A blind schoolgirl has become the youngest interpreter (口译员) when she is only ten years
Alexia Sloane is from Cambridge. She was told by the doctor she had a brain tumour (脑癌) when she was on holiday "with her parents in France. After that the two-year-old girl became blind.
Though the little girl can't see anything, she has great talent for languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent (流利的) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese-and is learning German.
Now her dream of working as an interpreter has come true. East of England MEP (欧盟议员) Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament (议会). "Usually a person who enters the European Parliament should be 14 at least. So it was amazing for Alexia to work there at the age of 10. " said Alexia's mother Isabelle. Alexia can speak three languages since birth. As her mum is hah" French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. " She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age. " added Isabelle, who also has a four-year-old daughter Melissa.
Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was six and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year (年度青年成就奖). She asked if she could learn from the interpreters and HEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. " It was fantastic and I decided to become an interpreter, "said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me. "How old is the youngest interpreter according to the passage?
| A．4. | B．6. | C．10. | D．14. |
When did Alexia Sloane become blind?
| A．When she was born. |
| B．After she had a brain tumour. |
| C．After she became an interpreter. |
| D．When she was on holiday with her parents. |
Who offered Alexia the chance of working as an interpreter?
| A．Richard. | B．Isabelle. | C．Melissa. | D．Robert Sturdy. |
What is right about Alexia Sloane?
| A．She can speak five language fluently. |
| B．She is a talented language learner. |
| C．She is the only child in the family. |
| D．She went to France on holiday after she won the award. |
What do you think is the meaning of the sentence "Nothing can stop me. "?
| A．Never give up. | B．Believe in yourself. |
| C．Nothing is impossible. | D．Failure is the mother of success. |
Every town in the United States has a post office . Some are very small , and you may also find them in the corner of a shop . Others are larger buildings . They are open five days a week and on Saturday mornings . From Monday through Friday they are usually open from 8:30 to 4:30 . 
If you know how much the postage (邮资) is for your letter , you can buy stamps at any window. In some post offices you can buy stamps from machines . Stamps are sold many different prices , from one cent (美分) to many dollars . If you are not sure how much postage is for you letter , you may ask the man or the woman in the post office for help . he or she will give you the stamps you need . If you are sending your letter far away , you should use airmailenvelopes (航空信封) . Remember that postage will be more expensive for a letter to be sent outside the country.
At a post office you can also buy postcards . A postcard is cheaper than a letter . Usually the price of postage for a postcard is about half that of a letter . The postcards that you buy at a post office do not have pictures . However ,also they are not to be sent outside the country .
Letters are an easy and cheap way to keep in touch with people in many different countries .
| A．post offices | B．large buildings |
| C．small shops | D．different banks |
| A．At 9:00 on Sunday morning | B．At 12:00 on Tuesday. |
| C．At 5:00 on Friday afternoon | D．At 8:00 on Monday morning. |
| A．go and buy stamps from the machine in the post officesend a cheap postcard instead of your letter |
| B．get in touch with somebody you know in the post office |
| C．ask the man or the woman in the post office for help |
| D．Call your friends for help. |
| A．a beautiful postcard | B．a letter written on envelope |
| C．a letter by airmail | D．a postcard with pictures |
| A．the post office | B．the postage |
| C．letters | D．postcards |
Dear editor (编辑) ，
I live in a beautiful city . Many visitors come to my city . Because there are so many colorful peacocks (孔雀) here .The peacocks mainly live on the grass land of Dongfeng Square. 
Visitors often give them food freely . They usually throw food to them , and don’t think about at all whether the food is right or not . Some of the peacocks became ill , some even died after eating the bad food given by the visitors.
I’m sure most of the visitors who throw food to the peacocks really like the birds , but don’t realize (意识到) that they may be doing them harm (伤害). The visitors should be told that what have done is very harmful to the birds , and this kind of thing must be stopped from happening .
Perhaps we can build some small shops beside Dongfeng Square to sell peacock food . For us every person , it’s our duty to give more love to these beautiful birds and to look after them carefully.
Yours,
Sun Yan
| A．do some shopping | B．see beautiful peacocks |
| C．play on Dongfeng square | D．eat nice food |
| A．did’t give them any food |
| B．gave them too much drink. |
| C．threw them some bad food |
| D．loved them and played with them |
| A．sell food for visitors |
| B．sell food for peacocks |
| C．make the square more beautiful |
| D．have the beautiful birds |
| A．live and play with the birds |
| B．stop the birds from eating too much |
| C．give right food to the birds |
| D．give more food to the birds |
| A．visitor | B．shop owner(主人) |
| C．editor | D．student |
You know what it' s like. You’ ve just arrived in Washington D. C. after a long journey and all you really want to do is lie down and relax in your hotel room. But first you have to make a few quick notes for tomorrow's meeting, check your e-mails, and perhaps print out a few- things. And you need to make a few local telephone calls, and one call to your family.
And what do you usually get? Your desk is just about big enough for a cup of coffee, and there's no desk lamp~ the stationary(办公用品) is only several pieces of paper and the only pen there doesn't work at all. If you want to print something, you have to go to the Reception(前台),and when you try to use your cell phone, you find that it won't work in the U. S. A.
