Though Chinese is older than English, English is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always making new words and we should be able to know where most words come from.
Sometimes, however, no one may really knows where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg.
They did not speak good English, but they ate good food. When some American saw them eating round pieces of beef, they asked the Germans what it was. The Germans did not understand the question and answered, “We came from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of the beef like what the man from Hamburg ate and sold in many countries around the world.
Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why a word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. The reason may be found in any large English dictionary.Hamburg is _______ .
| A．a kind of food | B．a city in Germany |
| C．the name of a village | D．a round piece of beef. |
According to the story, _______.
| A．few Americans like hamburgers |
| B．hamburgers are made with ham |
| C．hamburgers are made with beef |
| D．hamburgers were sold all over the world about a century ago |
According to the writer, which of the following can be found in any large English dictionary?
| A．Where all the new words come from. |
| B．Where those Germans came from. |
| C．The reason why English is spoken around the world. |
| D．The reason why a word has a certain meaning. |
According to the story, the word “hamburgers” comes from _______.
| A．China because it has a long history |
| B．England because Germans don’t speak good English |
| C．English speakers because they always make new words. |
| D．The round pieces of beef those people from Hamburg brought to America. |
From the passage, we can infer that hamburgers was first sold to the world by _______.
| A．Germans | B．Americans |
| C．Chinese | D．we don’t know |
My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person can have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb(番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion(热爱) and intensity(强度). I learned working in the field — except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick(帚柄).The writer’s first job was _______.
| A．to stand down the fairway at a golf course |
| B．to watch over the sugar-cane plantation |
| C．to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields |
| D．to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them |
The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.
| A．difficult | B．boring |
| C．interesting | D．unusual |
The writer learned that_______ from his first job.
| A．he should work for those who he liked most |
| B．he should work longer than what he was expected |
| C．he should never fail to say hello to his owner |
| D．he should be respectful and faithful to the people he worked for |
_______ gave the writer serf-esteem.
| A．Having a family of eight people |
| B．Owning his own golf course |
| C．Bringing money back home to help the family |
| D．Helping his father with the work on the plantation |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．He wanted to be a successful golfer. |
| B．He wanted to run a golf course near his house. |
| C．He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation. |
| D．He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick. |
A deadly strain of avian flu may have passed between people for the first time, experts believe.The avian influenza A (H7N9) virus is thought to have been transmitted between father and daughter in eastern China, according to research published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The findings provide the strongest evidence yet of H7N9 transmission between humans since its discover in February, but its ability to transmit itself was deemed "limited and non-sustainable" by the Chinese researchers behind the study.At the end of June 133 cases had been reported, including 43 deaths. Most infections have been among people visiting markets, selling live birds or among those who had contact with live poultry（家禽） in the seven to 10 days before becoming ill.
The latest study examined the case of a 60-year-old father who regularly visited a live poultry market and became ill five to six days after his last visit in March. He was admitted to hospital with fever, cough and shortness of breath. Despite intensive care treatment he died of multiple organ failure on 4 May. His 32-year-old daughter, who was previously healthy, looked after him at his bedside before he was admitted to intensive care. She had no known exposure to live poultry before falling ill with a very high temperature, cough and fever. The daughter developed symptoms six days after her last contact with her father and was admitted to hospital where she died of multiple organ failure on 24 April.
Follow-up investigations(调查) uncovered almost genetically identical virus strains from each patient, suggesting transmission from father to daughter. Another 43 people were also tested who had had close contact with the father, daughter or both.
