New York’s streets were covered by people dressed in elephant costumes and others waving antiwar posters with pictures of US President George W. Bush on them last week. But this was no carnival

题目内容

New York’s streets were covered by people dressed in elephant costumes (服装) and others waving antiwar posters with pictures of US President George W. Bush on them last week. But this was no carnival (狂欢节) – it was the Republican Party’s National Convention (共和党全国大会), which attracted thousands of protestors (抗议者). It was the largest protest ever at a US political convention, with at least 120,000 people marching through Manhattan on August 29. They demanded that the US leave Iraq and a new president be chosen.

The Republicans say the opposition – Democrat Party (民主党) encouraged the people on to the streets. They believe it is a democratic move to help win presidential election, to be held on November 2. The election is described as “the decisive battle between donkey and elephant”. The two animals are the symbols of the two major political parties in the US. The elephant represents (象征) the Republicans, whose candidate (侯选人), President George W. Bush, is trying to defeat the donkey to win his second them. The donkey represents the democrats, whose candidate, John Kerry, is trying to kick the elephant out of the White House.

Republicans think the elephant is powerful and clever, but the Democrats argue it is stupid and conservative (守旧的). In return, the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn (倔强的) and silly but the Democrats say it is humble, plain, smart and courageous.

The Republicans have been sending emails to Bush supporters and journalists with the heading, “An Elephant Never Forgets”, said party spokeswoman Heather Layman. Elephants are known for their long memories. The emails suggest that Bush will keep his promises, while Kerry will not stick to his words.

It is interesting that both symbols were created by a single person, Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist of the late 19th century. During the election in 1874, Nast drew a cartoon, in which a donkey in a lion’s skin frightened an elephant marked “Republican”.

What does “kick the elephant out of the White House” mean?

A. Drive the animal out of the White House. B. Drive President Bush out of power.

C. Keep the elephant out of the White House. D. Insist on Bush’s being elected.

In the eyes of the Republicans, the donkey is considered as .

A. clever B. foolish C. polite D. brave

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. The same artist created the two symbols.

B. The emails suggest Kerry will not carry out his promises.

C. “An Elephant Never Forgets” means that an elephant has a good memory.

D. John Kerry is a Democrat.

【小题1】B

【小题2】B

【小题3】C

解析:

【小题1】“大象” 指的是“共和党”，即“什么派”；“白宫”是“权力”的象征。

【小题2】由第三段 “the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn and silly…” 可知。

【小题3】由末段第一句可知A正确；倒数第二段末句可知B正确；“The donkey represents the democrats, whose candidate, John Kerry”可知D正确。

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From the day I was born, there was a problem. The doctors at the Dublin hospital told my parents I had phocomelia, a deformity that affected both legs below the knee, which were outward and shorter than normal and each foot had just three toes.

Life was tough. I couldn’t stand, much less walk. I rarely left the farmhouse—and then only in someone’s arms. Mom bundled me up whenever she took me to town, no matter the season.

“The world will see him when he can walk,” she told Dad. “And he will walk.”

Mom devoted herself to helping me. She tried everything to get me on my feet. When I was three, she and Dad took me to a clinic in Dublin.

A few weeks later we returned to Dublin with my artificial limbs (肢). Back home I practiced walking with my new limbs.

“There’s nothing anyone can do but you can’t,” Mom said. “You and I are going to walk through town.”

The next day Mom dressed me in my finest clothes. She wore a summer dress and fixed her hair and makeup. Dad drove us to the church. We stepped out of the car. Mom took my hand. “Hold your head up high, now, Ronan,” she said.

We walked 300 meters to the post office. It was the farthest I’d walked, and I was sweating from the effort. Then we left the post office and continued down the street, Mom's eyes shining with a mother's pride.

That night, back on our farm, I lay exhausted on my bed. It meant nothing, though, compared to what I’d done on my walk.

Then I began to pursue my dream of singing. And at every step Mom's words came back to me—Ronan, you can do anything anyone else can do—and the faith she had in God, who would help me do it.

I’ve sung from the grandest stages in Europe, to music played by the world’s finest musicians. That night, I stood at the Madison Square Garden, with Mom’s words chiming in my ears. Then I began singing. I couldn't feel the pulse of the music in my feet, but I felt it deep in my heart, the same place where Mom’s promise lived.

What was the problem with the author as a baby?

A. He was expected unable to walk. B. He was born outward in character.

C. He had a problem with listening. D. He was shorter than a normal baby.

The underlined word “deformity” in the second paragraph most probably means _________.

A. shortcoming B. disadvantage C. disability D. delay

Why did Mom dress him and herself in finest clothes?

