We’re trying to decide where to go on our vacation this summer. We usually go to the Lake Arrowhead for a few weeks, but we’d like to go somewhere else this year. We’re tired of doing the same thing summer after summer. Some friends of ours suggested that we go to Hawaii. That would be wonderful! I’m sure we’d enjoy a trip like that, but of course it’s out of the question. In the first place, it would be rather expensive, and in the second place, there wouldn’t be enough time. If we’re lucky enough to save some money between now and next summer, and if I’m lucky enough to get four weeks of vacation instead of two weeks, maybe we can go to Hawaii next year. As a matter of fact, if we wanted to plan a trip like that, it might be advisable to stay home this summer and not go any place. That’s one way we could begin to save some money for next year’s trip. Also, if we were to stay here, I could offer to work instead of taking two weeks off; then maybe my boss would suggest that I be given four weeks’ vacation next summer instead of two weeks.The author to spend their vacation this year.
| A．is going to Hawaii |
| B．will go to Lake Arrowhead |
| C．has decided to go nowhere |
| D．hasn’t decided where to go |
The sentence “it’s out of the question” means “ ”.
| A．it is possible | B．it is a question |
| C．it is impossible | D．it is not a question |
If the author wanted to make a trip to Hawaii, he might this year.
| A．save some money |
| B．stay at home |
| C．work rather than take two weeks off |
| D．all the above |
A trip to Hawaii that to Lake Arrowhead.
| A．costs much more than | B．costs as much as |
| C．takes less time than | D．takes as much time as |
The CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs’ story about death
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered（遇到）to help me make the big choice in life.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that was incurable, and that I would live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is my doctors’ code for preparing yourself to die.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. I was completely in despair. Later that evening, I had another biopsy（活组织检查）and my wife told me that tumor turned to be curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
This was the closest I’ve been to facing death. To tell the truth, no one wants to die. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. It clears out the old to make room for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.
Your time is so limited that you shouldn’t waste it repeating someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma（教条）----which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart. It somehow already knows what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.The doctor advised the author to go home and get his affairs in order because_________.
| A．he had to rest at home |
| B．his disease was not serious at all |
| C．his disease couldn’t be cured |
| D．he had to wait for the result of the test |
How did the author feel after the diagnosis?
| A．Angry | B．Excited | C．Optimistic | D．Hopeless |
What does the author think of death?
| A．He thinks it is nothing to be scared of. |
| B．He thinks it is not the end of life. |
| C．He thinks it is impossible to avoid. |
| D．He thinks it is the beginning of a new life |
In the author’s opinion, we should ____________.
A. follow others’ advice
B. take no notice of diseases
C. take exercise and keep healthy
D have the courage to follow our heart
As in the field of space travel, new technologies continue to appear in undersea exploration. They share a number of similarities with each other — as well as some important differences.
Manned submersibles (潜水器), like spaceships, must maintain living conditions in an unnatural environment. While a spaceship must simply be sealed against the vacuum space, a submersible must be able to bear extreme pressure if it is not to break up in deep water.
In exploring space, unmanned vehicles were employed before astronauts. In undersea exploration, on the other hand, men paved the way, and only recently have unmanned remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) been put to use.
One reason for this is that communicating with vehicles in orbit is much easier than talking to those underwater. A vacuum is an ideal medium for radio communications, but underwater communications are limited to much slower sound waves. Thus, most undersea vehicles — particularly ROVs — operate at the end of long ropes.(电缆终端)
For a similar reason, knowing where you are undersea is much more difficult than in space. A spaceship’s position can be located by following its radio signal, or by using telescopes and radar. For an undersea vehicle, however, a special network of sonar （声纳系统）devices must be laid out in advance on the ocean floor in the area of a dive to locate the vehicle’s position.
Though undersea exploration is more challenging than outer space in a number of respects, it has a distinct advantage: going to the ocean depths doesn’t require the power necessary to escape Earth’s gravity. Thus, it remains far less expensive. The purpose of the passage is ______.
| A．to persuade you to explore the depths of the ocean |
| B．to stress the importance of the undersea exploration |
| C．to make you believe that the undersea exploration is better |
| D．to tell some differences between two kinds of explorations |
By saying “men paved the way” in Paragraph 2 the author means that in undersea exploration ______.
| A．unmanned vehicles were used in the beginning |
| B．men covered the ocean floor with stones and bricks |
| C．manned vehicles were employed before unmanned ones |
| D．men invented unmanned remote-operated vehicles in the past |
The sonar devices must be placed ______.
| A．from time to time |
| B．after the undersea vehicles dive |
| C．before the undersea vehicles dive |
| D．when the undersea vehicles are diving |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Submersibles usually break up in deep water. |
| B．Undersea vehicles can receive signals immediately. |
| C．Going to space needs power to escape the gravity. |
| D．Radio communications are quite difficult in a vacuum. |
Learn a new language as quickly as possible
Learn like a spy! Be mistaken for a native.
