Millions of Americans return from long-distance trips by air, but their luggage doesn’t always come home with them. Airline identification tags（标签） can come loose, and the bags go who-knows-where. And passengers leave all kinds of things on planes.

The airlines collect the items and, for 90 days, attempt to find their owners. They don’t keep them, since they’re not in the warehouse business. And by law, they cannot sell the bags, because the airlines might be tempted to deliberately misplace luggage.

So once insurance companies have paid for lost bags and their contents, and they no longer belong to passengers, a unique store in the little town of Scottsboro, Alabama, buys them. The “Unclaimed Baggage Center,” is so popular that the building, which is set up like a department store, is the number-one tourist attraction in all of Alabama. More than one million visitors stop in each year and take one of the store’s shopping carts on a hunt for treasures.

Each day, clerks bring out 7,000 new items, and veteran（老练的）shoppers rush to paw over them. You can find everything from precious jewels to hockey sticks, best-selling novels, leather jackets, tape recorders, surfboards, even half -used tubes of toothpaste.

The store’s own laundry washes or cleans all the clothes found in luggage, then sells them. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has found guns, illegal drugs and even a live rattlesnake.

The store has a little museum where some of its most unusual acquisitions（获得物） have been preserved. They include highland bagpipes, a burial mask from an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, and a medieval suit of armor.

Statistics indicate that less than one-half of one percent of luggage checked on U.S. carriers is permanently lost and available to the store.

1.Paragraph1 shows that many passengers lose their luggage because______.

A．they are forgetful

B．the owners of some luggage can’t be identified

C．they are in a hurry

D．there is no lost and foundoffice in many airports

2.The reason why the airlines cannot sell the bags is that ______.

A．they have to find the owners

B．they have to keep the bags as long as possible

C．some bags are expensive

D．they are likely to make a profit on the bags on purpose

3.The Unclaimed Baggage Center is very popular because______.

A．visitors may purchase something undervalued.

B．all thethings there are very cheap.

C．there's a large variety of goods.

D．visitors will enjoy some amusing activities there.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．A little museum will keep all the precious unclaimed baggage.

B．The things in the Unclaimed Baggage Center are articles for daily use.

C．The percentage of passengers who lose their baggage for ever is small.

D．People are not allowed to buy the illegal things in the store.

5.What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To introduce an attractive place to tourists.

B．To remind passengers of taking care of their baggage.

C．To advise the airlines to find the owners of the unclaimed baggage.

D．To introduce how the unclaimed baggage in the airports is handled in America.

 

The reading skills of young male students may improve more when huts are tutored (辅导) by women, a Canadian study shows, contradicting some school policies to hire male teachers to improve boys' literacy.

Herb Katz, an education professor at the University of Alberta, took 175 boys in the third and fourth grades, identified as struggling readers, and paired them with a research assistant who worked on their reading skills for 30 minutes a week over 10 weeks.

On average, the boys paired with female tutors felt better about their reading skills after the 10 weeks than those who were guided by a male research assistant, the study found.

Katz said the study, published in the US journal Sex Roles, may cause educational policy - makers in countries such as Australia and Britain to rethink policies that call for more male teachers to be hired to provide role models for boys whose reading skills fall behind their peers (同龄人). "It tells us that the way governments respond with policy is perhaps a little too quick and a little too simple," Katz said." Boys and girls enter kindergarten with similar reading skills, Katz said, but by the end of the third grade, boys have lower reading scores than girls. The reasons behind that difference are not entirely clear. "I don't know that reading skills fade so much as teachers may not recognize what boys are doing," he said. "We don't really know a lot about boys, even in those early years."

The boys involved in the study attended 12 schools in the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Most were from downtown neighborhoods. About a third were native Canadians and 55 percent came from ethnic minority groups.

60. What's the purpose of this passage?

A. To encourage boys to do more reading.             B. To persuade schools to hire female teachers.

C. To advise good ways for reading skills.              D. To provide some information about a study.

61. The underlined word "contradicting" in the first paragraph probably means"_________".

A. finding out       B. going against        C. standing by         D. bringing about

62. Which of the following is TRUE about the boys taking part in the study?

A. They have difficulty in reading.           B. They take no interest in reading.

C. They come from different Canadian cities.   D. They have no female teachers at school.

63. It can be known from the passage that _________.

A. women must be better al teaching than men

B. girls do more reading than boys

C. male teachers are preferred to help reading- troubled boys in Australia

D. governments will change their policy on hiring teachers

 

When I spent Christmas away from home in Europe for the first time, I was only 14 and it was absolutely horrific. I am now married and live in the US. So there is little possibility for me to go home for Christmas. Now I am able to get through Christmas with some moments of joy:

    First, you are advised to search you area for stores that carry items from your home country or town. Buy food, candles and some other things that mean something to you.

    Hold on to the traditions from your home that you think are important even if other people think they are stupid. But keep in mind to be open for new traditions from wherever you might be, because those traditions are as important to those people around you as yours are to you. For me that includes celebrating Christmas on the 24^th.

    Call, write Christmas cards, buy gifts and mail them to loved ones, just as if you were there. If you try to pretend as if the holiday doesn’t exist, you are just going to make it worse.

    Introduce your traditions to your loved ones, especially your kids. It will only enrich their celebration of the holiday to have some unique traditions in their home. Little by little it will become their tradition and it’s fun for them to try something new.

    Find clubs, churches or organizations that are from your home country. Chances are that they will have some celebration with some of your traditions which you can join in.

    Food is one of the most important factors in any kind of tradition. Find the recipe of that cake your grandmother used and make it your tradition to bake that particular cake.

    Call up your parents and get them to send you some of your favorite childhood ornaments (装饰品) for your tree.

