For shopoholics, the post-Christmas period means only one thing ---- sales! Across the country, prices are reducing sharply on clothing, electronics and home furniture, but London is the place for serious shopping, and you can certainly pick up some amazing bargains.
The sales start on Boxing Day — 26th December, and continue for the month of January, but the keenest bargain hunters get there early to be first through the doors. In Oxford Street queues formed outside shops ahead of before-dawn openings for the start of their sales. At Brent Cross, in north London, more than 1,000 people were queuing at 3.30 am for the ‘Next’ clothing store’s sale which began at 4 am. Some eager individuals even camped outside the shops to be first in the line.
Consumers who hit the shops were rewarded with discounts of as much as 80% as department stores joined the bargain sales. The shops are very crowded as the sales reached the boiling-point, with more than half a million people gathering on London’s West End.
Famous sales include the biggest, most popular shops such as Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty and John Lewis. Department stores are always a good bet — you’re likely to find everything you need under one roof, including much-needed food and drinks!
It’s a good time to stock up on cheap small tools, and there’s no better time to invest in some designer clothes.
Some people are taking their partners shopping with them, and buying their Christmas presents in the sale----a practical but unromantic way of making sure you get the gift you really want. For a less exciting but less stressful shopping experience, online sellers are also getting in on the act with January sales of their own.
The most organized of all are those who are already doing their present shopping for next Christmas, in the January sales!
In the sales, people can buy, at a very low price, all of the following except ______.
| A．fashionable clothing | B．bestseller |
| C．TV sets | D．bookcases |
We can learn from the passage that the sales ______.
| A．actually start before the end of December | B．generally last for two months |
| C．basically benefit none of the people | |
| D．are a time to buy Christmas gifts in a romantic way |
“Hit the shops” in the third paragraph means to ______.
| A．attack the shops | B．arrive at the shops |
| C．affect the shops | D．find the shops |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．January Sales | B．Sales in London at Christmas |
| C．Practical but Unromantic Shopping | D．Shopping under One Roof |
I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What is this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had pieced it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.
“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made straight a crooked line. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said.
It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.
72. Why did the author go to mother’s home?
A. To see her mother’s quilts. B. To help prepare for a show.
C. To get together for the family dinner. D. To discuss her grandmother’s life.
73. The author was surprised because __________________.
A. the quilt looked very strange. B. her grandmother liked the quilt.
C. the quilt was the best she had seen. D. her mother had made some changes
74. The underlined word “crooked” in the passage most probably means __________ .
A. unfinished B. broken C. bent D. unusual
75. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Quilt Show B. Mother’s Home C. A Monday Dinner D. Grandmother’s Quilt
Opening week specials at Munchies Food Hall.
At the corner of Green and Brown Streets in the city
Monday 7th of January until Sunday.13rd of January 2008
Feast until you’re full! Come down to Monetizes time week to enjoy the special dishes on offer it all of our food outlets. Order from the following:
|
●Succulent chicken rice ●spicy stays beef
●Delicious noodle dishes ●plump porky chips●seafood specialties ●crunchy vegetables
●sweet tropical fruit
Halal food is available at the stall. Malay Mood Heaven
Win Prizes and Gifts!
Spend ＄20.00 or more and win instant prizes fro
m our lucky draw box.
Collect a free party balloon and whistle for each young diner.
Enjoy a free meal if you are the first customer of the day at any of our stalls.
Win a holiday to Western Australia.
A free raffle ticket is given with every receipt. Just fill in your information and place your entry in the box provided.
Winner to be announced in The strait Times on the 15th of January.
Join in the Fun!
Between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm each evening until the 15th of January, your favorite Channel 3 television actors and singers will entertain you:
●May Lee ●Jackie Chen
●Kim Yap ● Kamala
Autograph sessions will follow each performance! And who will be our extra special mystery star? Come down on Saturday at noon to find out.
68. Munchies Food Hall does NOT sell ____.
A. lamb B. Beef C. pork D. chicken
69. The prices at Munchies are ____.
A. lower than usual B. bargain prices for the opening
C. lower far two people D. lower of you spending ＄21.00
70. Everyone who eats at Munchies will receive a ______.
A. free raffle ticket B. lucky draw coupon
C. free meal D. balloon and whistle
71. I will find out who has won the top to Western Australia when I ______.
A. watch Channel 3 television
B. come down to Munchies at noon
C. read The Straits Times on the 5th of
January
D. attend the lucky draw at Munchies Food Hall
In the future your automobile will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a s
upercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!