Pimsleur courses help people who need to speak another language quickly. Our courses took 40 years to develop and are now used by the FBI, CIA, and business professionals everywhere. They’re so effective; you have nothing to lose!
You will get:
•Language instruction that is proven to be effective
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•Eight fluency-focused lessons on four audio CDs
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Reasons to learn using the Pimsleur Approach:
•Speak without an accent so that you sound like a native.
•Practice what’s natural to you in English.
•Feel safe and confident. You’ll know how to deal with any situation.
•Protect your busy life. 30-minute lessons are perfect for your daily commuting, lunch break, or workout.
•Remember without trying. Material is scientifically arranged so that you learn without pain.
•Join 25 million people who have graduated with success since 1980.
The entire Pimsleur Approach is what language learning should be: quick, fun, and easy! Each lesson is the foundation for the next. You’ll keep building on what you’ve learned.What can prove Pimsleur courses to be successful ?
| A．Full 30-day money-back guarantee |
| B．Eight fluency-focused lessons on four audio CDs |
| C．25 million people have graduated with success . |
| D．30-minute lessons are perfect for your daily commuting, lunch break, or workout. |
According to the text, what does the course offer?
| A．Effective language instruction. |
| B．Language rules for you to recite. |
| C．Learning a new language by repeating many times |
| D．Opportunities to work with business professionals. |
According to the text, which of the following is NOT a reason for choosing the Pimsleur Approach?
| A．It will correct your accent. |
| B．It will build your confidence. |
| C．It will help you remember things easily. |
| D．It will teach you how to control your balance . |
It can be inferred that the text is a(n) __________.
| A．report on a new language learning method |
| B．ad of a language training organization |
| C．notice of the opening of a new course |
| D．comment on a language training organization |
Many people take it for granted that black is a color of bad things while white should always mean something good. This may be because, in their opinion, black is related to darkness and white to purity. However, that is not always the case. Did you know that the same one color may mean something differently in different places of the world?
In the English-speaking world, black is the color of mourning—people wear black at the funeral. Red is concerned with danger or bloodshed（伤亡）. Yellow is the word for fear. If you are afraid, you are yellow. Yet none of these sayings is true outside the English-speaking world. In China and Korea white is the color of mourning. In Russia, China and some other countries, red stands for beauty, life and excellence. In Italy and Germany, you are yellow with anger, not with fear.
Even within the English-speaking area, it is not difficult to find color contradictions（矛盾）.A redcap in the United States is a porter in a railway station. In Britain, however, a redcap is a military policeman. Both names are logical, because both men wear red caps. Similarly, the British term for an American white-collar worker is sometimes called a black-coated worker.
One does not have to cross an area to find color differences. Would you rather be red-blooded or a blue-blooded? If we go back to the origin, we find that both terms are logical as both names suggest. The expression “blueblood” comes from Spain, where some noble families proudly told the world that they had “blue blood”. Actually they meant that they had no Moorish or Jewish blood. But then why “blue” blood? Because they were fair-skinned, and it is only natural that their blood vessels (血管)stood out appearing blue. Yellow is concerned with anger in ________________.
| A．India | B．Britain |
| C．China | D．Italy |
Both Britain and America would probably agree that ________________.
| A．a redcap is a porter in a station |
| B．black is the color of mourning |
| C．red stands for beauty and excellence |
| D．a black-coated worker is employed in an office |
In Britain , a redcap is a
| A．porter | B．nobleman | C．clerk | D．military policeman |
The best title for this reading selection is ________________.
| A．The Origin of Blue Blood |
| B．Colors that Carry Bad Meanings |
| C．The Meaning Concerned with Certain Colors |
| D．The Development of the Symbolic Use of Colors |
If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different.
If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses' convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. "Who is that?" the new arrival asked St. Peter. "Oh, that's God." came the reply, "but sometimes he thinks he's a doctor."
If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn't attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff(即兴的)remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it's the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote "If at first you don't succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.To make your humor work, you should ________.
| A．take advantage of different kinds of audience |
| B．make fun of the disorganized people. |
| C．address different problems to different people. |
| D．show sympathy for your listeners. |
The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are ________.
| A．impolite to new arrivals. |
| B．very conscious of their godlike role. |
| C．entitled to some privileges. |
| D．very busy even during lunch hours. |
It can be inferred from the text that public services ________.
| A．have benefited many people. |
| B．are the focus of public attention. |
| C．are an inappropriate subject for humor. |
| D．have often been the laughing stock. |
To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered ________.
| A．in well-worded language. | B．as awkwardly as possible. |
| C．in exaggerated statement. | D．as casually as possible. |
The best title for the text may be ________.
| A．Use Humor Effectively. | B．Various Kinds of Humor. |
| C．Add Humor to Speech. | D．Different Humor Strategies. |
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