The peoples of the Scandinavian countries share a lot in common for geographical reasons. But there are more of differences than similarities between them in all ways，including their drinking customs.

A superficial① observer might think that no one in Norway drinks wine. Meals eaten in restaurants or at home are usually washed down with tea, coffee or milk. Occasionally however，pale or dark ale② is drunk. It can be ordered only in restaurants, where it is served only with food.

Excellent quality beers are made in Jutland and consumption is high. After beer, brandy is the favorite drink. Aalborg schnapps made from corn and potatoes, is famous for its high alcoholic content. For the Danes, brandy is also an aperitif③ and is often drunk before meals. For a foreigner, the practice of surrounding toasts here can be uncomfortable. If he accepts one toast then he will have to accept all others, and it is difficult to drink six or seven glasses of brandy unless one is used to it. Ladies are fortunately excluded from these rounds and they drink only a grape juice with almost no alcoholic content.

It is milk instead of liquor that is the principal④ Finnish table drink. More milk is drunk by the Finnish people than in any other nation. In Finland the sale of alcohol is a state behavior and a check is kept on consumption by recording purchases on special card issued to all customers.

As there is a difference between Swedish cooking in the south and that in the north because of the difference in soil and climate, their drinking habits are also different. In the north alcoholic beverages⑤ are considered a necessity because they keep out the cold. While in the south people have milder drinks. But generally speaking, too much drinking is rare in Sweden, partly because it is against the law.

Sale of spirits is controlled, the Swedes drink much coffee and tea. Many people still prefer the old-fashioned coffee served in large cups with cakes. Tea is so popular in Sweden that it has been called the Swedish national drink.

Notes:

① superficial  adj.  表面上的

② ale  n.  麦牙酒

③ aperitif  n.  开胃酒

④ principal  adj.  最重要的；主要的

⑤ alcoholic beverage   n.  烈酒

1. The passage mentions the following subjects EXCEPT ______.

  A. drinking habits      B. table manners     C. sales of spirits     D. drinking time

2. According to the passage, which of the following is the Swedish national drink?

  A. Tea.       B. Brandy.       C. Aperitif.      D. Grape juice.

3. Which of the following people like milk more than other drinks?

  A. The German people.              B. The American people.

C. The Finish people.                D. The French people.

4. It can be inferred that if a foreigner isn’t good at drinking brandy, he ______.

  A. would like to invite ladies to have a party

  B. is unwilling to have a surrounding toast

  C. would like to accept others’ toasts

  D. will often drink milk instead of brandy

The dams① aimed at saving Venice from the waves have been backed greatly. After eight years of argument, it plans to build 79 gates across three channels connecting the lagoon around Venice with the Adriatic Sea. The gates would be open most of the time but would be closed if there is a danger to the city.

The project, though, has run into fears that it could worsen Venice’s problems. The city throws waste into the lagoon, and environmentalists fear the dams will cause this pollution to become worse if there is no tide to wash it out regularly. But if there is a tide, the flow can wash away about 550 million cubic meters of the lagoon in a single day, which means that by leaving the dam open for only a few hours, the waste should be cleaned out.

Another piece of good news is that British scientists are confident that the dams will be able to face an expected rise in sea levels caused by global warming. The gates are designed to stand a 22-centimetre rise in sea levels, but many scientists expect a global rise in sea levels of 31cm by 2100.

However, Trevor Davies and Isabel Trigo from University of East Anglia believe the dams are unlikely to broken. Climate change will weaken the local storms in the Adriatic that are the main cause of flood risk. Floodwaters are also a seasonal danger in Venice, usually because of a combination of spring tides and strong winds.

Venice, which rests on wooden piles driven into boggy③ ground, has been sinking for centuries, worsening the encroachment by the sea.

Notes:

① dam  n.  大坝

② lagoon  n.  泻湖

③ boggy  adj.  泥泞的

④ encroachment  n.  蚕食

Choose the best answers according to the above:

1. Which of the following is the main idea of the text?

  A. Venice will not disappear into the sea.

  B. Dams are designed to protect Venice.

  C. Venice are facing dangers from the tides.

  D. Global warming makes Venice worse and worse.

2. If the project comes into use, the waste in the lagoon ______.

  A. will be washed away by the tides               B. will be sent to the higher places

  C. will be carried away by workers                D. will have to be reused by humans

3. According to the idea of Trevor Davies, the dams won’t be broken because ______.

  A. the dams are higher than the buildings in Venice

  B. there will be no tides or floods in the future

  C. the climate all over the world will soon be cold

  D. the storms in the Adriatic will be weaker in the future

4. According to the text, we can infer that Venice ______.

  A. has been sinking for hundreds of years

B. may suffer from spring tides and strong winds

  C. will be under the sea sooner or later

  D. will be a city with dams around except 78 gates

The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.

However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon① in 1909. Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices② and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man. Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died.

When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental③. Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.

Notes:

① sermon  v.  布道

② sacrifices  n.  牺牲

③ sentimental  adj.  感伤的

1. The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______.

  A. many people celebrate the day                B. only America celebrates the day

  C. America makes it an official day              D. all men are honored in America

2. At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______.

  A. Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday

  B. Sonora’s birthday was June 19

  C. it was decided by the president at that time

  D. her mother died on June 19

3. How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?

  A. 4     B. 10      C. 14     D. 24

4. According to the passage, on Father’s Day,  ______.

  A. people will wear the same flowers to honor their fathers

  B. only daughters wear red flowers to honor their fathers

  C. children must go home to honor their fathers

  D. fathers are often honored in different ways

5. According to the passage, we can infer that Henry Jackson Smart ______.

  A. was very kind to anyone

  B. did a lot for his daughter

  C. was the first father honored in 1924

  D. always help others by giving money

The cause of his death remained ________ (无法解释的、adj ) though he has been dead for years.

 

The scene of the accident was ________（令人恐惧的、 adj ）and a truck was badly destroyed.