Chris Jones recently completed a very unusual journey. Our reporter Mary Owen met him at his home in the south of London and be told her all about the trip.

Reporter: What gave you the idea to make a trip around India on an elephant, Chris?

Chris: Well, it all started the idea two years ago when I was planning a trip to India. I visited a photo exhibition of elephants and I realized that the only enjoyable way to make a trip around India was on an elephant.

Reporter: What did you do next?

Chris: I flew to New Delhi and started looking for an elephant, I needed an elephant trained to carry people. I didn’t know anything about elephants, so I asked an expert(专家) for help. He taught me how to ride an elephant. He also helped me find an elephant.

Reporter: How long did it take to find a suitable elephant?

Chris: Not too long. I bought a female elephant called Tara for about 6, 000 dollars.

Reporter: Can you tell me about the journey?

Chris: Tara and I set off from New Delhi a week later. We were going to Sonepur in northern India. There is a big elephant market there and I could sell Tara easily. And what a ride! Elephants can travel at about 6 miles an hour and Sonepur is more than 1, 200 km away. It took us 64 days to complete the journey.

Reporter: Did you have any problems on your journey?

Chris: Yes, a few. But nothing serious. On the third day, Tara hurt her foot. Btu that got better quickly. Also, there was a lot of heavy rain during the first week and we got very wet!

Reporter: What happened when you reached Sonepur?

Chris: My plan was to sell Tara. But I was very fond of her. I couldn’t take her back to Britain and I didn’t want to sell her at the market. I happened to meet some people who wanted an elephant for their national park in southern India. I knew that Tara would be safe with them, so I gave her to them. I was very sad to say goodbye.

1.Chris got the idea to make a trip around India on an elephant from __________.

A．a visit to a zoo

B．an elephant expert from India

C．the photos of elephant

D．an old friend who lived in India

2.The elephant expert told Chris __________.

A．when to buy an elephant

B．how to feed an elephant

C．where to sell his elephant

D．how to ride an elephant

3.Chris decided to go to Sonepur because __________.

A．it is a very interesting place

B．he would be able to sell Tara there easily

C．elephants cannot be sold anywhere else

D．it would take only a short time to get there

4.When Chris arrived at the market in Sonepur, __________.

A．he realized that he did not really want to sell Tara

B．he visited some shopkeepers

C．he sold Tara to a national park

D．he decided to take Tara home with him

 

Last Sunday I saw the hardest storm in years. It came suddenly and went on for more than three hours. After lunch, I went into my room to have a rest. The air was hot, and all was quiet.
Then the strong wind started blowing into my room. Pieces of paper on my desk flew high into the air and some flew out of the open window. As I ran out to catch them, big drops of rain began to fall.
When I came back into the house, it was raining harder. I tried hard to close the window. Then I heard a loud crashing（撞击）sound from the back of the house. I ran out of my room to find out what it was—a big tree had fallen down and broken the top of the back room.
【小题1】There was a heavy storm_____ last Sunday.

A．at the afternoon	B．in the morning
C．in the evening	D．during the lunch-time

【小题2】 It was very quiet outside because____.

A．the weather was very cool	B．it was rainy
C．the weather was very hot	D．there was a lot of thunders

【小题3】 The paper flew out of the window because of ____.

A．the heavy rain	B．the hot sun
C．the strong wind	D．the tall tree

【小题4】The storm lasted_____.

A．more than four hours	B．more than three hours
C．from one to six o’clock	D．from two to five o’clock

【小题5】What happened when I closed the window?

A．The rain became harder.

B．I was hurt by a big tree.

C．I was very scared of the loud sound.

D．A big tree fell down and broke the house.

李雷不知道该如何提高自己的英语听力水平，于是他在校园BBS上留言求助，有四位同学跟帖回答了他的问题。

LiLei: Hi, everyboby. I’m Jimmy. I like English very much, but I really need some advice on listening . Who can help me?

Jenny:  Don’t get nervous before you start to listen to something. You need to relax. This will help.