For each prediction that has come true today, several others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn’t consider how people would want to use the technology, or if people really needed it in their lives or not. Let’s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.
Robot Helpers
Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming anytime soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other manufacturing environments.
Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.
So why hasn’t it happened? Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.
Telephones of Tomorrow
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet.
Why? The technology worked fine, but it over—looked something obvious: people’s desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just step out of the shower? Probably not---it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the flying car? It’s not so crazy anymore! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news, or perhaps the sky outside your window, to see what the future will bring.
64. The whole passage is mainly about ________________.
A. predictions that have come true. B. predictions that haven’t come true.
C. why predictions don’t come true easily. D. what technology will bring about.
65. The author of this passage won’t believe that _________________.
A. predictions needn’t consider people’s practical use of technology.
B. the future isn’t always easy to guess.
C. not all past predictions have come true.
D. many of the high—tech things our parents thought we’d be using by now simply never appeared.
66. The underlined word “weird” probably means __________.
A. wonderful B. stupid C. practical D. strange
67. What does the author think of the flying car?
A. It is too difficult to imagine. B. It is too crazy an idea.
C. It is likely to be made. D. It is often reported in the news.
The sea has always interested man. From it he can get food, minerals, and treasure. For thousands of years, he could sail on it. But he could not go far beneath its surface.
Man wants to explore deep into the sea. However, he is not a fish. He must breathe air, so he can’t stay under the water’s surface for any length of time. To explore deep water, man faces even more dangers and problems.
A diver who wants to stay under water for more t
han a few minutes must breathe air or a special mixture of gases. He can wear a diving suit and have air pumped to him from above. He can carry a tank of air on his back and breathe through a hose(软管) and a mouthpiece. Water weighs 800 times as much as air. Tons of water pushes against a diver deep in the sea. His body is under great pressure.
When a diver is under great pressure, his blood takes in some of the gases he breathes. As he rise
s to surface, the water pressure becomes less. If the diver rises too quickly, the gases in his blood form bubbles(气泡). The diver is then suffering from the bends(潜函病). The bends can cause a diver to double up in pain. They can even kill him.
60. On the whole, this text is about _________.
A. special mixtures of gases in deep sea. B. the problems a diver faces in deep sea.
C. air pressure under the surface of sea water. D. a kind of illness that man suffers in the sea.
61. The text does not say so, but it makes you think that ____________.
A. deep-sea divers should be in good health.
B. divers explore the deep sea only for treasure.
C. there is a special mixture of gases under the sea.
D. diving under the water too quickly causes a kind of illness.
62. Why does a diver get the bends?
A. The air in his blood is used up. B. His diving suit weighs too much.
C. He comes to the surface too quickly. D. He tries to do exercise under the sea.
63. From the text we can learn that _____________.
A. man cannot stay under water for more than a few minutes.
B. the sea began to interest man in the last few years.
C. all divers will get the bends sooner or later.
D. the bends may kill a diver.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑
Many people cannot forget the beautiful thousand hand dance performed by disabled people during the 2005 CCTV Spring Gala(晚会). Many of these dancers cannot hear or speak, but their performances are wonderful.
The leading dancer is a beautiful young woman, Tai Lihua, who was born healthy but lose her hearing when she was two years old because of a fever. Not long after that, she also became mute and, from then on, her world was silent. She did not realize this at first, but when she was five, she played a game about sounds with her school friends and discovered she was different. She felt very sad. Her father went to many places looking for treatments for her disabilities, but nothing worked.
When she was seven years old, Tai Lihua went to a school for deaf and mute children, where
she did very well in her studies. Her teacher said she used her brain more than other children and was very good at expressing her feelings through movements.
Then when she was fifteen, she started learning to dance. At first, she found it difficult but she didn’t give up. She spent a lot of time practicing and became a brilliant dancer. In the last few years, she has performed in many countries and is much admired by foreign audience. Dancing has changed her life and brought her world wide success and fame.
56. Which of the following is expressed in the passage?
A. Where there is life, there is hope.
B. No one is too old to learn.
C. Where there is a will, there is a way.
D. The early bird catches the worm.
57. Tai Lihua discovered that she was different from other children when she was _____.
A .two B. five C. seven D. fifteen
58. We can learn from the passage that ______.
A. Tai Lihua was born healthy.
B. Tai Lihua isn’t successful now.
C. Tai Lihua’s parents didn’t take good care of her.
D. Tai Lihua had a natural ability to dance very well.
59. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. A disabled girl.
B. A dancer in a silent world.
C. A beautiful dancer.
D .Dance performance in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.
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