I came to study in the United States a year ago .Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court.

After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer .Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.

But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time .The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.

My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.

Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time…and I left without getting a cent.

1.The author’s roommate offered to help him because________.

A．he felt sorry for the author

B．he thought it was a chance to make some money

C．he knew the doctor was a very good one

D．he wanted the author to have a good lawyer

2.The word “charge” in the third paragraph means_________ .

A．ask as a price                          B．accuse

C．be responsible                         D．claim

3. Both the doctor and the lawyer in this passage are very__________.

A．friendly           B．busy              C．professional        D．selfish

4. What conclusion can you draw from the story?

A．Going to court is something very common in America.

B．One must be very careful while driving a car.

C．There are more bad sides in America than good sides.

D．Money is more important than other things in the US.

 

         With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people, nature, and the environment.

        Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil. Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea.

         Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious. Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material. In the end, it breaks down naturally. There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term.

         Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible. In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean. If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.

         Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage. Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!

         We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil. Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power(太阳能), electricity, hydrogen, and so on. Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal.

         If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient(高效的) — and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year. If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too.

1.What is the passage mainly talking about?

A. Oil tanker accidents.                                        B. What oil pollution is.

C. Oil spills pollution.                                             D. How to reduce oil pollution.

2.How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?

A. By giving an example.                                      B. By making an argument.            

C. By giving a description.                                    D. By drawing a diagram.

3.What does the underlined word “risk” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A. Transportation depending more on oil.                                                  

B. More environmental damage being caused.

C. Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea.                                             

D. Poisonous oil breaking down naturally.

4.Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

A. We should build safer oil tankers in the near future.

B. Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines.

C. We should develop new technologies to cut oil use.

D. Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea.

 

Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21-year-old twin sons: a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart.
"I have two kids in college, and I want to say come home. ' but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education," says Jacobs.
The Jacobs family, did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid from the schools, and each son increased his' borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program. They will each graduate with $ 20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to finish school.
With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear from more families like the Jacobses. More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans. College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around.
At the same time, tuition (学费) continues to rise. A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147% . Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade.
"If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won't have an affordable system of higher education," says Patrick M. Calan, president of the center. "The middle class families have been financing it through debt. They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt."
Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them. The good news, however, is that federal loans account for about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1. why did the plan of the Jacobs family fail?

A．The twins wasted too much money.	B．The father was out of work.
C．Their saving ran out.	D．The family fell apart.

【小题2】How did the Jacobses manage to solve their problem?

A．They asked their kids to come home.

B．They borrowed $20, 000 from the schools.

C．They encouraged their twin sons to do part-time jobs.

D．They got help from the schools and the federal government.

【小题3】Financial aid administrators believe that________.

A．more families will face the same problem as the Jacobses

B．the government will receive more letters of complaint

C．college tuition fees will double soon

D．America's unemployment will fall

【小题4】What can we learn about the middle class families from they text?

A．They blamed the government for the tuition increase.

B．Their income increased steady in the last decade.

C．They will try their best to send kids to college.

D．Their debts will be paid off within 25 years.

【小题5】According to the last paragraph the government will________.

A．provide most students with scholarships

B．dismiss some financial aid administrators

C．stop the companies from making student loans

D．go on providing financial support for college students

Diana Jacobs thought her family had a workable plan to pay for college for her 21-year-old twin sons: a combination of savings, income, scholarships, and a modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job, and the plan fell apart.

  “I have two kids in college, and I want to say ‘come home,’ but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education,” says Jacobs.

The Jacobs family did work out a solution: They asked and received more aid form the schools, and each son increased his borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan (贷款) program. They will each graduate with $20,000 of debt, but at least they will be able to finish school.

    With unemployment rising, financial aid administrators expect to hear more families like the Jacobs. More students are applying for aid, and more families expect to need student loans. College administrators are concerned that they will not have enough aid money to go around.

    At the same time, tuition（学费）continues to rise. A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education found that college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007, while average family income rose just 147%. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade,

    “If we go on this way for another 25years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education,” says Patrick M. Callan, president of the center. “The middle class families have been financing it through debt. They will send kids to college whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt.”

    Financial aid administrators have been having a hard time as many companies decide that student loans are not profitable enough and have stopped making them. The good news, however, is that federal loans account for about three quarters of student borrowing, and the government says that money will flow uninterrupted.

1.

 According to Paragraph 1, why did the plan of Jacobs family fail?

A. The twins wasted too much money.

B. The father was out of work.

C. Their saving ran out.

D. The family fell apart.

2.

How did the Jacobs manage to solve their problem?

A. They asked their kids to come home.

B. They borrowed $20,000 from the school.

C. They encouraged their twin sons to do part-time jobs.

D. They got help from the school and the federal government.

3.

Financial aid administrators believe that _______.

A. more families will face the same problem as the Jacobses

B. the government will receive more letters of complaint

C. college tuition fees will double soon

D. America’s unemployment will fall

4.

What can we learn about the middle class families from the text?

A. They blamed the government for the tuition increase.

B. Their income remained steady in the last decade.

C. They will try their best to send kids to college.

D. Their debts will be paid off within 25 years.

5.

According to the last paragraph, the government will       .

A. provide most students will scholarships

B. dismiss some financial aid administrators

C. stop the companies from making student loans

D. go on providing financial support for college students

 

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为16—25的相应位置上。

Ms. Mary was over eighty, but she still drove her old car like half her age. She loved driving very fast, and boasted of the fact   16.          she had never, in her thirty-five years of driving, been punished  17.          a driving mistake.

Then one day, she nearly lost her record. A police car followed her, and the policemen in it saw her pass a red light without  18.          (stop).

When Ms. Mary came before the judge, he looked at her severely and said that she was too old to drive a car, and that the reason  19.                    she had not stopped at red light was most probably that her eyes had become weak        20            old age, so that she had simply not seen it.

When the judge had finished  21.           he was saying, Ms. Mary opened the big handbag she was carrying and took out her sewing. Without saying a word, she  22.              (choose) a needle with a very small eye, and threaded it at the first time.

When she had  23               (success) done this, she took the thread out of the needle again and handed both the needle and thread to the judge, saying, “Now it is your turn. I suppose you can drive a car well, and you have no doubts   24.          your eyesight.”

The judge took the needle and tried to thread it. After half a dozen times, he had still not succeeded. The case against Ms. Mary  25.         (dismiss), and her record remained unbroken.