1 . I was driving my newly acquired motorcycle across the vastness of North Dakota when all of the sudden it froze up on the road. I would later be told the belt had slipped and this caused one of the pistons(活塞) to crack a cylinder (气缸) head, or something like that.
Anyway, I sat on the side of the road for what seemed like hours. I even pretended to have been in an accident, which didn't help. Finally, a young man pulled over and offered me a ride, but given that he already had two motorcycles in the back of his truck, he could only take me.
He drove me to the next town, where I asked to be dropped off. Rather than drop me off, he waited while I asked around if anyone could help me to pick up my motorcycle. One elderly gentleman was working and said that I could use his pickup! Can you imagine that a stranger gave me the keys to his pickup. It was quite an experience, I must say. So, as I drove back 20 miles to get my motorcycle, the gentleman who first stopped to help me followed me. We both put the motorcycle in the back of the truck, and then I followed him another 50 miles or so and we both unloaded the motorcycle at his place. Then, he followed me back to the small town so I could return the man's truck. I didn't have much cash on me, maybe $40, but I gave it to the man for the use of his truck.
Two strangers helped rescue me from spending the night on the side of the road in ND. I don't recall their names, but when I close my eyes I can see their faces as if it were yesterday. Thank you, strangers. You may be reading this right now.
1. What happened to the author’s motorbike?| A．It was too old to drive | B．It suddenly broke down |
| C．It was left by the road forever | D．It was picked up by another motorcyclist |
| A．He was too lazy. | B．He didn’t want to help him. |
| C．His truck was already full. | D．He was busy working. |
① My motorbike froze up on the road. ② I gave the ole gentleman $40.
③ The young man drove me to ask for help. ④ We put the motorcycle in the pickup.
| A．①②③④ | B．④③②① | C．①③④② | D．②④③① |
| A．a heartbroken experience in North America |
| B．the author was rescued on the road in North Dakota |
| C．faces of strangers are always there |
| D．driving motorcycle in North Dakota is too bad |
| A．hateful | B．indifferent(漠不关心的) | C．unclear | D．thankful |
On Thanksgiving weekend, the Heffelmire family gathered for a meal at their home. After dinner, the family went down to the finished basement to relax except Charlotte’s father, Eric, who was in the garage to fix his truck．
Around 8 p.m., Charlotte decided to check on her dad. She walked through the kitchen. When she opened the side door to the garage, black smoke rose up into the kitchen. She could barely make out her father lying on his back, trapped under the truck. He’d removed the front passenger-side tyre and raised the truck on a jack（千斤顶）. The truck had slipped off the jack, and now the whole weight of the wheel was on his chest and shoulders．
Charlotte ran to the front of the truck and struggled to lift it. Eric was still conscious, and he yelled, “You got it! One more try!” She tried again and was able to tip the truck backward just enough for her to pull her dad by the shirt with both hands from under the truck．
She dragged him across the garage and 20 feet down the driveway. Then she ran back to the garage, which had burst into flames. “I was afraid the car was going to explode,” says Charlotte, so she climbed into the truck, which faced forward, turned the key, and pressed the gas pedal（油门）. The car slowly rolled out, the metal wheel scratching loudly against the concrete．
Safely on the driveway, Charlotte stopped the truck and ran back to the basement. “There’s a fire! Everybody get out!” she yelled as she picked up her three-month-old niece and ran out. Outside, she handed the baby to her mom, and then ran around to the burning garage. She picked up a garden hose（水管）and sprayed the fire while calling 911．
A few minutes later, firefighters and an ambulance arrived. Charlotte was treated for second-degree burns on both her feet and face. Her dad had injuries on his chest and shoulders, as well as minor burns on his face. The garage and the house were damaged but the family survived．
The Heffelmires are staying in an apartment while their house is rebuilt. “Charlotte is a remarkable kid,” says her dad. Charlotte, however, simply says, “ I was saving my family and my house. I wasn’t going to let my dad die.”
1. Eric got trapped because_________| A．the truck slipped off the jack. |
| B．the wheel fell off the truck. |
| C．the front tyre was removed. |
| D．the kitchen was on fire. |
a. Charlotte called the firefighters．
b. Charlotte saved Eric from under the truck．
c. Charlotte drove the truck out of the garage．
d. Charlotte warned the family to leave the house．
| A．b, c, a, d | B．a, b, d, c |
| C．b, c, d, a | D．a, c, b, d |
| A．the house was not fit to live in. |
| B．the truck exploded. |
| C．the three-month-old baby was injured. |
| D．Charlotte was burned on her chest and shoulders. |
| A．proud and clear-headed. |
| B．calm and quick-minded. |
| C．modest and easy-going. |
| D．independent and self-centered. |
3 . One day, a man saw an old lady sitting inside her car at the side of the road. Though it was dark, he could see she needed help. So he stopped his car and walked towards her. The old lady was worried, even though she noticed the smile on his face. Was he going to hurt her?“I’11 help you start your car, madam. By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson,”he said.
