Like most English children, I learned foreign languages at school. When I made my first visit to the United States, I was sure I could have a nice and easy holiday without any language problem. But how wrong I was!
At the American airport, I was looking for a public telephone to tell my friend Danny that I had arrived. An American asked if he could help me. "Yes," I said, '1 want to give my friend a ring."
"Well, that's nice. Are you getting married?" he asked. "No," I replied, "I just want to tell him I have arrived." "Oh," he said, "there is a phone downstairs on the first floor." "But we're on the first floor now," I said.
"Well, I don't know what you are talking about Maybe you aren't feeling too well after your journey," he said. "Just go and wash up, and you will feel a lot better." And he went off, leaving me wondering where on earth I was: At home we wash up after a meal to get the cups and plates clean. How can I wash up at an airport?
At last we did meet. Danny explained the misunderstanding: Americans say "to give someone a call", but we English say "to give somebody a ring". When we say "to wash your hands", they say "to wash up". And Englishmen start numbering from the ground floor so the first floor is the second for Americans.
【小题1】The writer went to America by  ______.

A．plane

B．ship

C．bus

D．train

【小题2】The writer went to America for______   .

A．education

B．business

C．holiday

D．friendship

【小题3】The American thought "a ring" should be a________  .

A．phone call

B．present

C．person

D．letter

【小题4】Englishmen usually wash up________ .

A．after dinner	B．after a journey
C．when they are tired	D．before they telephone someone

【小题5】The third floor in England is the ______floor in America.

A．first

B．second

C．third

D．Fourth

Four men who would become fathers were in a hospital waiting room while their wives were in labor (分娩). The nurse arrived and proudly said to the first man, “Congratulations, sir. You’re the father of twins!”
“What a coincidence (巧合)! I work for the Minnesota Twins Baseball teams!”
Later the nurse returned and congratulated the second father on the birth of his triplets (三胞胎).
“Wow! That’s unbelievable! I work for the 3M Company.”
An hour later, the nurse returned to congratulate the third man on the birth of his quadruplets (四胞胎). Surprised, he only could answer, “I don’t believe it! I work for the Four Seasons Hotel!”
　　After this, everyone turned to the fourth man who had just fainted (晕). The nurse ran fast to his side. As he slowly came to himself, they could hear him speak in a very low voice over and over, “I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven.”
【小题1】Why were the fathers there?

A．They were waiting for their wives.

B．They were seeing doctors.

C．They were waiting for their babies to be born.

D．They were working at men nurses there.

【小题2】Which of the following is true about the third man?

A．He thought the nurse made a mistake.

B．He was very surprised at the nurse’s words.

C．He didn’t want to have these babies.

D．He should never have worked at 7-Eleven.

【小题3】Why did the fourth man faint when he heard what the nurse told the third man?

A．Hew was afraid of having so many babies.

B．He was seriously ill.

C．He was too excited.

D．He was very glad to have 7 babies.

【小题4】At least how many babies would be born according to the story?

A．9.

B．10.

C．11.

D．16.

Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

　　The reporter was talking to them about being important.

　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.

　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”

　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.

　　The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”

　　The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”

　　“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”

　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.

　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”

1.This story happened in ________.

A. U.N.                         B. U.S.A.                              C. U.K.         D. P.R.C.

2.There are________in this passage.

A. three men        B. three women and one man　

C. four men       D. three men and one woman

3.The banker and the owner of one of the largest companies in the world ________.

A. had similar opinions about the reporter’s question　　        

B. disagreed with each other  

C. had been invited to the White House many times      

D. didn’t reply to the reporter

4.The owner of one of the largest companies thought ________.

A. he himself was really important because he owned one of the largest companies in the world

B. the President was really important because the president of another country called him

C. the visitor was really important if the President would rather treat him than answer an important phone call from another country

D. none of them was really important

5.The underlined word you in the last paragraph refers to (指的是) ________.

