Our village carpenter(木匠), John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for the job.
My wife said to me quietly, “It’s his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said in a loud voice, “It is a beautiful table, dear, isn’t it?”
“I will decide about that when I see the bill, ” I read:
One dining table, 10 November, 1989.
Cost of wood: ＄17.00
Paint: ＄1.50
Work: 8 hours (＄1 an hour) ＄8.00
Total: ＄36.50
When I was looking at the bill, John said, “It’s been a fine day, hasn’t it? Quite sunny.” “Yes,” I said, “I’m glad it is only the 10th of November.”
“Me, too,” said John. “You wait. It’ll be a lot colder by the end of the month.”
“Yes, colder…. And more expensive! Dining tables will be ＄20 more expensive on November 30th, won’t they, John?” John looked hard at me for half a minute. Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.
“If it isn’t too much trouble, John,” I said, “Please add it up again and you can forget the date.”
I paid him ＄26.50and he was happy to get it.Why did John talk about the weather when the writer was looking at the bill?_______
| A．Because he didn’t want the writer to go through the bill carefully. |
| B．Because it was really a fine day. |
| C．Because he wanted the writer to check the bill carefully. |
| D．Because he wanted to tell the writer what the weather was like. |
Why did the writer say that dining table would be＄ 20 more expensive on November 30th ?__________
| A．Because it was difficult to make dining tables in cold weather. |
| B．Because paint would be more expensive. |
| C．Because the cost of wood would be more expensive. |
| D．Because he thought John would certainly add to the cost of the dining table. |
From the story we know that _____________
| A．John made a mistake in the bill. |
| B．John tried to fool the writer in order to get more money for his work |
| C．John had written out the bill before the writer got home. |
| D．John still wanted to get ＄36.50 for his work in the end. |
WASHINGTON—US President Barack Obama said Thursday that he had known about NBA star Jeremy Lin’s talent long before the“Linsanity”phenomenon swept the sport.
“I knew about Jeremy before you did because Arne Duncan, my secretary of education, was captain of the Harvard team,”Obama told the famous US sportswriter Bill Simmons in an interview.
“When Arne and I were playing, he said,‘I’m telling you, we’ve got this terrific guard named Jeremy Lin at Harvard.’And then when one of my best friends, whose son is a freshman at Harvard, went for a recruiting(招募) trip he saw Lin in action, so I’ve been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon(时尚) for a while,”said the president, who is a Harvard Law graduate.
Lin, the New York Knicks’ point guard, though he was cut twice in December 2011, had had a sudden rise in the past month to high points scoring stardom in Madison Square Garden, the world’s biggest basketball stage.
He is the first Chinese-American player in the NBA. He has already developed a devoted following among many Asian-Americans and in China, Taiwan, the Philippines and other countries.
Clicks to the NYKnicks. Com website surged as basketball fans from around the world search for Lin’s news and highlights.
“He seems like a wonderful young man. It elevates(提升) this great sport all round the world,”said Obama, a Chicago Bulls fan.“And what’s been encouraging is to see how fast the sport has bounced back(恢复) recently.”But he sounded a note of caution on how much basketball costs to watch.
“It’s really important for professional athletes and sports owners to just remember you got a whole bunch of folks out here, all across the country, who invest so much in their teams. All they ask is not to be so selfish that you’re not looking out for your fans,”Obama said.President Obama learned about Jeremy long before through .
| A．news reports | B．a friend | C．Bill Simmons | D．Arne Duncan |
The underlined word“surged”in Paragraph 6 probably means .
| A．moved suddenly and quickly | B．stopped gradually |
| C．moved slowly | D．suddenly broke down |
President Obama finds it encouraging that .
| A．Chicago Bulls is playing wonderfully |
| B．Jeremy Lin is becoming more popular |
| C．NBA matches have returned to normal |
| D．audience is concerned about basketball |
Both athletes and sports owners should care about folks because .
| A．they have made contributions to charities |
| B．all teams are in need of support from fans |
| C．they pay to watch their favorite teams play |
| D．they can decide the result of a game |
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. “Your son is here,”she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened.
Heavily drugged with sleep because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly(隐约) saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out with his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s weak ones, expressing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.
All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward(病房), holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest a while. He refused. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only holding tightly to his son all through the night. Along towards dawn, the old man died.
The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.“Who was that man?”he asked. The nurse was surprised. “He was your father,”she answered. “No, he wasn’t,”the Marine replied. “I never saw him before in my life.”“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”asked the nurse. “I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”he answered.Why did the nurse take the Marine to the old man’s bed?
| A．Because he was the old man’s son. |
| B．Because she knew that he was a warm-hearted man. |
| C．Because she couldn’t find anyone else there. |
| D．Because she thought he was the old man’s son. |
Why did the old man hold the Marine’s hand all through the night?
| A．Because he knew he would die the next day. |
| B．Because he hadn’t seen his son for a long time. |
| C．Because he was dying and mistook him for his son. |
| D．Because he enjoyed doing that and so did the Marine. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The Marine didn’t know the old man at all. |
| B．The nurse was careless and made a mistake. |
| C．The Marine happened to be the old man’s son’s friend. |
| D．The old man passed away peacefully and contentedly. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The next time someone needs you, be there. |
| B．All the soldiers are as kind as the Marine. |
| C．We’d better not correct someone else’s mistakes. |
| D．The young should accompany their parents all the time. |
Sports account for a growing amount of income made on the sales of commercial time by television companies. Many television companies have used sports to attract viewers from particular sections of the general public, and then they have sold audiences to advertisers.
