Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family’s last vacation. It was my six-year-old son’s winter break from school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a weeklong trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York，So I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my nine-month-old and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport, to "earn" more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big-time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I've made a living looking for the best deals and exposing （揭露） the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money’s worth. I’m also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.
1.Why did Delta give the author's family credits?
A. They took a later flight.
B. They had early bookings.
C. Their flight had been delayed.
D. Their flight had been cancelled.
2.What can we learn about the author?
A. She rarely misses a good deal.
B. She seldom makes a compromise(妥协).
C. She is very strict with her children.
D. She is interested in cheap products.
3.What does the author do?
A. She's a teacher. B. She's a housewife.
C. She's a media person. D. She's a businesswoman.
4.What does the author want to tell us?
A. How to expose bad tricks. B. How to reserve airline seats.
C. How to spend money wisely. D. How to make a business deal.
A NATIONWIDE BESTSELLER
It’s likely that everything you learned about America’s ancient history is wrong.
The new book,1491, completely changes our understanding of the America before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.
DID YOU KNOW?
When Columbus landed there were probably more people in the Americas than there were in Europe.
The peoples of North America had such healthy life-styles that as late as the 19th century they continued to be the tallest people on earth.
Facts have shown that the Americas were populated as long as 33,000 years ago. 4,000 years ago Mesoamerican farmers developed corn in a feat (技艺) of genetic engineering that still isn’t completely understood.
COMMENTS ON 1491
“In the tradition of Jared Diamond & John MePhee, a totally new view of pre-Columbian America”.
－Richard Rhodes
“Attractively written and really absorbing, Charles C.Mann has produced a book that’s part detective story, part epic(史诗) and part tragedy(悲剧). He has taken on a vast topic: thousands of years, two huge continents, and cultures.”
－Charles Matthews,San Jese Mercary News
“Powerful and challenging”
－Alan Taylor,Washingto post
“A pleasure to read as well as a wonderful education”
－Howard Zinn
1.On the whole,1491 is a book mainly about America’s________.
A. life-styles B. population C. history D. agriculture
2.Which of the following is NOT TRUE about the comments on the book 1491?
A. It is interesting and instructive.
B. It is attractive and culturally related.
C. It is challenging and revolutionary.
D. It is humorous and persuasive
3.From this passage, we can learn_________.
A. people settled in the America a little earlier than 1492
B. North Americans were the tallest in the 18th century in the world
C. Mesoamencan farmers knew genetic engineering 5,000 years ago
D. the population in the Americas was smaller than that in Europe in 1492
Sooner or later, most students are to take some form of English examinations. Often the more successful students are better prepared. However, sometimes students who do well have better test taking skills. These abilities really have nothing to do with understanding English better. They are skills that make taking the test easier, and therefore provide better results.
Here are some very important—and often ignored—guidelines to taking a test successfully.
Do not insist on completing each question before going to the next. This is extremely important. Remember one question may only be worth one point! You will become nervous when you fail to find out its answer, making you lose your concentration and leading to worse results. However, answering the questions you are sure you know results in your being more relaxed and feeling more confident.
Go through the test a second time working out the answers to more difficult questions. Sometimes questions asked are answered in later questions asking for different things.
Usually(but not always) a strong first impulse(冲动) means we know the answer and we don’t really have to think about it too much. Going back to think about it usually makes you unsure and often causes a mistake. This is very common, so be very careful!
If you don’t know the answer, write something. If you are answering a 4 possibility multiple choice question you will still have a 25% chance of being correct!
Taking a test is as much for you as is for your teacher, so never cheat. If you cheat, you don’t help yourself in the long run.
1.In the first paragraph, the writer stresses the importance of ______.
A. better preparations for exams.
B. better understanding of English.
C. better skills at taking exams.
D. better results of taking exams.
2.When taking an exam, you are advised ______.
A. to first answer the questions which are easier to you.
B. to depend on your first impulse to answer the questions.
C. to search the test paper for all the answers to the questions.
D. to give up the questions whose answers you don’t know.
3.It is common that many students______.
A. pay much attention to their testing skills.
B. often give up a difficult test halfway.
C. often get higher results by cheating.
D. don’t believe in their first impulse.
4.What would be the best title of the passage?
