If women are mercilessly exploited（剥削） year after year, they have only themselves to blame．Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores．Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion．

Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste．Many women spend large sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn．Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing their old-fashioned dresses．Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on．

No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society．Fashion designers are rarely concerned with necessary things like warmth, comfort and durability （耐用）．They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right．There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes．

When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious．Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers．Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide．

1.Designers and big stores always make money_________．

A．by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry

B．because they are capable of predicting new fashions

C．by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing

D．because they attach great importance to quality in women's clothing

2.To the writer, the fact that women change their old-fashioned dresses is seen as ___________．

A．a waste of money

B．a waste of time

C．an expression of taste

D．an expression of creativity

3.New fashions in clothing are created for ___________．

A．the commercial exploitation of women

B．the women's strength of character

C．basic qualities of inconstancy and instability

D．an important contribution to society

4.By saying "the conclusions to be drawn are obvious" （ Line One to Line Two, Paragraph Four）, the writer means that ___________．

A．women's inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at

B．women are better able to put up with discomfort

C．men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers

D．men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion

 

Forget chip fat, sugar cane or rapeseed oil — the latest source of biofuel could be watermelons. Scientists have discovered that the fruit is a great source of sugar that can be readily distilled (蒸馏) into alcohol to power cars and farm machinery.
And sellers reject 360,000 tons of “substandard” fruit every year in America alone which could be used as an economical way to make fuel. The waste from US growers could produce nearly two million gallons (nine million litres) of biofuel per year.
In the study, researchers at the United States Department of Agriculture set out to determine the biofuel potential of juice from rejected watermelons —those not sold due to cosmetic imperfections, and currently ploughed back into the field. About a fifth of each yearly watermelon crop is left in the field because of surface blemishes (瑕疵) or because they are misshapen.
Dr. Wayne Fish, who led the team, found that 50 percent of the fruit was fermentable (可发酵的) into alcohol which could provide valuable fuel.
“We’ve shown that the juice of these watermelons is a source of readily fermentable sugars, representing an unexploited raw material for alcohol biofuel production,” he said.
The study, published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, discovered that watermelons could produce around 20 gallons of fuel per acre from fruit that otherwise would go to waste.
Production of biofuels has been targeted by Western governments as a way to support renewable energy targets.
The European Union has a target for 2010 that 5.75 percent of transport fuels should come from biological sources, but the target is unlikely to be met.
The British government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires five percent of the fuel sold at the pump by 2010 to be biofuel.
【小题1】The passage mainly tells us ______.

A．watermelon juice will be the largest source of renewable energy

B．the advantages of fuel made from watermelons

C．Western countries aim at producing biofuels

D．watermelons could be used to make fuel

【小题2】 It can be learned from the text that ______.

A．about two gallons of fuel could be made from rejected fruit per acre

B．sellers in the world throw away 360,000 tons of watermelons every year

C．half of the watermelons were fermentable into alcohol to provide energy

D．five percent of fuel is required to be biofuel from watermelons by 2010 in Britain

【小题3】The underlined word “cosmetic” in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.

A．fresh

B．sweet

C．surface

D．inside

【小题4】We can infer from the passage that ______.

A．it will cost a lot to make biofuel from watermelons

B．Western countries are engaged in biofuel study but still have a long way to go

C．watermelon juice has been used as a source of sugars to produce alcohol biofuel

D．the European Union is likely to meet its target of transport fuels from biological sources

Good afternoon, and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.
The first one is about drinking. Now, you may not buy wine in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you.
Secondly, noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.
Thirdly, crossing the road. Be careful. The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian(行人的) crossing and do not take any chance when crossing the road.
My next point is about rubbish. It isn’t lawful to drop rubbish in the street. When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a dustbin.
Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco if you are under 16 years of age.
I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact the police, who will be pleased to help you. You can call, write or directly go to ask any policeman.
【小题1】Who do you think is most likely to make the speech?
A guide        B. A person who makes law
C. A teacher       D. An English officer
【小题2】The main purpose of this speech is to _______.

A．tell people those above 18 can smoke and drink there

B．explain the laws of England

C．give advice to tourists to the country

D．warn people against going to the country

【小题3】From the speech we have learnt that ________.

