Driving a car at a high speed along a highway seems to be fun. You only need to follow the
bright traffic signs beside the highway and it will take you where you wish to go.
But to a London taxi driver, driving is not an easy job. A taxi driver needs to have not only good driving skills but also a good knowledge of the city of London, from the loneliest street to the popular restaurant around. He has to be at the service of all kinds of passengers (乘客) at all times.
A London taxi driver said the following about his job.
During the night it is usual for him to stop two or three times for some food. He said, “I never drink when I’m working, otherwise I’d lose my license (驾驶执照).”
He normally goes home between two and three o’clock in the morning. There are times he has to stay longer and try to make more runs. He said, “That’s the worst thing about working for yourself. If you don’t make money, no one is going to give it to you. ”
London taxi drivers not only “take” but also “give”. Every summer hundreds of poor children from London go for a day at the sea ― by taxi! There rides are paid by the taxi drivers. At the sea, they are met by the mayor (市长) , and a lunch party is also held for the taxi drivers and the children. After a happy day’s running around the beaches and visiting the market there, the children go home again by taxi, free of charge of course!London taxi drivers try to make more runs sometimes mainly because __________.
| A．they make a living by driving |
| B．they prefer to work for themselves |
| C．they want to help more passengers |
| D．they are used to working deep into the night |
How do London taxi drivers “give”?
| A．They give the poor children a lunch party at he sea each summer. |
| B．They give poor children the chance to meet the maor. |
| C．They pay for some poor children’s rides for a day’s tour each summer. |
| D．They play with some poor children at the sea for a day each summer. |
Which of the following words can be used to describe London taxi drivers?
| A．Brave and careful. | B．Rich and generous |
| C．Modest and easy-going | D．Hard-working and kind. |
The passage is most likely to be found from __________.
| A．an advertisement of a taxi company |
| B．an online travel guide |
| C．a website about the taxi drivers in London |
| D．a report about living conditions in London |
Nowadays, computer games are becoming more and more popular in many cities and towns. A lot of small shops along busy streets have been made into small game houses in order to get more money. These places are always crowded with people, especially young boys.
In the computer game houses, people spend a lot of money competing( 较量) with the machines. It’s hard for one to win the computer, but one can make progress after trying again and again. People have a kind of gambling psychology(赌博心理) when they play computer games. The more they lose, they more they want to win. When class is over, the school boys run to the nearby computer game houses. Little by little(渐渐地), they forget all about their lessons and fall far behind others. Some of them can get enough money from their parents. But some of them are not lucky enough to get the money. They begin to take away other students’ money and become thieves.Who always go to the computer game houses?
| A．Young girls. | B．Young children. |
| C．Young students. | D．Young boys. |
People made small shops into small game houses in order to ______.
| A．make computer games more popular |
| B．get more money |
| C．help people to learn computer better |
| D．make people happy |
What must be brought to play games in the game houses?
| A．Tickets. | B．Paper. |
| C．Cards. | D．Money. |
What will happen to the boys if they keep going to the game houses?
| A．They will win a lot of money. |
| B．They will make a lot of good friends there. |
| C．They will fail in their study and even break laws. |
| D．They will live a happy life in the future. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Game houses have a bad effect on young boys. |
| B．More and more small shops have been made into game houses. |
| C．Young boys spend a lot of money playing computer games. |
| D．People play games better after trying again and again. |
Hundreds of people did not get their train tickets through the online train ticketing service after paying the money.
The China Railway Customer Service Center said that it would try to solve the problem and return the money in 15 working days.
The service center said changes would be made to the online booking system which limited(限制) each purchase which is finished in 30 minutes. Many people said that they failed to book tickets because of the time limit in purchase.
People who paid without getting their tickets have formed groups on QQ. As many as 400 people had joined the QQ group by Thursday and the group continues to grow.
The ticket buyers said their money had been returned through online banks but they didn't get confirmation(确认) from the online booking system.
They are afraid that they will not be able to get refunds(退款) because they don't have the order number given to those who have succeeded in booking. People also said they were unable to inquire(查询) through the booking hotline 12306, because it is almost always busy.
The China Railway Customer Service Center Website suggested that the online banks didn't return the payment information to the online booking system because of network problems.
The online railway booking service was made by the Ministry of Railways on Dec. 21, in order that people can easily buy train tickets during the Spring Festival.What happened to the train tickets buyers after paying the money?
| A．They didn't join the QQ group. |
| B．They didn't search the Internet. |
| C．They didn't find the order number. |
| D．They didn't get their tickets. |
How long should people finish booking tickets?
| A．In an hour. | B．In half an hour. |
| C．In 15 days. | D．In 30 hours. |
According to the passage，which is Not true?
| A．The people who didn't get tickets can get their money back. |
| B．People can't inquire their booking through the hotline 12306. |
| C．People can easily book train tickets online without any problems. |
| D．The online booking system didn't get the payment information. |
What does the word “grow” mean in Chinese?
| A．种植 | B．扩大 | C．生产 | D．减小 |
Why did many people join the QQ group?
