Like lots of small-business owners, Lola Gonzalez had to decide to cut down her company’s nine-person staff (员工) when the economic recovery began to fail last spring. Unlike other companies, she picked an unlikely employee to lay off (解雇): herself.
Her business began to have problems in 2008 after going through her books (账簿)
One day, her husband, Marcos, told her she had to reduce her payroll（薪金总额）by one person. Gonzalez said at a meeting, “I want you all to know that I have to lay somebody off and it’s been a very difficult decision. And that person is me.” Employees first froze in amazement and then burst into laughter until they realized she was serious. Gonzalez ’s employees said they were grateful for her kindness.
Her reason was simple. Although she ran the business and her employees did the legwork (跑腿), she thought she could find work more easily than her staff. Sure enough, she soon got a job as a social worker for a non-profit organization called Devereux Kids. She enjoys her social-worker job now, but the salary (薪水) cut has required some lifestyle changes. She and Marcos no longer eat out daily; they no longer pay for their son’s car and mobile phone, and they changed their car to a smaller one to save $300 a month.
Her business has picked up a bit recently and Marcos has begun to work part-time at Gonzalez’s company. Gonzalez says she has no plan to return to work at her company until the economic situation becomes better, perhaps in a year. Her employees, however, will get Christmas bonuses (奖金) this year.How many workers are there in Gonzalez’s company at present?
| A．8. | B．9. | C．10. | D．11. |
How did her employees feel at first when they heard Gonzalez’s decision?
| A．Happy. | B．Grateful. |
| C．Surprised. | D．Unbelievable. |
After leaving her company, _____________.
| A．Gonzalez sold her car and went to work by bus |
| B．Gonzalez always had meals in a restaurant |
| C．Gonzalez’s son helped her a lot |
| D．Gonzalez changed her lifestyle a lot |
From the text, we can learn that ___________.
| A．Gonzalez will not return to her company in future |
| B．Gonzalez’s business has improved a little lately |
| C．Gonzalez got her social-worker job with great difficulty |
| D．Marcos lost his job and had to work at Gonzalez’s company |
In what section of a newspaper will you probably read the advertisements?
| A．Geography | B．Education | C．History | D．Environment |
What do Science Museum Oklahoma and Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse have in common?
| A．Aiming at science |
| B．Introducing animals |
| C．Offering imaginary roles |
| D．Enjoying a trip to the universe |
Emma has a tight schedule and has to work from 10am-5pm every day. If she wants to visit a museum, which website will she probably login to get more information?
| A．http://www.jasminemoran.com/ |
| B．http://www.museumgreatplains.org/ |
| C．http://tulsaairandspacemuseum.com/ |
| D．http://www.sciencemuseumok.org/ |
Which of the following can be learned from the advertisements?
| A．Visitors can enjoy family fun in all the museums except the Museum of the Great Plains. |
| B．Visitors can experience something related to culture in the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. |
| C．Visitors can phone (405) 382-0950 if their children want to enjoy role-playing programs. |
| D．Visitors can explore an adventure of outer space in 601 NW Ferris Ave Lawton, OK. |
What may be the purpose of the writer writing the passage?
| A．To show his knowledge of museums |
| B．To provide some information on museums |
| C．To attract attention from the readers |
| D．To entertain readers |
Kelly Reeves was getting ready for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet phone and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new model at full price.
A new study finds that fear of losing your phone is a common illness. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia or “no mobile phone phobia”. Interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.
Fortunately, there’s a solution.
The first step is to figure out if you have nomophobia. Checking your phone too often is one thing, but the true sign of a problem is that you can’t conduct business or go about your routine when the fear becomes so severe.
Do you go to unusual lengths to make sure you have your phone? That’s another sign of a problem. If you find you check your phone plenty of times per hour, or a total of an hour per day, there may be a problem.
Some of the treatments are similar to those for treating anxiety attacks: Leaving the phone behind and not checking e-mail or text messages, and then learning to tolerate the after anxiety. Even if this leads to a high level of worry and stress, the solution is to push through the fear and learn to deal with not having your phone.
Of course, there are also technological alternatives. Luis Levy, a co-founder at Novy PR, says he uses an application called Cerberus that can automatically track the location of his phone. To find it, he can just go to a Web site and see the phone’s location.
