1 . The most welcome sight on a cold, wet winter night in London is the familiar shape of a London taxi cab approaching with its yellow “for hire” sign shining brightly. That shows it is ready to pick you up. Travelling by taxi in London is not just a way of going from one place to another. It is an experience to be enjoyed and remembered.
The main reason for this is the drivers, who are called "cabbies." Many of them are true Cockneys. This means they were born in the heart of London and speak their own special dialect(方言) of English. All of them know every street and famous building in the city, and all of them love to talk. A simple twenty-minute Journey across town can become very interesting. You may have a discussion about the government and its leaders or a friendly talk about the driver’s Aunty Nellie! One thing is for sure, it will never be boring. Cabbies know all the latest news about film stars, the Royal Family, government leaders, and popular singers or actors and actresses.
They also know the best places to eat, shop and relax. And they can take you straight to any large hotel, department store, theatre or museum. They know the shortest way possible without even looking at a map, because everyone who wants to become a taxi driver must pass a very difficult examination in order to get a license to drive a taxi. The exam is called “The Knowledge.” It is a written test, and in it drivers are asked the shortest way from one place to another. They must take into account the time of day—in rush hour, a longer route(路线) may be quicker—and describe the best way. Moreover they must never forget the one-way streets!
1. From what can we tell that someone is a Cockney?| A．Their interest. | B．Their manners. | C．Their speech. | D．Their appearance. |
| A．Passengers are full of curiosity. |
| B．Cabbies’ topics are wide-ranging. |
| C．Aunty Nellie is popular in London. |
| D．Londoners are friendly to each other. |
| A．To qualify one to drive a taxi. | B．To assess one’s driving skills. |
| C．To test drivers’ ability to write. | D．To check taxi drivers memory. |
2 . In the depths of the French Guianese rainforest, there still remain unusual groups of indigenous(土著的) people. Surprisingly, these people live largely by their own laws and their own social customs. And yet, people in this area are in fact French citizens because it has been a colony of the French Republic since 1946. In theory, they should live by the French law. However, their remote locations mean that the French law is often ignored or unknown, thus making them into an interesting area of “lawlessness” in the world.
The lives of these people have finally been recorded thanks to the effects of a Frenchman from Paris called Gin. Gin spent five months in early 2015 exploring the most remote corners of this area, which sits on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, with half its population of only 250,000 living in its capital, Cayenne.
“I have a special love for the French Guianese people. I have worked there on and off for almost ten years,” says Gin. “I’ve been able to keep firm friendships with them. Thus I have been allowed to gain access to their living environment. I don’t see it as a lawless land. But rather I see it as an area of freedom.”
“I wanted to show the audience a photographic record touching upon the uncivilized life,” continues Gin. “I prefer to work in black and white, which allows me to show different specific worlds more clearly.”
His black-and-white pictures present a world almost lost in time. These pictures show people seemingly pushed into a world that they were unprepared for. These local citizens now have to balance their traditional self-supporting hunting lifestyle with the lifestyle offered by the modern French Republic,which brings with it not only necessary state welfare, but also alcoholism, betrayal and even suicide.
1. Why does the author feel surprised about the indigenous people in French Guiana?| A．They seldom follow the French law. |
| B．They often ignore the Cuianese law. |
| C．They are separated the modern world. |
| D．They are both Cuianese and French citizens. |
| A．a tour guide | B．a geographer |
| C．a film director | D．a photographer |
| A．Cautious. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Uninterested | D．Apprecitive. |
| A．The modera Frrnch lifestyle. | B．The self-supporting hunting. |
| C．The uncivilized world. | D．The French Republic. |
