It’s a goal for millions and millions of families every year——keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount, but can still afford the gifts that your loved ones will enjoy. Never has this concern been greater in recent years than right now. Even so, there are several things that you can do to help.

       Hit the sales.

       No one wants to get up at four o’clock in the morning and fight to get the best deal on Black Friday, and it’s surely very tough to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal, but sometimes——it can be well worth. Many retailers(零售商) offer specials all through the day——and some even offer online Black Friday specials, so you may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday.

       Pay close attention to advertisements.

       Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers hungry for business will do just about whatever to get you in the store. Pay very close attention to weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers and you may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops.

       Shop online.

       Some of us don’t like running from store to store in order to get the best price on the perfect gift, and some of us don’t like to go out in the cold at all——thankfully for us, we can do online shopping.

       The world of online shopping lets people visit all the major retailers as well as some specialty stores that could only be found on the Internet. Customers can find exactly what they are looking for, at the best possible price without ever having to leave the house. With traditional Christmas shopping consumers are sometimes limited to what’s left in stock if they wait too long to get to a particular store.

1.The first paragraph implies that ______.

       A. nowadays not many people can afford expensive gifts

       B. recently many people don’t want to spend money on gifts

       C. Christmas is a time to make our loved ones enjoy their gifts

       D. Christmas is a time to make us feel free to buy our loved ones gifts

2.In the writer’s opinion, it is rewarding on Black Friday _____.

       A. if the weather is not very cold                B. if we don’t have to fight for the best deals

       C. if we don’t have to get up early                     D. If we get what we want at a good price

3.The underlined word “specials” means_______.

       A. some experts in shopping                       B. certain things for especially low price

       C. some kind of help for a certain customer D. things that can only be found on Friday

4.We can have more choices _____.

       A. on Black Friday                                    B. in a particular store

       C. on the Internet                                      D. from retailers

 

5.In this passage the writer means ______.

       A. to tell us the best way to do shopping

B. to attract more readers to do wise shopping

       C. to show us how hard it is to do Christmas shopping

       D. to give us advice on how to get a good deal at Christmas time

 

　　Billy is fourteen years old and in the ninth grade. He has a 1 job which gets him 2 every morning at five o'clock. He is a 3 .

　　Each morning, Billy 4 the house at 5:15 to go to the corner 5 the newspapers are. The newspapers were delivered to the 6 by truck at midnight. He always takes a wagon to carry them.

　　In the 7 it is still dark when he gets up, but during the rest of the year it is 8 . Billy must deliver the newspapers to the houses of people on his route 9 all kinds of weather. He tries to put each 10 on the porch (门廊) where “will be protected from 11 and rain or snow. His 12 think he does a good job. Sometimes they give him 13 .

　　Billy 14 about $70 per month, and he is 15 some of the money to go to college. He spends the rest 16 records and clothes. Once a month, he has to 17 money from his customers. Since many of them 18 during the day, Billy has to collect the money 19 . Sometimes, when Billy is 20 his elder brother has to 21 the newspapers. Once Billy's father had to help.

　　Billy has seventy customers now, 22 he hopes to get more soon. Some day, if he gets 23 more customers, Billy might win a prize for being an out standing newspaper boy. He wants to win a 24 to Europe, but he will also be happy 25 he wins a new bicycle.

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The way we do things round here

Some years ago, I was hired by an American bank. I received a letter from the head of the Personnel Department that started, "Dear John, I am quite pleased that you have decided to join us." That "quite" saddened me. I thought he was saying "we're kind of pleased you decided to join us although I wish we had hired someone else." Then I discovered that in American English "quite" sometimes means "very", while in British English it means "fairly".

So the first lesson about working in other countries is to learn the language and by that I don't just mean the words people speak. It is body language, dress, manners, ideas and so on. The way people do things highlights many of the differences we see between cultures（文化）．

Some of these differences may be only on the surface-dress, food and hours of work-while others may be deeper and take longer to deal with. Mostly, it is just a question of getting used to the differences and accepting them, like the climate（气候），while getting on with business.

Some of the differences may be an improvement. People are more polite; the service is better; you ask for something to be done and it happens without having to ask again. However, other differences can be troubling, like punctuality（准时）．If you invite people to a party at 7 o'clock your guests will consider it polite to turn up exactly on time in Germany, five minutes early in the

American Midwest, an hour early in Japan, 15 minutes afterwards in the UK, up to an hour afterwards in Italy and some time in the evening in Greece. I prefer not to use the word "late" because there is nothing wrong with the times people arrive. It is simply the accepted thing to do in their own country.

1.The author was unhappy as mentioned in paragraph 1 because he thought_____.

