They once seemed more at home on the busy streets of Asia like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok but cycle powered rickshaws (人力车) can now be seen taking people across town in many European cities. Many people believe that rickshaws are a good way of experiencing a city close-up, while also cutting down on traffic jams and pollution. In Berlin, one of the first cities to introduce this new model of transport, more than 200 bike-taxis go along at 15km per hour, past many tourist attractions and city parks.

    “It is completely environmentally friendly; we have new models with an engine to help the driver up the hills but they use renewable energy.” said a spokesman for VELOTAXI, the leading rickshaw company which has carried a quarter of a million people this year.

    While the city still has 7,000 motor-taxis, rickshaw company officials say their taxis’ green ideas, speed and safety make them more than just a tourist attraction. While now increasingly out of fashion in Delhi, Berlin people have eagerly accepted the new fleet since their launch in 1997.

“It’s better than a taxi, better than a bus, better than the train,” said ULF Lehman, 36, as he leapt out of a rickshaw near the world famous Brandenburg gate. “ It feels so free.”

    “ This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in Bangkok instead of Berlin,” said another traveler.

    In Amsterdam, driver Peter Jancso said people like to be driven around in his bright yellow rickshaw and pretend to be a queen in a golden carriage. "I like my passengers to feel important," he said as he dropped off another passenger. Another visitor noted how cheap it was compared with a normal taxi.

    Although increasingly popular in Europe, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India's backward past.

    Nearly 500 bike-rickshaws are running in London and are not required to pay the city's road tax but things may change as other taxi drivers complain of unfair treatment.

1. Where are rickshaws becoming more popular?

A. Delhi, Berlin, Paris.                            B. Amsterdam, Bangkok, Delhi.

C. Athens, London, Berlin.                          D. Berlin, Amsterdam, London.

2.Why are rickshaws no longer as widely used in India as in the past?

A. They are a reminder of a bad period in India's history.

B. They have been banned because they are inefficient.

C. The streets of India are too crowded for them to move through easily.

D. Indians now prefer to travel by car because they are richer.

3.What does the underlined sentence "This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in

Bangkok instead of Berlin" suggest?

A. The passenger didn't like taking a rickshaw as it reminded him of Bangkok.

B. The passenger enjoyed being on holiday in Berlin more than in Bangkok.

C. The passenger was impressed when taking a rickshaw and considered it unusual.

D. The passenger disapproved of rickshaws because they were not original to Berlin.

4. What is the author's attitude towards rickshaws?

A. He gives no personal opinion.          

B. He believes they will be of no use.

C. He thinks they will reduce pollution.       

D. He thinks they are old-fashioned.

I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that unfairly treated member of society --- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I am convinced the things are being run solely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a deceptive (欺骗的) new motto for so-called “service” organizations --- Staff Before Service.

　　 How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there were not enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles or checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to hire cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that uncovering all their cash registers at any one time would increase operating costs. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.

　　  It is the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is cut short. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There is also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been thrown out of their jobs in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin-eating machines which offer everything from lager to laxatives (从贮藏啤酒到通便剂). Not to mention the tea-making kit in your room: a kettle with a mixed collection of tea bags, plastic milk boxes and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I do not, especially when I am paying for “service”.

　　Can it be stopped, this worsening of service, this growing attitude that the customer is always a bore? I angrily hope so because it is happening, sadly, in all walks of life.

　　Our only hope is to hammer home our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, bring back into practice that other, older slogan --- Take Our Deal Elsewhere.

1.The writer feels that nowadays customers __________.

A. deserve the lowest status in society

B. are unworthy of proper consideration

C. have received high quality service

D. have become victims of modern organizations

2.The writer argues that the quality of service is changing because __________.

A. customers’ demands have greatly changed

B. the staff receive more consideration than customers

C. customers’ needs have become more complex

D. staff members are less considerate than their employers

3.According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by __________.

A. not having enough male staff on duty

B. difficulties in hiring more efficient staff

C. lack of cooperation between staff members

D. not providing enough staff on purpose to reduce budget

4.The writer suggests that a customer __________.

A. be patient when queuing before checkout counters

B. put up with the rude manners of the staff

C. try to control his temper when ill-treated

D. go to other places where good service is available

阅读下列各小题，根据括号内的汉语提示，用句末内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

例：We __________________  (起床) before dawn. It was still dark outside.  (get)

答案：got up

1. Having made careful enquiry and study, John came to the final conclusion that_______________ (水是罪魁祸首).    (blame)

2.The earthquake and the tsunami that followed lasted for days, _____________________ (使得许多人无家可归).     (leave)

3. It’s generally considered a posture of defense when people talk to a stranger with___________________ (双臂交叉).  (cross)

4. He is very tall among others and always wears bushy beard. You will recognize him_________________ (你一见到他).  (instant)

5.-- What has become of Henry? I haven’t seen him for days!

   --- He___________________（折断了腿）in the football final and is now staying in hospital.   （have）

6._________________________(只有靠适应变化) that we can keep up with the lightning pace of the modern world.  (adjust)

7. I have been a shop assistant since I finished school. _____________________ (有时) I wonder why I have to do this job.  (time)

8.The charming cottage, _________________________(追溯到罗马时代), is as pretty as a picture.  (date)

9.__________________________________(厌倦了城市生活), she made up her mind to move to the countryside and settle down there for a quieter life.  (feed)

10.-- Hey, man. You are parked on a double yellow line!

   --- Sorry, officer. _____________________(我在想) where I could park and didn’t notice it.   (wonder)

请以“Share and Care”为题，结合生活实际，写一篇100词左右的短文寄给21世纪中学生英文报。

Please do me a favor, —       the box upstairs.

A. carry            B. to carry             C. carrying             D. having carried 

My parents don’t think I should take a course on law, yet I am determined to take       . 

A. it               B. one              C. that             D. the one

We have decided to fulfill the task in time,        difficulties we may meet with.

A. no matter how   B. however           C. whatever         D. whichever

Our English teacher, having explained to us how to design a project, allowed us a whole week’s preparation and then       the class.

A. to dismiss       B. dismissed            C. dismissing           D. having dismissed.

Allen followed his customer across the yard and stood on the step of the house,        two shopping bags. 

A. lifted           B. having lifted        C. to lift              D. lifting

Tom is the only one of the students who      a scholarship since last year. 

A. has won     B. have won          C. is winning          D. wins