On December 18, 1620, passengers on the British ship Mayflower came on shore at modern – day Plymouth, Massachusetts, to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony.
The famous Mayflower story began in 1606, when a group of reform-minded people in England built their own church, which was separate from the state – supported Church of England. Because of this, they were forced to leave the country and settle in Netherlands. After 12 years of struggling to adapt and make a hard living, the group sought financial backing from some London merchants to set up a colony in America.
On Septmeber 6,1620, one hundred and two passengers – called Pilgrims (朝圣者) by William Bradford, a passenger who would become the first governor of Plymouth Colony – crowded on the Mayflower to begin the long, hard journey to a new life in the New World. On November 11,1620, the Mayflower landed at Provincetown Harbor. Before going on shore, 41 male passengers – heads of families, single men and three male servants – signed the famous Mayflower contract, agreeing to form a government chosen by common election and to obey all laws made for the good of the colony.
Over the next month, several small leading teams were sent on shore to collect firewood and hunt for a good place to build a settlement. Around December 10, one of these groups found a harbor they liked on the western side of Cape Cod Bay. They returned to the Mayflower to tell the other passengers, but bad weather prevented then reaching the harbor until December 16. Two days later, the first group of Pilgrims went on shore. After exploring the region, the settlers chose a cleared area once controlled by members of a local Native American tribe (部落). The tribe had abandoned the village several years earlier, after an outbreak of European disease.
That winter of 1620 – 1621 was really hard, as the Pilgrims struggled to build their settlement, find food and take care of the sick. By spring, 50 of the original 102 Mayflower passengers were dead. The remaining settlers made contact with returning members of the Native American tribe and in March they signed a peace treaty (条约) with the tribe chief. In the spring time, helped by the locals, the Pilgrims were able to plant crops – especially corn and beans – that were necessary to their survival.
On April 5,1621, the Mayflower and its crew left Plymouth to return to England. Over the next several decades, more and more settlers made the voyage across the Atlantic to Plymouth, which gradually grew into a successful shipbuilding and fishing center.
1．A group of English were forced to leave their country in 1606 because .
A．their belief was different from the official Church
B．they built their own churches in a foreign country
C．they lacked financial support from the government
D．they were ambitious to build the colony in America
2．How many days did the sea journey to Provincetown Harbor last? .
A．103 B．96 C．66 D．35
3．Several leading teams were sent in order to .
A．hunt for food for the passengers B．control local Native Americans
C．build a settlement for the passengers D．explore the region for their settlement
4．From the passage we know that between 1620 – 1621.
A．52 Mayflower passengers died of some illnesses
B．Pilgrims had a good relationship with the locals
C．Plymouth turned a main center for shipbuilding
D．Pilgrims tried to plant corns and beans in winter
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.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. |
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. |
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.If you order $200 worth of food, which of the following is a proper total payment?
| A．$200 | B．$215 | C．$220 | D．$230 |
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. |
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.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.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 |
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 |
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. |
For whom is the passage written?
| A．Government officials | B．Virus spreading experts |
| C．Electronic scientists | D．Mobile phone users |
South Asia heatwave kills nearly 100.
DHAKA - A heat wave sweeping India, Bangladesh(孟加拉国) and Nepal has killed nearly 100 people over the past two weeks, officials said on June 3, 2005.
A third of the people died in northern Bangladesh, mostly women and children from dehydration(脱水), heat stroke and diarrhoea(腹泻).
"We are getting reports of several deaths due to heat wave and related diseases almost every day," an official said, as temperatures touched 43degC .
The weather office in Dhaka said the hot weather will persist for another week until the monsoon(季风) rains which are normally due by the middle of June.
Severe heat conditions in the southern Indian have killed at least 55 people, officials in the two states said.
While temperatures have fallen from a high of 45degC in Andhra Pradesh to around 40degC, giving a respite to people, they are still on the rise in Orissa with Talcher town registering 48.5deg C, a weather official said.
At least five people have died in Nepal from extreme heat, the government said. We can infer that the heatwave can cause ______.
| A．heat stoke | B．dehydration | C．diarrhoea | D．all above |
When the monsoon rains come, the temperature will _______.
| A．remain the same |
| B．go on to rise sharply |
| C．begin to drop obviously |
| D．rise a little |
Which place is the hottest in the early June, 2005?
| A．Dhaka | B．Talcher | C．Andhra Pradesh | D．Nepal |
It gives me great pleasure today to say a few words in praise of a man we will all miss very much. To be honest, I can't imagine we will do without him when he's gone.
Bill Masters almost single-handed built up our sales force in the Houston area and developed the market position that we enjoy today. In only six years, he has brought the firm from a very low fifth position in the area sales to the point where we now outsell all but one of our competitors. Not only have we got 37 per cent of the market under Bill's leadership; we are increasing our share with each passing month.
As you know, the company has moved Bill to northern California to work his sales magic in one of this company's most competitive(竞争的) areas. But we know that if anyone can do it, Bill Masters can, and I know you all join me in wishing him the best of luck in his new work.The speech was made _______.
| A．at a welcome meeting |
| B．at the opening of a new school term |
| C．when somebody was leaving |
| D．when they had a new manager |
How long did Masters worked there?
| A．37 years | B．less than 5 years |
| C．about six years | D．since he began to work |
When Bill started to work in Houston area, he had _______to help him.
| A．many people | B．nobody |
| C．about 37 people | D．very few people |
Bill increased the company's sale _______.
| A．by 37 per cent every month |
| B．to the second largest in the area |
| C．to be the fifth largest in the area |
| D．five times as much as before |
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