Last week, the manager of an old jeweler's shop received a letter marked "personal". As he was very busy, the letter lay on his desk till teatime. When he opened it, a $100 note fell. out onto his desk. With the note was a short letter. This is what it said:

    Dear sir,

    I got engaged (订婚的) forty years ago. Unfortunately at that time there was a lot of unemployment and I lost my job. I was out of work for about six months before I got another one. Of course I was very short of money.

I came to your shop to buy a wedding ring one day. The assistant brought some rings for me to have a look, later she was called away, and then I put one of the rings into my pocket. When she came back, I said I did not know the size of my girlfriend's finger.

So I left the shop without paying for the ring. My wife died a month ago, and the fact that I never paid for her ring has been on my conscience

 (让我良心不安) all these years. I always feel guilty about that. At that time the ring cost $ 20, and I think that is about five times- $100 at today's price. Now I am sending you that amount.

    Yours truly,

    A customer

    After reading the letter, the manager said, "Well, well, well, life is full of surprise!"

1.The ring that the customer put into his pocket was_______ at that time.

A. $20                      B. $50             C. $100    D. $400

2.The underlined word "unemployment" means "_______" in Chinese.

A. 辞职                   B. 就业                   C. 悲伤          D. 失业

3.How long has the customer's wife been dead?

A. A week.    B. A month.             C. A year.    D. Two months.

4.Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The manager opened the letter by himself.

B. The manager thought life was full of surprise.

C. When the customer's wife knew the fact, she was impatient.

D. The customer always feels sad for not paying for the ring years ago.

 

Good morning. The program today is about music. The word “music” comes from the Greek word “muse”. The Muses are the goddesses of the arts. The Music is only one of the arts. It is like the spoken language, but it uses sounds. Today’s program brings together music from different concerts of the world. Who invented music? Who sang the first song? No one knows exactly the answers to these questions. But we know that music plays an important part in almost everyone’s life. Babies and young children love to hear people singing to them. When they are a little older, they like to sing the songs they have heard. When children go to school, their world of music grows. In the middle grades, students take music lessons. When they reach high school, they become interested in listening to pop music. 

The records we have chosen for you today are from American country music, Indian music, pop music and so on. Music has meaning for everyone. It can make people happy or it can make them sad. In this program we shall study the language of music. We shall be trying to find out more about how music works. We shall try to find out how music says what people feel.

Now, here comes the music today , I shall explain why they are all good music.

1.The first paragraph is mainly about the             .

A.styles of music      B.history of music     C.taste of music      D.knowledge of music

2.Which is NOT the purpose of this music program?

A.To study the language of music .            B.To learn more about the music.

C.To give a complete background to the music.   D.To give people some music to listen to.

3.The speaker is probably        

A.a host            B.a singer           C.a dancer          D.a teacher

 

 

Born into a farmer’s family, life was not easy when I was a kid. We were so poor that we often did not know where our next meal was coming from. I had to sell cabbages at the marketplace to support my family.

A storyteller once came to the marketplace, and I went to listen to him. My mother was unhappy with me for forgetting my job. But that night, while she was making clothes for us under the weak light of an oil lamp, I couldn't help retelling stories I'd heard that day. She listened impatiently at first, since in her eyes professional(职业的) storytellers were smooth-talking men—nothing good ever came out of their mouths. But slowly she was attracted by my retold stories, and from that day on, she never gave me any task on market days, unspoken agreement to enjoy new stories. As a repayment(回报)for Mother's kindness and a way to show off my memory, I'd retell the stories for her in lively detail. Soon, she wasn't the only member of my audience, which later included my elder sisters, my aunts, even my stubborn grandmother.

I knew she was worried about me. Talkative kids are not well thought of in our village, for they can bring trouble to themselves and to their families when they talk too much. Mother often reminded me not to talk so much, wanting me to be a silent and modest teenager. However, my natural desire(渴望)to talk never went away, and that is what makes my name – Mo Yan, which means ‘no speaking’. This strong wish to talk also improved my ability to express myself, which is important for writers who are also considered as storytellers.