While Anderson was fitting a spare tire(备胎)to her car, the lady began to talk to him. She thanked him much for coming to help.
Anderson just smiled as he put his tools away. The lady asked how much she should pay him. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give them the help they needed. He waited until she started her car and drove off.
A few miles down the road, the lady saw a small restaurant. She went in and a waitress came over with a sweet smile. The old lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕的), but she never let the pains and aches change her smile when she served her
The lady finished her meal and paid with a hundred-dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change, but the old lady was gone when the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she found there was a note on the napkin(餐巾), “You don’t need to give me anything back. Somebody once helped me out the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do—do not let this chain(链子)of love end with you.”
Under the napkin were four more$ 100 bills．
1. Why did Anderson tell his name to the old lady?| A．Because he wanted to check if the lady knew him． |
| B．Because he hoped that may help relax the lady． |
| C．Because he thought he could be paid back one day． |
| D．Because he wanted to leave his name for doing good things． |
| A．The old lady and Anderson． | B．The people who need help． |
| C．The old lady and the waitress． | D．The people who help others． |
①Thankful②Happy③Worried④Helpless⑤Willing and ready to help
| A．④③①⑤② | B．④①③②⑤ |
| C．③②①⑤④ | D．③①④⑤② |
| A．The meal cost the old lady 400 dollars． |
| B．Anderson must be helped by someone before． |
| C．The old lady was able to fit a spare tire herself． |
| D．The waitress will probably help someone later． |
| A．The Help of Strangers | B．The Power of Smile |
| C．The Chain of Love | D．The Bill of Kindness |
4 . In many countries of the world, people can confidently tell you the meaning of their town or city, but most people who live in Manchester, Oxford or Birmingham would not be able to explain what the name of their city means. The name of every British town and city, however, has a long history.
Two thousand years ago, most people living in Britain were Celts. Even the word “Britain” is Celtic. Then the Romans arrived and built camps which became cities called “castra”. This is why there are so many place names in England which end in “-chester” or “-caster” – Manchester, for example.
The Romans never reached Wales or Scotland, and many place names there are Celtic (凯尔特语的). For example, Welsh place names that begin with “Llan” come from the Celtic word for church.
After the Romans left Britain, it was attacked by tribes (部落) called the Anglo-Saxons who were from the area of Europe that is now Germany and Holland. Without the Roman army, it was impossible to protect the country from these people. The names of their villages often ended in “-ham” or “-ton”. Some got their name from the leader of the village, so Birmingham, for example, means “Beormund’s village”.
The Anglo-Saxons were farmers and the landscape was very important to them, so we have villages called Upton (“village on a hill” – a good place to build a village) and Moreton (“village by a lake”, where floods could make life tough). Place names that end in “-ford” (a place where you could cross a river) also describe the location of Anglo-Saxon villages.
Twelve hundred years ago, the Vikings came to England from Scandinavia. They traded with the Anglo-Saxons but lived in their own villages. These often ended in “-by” or “-thorpe”. The name “Kirkby” means “a village with a church” and Scunthorpe was the village of a man called Skuma.
Finally, in 1066, England became Norman – the Normans gave us the place name “grange”, which means farm.
And how about London? Experts cannot agree. The Romans called the city Londinium, but they were not the first inhabitants (居民). People once believed that the United Kingdom’s capital city got its name from the castle (城堡) of a King called Lud, but this is very unlikely. Our best guess today is that the name comes from a Celtic word meaning a fastflowing river. Like a number of British place names, its history is lost in time.
1. The origin of British place names is unfamiliar to many local people because of ______.| A．the death of ancient languages | B．their lack of interest in the names |
| C．the long lost history of the names | D．the frequent changes to the names |
| A．beside a river | B．near a castle |
| C．on a hill | D．with a church |
| A．The Celts — The Romans — The Vikings — The Normans — The Anglo Saxons |
| B．The Celts — The Romans — The Anglo Saxons — The Vikings — The Normans |
| C．The Romans — The Celts — The Vikings — The Anglo Saxons — The Normans |
| D．The Romans — The Anglo Saxons — The Celts — The Normans — The Vikings |
| A．It is short for Londinium. | B．It’s from the term for a river. |
| C．It is puzzling and hard to confirm. | D．It comes from the castle of a King. |
5 . What I am writing is in English.You can read and understand because you are English language learners. But when you say people in England or the English people speak English, you would be wrong, or at least inaccurate in your remark. Ah yes, you might correct yourself, the Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders speak English too. That is true, but apart from that, what you really have in mind, or should say is people in Britain or the British speak English.
