Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food? Some people go to fast-food restaurants for these reasons. In the past, people usually went to diners (小饭馆 )for these reasons, too. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.
A man named Walter Scott had the first "diner" in 1872. It wasn't really a diner. It was only a food cart. People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late- night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late-night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools, a
nd people sat down while they ate.
Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in a diner at any time. Diners changed in other way, too. The original menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels.
Diners today look similar to the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually building with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters
with stools, booths, tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern 
diner.
Today, many people eat in fast-food restaurants such as Mc Donald's and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today. What kind of meal did the first "diner" serve?
| A．Only breakfast. | B．Only lunch. | C．Only supper. | D．All of the above. |
According to Paragraph 3, diners changed in .
| A．two ways | B．three ways | C．four ways | D．five ways |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Diners existed before fast-food restaurants. |
| B．The menu included more food than sandwiches and coffee. |
| C．Burger King is a fast-food restaurant. |
| D．Sandwiches became bigger. |
The main idea of the passage is that .
A．the diner is a traditional, popul ar place to eat in  the United States |
| B．Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside |
| C．American diners serve many types of food 24 hours a day to their customers |
| D．diners are different from fast food restaurants in many ways. |
Every one of the gymnasts who went to National Qualifiers (国家冠军赛资格赛) showed up with that goal in mind. Everyone gave it their all.
And I hate admitting it, but I was an exception. I did not do my best. Not for the ribbon exercise, nor for the club exercise. Knowing that I could have reached a little further to catch my ribbon, focused a little more so the stick wouldn’t slip through my fingers, tried a little harder to clean up those errors, but I didn’t, still bothers me.
After my disappointing competition, I tried my best to keep my eyes dry. But soon tears burned the edges of my eyes, and as I blinked, the first tear rolled down my cheek. Even though I angrily wiped my tears away before she looked at me, the evidence of my self-pity session presented itself clearly in the form of dirty makeup and reddened eyes.
My mom hated to see me cry, especially because I had no right or reason to. I had messed up--that wasn’t anyone’s fault but mine--and crying wouldn’t help at all. “Why are you crying, Amanda?” she asked, perhaps more pointedly (尖刻地) than intended, but I heard the concern in her voice. Unable to form all the emotions into words, I just looked away and avoided her questions.
“Tell me now why you’re crying.” Her voice this time wasn’t as gentle as it was before; it was filled with frustration and impatience. “Why are you crying?” she whispered again, but this time her voice was shaky and flooded with pain. This was the first time I’d ever seen my mom cry; my mom, who was always so strong and was there to encourage me through the roughest times, was now crying, and I was the reason for it. Finding my voice, I tentatively asked, “Why are you crying?”
She looked at me and answered exactly what I was afraid to hear, “I hate to see you hurting yourself.” So it was my fault. I had put those tears in her eyes. I had filled her with pain, with helplessness and with sadness.
I’ll never forget her pained expression. It forced me to realize how shortsighted and close-minded I’d been. I decided that no matter what happens in the future, I will never lose myself to regret.Why did Amanda feel regretful after the competition?
| A．Because she wasn’t admitted to the club. |
| B．Because she dropped her ribbon suddenly. |
| C．Because she broke the rule of the competition. |
| D．Because she didn’t try her best to compete. |
What did Amanda try to hide on the way back?
| A．Her silent tears. |
| B．The disappointing scores. |
| C．Her dirty makeup. |
| D．The evidence of failure. |
Which words reflect the change of the mother’s emotions?
| A．Painful--impatient—concerned |
| B．Concerned--frustrated--painful |
| C．Satisfied--painful—frustrated |
| D．Frustrated--angry--painful |
What did Amanda determine to do?
| A．Never cry in face of her mom. |
| B．Never compete as a gymnast. |
| C．Never involve herself in self-pity. |
| D．Never make up before games. |
The best title of the passage is probably _________.
| A．My painful experience as a gymnast |
| B．The tears I wiped away for my mother |
| C．The fiercest competition I lost |
| D．The worst thing I ever felt: regret |
Michael J. “Crocodile Dundee” (also called Mick), played by Paul Hogan, is the main character in the fictional Crocodile Dundee film series consisting of Crocodile Dundee, Crocodile Dundee II, and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. The character is a crocodile hunter, hence the nickname.
