A well-known English magazine invited five people to answer a series of

questions. One of the questions is: Do you enjoy foreign food? Match the name of each person to one of the statements given below.

56. John Harvey:

  In fact if you go out to a restaurant, it’s very difficult to find the “British” cooking, but you can find almost anything else: French, Italian, Chinese, Indian and so on. London is full of foreign restaurants. I love trying “new dishes.” I think you can understand a lot about another culture from its food.

57. Jo Baker:

  I like foreign food, but not all. I particularly do not like Indian food, although I quite enjoy a mild curry I make myself. I like most European dishes, but Spanish food is quite low down on my list. However, I think you have to travel a long way to beat good old English cooking. What can be nicer than the aroma of a piece of beef roasted in the oven, surrounded by crisp roast potatoes and served with piping hot Yorkshire puddings, vegetables and gravy? From my point of view, I think foreign food is all right when you are abroad. You see, that’s just part of the enjoyment of travelling to another country. Foreign food is also fine for an odd night out to restaurant, but for every day please give me good old English food.

58. Gabby Macadam:

  On the whole I enjoy foreign food, but having said that I can think of dozens of foreign dishes which I simply can’t stand. You see, they have fish in some way or other and I never eat fish in any form. I have found that many foreign dishes are served with a kind of sauce. I think it is the accompanying sauce that hides all sorts of problems. I am not so sure that I would be as fond of them as I am if they were served without the sauce.

59. Len Dangerfield:

  When we English people travel abroad, we always make a great fuss about studying the menu but always end up with steak. You see, when I’m abroad I always miss our home cooking. I mean, I’m used to English food. Sometimes I do go to restaurant to taste some exotic dishes, but most of the time I still prefer to have English food. You know, it’s always difficult to get used to food in other countries.

60. Peter Hawke:

  I like foreign food. I particularly like Indian food. Well, I’m married to an Indian girl. She is a good cook. I’m so lucky to have her cook for me every day. I think Indian food as well as other foreign foods is generally tastier and spicier than English food. Traditional English dishes, like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and fish and chips, are quite well-known abroad. But I must say as a nation we are not particularly good at catering. As far as I’m concerned, I think we should learn to cook more interesting dishes and make our food tastier and more varied.

A. Cooking varies from country to country even though the basic gradients may be very much the same.

B. I can’t stand those foreign dishes which contain fish in some way or other, and I’m not so sure that I’m fond of many foreign dishes which are served with a kind sauce.

C. I think foreign food is all right when you are abroad, but for every day, traditional English food is always my first choice.

D. Foreign dishes can be tasted occasionally, but I find it difficult to adjust to the tastes. So I still prefer English food.

E. I love foreign food, and I think people can understand a lot about another culture from what they eat.

F. English people should learn to cook more attractive dishes and make their food more delicious and varied.

 

In every British town, large and small, you will find shops' that sell second-hand goods. Sometimes such shops deal mostly in furniture, sometimes in books, sometimes in ornaments and household goods, sometimes even in clothes.

      The furniture may often be "antique", and it may well have changed hands many times. It may also be very valuable, although the most valuable piece will usually go to the London salesrooms, where one piece might well be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. As you look around these shops and see the polished wood of chests and tables, you cannot help thinking of those long-dead hands which polished that wood, of those now-closed eyes which once looked at these pieces with love.

      The books, too, may be antique and very precious; some may be rare first printings. Often when someone dies or has to move house, his books may all be sold, so that sometimes you may find whole libraries in one shop. On the border between England and Wales, there is a town which has become a huge bookshop as well. Even the cinema and castle have been taken over, and now books have replaced sheep as the town's main trade.

      There are also much less expensive shops, sometimes simply called "junk shops", where you can buy small household pieces very cheaply. Sometimes the profits from these shops go to charity. Even these pieces can make you feel sad; you think of those people who once treasured them, but who have moved on, to another country or to death.

