Maxwell had not held a steady job in almost two years. Today was a big day, because he was going to a job interview that he felt good about. The secretary he had talked to on the phone sounded friendly and encouraging.

Maxwell was a typist. His fingers danced on the keyboard. However, his people skills were not nearly as good as his typing skills. Sometimes his mouth got in the way of his employment. At his last steady job, his boss had told him to start making coffee every morning. Maxwell laughed. “I’m not making coffee,” he said. “It’s not part of my job description.”

“Read the employee manual again,” his boss said. “Your job description is anything I say it is.”

“That’s a woman’s job,” said Maxwell. “Do it yourself.”

His boss was still yelling as Maxwell walked out of the building. He felt great about telling off the boss. A few days later, the reality of not having a job hit home. He had to pay the rent and utility bills, and he had to eat. What was he going to do?

He thought about apologizing and asking for his job back. But how would that look? Then again, who cares how it looks when you’re almost broke? After thinking about it for another week, he finally called his boss and apologized. His boss accepted his apology, but said that he had already hired a replacement.

Maxwell contacted a temporary job agency, which provided him enough occasional work to pay his bills. But none of the companies that he was sent to were hiring. So Maxwell was excited about finally getting an interview for a steady job.

Maxwell’s drive to the interview was disappointing. The traffic was congested and the neighborhood looked rough. It took him 45 minutes to get there. The building was covered with graffiti.(涂鸦)

The interview started 30 minutes late. Not bothering to apologize, the manager lit a cigarette and took a sip from his coffee cup. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. He asked Maxwell a lot of questions. Maxwell thought that each question was stupider than the preceding question. The final question was, “Where would you like to be 10 years from now?”

What does that have to do with typing? Maxwell wondered. Stupid questions from a rude man in a lousy neighborhood! Where would he like to be 10 years from now?

“Anywhere but this dump!” Maxwell said angrily, as he stood up and walked out.

51．Maxwell lost his last steady job because_________.

A. he was not a qualified typist.                

B. he couldn’t make coffee

C. he was not skillful enough in communicating with people.

D. he didn’t apologize in time.

52．The underlined word ‘congested’ most probably means _________.

A. too blocked or crowded                             

B. dangerous and poor

C. light and slow-moving                          

D. constant but fast-flowing

53．According to the passage, which statement is right about the job interview?

A. Maxwell was 30 minutes late.              

B. The manager got no manners in the interview.

C. The interviewer asked a lot of silly questions except the last one.

D. Maxwell misunderstood the interviewer’s questions.

54．After the interview, we can infer that _________.

A. Maxwell will celebrate his big day.

B. The manager will apologize to Maxwell.

C. Maxwell will finally get this post.    

D. Maxwell will have to find another job interview.

Maxwell had not held a steady job in almost two years. Today was a big day, because he was going to a job interview that he felt good about. The secretary he had talked to on the phone sounded friendly and encouraging.

Maxwell was a typist. His fingers danced on the keyboard. However, his people skills were not nearly as good as his typing skills. Sometimes his mouth got in the way of his employment. At his last steady job, his boss had told him to start making coffee every morning. Maxwell laughed. “I’m not making coffee,” he said. “It’s not part of my job description.”

“Read the employee manual again,” his boss said. “Your job description is anything I say it is.”

“That’s a woman’s job,” said Maxwell. “Do it yourself.”

His boss was still yelling as Maxwell walked out of the building. He felt great about telling off the boss. A few days later, the reality of not having a job hit home. He had to pay the rent and utility bills, and he had to eat. What was he going to do?

He thought about apologizing and asking for his job back. But how would that look? Then again, who cares how it looks when you’re almost broke? After thinking about it for another week, he finally called his boss and apologized. His boss accepted his apology, but said that he had already hired a replacement.

Maxwell contacted a temporary job agency, which provided him enough occasional work to pay his bills. But none of the companies that he was sent to were hiring. So Maxwell was excited about finally getting an interview for a steady job.

Maxwell’s drive to the interview was disappointing. The traffic was congested and the neighborhood looked rough. It took him 45 minutes to get there. The building was covered with graffiti.(涂鸦)

The interview started 30 minutes late. Not bothering to apologize, the manager lit a cigarette and took a sip from his coffee cup. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. He asked Maxwell a lot of questions. Maxwell thought that each question was stupider than the preceding question. The final question was, “Where would you like to be 10 years from now?”

What does that have to do with typing? Maxwell wondered. Stupid questions from a rude man in a lousy neighborhood! Where would he like to be 10 years from now?

“Anywhere but this dump!” Maxwell said angrily, as he stood up and walked out.

51．Maxwell lost his last steady job because_________.

A. he was not a qualified typist.                

B. he couldn’t make coffee

C. he was not skillful enough in communicating with people.

D. he didn’t apologize in time.

52．The underlined word ‘congested’ most probably means _________.

