A woman from Japan was telling a friend about her trip to the United States.The woman had visited major businesses and investment companies in New York City and Chicago.

“I studied English before I left home，”she said.“But I still was not sure that people were speaking English.”

Her problem is easy to understand.Americans in business are like people who are in business anywhere.They have a language of their own.Some of the words and expressions deal with the special areas of their work.Other expressions are borrowed from different kinds of work such as the theater and movie industry.

One such saying is “get your act together”．

When things go wrong in a business，an employer may get angry.He may shout，“Stop making mistakes.Get your act together.”

Or，if the employer is calmer，he may say，“Let us get our act together.”

Either way，the meaning is the same.Getting your act together is getting organized.In business，it usually means to develop a calm and orderly plan of action.

It is difficult to tell exactly where the saying began.But，it is probable that it was in the theater or movie industry.Perhaps one of the actors was nervous and made a lot of mistakes.The director may have said，“Calm down，now.Get your act together.”

Word expert James Rogers says the expression was common by the late 1970s.Mister Rogers says the Manchester Guardian newspaper used it in 1978.The newspaper said a reform policy required that the British government get its act together.

Now，this expression is heard often when officials of a company meet.One company even called its yearly report，“Getting Our Act Together.”

The Japanese visitor was confused by another expression used by American business people.It is cut to the chase.

She heard that expression when she attended an important meeting of one company.One official was giving a very long report.It was not very interesting.In fact，some people at the meeting were falling asleep.

Finally，the president of the company said，“Cut to the chase.”

Cut to the chase means to stop spending so much time on details or unimportant material.Hurry and get to the good part.

Naturally，this saying was started by people who make movies.Hollywood movie producers believe that most Americans want to see action movies.Many of their movies show scenes in which the actors chase each other in cars，or in airplanes or on foot.

Cut is the director’s word for stop.The director means to stop filming，leave out some material，and get to the chase scene now.

So，if your employer tells you to cut to the chase，be sure to get to the main point of your story quickly.

1.After the woman visited the United States she might feel that ________.

A．her English was poor

B．it’s easy to master English

C．it’s difficult to make money

D．people there weren’t very friendly

2.In which situation could the words “get your act together” be used?

A．A task is completed successfully.

B．Players perform badly in a match.

C．Audience is satisfied with the actor’s performance in a movie.

D．Visitors make a tiresome and unpleasant trip to someplace.

3.According to the text，the expression “get one’s act together” ________.

A．was first used by a Japanese businesswoman

B．was forbidden to be used in the government policy

C．originally came from a yearly report of a company

D．was commonly read by readers in a newspaper in 1978

4.What do the sayings “get your act together” and “cut to the chase” have in common?

A．Their use.? B．Their meaning.

C．Their origin.? D．Their popularity.

One of the strongest arguments for the raising of the school leaving age(ROSLA)has been that it will bring us some way nearer to “equality of opportunity”.?

Many people like to think of our present system of schooling as providing plenty of steps up the ladder of success for clever children. It would be good to think that no one who is really bright can be missed out when the state system is obviously so complete. It is obvious, for instance, that many children from less wealthy homes reach university or do well in other ways.?

Unfortunately, we now have plenty of proofs that many children of every level of ability do much less well than they could. For instance, during the years of national military service it was possible to test the intelligence of all male 18-to-20-year-old. Half of those soldiers who were placed in the two highest ability groups had left school at 15.

It has also been shown that the percentage of working class children going to university is almost the same now as it was in 1939.One study of 5000 children from birth to 21 years old shows that up to half the bright pupils from working class homes left school when they reached 16 years old. Moreover, there is no difference in intelligence between the sexes, but far more boys than girls stay in education after 16.

It is clear from this and many other proofs that many children are still leaving school too early to benefit from the prizes—money, social respectability, and interesting jobs—which higher education gives. It is clear too that the reasons why such children leave have much to do with their social background. Their parents often need the extra money another money-earner would bring in; they don't value education for itself because their own was probably dull and unhappy. It is not so much that they force their sons and daughters to leave school, rather than they tend to say, “It's up to you.”?

It is hoped that ROSLA will give all children _______.?

A. a more enjoyable time at school

B. the same chances in society ?

C. the right to a better school

D. higher scores in intelligence tests?

People would like to think that _______.?

A. equal numbers of poor and wealthy children reach university?

B. those with the least money get the best education?

C. intelligent children are always selected by the system?

D. only really clever children do well?

Working class children are thought to be at a disadvantage because _______.

A. many of the clever ones leave school early?

B. fewer go to university than ever before?

C. more than half leave school when they are 16?

D. fewer boys than girls stay at school after 16?

If you are human, you can’t help but experience times when everything seems to be going wrong. You must also _ ▲__as if your life is completely out of control at times. It is during those “down times” that words of encouragement from family, friends, co-workers or_ ▲___strangers can boost(增强)your spirits. It is also during those _ ▲__that negative words can be devastating (毁灭性的) and sink you deeper and deeper into depression.

   For example, consider this story about a group of _39__who were traveling through the woods when _ ▲__of them fell into a deep pit(坑). All of the other frogs gathered around the _ ▲__.When they saw how _ ▲__the pit was, they told the two _ ▲__frogs they would never get out.