The words England and English are perhaps the two most misused words in the English language. The English themselves一I beg your pardon, I am making the same mistake! The British themselves often say England and English when they really mean Britain and British. The Chinese words“英国”is even more misused than not because the term “不列颠” is hardly ever used. What's the difference, you may ask. To understand the question we have to know something about the history of the country and its people.
Before there was a country there were the people. And before there were people, there was land. So let us start off from here and take the land first.
We all know that Britain(though we often say England by force of habit) is an island country separated from the European continent by the English Channel.
Actually there are two main islands. The larger one is called Britain, or Great Britain, and the smaller one is called Ireland, and these two, together with many small islands make up what is called the British Isles.
The British is a geographical term. It is not the name of any country. At present it is made up of two countries, the larger of which is the one we very often inaccurately call England. The full official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but people call it Britain or Great Britain for that. It consists of England, Scotland, Wales and a small part(about one-sixth) of Ireland, then or the astern part.
People still tend to call Britain England not only because England is the largest in area and the most populous but mostly because England is the strongest and also the most influential country in every respect before it absorbed the other three countries(The whole of Ireland was apart of the United Kingdom at one time) . Call it national chauvinism if you like, but people in England call Britain England out of habit rather than conscious sense of superiority, though it annoys the Welsh and especially the Scots who are proud of their separate national tradition.
1. According to the passage the correct order of the following terms is______.| A．land, people, country | B．land, country, people |
| C．people, land, country | D．country, people, land |
| A．one country | B．two countries |
| C．two and a half countries | D．three countries |
| A．people in England do so out of habit. |
| B．England is the nearest to the European continent. |
| C．England is the largest in area and has the largest population. |
| D．England is the strongest and also the most influential in every respect. |
| A．explain the geographical state of Britain |
| B．express his heartfelt affection for English |
| C．explain a common misunderstanding many may share |
| D．show the advantages of England over the other three countries |
6 . Kincaid looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out, shifted gears, and moved slowly down the alley under hazy sun. Through the streets of Bellingham he went, heading south on Washington 11, running along the coast of Puget Sound for a few miles, then following the highway as it swung east a little before meeting U.S Route 20.
Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. He liked this country and felt unpressed stopping now and then to make notes about interesting possibilities for future expeditions or to shoot what he called “memory snapshots.” The purpose of these causal photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously. In later afternoon he turned north at Spokane, picking up U.S. Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to Duluth, Minnesota.
He wished for the thousandth time in his life that he had a dog, a golden retriever, maybe ,for travels like this and to keep him company at home. But he was frequently away; overseas much of the time and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway. In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard fieldwork. “I must get a dog then.” He said to himself.
Drives like this always put him into a sentimental mood. The dog was part of it. Robert Kincaid was alone as it’s possible to be—an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends.
He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty-two now, that would make her just under forty. Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a folksinger. She knew all of the Weavers’ songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouse of Seattle. When he was home in the old days, he drove her to the shows and sat in the audience while she sang.
His long absences—two or three months sometimes—were hard on the marriage. He knew that. She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and both of them had a vague sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn’t when he came from photographing a story in Iceland and she was gone. The note read, “Robert, it didn’t work out. I left you the Harmony guitar. Stay in touch.”
He didn’t stay in touch. Neither did she. He signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom.
1. Which route is the right one taken by Kincaid?| A．Bellingham—Washington 11—Puget Sound—U.S Route 20—U.S Route 2—Duluth |
| B．U.S. Route 2—Bellingham—Washington 11—Puget Sound—U.S Route 20—Duluth |
| C．U.S. Route 2—U.S Route 20—Duluth –Bellingham—Washington 11 |
| D．Bellingham—Washington 11—U.S. Route 2—U.S Route 20—Duluth |
| A．Kincaid’s parents were dead and he only kept in touch with some distant relatives. |
| B．Kincaid would have had a dog if he hadn’t been away from home too much. |
| C．Kincaid used to have a golden retriever. |
| D．Kincaid needed a dog in doing his hard fieldwork. |
| A．To write “memory snapshots” |
| B．To remind himself of places he might want to visit again. |
| C．To avoid forgetting the way back. |
| D．To shoot beautiful scenery along the road. |
| A．She died after five years of marriage. |
| B．She was older than Kincaid. |
| C．She could sing very well and earned big money. |
| D．She was not a professional pop singer. |
| A．Marian knew what would happen before she married Kincaid. |
| B．Kincaid thought his absence would be a problem when he married Marian. |
| C．It turned out that Marian could not stand Kincaid’s absence and left him. |
| D．After Marian left him, they still kept in touch with each other. |
7 . A woman whose sports car was stolen with her dog in it put up notices all over the area that made it clear getting back her pet was more important than her car.
