1 . For years, business people in Western Europe were worried. They knew they could not compete against business from the U.S. The United States is much larger and had many more resources than any Western European countries.

Some European people realized that the European nations need to join together to help each other. If they could forget their language differences and the differences in customs, they might become strong competition against other countries.

In 1958, six of the European countries — Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Italy got together and decided to cooperate. They called their group the European Economic Community, or the Common Market. These countries agreed to join their resources together.

Within a few years, the European Economic Community had worked so well that its members were more prosperous than many other European nations. Soon, other nations began to realize the advantage of the Common Market. Today the Common Market includes most of the important countries in Western Europe. It is helping Western Europe to again take its place as a leader among the industrial nations of the world.

1. From the passage we know the U.S. is much richer than ________ in resources.

A．any other Western European countries	B．any other country in Western Europe
C．any country in Western Europe	D．every country in Europe

2. The members of the European Economic Community have developed fast because they ___.

A．share their resources and become more prosperous

B．can again take the place as a leader in the world

C．forget the differences in their languages and customs

D．have become strong competition against the U.S.

3. Which statement is true?

A．The Common Market is only a political association.

B．The Common Market is an economic and political association.

C．The Common Market is only an economic association.

D．The Common Market is neither an economic association nor a political one.

4. In order to ______ the Western European countries decided to cooperate.

A．join together to found a united country

B．help each other to smooth away the differences in customs

C．work and act together for common purpose

D．work together and fight against the U.S.

2 . When I stepped out the plane from Miami into Charlotte, North Carolina, airport for a connecting flight home, I immediately knew something was wrong. Lots of desperate people crowded the terminal. I quickly learned that flights headed to the Northeast were called off because of a storm. The earliest they could get us out of Charlotte was Tuesday. It was Friday. A gate agent stood on the counter and shouted, “Don’t ask us for help! We cannot help you!”

I joined a crowd that ran from terminal to terminal in search of a flight out. Eventually, I found six strangers willing to rent a van with me. We drove through the night to Washington, where I took a train the rest of the way to Providence.

The real problem, of course, is that incidents like this happen every day, to everyone who flies, more and more often. It really gets to me, though, because for eight years I was on the other side, as a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines(TWA).

I know the days are gone when attendants could be written up if we did not put the lines napkins with the TWA logo in the lower right-hand corner of the first-class diners’ trays. As are the days when there were three dinner options on flights from Boston to Los Angeles in economy class. When, once, stuck on a tarmac (机场停机坪) in Newark for four hours, a planeload of passengers got McDonald’s hamburgers and fries by thoughtfulness of the airline.

I have experienced the decline of service along with the rest of the flying public. But I believe everything will change little by little, because I remember the days when to fly was to soar (翱翔). The airlines, and their employees, took pride in how their passengers were treated. And I think the days are sure to come back one day in the near future.

1. Many people crowded the terminal because ________.

A．they were ready to board on the planes

B．something was wrong with the terminal

C．the flights to the Northeast were canceled

D．the gate agent wouldn’t help the passengers

2. The writer got to Providence ________ at last.

A．by air

B．by van

C．by train

D．by underground

3. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A．Incidents happened to those who fly quite often.

B．The writer used to be a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines.

C．Even a small mistake might cause complaints from passengers in the past.

D．McDonald’s hamburgers and fries were among regular dinner options.

4. What can be implied from the passage?

A．The writer lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.

B．The writer thought the service was not as good as it used to be.

C．The writer with other passengers waited to be picked up patiently.

D．Passengers would feel proud of how they were treated on the plane.