Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.

The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”

Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,Would you mend this chair for me?I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

A. was rather impolite               　　   B. was warmly received

C. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair      D. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

2.The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

A. changed his mind　　　　　　　       B. accepted the offer

C.decided to help the writer　　　　       D. saw the writer’s purpose

3.How much did the writer pay?

　A.　 ￡ 5.　　B. ￡ 7.　　    C. ￡ 20.　　　　D. ￡ 27.

4.From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________

　A. honest　　　　B. careful　　　　 C.　 funny　　 D. smart　

 

　　Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique（古董）shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception（接待）. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't oven look at my chair.

　　The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

　　I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”

　　Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,’Would you mend this chair for me　I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused（感到有趣）by the whole thing.

We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.

　　A. was rather impolite

　　B. was warmly received

　　C. asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair

　　D. asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.

　　A. changed his mind　　　　　　　 B. accepted the offer

　　C. saw the writer’s purpose　　　　　D. decided to help the writer

How much did the writer pay?

　　A. ￡ 5.　　　　B. ￡ 7.　　　　 C. ￡ 20.　　　　D. ￡ 27.

From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________

　　A. hanest　　　　B. careful　　　　C. smart　　　　 D. funny

Americans love to talk and generally it is OK to talk even to strangers about nearly any subject at any time as long as you are polite．However there are some subjects，like racism，American foreign policy，gun ownership，and religion that are best discussed among friends．

    In America，it is OK to approach a stranger and start up a conversation with him as long as the subject is not too abstract．In America，it is not considered inappropriate to talk to people you don’t know．Talking to a stranger about the weather or the quality of nearby restaurants，or the prices in a grocery store is all perfectly fine．Even complimenting someone on the car they drive or asking them where they bought their clothes are all appropriate topics of conversation with complete strangers．

    Generally，Americans prefer that people say what they think and they respect frankness．Usually when it comes to personal matters，it’s best to accentuate(强调)the positive：don’t tell someone that their children are ugly or that their cooking is terrible．However；it’s OK to tell someone that they are wrong as long as you do so politely and with respect．Americans generally believe that you show someone respect by telling them the truth．Don’t be afraid to be honest with Americans，but be appropriate．

    Most Americans will start a conversation with a person they just met by asking them what they do for a living．This question is not only considered appropriate by  Americans，but it’s also considered an important way to learn about someone．

1.The passage mainly tells us       ．

    A．how to make friends with Americans

    B．how to make proper conversations with Americans

    C．what Americans like to talk about in their dailv life

    D．what to avoid in talking with Americans

2.When you talk to an American for the first time，you can ask him the following questions EXCEPT “   　 ”.

    A．How does America treat other countries

    B．Where did you buy your wonderful car

    C．What do you do

    D．How is the dessert the nearby restaurant offers

3.When you find that an American has made a mistake, you’d better       ．

A．point it out directly and politely

    B．pretend not to see it

    C．tell his friends about this

D．cover it up for him

 

Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate. Each time they fixate, we see a group of words. This is known as the recognition span or the visual span. The length of time in which the eyes stop ---the duration of the fixation ----varies considerably from person to person. It also varies within any one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity with the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as lighting and tiredness.

Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement courses have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the purely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For instance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, say, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often constructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at each successive fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to understand the relationship between words. Consequently, for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulness of eye training, especially since any approach which trains a person to read isolated words and phrases would seem unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.

1.The time of the recognition span can be affected by the following facts except ________ .

A. the length of a group of words.

B. lighting and tiredness.

C. one’s familiarity with the text.

D. one’s purpose in reading.

2.The author may believe that reading ______.

A. demands an deeply-participating mind.

B. demands more mind than eyes.

C. requires a reader to take in more words at each fixation.

D. requires a reader to see words more quickly.

3.What does the author mean by saying “but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently.” in the second paragraph?

A. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve an efficient reading.

B. The reading exercises mentioned has done a great job to improve one’s ability to see words.

C. The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.

D. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both the ability to see or comprehend words.

4.Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.

B. The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.

C. The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.

D. Many experts began to question the efficiency of eye training.

5.The tune of the author in writing this article is ________.

　　A. pessimistic  B. optimistic   C. critical  D. neutral

 

阅读理解

　　In the primary school, a child is in a comparatively simple setting and most of the time forms a relationship with one familiar teacher. On entering secondary school, a new world opens up and frequently it is a much more difficult world．The pupil soon learns to be less free in the way he speaks to teacher's and even to his fellow pupils. He begins to lose gradually the free and easy ways of the primary school, for he senses the need for a more cautious approach in the secondary school where there are older pupils. Secondary staff and pupils suffer from the pressures of academic work and seem to have less time to stop and talk. Teachers with specialist roles may see hundreds of children in a week, and a pupil may be able to form relationships with very few of the staff. He has to decide which adults are approachable; good, schools will make clear to every young person from the first year what guidance and personal help is available -- but whether the reality of life in the institution actually encourages requests for help is another matter.

　　Adults often forget what a confusing pictures school can offer to a child．He sees a great deal of movement, a great number of people -- of ten rather frightening looking people -- and realizes that an increasing number of choices and decisions have to be made. As he progresses through the school the confusion may become less but the choices and decisions required will increase. The school will rightly expect the pupils to take the first steps to obtain the help he needs, for this is the pattern of adult life for which he has to be prepared, but all the time the opportunities for personal and group advice must be presented in a way which makes them easy to understand and within easy reach of pupils.

(1)According to the passage one of the problems for pupils entering secondary schools is that ________.

[　　]

A．they are taught by many different teachers

B．they do not attend lessons in every subject

C．the teachers do not want to be friendly

D．the teachers give most attention to the more academic pupils

(2)After becoming a pupil in secondary schools, the pupil begins to lose gradually the free and easy ways of the primary school, for he ________.

[　　]

A．is told by his teachers to behave so

B．is not accustomed to the life in the secondary school

C．realizes the secondary school life requires him to act so

D．suffers from the pressures of school work

(3)In secondary schools every pupil having problems should first ________.

A．know how to ask for help

B．be freed from any pressure of academic work

C．be able to discuss his problems in class

D．be able to discuss his problems with any teacher

(4)According to the passage _______.

A．the author doubts whether the actual situation in the secondary school can encourage pupils to ask for help

B．to judge whether a secondary school is good or not depends on what guidance and personal help it can offer

C．adults tend to think that children are able to deal with everything in school with ease

D．the school offers pupils nothing but confusion

(5)In this passage about secondary schools, the author is mainly concerned about 

A．academic standards

B．the role of specialist teachers

C．the training of the individual teachers

D．the personal development of pupils