1.Mo Yan lived a/an ________ life when he was young.

A.hard             B.colourful          C.easy             D.rich

2.From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________

A.little Mo Yan was interested in selling vegetables

B.his mother was attracted by the retold story at first

C.his mother didn’t let him listen to the new stories again

D.little Mo Yan had quite a good memory

3.Why did his mother dislike the professional storytellers?

A.Because she thought they never said anything good.

B.Because she thought they couldn’t make much money.

C.Because she thought they would affect Mo Yan’s schoolwork.

D.Because she thought most people didn’t like listening to stories.

4.In Mo Yan’s opinion, a writer should be a ________ child when they were young.

A.silent             B.modest           C.talkative          D.trouble-making

5.Which is the best title(标题)of the passage?

A.My Unlucky Childhood                   B.A Storyteller’s Childhood

C.My Kind Grandmother                    D.More talking leads to success

 

People have used pigeons to carry messages to one another for hundreds of years. In the 12th century, the royal palaces of Iraq and Syria included pigeon houses so the kings could be kept informed of their generals’ victories and defeats on the battlefield. In fact, pigeons were a common way to send messages right up through World War II.

Many countries, such as the United States, England, France, Germany, and Italy, in both World War I and World War II, used carrier pigeons. Not only were the birds often the fastest, most reliable way to send messages, they could also be used to reach soldiers far behind enemy lines, where radios and field telephone lines were useless. Since they could easily be released (释放) from airplanes or ships, every branch of the armed services used the birds. In World War II, more than 3,000 soldiers and 150 officers were needed to care for and train the tens of thousands of birds in the U.S. Pigeon Service.

Carrying messages could be a dangerous job. Some pigeons performed with such bravery that they became famous and were even awarded medals, such as England’s Dicken Medal of Gallantry. In a few cases, pigeons even became prisoners of war. In 1918 American forces captured a pigeon named Kaiser, which had been trained to fly special missions for Germany during battle. He was taken to America, where he lived to the age of 32. The most famous pigeon of all may have been Cher Ami. Stationed in France during World War I, he carried twelve important messages for American forces. On his last mission, though wounded, he carried a message that saved the lives of 194 American soldiers. For his extraordinary service, he was awarded the French “Croix de Guerre.”

Carrier pigeons are a slightly different breed (品种) from the kind of pigeons you see on city streets. They are much thinner and taller, with longer legs. Many people find carrier pigeons ugly because of their big wattle, a bent buildup of skin on the beak(鸟嘴); however, people who raise pigeons often enjoy this strange appearance and consider carriers the best of their breed.

Today, modern communication methods can carry information from one place to another hundreds of times faster than a pigeon could do. However, few people would argue with the fact that carrier pigeons—especially those that served in the military—have earned their place in history. Stories about brave pigeons such as Cher Ami, President Wilson, and Colonel’s Lady have the power to inspire us as no fax machine or high-speed Internet connection could ever do.

1.Many countries used carrier pigeons in the war because_______.

A.they could be believed in

B.they were easily raised

C.they could reach the enemy lines

D.they could hardly be found by airplanes

2.Which is the best example to show the bravery of carrier pigeons?

A.Carrier pigeons could fly to places where radios and telephone lines were useless.

B.For his extraordinary service, Cher Ami was awarded the French “Croix de Guerre”.

C.In World War II, more than 3,000 soldiers were needed to care for and train the pigeons.

D.In the 12th century, kings in Iraq were kept informed of the victories and defeats by pigeons.

3.From the passage, we can learn _________.

A.how carrier pigeons developed in history

B.how to train carrier pigeons to get victory

C.carrier pigeons played an important role in the wars in the old days

D.pigeons inspired soldiers to fight before high-speed Internet invented

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网