In the first film, Crocodile Dundee, Mick is visited by a New York reporter, Sue Charlton, who travels to Australia to investigate a report she heard of a crocodile hunter, who had his leg bitten off by a crocodile in the outback. The hunter supposedly walked more than a hundred miles back to civilization and miraculously survived his injuries. However, by the time she meets him, the story turns out to be a somewhat exaggerated legend where the “bitten-off leg” turns out to be just being some bad scarring on his leg; a “love bite” as Mick calls it. Still interested by the idea of “Crocodile Dundee”, Sue continues with the story. They travel together out to where the incident occurred, and follow his route through the bush to the nearest hospital. Despite his old-fashioned views, the pair eventually become close, especially after Mick saves Sue from a crocodile attack.
Feeling there is still more to the story, Sue invites Mick back to New York with her, as his first trip to a city (or “first trip anywhere,” as Dundee says). The rest of the film depicts Dundee as a “fish out of water,” showing how, despite his expert knowledge of living outdoors, he knows little of city life. Mick meets Sue’s boyfriend, Richard, but they do not get along. By the end of the film, Mick is on his way home, lovesick, when Sue realizes she loves Mick, too, and not Richard. She runs to the subway station to stop Mick from leaving and, by passing on messages through the packed-to-the-gills crowd, she tells him she won’t marry Richard, and she loves him instead. With the help of the other people in the subway, Mick and Sue have a loving reunion as the film ends.Which of the following statements is true about Mick?
| A．He is a crocodile hunter living in Los Angeles. |
| B．He is based on a real person in Australia. |
| C．He wrote a film series about himself. |
| D．He got his nickname because of his job. |
In the film Crocodile Dundee, Mick ______.
| A．pretends he was bitten by a crocodile |
| B．urges Sue Charlton to write his life story |
| C．shows Sue Charlton around the town he lives in |
| D．hasn’t been abroad before his trip to America |
When in New York, Mick ______.
| A．makes friends with Richard |
| B．makes full use of his bush skills |
| C．doesn’t know how to fit into city life |
| D．feels excited about living in a big city |
No one knows for sure when advertising first started. It is possible that it grew out of the discovery that some people did certain kinds of work better than others did them. That led to the concept of specialization, which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job.
Let’s take a man we’ll call Mr. Fielder, for example. He did everything connected with farming. He planted seeds, tended the fields, and harvested and sold his crops. At the same time, he did many other jobs on the farm. However, he didn’t make the bricks for his house, cut his trees into boards, make the plows (犁), or any of other hundreds of things a farm needs. Instead, he got them from people who specialized in doing each of those things. Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr. Plowright. Using what he knew about farming and working with iron, Mr. Plowright invented a plow that made farming easier. Mr. Plowright did not really like farming himself and wanted to specialize in making really good plows. Perhaps, he thought, other farmers will trade what they grow for one of my plows.
How did Mr. Plowright let people know what he was doing? Why, he advertised, of course. First he opened a shop and then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers. That sign may have been no more than a plow carved into a piece of wood and a simple arrow pointing to the shop door. It was probably all the information people needed to find Mr. Plowright and his really good plows.
Many historians believe that the first outdoor signs were used about five thousand years ago. Even before most people could read, they understood such signs. Shopkeepers would carve into stone, clay, or wood symbols for the products they had for sale.
A medium, in advertising talk, is the way you communicate your message. You might say that the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols. The second medium was audio, or sound, although that term is not used exactly in the way we use it today. Originally, just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument, such as a bell, were used to get people’s attention.