A．in the country, if you are under 18 years of age, you may not buy wine, but your friends can buy it for you

B．you may not buy cigarettes or tobacco unless you are above 16 years of age

C．because the traffic moves on the right side of the road, you must use pedestrian crossing when crossing the road

D．you can’t make a noise except at night

Good afternoon，and welcome to England. We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one. Today，I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws.
The first one is about drinking. Now，you may  not buy alcohol (酒) in this country if you are under 18 years of age，nor may your friends buy it for you.
Secondly，noise. Enjoy yourselves by all means，but please don’t make unnecessary noise，particularly at night. We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet.
Thirdly，crossing the road. Be careful！The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country. Use pedestrian crossings (人行横道) and do not take any chances when crossing the road.
My next point is about litter (throwing away waste material in a public place)．It is an offence (违法行为) to drop litter in the street. When you have something to throw away，please put it in your pocket and take it home，or put it in a litter bin.
Finally，as regards something，it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco (烟草) if you are under 16 years of age.
I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance，you should contact your local police station，who will be pleased to help you.
Now，are there any questions?
【小题1】The main purpose of this speech would be to________.

A．prepare people for international travel

B．declare the laws of different kinds

C．inform people of the punishment for breaking laws

D．give advice to travelers to the country

【小题2】How many laws are there discussed in the speech?

A．Three

B．Four

C．Five

D．Six.

【小题3】The underlined word “contact” in the seventh paragraph means________.

A．keep in touch with	B．join
C．report	D．get in touch with

【小题4】From the speech we learn that________.

A．in this country，if you are under 18 years of age，you may not buy alcohol，but your friend can buy it for you

B．you may not buy cigarettes or tobacco unless you are above 16 years of age

C．because the traffic moves on the left side of the road，you must use pedestrian crossings when crossing the road

D．you can’t make noise except at night

【小题5】Who do you think is most likely to make the speech?

A．A policeman	B．A worker at a hotel.
C．A lawyer	D．An air hostess (空姐)．

When my father died, one of the tasks that fell to me was to sort through and decide which objects to save and which to throw away. Now I look at the   51   of my life as if I were dead,   52   what my children will do with the human skull(骷髅) that   53   on the bookcase next to my desk. I couldn’t   54   them if they threw it out. They’ve been wanting to do that for some years,   55   will they know how much can be learned from   56   with a skull? And what about my books?   57   they can find some place in their   58   for ten thousand books. However, I know they will look at the white, plastic head of a horse on my desk and   59   it into a Glad trash bag without any   60  , never knowing that it is the only place   61   from the first chess set (棋子)I owned.

How many boxes of mine will my children   62  ? Can I trust my children with my   63   ? Every object of our lives is a   64   , and emotion swirls(旋动) around it like fog, hiding and   65   a tiny truth of the heart.

I look at these objects that are mine and know, too, that they are   66   of how alone I am, how alone each of us is,   67   no one knows what any object means except he or she who   68    it. I have the memory of taking it home   69   one of my newly-born children from the hospital; only I have the memory of what it looked like when I lived in that apartment and where it sat in that house. I look at the objects that are mine, and the memories are   70   and permeated（渗透着）with love. I look at the objects that are mine and know that I’m going to miss me very much.

 A. tasks        　　 B. objects                      C. books               D. pictures

【小题２】A. wondering            B. designing         C. concluding D. weaving

【小题３】A. cries                    B. sleeps               C. sits              D. smiles

【小题４】A. educate                B. understand          C. blame             D. strike

【小题５】A. and                  B. so                 C. or                D. but

【小题６】A. helping       　　B. living                 C. playing            D. speaking

【小题７】A. Honestly              B. Luckily     C. Naturally        D. Surely

【小题８】A. desks                   B. bags             C. apartments         D. hearts

【小题９】A. drag                B. take             C. move              D. throw

【小题1０】A. hesitation             B. love              C. care                 D. worry

【小题1１】A. casting             B. expanding        C. remaining            D. shining

【小题1２】A. enjoy                 B. reserve             C. find             D. prepare

【小题1３】A. life                B. passion             C. respect           D. heart

【小题1４】A. mark                 B. pleasure           C. belief              D. memory

【小题1５】A. preventing            B. spreading        C. protecting          D. encouraging

【小题1６】A. symbols            B. phenomena          C. measures        D. tracks

【小题1７】A. when                B. once             C. unless               D. as

【小题1８】A. prefers             B. repairs                       C. owns              D. remembers

【小题1９】A. like               B. for                C. with            D. to

【小题２０】A. strange           B. warm           C. new            D. bitter