The Universal Autograph (名人签名) Collectors Club(UACC) has been serving the collector for over 25 years. Founded in 1965, the UACC began as a small group of Long Island. New York autograph collectors and has grown to be the largest collector’s organization of its kind.
The UACC by its purpose is primarily an educational fellowship(联谊会) where knowledge and resources are shared with not only the membership, but also the public at large. By joining the UACC, you will be introduced to the fastest growing hobby in the world today.
Autographs have been called “frozen moment in time” by some people. Probably the most personal thing that one person can give is his or her signature.
In 1843, former President James Madison sent an autograph for a collection which the Princess Victoria was making. The future British Queen was only 15 years old at the time. Financier J.P. Morgan, Sr. began collecting when he was 16, and his son continued adding to the father’s collection. As the daughter of the Mayor of Boston, Rose Fitzgerald collected autographs, as did her son, John F. Kennedy. Franklin Roosevelt, Malcolm Forbes and Glenn Ford are a few more well-known autograph collectors. By collecting autographs, you become a curator(馆长) of history.
Here are some of the best reasons to join the UACC.
The UACC publishes The Pen and Quill, the highly regarded 64-page bimonthly journal with articles and news in all fields of autograph collecting. UACC members may place free ads in The Pen and Quill to express their wants or just swap with other members.
Writing for autographs to famous living people can also be interesting. The more interesting the letter, the better chance for an interesting reply.
The UACC also offers its members the opportunity to buy uncommon autographic materials at low prices. Meanwhile, it publishes low-cost reference works for its members.
Once you join the UACC, you will be added to our mailing list and will receive catalogs(目录) of autographs for sale by dealer members. The UACC has nearly 200 of the world’s most professional dealers as members. Each member provides contact information on our website, including mailing address, telephone numbers, e-mail-addresses, website address, etc. We always try to promote our dealer program and encourage collectors to always buy from these dealers.Paragraph 4 is presented to inform you that __________.
| A．autographs might be the most personal thing that one can give |
| B．the hobby started as early as the 19th century |
| C．autographs have a long history and was popular even among great people |
| D．autographs reflect history and sometimes change history |
What does the underlined word “ swap” probably mean?
| A．write for autographs | B．exchange autographs |
| C．mail autographs | D．sign autographs |
Which of the following about the service offered by the UACC is NOT right?
| A．It offers member a good way in which they can get what they need much easily. |
| B．A magazine is published every two months to help you know about the world’s hobby. |
| C．It offers collectors great deals on unusual autographs at reasonable prices. |
| D．It offers Internet service to make extra profits. |
This passage is mainly__________
| A．to encourage you to join the UACC |
| B．to tell you how interesting autograph collecting is |
| C．to tell you the fast development of the autograph collecting |
| D．to inform you where you can get an autograph |
For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages. Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet plane fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured . The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move again to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and can not turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. Speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.What does the writer try to express in Paragraph1?
| A．Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages． |
| B．The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short． |
| C．The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams． |
| D．Man has been fond of travelling rather than staying in one place． |
How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph2?
| A．By giving instructions. |
| B．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| C．By following the order of time. |
| D．By giving examples. |
According to Paragraph 3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because______．
| A．they pay less for the tickets |
| B．they feel safer during the travel |
| C．they can enjoy higher speed of travel |
| D．they don’t have to be “processed” |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Air travel benefits people and industries． |
| B．Train Travel has some advantages over air travel． |
| C．Great changes have taken place in modern travel. |
| D．The high speed of air travel is gained at a cost. |
Ladies and Gentlemen, some strange, wild and wonderful stories colored the news in 2010, you may like them.
● A Copenhagen bus company has put "love seats" on 103 of its buses for people looking for a partner. "Even love at first sight is possible on the bus," said a spokesman for the company to explain the two seats on each bus that are covered in red cloth and a "love seat" sign.
● Shoppers at an international luxury fair in Italy, found a cell-phone-equipped golden coffin（棺材）among the items on display. The phones will help "the dead" contact relatives if they have been buried alive by mistake.
● A man in New York came up with a disarming（手无寸铁的）way to perform his latest bank robbery, approaching the clerk’s window with a large bunch of flowers and handing over a note saying “give me the money!”
