April 20th is an ordinary day in 2013, it is in this day that shocking earthquake happened again in Sichuan province, China. The earthquake was terrible. We can’t describe the scene what we saw with any words. Thousands of people were injured even died. And thousands of children became such unlucky ones who lost fathers or mothers. They longed to have families to continue their lives. I am sympathetic to their fate! But I believed that we can fight against the fate and change it. For example, there are many people keeping living without food or water for about 100 hours during the earthquake!
What an unbelievable thing it is! Their great spirits showed the powerful life vitality of humans! However, they must keep fighting against the death. Many schools were destroyed and there were many students and teachers who left us forever. Sadness, hopelessness and different kinds of danger spread out here and there!
But, fortunately, love is around us: the Communist Party helps us, the army helps us, the people all over the world help us. They offer us money, goods, love and so on ! With the help of such a large love, we will overcome the damage of the earthquake and face our beautiful future!
【小题1】Many people keeping living without food or water because ____________.

A．they were very strong.	B．they could fight against the fate and longed to live on.
C．they were not hurt.	D．they lost fathers and mothers.

【小题2】The meaning of fortunately in third paragraph is ___________.

A．good

B．unbelievable

C．luckily

D．wonderful.

【小题3】The underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refers to___________.

A．the children who survived

B．the parents who survived

C．the children who survived but lost parents

D．the parents who survived but lost children

【小题4】Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

A．An Earthquake.

B．Unbelievable thing.

C．Beautiful future.

D．Love in disaster.

Social customs and the ways of behaving change. Things that were considered impolite many years ago are acceptable . Just a few years ago, it was considered to be impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street . No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.

Customs are also different from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or on the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn’t it matter? What about table manners?

The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also, most Englishmen will open a door for a wonman or offer their seat to a woman , and so will most Americans. Promptness is important both in England and in America. That is , if a dinner invitation is for 6 o'clock , the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.

The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable especially if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a very formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or greatly surprised , but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. I t would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.

1.The underlined phrase” make fool of himself” in the first passage means____

A．make himself strong                     B．make himself rich

C．make himself comfortable                 D．cause himself to seem like a fool

2.According to the passage , the American and British _____

A．don’t speak the same language

B．don’t have social custom in common

C．do share a lot of social customs

D．do have the exactly same social customs

3.If a dinner invitation is for six o’clock , the guest is supposed to arrive at ____ six

A．nearly a minute or two later than           B．a quarter to

C．a quarter to                            D．much later than

4.The last example in the passage shows____

A．The correct way to use a knife at table

B．that it is good manners not to make your guests feel foolish or uncomfortable

C．that social customs and ways of behaving change too fast

D．promptness is important both in England and in America

5.Which of the following do you think is the best title for this passage?

A．Social Customs and Customs               B．Social Life

C．American and British Customs              D．Promptness is Important

 

Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The next building only was a few feet away from mine. There was a woman lived there, and I had never met her, yet I could see she sat by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.
After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I would say to myself. “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window. It really looks terrible.”
One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside.
Later in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly visible (看见). Her window was clean!
Then it dawned on me. I had been criticizing (批评) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.
That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own shortcomings?
Since then, whenever I wanted to judge (评判) someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?” I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world about me more clearly.
【小题1】The writer couldn’t see everything clearly through the window because __________.

A．the woman’s window was dirty

B．the writer’s window was dirty

C．the woman lived nearby

D．the writer was near-sighted

【小题2】The writer was surprised that _________.

A．the woman was sitting by her window

B．the woman’s window was still terrible

C．the woman did cleaning in the afternoon

D．the woman’s window was clean

【小题3】“It dawned on me” probably means “_______”.

A．I began to understand it	B．it cheered me up
C．I knew it grew light	D．it began to get dark

【小题4】 It’s clear that ________.

A．the writer had never met the woman before

B．the writer often washed the window

C．they both worked as cleaners

D．they lived in a small town

【小题5】From the passage, we can learn _______.

A．one shouldn’t criticize others very often

B．one should often make his windows clean

C．one must judge himself before he judges others

D．one must look at others through his dirty windows.

Two magazines recently listed the best cities to live in. Here are two of the cities listed as “the world’s best.”

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA

The city has comfortable weather all year round (15℃ to 26℃). Housing is not very expensive in San Jose. Also, many of the city’s older neighborhoods are very beautiful and have small hotels and cafés. Beautiful mountains are around the city. There are many natural sights . Lots of people go sightseeing every year. But air pollution is a problem in the city center.

HONG KONG, CHINA

This lively city—once a small fishing village—is today an international business center. It is an interesting mix of East and West, old and new. Modern tall buildings are next to small temples (庙宇). Popular nightclubs are close to traditional teahouses. Busy people fill the streets at all hours of the day. But outside the city, there are parks for walking or relaxing. Hong Kong is famous for its wonderful native dishes. There’s also food from Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia. However, this small city has a large population of nearly seven million! That’s why housing is often very expensive. Traffic and air pollution are also a problem.

【小题1】 Which of the following is NOT mentioned about San Jose?

A．The weather.

B．The mountains.

C．The air.

D．The traffic.

【小题2】What makes Hong Kong the world’s best according to this passage?

A．The lively city and the wonderful dishes.

B．The large population and the traffic.

C．The expensive housing.

D．The beautiful temples.

【小题3】What do the two cities have in common?

A．They both have beautiful mountains.

B．They both have a large population.

C．Air pollution is a problem in both.

D．They are both crowded.

【小题4】From the passage, we can know that       .

A．San Jose and Hong Kong are the only two cities of the world’s best

B．San Jose has more natural sights than Hong Kong does

C．the weather inboth cities is fine

D．San Jose used to be small fishing village

根据短文内容，从每小题A、B、C三个选项中选出一个最佳答案。

There are many unusual hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice, open between April and December every year. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel with a television, furniture, and a bathroom in each room. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.

    Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.

    The larger of the two deserts, the Uyuni salt desert, is 12,000 square kilometers. During the day, the desert is bright white because of the salt. There are no roads across the Uyuni desert, so local people must show guests the way to the hotel.

    In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks (块) of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt: the walls, the roof, the tables, the chairs, the beds, and the hotel’s bar.

    The sun heats the walls and roof during the day. At night the desert is very cold, but the rooms stay warm. The hotel has 12 rooms. A single room costs＄40 a night, and a double room costs＄60.

A sign on the hotel’s wall tells guests, “ Please don’t lick the walls－it doesn’t taste good!”

1.People can go to __________ to visit the ice hotel in April.

   A. Greenland             B. Turkey               C. Bolivia

2.The Salt Palace Hotel is unusual because __________.

   A. it has a long history        

B. it’s made out of salt      

C. the rooms stay cold all day

3.Where did the salt used for the hotel come from?

   A. A salt factory.           B. The desert.              C. The lakes.

4.The underlined word “lick” means __________ in Chinese.

   A. 摸                        B. 踢                   C. 舔

5.The best title for the passage is _________.

A. Unusual Hotels           B. Salt Desert              C. A Story of Juan Quesad