Well, Harmony Hotel is different. Just tell us ahead of time what you're going to need, and we'll make sure that it's waiting for you when you arrive. There will be a printer in your room if you want one, and a cell phone that really works. All you have to pay for is the calls you make.
We can also provide a room for business meetings, even a secretary to take notes. All we ask is a few days' notice.
All of our rooms are of the same high standard and we promise not to increase prices in the next twelve months. But book now, because many people are already calling to book rooms, and we'd hate to disappoint you.
Harmony--the hotel you've always wanted, but never been able to find before.The advertisement is probably written for
| A．teachers | B．business people |
| C．secretaries | D．tourists |
What must a guest do if he wants a secretary?
| A．Tell the hotel ahead of time. |
| B．Tell the Reception when he arrives. |
| C．Call a secretary to take notes. |
| D．Put up a notice in the hotel. |
Why is it best to book now?
| A．All of the rooms are empty now. |
| B．Prices might increase soon. |
| C．There may be no rooms left. |
| D．It saves money for guests. |
What is special about Harmony?
| A．It offers telephone calls for free. |
| B．It provides printing at the Reception. |
| C．It costs much less than other hotels. |
| D．It does a lot of things to meet guests’ needs. |
Ted Brown's dream as a child was an unusual one: he wanted to fly. What was more unusual was the way in which he made his dream come true.
After high school, he wanted to join the U. S. Air Force but he failed because of his poor eyesight. However, his dream remained.
At the age of 33, Ted was a truck driver in Los Angeles. One day, while sitting outside in his garden, he watched planes fly overhead and an idea came to him: to use balloons(气球) to fly.
A few weeks later, Ted bought 42 huge balloons. He tied them to a chair and then he sat down in the chair with some beer, sandwiches and a gun. His plan was to fly to 10 meters above his garden, enjoy a few hours in the air, and then shoot some balloons with his gun to get back down. But things did not go as he planned.
Once his friends cut the ropes under Ted's chair, the 42 balloons flew into the sky at an astonishing speed until about 4000 meters above the ground with Ted and his chair. He didn't shoot any of the balloons because he was afraid he might break the balanee(平衡) of his "plane". Ted stayed in the sky with his beer and sandwiches for 14 hours, cold and frightened.
Planes heading towards Los Angeles' busy international airport reported the strange sight. And Ted' s balloons caused great danger to them. At last, Ted gathered his courage to shoot a few balloons and slowly landed on the ground, where many policemen were waiting for him.
Ted made his dream come true, but it cost him: he was fined(罚款) $ 1,500 for breaking the law about air safety.
When asked by a reporter why he had done it, Ted answered, "A man can't just sit around and do nothing; he should have his dream and go for it. "Why couldn't Ted join the American Air Force?
| A．Because he didn't finish high school. |
| B．Because his parents stopped him. |
| C．Because there was problem with his eyes. |
| D．Because he was too short. |
He was fined $ 1,500 because
| A．his balloons caused trouble to planes |
| B．he stayed too long in the air |
| C．he used too many balloons |
| D．he took a gun with him |
Which of the following is true?
| A．He didn't go to college because of his dream to fly. |
| B．He felt sorry for what he had done. |
| C．He realized his dream in a dangerous way both to himself and to others. |
| D．He didn't shoot the balloons at first because he wanted to stay there longer. |
What can be the best title for the story?
| A．Go for It. | B．A Man with Poor Eyesight. |
| C．Up High in the Air. | D．Ted's Dream to Fly. |
A person's nose is important for breathing and smelling. The nose is also used in many popular expressions.
Some people are able to lead other people by the nose. For example, if a wife leads her husband by the nose, she makes him do whatever she wants him to do.
Some people are said to be hard-nosed. They will not change their opinions easily. And many people will never pay through the nose, that is, they will not pay too much money for something.
It is always helpful when people keep their nose out of other people's business.The opposite of this is someone who noses around all the time. This kind of person is interested in other people's private matters. He is considered nosy.
And my teacher often says, "If you put your heart into it, the answers should be right under your nose. " It means something can be found or seen easily.
As for ear, there are also some expressions.
When I want to say something to you, I hope you are all ears and listen carefully. I also advise you to keep your ear to the ground. This means to be interested in what is happening around you and what people are thinking.
Another expression about ear is to play it by ear. Someone is able to play a song or a piece of music by remembering the tune(旋律) and not by reading the music.
There are many other expressions about different parts of our body.
For example, if someone is playing a joke on you, you can say, "You are pulling my leg. " And to turn your hand to something means to begin to do something. If a child does something wrong, we say he will get it in the neck, or he will be punished.If a person always wants to lead others by the nose, that means .
| A．he always tells others what to do |
| B．he works harder than others |
| C．he cares about others instead of himself |
| D．he listens to his wife all the time |
If someone is hard-nosed, .
| A．he will be too interested in others' business |
| B．he will spend much money for daily things |
| C．he will find the answers to his problems soon |
| D．he will not change his mind easily |
When our parents or teachers are talking to us, what should we do?
| A．We should be all ears. |
| B．We should keep our nose out of their business. |
| C．We should play it by ear. |
| D．We should pay through the nose. |
On April Fools'Day, what may some people try to do?
| A．They may turn their hand to us. |
| B．They may think of ways to pull our legs. |
| C．They will get it in the neck. |
| D．They will nose around all the time. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号