A. Effective Studying Methods.B. Effective Test Taking Skills.
C. Getting Better Exam Results.D. Being Successful Students.
Perfect Disaster
All around us buildings shook. We decided to leave the town. We stopped once we had left the buildings behind us. The carts were moving in opposite directions, though the ground was perfectly flat, and they wouldn't stay in place even with their wheels blocked by stones.
In addition, it seemed as though the sea was being sucked(吸) backwards, as if it were being pushed back by the shaking of the land. Certainly the shoreline moved outwards, and many sea animals were left on dry sand.
Behind us were frightening dark clouds that opened up to show fire—like lightning, but bigger. Not long after that the clouds reached down to the ground and covered the sea. Now came the dust, though still thin. I looked back. A dense cloud appeared behind us, following us like a flood pouring across the land. Then a darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night, but more like being in a closed and unlighted room. You could hear women and children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children; they could only recognize them by their voices.
Darkness and ashes came again, a great weight of them. We stood up and shook the ash off again and again; otherwise we would have been covered with it and crushed by the weight.
At last the cloud became thinner and thinner until it was no more than smoke or fog. Soon there was real daylight. The sight that met our still terrified eyes was a changed world, buried in ash like snow.
―from Pliny's letter to a friend
1.Pliny left the town after _____.
A. the eruption B. the sky became dark
C. the buildings began shaking D. the sea went back
2.The carts wouldn't stay still because _____.
A. the earth was shaking
B. the sea sucked them backwards
C. the wheels had stones under them
D. the lightening frightened the horses
3.The reason why it was dark is that _____.
A. it was very late at night B. clouds of ash covered the sun
C. there was a very bad storm D. there was no moon that night
4.People tried to find their relations by calling out their names and .
A. listening to their voices B. running about looking for them
C. shaking the ash off people D. watching people as they ran past
One day I took a bus with my girlfriend. It was so that we stood for several stops until a vacant seat was for her.
Then a pretty girl rushed towards me, saying, "Hi, where are you going?" I was so struck by the stranger that I had a hard time trying to her. Clearly she had taken me somebody else. I returned her greeting with politeness, to give explanation to my girlfriend later.
Noticing my dialogue with somebody else, my girlfriend her eyes and found she was pretty. She asked jealously, "Who's she?" The pretty girl, quite of the situation, spoke out first, "Hi, let me myself. I'm Nancy, used to be . Very glad to meet you." She behaved very .
But I was to search in my memory for someone called Nancy among my neighbors. I was worrying how to explain this to my girlfriend the pretty girl again turned to me, "Will you give me your cell phone number so that we keep contacts later?" I had to submit to her . Then the girl got off the bus at the next stop.
A minute later I got a short on my phone－from a stranger. My girlfriend my phone and read the note. It was from the girl, who said, "Just now, two thieves tried to your pocket. I had to act as an acquaintance to draw your attention. I should have left at the stop but gave up as I noticed these two thieves also to leave at the same stop. Because of the I delayed my departure. Now you' ll understand all I have done to you. Wish you luck."
1.A.tiring B．slowC．crowded D．messy
2.A.ready B．availableC．special D．suitable
3.A.identify B．realizeC．remind D．judge
4.A.on B．byC．with D．for
5.A.preferring B．planningC．managing D．promising
6.A.fixed B．openedC．raised D．focused
7.A.proud B．carefulC．afraid D．aware
8.A.explain B．enjoyC．introduce D．help
9.A.partners B．neighborsC．friends D．colleagues
10.A.naturally B．generouslyC．cautiously D．normally
11.A.in a hurry B．at a lossC．at ease D．in time
12.A.while B．beforeC．when D．until
13.A.would B．canC．should D．must
14.A.request B．questionC．command D．opinion
15.A.suggestion B．warningC．notice D．message
16.A.removed B．seizedC．found D．caught
17.A.steal B．reachC．get D．pick
18.A.terminal B．formerC．previous D．latter
19.A.pretending B．intendingC．demanding D．announcing
20.A.incident B．matterC．accident D．affair
It is reported that a powerful earthquake ______the Italian island of Sicily early this morning.
A. happened B. caused C. occurred D. struck