An attraction of sport programs for the major U.S. media companies is that events are often held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons—the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing. Sport events are the most popular weekend programs, especially among male viewers who may not watch much television at other times during the week. This means the television networks are able to sell advertising time at relatively high prices during what normally would be dead time for programming.
Media corporations also use sports to attract commercial sponsors that might take their advertising dollars elsewhere if television stations did not report certain sports. The people in the advertising departments of major corporations realize that sports attract male viewers. They also realize that most business travelers are men and that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance.
Golf and tennis are special cases for television programming. These sports attract few viewers, and the ratings are unusually low. However, the audience for these sports is attractive to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, including many lawyers and business managers. This is why television reporting of golf and tennis is sponsored by companies selling high-priced cars, business and personal computer, and holiday trips .This is also why the networks continue to carry these programs regardless of low ratings. Advertisers are willing to pay high fees to reach high-income consumers and those managers who make decisions to buy thousands of “company cars” and computer. With such viewers, these programs don’t need high ratings to stay on the air.Television sport programs on weekend afternoons .
| A．result in more sport events |
| B．get more viewers to play sports |
| C．bring more money to the television networks |
| D．make more people interested in television |
Why would weekend afternoons become dead time without sport programs?
| A．Because there would be few viewers |
| B．Because the advertisers would be off work |
| C．Because television programs would go slowly |
| D．Because viewers would pay less for watching television |
In many families, men make decisions on .
| A．holiday trips | B．sports viewing |
| C．television shopping | D．expensive purchases |
The ratings are not important for golf and tennis programs because .
| A．their advertisers are carmakers |
| B．their viewers are attracted by sports |
| C．their advertisers target at rich people |
| D．their viewers can afford expensive cars |
.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Television ratings are determined by male viewers. |
| B．Sports are gaining importance in advertising on television. |
| C．Rich viewers contribute most to television companies. |
| D．Commercial advertisers are the major sponsors of sport events. |
Dogs wag(摇摆) their tails in different directions depending on whether they are excited and wanting to move forward or threatened and thinking of moving back, a study has found.
Researchers in Italy examined the tail wagging behaviour of 30 dogs, catching their responses to a range of stimuli(刺激物) with video cameras. To conduct the study they chose 15 male dogs and 15 female ones aged between one and six years. The dogs were all family pets whose owners had allowed them to take part in the experiment at Bari University. The dogs were placed in a large wooden box with an opening at the front to allow for them to view various stimuli. They were tested one at a time.
The researchers led by Professor Giorgio Vallortigara of the University of Trieste found that when the dogs were shown their owners—a positive experience—their tails wagged energetically to the right side. When they were shown an unfamiliar human they wagged to the right, but with somewhat less enthusiasm. The appearance of a cat again caused a right-hand side wag, although with less intensity again. The appearance of a large unfamiliar dog, similar to a German shepherd, changed the direction of tail wagging to the left. Researchers supposed the dog was thinking of moving back. When the dogs were not shown any stimuli they tended to wag their tails to the left, suggesting they preferred company. While the changes in the tail wagging were not easily noticed without the aid of video, it was thought that the findings could help people judge the mood (心情) of dogs. Computer and video systems, for example, could be used by professional dog trainers to determine the mood of dogs that they were required to approach.The video cameras were used to catch the dogs ’responses because .
| A．it was easier to catch the dogs’ response changes in the tail wagging |
| B．the dogs were put in the wooden boxes and tested one at a time. |
| C．they enabled the dogs’ owners to know about their dogs’ habit |
| D．the dogs wagged their tails in different directions when they were in different moods |
The underlined word“intensity” in the passage means .
| A．surprise | B．worry | C．excitement | D．interest |
When there are no stimuli, a dog will .
| A．wag to the left | B．wag to the right |
| C．not wag at all | D．wag to the left and then to the right |
The underlined word “they”in the last paragraph refers to .
| A．the dogs | B．the trainers | C．the systems | D．the researchers |
The purpose of doing the experiment is .
| A．to train dogs for their owners |
| B．to help people judge the mood of dogs |
| C．to help dogs find company |
| D．to help people choose their pet dogs |
When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously ,did not give her good service ,pretended not to understand her ,or even acted as if they did not hear her .
My mother has realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on phone to pretend I was she . I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人).I said in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs.Tan..”
And my mother was standing beside me ,whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me cheek already two week late.”
And then , in perfect English I said : “I’m getting rather concerned .You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived.”
Then she talked more loudly. “What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss.” And so I turned to the stockbroker again, “I can’t tolerate any more excuse. If I don’t receive the check immediately , I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week.”
The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs.Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English.
When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom. It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world.Why was the author’s mother poorly served?
| A．She was unable to speak good English. |
| B．She was often misunderstood. |
| C．She was not clearly heard. |
| D．She was not very polite. |
From Paragraph 2, we know that the author was ________ .
| A．good at pretending | B．rude to the stockbroker |
| C．ready to help her mother | D．unwilling to phone for her mother |
After the author made the phone call, _______.
| A．they forgave the stockbroker |
| B．they went to New York immediately |
| C．they failed to get the check |
| D．they spoke to their boss at once |
What does the author think of her mother’s English now?
| A．It confuses her. |
| B．It embarrasses her. |
| C．It helps her understand the world. |
| D．It helps her tolerate rude people. |
We can infer from the passage that Chinese English ________.
| A．is clear and natural to non-native speakers |
| B．is vivid and direct to non-native speakers |
| C．has a very bad reputation in America |
| D．may bring inconvenience in America |
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