A. the American bank didn’t think much of him

B. the American bank might hire another person

C. it’s difficult to get used to American  culture.

D. it’s easy to misunderstanding Americans

2.The word “highlights”in paragraph 2 probably means_____

A. encourage B. helps to marrow

C. increase D. draws attention to

3. According to the author, what should we do with most cultural differences?

A. Ask the native people for help.    B. Understand and accept them.

C. Do things in our own way.       D. Do in-depth research.

4.. When invited to a party the people who are usually punctual are______.

A. Italians      B. Germans      C. Greeks       D. the British

 

根据对话情景和内容，从对话后所给的选项中选出能填入每一空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两个为多余选项。

—How often do you use he Internet?

—   1.  But I usually use it o check my email. I don’t often surf the Internet. You use the Internet a lot, don’t you?

—    2. 

—So, you’re working online eight hours a day. It can be awful when the connection is poor.

—     3.  Sometimes I also help others in the office if they’re having trouble online.

—How useful do you think the Internet is as a source of information?

—I think it’s useful.    4.    The information online may be false. You don’t see what you buy online until you actually get it.

—    5.

—We usually find the website of shops, then visit the shop and buy when we’ve seen the products.

A. But there are two big problems.

B. Yes. I usually surf the Internet to look through the news.

C. Why do you want to buy something online?

D. Yes. I use it to find products at the lowest price for my company.

E. Yes. I like the job though.

F. How do you solve the problems when shopping online?

G. I use it almost everyday.

 

Joe came to New York from the Middle West, dreaming about painting. Delia came to New York from the South, dreaming about music. Joe and Delia met in a studio. Before long they were good friends and got married.

They had only a small flat to live in, but they were happy. They loved each other, and they were both interested in art. Everything was fine until one day they found they had spent all their money.

Delia decided to give music lessons. One afternoon she said to her husband:

“Joe, , I’ve found a pupil, a general’s daughter. She is a sweet girl. I’m to give three lessons a week and get $5 a lesson.”

But Joe was not glad.

“But how about me?” he said.” Do you think I’m going to watch you work while I play with my art? No, I want to earn some money too.”

“Joe, , you are silly,” said Delia. “You must keep at your studies. We can live quite happily on $15 a week.”

“Well, perhaps I can sell some of my pictures,” said Joe.

Every day they parted in the morning and met in the evening. A week passed and Delia brought home fifteen dollars, but she looked a little tired.

“Clementina sometimes gets on my nerves. I’m afraid she doesn’t practice enough. But the general is the nicest old man! I wish you could know him, Joe.”

And then Joe took eighteen dollars out of his pocket.

“I’ve sold one of my pictures to a man from Peoria,” he said, “and he has ordered another.”

“I’m so glad,” said Delia. “Thirty-three dollars! We never had so much to spend before. We’ll have a good supper tonight.”

Next week Joe came home and put another eighteen dollars on the table. In half an hour Delia came, her right hand in a bandage.

“What’s the matter with your hand?” said Joe. Delia laughed and said:

“Oh, a funny thing happened! Clemantina gave me a plate of soup and spilled some of it on my hand. She was very sorry for it. And so was the old general. But why are you looking at me like that, Joe?”

“What time this afternoon did you burn your hand, Delia?”

“Five o’clock, I think. The iron-I mean the soup-was ready about five, Why?”

“Delia, come and sit here,” said Joe. He drew her to the couch and sat beside her.

“What do you do every day, Delia? Do you really give music lesson? Tell me the truth.”

She began to cry.

“I couldn’t get any pupils,” she said, “So I got a place in a laundry ironing shirts. This afternoon a girl accidentally set down an iron on my hand and I got a bad burn. But tell me, Joe, how did you guess that I wasn’t giving music lessons?”

“It’s very simple,” said Joe. “I knew all about your bandages because I had to send them upstairs to a girl in the laundry who had an accident with a hot iron. You see, I work in the engine-room of the same laundry where you work.”

“And your pictures? Did you sell any to that man from Peoria?”

“Well, your general with his Clemantina is an invention, and so is my man from Peoria.”

And then they both laughed.

1.To support the family, Delia worked as             .

A．a tutor            B．a music teacher     C．a laundry assistant   D．an artist

2.It happened that             .

A．a man from Peoria liked Joe’s pictures      B．Delia earned $15 dollars a week easily

C．Clemantina and the general were kind        D．the couple worked at the same laundry

3.Who hurt Delia’s hand?

A．The general        B．Clemantina        C．A girl             D．Herself

4.We can infer from the underlined sentence that             .

A．Clemantina was an invention of the general

B．Clemantina was an invention of the man from Peoria

C．the general, Clemantina and the man from Peoria were the couple’s clients

D．there were no such men as the general, Clemantina and the man from Peoria

5.The couple’s attitude towards each other is             .

A．honest           B．faithful            C．ashamed          D．heartbreaking