Although English is not as old as Chinese, it is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always creating(创造) new words, and we are often able to know where most words come from.

　　Sometimes, no one may really know where a word comes from. Did you every think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe(欧洲). They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg. They didn't speak good English, but they ate good food. When some Americans saw them eating a round piece of beef, they asked the Germans what it was. The Germans didn't understand the question and answered：“We come from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant. He had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of bread and started selling them. Such bread came to be called “hamburgers”. Today, “hamburgers” are sold in many countries around the world.

　　Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why any word has a certain(一定的) meaning is interesting, too. This reason(原因), for most English words, can be found in any large English dictionary.

1．According to the writer, English is ________.

[　　]

A．very difficult to learn

B．not so old as Chinese

C．as old as Chinese

D．older than Chinese

2．Hamburg is ________.

[　　]

A．a round piece of beef

B．a kind of food

C．a city in Germany

D．the name of a village

3．According to the passage, ________.

[　　]

A．hamburgers are made with beef

B．a few Americans like hamburgers

C．hamburgers are made with ham

D．hamburgers were first sold about a century ago

4．Which of the following can often be found in any large English dictionary?

[　　]

A．Where those Germans came from.

B．Where all the new words come from

C．The reason why a word has a certain meaning.

D．The reason why English is spoken around the world.

5．From the story we lean that the word “hamburger” comes from ________.

[　　]

A．the round piece of beef which those people from Hamburg were eating

B．English speakers because they always create new words

C．China because it has a long history

D．English because Germans don't speak good English

　　In Amsterdam (阿姆斯特丹), the capital (首都) of Holland ( 荷兰), there is a unique (独特的) Children Restaurant. It is run wholly by the children. From the manager to the cooks, cashiers, waiters or waitresses and other staff members (职员) are all children from 6 to 12 years old. They themselves do all the necessary work such as cooking and cleaning. These children are selected in Amsterdam. After training, they may serve in the Restaurant for four weeks. All of them are willing to work there and they are very proud of the work .

　　This Restaurant was founded in 1983 by a woman cook, who wanted to give the children chances to learn to be useful to the society (社会) . And now she is the only adult (成年人) there, but her job is just to take care of the children.

　　The Restaurant is welcomed almost by everyone. Since there are only 20 seats in the restaurant, it is always very crowded.

　　So you should make a reservation (预定座位) months in advance (事先) . The cost of a meal differs (不同) according to the customers (顾客) . Usually US ＄ 4 for each adult, but much cheaper for the children. And its business hours are only on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

1．The children in this Restaurant ________.

[　　]

A．can earn only four dollars a day

B．are fond of working there

C．will have to work there for over a month

D．do all the work except cooking

2．The word “cashier” in the first passage perhaps means

________.

[　　]

A．a person who cooks food

B．a person who does cleaning

C．a person who receives and pays out money in a hotel or restaurant etc.

D．a person who serves food to customers

3．Which can be TRUE according to this passage?

[　　]

A．All the children in the Restaurant come from Amsterdam.

B．If you don' t order a meal a month ahead of time, you'll get no food in the city.

C．Everybody likes the Restaurant, so it is often filled with customers .

D．In Amsterdam, any child between 6 and 12 can work in this Restaurant if he likes.

4．Which is NOT true according to the writer?

[　　]

A．This Restaurant has a history of more than 10 years.

B．For the same meal a child will pay less while an adult will pay more.

C．The woman who set up this Restaurant used to be a cook.

D．There are more than a score of seats.

5．The Children Restaurant was managed by ________.

[　　]

One summer evening as I was cooking dinner, there was a knock at the door. I opened it and saw an old man. But his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I come to see if you have a room for just one night. I live far away from here, and there's no bus till next morning. ”

I told him we would find him a bed, but it was not comfortable. I went inside and cooked dinner. When we were ready, I asked him if he would like to join us. “No, thank you. I have plenty.” When I had finished the dinner, I went out to talk with him. He told me he fished for a living to help his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was ill and too weak to do anything.

At bedtime, we put a bed in the children's room for him. On his next trip, as a gift, he brought a big fish and some fresh vegetables. In the years he came to stay overnight with us, and there was never a time he did not bring us some fish or vegetables from his garden.

 I know it was thankful for our family to know him, from whom we learn what was to accept the bad without a complaint(抱怨) and the good with thanks.

1Why did the old man go to the writer's house?

A. To give a fish to the writer.                   B. To stay for the night.

C. To sell some fish.                             D. To ask for some money.

2 How many people were there in the old man's daughter's family?

A. Two.           B. Four.                 C. Six.           D. Seven.

3 Which of the following is true?

 A. The old man stayed for the night with the writer only once.

 B. The old man came to the writer's house to ask for some food.

 C. The old man came to stay with the writer for the night many times.

 D. The old man felt lonely because he had no son or daughter.

British people are famous for drinking tea. But brother and sister, Sarah and Bobby Green, became young millionaires(百万富翁) when they opened a chain of American-style coffee shops in the UK.

Having the idea: It started when Sarah took a weekend trip to New York to visit her brother Bobby. One evening, in a Thai restaurant, Sarah told Bobby how much she wished she could buy American-style coffee in London. Bobby suggested they started their own coffee shop. Sarah fell in love with the idea.

Doing the research: Back in London, she spent a whole day on the London subway, getting off the train at different stations to taste the coffee. “It was terrible, and I knew there was a gap (空缺) in the market.” In 1995, they opened their first Coffee Republic shop in the center of London.

Making it work: The first year was very difficult. British people were not used to the names of American coffees, like latte and macchiato. But being successful was their dream and they were not going to give up. Today, there are over 100 Coffee Republic shops all over the country and the company has ￡30 million a year.

Advice for others: Sarah has now written a best-selling book about their experience, called Anyone Can Do It! She hopes it will help other young people to start their own businesses. She says, “If you think you have the energy, then get out and follow your dream.”

4What kind of company do they run?

A. A fast-food restaurant.                                B. A tea shop.   

C. A coffee shop.                       D. A big hotel.

5 Where are their Coffee Republic shops?

A. All over the UK.                        B. All over the US.

C. In the center of London.                D. In New York.

6Which information is mentioned in the passage?

A. Sarah was not interested in Bobby’s idea.

 B. British people never drank coffee before 1995.

 C. Sarah’s best-selling book is about how to make coffee.

 D. Sarah found a business chance while doing the research.

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B. C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world's population is left-handed.

  Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person's two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain(脑). The right side of the brain, which makes a person's hands and eyes work together, controls(控制) the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged(伤害) when they are born. However, this doesn't happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因)for right-handedness, he/she may become either right-handed or left-handed according (根据)to the chance and the people they work or live with.

  Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don't have to.

7 After studying works of art made at different times in history, the scientists

found ____________.

A. the art began from 1,500 B. C.

B. the works of art ended in the 1950s

C. most people shown in the works of art are right-handed

D. most people shown in the works of art are left-handed

8 How many people in the world are left-handed now?

A. Less than one sixth.                 B. More than a half.

C. About 40%.                             D. The passage doesn't tell us.

9 According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed.

B. Scientists think there must be some reason why people become left-handed.

C. Today children are not made to use their right hands only.

D. Left-handedness is cleverer than right-handedness.

10 What is the best title for this passage?

A. Left-handed People                           B. Scientists' New Inventions

 C. Which Hand                         D. Different Brains, Different Hands