1 . Four men who would become fathers were in a hospital waiting room while their wives were in labor (分娩). The nurse arrived and proudly said to the first man, “Congratulations, sir. You’re the father of twins!”
“What a coincidence (巧合)! I work for the Minnesota Twins Baseball teams!”
Later the nurse returned and congratulated the second father on the birth of his triplets (三胞胎).
“Wow! That’s unbelievable! I work for the 3M Company.”
An hour later, the nurse returned to congratulate the third man on the birth of his quadruplets (四胞胎). Surprised, he only could answer, “I don’t believe it! I work for the Four Seasons Hotel!”
After this, everyone turned to the fourth man who had just fainted (晕). The nurse ran fast to his side. As he slowly came to himself, they could hear him speak in a very low voice over and over, “I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven.”
1. Why were the fathers there?| A．They were waiting for their wives. |
| B．They were seeing doctors. |
| C．They were waiting for their babies to be born. |
| D．They were working at men nurses there. |
| A．He thought the nurse made a mistake. |
| B．He was very surprised at the nurse’s words. |
| C．He didn’t want to have these babies. |
| D．He should never have worked at 7-Eleven. |
| A．He was afraid of having so many babies. |
| B．He was seriously ill. |
| C．He was too excited. |
| D．He was very glad to have 7 babies. |
2 . This dictionary tells you about English words and how to use them in reading, writing and speaking English. It not only gives the meaning of words, it can also help you with spelling, word building, grammar and pronunciation.
To use your dictionary correctly, you need to understand how the dictionary works. At the front of the book, you will find some exercises to help you make the most use of your dictionary.
If you look up the word “colour”, you will find two spellings for this word. “Colour” is used in British English, while “color” is used in American English. When such a thing happens, the dictionary shows it with the word “BrE” for British English and “AmE” for American English.
The dictionary also helps you pronounce words correctly. It uses a special alphabet (特殊字母表) to show pronunciation. If you turn to the inside back face, you will see all the phonetic letters ( 音标 ) with some words to show you how they are pronounced. Just have a look this page when you’re not sure how to say a word.
The most important reason for using a dictionary is to find out the meaning of a word—its DEFINITION.
In this dictionary, the definitions have been written using only 2000 words. This means that the definitions of even the most difficult words are simply explained (简单解释) and easy to understand.
When a word has more than one meaning, read all the meanings until you find the one that correctly tells the use of the word you are looking for.
Most of the words in this dictionary can be used by people in all parts of the world.
1. This dictionary can help you with all the things except ________.| A．singing | B．grammar | C．spelling | D．pronunciation |
| A．All | B．One | C．Few | D．Some |
| A．colour | B．collar | C．color | D．corner |
| A．Two thousand | B．One thousand |
| C．One hundred | D．We don’t know |
3 . In 1998, World Cup Football Match held in France took up a new rule. Instead of the usual black and white ball, a colorful ball was used in the game. The new ball was made up of 32 pieces of three colors: red, blue and white. Interestingly enough, the French national flag happened to be in three colors, too. Besides, 32 teams took part in the coming World Cup. But early football was made up of eight pieces of leather. As time went by, more pieces of leather were used, from 12 pieces to 18 to 26 and then to 32 now.
About three million such new footballs were made. And then some players were playing the new ball in their training. The makers have warned the goalkeeper that the new ball flies in a direct line at a fast speed.
After trying the ball for some time, a footballer said that the ball was quite different from the traditional (传统的) black and white one, and that the goalkeeper would find it harder to catch them. Another footballer said that there would be more goals. “For the player on the ground, the new ball is easier to control as it flies. A good player can shoot in more goals,” he said.
1. What was the new rule in the 1998 World Cup Football Match?| A．The new ball made up of 32 pieces of three colors was used. |
| B．The flags of the teams were in three colors. |
| C．Only 32 teams took part in the game. |
| D．The white and black football was used instead. |
| A．Black and white. | B．Red and black. |
| C．Blue, red and white | D．Black, white and red. |
| A．Early footballs were made up of eight pieces of leather in two colors. |
| B．Eighteen pieces of leather were once used to make a football. |
| C．Footballers often used the black and white balls in the past. |
| D．The football made up of twelve pieces of leather was just used by 12 teams. |
| A．Football of New Kind | B．98 World Cup Football Match |
| C．Goalkeepers and Players | D．Three-color Flag of France |
4 . You will have a lot of reading to do when you are in high school. You can do more of it in less time if you learn to read rapidly.
Perhaps you have been told about some habits (习惯) which keep a person from reading fast and have been strongly asked to break those habits which you might have.
Do you still have any of these bad habits? Check yourself by answering “yes” or “no” to these questions.
(1) Do you move your lips (嘴唇) when reading silently?
(2) Do you point to words with your finger as you read?
(3) Do you move your head from side to side as you read?
(4) Do you read one word at a time?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, start at once to break the habit. If you move your lips, hold your fingers over them, or hold a piece of paper between your lips while you are reading. Then if your lips move, your will know it and can stop them.