A. To hide their depressed feeling. B. To indicate it an unusual day.

C. To show off their clothes. D. To celebrate his successful operation.

From the story we may conclude that his mother was __________.

A. determined B. stubborn C. generous D. distinguished

According to the writer, what mattered most in his success?

A. His consistent effort. B. His talent for music.

C. His countless failures. D. His mother’s promise.

I stood outside New York’s Madison Square Garden and just stared, almost speechless. I was a farm boy from County Kilkenny, a child who some thought would never walk, let alone go as far as I had in the world.
From the day I was born, there was a problem. The doctors at the Dublin hospital told my parents I had phocomelia, a deformity that affected both legs below the knee, which were outward and shorter than normal and each foot had just three toes.
Life was tough. I couldn’t stand, much less walk. I rarely left the farmhouse—and then only in someone’s arms. Mom bundled me up whenever she took me to town, no matter the season.
“The world will see him when he can walk,” she told Dad. “And he will walk.”
Mom devoted herself to helping me. She tried everything to get me on my feet. When I was three, she and Dad took me to a clinic in Dublin.
A few weeks later we returned to Dublin with my artificial limbs (肢). Back home I practiced walking with my new limbs.
“There’s nothing anyone can do but you can’t,” Mom said. “You and I are going to walk through town.”
The next day Mom dressed me in my finest clothes. She wore a summer dress and fixed her hair and makeup. Dad drove us to the church. We stepped out of the car. Mom took my hand. “Hold your head up high, now, Ronan,” she said.
We walked 300 meters to the post office. It was the farthest I’d walked, and I was sweating from the effort. Then we left the post office and continued down the street, Mom's eyes shining with a mother's pride.
That night, back on our farm, I lay exhausted on my bed. It meant nothing, though, compared to what I’d done on my walk.
Then I began to pursue my dream of singing. And at every step Mom's words came back to me—Ronan, you can do anything anyone else can do—and the faith she had in God, who would help me do it.
I’ve sung from the grandest stages in Europe, to music played by the world’s finest musicians. That night, I stood at the Madison Square Garden, with Mom’s words chiming in my ears. Then I began singing. I couldn't feel the pulse of the music in my feet, but I felt it deep in my heart, the same place where Mom’s promise lived.
【小题1】What was the problem with the author as a baby?

A．He was expected unable to walk.

B．He was born outward in character.

C．He had a problem with listening.

D．He was shorter than a normal baby.

【小题2】The underlined word “deformity” in the second paragraph most probably means _________.

A．shortcoming	B．disadvantage
C．disability	D．delay

【小题3】Why did Mom dress him and herself in finest clothes?

A．To hide their depressed feeling.

B．To indicate it an unusual day.

C．To show off their clothes.

D．To celebrate his successful operation.

【小题4】From the story we may conclude that his mother was __________.

【小题5】According to the writer, what mattered most in his success?

A．His consistent effort.	B．His talent for music.
C．His countless failures.	D．His mother’s promise.

London taxis, with their friendly drivers who actually know where they are going, are ranked best in the world, according to an annual taxi poll(调查).
The survey by travel website hotels.com found London taxis, despite being the most expensive, beat rivals across the globe to head the list for the third consecutive years, scoring a total of 59 percent in votes on several categories by travellers.
London taxi drivers were voted both friendliest and most knowledgeable. Drivers in the English capital must pass a rigorous examination called The Knowledge to earn their taxi licence.
New York’s yellow taxis came second in the list, scoring 27 percent which was up 10 percentage points from last year even though Manhattan’s cab drivers tied with Parisian taxi drivers as the rudest.
Travellers said New York had the most available taxis.
Cabbies in Rome were voted the worst drivers in the world with almost one in 10 travellers thinking the Italian capital had the world’s worst taxi drivers when it came to the quality of driving.
“Travelling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travellers have upon arrival in a new city. In fact, the research found that cabs are by far the most popular method of travelling from the airport to their hotel,” a spokesman for hotels.com said in a statement.
The global poll scored city based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and availability.
Rounding out the top five were Tokyo with a total score of 26 percent, Berlin with 17 percent, and Bangkok famed for its tuk-tuks scoring 14 percent.
Madrid’s taxis were ranked sixth in the poll, followed by Copenhagen and Dublin with 11 percent and Frankfurt and Paris with 10 percent.
Taxis in Sydney fell short of the top 10, scoring badly in the areas of value for money, availability and knowledge of the area.
The survey for hotels.com, part of the Expedia group, was conducted among over 1,900 travellers between May 11-28 this year.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “rigorous” in the third paragraph mean _______?

【小题2】The writer introduced the result of the survey by _____.