A crier, in the historical sense, is not someone who weeps easily. It is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city. In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products. Often this earliest form of advertising involved a newly arrived ship loaded with goods. Perhaps the crier described the goods, explained where they came from, and praised their quality. His job was, in other words, not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today’s world.What probably led to the start of advertisement?
| A．The discovery of iron. |
| B．The development of farming techniques. |
| C．The specialization of labor. |
| D．The appearance of new jobs. |
The writer makes up the two stories of Mr. Fielder and Mr. Plowright in order to __________.
| A．explain the origin of advertising |
| B．predict the future of advertising |
| C．provide suggestions for advertising |
| D．expose problems in advertising |
In ancient Egypt, a crier was probably someone who __________.
| A．functioned like today’s TV or radio commercial |
| B．owned a ship |
| C．had the loudest voice |
| D．ran a shop selling goods to farmers |
The last two paragraphs are mainly about __________.
| A．the basic design of advertising |
| B．the early forms of advertising |
| C．the benefits of advertising |
| D．the history of advertising |
For years scientists have been worried about the effects of air pollution on the earth’s natural conditions. Some believe the air inside many houses may be more dangerous than the air outside. It may be one hundred times worse.
Indoor air pollution can cause a person to feel tired, to suffer eye pain, headache and other problems. Some pollutants(污染物) can cause breathing disorders, diseases of blood and even cancer. Most scientists agree that every modern house has some kind of indoor pollution.
People have paid more attention to the problem now. It is true that when builders began making houses and offices they did not waste energy. To do this they build buildings that limited the flow of air between inside and outside. They also began using man-made building materials. These materials are now known to let out harmful gases.
As the problem became more serious, scientists began searching for a way to deal with it. They discovered a natural pollution control system for building--green plants. Scientists do not really know how plants control air pollution. They believe that a plant’s leaves absorb or take in the pollutants. In exchange the plant lets out oxygen through its leaves and tiny organizations on its roots. Scientists suggest that all buildings should have one large plant or several small plants inside for every nine square meters of space. Studies of different plants show that each absorbs different chemicals. So the most effective way to clean the air is to use different kinds of plants. Having green plants inside your house can make it a prettier and more healthy place.Generally speaking, indoor air pollution may be more harmful than the air outside because________.
| A．indoor air pollution can often make people seriously ill |
| B．there may be more harmful gases outside the buildings |
| C．the air indoors is polluted, which is very harmful |
| D．man-made building materials give off dangerous gases |
Some kind of indoor pollution can be found in _______.
| A．every modern house | B．every old house |
| C．all kinds of houses | D．all kinds of offices |
The indoor air pollution is caused by ______.
| A．the building way that the builders want to save energy |
| B．the man-made building materials and the limit of air-flow |
| C．the building things that are made of man-made materials |
| D．the limit of the flow of air between inside and outside |
The reason why we should use different kinds of plants to clean the air is that ______.
| A．plants can let out all kinds of pollutants indoors |
| B．plants may take in more oxygen which people need |
| C．plants can absorb all kinds of harmful indoor chemicals |
| D．plants can make our houses prettier and more healthy |
Still seeking a destination for your weekend break? There are some places which are probably a mere walk away from your college.
King's Art Centre
A day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend sees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.
You could attend a class teaching you how to 'learn from the masters' or get more creative with paint--free of charge. The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.
The Botanic Garden
The Garden has over 8, 000 plant species; it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.
The multi-branched Torch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above blue-green leaves, and is not one to miss.
Get to the display house to see Dionaea muscipula, a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.
The Garden is also a place for wildlife-enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called 'Hissing Sid' is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.
Byron's Pool
Many stories surround Lord Byron's time as a student of Cambridge University, Arriving in 1805, he wrote a letter complaining that it was a place of "mess and drunkenness". However, it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I'm not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his roans. He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.
It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake, which is now known as Byron's Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside, the pool is surrounded by beautiful circular paths around the fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don't trust me, then perhaps you’ll take it from Virginia Woolf--over a century after Byron, she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool.As mentioned in the passage, there is a small charge for_____.
| A．attending the masters' class |
| B．working with local artists |
| C．learning life drawing |
| D．seeing an exhibition |
"Torch Aloe" and "Venus Flytrap" are_____.
| A．wildlife-enthusiasts |
| B．rarely-seen snakes |
| C．common insects |
| D．impressive plants |
We can infer from the passage that Byron seemed_____.
| A．to fear pet bears |
| B．to like walking |
| C．to finish university in 1805 |
| D．to be a heavy drinker |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Some places for weekend break |
| B．Unknown stories of Cambridge University. |
| C．A way to become creative in art. |
| D．The colorful life in the countryside. |
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