A. too blocked or crowded                             

B. dangerous and poor

C. light and slow-moving                          

D. constant but fast-flowing

53．According to the passage, which statement is right about the job interview?

A. Maxwell was 30 minutes late.              

B. The manager got no manners in the interview.

C. The interviewer asked a lot of silly questions except the last one.

D. Maxwell misunderstood the interviewer’s questions.

54．After the interview, we can infer that _________.

A. Maxwell will celebrate his big day.

B. The manager will apologize to Maxwell.

C. Maxwell will finally get this post.    

D. Maxwell will have to find another job interview.

（安徽省屯溪一中2010届高三上学期期中考试）

C

  If you can’t catch the bad guy, it’s game over-----this is the rule of life for computer game players. But similar thoughts might be worrying US president George W. Bush as he prepares for the election year with the world’s most wanted man still out of his reach.

  The hunt for Laden has been going on since the attack on New York’s World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Progress has been slow and, with John Kerry winning the race last Tuesday to compete against Bush in November’s presidential elections, the president needs results.

  “If Laden can be caught before the presidential election, Bush will get an upper hand,” a senior US official told the New York Times.

  The American public’s support for the war in Iraq has been falling, especially as the Bush government cannot find the banned weapons it said were in the country. But the way in which the president’s popularity rose following the arrest of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in December shows how useful the capture of Laden would be.

  The latest information suggests the election will be close, with 48 percent of Americans saying they will vote for Bush and 46 percent backing Kerry.

  In order to seize Laden, thousands of US soldiers were moved from Iraq to Afghanistan earlier this week, according to a US official Further efforts have been made to strengthen Afghanistan’s border area with Pakistan, with soldiers checking nearby villages more frequently than before.

64. The American presidential election will be held between _____and ____.

  A. George W Bush; Jimmy Carter          B. John Kerry; Thomas Jefferson

  C. George W Bush; John Kerry              D. George Bush; John Kerry

65. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

  A. The arrest of Saddam did Bush some good. 

B. The American soldiers have sent Laden to prison.

C. The arrest of Laden will make no difference to the election.

D. Laden may hide himself far away from the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan

66. We can infer from the passage that _____.

  A. it’s difficult to catch Laden               

B. Bush will lose the presidential election

  C. Americans didn’t set out to catch Laden until 2003

  D. American presidential election will take place in October

67. What does the underlined word “banned” in paragraph 4 mean?

  A. Advanced.    B. Dangerous.      C. Forbidden        D. Expensive.

A towering South American plant that is believed to kill animals with its spikes(尖刺) and use their rotting bodies as fertilizer is about to bloom(开花) in England. A rare Puya chilensis was planted at a greenhouse in Surrey, a county in the southeast of England about 15 years ago. However, despite its frightening description, the tall, spiked plant is considered a threatened species.

The Royal Horticultural Society has been feeding the plant a diet of liquid fertilizer. “In its natural habitat in the Andes it uses its razor sharp spikes to snare and trap sheep and other animals, which slowly starve to death and rot at the base of the plant, providing it with a bag of fertilizer,” reads a description on the RHS website, which adds that the plant gives off a “gruesome scent.”

But does the plant actually trap and eat sheep? Other sources have simply said it is “believed” that the plant traps small animals with its spikes. After the animals die of starvation, the plant is "believed" to then use their rotting bodies as fertilizer to feed itself.

"I'm really pleased that we've finally persuaded our Puya chilensis into producing flower," horticulturalist Cara Smith said in a press release on the RHS site. Regardless of whether it actually traps sheep, the plant does have sharp spikes that can grow up to 12 feet high and 5 feet wide. However, it’s not all death and danger for this plant. Its flowery blooms reportedly provide nectar(花蜜) for bees and birds.

The Puya chilensis blooms annually in its native land of Chile, but this is the first time it has done so after more than a decade of cultivation efforts from the RHS. "We keep it well fed with liquid fertilizer as feeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic,” Smith said. "It's growing in the dry section of our glasshouse with its deadly spines well out of reach of both children and sheep alike."

1.From the passage we learn that in England the Puya chilensis _____.

A. feeds on man-made liquid fertilizer

B. often kills sheep and other animals

C. has once bloomed 15 years before

D. uses animals' rotting bodies as fertilizer

2.The underlined word “snare” in the second paragraph probably means“_________”.

A. catch                      B. stop                        C. fight                        D. kill

3.We can infer from the passage that _____.

A. it's dangerous to feed the plant

B. it's certain that the plant kills sheep

C. it's difficult for the plant to bloom in England

D. it's rare for the plant to bloom in South American

4.What does the writer mainly tell us?

A. A new plant is discovered in Chile.

B. How a rare plant is fed in England.

C.  A rare plant is going to bloom in England.

D. How a plant traps animals in South America.