① From Buckingham Palace to Ox- ford, the U. K. is loaded with wonderful icons of past eras. But it has also modernized with confidence. It's now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife and attraction. Fashions, fine dining, clubbing, shopping—the U. K. is among the world's best. ② Most people have strong preconceptions about the British. But if you're one of these people, you'd be wise to abandon those ideas. Vistit a nightclub in one of the big cities, a football match, or a good local pub and you might more readily describe the English people as humorous and hospitable. It's certainly true that no other country in the world has more birdwatchres, sports supporters, pet owners and gardeners than the U. K. ③ Getting around England is pretty easy. Budget airlines like EasyJET and Rynnair fly domestically. Trains can deliver you very efficiently from one major city to another. Long distance express buses are called coaches. Where coaches and buses run on the same route, coaches are more expensive (though quicker) than buses. London's famous black cabs are excellent but expensive. Minicabs are cheaper competitors, with freelance drivers. But usually you need to give a call first. London's underground is called the Tube. It's very convenient and can get you to almost any part of the city. ④ The U. K. is not famous for its food. But you still need to know some of the traditional English foods. The most famous must be fish and chips. The fish and chips are deep fried in flour. English breakfast is something you need to try. It is fried bacon, sausages, fried eggs, black pudding, fried tomatoes, fried bread and baked beans, with toast and a pot of tea. Other things like shepherd's pie and Yorkshire pudding are also well-known as a part of English food culture. ⑤ Pubbing and clubbing are the main forms of English nightlife, especially for the young. Pubbing means going to a pub with friends, having drinks, and chatting. Clubbing is different from pubbing and includes going to a pub, or a place of music, or a bar, or any other places to gather with friends. Clubbing can be found everywhere. Usually there is some kind of dress code for clubbing, such as no jeans, no sportswear, or smart clubwear, while pubbing is much more casual.
1. Paragraph①______ A. Education B. People C. Transport D. Fame E. Food F. Nightlife
6. The U. K. is a country that is ______. A. faster but more expensive than buses B. both ancient and modem C. humorous and hospitable D. cheap and efficient E. traditional and famous F. pubbing and clubbing
B
[解析] 从第一段里的这句话:the u.K.is loaded with wonderful icons(标志) of past eras. But it has also modernized with confidence, 我们就可以得出英国是一个既古老又现代的国家。
7. The British people are ______.
C
[解析] 在第二段里可以找到答题的依据:you might more readily describe the English people as humorous and hospitable。
8. Coaches in the U. K. are ______.
A
[解析] 在第三段讲英国的交通工具时,作者讲到coaches are more expensive (though quicker) than buses,所以应选A:faster but more expensive than buses。
9. Fish and chips are ______.
E
[解析] 第四段里作者讲了英国的食物,人人都知道英国的食物实在没有什么好吃的,但作者在下面两句话里还是提到了英国的传统食品中有点名气的一种,即fish and chips。
10. The main forms of English nightlife are ______.
① Ask most people anywhere in the world what they want out of life and the reply will probably be: "to be happy." Ed Deiner, an American psychology professor, has spent his whole professional life studying what makes people happy, comparing levels of happiness between cultures and trying to find out exactly why we enjoy ourselves. ② Many people would say that this question does not need an answer. But Professor Deiner has one anyway. "If you're a cheerful, happy person, your marriage is more likely to last, and you're more likely to make money and be successful at your job. On average, happy people have stronger immune systems, and there is some evidence that they live longer." ③ So who are the world's happiest people? It depends on how the word is defined. There is individual happiness, the sense of joy we get when we do something we like. But there is also the feeling of satisfaction we get when we know that others respect us and approve of how we behave. According to Professor Deiner, the Western world pursues individual happiness while Asia prefers mutual satisfaction. ④ "In the West, the individualistic culture means that your mood matters much more than it does in the East. People ask themselves, what can I do that's fun or interesting? They become unhappy when they can't do any of these things. If you ask people from Japan or China if they are happy, they tend to look at what has gone wrong in their lives. If not much has gone wrong, then they are satisfied." ⑤ People from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries had the happiest culture, Professor Deiner found. "The biggest cultural difference is to do with pride and shame. Hispanic cultures report much more pride and much less shame than others." ⑥ Income also made a big difference to people's happiness, but only at the lowest levels. Average income earners in the US were much happier than people in poverty. But millionaires were only a little bit happier than people on average incomes. It seems that money makes us happy when we have enough to feel secure. ⑦ But can we be too happy? "You get people who are actually happy, but they think happiness is so important that they try to be even happier. This desire to be always happy is a product of individualism, where the emphasis is on you individually, your emotions and feeling good. People can end up feeling unhappy because ordinary happiness is not good enough for them."