Dr.Smith:The first sentence tells a lot the whole passage.for example,if, at the beginning , you hear “Welcome back BBC news---”, you know you will hear a piece of news, not a children’s story, or a science report.

Shirley: When you’re listening, try to do some thinking. For example, you can think of the following questions: What happened? When, Where and how? What was the result (结果)and what did the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may understand the passage better.

Josh:  It’s important for you to remember some important facts. for example, if the passage is a science report , you should try to remember its results and how the scientists got them.

请根据以上内容完成下面任务：以下A-D是针对上述解答内容的提炼，请将它们分别与对应的解答人配对：

A.listen to important facts.        B.listen carefully to the first sentence.

C.Relax yourself.               D.Think when you’re listening.

1.Jenny:       

2.Dr.Smith:          

3.Shirley:           

4.Josh:                

请您也为李雷提供一条提高英语听力水平的建议（一句话）：

5.                                                           

 

Molly Daniels opened the door so hard that the door nearly broke it. Then she looked through the window at her neighbor across the yard. “ She is in my garden again. Those are my strawberries, not hers. Maybe I should call the police.”
Her friend, Doris, was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. “You want to call the police because she picks your strawberries?” she asked.
“Of course,” Molly answered angrily. “What would you do if your neighbor walked into your yard without your permission and picked your strawberries?”
“I would say, better here the bees.”
“The bees don’t take my strawberries.”
“But the birds do,” Doris continued. “That old lady only picks a few strawberries every year, and the only ones she picks are those you leave to the birds. Why don’t you pick some of your good strawberries and give them to her?”
“Are you crazy? What are you thinking?’
“Don’t you remember what happened when you were in hospital last year? She went to see you and gave you a pot full of chicken soup. When you give her the strawberries you can tell her that you still remember that.”
Molly was shocked. She had almost forgotten that little kindness because she was too angry. Then she picked a basket of good strawberries and went out. Through the window, Doris could see that the anger on Molly’s face changed into a bright smile.
【小题1】Molly opened the door very hard because _____

A．she was very angry

B．she was very happy

C．she didn’t like eating strawberries

D．Doris wasn’t friendly

【小题2】The underline word “permission” in the passage means “_____” in Chinese.

A．感谢

B．许可

C．命令

D．警告

【小题3】Which sentence is similar to the sentence “I would say, better here than the bees.”?

A．It’s better to let the neighbor pick the strawberries than to give them to the bees.

B．The bees are better than the neighbor.

C．The bees like strawberries more than the neighbor does.

D．The neighbor is good at picking strawberries.

【小题4】From the last paragraph, we can infer(推断)what Molly did at last with a basket of good strawberries.

A．She called the police to drive the neighbor away.

B．She happily gave a basket of good strawberries to the neighbor.

C．She ate up the strawberries herself.

D．She let the birds take her strawberries.

Here are some tips on listening. We hope it can help you in one way or another.

●Relax yourself.

Before you start to listen to something, You need to relax.

1                                           This will help you with your listening.

●Listen carefully to the first sentence.

2                                          For example, if eyou hear“Many shops in many parts of China have decided to take away all kinds of Japanese goods off their shelves, but some people say it’s not a good idea. Our reporter says…”,you know you will hear a piece of news, not a children’s story or a science report.

●Think when you’re listening.

3                                           For example, you can think of the following questions: What happened? When , where and how? What was the result and what does the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may undersrand the passage better.

●Listen for important facts.

4                                             For example, if the passage is a science report, you should try to remember its findings , and how the scientists got their results. 

●Don’t think about one or two words for too long.

You may hear some words that you don’t know. But don’t spend too much time on them.

5                                          But you can remember some words or sentences that you think are important, and you can use them when you’re answering the questions.

	A. The first sentence tells a lot about the whole passage. B. It’s important for you to remember some important facts. C. Don’t get nervous or excited. D. Very often, you’ll find out what they mean later when you go on with    the listening. E. When you’re listening, try to do some thinking.