      Although the British do not worshop their ancestors, they do treasure the past and the things of the past. This is true of houses as well. These days no one knocks them down, they are restored until they are often better than new. In Britain, people do not buy some- thing just because it is new. Old things are treasured for their proven worth; new things have to prove themselves before they are accepted.

1. Books found in second-hand book shops may ________.

    A. be copies of the earliest printing

    B. be on sale for the first time

    C. never be worth very much

    D. never he rare

2. What is the small town on the border between England and Wales famous for?

     A. Its sheep.        B. Its cinema.          C. Its bookshops.       D. Its castle.

3. Second-hand goods sometimes fill you with sadness because ________.

     A. they remind you of the original owners

     B. they are too expensive for average buyers

     C. they are now neglected

     D. they are sold for charity

4. The average British person ________.

     A. does not respect old things because they are not fashionable

     B. likes to build new houses simply because it is fashionable to do so

     C. likes to buy new things because they are fashionable

     D. does not like to buy things simply because they are fashionable

5. The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 4 may refer to

     A. junk shops         B. profits              C. old things           D. old houses

More than a third of the babies born this year could receive a 100th birthday message from whoever happens to be on the throne in the second decade of the 22nd century, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It forecasts that 35% of the 826,000 people born in 2012 will live to become centenarians.

But a long life is not unalloyed good news. David Sinclair, head of policy and research at the International Longevity Centre UK, warned that for many the future may mean social isolation(隔离）as they live longer than friends and members of their families.

"It is of course good news that so many more people are living longer," he said, "but there is a big 'but¹. We will be older, but in worse health, and at high risk of living alone. The other problem is that we are very poor at forward planning. We deal with the problems that are under our noses, but even problems two or three years away seem quite distant enough to put off. When you're talking about forecasts for a time half a century away and more, I see no evidence that we are putting in place the measures to deal with it."

This year there will be 14,500 centenarians in the UK, a number which is expected to increase to 110,000 in 2035.

Women have higher life expectancies than men at every age: the likelihood of a girl born this year reaching her century is estimated to be 39%; for boys the figure is 32%.

The estimated number of female centenarians has risen from 500 in 1961 to more than 10,000 in 2010，a figure which is projected to reach 71,000 by 2035 and 276,000 by 2060.

Men are also living far longer, although their numbers are far fewer. There were an estimated 92 male centenarians in 1961 and just below 2,000 in 2010.

1.The underlined word centenarians probably means people who_____.

A. are born this year B. live longer than their friends

C. are in poor health D. are a hundred or more years old

2.From what David Sinclair said, we can learn_____.

A.he doesn't believe so many people are living longer

B. the older we are, the more likely we are to live alone and in poor health

C.the people who are good at forward planning are likely to live longer

D.too distant planning is not always necessary for most of us

3.Which of the following statement is true?

A.About 289，100 people born in 2012 will live to 100.

B.More men will reach their century than women in the future.

C.The number of the female centenarians was 1,000 in 1970s

D.More than 600 people reached their century in 1961.

4.What does this passage mainly talk about?

A.A long life is not always good news.

B.A long life also means social and physical isolation

C.In the future, more people will live to 100 in the UK.

D.It is good to live to 100.

 

More than a third of the babies born this year could receive a 100th birthday message from whoever happens to be on the throne in the second decade of the 22nd century, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It forecasts that 35% of the 826,000 people born in 2012 will live to become centenarians.

But a long life is not unalloyed good news. David Sinclair, head of policy and research at the International Longevity Centre UK, warned that for many the future may mean social isolation(隔离）as they live longer than friends and members of their families.

"It is of course good news that so many more people are living longer," he said, "but there is a big 'but1. We will be older, but in worse health, and at high risk of living alone. The other problem is that we are very poor at forward planning. We deal with the problems that are under our noses, but even problems two or three years away seem quite distant enough to put off. When you're talking about forecasts for a time half a century away and more, I see no evidence that we are putting in place the measures to deal with it."

This year there will be 14,500 centenarians in the UK, a number which is expected to increase to 110,000 in 2035.

