The British usually expect one or two snowfalls each year but the amount of snow rarely affects everyday life. However, this week Britain has had the worst snow it has seen in around 18 years. Some places had more than 30cm in a day.

The bad weather caused severe disruption. More than 3000 schools had to close as teachers and pupils were unable to get to school. School children weren’t too unhappy about it though as they headed out to play the snow, building snowmen, having snowball fights, sledging and some even snowboarding and skiing.

In London, bus services were withdrawn for a day and tubes and trains were cancelled. Major motorways in the country had to close. Many people were unable to get to work and it is thought the cost of this lost labor is around &1 billion (10 billion yuan) to businesses and the economy.

Anyone who wanted to leave the country had problems too. Runways were closed at all the UK’s major airports because of the amount of snow. Hundreds of flights were cancelled leaving some passengers stranded at airports.

So why is the UK so ill-prepared for snow? The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, explained that there aren’t enough snow –ploughs（铲雪机）and gritters（撒沙机）and it doesn’t make sense to buy such equipment when it snows so infrequently.

The south-east of England was the hardest hit at the beginning of the week but the snow is now moving northwards where the chaos continues.

More ice and snow is forecast throughout the week and the advice from travel and weather organizations is to stay indoors unless you really need to venture out!

1. Which of the following facts is FALSE according to the passage?

A．More than 3000 schools had to close for the heavy snow.

B．Major motorways in the country had to close for the bad weather.

C．Runways were closed at all the UK’s major airports for the amount of snow.

D．The government organized to clear the snow away with snow-ploughs and gritters.

2. What does the underlined phrase venture out probably mean in last paragraph?

A．go out                                B．search out

C．take no risks                           D．stay indoors

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．School children seemed happy to head out to play in the snow though schools had to close.

B．The cost of the lost labor reached around 10 billion yuan to businesses and the economy.

C．Hundreds of flights couldn’t land because the runways were closed at major British airports.

D．Tubes and trains in London were cancelled, but drivers were still driving in main motorways.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．The heavy snow is what the British have been expecting for 18 years.

B．The heavy snow has been a very rare heavy one in the UK for 18 years.

C．The heavy snow doesn't please school children at all.

D．The government isn’t ill-prepared for snow.

5.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Harsh Winters Visit Britain

B．Heavy Snow Hits the UK

C．Bad Weather Causes Chaos Just in London

D．Heavy Snow Causes Disruption Only in Motorways

 

The 115-year-old prestigious (有名望的)Oxford Dictionary will now include popular new Chinese terms like“shanzhai” “youtiao” and “fangnu”, as part of the modern Chinese language．

As China plays a more and more important role in the world economy, the Chinese language is forever developing, attracting more attention from people who want to understand this ancient yet lively language．

For instance, the word “shanzhai” is used to describe the countless knockoffs（名牌仿制品）of iPhones or designer bags imprinted with Louis Vuitton logos．

Another new term in the new edition is the word “fangnu”, or a “mortgage slave” —a term used to describe the phenomenon in large cities where well-educated youth complain of a miserable existence due to the heavy burden of a home mortgage．

All these new or often fashionable terms can be found in the new Oxford English –Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary that was unveiled(公布于众的)in the recently concluded Beijing International Book Fair last week．

The dictionary now is available for retail sales since the beginning of this month．This dictionary is the largest single volume English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary and contains 670,000 words and phrases after five years of preparation．Sixty editors from the Oxford University Press and its partner in China—the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press—worked together on the project．According to Julie Kleeman, the dictionary’s chief editor, most of the firm’s editors were Chinese, while about one fourth were native-English speakers．

“We don’t want to make it florid（绚丽的）, we want it to be modern and conversational．．．many of the words in the present dictionary are no longer in use,” said Kleeman．“The need for studying Chinese by foreigners today is totally different from decades ago．．．Precise, native and practical—that is our main advantage,” she said．

Kleeman said newer publications updates will be available only for the online version as language often changes too quickly for book versions to keep pace．The online version will also offer a Chinese phonetic pronunciation guide．The online version, allowing access via different platforms from the PC to the iPad, will be ready “as soon as possible”, Kleeman said．

1.According to the above passage, we learn that ________

A．knockoffs can be found in China but not very often.

B．the Oxford University Press made the dictionary without outside aid.

C．most Chinese editors are also native speakers of English.

D．well-educated youth in China’s big cities have difficulty buying houses.

2.The possible reason why newer publications updates are not available for book versions is that ________．

A．book versions can’t keep up with the changes of language.

B．the computer network is available everywhere.

C．book versions can’t offer a Chinese phonetic pronunciation guide.

D．computer technology like the PC and the iPad keeps pace with language.

3.What is the main idea of the passage?

A．New Chinese terms like “shanzhai” and “fangnu” have got into Oxford Dictionary．

B．The latest Oxford English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary is on the market．

C．Oxford Dictionary has become more fashionable due to the Chinese language．

D．Beijing International Book Fair was where the new Oxford Dictionary was published．

 

完形填空

The Brick

　　

　　About ten years ago, a young and very successful manager named Josh was travelling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit fast in his 1 car.

　　He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars. 2 his car passed, no child rushed out, but a brick did and WHUMP! It 3 his shiny black side door! Josh 4 out of his car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up 5 a parked car. He shouted at the kid,“ 6 was that all about and who are you? Just what are you doing?”He went on with 7 “That's my new Jaguar, that brick you threw is going to cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?”

