Computer programmer David Jones earns $35.000 a year designing new computer games. yet he cannot find a bank ready to let him have a credit card（信用卡）Instead he has been told to wait another two years until he is 18. The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job David’s firm releases（推出）two new games for the fast growing computer market each month
But David’s biggest headache is what to do with his money. Even though he earns a lot he cannot drive a car take out a mortgage（抵押贷款）,or get credit cards David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago ,a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs” he said David spends some of his money on records and clothes and gives his mother 50 pounds a week But most of his spare time is spent working.
“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school “ he said “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway” David added :”I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement（退休）is a possibility You never know when the market might disappear.”In what way is David different from people of his age?
| A．He often goes out with friends |
| B．He lives with his mother |
| C．He has a handsome income |
| D．He graduated with six O-levels |
What is one of the problems that David is facing now?
| A．He is too young to get a credit card |
| B．He has no time to learn driving |
| C．He has very little spare time |
| D．He will soon lose his job |
Why was David able to get the job in the company?
| A．He had done well in all his exams |
| B．He had written some computer programs |
| C．He was good at playing computer games |
| D．He had learnt to use computers at school |
Why did David decide to leave school and start working?
| A．He received lots of job offers |
| B．He was eager to help his mother |
| C．He lost interest in school studies |
| D．He wanted to earn his own living |
Botany, the study of plants, occupies a special position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest (含糊的) of insight. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to
the welfare of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, eyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the j
ungles of the Amaz
on re
cognized accurately hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of knowledge at all.
Unfortunately, the more industri
alized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer productions the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture; cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the built up knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relationship with plants in the wild would begin fade away.Which of the following statements about early humans is expressed in the passage?
| A．They probably had extensive knowledge of plants. |
| B．They thought there was no need to cultivate crops. |
| C．They did not enjoy the study of botany. |
| D．They placed great importance on the ownership of property. |
What does the comment “This is logical.” In the first paragraph mean?
| A．There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor’s knowledge of plants. |
| B．It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants. |
| C．It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in pre-industrial societies. |
| D．Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed. |
According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany begun to fade?
| A．People no longer value plants as a useful resource. |
B．Botany is not recognized as a specia l branch of science. |
| C．Research is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of plants. |
| D．Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased. |
In the second paragraph, what is the author’s purpose in mentioning “ a rose, an apple, or an orchid”?
| A．To make the passage more poetic. |
| B．To give an example of plant that are attractive. |
| C．To give botanical examples that all readers will recognize. |
| D．To explain the variety of botanical life. |
According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the practice of agriculture?
| A．The invention of agricultural tools and machinery. |
| B．The development of a system of names for plants. |
| C．The discovery of grasses that could be harvested and replanted. |
| D．The changing diets of early humans. |
All her life, my mother wanted busy children. It was very important that her house should remain at all times clean and tidy. You could turn your back for a moment in my mother’s house, leave a half-written letter on the dining room table, a magazine open on the chair, and turn around to find that my mother had “put it back where it belonged,” as she explained.
My wife, one of her first visits to my mother’s house, placed a packet of biscuits on an end table and went to the kitchen to fetch a drink. When she returned, she found the packet had been removed. Confused,
she s
et down her drink and went back to the kitchen for more biscuits, only to return to find that her drink had disappeared. Up to then she had guessed that everyone in my family held onto their drinks, so as not to make water rings on the end tables. Now she knows better
These disappearance had a confusing effect on our family. We were all inclined to (有……的倾向) forgetfulness, and it was common for one of us, upon returning from the bathroom, to find th
at every sign of his work in progress had disappeared suddenly. “ Do you remember what I was doing?” was a question frequently asked, but rarely answered.
Now my sister has developed a second-hand love of cleaning windows, and my brother does the cleaning in his house, perhaps to avoid having to be the one to lift his feet. I try not to think about it too much, but I have at this later time started to dust the furniture once a week.
We have all become busy persons.Which of the following is TRUE about my mother?
| A．she enjoyed removing others’ drinks. | B．She became more and more forgetful. |
| C．She preferred to do everything by herself. | D．She wanted to keep her house in good order. |
My wife could not find her biscuits and drink in my mother’s house because _______.
| A．she had already finished them | B．my mother had taken them away |
| C．she forgot where she had left them | D．someone in my family was holding them |
The underlined part suggests that my sister ______.
| A．is happy to clean windows | B．loves to clean used windows |
| C．is fond of cleaning used windows | D．likes cleaning windows as my mother did |
How many persons are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Six. | B．Seven. | C．Five. | D．Four. |
This passage mainly tells us that ______.
| A．my mother often made us confused | B．my family members had a poor memory |
| C．my mother helped us to form a good habit | D．my wife was surprised when she visited my mother |
American like to visit the national parks. In 1996, over 250,000,000 people visited areas run by the National Park Service. Experts predict that by 2010, 500,000,000 people per year will visit the parks. As a result, people are trying to think of ways to protect the parks from the crowds.
The crowding of the parks has caused several problems. One is that there is not enough space for all of the people who want to use the parks. To cope with this problem, national parks may require reservations months in advance for some spots. The Park Service may also raise entrance fees at these places.
Another problem caused by increased park use is pollution. Some garbage and waste can be cleaned up, and the cleanup can be paid for by increased entrance fees. To cut down on noise pollution and air pollution, officials may decrease the number of cars allowed in parks. If this happens, people may use buses to travel around the parks. Officials may also limit the use of jet-skis, snowmobiles (摩托雪橇), motorboats, and sightseeing helicopters and 
planes.