If you point to words, hold the two sides of your book, one side with your left hand, the other side with your right hand. Then you won’t have a free finger to use in pointing while reading. If you move your head, place your chin (下巴) in one hand and hold your head still (静止不动的).
If you read no more than one or two three words at a time, you need to work very hard in learning to take in (吸收) more words at each glance (一瞥) as your eyes travel across the lines of words.
Even if you do rather fast now, you can learn to read even faster. As you probably have been told, the secret of fast reading is to take in whole groups of words at each glance. Read in thought groups and force (迫使) your eyes along the lines of words at fast as you can make them go. Anyone who practices doing these things will be able to read faster.
1. You may hold your fingers over your lips while reading so as ________.| A．to tell others to be silent |
| B．to feel whether your lips move or not |
| C．to hold a piece of paper between them |
| D．to keep yourself from talking to others |
| A．Keeping your head still. |
| B．Holding your books with your hands. |
| C．Standing up near a desk. |
| D．Using your finger to point to words. |
| A．You can read more in less time |
| B．You can write faster |
| C．You can understand better |
| D．You can read less in more time |
| A．The way of reading fast. |
| B．The importance of fast reading. |
| C．The way to get rid of bad habits. |
| D．The way to speak quickly. |
5 . The world’ s water shortage
The world is not only hungry, but it is also thirsty for water. This may seem strange to you, since nearly 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. But about 97% of that is sea water, or salt water. Man can only drink and use the other 3% — the fresh water from rivers, lakes, underground, and other sources. And we can not even use all of that. Even worse, some of it has been made dirty.
However, as things stand today, this fresh water is still enough for us. But our need for water is becoming larger and larger quickly — almost day by day. We should take steps to do with this problem now and in this way we can get away from a serious worldwide water shortage (缺少) later on.
We all have to learn how to stop wasting our valuable water. One of the first steps is to develop ways of reusing it. Today in most large cities, water is used only once and then sent out into a sewer system (下水道). From there it returns to sea or runs into underground places.
But even if every large city reused its water, we still would not have enough. All we’d have to do to make use of sea water in the world is to remove the salt. If we take these steps we’ll be in no danger of drying up.
1. The world is thirsty for water because ________.| A．man hasn’t got enough food to eat | B．we haven’t got enough fresh water |
| C．only 70% of the earth’s surface is water | D．more water is sent into sewer systems |
| A．much and salty | B．fresh and enough |
| C．dear and useful | D．clean and helpful |
(a) Make full use of the sea water.
(b) Carry salt water into lakes or rivers.
(c) Try to save the fresh water as much as possible.
(d) Do our best to use the water again.
(e) Drink and use all the water on the earth’s surface.
| A．(c) and (e) | B．(a) and (d) | C．(a), (c) and (d) | D．(b), (d) and (e) |
| A．remove the salt from sea water | B．make the water in cities clean |
| C．take water from underground | D．make the need for water smaller |
6 . One day Mrs.Wilson went shopping with Tracy and Ben. They went to the supermarket in the new shopping center.
“Why do you buy things here?” Tracy wanted to know. “Because they are cheaper here than at the corner store near our home,” Mrs.Wilson said. “Help me check the prices, please.”
The Wilsons were not rich and Mrs.Wilson was always careful with her money. She looked carefully after the prices of things. She bought lots of things in the supermarket. When they got home, the children said, ”We don’t think you saved money by going to the supermarket.”
“Of course I did,” Mrs.Wilson said. ”Everything was cheaper there.” “We know,” the children said, “but we came home by taxi because we had too much to carry. The taxi fare was more than the money that you save!”
Mrs.Wilson added everything up. Her children were right.
1. The things at the corner store were________ than those in the supermarket.| A．cheaper | B．nicer | C．more expensive | D．saved a little money |
| A．happy | B．clever | C．tired | D．lazy |
| A．never call a taxi | B．go on buying things in the supermarket |
| C．buy things near her home | D．not go shopping with her children |
| A．Cutting Price | B．Corner Store |
| C．Supermarket | D．Shopping |
7 . In recent years advances in medical technology have made it possible for people to live longer than in the past. New medicines and machines are developing every day to extend life.
However, some people, including some doctors, are not in favor of these life extending measures, and they say that people should have the right(权利) to die when they want. They say that the quality of life is as important as life itself, and that people should not be forced to go on living when conditions of life have become unbearable. They say that people should be allowed to die with dignity(尊严) and to decide when they want to die.
Others don’ t agree and say that life under any conditions is better than death and that the duty of doctors is always to extend life as long as possible. And so the battle goes on and on without a definite(明确的) answer.
1. People can live longer than in the past. It’ s because________.| A．medical technology develops | B．we have big hospitals |
| C．there are many good doctors | D．we eat better than before |
| A．the doctors | B．the surroundings |
| C．his or his family | D．the patient himself or herself |
| A．death is better than life | B．life is better than death |
| C．neither life nor death is good | D．none of the above |