   The two frogs didn’t obey what other frogs said and tried to _ ▲__ out of the pit. The other frogs kept telling them not to jump, _ ▲__it was in vain. Finally, one of the frogs followed what the other frogs were saying and simply _ ▲__. He fell down and _ ▲__ The other frog continued to jump as _ ▲__as he could. Once again the crowd of frogs shouted at him to _ ▲__the pain. The more they _ ▲__, the harder he jumped and finally he _ ▲__to safety.

   When he _ ▲__, the other frogs asked him why he continued to jump when they were all _ ▲__him to simply quit. The frog _ ▲__to them that he was a little bit deaf. He thought they were _ ▲__him all the time.

1． A. think                 B. experience        C. seem               D. feel

2． A. so                    B. just           C. even          D. ever

3． A. processes          B. times         C. courses           D. practices

4． A. frogs                B. mice                 C. dogs         D. cats

5． A. two                  B. three          c.many                D. few   

6． A. hole              B. pit                    C. water            D. well

7． A. muddy            B. wide                 C. deep               D. long

8． A. uncomfortable B. unpleasant  C. unhappy      D. unfortunate

9． A. run                  B. walk          C. climb         D. jump

10． A. so                  B. as long as   C. because           D. although

11． A. gave out          B. gave up            C. gave away       D. gave off

12． A. died                B. wounded           C. destroyed   D. damaged

13． A. fast                B. hard                  C. easily         D. swiftly

14． A. help                B. ban                   C. forbid     D. stop

15． A. cried                     B. spoke               C. shouted            D. read

16． A. get it               B. forget it     C. use it         D. made it

17． A. turned out     B. kept out     C. got out             D. held out

18． A. taking to        B. shouting at        C. throwing at  D. speaking to    

19． A. explained       B. announced       C. introduced   D. told

20． A. encouraging  B. helping      C. pulling      D dragging

Before I started school, people felt that 1 was not going to be successful．At the age of four I started speech lessons because basically I could not speak well enough for anyone to understand me．The story goes downhill from here．

The first grade was a struggle．I not only had difficulty speaking, but also felt nervous about the fact that I was expected to learn to read and I just couldn't do it．The second grade was not much better．I still struggled with the inability to read．It was in the third grade that the school district built a new school close to my home．I remember going there with my parents and helping to get the school ready so that we could move to the new one．However, things were still not much better as far as my schooling was concerned and did not get better for the next two years．

It was in the fifth grade．Mrs．Wakefield was my teacher, and if ever there was a teacher that deserved a gold star, it was her．She did not make me feel defeated．On the contrary, she did her best to let me know that I could be whatever I wanted to be．And that is just what I did．

For the past 22 years, I have been a fifth grade teacher．Because of Mrs．Wakefield's influence on my life, I am now encouraging students who have had difficulties in their lives to believe that they can overcome any difficulty and become someone．I have won numerous awards up to now, such as Teacher of the Year．I owe it all to one fifth grade teacher who believed in me and challenged me to be all that I could be．

1.The writer ______ when he was in the third grade．

A．did better in reading                     B．began speech lessons

C．went to a new school                    D．received a high award

2.We can learn from the passage that the writer ______．

A．is a very successful teacher now

B．thinks teaching is a challenging job

C．has solved problems with his own effort

D．works in the same school with Mrs．Wakefield

3.What is the writer's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To express his devotion to his work．

B．To show his respect to a special teacher．

C．To share his teaching experience with us．

D．To tell us his story of overcoming difficulties．

It’s a sure sign that summer is over and winter is on the way — leaves that were once deep green turn red, yellow and bright orange. It happens every autumn. But did you ever wonder why?

The leaves start changing color when the nights start getting longer and the temperature starts getting cooler. Some scientists think that as the number of daylight hours shrinks, the leaves stop making chlorophyll which makes plants green. The reason is that the process of making chlorophyll requires sunlight. But according to horticulture (园艺) educator Susan Rose from Colorado State University, it turns out leaves don’t really change color at all. “The fall colors are actually there all along,” she said. “But they are covered by the green chlorophyll. As the chlorophyll stops being produced, the other colors can shine through.”

The kind of color that the leaves are going to change to is determined by the plant’s genetic (基因的) background. In some places, the leaves start changing color in September — before autumn even officially begins. In other places, they don’t change until late October or even November. Some scientists say the leaves have been changing color later than usual in recent years. And they think global warming has something to do with that.

In one study, researchers found that the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere was nearly a week longer, on average, in 2008 than it was in 1982. And a professor from Harvard University found that the leaves, west of Boston, Massachusetts, are changing color about three days later than they used to. However, other scientists disagree with the global warming theory. Susan Rose said the leaves in her part of Colorado are changing “right on schedule.” But the leaves in other parts of that state are running a little late. “The lateness in the mountains may have something to do with the really warm late summer and early fall,” she said. “But I’m afraid that’s just a guess.”

1.According to Susan Rose, _____.

A．the fall colors are always in leaves

B．leaves make chlorophyll all the seasons

C．leaves’ changing color have nothing to with the weather

D．leaves begin changing color because they start making chlorophyll

2.The underlined word “shrinks” in Paragraph 2 could best be replaced by _____.

A．reduces          B．increases          C．lasts              D．appears

3.Scientists guess leaves change color later than usual probably as a result of _____.

A．genetic background                     B．dry weather

C．global warming                         D．low temperature

4.The purpose of the last paragraph is to tell readers _____.

A．why leaves change color at fall

B．leaves change color at different time

C．the effects of the global warming on plants

D．different opinions on the lateness of leaves’ changing color