A. the television reporter　　                    B. the owner of many buildings

C. the President                   D. the visitor to the White House

 

An old man lived in a nice house with a large garden. He took care of his flowers all the time, watering and fertilizing them.
One day a young man went by the garden. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be if he lived in such a beautiful place. Then ,suddenly he found the old gardener was blind. He was very surprised about this and asked,“You can’t see these flowers. “Why are you busy taking care of them every day?”
The old man smiled and said ,“I can tell you four reasons. First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can’t see these flowers, I can touch them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that’s you.”
“Me? But you don’t know me.”said the young man.
“Yeah, it’s true that I don’t know you. But I know that flowers are angels that everybody knows. We enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us.”
The blind man’s work opened our eyes and pleased our hearts, which also made his life happier. It was just like Beethoven, who became deaf in his later life and wrote many great musical works. Beethoven himself couldn’t hear his wonderful music, but his music has encouraged millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn’t it a kind of happiness?
【小题1】The young man was very surprised because _________.

A．The old man was deaf.

B．The old man could see nothing.

C．The old man took care of flowers every day.

D．The flowers was very beautiful.

【小题2】Why was the old man busy taking care of the flowers every day?

A．Because he liked doing it.

B．Because it can make him happy.

C．Because everyone enjoyed the happiness these flowers had brought.

D．All the above.

【小题3】Which of the following statements is TRUE about the old man?

A．He was a musician.	B．He was the writer’s friend.
C．He used to be a gardener.	D．He was very happy.

【小题4】What is the best title of the passage?

A．The beautiful flowers.	B．Beethoven’s life.
C．The blind and The deaf.	D．One kind of Happiness.

A thief entered the bedroom of the 30^th President of the United States, who met him and helped him escape punishment.
The event happened in the early morning hours on one of the first days when Calvin Coolidge came into power, late in August,1923. He and his family were living in the same third-floor suite (套房) at the Willard Hotel in Washington that they had moved in several years before. The former President’s wife was still living in the White House.
Coolidge woke up to see a stranger go through his clothes, remove a wallet and a watch chain.
Coolidge spoke, “I wish you wouldn’t take that.”
The thief, gaining his voice, said, “Why?”
“I don’t mean the watch and chain, only the charm (表坠). Take it near the window and read the words on its back, ” the president said.
The thief read, “Presented to Calvin Coolidge.”
“Are you President Coolidge?” he asked.
The president answered, “ Yes, and the House of Representatives（众议院）gave me the watch charm. I’m fond of it. It would do you no good. You want money. Let’s talk this over.”
Holding up the wallet, the young man said in a low voice, “I’ll take this and leave everything else.”
Coolidge, knowing there was 80 dollars in it, asked the young man to sit down and talk. He told the President he and his college roommate had overspent during their holiday and did not have enough money to pay their hotel bill.
Coolidge added up the roommate two rail tickets back to the college. Then he counted out 32 dollars and said it was a loan (借款).
He then told the young man, “There is a guard in the corridor(走廊).” The young man nodded and left through the same window as he had entered.
【小题1】What caused the thief to meet the President?

A．He knew the president had lots of money.

B．He knew the president lived in the suite.

C．He wanted to be a rich businessman.

D．He wanted to steal some money.

【小题2】Why did Calvin Coolidge live at the Willard Hotel in those days?

A．Because the former president was still in the White House.

B．Because the former First Lady hadn’t left the White House.

C．Because the hotel was suitable for the First Family to live.

D．Because the First lady liked to live there.

【小题3】Coolidge counted out 32 dollars______.

A．in order to be out of danger

B．to make more money from the loan

C．in order not to be killed by the thief

D．so that the student could overcome his difficulty

【小题4】The young man’s roommate went back to college _____.

A．by bus

B．by water

C．by train

D．by air

【小题5】Which of the following might happen afterwards?

A．The thief was put into prison.

B．The young man repaid the 32 dollars.

C．The President told many reporters the thief’s name.

D．The President ordered the young man to repay the money.