A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess（女家庭教师）Julia to come into my study. “Be seated, Julia, ”I said, “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”
“Forty.”
“No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you’ve been here two months, so...”
“Two months and five days.”
“Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.
“Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct？”
Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but - still not a word.
“Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn’t I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect （疏忽）, Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars.”
“You didn’t. ”sobbed Julia.
“But I made a note of it.”
“Well... if you say so.”
“Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen.”
Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!
“Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”
“Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is !”
I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.
“Merci （法语: 谢谢）,”she whispered.
I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. “For what, this - ‘merci’?” I asked.
“For the money. ”
“But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you ! I have actually stolen from you ! Why this‘merci’？”
“In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”
“They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless （懦弱）?Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws（爪）—to be such a fool?”
Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,“It is possible.”
I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little“merci”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world !”While talking to Julia, the wrier expected from her ________.
| A．a protest | B．gratitude |
| C．obedience | D．an explanation |
What shocked the writer was Julia’s ________.
| A．nervousness in front of her boss |
| B．acceptance of injustice |
| C．shyness when talking about money |
| D．reluctance to express herself |
The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” He was actually telling the governess ________.
| A．to be more aggressive |
| B．to be more careful in her work |
| C．to protect her right |
| D．to live independently |
At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”to show ________.
| A．his understanding of Julia’s anxiety |
| B．his worry about Julia’s future |
| C．his concern on the living condition of working - class people |
| D．his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited |
From the story, we can tell that Julia’s employer was ________.
| A．greedy but honest |
| B．ill - tempered but warm - hearted |
| C．strict but forgiving |
| D．none of the above |
In 1963,former Senator Gaylord Nelson began to worry about our planet (A senator is a person that the people of the United States have chosen to help make the laws.). Senator Nelson knew that our world was getting dirty and that many of our plants and animals were dying .He wondered why most people weren’t trying to solve these problems. He talked to other lawmakers and t
o the President. They decided that the President would go around the country and tell people about these concerns（关系重大之事）. He did, but still not enough people were working on the problem.
Then, in 1969, Senator Nelson had another idea. He decided to have a special day to teach everyone about the things that needed changing in our environment .He wrote letters to all of the colleges and put a special article in Scholastic Magazine to tell them about the special day he had planned
(Most of the schools got this magazine) and he knew that kids would help him.
On April 22,1970, the first Earth Day was held .People all over the country made promises to help the environment. Everyone got involved and since then, Earth Day has spread all over the planet. People all over the world know that
there are problems we need to work on and this is our special day to look at the planet and see what needs changing. Isn’t it great? One person had an idea and kept working until everyone began working together to solve it. See what happens when people care about our world?The passage mainly talks about _________.
| A．the importance of Earth Day |
| B．the person who planned the Earth Day |
| C．the history of Earth Day |
| D．the first Earth Day |
Why did Senator Gaylord Nelson worry about our planet?_________
| A．The world was getting dirty. |
| B．Many plants and animals were dying. |
| C．Few people cared about the earth. |
| D．All of the above. |
From the text, we know that _________ helped him most .
| A．the president | B．the other lawmakers |
| C．the colleges | D．the students |
It took Nelson ______ years to get the peop
le pay much attention to the earth.
| A．10 | B．7 | C．6 | D．1 |
Anchors（新闻节目主持人）on China Central Television(CCTV) will need to do some fast talking to replace the popular English acronyms（首字母缩略词）they are now banned from using. Shanghai Daily reports that “anchors at China Central Television have been banned from saying the English acronyms NBA, CBA, GDP, and the like in their programs.”
The replacement for those handy acronyms? Chinese presenters must use the full Chinese name, standardized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
Although CCTV(oops, we mean China Central Television) presenters must already have a score of at least 94 in their government-rated oral mandarin proficiency（普通话水平）exam, saying the full name of organizations like the CBA and WTO---10 and 6 characters’ long respectively---is sure to challenge even the most skillful anchors. CCTV sports anchor Sun Zhengping tells Shanghai Daily, “A full Chinese explanation o
f the English initials must be followed if my tongue slips. It is a little troublesome but a necessary one because not every member of the audience can understand the initials.”
Although the government isn’t giving any official explanation for the shift, it is believed to have something to do with a proposal by Huang Youyi, director of the China International Publishing Group, at March’s NPC meeting. In his speech, Huang said, “With more and more publications mixing Chinese with English, measures and regulations should be adopted to avoid English invading Chinese. If we don’t pay attention and don’t take measures to stop the expansion of mixing Chinese with English, Chinese won’t be a pure language in a couple of years.”
Although China is far from the first country to take measures to protect local languages, acronyms are more about saving time than they are about corrupting（破坏）a language, we would think. Good luck to the CCTV anchors.CCTV anchors have to “do some fast talking” because they can no longer ____________________.
| A．speak as slowly as they like |
| B．mix English into Chinese |
| C．use shortened Chinese expressions |
| D．have much time for their programs |
According to the writer, “CBA” is supposed to be replaced with “________________”by CCTV anchors.
| A．中国男子篮球职业联赛 |
| B．中国篮球协会全国男女篮球职业联赛 |
| C．中国篮球联赛 |
| D．男子篮球联赛 |
What’s Huang Youyi’s purpose?
E. Using full English names instead of short forms.
F. Translating Chinese terms into proper English.
G. Avoiding Chinese words being mixed into English.
H. Keeping our mother tongue a pure language.What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
I. China has fallen behind in the matter of protection of its language.
J. The ban is not necessary.
K. Chinese shouldn’t be corrupted.
CCTV anchors will have a hard time.