    Embrace new traditions, talk to your family about which ones you want to make your own and stick with them.

    If you are far away from home, Christmas can never be the same as you experienced it before, but it is important to remember these traditions while appreciating the new ones. Keep an open mind and find a compromise between old and new traditons.

1.The author spent his 14^th Christmas ___________.

   A. unpleasantly in the US                        B. joyfully in the US

   C. unpleasantly in Europe                       D. joyfully in Europe

2.Why does the author advise people to hunt in some special stores?

   A. Because people can buy some discounted goods there.

   B. Because people can feel less homesick there.

   C. Because it’s an old Christmas tradition.

   D. Because they offer goods from the hometown of the people.

3.Which of the following statements does the author agree with?

   A. It’s great for children to have some unique traditions.

   B. People should join in all kinds of clubs to celebrate Christmas.

   C. People should give up traditions which are stupid in other people’s eyes.

   D. It is popular to celebrate Christmas on the 24^th around the world.

4.The author suggests giving a call to parents on Christmas mainly to __________.

   A. express love to them                      B. follow the tradition

   C. ask for some ornaments                        D. set an example for children

 

 

         I once heard someone say, “We don’t remember days; we remember moments.” However, in today’s busy life we often forget to enjoy small pleasures while we make big plans.

         In the race to be better or best, we sometimes lose sight of “just being”. And just being and enjoying a beautiful moment can provide some of life’s greatest pleasures. A fire on a cold winter night, a good book, an impressive sunset, a great meal, or a timeless moment with your child or a friend ．．． these moments, if we stop long enough to enjoy, are the essence (本质) of life.

         I love to fish, especially for large-mouth bass (鲈鱼). About three years ago I was watching television late at night and got this crazy idea to go fishing in the lake behind my house. Of course, my wife thought I was nuts. It was almost midnight! I told her I was fine and took off.

         I walked out to a warm summer breeze and looked up at the starry sky and breathtaking full moon. I allowed my senses to soak (浸泡) in every second — the sweet smell of flowers, the sound of every cricket (蟋蟀), the moon’s reflection dancing off the water — it was a perfect night.

         After walking across a small field, I took out a flashlight, and selected a lure (饵). On my first cast I got a bass weighing over five pounds, one of the largest I had ever caught. I gently put it back into the water and continued my midnight adventure. During the next two hours I caught seventeen bass, all between two and five pounds. Although I’ve fished for almost fifty years, no fishing memory can top that night.

         But that night provided far more than a fishing memory. It was a life memory. It provided me a picture of what life could be like if I just slowed down enough to enjoy the moments. On my way back to the house, as I walked through the tall grass, I took one last look at the sky and stopped to say, “Thank you, God, for giving me this night.”

64. The purpose of the passage is to ______.

A. suggest people should make big plans                                   

B. tell people to do what they like

C. advise people to enjoy beautiful moments

D. encourage people to follow their dreams

65. What does the underlined word “nuts” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. Determined.                       B. Ill.         C. Tired.                           D. Crazy.

66. The fourth paragraph is mainly about ______.

A. the description of the night

B. the author’s fishing experience

C. the author’s attitude towards life

D. what the author did that night

67. We can learn from the passage that night the author ______.

A. caught fewer fish than before

B. enjoyed real small pleasures

C. went to bed around 1:00 am

D. went fishing with his wife

 

Sir,

Just over six months ago, I saw an advertisement in the Morning Mail for a set of the complete works of William Shakespeare. Your company, Cosmo books Ltd., offered this set (eight books of plays and two books of poetry) at what was claimed to be a ‘remarkable’ price: fifteen pounds and fifty pence, including postage and packing. I had wanted a set of Shakespeare’s plays and poems for some time, and these books, in red imitation leather, looked particularly attractive; so I sent for them.

Two weeks later, the books arrived, together with a set of the complete works of Charles Dickens which I had not ordered. So I returned the Dickens books to you, with a cheque for fifteen pounds and fifty pence for the works of Shakespeare. Two more weeks passed. Then there arrived on my door step a second set of the works of Shakespeare, the same set of novels by Dickens and a six book set of the plays of Moliere, in French. Since I do not read French, these were of no use to me at all. However, I could not afford to post all these books back to you, so I wrote to you at the end of August of last year, instructing you to come and collect all the books that I did not want, and asking you not to send any other books until further notice.

You did not reply to that letter. Instead you sent me a bill for forty two pounds, and a set of the plays of Schiller, in German. Since then, a new set of books has arrived every two weeks, the works of Goethe, the poems of Milton, the plays of Strindberg; I hardly know what I have. The books are still all in their boxes, in the garage, and my car has to stand in the rain outside.

I have no room for any more books, and even if I read from now until the Last Judgment, I should not finish reading all the books that you have sent me.

Please send no more books, send no more bills, send no more angry letters demanding payment. Just send one large lorry and take all the books away, leaving me only with the one set of the complete works of Shakespeare for which I have paid.

Yours faithfully,

SIMON WALKER

1.Simon Walker wrote the letter to ________

A．show his anger to Cosmo Books Ltd..

B．complain about getting books he didn’t want.

C．advise readers not to order books from Cosmo Books Ltd..

D．urge for the final solution to the problem with the unwanted books.

2.The advertisement that Mr. Walker saw in the Morning Mail was for ________

A．unlimited number of Cosmo Books.

B．a set of 10 books of the works of Shakespeare.

C．fifteen pounds and fifty pence.

D．a book containing all the plays and poems of Shakespeare.

3.Mr. Walker answered the advertisement because ________

A．he wanted a set of Shakespeare’s works which was a good bargain

B．he claimed that the books were being offered at a remarkable price.

C．he had ordered the set and had been waiting for them to come for some time.

D．the set he already had was not particularly attractive.