I was 18 when Tim and I began to date. Shy and quiet, I’d met his parents once before but hadn’t ventured to say more than “ Hello”. This particular evening, however, we were taking them out to dinner for their anniversary and I wanted to make a good impression.
Tim and his parents arrived and I was out the door in a flash. My good impression began with “ punctual”. I sat in the backseat beside Tim nervously watching his father’s eyes glance into the rearview mirror to examine me.
Tim and his parents had already decided on their favorite Mexican restaurant and that was fine with me; the dim lighting would hide the rising flush of my cheeks, and if anyone noticed, I could blame it on the peppers. With proper table manners I managed to survive halfway through dinner without making any unforgivable mistakes. However, in the midst of conversation I reached for my iced tea, raised the glass to my lips and very quickly discovered I had picked up the wrong glass.
I quickly lowered the glass and set it back but it was too late; I had burnt my eyebrows, the hair in my nose, and curl over my forehead! I looked up slowly, praying no one had seen me, but all eyes at the table had seen and each face stared at me in shocked silence. Excusing myself, I ran to the restroom.
I would have hidden there forever but I’d barely gotten in the door when Tim’s mother arrived. “ Ah, honey,” she said, holding out her arms to me. “ Everything will be just fine.”
Tim and I eventually married. We had a small ceremony and a family reception afterwards held at the very restaurant where this incident occurred. This time, however, I didn’t drink any candles… only a Margarita（一种鸡尾酒名）; they were served in different glasses.
1.It can be inferred from the passage that___________.
A. the author had never met her parents-in-law before dinning together
B. Tim and the author took the bus to get to the restaurant
C. Tim’s father was curious to know about the author
D. Tim’s mother was not satisfied with the author’s behavior
2.According to the passage, the author______________.
A. felt very sorry for being late meeting Tim’s parents
B. mistook wine for drinks and got drunk
C. had her eyebrows burnt because of her nervousness
D. left a bad impression on Tim’s parents
3.What would be the best title of the passage?
A. Please Don’t Drink the Candles
B. Please Don’t Light the Candles
C. Please Behave Yourself
D. You Can Never Make a First Impression for a Second Time
If you bought some candy months ago but never ate it, how can you tell whether it’s still safe to eat? The easiest way is to check the “expiration date (保质期)” printed on the wrapper. If that date has already passed, you’re likely to throw the candy away. But is that really necessary?
According to a new report from the US Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), tons of food is wasted each year, largely because people don’t fully understand what expiration dates, or “use-by dates”, actually mean.
Food dating was introduced in 1970s because customers wanted more information about the things that they were eating. When they first showed up, use-by dates were only supposed to indicate freshness because producers wanted their products to be tasted in their best conditions.
But the truth is that these dates aren’t related to the risk of food poisoning or food-born illness, according to Time News. However, most customers misinterpreted use-by dates and related them to the safety of the food, and they still largely do now.
Eggs, for example, can still be eaten three to five weeks after purchase even though the use-by date is much earlier. When their use-by dates pass, strawberry juice may lose its red color and biscuits may lose their crunch（松脆的口感）, but they are not harmful.
“It’s a confusing subject, the difference between food quality and food safety,” said Jena Roberts, vice president of National Food Lab, a US food testing company. “Even in the food industry I have colleagues who get confused.”
This is why scientists are calling for a standard explanation to be printed following the use-by dates. “We want this to be clearly communicated so customers are not misinterpreting the date and contributing to a lot of waste,” said Dana Gunders, a staff scientist with the NRDC.
But this won’t be a mistake that is easy to correct since people have believed it for so long. Another problem is that the quality levels of different foods change differently-some are still eatable long after their use-by date while others are not.
As a result, food industry officials are now thinking of changing the use-by date to a date indicating when food is most likely to throw away.
1.According to the text, use-by date was first intended to ________.
A. reduce the waste of food
B. show whether the food was fresh
C. show the safety of food
D. give a warming of food poisoning
2.Which of following is TRUE?
A. Most customers understand what use-by date mean.
B. Biscuits can’t be eaten when not as crunchy as they were bought.
C. “ Use-by dates” have existed for more than 50 years.
D. Even after their use-by dates pass, some food are still safe to eat.
3.Scientists are calling for a standard explanation to be printed together with the use-by dates because________.
