places from our foreign customers, we were always nervous when they got ready to leave the restaurant. We were never sure what to expect.
1.If you order $200 worth of food, which of the following is a proper total payment?
A．$200 B．$215 C．$220 D．$230
2.Why don’t some foreigners tip a waiter according to the writer?.
A．because they are unfamiliar with the American tip system .
B．because they are too mean to give tips to any waiter.
C．because they have difficulty communicating with waiters.
D．because they are not really easy to become satisfied.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. The service charge never appear on the bill in the USA.
B. Customers are usually expected to tip waiters in the USA.
C. Dining out in other countries is much more expensive than in the USA.
D. Waiters in other countries earn much more money than those in the USA.
4.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A．To complain about the difficult life of American waiters.
B．To warn other waiters not to serve any foreign customer.
C．To call on foreign customers to leave tips for American waiters.
D．To tell us something about American waiters’ salary system.
When people talk of a virus these days, chances are that they are talking about computer virus that have the power wipe out all the valuable work people may have stored in their computers. Imagine, the virus has the power to make military systems, giant banks, airports, hospitals and traffic system come to stop!
What does a computer virus do? It targets electronic objects that are programmed. The virus spreads through connections between these electronic objects. For virus spreading experts, e-mail is a favorite method of sending their destructive (破坏性的) weapon.
But scientists warn that this is not the worst that can happen. There is more. People are also connected through phones. The next virus may actually target mobile phones, especially those that are programmed to do many tasks apart from just communicating. It would then be easy for a virus to infect those programs and create major disorder.
For example, these virus may have the power to record your phone conversations and make others hear them. They create problems with your electronic money accounts, or they could create a mountain of telephone bills for calls you never made. And that would be a disaster. A report on this was published in the New Scientist recently.
One way out would be to have simpler phones with not so many different functions. This would mean there would mean there would be fewer programs for the virus to attack. But mobile phone producers are in a fix. People on longer want an electronic item to perform just one task. They want more and more functions added. That would mean more software programs to make the mobile phone perform all those functions. And that means the possibility of more viruses.
1.It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A．computer viruses are not so as destructive as mobile phone viruses
B．people should be careful when receiving e-mails
C．people find it difficult to use electronic equipment correctly
D．having electronic money accounts brings people a lot of convenience
2.Which of the following shows that your mobile phone is infected with a virus?
A．You can’t hear the person who answers the phone clearly
B．You can’t send e-mails with your mobile phone
C．your phone bill increases for unknown reasons
D．You can hear other people’s phone conversations
3.What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
A．Mobile phone producers have made no progress.
B．Mobile phone producers are proud of their products.
C．Mobile phone producers are faced with a difficult situation.
D．Mobile phone producers refused to fight against virus.
4.For whom is the passage written?
A．Government officials B．Virus spreading experts
C．Electronic scientists D．Mobile phone users
After forty-three years I have forgotten the name of the old lady, who was a 16 on the newspaper route in my hometown when I was a twelve-year-old boy. Yet it remains in my memory that she taught me a lesson in 17 that I shall never forget.
On a winter afternoon, my fellows and I were throwing stones onto the slanted (倾斜的) roof of the old lady’s house to observe how the stones 18 off the roof’s edge and shot out like missiles. I found a 19 smooth rock and threw it out, but it 20 straight not for the roof but for a small window of the old lady’s house. 21 the sound of broken glass, we knew we were in trouble. We ran faster than any of our 22 flew off her roof.
I was so 23 about getting caught that first night 24 I was not concerned about the old lady with the broken window in winter. 25 , a few days later I started to feel guilty for her misfortune. She 26 greeted me with a smile when I gave her the newspaper, but I was no longer able to act 27 in her presence.
I 28 my mind that I would save my newspaper delivery money, and in three weeks I had seven dollars. I put the money in an envelop with a 29 explaining that I was sorry for breaking her window and hope that the seven dollars would 30 the cost for repairing it.
I waited until it was 31 to avoid being seen, and put the letter I didn’t 32 into her yard. To my relief, I could have the 33 of, once again, looking straight into the old lady’s kind eyes.
The next day, I handed the old lady her newspaper. She thanked me and gave me a bag of cookies she had made herself. 34 eating cookies, I felt an envelope and pulled it out of the bag. After opening it, I was shocked. Inside were the seven dollars and a short note 35 , “I’m proud of you.”
1. A．teacher B．customer C．relative D．friend
2. A．happiness B．carelessness C．forgiveness D．kindness
3. A．rolled B．flowed C．ran D．floated
4. A．simply B．mostly C．fairly D．roughly
5. A．followed B．came C．lay D．headed
6. A．At B．On C．For D．From
7. A．athletes B．missiles C．windows D．fellows
8. A．excited B．disappointed C．embarrassed D．frightened
9. A．as B．that C．when D．though
10. A．Therefore B．Meanwhile C．However D．Besides
11. A．yet B．still C．even D．already
12. A．cautiously B．constantly C．cheerfully D．comfortably
13. A．take up B．made up C．set up D．put up
14. A．paper B．notice C．note D．message
15. A．cover B．offer C．afford D．pay
16. A．rainy B．fine C．cloudy D．dark
17. A．sign B．read C．expect D．want
18. A．ability B．freedom C．chance D．desire
19. A．Unless B．Until C．Because D．While
20. A．saying B．writing C．telling D．explaining
---Did you enjoy last night’s party?
---No. .
A．It couldn’t be more exciting B．It couldn’t be more boring
C．It couldn’t be more impressive D．It couldn’t be more anxious
To be honest, I would rather my dog out, which made so many troubles.
A．not had let B．I had not le C．not let D．not have let