● An Englishman who lost all his legs and arms in an electrical accident successfully swam across the Channel, a challenge he had been preparing for two years. The whole cost is 400 dollars.
● A set of artificial teeth made for Britain's war-time prime minister Winston Churchill known as "the teeth that saved the world" sold for nearly 18,000 pounds (21,500 euros, 24,000 dollars) at auction（拍卖）.
● A British woman caused an Internet hate campaign after she was caught on camera dumping（抛弃）a cat in a rubbish bin. She was fined 250 pounds (400 dollars, 280 euros) after pleading guilty.
● The BBC apologized completely and without any doubts after a radio presenter jokingly announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died.
● Two Australian men needed surgery after shooting each other in the bottoms during a drinking session to see if it would hurt and they were charged 400 dollars separately.
● A Kuwaiti MP(议员) suggested state-aid for male citizens to take second wives, in an effort to reduce the large number of unmarried women in the oil-rich state.What is special about the coffin in the second news?
| A．It is golden. | B．It has a cell phone. |
| C．It is new. | D．It has many items. |
Who has to spend 400 dollars to do the surgery?
| A．An Australian man who was shot in bottom to test the hurt. |
| B．One who bought Winston Churchill’s artificial teeth. |
| C．A British woman who dumped a cat in a rubbish bin. |
| D．An Englishman crossing the Channel without legs and arms. |
Which of the following is true according the news above?
| A．The love seats on the buses are only for married couples. |
| B．The man in New York robbed the bank with a gun. |
| C．Winston Churchill’s set of artificial teeth is worth a lot. |
| D．A British woman dumped the cat because she hated it. |
From the last news we can infer that _________.
| A．in Kuwait many men are eager to get married |
| B．a lot of rich single men lived in Kuwait |
| C．there are quantities of oil in Kuwait |
| D．there are many single women in Kuwait |
We are not rich by what we possess but rather by what we can do without.
——Immauel Kant
Many times my friend June would say, “If I ever get rich, I’m getting a completely new wardrobe （大衣柜）and moving into a bigger apartment.” I thought of her words and her chances of being rich are about as good as mine. But, to everyone’s surprise, a few years ago June did come to large inheritance（遗产）.
At first June said very little about the money. As the initial shock disappeared, she became excited, June is a great believer in making lists, so I was surprised to find her writing down all the ways she would spend her new wealth.
As time went on, she started revising the list. What had been midway down the list was now at the top. At last, I said to her, “You know, it isn’t necessary to spend all your inheritance at once. Take come time; think about it.” “I know, I know,” she answered with a little bit anger.
Then one morning June called, “I’ve decided how I want to use my new inheritance. I want to see what you think,” she said. This wasn’t something I looked forward to, but we had been friends so long.
As we sat, June spread a sheet of paper on the table. To my great surprise, she had written only two words: Charities, and Grandchildren-in that order. Though I had promised to keep quiet, I couldn’t keep from asking how she came to this decision.
“Well,” she said, “I took your advice and thought about it.” She added, “Helping others means a lot to me, so I’m hoping this gift will help people in need.”
I interrupted, “But what about this big apartment you most hope to have?”
“At first it was hard, but it doesn’t seem as important any more”, she answered with a smile.
Then June moved her hand, and I could see a few words written in tiny letters at the bottom of the page. After having a look at the small print, I burst into laughter. June had written: AND one new wardrobe.From the passage we can learn that the writer at first .
| A．was richer than her friend June |
| B．was no richer than her friend June |
| C．was poorer than her friend June |
| D．was interested in money as June |
When making a list of how to deal with her inheritance, June .
| A．didn’t change it at all |
| B．had a quarrel with the writer |
| C．kept it secret from the writer |
| D．made some changes to it |
When June called the writer to talk about her new decision, the writer .
| A．felt that June would do something meaningful |
| B．refused the invitation at first, but changed her mind later |
| C．had decided not to make any comments on June’s list |
| D．was eager to learn more about the new list |
What did the writer think of her friend’s new decision?
| A．She found it funny and wrong. |
| B．She found it unacceptable and unbelievable. |
| C．She found it surprising and meaningful. |
| D．She found it difficult and meaningless. |
“Choo, Choo!” Here comes the Chunnel train. Get aboard if you want to learn more about this underground transportation system. This is an unusual form of transportation, because it is a tunnel that trains travel through and not an actual form of transportation.
