Joke l：
A man was sitting reading his papers when his wife hit him round the head with a frying pan． “What was that for?” the man asked．
The wife replied, “That was for the piece of paper with the name Jenny on it I found in your pocket．” The man then said, “When l was at the races last week Jenny was the name of the horse I bet on．” The wife apologized and went on with the housework． Three days later the man was watching TV when his wife hit him on the head with an even bigger frying pan, knocking him unconscious． Upon regaining consciousness the man asked why she had hit again． Wife replied, “Your horse phoned．”
Joke 2：
“Do you believe in life after death?” the boss asked one of his employees．
“Yes, sir, ” the new employee replied．
“Well, then, that makes everything just fine, ” the boss went on． “After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother’s funeral． she stopped in to see you!”
Joke 3：
“Oh, I am happy to see you, ” the little boy said to his grandmother on his mother's side． “Now maybe daddy will do the trick he has been promising us． ” The grandmother was curious． “What trick is that?” she asked．
“I heard him tell mommy that he would climb the walls if you came to visit, ” the little boy answered．
Joke 4：
A woman’s husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day． One day, he signaled for her to come nearer． As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears, “You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times．
When I got fired, you were there to support me．
When my business failed, you were there．
When I got shot, you were by my side．
When we lost the house, you stayed right here．
When my health started failing, you were still by my side… You know what Martha?”
“What dear?” she gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth．
“I’m beginning to think you’re bad luck…”The wife became angry suddenly in Joke 1 because __________．
| A．she had her frying pan burned while away |
| B．her husband made a bet on a horse but lost |
| C．her husband was carrying with himself a woman’s name |
| D．her husband’s pocket money was lost without any reason |
Who called the husband in Joke 1?
| A．The organization of the horse races of a club． |
| B．Jenny the man chose to bet on in the races． |
| C．Jenny who won the race successfully． |
| D．Jenny whom the man made friends with． |
What dose the boss mean in Joke 2?
| A．He was lucky to see the employee’s former grandmother． |
| B．The employee’s grandmother has come into heaven after death． |
| C．He has figured out that the employee told a lie to him． |
| D．The employee’s grandmother was an honest woman． |
What can we learn about the little boy from Joke 3?
| A．His father likes to make fun of his mother-in-law． |
| B．He likes to play tricks on others． |
| C．His mother is strict with him． |
| D．His father doesn’t like his mother-in-law to come． |
The husband in Joke 4 means that __________．
| A．he is thankful for his selfless and lovely wife |
| B．he realizes he is unlucky to have married his wife |
| C．it is fortunate to experience so many unforgettable things |
| D．his wife deserves all his love because of her devotion |
When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship（奖学金）and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”, shown in late April.
Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted（吸毒）parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it.
Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets.“What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,”she wrote in her book Breaking Night.
She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. “I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time.”
Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.In which order did the following things happen to Liz?
a. Her mother died of AIDS. b. She worked at a petrol station.
c. She got admitted into Harvard. d. The movie about her life was put on.
e. She had trouble finding a place to sleep.
| A．b, a, e, c, d | B．a, b, c, e, d | C．e, d, b, a, c | D．b, e, a, d, c |
The main idea of the passage is ________.
| A．how Liz managed to enter Harvard University | B．what a hard time Liz had in her childhood |
| C．why Liz loved her parents so much | D．how Liz struggled to change her life |
What actually made her go towards her goal?
| A．Envy and encouragement. | B．Willpower and determination. |
| C．Decisions and understanding. | D．Love and respect for her parents. |
When she wrote “What drove me to live on...I had only experienced a small part of the society”, she meant that ________.
| A．she had little experience of social life | B．she could hardly understand the society |
| C．she would do something for her own life | D．she needed to travel more around the world |
Some people believe that international sports create goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: that international competitions encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sports encourage international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused mainly by minor national competitions.
One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation（愤慨）after a hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the loser’s objection to the final decision. They were sure that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was very angry and he said, “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension（停赛）of the team for at least three years.
The American basketball team announced that they would not give up the first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their competition. The game had ended in disturbance. It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player popped the ball into the basket. It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury discussed the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.
Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sports are played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism（爱国主义）.According to the author, recent Olympic Games have ________.
| A．caused national pride for athletes |
| B．created goodwill between the nations |
| C．hardly showed any international friendship |
| D．led to less misunderstanding between countries |
What did the manager mean by saying “Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished”?
| A．His team would no longer take part in international games. |
| B．There should be no hockey matches organized by the Federation. |
| C．Hockey and the Federation are both ruined by the unfair decisions. |
| D．The International Hockey Federation should be dismissed forever. |
By taking the basketball game for example, the author wants to prove that ________.
| A．too much patriotism was displayed in the games |
| B．the announcement to prolong the match was wrong |
| C．the appeal jury was too hesitant in making the decision |
| D．the team was right in refusing to accept the silver medals |
What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
| A．Sports should be played for the love of one’s nation. |
| B．Unfair decisions are common in the Olympic Games. |
| C．International competitions will lead to misunderstanding. |
| D．The organization for the Olympic Games must be reformed. |
That“Monday morning feeling”could be a crushing pain in the chest which leaves you sweating and gasping for breath. Recent research from Germany and Italy shows that heart attacks are more common on Monday mornings and doctors blame the stress of returning to work after the weekend break.
The risk of having a heart attack on any given day should be one in seven, but a six-year study helped by researchers at the Free University of Berlin of more than 2, 600 Germans showed that the average person had a 20 percent higher chance of having a heart attack on a Monday than on any other day.