A. Most consumers often misunderstand use-by dates
B. use-by dates are not helpful or reliable
C. more consumers get worried about food safety
D. the quality level of different foods changes differently
假设你是李华，一名高三学生，在网络上看到一所国外大学的招生信息 (admission information), 该大学对中国学生开设30多个专业，你对此非常感兴趣,打算用英语撰写一份个人申请，主要内容包括：
1. 想申请的专业；
2. 个人优势；
3. 进入大学后的设想。
注意：1. 词数：100左右；
2. 书信格式已给出；
3. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sir or Madam,
Yours Sincerely,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下短文。短
文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1、每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2、只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last month my brother and I visited Nanjing and we stay at the Central Hotel for a week. It is in the center of the city, but it is easy to go to anywhere from the hotel by bus.
We lived in comfortable double-room with a big bath. That I liked best was the free high - speed Internet connection in the room. I checked many email message every day. I also shared for my friends many photos taking in Nanjing. The food was wonderfully with reasonable prices and we enjoyed several local dishes.
It is such a great hotel that I’ll recommend it to any friend of me who is going to Nanjing.
People can often see a talking parrot on a TV show, in a movie, or even in someone’s home. The parrot has learned 1. (copy) sounds that people make. Dolphins, bats, and some apes also copy sounds. Now we can add elephants 2. this list of copycats (盲目的模仿者).
Dr. Joyce Poole is a zoologist, 3. studies the sounds of elephants. While she was in Kenya, she would hear strange noises 4. (make) by Mlaika after sunset. Mlaika was 5. 8-year-old African elephant 6. it lived near a highway.
Dr. Poole says that she couldn’t tell the difference between Mlaika’s call and the 7. (distance) truck noise. Why did 8. copy the sounds of the trucks driving by? Animals that are able to copy sounds may enjoy 9. (practice) new sounds. When they are kept outside of their natural environment, they may copy unusual sounds.
So far Dr. Poole 10. (spend) 18 years with two female Asian elephants. Asian elephants make sounds like birds to talk with one another.
Parrots, dolphins, humans, and elephants show that being a copycat is one way that animals and people make new friends and keep old ones.
Bobby Moresco grew up in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, a tough working-class neighbourhood on Manhattan’s West Side. By tradition he have been a construction worker or a policeman, just like his father and most of his childhood pals. , he wanted out. Attracted by the bright lights from the time Bobby was a teen, he tried to . “I wasn’t a actor, but I had a driving need to do something with my life,” he said.
He moved to Hollywood, promising to find his . But he didn’t make it. For almost 10 years, he drove a taxi and worked as a waiter, volunteering at an actors’ workshop that he opened in Hollywood. But Moresco kept working at his career.
In 1983 his younger brother was murdered in a mob-linked killing. Moresco was forced to give up working and moved back to his neighbourhood. In 1988 he finally wrote a play that was to his life. Called Half-Deserted Streets, it was based on his brother’s and staged at a small theater. A Hollywood producer to see it and asked him to work on a screenplay.
His grew, and he got enough assignments to move back to Hollywood. However, it was never easy. By 2003, he was out of work and out of cash he got a call from Paul Haggis, a director who had befriended him. The two worked on the script and tried some famous studios, but their request was . Moresco believed so in the script that he borrowed money, and sold his house. At last the writers found an independent film producer who would take a chance.
The , slipped into the theatres in May 2005, and quietly became both a hit and an overnight success. It him two Academy Awards — Best Film Editing and Best Writing.
At the age of 54, Bobby Moresco became an success. “If you have something you want to do in life, don’t think about the problems,” he says, “think about the to get it done.”
1.A. must B. should C. can D. need
2.A. Then B. Therefore C. However D. Besides
3.A. study B. drive C. teach D. act
4.A. simple B. strict C. firm D. good
5.A. different B. impressive C. effective D. necessary
6.A. occasion B. treasure C. fortune D. possibility
7.A. afforded B. chosen C. respected D. offered
8.A. early B. worn C. old D. passed
9.A. turned B. pointed C. belonged D. related
10.A. arresting B. injuring C. killing D. shooting
11.A. advised B. happened C. intended D. planned
12.A. influence B. ambition C. success D. reputation
13.A. again B. even C. finally D. still
14.A. before B. when C. since D. while
15.A. let out B. looked down C. taken off D. turned down
16.A. strongly B. hardly C. deeply D. bravely
17.A. actor B. movie C. studio D. director
18.A. gave B. failed C. won D. allowed
19.A. effortless B. enjoyable C. overnight D. optimistic
20.A. ways B. lines C. manners D. actions