　　“Please, mister, please…I'm 8 ! I didn't know what else to do!” 9 the youngster.“I threw the brick 10 no one else would stop!”Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he 11 around the parked car.“It's my brother, mister,”he said.“He rolled 12 the sidewalk and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't 13 him up.”Sobbing, the boy asked the manager,“Would you please help me get him 14 into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.”

15　　 beyond words, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief 16 wiped the cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then 17 the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

　　

　　It was a long and slow walk back to his expensive car. Josh 18 did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the damage to 19 him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Pay 20 to the bricks of life coming at to you.

(1) A．old	B．expensive	C．secondhand	D．slow
(2) A．Since	B．After	C．As	D．So　 long as
(3) A．struck	B．destroyed	C．wiped	D．harmed
(4) A．climbed	B．stepped	C．got	D．jumped
(5) A．against	B．on	C．with	D．toward
(6) A．How	B．Why	C．When	D．What
(7) A．eagerness	B．anger	C．punishment	D．displeasure
(8) A．discouraged	B．disappointed	C．sorry	D．hopeless
(9) A．Explained	B．Cried	C．Shouted	D．Added
(10) A．until	B．if	C．before	D．because
(11) A．hid	B．pointed	C．ran	D．searched
(12) A．far	B．away	C．off	D．onto
(13) A．lift	B．raise	C．hold	D．pick
(14) A．over	B．up	C．down	D．back
(15A．Encouraged	B．Moved	C．Excited	D．Frightened
(16) A．so	B．but	C．and	D．or
(17) A．watched	B．noticed	C．saw	D．observed
(18) A．ever	B．seldom	C．hardly	D．never
(19) A．require	B．remind	C．warn	D．keep
(20) A．love	B．turn	C．attention	D．respect

 

根据短文内容，从下面所给的A—F选项中选出能概括每一段(61-65)主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。

A. Attach more aid to weak schools.

B. Children should share the same educational rights.

C. Heavy load is supposed to be taken off the students’ shoulders.

D. Bring the industrial management of education to an end.

E. Balanced education may stop school choice.

F. Key schools and classes are unreasonable.

1.Education should be intended to make better citizens instead of making money. Money can be earned by starting business. It’s time to abolish the industrialized education so that all the people can benefit from real education.

2.Concrete measures should be taken to lessen the students’ heavy burden. Not empty talks but concrete and solid policies can guarantee all the students grow soundly.

3.My parents are farmer-turned workers. I think we should be treated equally with the local children. We should have equal chance to go to both the local public schools and take the national college entrance exam rather than go back to our native places. 

4.School choice has become a serious educational problem. To solve this problem, we must stick to the balanced development. The government should offer more support to weak schools and have all the teachers exchange the round hillock work among all the schools.

5.The government’s unwillingness to spend enough money on education makes key schools turn to parents for money to build new buildings and increase teachers’ income, widening the gap between key schools and common schools. Therefore, in order to realize the balance of education, the government should offer more help to weak schools.

 

New rules for pubs and clubs, including a ban (禁令) on drinking games like the awful "dentist's chair", will be introduced in Britain this year to prevent the heavy drinking culture, which costs the country billions of pounds a year.

Other activities like "all you can drink for 10 pounds ", "women drink free" nights and speed drinking competitions will also be banned.

But, on the other hand, offers of cheap alcohol in supermarkets will not be affected, which is widely regarded as one of the main sources of Britain's problems with under-age and over-drinking.

Doctors and health experts argue that the government has failed to use its most effective weapon, the taxation(征税) of minimum price controls on alcohol.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that the government and the industry had a duty to act on heavy drinking." These bans have a real impact on society, not to mention the lives of those who just want to enjoy a good night out," he said.

“The dentist's chair”, where drinks are poured directly into the mouth by others, was made famous by the celebrations of footballer Paul Gascoigne at Euro '96. That game and others that promote large consumption will be banned from April and publicans (酒店老板) will have to ensure free tap water is made available to the drinkers.

The government says over-drinking costs Britain up to 12 billion pounds a year and has announced that any pubs that go against the new mandatory code (强制性规定) will face severe punishment. For instance, publicans and vendors (小贩) could lose their licenses, be fined up to 20,000 pounds ($32,750) or face six months in prison.

1.New rules for pubs and clubs will be introduced in Britain to ban heavy drinking because ________.

A．people drink too much without paying taxes

B．drinking games are infamous

C．drinking competitions are very crazy

D．drinking in the country costs too much

2.Some people believe when the tough new rules come into effect, ________.

A．supermarkets will stop selling alcohol in low prices

B．“women drink free” nights will not be closed

C．over-drinking will still not be stopped

D．under-age people will not continue drinking

3.What is probably the most effective way to control alcohol?

A．bans             B．education         C．force             D．taxation

4.According to the passage, “the dentist’s chair” is ________.

A．a chair for the patient whose teeth should be treated

B．a drinking game made famous by the celebrations of footballers

C．a way to advertise different types of alcohol

D．to be banned in October this year

5.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Heavy drinking will be banned in Britain.

B．Over-drinking will be taxed.

C．Drinking in Britain will be banned.

D．12 billion pounds is spent on drinking.