The Chunnel is actually the English nickname for the Channel Tunnel. In French, it is called le tunnel sous la Manche. It is a rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Straits of Dover. It connects Cheriton in Kent, England with Sangatte in northern France. It is the second longest rail tunnel in the world.
Did you know that the British and the French had a race whi1e they were building the Chunnel? The race was to see who could get to the middle of the tunnel first. The British won by a little bit. It took 15,000 workers over seven years to dig the tunnel. The tunnel was finished in 1994.
The completed Chunnel cost about $ 21 billion. But it all paid off, because it became very popular, very quick. Millions of people use it. Now it is getting even more popular.
There are three complete tunnels in the Chunnel. The two outside ones are the passenger trains. The small inner one is a guidance train. The guidance train is not used for transportation. Each track is exactly parallel to each other.
There are four different train systems in the Chunnel. The Eurostar is a high speed passenger service that connects London, Paris, Brussels, and Lille. The Eurotunnel shuttle is a rail ferry service. These shuttles carry cars. These are railcars that allow drivers to drive their vehicles on and off. There are also two Eurotunnel goods service trains.
Now you know more about the Chunnel. Everybody off, this is the last stop.The Channel Tunnel links ______ with _______.
| A．Dover; Kent | B．London; Paris |
| C．Lille; Brussels | D．Cheriton; Sangatte |
Which of the following shows the structure of the tunnels in the Chunnel?
The Eurotunnel shuttle is intended to carry _________.
| A．passengers | B．drivers and their vehicles |
| C．goods | D．staff members of the Chunnel |
The text can most probably be __________.
| A．found in a textbook |
| B．read in a magazine |
| C．broadcast on a train |
| D．heard in a railway station |
Expensive and new gloves allow chatterboxes（话匣子）to take the term “handsfree” to a new level—by talking into them as they make a call. The gloves are known as “Talk to the Hand” and cost £1,000 a pair. They fixed a speaker unit into the thumb and a microphone into the little finger that can be connected to any mobile handset using Bluetooth.
Artist Sean Miles designed the new gloves that double as a phone in part of his project that shows the possibilities of gadget(小装置，小机械) recycling. He uses outdated gloves and combines them with parts from mobile handsets recycled through O2, which commissioned（承担）the project. Mobile phone users will be able to keep their hands warm while they chat without taking their phones out of their pockets or handbags.
Mr Miles designed two pairs of the new gloves—one in pink and the other in brown and yellow. They will appear in an exhibition this July and visitors will be able to win the gloves. If demand is high, they will then be produced on a larger scale. O2 Recycle, which backed the project, estimates that there are already 70 million unused mobile handsets in the UK. The service pays up to £260 to those who recycle gadgets including phones, handheld consoles, MP3 players and digital cameras.
Designer Sean Miles hopes his work will get people thinking about recycling. The 41-year-old said, “I hope that my ‘Talk to the Hand’ project will get people to think again about the waste created by not recycling gadgets. If a few more people recycle their gadgets rather than send them to trash, I think this project will have fulfilled its aim.”
Bill Eyres, head of O2 Recycle, urges people to recycle their phone responsibly. He said, “There’s a pressing need for all of us to look at outdated handsets, and all the gadgets that we move on from or upgrade each year. Whether they are consoles or cameras, we should think of them as a resource that we need to recycle responsibly rather than throw them away.”
The underlined word “O2” in Paragraph 2 is probably the name of ______.
| A．an artist | B．a company |
| C．a mobile | D．an exhibition |
Consumers can buy the “Talk to the Hand” gloves ______.
| A．in the exhibition |
| B．from Mr Miles |
| C．when they are mass produced |
| D．after they recycle the gadgets |
The purpose of the project is to _______.
| A．promote the technology of IT |
| B．enable people to talk to their hands |
| C．raise people’s awareness of recycling |
| D．attract visitors’ attention in the exhibition |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．New mobiles that are fashionable. |
| B．Outdated handsets that are upgraded. |
| C．Outdated gadgets that can be used for recycling. |
| D．New gloves that can be used for making phone calls. |
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