Americans love cars．They go everywhere in them．85％of people in the US go to and from work by car．And most adults have driving licenses．Why does this car culture exist?
How it started
America's love of ears started after the war(战争)when soldiers returned home from World War II to rebuild their lives．They borrowed money from the government to buy houses and cars which became the symbols of status(地位)．The more money they had, the bigger their ears were．
Making of roads
During the war, President Eisenhower noticed what good roads Germany had．He decided to build new four-lane(四车道)roads in America．He said if something happened suddenly, the two-lane roads wouldn't be able to carry all the cars that would suddenly leave the cities．Car and oil companies liked his idea and building started．
Car lovers
Not just teenagers are crazy about cars．Some Americans love their cars so much that they paint their cars beautifully I These are called Art Cars．Every April there is an activity in Houston, Texas, where they show their cars．
Pollution
Cars have polluted the environment．American President Bush refused a worldwide law that is against pollution．Many countries were angry about it．Bush said he had to think of the American economy(经济)and all the American people that make money from cars．Factories say they want to make cars that pollute less．But others say making cars that pollute less will never be as good as having fewer cars．
(1)
When did Americans begin to love cars?
[ ]
A．
Before the new two-lane roads were built ________．
B．
After World War Ⅱ．
C．
During World War Ⅱ．
D．
Before World War Ⅱ．
(2)
New four－1ane roads were built ________．
[ ]
A．
in Germany
B．
by car and oil companies
C．
in America
D．
when something suddenly happened
(3)
The underlined word“building”here means“the building of ________”．
[ ]
A．
companies
B．
soldiers' lives
C．
houses
D．
roads
(4)
What were other countries' feelings about Bush's decision?
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 cannot help you with ________．
[ ]
A．
singing
B．
grammar
C．
spelling
D．
pronunciation
(2)
________of the words in the dictionary have two spellings．
[ ]
A．
All
B．
One
C．
Few
D．
Some
(3)
The AmE spelling of the Chinese word “颜色”in this dictionary is________．
[ ]
A．
colour
B．
collar
C．
color
D．
corner
(4)
The phonetic alphabet helps you each word correctly．
[ ]
A．
understand
B．
write
C．
say
D．
know
(5)
The Chinese meaning of “definition” here is ________．
[ ]
A．
词性
B．
词条
C．
词义
D．
词库
(6)
How many words are there in this dictionary?________．
[ ]
A．
Two thousand
B．
One thousand
C．
One hundred
D．
We don’t know
(7)
The dictionary explains ________．
[ ]
A．
some of the difficult words
B．
all the words in a simple way
C．
all the easy words
D．
the words of two meanings
阅读理解
It was getting late．There was no noise in the forest．We could only hear the birds singing．And then,a bear梐 big brown bear梒ame into the forest.
The bear stopped under a tall tree．He was very hungry．He looked up into the tree．
There in the nut tree was his supper梐 supper of nice nuts．But the nuts were high up in the tree．The hungry bear could not reach them．But he knew how to get his supper．He climbed up the tree．
Up and up he climbed．He climbed onto a big branch of the tree．He sat there and then shook(摇)the branch again and again At last the branch broke．The brown bear fell down with the branch and nuts．
The bear sat up and looked around．With his big paws(爪)he picked up the nuts and ate them up．
(1)
How did the brown bear get his supper?
A.He climbed up the tree and ate the nuts there．
B. He shook the apples off a tree and ate them．
C．He picked up the nuts on the ground and ate them．
D. He fell down with the branch of the tree．Then he took the nuts and ate them．
[ ]
(2)
The bear was ________．
A.black B．brown
C．black and white D．brown and black
[ ]
(3)
The story took place ________.
A. in the morning B．at noon
C．before evening came D．at midnight
[ ]
(4)
The word "branch" in this passage means ________ in Chinese．