The parks are also threatened by development that is going on around them. For example, around Yellow Stone Park, many motels (汽车旅馆), golf courses, resorts, and other tourist attractions have been built. Some of these developments affect areas that are used by animals. People will have to learn to agree about ways to protect the parks. If they do not, there will soon be no reason to visit these national treasures.By 2010, the number of visitors will rise by ______ per year.
| A．250 million | B．500 million | C．2.5 billion | D．5 billion |
If you want to visit the national parks, you may have to _____ in the future.
| A．pay less than before | B．stay there for months |
C．book the ticket before months |
D．fill in a form to apply for the ticket |
Entrance fees may be increased _______.
| A．just for the benefit of the National Park Service |
| B．either to limit the number of visitors or to pay for the cleaner |
| C．not only to protect the animals but to reduce the noise pollution |
| D．merely for the development of the national parks |
What does the underlined sentence in the passage mean?
A．People are not supposed to visit the national parks for fear that they will ha rm the animals. |
B．Only if more man-made t ou rist attractions are built will more people visit the parks. |
| C．It is reasonable to keep the balance between the development of the parks and the reserve. |
| D．People will not visit the national parks since there are no golf courses and resorts. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．High fees may probably keep some people out of parks. |
| B．Helicopters and planes will not be used in parks any longer. |
| C．The bus will become the only toot in parks with the purpose of pollution reduction. |
| D．The National Park Service welcomes as many visitors as possible. |
Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the Website you've visited，Or perhaps
someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it's likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girl friend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen ---- the 21st century replacement of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it's important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs(碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
The key question is: Does that matter?
For many Americans, the answer apparently is "no."
When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found a strong bad feeling about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is "slipping away, and that bothers me."
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths(收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessandro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give away personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon(优惠卷)。
But privacy does matter ---- at least sometimes. It's like health: When you have it, you don't notice it. Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it.What does the author mean by saying "the 21st century replacement of being caught naked"?
| A．People's personal information is easily accessed without their knowledge. |
| B．In the 21st century people try every means to look into others' secrets. |
| C．People tend to be more frank with each other in the information age. |
| D．Criminals are easily caught on the spot with advanced technology. |
What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?
| A．Friends should open their hearts to each other. |
| B．Friends should always be faithful to each other. |
| C．There should be a distance even between friends. |
| D．There should be fewer arguments between friends. |
Why does the author say "we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret"？
| A．Modern society has finally developed into an open society. |
| B．People leave traces around when using modern technology. |
| C．There are always people who are curious about others' affairs. |
| D．Many search engines benefit from giving away people's identities. |
What do most Americans do as for privacy protection?
A．They change behaviors that might disclose their identity. |
| B．They use various loyalty cards for business transactions(交易).. |
C．T hey rely most and more on electronic devices. |
| D．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it. |
According to the passage, privacy is like health because ___.
| A．people will make every effort to keep it. |
| B．its importance is rarely understood |
| C．it is something that can easily be lost |
| D．people don't treasure it until they lose it |
In 1605 some Englishmen planned to kill their king, James I, because they thought he was a bad man. They knew that on November 5th the king would go to the House of Lords to talk with his nobles.
The men rented a building next to the House of Lords. They dug through a wall and put many barrels of gunpowder in a cellar of the House of Lords. They chose a man called Guy Fawkes to set fires to the gunpowder but something went wrong with their plan. One of the men had a relative who was coming to the House of Lords to meet the King. He warned his relative to stay at home .The relative spoke to other nobles and soon the King heard about the danger. Soldiers searched the cellars and found the gunpowder on November 4th, Guy Fawkes was caught and killed.
Every year, on November 5th , English children remember Guy Fawkes . They collect old boxes, newspapers and rubbish so that they can make a big fire, which they call a bonfire. They put a pole in the middle of the fire and tie a “guy” to it . “The guy” is the figure of Guy Fawkes and is made of old clothes and paper . Sometimes they push their “guy” round the streets in a cart and ask for money so that they can buy fireworks.
In the evening they light the bonfire and let off many fireworks: crackers, rockets , bangers and many other kinds .November 5th is an exciting day for children in England. It is always a busy day for firemen and for hospitals. Sparks from the bonfires sometimes set fire to fences, trees or houses. Every year children are injured when fireworks exploded unexpectedly.Some Englishmen planned to kill their king because _______.
| A．they thought highly of him | B．they thought poorly of him |
| C．they thought nothing of him | D．they thought well of him |
Something went
wrong with their plan because one of the men _____ .
| A．told the King about | B．told other nobles about it |
| C．told his relative about it | D．Guy Fawkes was killed |
How do English children remember Guy Fawkes every year ?
| A．They make a bonfire | B．They make a figure of Guy |
| C．They left off fireworks. | D．All above. |
The phrase “let off many fireworks” in the passage means “_____”.
| A．allow the fireworks to leave | B．cause the fireworks to explode |
| C．keep the fireworks off the bonfire | D．put the fireworks into the bonfire |
November 5th is a busy day for firemen because ______.
| A．fireworks are in great need |
| B．quite a few houses catch fire when fireworks explode |
| C．many children are injured by the unexpected explosion of fireworks |
| D．both B and C |
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