| A．They want to get back their refunds. |
| B．They wanted to book the train tickets. |
| C．They wanted to chat with each other. |
| D．They want to get the payment information. |
| YUTIAN, Sept. 6 —Twenty－seven students of a primary school in Yutian County of Tangshan in Hebei Province were receiving medical treatment on Tuesday after food poisoning(食物中毒). The sick children are from the country's Yuying Primary School, a private boarding school with over 800 students. |
| LANZHOU, Aug. 24 —The death toll in a food poisoning accident in Gansu Province has risen to three. The three died in the No. 2 People's Hospital in Longxi County. The victims(受害者) had all eaten a local snack made of bean jelly and roast chicken in Wenfeng Township, Longxi County. |
| School－food poisonings call for stricter actions As lots of food poisoning cases among students made the government require(要求) school－food safety for schools. Some people said increasing prices lead to the poor quality of the food. In fact it's only an excuse. The government asks schools to get higher quality school food, to cook and store food well ，or the people who make school－food poisonings must be punished strictly. Since September, six cases of food poisoning have taken place in Hebei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Shanxi. |
The twenty－seven food－poisoning students are from ________.
| A．Lanzhou |
| B．Longxi County |
| C．the No. 2 People's Hospital |
| D．Tangshan in Hebei Province |
The number of the students in Yuying Primary School is ________.
| A．800 | B．less than 800 |
| C．more than 800 | D．240 |
Three people died in Gansu because they ate ________.
| A．a local snake | B．bean jelly and roast chicken |
| C．fruits | D．meat |
How many provinces are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Four. | B．Five. | C．Six. | D．Seven. |
How many cases have taken place since August?
| A．Four. | B．Five. | C．Six. | D．Seven. |
Betty is not traditional American beauty. She is unfashionable, has thick red glasses, untidy hair and large metal braces (牙套) on her teeth. But this hasn't stopped her from becoming one of American's favourite TV characters. So how did she manage to do it?
The answer is that charm（美德） can be more attractive than beauty. Betty is the main character in a TV show Ugly Betty. The show is about her life as an office worker at a fashion magazine in New York.
The TV show has just started. Betty has many exciting experiences and romantic stories. Betty is often looked down on and laughed at by the people around. But she manages to do better than others with her hard work, charm and wisdom. The show tells us about how a girl goes from an ugly young duck into a beautiful swan.
Though you may know the ending of the show from the beginning and the story is familiar to many of us, it has still been a big success in the USA. It has attracted a large number of viewers and won two Golden Globes awards, one of the highest honors for a television program in the USA. “I think you can see a bit of Betty in all of us, and I mean men as well, because it's about the underdog (弱者)”, says Ashley Jensen, who plays one of the characters on the show.
The program is so popular because of the performance of the 23-year-old actress America Ferrera who plays the role of Betty. She brings the character alive on the screen.
Betty is popular because of ________.
| A． her clothes | B． her charm |
| C． her personality | D．her job |
What does the underlined word “it” probably mean in the passage？
| A． the beginning | B．the ending |
| C．the story | D．the show |
Which of the following is not true according to the show?
| A．Betty is a girl of wisdom. |
| B．Betty acts as a beautiful swan on the show. |
| C．Betty is an American favorite TV character. |
| D．Betty is often looked down on by the people around. |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Beauty from within. | B．A romantic story. |
| C．An ugly girl. | D．An exciting experience. |
Wang Jiaming from Beijing Chenjinglun High School says he is a lucky boy. He’s happy that he’s sitting the senior high school entrance exam (中考) in 2014 instead of 2016.
On Oct 22, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (北京市教委) announced that, from 2016, the English scores in the senior high school entrance exam will be reduced from 120 to 100. Of the 100 points, the listening ability scores will increase to 50. Meanwhile, the points for Chinese will increase from 120 to 150.
“The change won’t affect me. I feel so luck because English is my strongest subject,” said Wang.
Why such a change? It places the importance on Chinese in our study, and reduces students’ pressure, said Li Yi, spokesman of the commission.
“The change will also push us to pay attention to the practical usage of English,” said Li. “ Students will be encouraged to learn to understand English menus and read English news on mobile phones.”
There isn’t news that other cities will have the same change. But several places are making changes to English tests in the college entrance exams.
For example, Shandong is considering taking out the listening part of the English exam in its gaokao.
But, “being tested for less points doesn’t mean the subject can be taken lightly.,” Bai Ping wrote in China Daily.
English has long been the world’s most commonly used language. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji once said: “In a globalizing economy, if you cannot interact with foreighers, how can one be part of the world economy?”
Wang Jiaming said he understood the change. “Chinese, not English, is our mother tongue,” he said. “But still, I think English is both interesting and useful.”In the Beijing senior high school entrance exam of 2016, __________.
| A．the English scores will be cut down to 100 |
| B．the English listening ability scores will be lowered |
| C．the points for Chinese will be reduced by 30 points |
| D．the points for chemistry will increase y 20 points |
Wang Jiaming feels lucky because ____________.
| A．he doesn’t need to take the important exam |
| B．the exam changed from 2016 doesn’t affect him |
| C．he does well in Chinese |
| D．he is poor in chemistry |
What is the main purpose of the change?
| A．To encourage students to learn how to order meals in English. |
| B．To make students learn to read English news on mobile phones. |
| C．To ask students to prepare for the college entrance exam. |
| D．To make students pay more attention to learning Chinese. |
What does Bai Ping think of the reforms?
| A．They make students spend less time on English. |
| B．They make it harder to get a high score. |
| C．Studying English is still important for the students. |
| D．English is both interesting and useful. |
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