A．listing the ranks of the taxi service of the European cities

B．listing the ranks of the taxi service of the cities concerned

C．different kinds of reading forms and famous travel websites

D．interviewing the taxi drivers and travellers of the cities

【小题3】Rome’s taxi drivers are lack of _______.

A．driving skills	B．good manners
C．the sense of cleanliness	D．the sense of safety

【小题4】What does the writer want to tell us?

A．The global taxi drivers should be trained strictly.

B．The global taxi drivers should be given an exam.

C．The global taxi drivers have different driving skills.

D．The global big cities’taxis service is scored by a travel website.

London taxis, with their friendly drivers who actually know where they are going, are ranked best in the world, according to an annual taxi survey.

The survey by travel website hotels.com found London taxis, despite being the most expensive, beat rivals（对手）across the globe to head the list for the third consecutive（连续的）years, scoring a total of 59 percent in votes on several categories by travelers.

London taxi drivers were voted both friendliest and most knowledgeable. Drivers in the English capital must pass a rigorous examination called The Knowledge to earn their taxi license.

New York's yellow taxis came second in the list, scoring 27 percent which was up 10 percentage points from last year even though Manhattan's cab drivers tied （打成平局）with Parisian taxi drivers as the rudest.

Travelers said New York had the most convenient taxis.

Taxi drivers in Rome were voted the worst drivers in the world with almost one in 10 travelers thinking the Italian capital had the world's worst taxi drivers when it came to the quality of driving.

"Traveling by taxi is one of the first experiences that many travelers have upon arrival in a new city. In fact, the research found that cabs are by far the most popular method of traveling from the airport to their hotel," a spokesman for hotels.com said in a statement.

The global survey scored city based taxis for their levels of cleanliness, value, quality of driving, knowledge of the area, friendliness, safety and convenience.

Rounding out the top five were Tokyo with a total score of 26 percent, Berlin with 17 percent, and Bangkok famed for its tuk-tuks scoring 14 percent.

The survey for hotels.com, part of the Expedia group, was conducted among over 1,900 travelers between May 11-28 this year.

1.Which of the following about London’s taxi drivers is wrong?

A．They are the friendliest. B．They are the most knowledgeable.

C．They charge the most money. D．They drive fastest.

2.What does the underlined word “rigorous” mean in the third paragraph? .

A．strict B．important C．official D．lawful

3.The writer introduced the result of the study by ___________.

A．interviewing city leaders B．interviewing the taxi drivers

C．listing the ranks of cities concerned D．reading forms concerned

4.Rome’s taxi drivers are lack of __________.

A．good manners B．driving skills

C．the sense of cleanliness D．the sense of safety

(C)

One thing the tour books don’t tell you about London is that 2000 of its residents are foxes. They ran away from the city about two centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in . But now that the environment is clear the foxes have come home. “The number and variety of wild animals in urban areas is increasing” says Comer Jones. A survey of the wildlife in New York’s Central Park last year counted 14 species of mammals. A similar survey conducted in the 1890s counted only five species. Several changes have brought wild animals to the cities. Foremost is that air and water quality in many cities has improved as a result of the 1970s pollution-control efforts. Meanwhile , rural areas have been built up, leaving many animals on the edges of suburbs. In addition, urban wildlife refuges have been created. The Greater London Council last year spent￡750,000 buying land and building 10 permanent wildlife refuges in the city. As a result many birds are now living in the city. For peregrine falcons cities are actually safer than rural cliff dwellings (栖息地). By 1970 the birds had died out east of the Mississippi because of the DDT, which had made their eggs too thin to support life . That year, scientist Tom Cade of Cornell University began raising the birds for release in cities which afforded plenty of food. Cities can attract wild animals without turning them harmful. The trick is to create habitats where they can be self-sufficient but still be seen and appreciated . Such habitats can even be functional. In San Francisco, the local government is testing different kinks of rainwater control basins to see not only which ones retain the cleanest water but which will attract the most birds.

72．The passage is mainly concerned with___________.

A．wildlife returning to large cities B．foxes returning to London

C．wild animals living in zoos D．a survey of wildlife in New York

73.It can be inferred from the passage that__________

A．Londoners are putting more and more wild animals into their zoos

B．Londoners are happy to see wild animals return to their city

C．Londoners are trying to move wild animals back to the countryside

D．Londoners have welcomed the wild birds, but found foxes a problem

74．According to the passage, the number of species of wildlife in New York’s Central Park______

A．is slowly decreasing B．competes favorably with other cities

C．is on the same level as before D．has more than doubled in the last century

75．Which of the following is NOT a reason that wildlife returning to the cities?

A．Food is plentiful in the cities

B．Wildlife is appreciated in the cities

C．Wildlife refuges have been built in the cities

D．Air and water quality has improved in the cities

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