I travel a lot, and I find out different “styles” of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often confused in Japan because most streets there don’t have names; in Japan, people use landmarks（地标）in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, “Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.”
People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You say, “Yes, but how many miles away is it?” They don’t know.
It’s true that a person doesn’t know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan believe that “I don’t know” is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
1.When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place they usually _________.
A. describe the place carefully
B. refer to recognizable buildings and places
C. show him a map of the place
D. tell him the names of the streets
2.Which is the place where people measure distance in time?
A. New York. B. Kansas.
C. Los Angeles. D. Iowa.
3.People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ________.
A. in order to save time
B. as a test
C. for fun
D. so as to be polite
4.What can we infer from the text?
A. It’s useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly.
B. People have similar understandings of politeness.
C. It’s important for travelers to understand cultural differences.
D. New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors.
I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (观点) by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品)．As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter — the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.
1.What can be inferred about the author as a child?
A. He never watched TV.
B. He read what he had to.
C. He found reading unbelievable.
D. He considered reading part of his life.
2.The underlined word “voice” in the second paragraph most probably means “ ”.
A. an idea B. a sound quality
C. a way of writing D. a world to write about
3. What effect does reading have on the author?
A. It helps him to realize his dream.
B. It opens up a wider world for him.
C. It makes his college life more interesting.
D. It increases his interest in worldwide travel.
4.Which of the following can be the best title of this text?
A. Why do I read? B. How do I read?
C. What do I read? D. When do I read?
To celebrate the end of our exams, my friends and I went to a fast food restaurant. We ordered hamburgers and Coca Cola at the counter. When our food came, I started walking towards an empty table. By bad luck, my purse strap (带子) got caught on a chair and the tray (托盘) that I was holding slipped from my hands and went flying in the air. The tray, and its contents, fell on a man who was just about to take a bite of his sandwich. I stared, greatly shocked , as the drinks soaked (浸湿) his white shirt.
Then I closed my eyes and prepared myself for his burst of anger. Instead, he said “It's OK” to comfort me before he disappeared into the washroom.
Still shaky and unsure what to do next, my friends and I went to a table and sat there, trying our best to look calm. A moment later, the man came out of the washroom and approached our table. My heart almost stopped beating. I thought he was going to ask for my father' s number and call him. To my surprise, he merely smiled at us, handed us some cash and said, “Buy yourself new hamburgers.” He then walked away without even finishing his food.
He could have made what was already an uncomfortable situation worse, but he chose a different way and gave us a reason to believe that there is still kindness in this world. I'll never forget his actions.
1.What happened to the author in the restaurant?
A. She fell down to the ground.
B. She celebrated passing the exams.
C. Her purse strap got broken suddenly.
D. Her tray slipped and made a man's shirt dirty.
2.What do we know about the man?
A. He was very rich.
B. He was kind and forgiving.
C. He made the situation worse.
D. He enjoyed his food in the restaurant.
3.How did the author feel about the whole incident?
A. Angry. B. Calm.
C. Moved. D. Regretful.
书面表达
假如你是李华，你在网上看到你所在的城市的一个英语培训中心招生暑期助教，请根据以下
要点写一封英语申请信，内容包括
1 申请原因；
2 自我优势（口语能力，组织能力，沟通能力）；
3 希望获准。
注意：1. 词数100左右（开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数）；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear sir/ Madam,
I`m glad to see your advertisement on the internet.___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely
Li Hua
短文改错
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作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：把缺词处加个漏字符号（∧），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：在错的词下划一横线，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。
Recently I read an article in a magazine. It was about the mother who was worried about her son just because of he always kept his hair long. The mother thought that was not right，and the son felt there was nothing unusually about it. Different generations have different opinion on the same thing. That is what is meaning by “the generation gap”．We can see them in our daily life. Most of our parents like listening to old songs when young people prefer pop songs. Every time my father finds me listening to rock music，he always shouted，“Shut it off. It’s awful！” How can we deal with the generation gap?
语法填空
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
I wanted to do something special for my 15－year－old son, who has always been a perfect boy. He worked all summer to earn enough money to buy __1.__(he) a new racing－bicycle instead of asking for money from me. Then he spent hours and hours on it. I loved my son so much _2.__I bought him a pair of sunglasses and gloves. When my son rode the racing－bicycle with them, he looked very cool. He dreamed _3.__ taking part in a race and winning.
On November 10th, my birthday, when I went to the kitchen to start the milk and bread in the morning, I found _4.__ beautiful guitar on the table, beside which was a card, __5.__(say), “Happy birthday to my wonderful mother.” I was surprised and then began to sob. I remembered once I __6.__(joke) to my family that I wanted to learn playing the guitar to make my life colorful. I had __7.__(forget) it, but my son remembered. He took it _8._(serious), and bought me one as a birthday gift. When I wondered _9.__ my son could buy this expensive gift, soon I realized that my son had sold his racing－bicycle __10.__(get) me the guitar.