Dr Peter Horby, senior clinical research fellow at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Hanoi, Vietnam, said of the study: "The most likely source of infection for the daughter was her father, during the period that she cared for him while he was ill. "He said “limited person to person transmission had been reported for other strains like H5N1 , H7N7, and the pig origin flu virus H3N2. Those strains had been around for more than a decade but have not progressed any further down the path towards a world-wide virus.” “Limited human-to-human transmission of H7N9 virus is therefore not surprising, but strengthening to monitor it was still needed,” Dr Horby added.What’s the main idea of the passage ?
| A．The findings about H7N9 transmission only between father and daughter . |
| B．H7N9 transmission may be spreading between people . |
| C．133 cases of H7N9 transmission have been reported . |
| D．Both the father and daughter died of multiple organ failure. |
The reason why the daughter died of multiple organ failure was that _____.
| A．she fell ill with a very high temperature, cough and fever. |
| B．she was exposed to live poultry before falling ill. |
| C．she had close contact with the father while caring for her sick father . |
| D．she sold live birds in five to six days before falling ill . |
Which of the following is Wrong about H7N9 transmission?
| A．It was limited and non-sustainable |
| B．It was person to person transmission |
| C．It wasn’t progressed any further down the path towards a world-wide virus. |
| D．It happened between father and daughter . |
The underlined word s “was deemed” in paragraph 2 probably means _______
| A．was decreased | B．was regarded as |
| C．was thought of | D．was developed |
What type of writing is the article likely to be ?
| A．A news report. | B．Popular science. |
| C．A medical report | D．A medical findings |
America’s No.1 health problem? A report published by the American Institute of Stress claims the biggest threat to health today is neither cancer nor AIDS. The report says: “It has been estimated that75-90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems”
It is no exaggeration to say that people today are being attacked by stress. According to the National Consumers League, “ Work is the top source of stress for adults who have problems and stress in their lives (39%),followed by family (30%).Other sources include health (10%), concern about the economy (9%)and concern about international conflict and terrorism (4%).”
However , stress is hardly unique to the United States .A British survey in 2013 estimated that “over half a million individuals in Britain believed in 2012 that they were experiencing work –related stress at a level that was making them ill .” As a result of “work –related stress, depression or anxiety ,”there are “an estimated thirteen and a half million reported lost working days per year in Britain .”\
The picture is no less bleak (荒凉的) in mainland Europe .According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work , “work-related stress has been shown to affect millions of European Workers across all types of employment sectors .” One survey revealed that there are “about 41 million workers affected by work-related stress each year.”
What about Asia ? A report issued by a conference held in Tokyo concluded: “ Job stress is a common concern among many countries in the world , both developing and industrialized countries .” The report observed that “several countries in East Asia , including China and Korea, have rapidly industrialized and economically grown .These countries now have a lot of concerns on job stress and its harmful effects on workers’ health.”What did the author indicate by quoting “America’s No.1 Health Problem.” (Para. 1)?
| A．He wanted to talk about health problems in America. |
| B．He meant to introduce the topic of stress |
| C．He hoped to emphasize the stress in America |
| D．He wanted to tell readers something about American Institute of Stress |
Which of the followings is NOT true?
| A．The threat of work-related stress is bigger than cancer and AIDS. |
| B．Stress is always from working and living pressure. |
| C．Some Americans care about international conflict and terrorism. |
| D．A lot of English people become ill as a result of stress. |
We can infer from the last paragraph that ______.
| A．Asian people are more willing to develop their countries |
| B．the rapid economic development is the main reason for stress |
| C．some people in Asian countries have health problems from employment stress |
| D．Asian countries have a better situation of stress than Europe |
It is likely that you’ll read this information in ______.
| A．Popular Science | B．New York Medical News |
| C．Daily Health Report | D．Medicine and Healthcare Journal |
What’s the best title for this passage ?
| A．America’s No.1 Health Problem | B．How to Deal with Stress |
| C．Attacked by Stress | D．Working Stress around the World |
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge's new son will be named George Alexander Louis, the royal family says. A statement from William and Catherine's settlement Kensington Palace said the baby, third in line to the throne(王位), would be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.
On Wednesday the royal couple took their son to Catherine's parents' house in Berkshire, following a half-hour visit by the Queen. All three names had been among the favourites listed by British bookmakers and the announcement was relatively quick by royal standards. It took a month for the name ofPrince Charles, the heir to the throne, to be announced, and a week for William, his eldest son.
George has been the name of six British kings. The last, George VI, was the father of Queen Elizabeth II and reigned from 1936 to 1952. Alexandra, the female form of Alexander, is one of the Queen's middle names and was also the name of the Queen mate of King Edward VII at the start of the last century. Louis is one of William's middle names and was the given name of Prince Charles's tutor and great-uncle Louis Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA in 1979.