He also insures his phone through a service called Asurion. The company’s description of its product reads like a prescription for anxiety: “60 million phones are lost, stolen or damaged each year. You’ll have complete peace of mind knowing that your phone is protected and you can quickly reconnect with family, friends and work, as soon as the very next day!”Why does the author mention Kelly’s experience in the first paragraph?
| A．To inform us that mobile phones are useful. |
| B．To introduce the topic for discussion. |
| C．To tell us we should get phones ready for a trip. |
| D．To warn us that we should be careful. |
The underlined word “nomophobia” in Paragraph 2 means ________.
| A．Fear of losing mobile phones. |
| B．Habits of using mobile phones |
| C．Independence of mobile phones. |
| D．Eagerness for new mobile phones. |
Which of the following is a way to treat nomophobia?
| A．Learning more about modern technology. |
| B．Avoiding using phone for some time |
| C．Not using a mobile phone in one’s daily work. |
| D．Protecting one’s phone against any damage. |
Why can the service called Asurion help to treat nomophobia?
| A．It will give you a new phone through insurance. |
| B．It lets you know other people also lose their phones. |
| C．It gives you a prescription to treat nomophobia. |
| D．It enables you to reconnect with your acquaintance. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．New mobile phone technology. |
| B．Attitude toward mobile phone. |
| C．Solutions to nomophobia |
| D．Disadvantages of mobile phone |
Americans with small families own a small car or a large one. If both parents are working, they usually have two cars. When the family is large, one of the cars is sold and they will buy a van(住房汽车)
A small car can hold(容纳)four persons and a large car can hold six persons but it is very crowded(拥挤). A van hold seven persons easily, so a family three children could ask their grandparents to go on a holiday travel. They could all travel together.
Mr. Hagen and his wife had a third child last year. This made them sell a second car and buy a van. Their children sixth and seventh seat are used to put other things, for a family of five must carry many suitcases(衣箱)when they travel. When they arrive at their grandparents’ home , the suitcases are brought into the two seats can then carry the grandparents.
Americans call vans motor homes. A motor home is always used for holidays. When a family are traveling to the mountains or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or weeks. All the members of a big family can enjoy a happier life when they are traveling together. That is why motor homes have become very popular. In America there are many parks for motor homes.From the passage, a van is also called ____________.
| A．a motor car | B．a motor home | C．a motorbike | D．a big truck |
Before Mr. Hagen and his wife bought a van, they__________.
| A．sold their old house |
| B．moved to their grandparents’ house |
| C．built a new place for a van |
| D．sold their second car |
A motor home is usually owned by a family with__________.
| A．a baby | B．much money |
| C．more than two children | D．interest in vans |
Americans usually use motor homes____________.
| A．to travel with all the family members of holiday |
| B．to do some shopping with all the family members |
| C．to visit their grandparents at weekends |
| D．to drive their children to school every day |
Motor homes have become popular because___________.
| A．they can take people to another city when people are free |
| B．they can let families have a happier life when they go out for their holidays |
| C．some people think motor homes are cheap |
| D．big families can put more things in motor homes |
“Cool” is a word with many meanings．Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little bit cold．As the world has changed，the word has had many different meaning．
“Cool” can be used to express feelings of interest in almost anything．
When you see a famous car in the street，maybe you will say，“It's cool．”You may think，“He's so cool，”when you see your favorite footballer．
We all maximize（扩大） the meaning of “cool”．You can use it instead of many words such as “new” or “surprising”．Here's an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used．A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall（瀑布）they had visited．On one student's paper was Just the one sentence，“It's so cool．Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt．
But the story also shows a scarcity（缺乏）of words．Without “cool”，some people have no words to show the same meaning．So it is quite important to keep some credibility（可信性）．Can you think of many other words that make your life as colorful as the word “cool”？ I can．And I think they are also very cool． We know that the word "cool" has had ________.
| A．only one meaning | B．no meanings |
| C．many different meanings | D．the same meaning |
In the passage，the word “express” means “________”.
| A．see | B．show | C．know | D．feel |
If you are _______ something，you may say，“It’s cool.”
| A．interested in | B．angry about | C．afraid of | D．unhappy with |
The writer takes an example to show he is ______the way the word is used．
| A．pleased with | B．strange to | C．worried about | D．careful with |
In the passage，the writer suggests（暗示）that the word “cool”________．
| A．can be used instead of many words |
| B．usually means something interesting |
| C．can make your life colorful |
| D．may not be as cool as it seems |
An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course, when that happened, all his friends left him. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Nasreddin, who was a kind, clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles.
My money has finished and my friends have gone, said the young man. What will happen to me now?
Don't worry , young man, answered Nasreddin. Everything will soon be all right again. Wait ,and you will soon feel much happier.
The young man was very glad .Am I going to get rich again then? he asked Nasreddin.
No, I didn't mean that, said the old man. I meant that you would soon get used to being poor and to having no friends.An old man died and left his son_______.
| A．nothing | B．some gold | C．much money | D．only a house |
When the son was________, he went to see Nasreddin.
| A．short of money | B．quite poor and sick |
| C．in trouble | D．quite poor and alone |
The young man was very glad because Nasreddin said that________.
| A．he would become rich again |
| B．he would soon feel much happier |
| C．he would become clever |
| D．he would have more friends |
Nasreddin meant the young man______.
| A．would get rich again |
| B．would get used to having nothing |
| C．would get used to being in trouble |
| D．would get out of poorness |
What this story tells us is________.
| A．that money is everything |
| B．that money makes the mare go |
| C．to save each penny |
| D．that misfortune tests the sincerity of friends |
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