“Whoever did this can keep my car. Please let Benjerman come home,” the notice said.
It is not known whether the thief showed any pity, but almost 30 hours after the 1 p.m. theft Friday, Kimberly Atkins of Dover and Benjerman, a 12-year-old black retriever(猎犬), were reunited after police located them in Barrington.
“He’s hungry, he’s dirty, but he’s very happy to be home,” Atkins said.
The car was found at about 5 p.m. Saturday off Route 125 in a swampy area frequented by off-the-road cars and dirt bikes. However, the police couldn’t control Benjerman, and they had to call Atkins to come and get him.
Atkins said the thief cared for Benjerman a little by providing him with some dry cat food. She believed Benjerman ended up drinking some muddy water in the area.
She said they have been together for nearly 11 years after she took him hack from a society shelter in Dallas, Texas.
Before Benjerman was found, Atkins and several friends put up notices all over the city and in Somersworth. They also contacted animal shelters throughout southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The notice stated there was a reward, and also that the dog needed medication. Any caller could remain anonymous(匿名的).
Atkins had parked the car outside a hardware store with the keys inside and gone in to rent a carpet cleaner.
“It was 10 minutes and I came out and my car was gone along with Benjerman in broad daylight,” Atkins said.
The car thief threw Atkins’ wallet and other personal items out of the car before escaping from the scene.
1. What could be the best title for the passage?| A．A car with a dog was stolen |
| B．Lucky dog was returned to his owner |
| C．Stealing cars: a most important social problem |
| D．Woman wants dog back more than stolen car |
a. Notices were put up saying there was a reward.
b. Atkins saw Benjerman again.
c. Police found Atkins’ car.
d. Atkins took Benjerman back from a society shelter.
e. Atkins hired a carpet cleaner in a hardware store.
| A．d, e, a, b, c | B．e, a, c, d, b |
| C．e, a, d, b, c | D．d, e, a, c, b |
| A．the dog was treated extremely badly by the thief |
| B．car stolen accidents happen frequently nowadays |
| C．the dog was found because of the reward |
| D．the thief stole the car easily |
8 . Imagine having a ear made out of an apple. It seems like a crazy idea from a horror movie. But it could happen in the near future.
Canadian biophysicist Andrew Pelling used an apple to grow a human ear. He think fruit and vegetables can be used to cheaply repair human body parts in the future.
Scientists have been trying to grow organs(器官)in labs to replace our old ones. But it is a hard job. For example, liver cells(肝细胞) can grow in a lab, but he cells still need things like blood vessels(血管) to actual work. These things have to grow inside a scaffold(支架).
In the past, scientists have used man-made materials, animals parts and even dead people as scaffolds. But that has proved to be difficult and expensive.
Pelling and his team, however, found the apple to be a cheap and easy-to-use scaffold.
They first cut an apple into the shape of an ear. Then they used a special way to take out the apple make it a scaffold. The team then added human cells to the apple, and watched it grow.
“You can implant these scaffolds into the body, and the body will send in cells and a blood supply and actually keep these things alive.” Pelling said during a Ted Talk speech.
The team put the apple scaffold inside a living mouse and the mouse’s cells slowly took over the pieces of apple.
Now Pelling is thinking of other fruit, plants or vegetables to use.
He says that the shape of flower petals could be perfect for repairing skin And asparagus(芦笋)could fix a broken spine(脊柱).
Now, Pelling and his team are trying hard to put these crazy ideas into reality.
1. Pelling’s idea of man-made ear seems crazy because he use as scaffolds.| A．animal parts | B．dead people |
| C．man-made materials | D．ordinary apples |
| A．pick | B．put |
| C．produce | D．protect |
a. put the apple scaffold inside a mouse
b. add human cells to the apple scaffold
c. cut an apple into the shape of an ear
d. make the apple ear a scaffold
e. take out the apple’s cells in a special way
| A．a-b-c-d-e | B．b-c-d-a-e |
| C．c-e-d-b-a | D．c-d-a-e-b |
| A．to make human ears | B．to repair burnt skin |
| C．to fix a broken spine | D．to make body parts |