11. Paragraph①______ A. Happiest Culture B. Ed Deiner's Research C. Definition of Happiness D. Cultural Differences in Happiness E. Reasons to Be Happy F. Individual and Ordinary Happiness
16. Professor Deiner has spent many years studying ______ in happiness. A. go wrong D. cultural differences B. ordinary happiness E. much C. individualism F. illnesses
Carefully conducted researches that have followed the children of working mothers have not been able to show any long-term problems, compared with children whose mothers stayed at home. My personal 1 is that mothers should be allowed to work if they wish. Whether we like it or not, there are a 2 of mothers who just have to work. There are those who have invested such a big part of their lives in establishing a career that they cannot 3 to see it lost. Then there are many who must work out of pure economic necessity. Many mothers are not 4 out to be full-time parents. After a few months at home with a much loved infant, they fell trapped and isolated. There are a number of options when it 5 to choosing childcare. These range from child minders and nannies through to Granny or the kind lady across the street. 6 , however, many parents don't have any choice; they have to accept anything they can get. Be prepared! No exception how good the childcare may be, some children are going to protest wildly if they are left. This is a 7 normal stage of child development. Babies separate well in the first six months, but soon after that they start to get a crush on Mum and close family members. Make sure that in the first week you allow 8 time to help your child settle in. All children are different. Some are independent, while others are more attached to their mothers. Remember that if you want to 9 the best for your children, it's not the quantity of time you spend with them, it's the 10 that matters. A. perfectly D. number G. afford J. cut B. view E. attitude H. in reality K. do C. plenty of F. certainly I. comes L. quality
This summer's World Cup competition will see teams competing to play the world's best football. But the football they play will not all be of the same kind. The fans expect different styles of play from Brazil, Germany, or Italy. What makes Brazilian football Brazilian? Our style of playing football contrasts with the Europeans because of a combination of qualities of surprise, accuracy and good judgment. This style has won Brazil five world cups. Yet many Brazilian fans only count four of these victories. In 1994, the team abandoned this style for modern, scientific training and tactics. The team won the cup, but in a boring way. The Italians think differently. "To many Italians, the score 0-0 has a glorious quality, suggesting perfection," says the British football writer Simon Kuper. In the Italian culture, the idea of face is very important. This is why Italian teams are traditionally built around strong defences. The Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff once said that Italian teams never exactly beat you. It's just that you often lose to them. In Holland, there is a tradition of decision making through argument and discussion. It is a society where everybody is expected to have a point of view. "Every Dutch player wants to control the game," says Arnold Muhren. "You play football with your brains and not your feet." "A Dutch player argues," says Simon Kuper. "An English player obeys his superior. He is a soldier." The qualities valued in English football are military—strength, aggression and courage. This can make for exciting football. But it also means that the English find it difficult to use skillful players. David Beckham is usually criticized for his failure to defend—despite the fact that he is an attacker. If the English like to fight, the Germans like to win. In recent years, Germany has tried to change its image as a country of ruthless efficiency and a desire for victory at all costs. But Germans are quite happy for these qualities to remain in their national football team. "Football is a simple game," Gary Lineker once said. "You kick a ball about for ninety minutes and in the end the Germans win." It's difficult to predict who will win this year's World Cup. There is no strong favorite. But a look at the track record of previous winners shows that it is the nations with the strongest national characteristics in the football that perform best. It seems that you need to know where you come from if you want to get to the top.
1. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the Brazilian style of playing football?______
A.Accuracy.
B.Surprise.
C.Good judgment.
D.Ruthless efficiency.
A B C D
D
[解析] 第二段讲到了巴西足球和欧洲足球的区别,巴西足球的风格是a combination of qualities of surprise, accuracy and good judgment。
2. Why do many Italians think that the score 0-0 has a glorious quality?______
A.Because it makes no one lose face.
B.Because the Italian team is not very strong.
C.Because Italians are nice people.
D.Because that score is what their team could obtain.
[解析] 在第四段里有这样两句话:In Holland, there is a tradition of decision making through argument and discussion. It is a society where everybody is expected to have a point of view. 所以在荷兰,人人都有自己的观点,并通过辩论和讨论表达自己的观点。
4. Which of the following is NOT true of the British football players?______
A.They are aggressive.
B.They are courageous.
C.They play football for friendship.
D.They obey their superiors.
A B C D
C
[解析] 在第五段里讲到英国足球队的种种特点:An English player obeys his superior. He is a soldier. The qualities valued in English football are military—strength, aggression and courage. 唯独C项的特点——为友谊而踢球,没有包括在内。
Life is a series of problems. 1 Do we want to teach our children to solve them? Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life's problems. Without discipline we can solve nothing. 2 With total discipline we can solve all problems. 3 Problems, depending upon their nature, evoke in us frustration of grief, sadness, loneliness, guilt, regret, anger, fear, anxiety, anguish, or despair. These are uncomfortable feelings, often very uncomfortable, often as painful as any kind of physical pain, sometimes equaling the very worst kind of physical pain. Indeed, it is because of the pain that events or conflicts engender in us all that we can call them problems. And since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy. Yet it is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. 4 When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we challenge and encourage the human capacity to solve problems, just as in school we deliberately set problems for our children to solve. 5 As Benjamin Franklin said, "Those things that hurt, instruct." It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome problems and actually to welcome the pain of problems. A. It is through the pain of confronting and resolving that we learn. B. Do we want to moan about them or solve them? C. What makes life difficult is that the process of confronting and solving problems is a painful one. D. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually. E. I know about this moaning because I have done my share. F. With only some discipline we can solve only some problems.
1.
B
[解析] 根据下一句的Do we want to...,可以推知上一句可能是与其句式相同的句子,B项无论在句式还是在含义上与本段符合。
2.
F
[解析] 根据上一句Without discipline we can...,我们可以推测下一句可能会是与其相反意义的句子。因此F项比较符合。
Have you heard of the term "tweenager"? It's a new word being 1 (use) in the UK to describe children at about 10-12 years old. Why are the media suddenly referring to kids in this way? Well, more and more companies are 2 (begin) to create products and services for tweenagers. The Disney company sells the Hannah Montana television show, music, films and products to tweenagers and their parents. You can get everything from 3 (brand) lunch boxes and cellphones to fan magazines and clothing. The High School 4 (music) series of films is also intended for the tweenage audience. So, it's all about sales, which 5 (tell) us tweenagers must have more money, 6 (free) and influence upon their parents than they have ever had before. Most children in the UK today get 7 (much) pocket money than the kids did a decade ago. In spite of the credit trouble, parents have more money to give than 8 (previous), since parents are having fewer children on average than in the past. In addition, divorce rate in the UK is continually rising and the parents spend 9 (little) time with their children than they used to. So, many parents are under constant pressure from commercial 10 (market) and the requests of their children.