In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” “Fifty cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. “How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he required. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she said rudely. The little boy again counted the coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the bill and departed. When the waitress  came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed nearly beside the empty dish, were two five-cent coins and five one-cent coins---her tip.

1. In the days , an ice cream is ______________.

   A. dearer than usual                B. as dear as usual

   C. much cheaper than usual          D. as cheap as usual

2.How much money did the boy probably have in his pocket?

A. thirty-five cents.      B. More than fifty cents. 

C. only fifty cents.       D. Less than fifty cents.

3.Why did the little boy have only a dish of plain ice cream?

A．The plain ice cream cost him much less.

B．He enjoyed the cheaper ice cream better.

C．The coins were not enough for an ice cream sundae.

D.  He wanted to save some coins to tip the waitress.

4.We can infer that the waitress might have felt _____ when she got the tip.

A. very surprised.                B. a bit of shame

C. quite pleased                  D. a little worried

 

The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts had found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received.

   Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany’s University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent (口音) changers recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. “As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said.

He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels (元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years. “Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don’t notice from year to year.”

“We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper. “In 1952 she would have been hears saying ‘thet men in the bleck het’. Now it would be ‘that man in the black hat’. And ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’. In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’.”

The Queen’s broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch. (传统火鸡午餐).

The results were published (发表) in the Journal of Phonetics.

The Queen’s broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because ______.

A.she has been Queen for many years     B. she has a less upper-class accent now

C.her speeches are familiar to many people D.her speeches have been recorded for 50 years

Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English?

A. “duaty”        B. “citee”          C. “hame”        D. “lorst”

We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on _______.

A. speech sounds   B. Christmas customs   C. TV broadcasting   D. personal messages

What is the text mainly about?

A. The relationship between accents and social classes.

B. The Queen’s Christmas speeches on TV.

C. The changes in a person’s accent.

D. The recent development of the English language.

Custom tattooed fish (纹身鱼) may be big sellers at markets, but an animal expert say it is a cruel and potentially lethal practice.

In Laitai Flower and Fish Market near the Lufthansa Center in Beijing, four of over 20 fish stores sell marine ornamental fish that are tattooed using laser (激光)  guns with beautiful images in order to make them more attractive to customers. Many people just love these kinds of fish, which gives them a unique visual impression. The price of these fish ranges from 50-100 yuan. Some customers are willing to pay an additional 100 yuan to have Chinese characters tattooed on to the fish. The most popular characters are “zhaocai” (attracting fortune) and “ill” (blessing).The color of tattooed fish won’t fade away, and the fish can be cared for as regular fishes:

But Ye Zhenjiang, a professor from the Ocean University of China, said “the practice would damage a fish’s mackerel scale, which is its protective layer Although I haven’t done any research on the impact of the laser on mackerel scale, it is obvious that the mackerel scale may be infected or even destroyed under the exposure of laser,” Ye said. “It’s like tattooing a human being’s body, and it breaks the physiological balance of the fish and damages: the skin’s protective surface, It may even cause death among fishes which have thin mackerel scale.”

A specialist in aquatic(永生的) animal study surnamed Xu from the Beijing Fisheries Research Institute, said, “We have no specific regulations to prevent fish from being tattooed. An official surnamed Bai from the Fishery Surveillance and Administration Bureau(FSAB), said there is no study showing that the laser threatened a fish’s health. He said a regulation on small animal protection, to be passed in the near future, doesn’t include regular aquatic animals. He said the institution is only responsible for aquatic animals that are on the verge of extinction. He said tattooed fish are mainly from south China’s Guangdong province because Beijing does not have the laser technology to tattoo a fish.

“It’s too brutal to tattoo pictures or characters on fishes, even if it makes them more beautiful,” many tropical fish buyers told METRO yesterday. “We would never buy fish like that and we prefer them with natural beauty.”

1. Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?

A. Tattooed fish look more attractive to customers.

B. Tattooed fish give people a unique visual impression

C. Tattooed fish can be harder to raise.

D. The color of tattooed fish will stay for ever

2. From Ye Zhenjiang’s talk, we know that _________.

A. It is illegal to tattoo fish by laser.

B. The mackerel scale offish is easy to destroy.

C. People can tattoo fish in other parts except mackerel scale

D. It may be a disaster for fish to be tattooed.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that ____________.

A. The price of tattooed fish is much higher than that of regular fish.

B. The FSAB will pass a regulation on tattooed fish.

C. Beijing did not have the laser technology to tattoo a fish.

D. The youth would buy tattooed fish the moment they see them.

4. This passage most probably comes from

A. a newspaper       B. a novel         C. a fairy tale      D. a magazine

 

 

An American man from Las Vegas opened a dog and cat hotel recently. Pats can rest on soft rugs(小地毯), watch television and get to know some new friends while their masters have fun in the city

The American Dog and Cat Hotel opened officially on a Wednesday in March. There is everything a pet could want --- and more.