Working Germans are particularly not protected against attack, with a 33 percent higher risk at the beginning of the working week. Non-workers, by comparison, appear to be no more at risk on a Monday than any other day.
A study of 11, 000 Italians proved 8 a. m. on a Monday morning as the most stressful time for the heart, and both studies showed that Sunday is the least stressful day, with fewest heart attacks in both countries.
The finding could lead to a better understanding of what is the immediate cause of heart attacks, according to Dr Stefan Willich of the Free University. “We know a lot about long-term risk factors such as smoking and cholesterol（胆固醇）but we don’t know what actually causes heart attacks, so we can’t give clear advice on how to prevent them, ”he said.
Monday mornings have a double helping of stress for the working body as it makes a rapid change from sleep to activity, and from the relaxing weekend to the pressures of work.
“When people get up, their blood pressure and heart rate go up and there are hormonal（内分泌）changes in their bodies, ”Willich explained. “All these things can have an unfavorable effect in the blood system and increase the risk of a clot（血凝块）which will cause a heart attack.”
“When people return to work after a weekend off, the pace of their life changes. They have a higher workload, more stress, more anger and more physical activities,”said Willich.Monday morning feeling, as this passage shows, ________.
| A．is not as serious as people thought |
| B．is the first killer in Germany and Italy |
| C．is created by researchers in Germany and Italy |
| D．is harmful to working people in developed countries |
To protect people from a heart attack, doctors have paid much attention to ________.
| A．people’s working time | B．people’s living place |
| C．people’s diet and lifestyle | D．people’s nationalities |
It can be learned from this passage that the heart attack has something to do with all the following EXCEPT ________.
| A．blood pressure | B．heart rate | C．hormonal changes | D．blood type |
If the researchers give us some advice to avoid Monday morning feeling, what might it be?
| A．Improve working conditions. | B．Never go to work on Mondays. |
| C．Stay with a doctor on Mondays. | D．Get up late on Monday mornings. |
HK’s Family Affair
The 32nd Hong Kong Art Festival, to be held early next year, will be based on the theme of “family”.
The art festival, considered to be Asia’s best, began in 1973.
“We hope that people from Beijing and from all over the world will go to Hong Kong to enjoy the multiple performances in our art festival,”Douglas Gautier, the festival’s management director, said in a press conference in the capital.
In the 29 days of the festival, which runs from February 8 to March 7, 2004, the audience can choose from 111 performances of 51 programmes staged by 700 foreign performers, 450 local artists and 160 actors from the mainland.
Programmes vary from classical music, jazz, world music, Western and Peking opera, drama and dance to outdoor spectaculars.
The programmes include Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, Shakespeare’s drama Rromeo and Juliet, the ballet Mozartina and African dances, to name just a few.
The lineup（阵容）includes the English Touring Theatre, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Ballet, The Spanish National Dance Troupe, as well as Europe Galante, the Petersen Quartet, pianists Angela Hewitt and Marc-Andre Hamelin, and saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
In an effort to increase attendance, hotels and airlines are offering discount packages along with art festival ticket sales, most of which are at 20% and 30% discounts.
For more information, please check:
www. hk. artsfestival. orgThe press conference must have been held ________.
| A．in Hong Kong | B．in Europe |
| C．in Beijing | D．in England |
By means of“discount packages”you can pay ________.
| A．nothing for the cost |
| B．less than the usual cost |
| C．for the air ticket but not for the festival ticket |
| D．for the festival ticket but not for hotel rooms |
According to the text, we do NOT have any information about ________.
| A．who will perform on stage | B．what programmes there will be |
| C．when the 32nd Art Festival will be held | D．which theatres will put on performances |
The main purpose in writing this text is ________.
| A．to make the 32nd Art Festival known | B．to announce the plan of the art festival |
| C．to introduce the cost of the art festival | D．to sell a service during the art festival |
One night when my wife was preparing dinner, our little son took a piece of paper to her which read:
For washing the car...........................................$5.00
For making my own bed this week...................$1.00
Going to the provision shop..............................$0.50
Playing with little sister ...................................$0.25
Taking out the rubbish......................................$1.00
Getting a good report card................................$5.00
And for sweeping the common corridor...........$2.00
Total .......................................................... ......$14.75
His mother looked at him standing there expecting payment. I could see a thousand memories flashed through her mind. So she picked up the pen and turning the paper over, this is what she wrote:
For 9 months I carried you, growing inside me.....................................No Charge
For the nights I sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you..............No Charge
For the toys, food and clothes and wiping your nose............................No Charge
When you add it all up, the full cost of my love...................................No Charge
Well, when he finished reading, he had great big tears in his eyes. He looked at his mother and said, “Mummy, I love you.” Then he took the pen and in great big letters wrote on the “bill”“All paid.”.What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．Part-time Job | B．Mother’s Love, No Charge |
| C．Payment for House Work. | D．Greedy Mother |
The writer wrote the passage in order to ______.
| A．show that children should be paid for their housework |
| B．show that children should not be paid for their housework |
| C．show a clever way of teaching children |
| D．tell children how to spend their spare time |
How do you think of the mother in the passage?
| A．Clever. | B．Greedy. | C．Cold-hearted. | D．Selfish. |
From the last passage we know that ______.
| A．the boy got all the money he wanted |
| B．the mother was unwilling to give the money to the boy |
| C．the boy realized that it was not right to ask for money for the housework |
| D．the mother was angry with what the boy said |
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