Women have higher life expectancies than men at every age: the likelihood of a girl born this year reaching her century is estimated to be 39%; for boys the figure is 32%.

The estimated number of female centenarians has risen from 500 in 1961 to more than 10,000 in 2010，a figure which is projected to reach 71,000 by 2035 and 276,000 by 2060.

Men are also living far longer, although their numbers are far fewer. There were an estimated 92 male centenarians in 1961 and just below 2,000 in 2010.

35.　 The under lined word centenarians probably means people who_____.

A. are born this year　　 B. live longer than their friends

C. are in poor health　　 D. are a hundred or more years old

36.　 From what David Sinclair said, we can learn_____.

A.　 he doesn't believe so many people are living longer

B.　 the older we are, the more likely we are to live alone and in poor health

C.　 the people who are good at forward planning are likely to live longer

D.　 too distant planning is not always necessary for most of us

37.　 Which of the following statement is true?

A.　 About 289，100 people born in 2012 will live to 100.

B.　 More men will reach their century than women in the future.

C.　 The number of the female centenarians was 1,000 in 1970s

D.　 More than 600 people reached their century in 1961.

38.　 What does this passage mainly talk about?

A.　 A long life is not always good news.

B.　 A long life also means social and physical isolation

C.　 In the future, more people will live to 100 in the UK.

D.　 It is good to live to 100.

On Jan. 3, a netizen（网民）nicknamed “Programmer Humor”published a short story on his micro-blog. It said that there was an old lady who swept nearly every inch of his Internet company. When she passed by a programmer, she took a look at the codes on the programmer’s computer and kindly reminded him, “Be careful, the stack is overfilled!”
Certainly, it is a casual and fictitious（虚构的）story made up by the micro-blogger. However, no one would have guessed that the short blog would eventually cause the first great Internet meme（网络快速爆红现象） of 2011 in China. Suddenly, the mysterious “Sweeping Old Lady” is showing up nearly everywhere and reminding professionals of their mistakes. From 8 a. m. on Jan. 5, some netizens collected stories of the “Sweeping Old Lady” and found she had appeared to give advice in 150 kinds of careers. A netizen even said he had met with a similar situation in real life.
Actually, the “Sweeping Old Lady” is not new figure, but is based on the “sweeping monk （和尚）”in Louis Cha’s famous Kung fu novel of “Tian Long Ba Bu”. The “sweeping monk” is an old monk and does the lowest class of work in Shaolin Temple, but he is actually the No. 1 master in the noel both in Kung fu and in the study of Buddhism.
The “Sweeping Old Lady” is also a great modest master. Lots of netizens wish that they could have such a lady beside them to give them precious suggestions at a key time.
Although there may be 1,000 “Sweeping Old Ladies” in 1,000 people’s minds, it cannot prevent the “Sweeping Old Lady” from becoming the most popular figure on the Internet.
“Programmer Humor” said he is just a programmer in the real world and once he saw the story about the “Sweeping Old Lady,” he wrote it down in his micro-blog because it was funny. He never knew who the original writer of the story was and never thought the story could be so popular.
【小题1】What quality does the “Sweeping Old Lady” have?

A．Honest and knowledgeable.	B．Modest and patient.
C．Modest and knowledgeable.	D．Honest and patient.

【小题2】Which description about the “Sweeping Old Lady” is right?

A．She is an old lady good at sweeping the Internet.

B．She is just an imaginary figure created by a netizen.

C．She is well-know as the old “sweeping monk.”

D．She likes to give instructions everywhere.

【小题3】What can we infer from the text?

A．The sweeping old lady is always looking down on the people around her.

B．We should ask sweeping old lady for advice when meeting with difficulties.

C．People want to have a “Sweeping Old Lady” nearby to do the cleaning.

D．We shouldn’t judge a person by his or her appearance and we’d better respect everyone.

【小题4】What does the author think of the “Sweeping Old Lady”?

A．She should be praised and respected.

B．She shouldn’t mind others’ business.

C．She should go in for network.

D．She shouldn’t show off before professionals.