Two traveling angles stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angles stay in the mansion’s guestroom. Instead the angles were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed in the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angle asked why, the older angle replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing the little food they had the couple let the angles sleep in their bed where they could have a good
night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angles found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angle was infuriated and asked the older angle how he could have let this happen. “The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” he accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die”.
“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angle
replied. “when we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it.”
“Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angle of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”What's the best title of the passage?
| A．Two Angles Spread Love |
| B．Things Aren’t Always What They Seem |
| C．The Rich And The Poor |
| D．Tales of Angles |
In paragraph 2, the underlined word “infuriated” most probably means ___________.
| A．amused | B．angry | C．puzzled | D．disappointed |
According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．In the home of the wealthy family, the older angle put some gold into a hole in the wall. |
B．In the home of  the poor family, the older angle killed their cow. |
| C．The younger angle agreed with what the older angle did at first. |
| D．The angle of death is in charge of humans’ death. |
Every object tells a story. Even the most ordinary objects can present to us powerful images. Sometimes it is the ordinary nature of these objects that actually makes them so extraordinary. Such is the case with an old leather shoe in a museum in Alaska. At first glance it does not look like much. It is a woman’s shoe of a style popular in the 1890s. But what is unique(独特的) about this shoe is where it was found. It was discovered on the Checkout Pass, the famous trail used by the people seeking gold in Alaska. Who it belonged to or why it was left there is not known. Was it perhaps dropped by accident as the woman climbed up the 1500 stairs carved outfa
ce? Or did she throw away goods that she didn’t need in order to travel lighter?
Over 100, 000 people with “gold fever” made this trip hoping to become millionaires. Few of them understood that on their way they would have to cross a harsh wildnes
s. Unprepared for such a dangerous journey, many died of starvation and exposure to the cold weather.
The Canadian government finally started requiring the gold seekers to bring one ton of supplies with them. This was thought to be enough for a person to survive for one year. They would carry their supplies in backpacks(背包) each weighing up to fifty pounds; it usually took at least 40 trips to get everything to the top and over the pass. Whoever dropped the shoe must have been a brave and determined woman. Perhaps she was successful and made it to Alaska. Perhaps she had to turn back in defeat. No one will ever know for sure, but what we do know is that she took part in one of the greatest adventures in the 19th century. 
The ordinary woman’s leather shoe is considered unusual because ______.
| A．it was an important clue to life in the past |
| B．it was found on a famous trail |
| C．it at one time belonged to a VIP |
| D．it was a fashionable shoe at that time |
According to this passage, many people who went to Alaska ______.
| A．eventually became millionaires | B．brought with them many shoes |
| C．had conflicts with the Eskimos | D．were not properly equipped |
The Canadian government made gold seekers bring one year’s supplies with them so that ______.
| A．they would not die of hunger and cold |
| B．the army would have enough food for fighting a war |
| C．they would change these goods with the Eskimos |
| D．the supplies would make Alaska rich |
No matter what happened to the woman who owned the shoe, ______.
| A．she must have lived a happy life |
| B．she certainly dropped the shoe on purpose |
| C．her adventurous spirit is definitely admired |
| D．her other shoes were equally fashionable |
For thousands of years, the most important two buildings in any British village have been the church and the pub. Traditionally, the church and the pub are at the heart of any village or town, where the people gather together to socialize and exchange news.
As a result, British pubs are often old and well preserved. Many of them have become historic sites. The most famous example is the pub in the city of Nottingham called “The Old Trip to Jerusalem”, which dates back to the year 1189 AD and is probably the oldest pub in England.
However, British pubs are not just for kings and queens; they welcome people from all classes and parts of society. On a cold night, the pub’s landlord or landlady can always find a warm place for you by the fire. There is always honest and hearty food and plenty of drink available at an affordable price.
That’s how things used to be. Things are beginning to change. It is said that the credit crunch(信贷紧缩) is causing 39 British pubs a week to go out of business. People do not have enough spare money to spend on beer. Recently, the UK government banned smoking in all pubs, and that may also have affected the number of customers going to pubs.
This decline is happening despite the fact that in 2005 the UK government started to allow pubs to stay open after 1l pm. Previously, with 1l pm as closing time, customers would have to drink quite quickly, meaning they sometimes got more drunk than they would if allowed to drink slowly. The British habit of drinking a lot very quickly is known
as “binge drinking”, and it causes long-term health problems for people and problems with violent crime for communities.
In order to save their businesses, pubs are trying to change with the market. British pubs now offer something for everyone. A lot of pubs used to be “Workin
g Men's Clubs”, meaning that women could not usually enter. Today, 
however, women can freely enter 99% of pubs without experiencing any problems. Perhaps things are changing for the better after all. The passage mainly tells us something about ______.
| A．the past and present of British pubs | B．the decline of British pubs |
| C．the long history of British pubs | D．the importance of British pubs |
Which may not be the cause of the decline of British pubs?
| A．The credit crunch. | B．The present closing time. |
C．The ban of  smoking. |
D．Having no spare money. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．British people used to like drinking slowly |
| B．closing the pubs early will reduce social problems |
| C．binge drinking means drinking less beer |
| D．British government aims to discourage people from binge drinking |
We can see from the last paragraph that the author _______.
| A．is against the admission of too many women to the pubs |
| B．holds an optimistic attitude towards the British pubs |
| C．thinks that women in the pubs will cause less social problems |
| D．thinks that British pubs should offer everything you need |
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