“We hear time and time again. ‘This is so nice, I’d like to stay here.’ ” the hotel manager said in an interview. He believed that people would want for their pets what they wanted for themselves.

Kennels(狗舍) have been around for a long time, but nowadays masters want to put their loved pets in some better places, he added.

He said the cats and dogs like to watch images(图像) on TV although they may not understand them. Anyway, they don’t have to know Britney Spears or Emimem to enjoy the pop music. Also, “The dogs don’t know it is a rug, but they know it is soft,” he said.

Pet masters can book a dog suite(套房) for $79 a night. Baths and other services are also offered.

The pet hotel manager believes that all the animal lovers in the world will love this great idea.

1. By “--- and more” in the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph the writer means that ______.

A. there’re also things for the pet masters

B. some of the things are unnecessary

C. there’re things a pet cannot fully enjoy

D. all the things are plenty in amount

2. In the pet masters’ opinion, the kennels are _____.

A. not good enough                 B. too old to live in

C. just an equal choice               D. no longer in existence

3. The 5th paragraph suggests that ______.

A. some pets know some pop stars

B. “rug” is a difficult word for a pet to learn

C. pets enjoy things the same way humans do

D. pets enjoy things at a sensational level

 

 

 “It’s the best…uhh…What? You don’t want it?...,”the inexpertienced young man uttered,his hope dashed.

“Again,you disappointed me,Andrew.When are you going to learn? You have to be sure and confident. And think how best to make him part with his money. Apply yourself, Son. All your college education will not help if you don’t put your mind to selling. Think on your feet. Use psychology,” Andrew spoke with diffidence overwhelmed by his father’s criticism.

“You’ve been in this shop for six months and you haven’t succeeded in selling a single computer. I tell you what. I’ll give you one more chance. I’ll give you another three more weeks. If you still can’t make one sale, I’ll call in your elder brother to replace you. He will also take over the shop when I retire. There. I’ll just give you one last chance to prove yourself,” said Mr. Whitely, his patience wearing thin.

Andrew’s heart missed a beat. This time he would have to do it. Do or Die! A sense of urgency gripped him. Somehow he must prove himself to his father.

It was now the end of the day and the shop was being closed. The assistant employed by his father, called Mike, chuckled and put his arms round poor Andrew to comfort him,“ Sort it out yourself. It’s gotta come from yourself.” he said.

The shop was located in a bustling shopping center. Andrew left the shop and walked round the complex aimlessly and by chance entered a large bookstore. He glanced at the books and was about to leave when his eyes caught some interesting titles:‘ How to increase your confidence,’‘ The art of communication,’‘How to sell well’amongst others.

The next minute he was out of the store with the shopping bag bugling with books. In his apartment (for he loves separately from his parents and little sister),he settled himself in his easy chair and devoured the contents of the books, one by one. His keen intelligence enabled him to focus the details that matter and pick out the ideas and techniques expounded.In a week his image underwent a transformation. Gone was the stubble that used to give him an untidy image likened to a heroin addict.He was also smartly dressed now. Instead of his usual slurred speech and incoherence ,he spoke with clarity, purpose and forcefulness.He was more convincing and persuasive. Above all, confidence flowed from his being and he seemed to have learned a few tricks of the selling trade. He worked hard at his sales pitch and one day he succeeded in selling a computer. His first sale. He had finally achieved the quota of one sale within the given time frame of three weeks. The job, the shop, was his. He had to thank Mike for it. And now he had to go beyond his first successs and score, consistently and persistently. Nevertheless he had proved himself at last and the future looked bright and promising.

1.

We learn from the story that at the beginning Andrew’s father_________.

  A.holds the view that Andrew is hopeless

  B.has lost his patience with Andrew

  C.has given the shop to Andrew

  D.still hopes Andrew will improve

2.

We learn from the story that Andrew_________.

  A.has turned himself into an experienced sales manager

  B.has tried in vain to get his job done in six months

  C.has let his father down in the end

  D.has done well with the help of Mike

3.

What’s the most significant change of character in Andrew?

  A.He’s more convincing.                   B.He’s more hard-working.

  C.He is more confident.                   D.He is more intelligence.

4.

What conclusion can we draw from the story?

  A.Success depends on hard work,talent,and willingnesss to make changes.

  B.However hard you try, you won’t achieve success without others’ help

  C.It takes time to succeed, you have to try again and again and never give up

  D.It’s good communication skills and some tricks that result in big business.