The choice of name, relatively short by royal standards, does not necessarily mean the baby will eventually become King George VII. The Queen's father was named Albert, but chose to be crowned as George VI.
"It's interesting that they chose to go with just three names," historian Suzannah Lipscomb told Sky News. "It's almost as if the royal family is coming down with ordinary people, who tend to have fewer middle names than monarchs(君主).It is a name that none can find any problems with. George itself can't be shortened in any obvious offensive way. They've probably gone for something that is safe."Which of the following statements can best sum up the passage ?
| A．New royal baby named George Alexander Louis |
| B．The royal couple gave birth to their eldest son. |
| C．The choice of name was interesting and complicated . |
| D．The new baby, third in line to the throne . |
From the passage we can know the father of the new royal baby is ____.
| A．Catherine | B．George. | C．Charles | D．William |
Which of the following is True based on the whole passage ?
| A．Prince Charles was the third heir to the British throne. |
| B．George Alexander Louis was the third heir to the British throne. |
| C．The announcement of the new loyal baby’s name is slow by royal standards. |
| D．All three names , George Alexander Louis, were unpopular with British bookmakers. |
The underlined word “reign” in paragraph 4 probably refers to ______
| A．resign | B．boom | C．govern | D．retire |
From what Suzannah Lipscomb told Sky News , we can infer in Britain _____
| A．the name of an ordinary person is simple but meaningful . |
| B．George itself can't be simplified in any obvious offensive way. |
| C．a monarch or a prince has usually more names in the middle than the ordinary people. |
| D．a person with more middle names must be a monarch or a prince . |
Global financial big dogs are no match for China's "Da Ma", or housewives, who have crowded into gold stores across China, buying up 300 tons of gold over the past two weeks. No wonder gold prices have steadied after taking a dive.
During the May Day holiday, gold stores were crowded with mostly female customers. Most of them are middle-aged "Chinese housewives". This group of buyers has risen to fame recently. They are big spenders and are desperate to get their hands on a bargain. "I bought some gold jewellery and kept them as a gift for my son when he gets married," said a buyer from Shanghai.
The gold business is skyrocketing. "Our sales are growing by the day. Yesterday we sold more than ten million yuan of gold products," a gold store salesperson said. The gold rush in China started about two weeks ago thanks to a decline in global gold prices. Media reports suggest that Chinese housewives have spent about 100 billion yuan, or about 16 billion US dollars, purchasing 300 tons of gold since mid-April. That has helped support gold prices.
"Gold prices depressed since the middle of last month but have risen gradually. That is mainly due to the strong demand from Asian markets," said foreign trader Zhang Chen from Industrial & Commercial Bank of China. "Some people even joked that Chinese housewives have beaten Wall Street analysts." For Chinese people, with limited investment options, the only thing better than buying gold is buying gold at discount prices.What does the author indicate in the first sentence of the 1st paragraph?
| A．The global big dogs can’t match with Chinese housewives. |
| B．China's "Da Ma" help a lot to support the global economic crisis . |
| C．Chinese housewives spend a great deal of money on gold |
| D．Chinese housewives have a better consumption idea than global financial big dogs |
The whole passage mainly developed_______ ?
| A．by comparison | B．by contrast |
| C．by quotation | D．by time order |
We can infer about the gold rush in China from the passage?
| A．The Chinese housewives are most willing to spend money in buying gold .. |
| B．China's "Da Ma" crowded into stores to get gold as the best gifts for sons when they get married. |
| C．China's "Da Ma" are bigger spenders and cleverer than global financial big dogs. |
| D．China’s "Da Ma" become the largest gold buyers due to a decline in global gold prices. |
In the writer’s view, Chinese housewives are desperate to get their hands on a bargain because_____.
A. it is worthy to buy gold.
B .they have a strong demand
C. they have unlimited investment options
D it is at discount prices.The author’s description about the passage is ______.
| A．objective | B．subjective | C．doubtful | D．negative |
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